Week 17

Hey chicks!
So freshers week is about to start and we should probably be in the corridor right now, downing cheap wine and talking about our trials and tribulations to complete strangers while playing beer pong but duty calls so here we are. And yes, this blog has now been elevated to 'duty' status. Because this week has been extremely frivolous, and it gets to a point where you think 'maybe I should be doing something with my life, maybe I should be...helping? with stuff?' But we don't really know how we could help, so if anyone reads this and thinks of some project that they'd like to see done, but don't really have the time to do it, or have that scrap of dignity or social decorum that would hold them back from ridiculous actions, let us know, and maybe it'll feature in the next few weeks.
Over and out.



You might remember that we tried out cross-stitching way back in June and have realized that actually, we're quite taken with it. And it just seemed so funny to write horrible messages in a such a twee format. These are now hanging in Fran's toilet so if you're ever in Chalk Farm you should probably knock on her door and pretend you need a wee so you can sneak a peak. Or you could not act like a fucking creeper and just email in to receive your very own 'cunt' in a heart.

This week we love...



Every once in a while you have to do something that you're afraid of and whether that's bungee jumping or dumping your boyfriend, you always leave with this colossal sense of achievement, like you are actually pretty good at living. Then you've got the survivor's story, and strangely enough I feel like meeting this week's featured person falls under that category.
This is how it went.
For a while now I've been meaning to have a chat with the hordes of hippies that occupy Parliament Square and this Wednesday I finally manned up and asked them some questions. Now don't underestimate how intimidating it is to march up to a tight knit group of political extremists, let alone those who've been living in tents for the past 10 years, and try to understand how relieved I was to find, right in the middle of this strange ensemble, an old man with bushy eyebrows and a polyester suit.
His name is Bunny, he is 80 years old and you can find him in the Square twice a week sitting in his chair for 4 hours at a time and handing out slips of paper with his website handwritten on it. I sat and chatted with him for an hour or so and while I didn't have any sort of recording device, here's the basic jist of the conversation.
E- So, what are you fighting for?
B- Well we'd like to remove the troops from Iraq, dissolve the armies and use the money productively to ensure a basic standard of living throughout the world.
*told me a load of statistics about government expenditure through the military, then we went off on a tangent about 9/11 but he was lovely and said he had only read a few books about it and preferred not to comment on conspiracy theories when he wasn't properly informed*

E- In a perfect world, how would the government operate?
B- Well in my perfect world, all resources would be pooled together, and then distributed according to people's needs, so that people with children, or disabilities or any sort of disadvantage could get the support they need. But everyone would be represented, so I would have a group to represent me as a senior citizen, you would have one as a student and everyone would have their say. I'd also really like it if they had an hour set aside everyday on the telly so that they could screen all sorts of issues, from little ones to really major things and then people could see them, and call in if they had any ideas. Because you don't realize how much people are capable of. I mean do you think the Wright brothers knew they would invent the airplane? No. People don't realize how much is inside them. I'm four times your age and I still think there's a little bit inside me, you must have bags and bags of ideas!

E- I hope so, well I want to be a writer.
B- That's wonderful.
*Looks at 'horses jump off boats when they see me' tshirt.*
Well you obviously have a strong effect on people. I like to write. I write on the inside of chocolate bar wrappers, so if it's rubbish I can just pop it straight into the recycle bin, but if it's good I can write it on real paper.

E- What's your favourite kind of chocolate?
*Bunny pulls out a bar of Green&Blacks milk chocolate and gives me two squares. He also hands me a print out about the havoc caused by Uranium in the Middle East. Heavy shit incidentally and very scary*
B- Now I've given you this information and you have to decide what you want to do with it. It's up to you. But if you disagree with what's going on in the world you can just come down here, even just for an hour a week and sit so people know you're not happy.

We chatted about this and that for a while, then we shook hands and he pointed out all the CCTV cameras and warned me that the government might be keeping an eye on me from now on. Bunny's been going to Parliament Square every week since 2005. Bryan and Barbara (the big cheeses) have been living there since the 1st of July 2001. They live entirely off donations so if you're ever in the area you should probably drop by and hand them some tea bags or bread or sugar or whatever and you're sure to have some pretty interesting conversations in return.



The Firekites- The Bowery

So the temperatures have suddenly dropped and it's now the season for wooly scarves and cinnamon and school books and incidentally also The Firekites. Written and recorded in a vacant dance hall/bookshop called The Bowery (hence the name) the songs are all pretty slow, fairly mellow but definitely not wintry. You know, not depressing or wailing, just autumnal, like we should all be getting ready to hibernate. It's all very consistent with a lovely quality, but no one off hits so don't expect to sing along with the top down or anything. Just make yourself a cup fo chai and watch the leaves fall.


The Secret in Their Eyes- Juan Jose Campanella

I don't think I can describe how much I enjoyed this film so I'll start with the facts. Esposito is a recently retired legal counselor who decides to write a novel based on the unsolved rape and murder of a 23 year old woman back in 1974. He tells his old superior and long standing love interest Irine that it's just an alternative to planting begonias but they both know this isn't true. And so we're taken back and forth from flashbacks of corrupt 1970s Argentina back to the present where the chilling reality of the case finally seems to be unfolding. I won't go into anymore detail just because I don't want to kill the tension but this is an incredible film. And you should probably watch it. It reminded me a little bit of Louis de Bernieres' 'Senor Vivo and the Coca Lord', with all this horrific but matter of fact violence mixed in with incredible beauty and passion and while it's a really dark film the end is incredibly satisfying. Favourite character has to be Sandoval, the drunken legal clerk who is hilarious, although Ricardo Darin made a very melancholy and gallant lead. Massive thumbs up.


Toy Boats- National Maritime Museum, Romney Rd London SE10 9NF


So I took advantage of the very last day of summer and tested my super sayne (level 4) cycling skills by riding from Chalk Farm to Greenwhich to see the Toy Boats exhibition at the National Maritime Museum and I'm proud to say the 2 hour treck and getting lost in Deptford was well worth it. While the exhibition is only small (about 3 or 4 rooms and just over 100 exhibits) it is absolutely lovely. The leaflet describes it as 'ocean liners, submarines and battle ships that defined and defended the nation' but it's really just a bit of fun. Pretty tin boats lined up in glass cabinets and making you dream a little. One fun fact I did read though was that when they drained the Round Pound in Kensington Gardens in 1923, they found the remains of over 150 toy boats in the mud at the bottom. How cool would that have looked? Only beef would be the fairly poor selection of postcards in the gift shop. But there you go.

Also...



Just fucking love Ribena.

Week 16

Hey chickaroos,
Silly conversation I overheard in the pub the other day:
*trendy hoxton kids with deliberately mis-matched socks talking about some sort of event they're organizing*
girl: I think we're just going to have to find some of those people that think they're cool, rather than always just inviting our little group of people that actually are cool, because they're just aren't enough of us. Yeah, definitely home in on those people that just think they're cool.
boy: yeah, no, yeah, you're right.
*thoughtful silence*

how brilliant. hope you guys have had equally fruitful eavesdropping sessions and have an excellent week!



So, clearly not my own idea as Ed Carpenter has already made his millions with his plastic lovelies but here's my very own handmade version of it. A huge thank you to Josh Grant for accompanying me to Leylands, don't think I could have handled that amount of social outcasts alone, or known how to fit a light bulb to a switch for that matter.
I bought everything I needed from Leylands and it cost me roundabout £15 but have got loads of aluminium sheet leftover so am thinking of making a rat for the landing. Or a cockroach for the kitchen...

This week we love...

Proud to introduce our person of the week, Dr Victoria Watson, lecturer at Westminster University, proud architect and probably the only original person we know. While she's a published writer and respected intellectual in her field of work, we know embarrassingly little about her achievements so we highly recommend that you check out her website as soon as you're done reading this feature, but for now, here is her list of her top 10 favourite buildings in London.

1. Bank of England - an amazing plan, a building made up entirely of interior architecture
Threadneedle St, London EC2R 8AH‎











2. St Stephen's Walbrook - pure geometry
38 Walbrook, London EC4N 8









3. Mies van der Rohe's design for an office building and City Square at the Mansion House - a great pity it was not built




4. Saint Pancras Station - I like the way it is raised up on a field of tiny columns
Camden Town, Greater London N1











5. The Penguin Pool - because architects are supposed to like it

ZSL, London Zoo, London NW14RY








6. Elgin Marbles - ancient Greek Temples are OK
The British Museum, Great Russell St, London WC1B 3DG





7. The Finsbury Leisure Centre - there is one five-aside-football pitch in particular
Norman St, London EC1V 3PU‎








8. Golden Lane Estate - especially the swimming pool
Golden Lane, EC1










9. Middleton Square - for the bricks, sash windows and railings
Islington, Greater London EC1R 1








10. Westminster Abby - for the stonework
20 Dean's Yard, Westminster, City of London SW1P 3PA












The life of the World to Come- The Mountain Goats

A lovely young man took me to see these guys at Koko last week and you cannot comprehend the excitement I felt when I realized that I do actually know who they are. You know that fateful moment when you catch a single line that you know the lyrics to and belt them out like your life depends on it, then spend the rest of the song mumbling and bopping your head to cover up the fact that that was it, that was the extent of your knowledge. You'll be happy to know that I have now done the required research and am happy to present to you John Darnielle's 17th studio album. The title is taken from a passage of the Nicene Creed and as you'd imagine, the whole album follows a religious theme, with each of the 12 tracks being named and inspired by a passage of the Christian Bible. I didn't find anything offensively religious about the music, just lovely tunes with incredible lyrics (Darnielle was an aspiring poet but figured he'd make a better living if it was all set to music), favourites being 'Genesis 3.23' and 'Genesis 3.30'.


I Am Love- Luca Guadagnino

'I Am Love' follows the lives of the various members of the Recchi family, textile manufacturers and members of Italy's haute bourgeoisie. While the film captures the various disruptions that the family faces as they head towards the new millenium, special focus is on elegant but endlessly repressed mother Emma (played by Tilda Swinton) as she engages in a love affair with much younger but brilliant chef Antonio. While the film is set just 10 years ago there is something so elegant and classic about the aesthetics from the font, to the furniture to the way the women slip off their jewellery, that it seems from a different era altogether. Tilda Swinton fits in perfectly as an unusual but timeless beauty and while there's certainly a lot of drama her relationship with her daughter is extremely refreshing and makes for a beautiful ending. Very stylize, with everything placed 'just so' I Am Love is an uber elegant drama well worth a watch although explicit sex scenes could make for awkward viewing if in the wrong company.



Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese- Wine Court Office, 145 Fleet Street EC4A 2BU

Yes, I know the name sounds ridiculous and that most places that advertise themselves as 'ye olde' where built by men going through a mid-life crisis and involve waiters in tacky period costumes serving Coke in goblets, but as one of the oldest pubs in London, this place does actually deserve its title. Walking down the grubby little alleyway that leads to the entrance you can't help but imagine yourself being murdered by Jack the Ripper or getting in a really seedy pub brawl and I'm afraid to say the interior only aggravated my over-active imagination. Think dark wood panels, uneven floors and an endless series of spiral staircases leading to a maze of rooms. This place is a fucking labyrinthe. Favourite detail has to be the little sign painted above one of the doorways that reads 'gentlemen only to be served at this bar'. You've got to love a bit of old fashioned sexism. The pub prides itself on having been the preferred watering-hole of Dr Johnson, Voltaire, Thackeray and Dickens, as well as being the home of a parrot called Polly who entertained people for a good 40 years before karking it and having its obituaries printed in newspapers all around the world. Oh and if you need any more convincing it's a Samuel Smith pub so drinks are heaps cheap.

Also...

Amore pasta from the lovely Yolanda. Clearly delicious.

Week 15

Hey chicky pickies!
Extremely distracted by the IT crowd so will make this brief. Following last week's epiphany we've had an epic week of spontaneous adventures including, but certainly not limited to: singing songs about anal in the kitchen, russian accents, riding about town on lovely bicycle, ploughing through 7 bottles of wine in one evening (not alone though, thank god, that would be really sad), seeing the Forgotten Spaces exhibition at Swiss Cottage library, discovering the horrors of the Cornish pasty, chats until 3am every single night and getting hit on by a chav called Albert.
All in all excellent progress.











Ended up making five of these babies. Never want to look at the stencil again. But if you happen to desperately want another person's inside joke printed on a t-shirt, send us a message and whoever gets there first and will be sent one.

This week we love...

This here is our very first interview. It involved Soho Square, frozen yoghurt, the recorder on my shit Nokia and the very lovely Harry Harris, singer/songwriter, university student and effortless romantic.



- So Harry, how would you describe your music?
- I'd say it's...folk music, rooted in folk traditions and story telling but I also really like rock n roll and rootsy Americana stuff so it's got a bit of that in it as well.

- In 5 words?
- soulful. theatrical. classical. simple.bawdy

- Because there are so many singer/songwriters out and about, what do you think makes you stand out?
- I've got a pretty good name...In some ways I don't want to be too different, because I know that musically it's all already been done so I'd much rather be recognized for doing something that people actually enjoy rather than just because it's radical.

- But is there anyone you're aspiring to music-wise?
- Yeah, lots of people: Bruce Springstein and Counting Crows and also Hold Steady, they have a lot of real life references in their songs and repeat names of characters and locations throughout all their albums so you get this overriding sense of place. That's something I'd really like to incorporate into my own music.

- What projects do you have lined up for the near future?
- I'd very much like to do a UK tour and a repeat of the Italian tour I did in April which was amazing. I'd also like to record an album of songs based around London which I'd title 'Little Blue Plaques'.

- What are your favourite places in London?
- The Southbank, especially the big green chairs they have outside the National Theatre at the moment, Camden Market, Borough Market because it's really busy and exciting. Edgware Road, because it's so unpretentious. It is what it is and it always smells really good of shisha and food. I also really like ANgel, especially Camden Passage because there's the Breakfast Club and the amazing chocolatier next door where I bought a Pimms truffle. Amazing.

- Other than you're surroundings, is there anything else in particular that inspires you to write songs?
- Bob Dylan once said that he only ever wrote 4 songs but he wrote them over and over again. But 4's a lot! I've only got 2: songs about me and songs about other people, the latter being much more satisfying because it can be really good without seeming like an exercise in self-indulgence. I used to write in little bursts but now I just carry a notebook around and if I hear a narrative I like or see something interesting I can write it down and use it later.

- You've obviously written plenty of love songs, but if you had to serenade a lady with someone else's song, what would you choose?
- There's this great Chaka Khan song called 'Love Me Still' which would be really really good. Or 'Love Minus Zero/No Limit' by Bob Dylan.

*trying to think of a good last question but only came up with this*

-If you had to write a love song to a character from Eastenders, who would it be?
- Wollard, Robbie's alsatian. Without a doubt.

Harry Harris will be performing on October the third at Notting Hill Arts Club but for more gigs and to have a peak at his songs just click here.


Harry Harris- Self-titled

Saw this lovely young man perform at the Portobello Acoustic Sessions a couple of weeks ago and may I say I don't think the expression 'don't judge a book by its cover' has ever seemed so appropriate. Harry Harris is an incredibly funny but understated Welshman with a penchant for jumpers but then he opens his mouth and out comes the sound that every young girl's always wanted to hear outside their bedroom window. Completely effortless but with beautiful lyrics it's music for quiet driving at dusk or for your first evening alone. Personal favourites include 'Rings' and 'Salt' although I think that'll change once I hear the new album. Well done Harry Harris.


Me and You and Everyone We Know- Miranda July

Earlier this week Emelie Jolie and I went and saw The Illusionist at the cinema. It was a beautiful animation with incredible music but depressing beyond words, so we left the screening feeling a tad disheartened and only vaguely excited about the creme brulee we were about to eat at l'Absinthe. Feeling of gloom carried on to the next day until Emelie dropped this bad boy off and just from seeing the front cover I knew I was going to be just fine. 'Me and You and Everyone We Know' is a hilarious and kookily romantic take on modern relationships starring a lonely shoe salesman and a struggling performance artist/cab driver. Their relationship is strange and fragile but heart warming, because you know that while you might sometimes feel lonely and weird, it's all going to be ok. Some scenes are a wee bit shocking but it's great seeing other people act out things you've thought about but would ever dare do yourself. The colours are absolutely beautiful and the entire soundtrack was composed on a modified Casio SK-1 so vair cool. Favourite part has to be when one of the sons buys his neighbour a teddy to go in her trousseau: 'It's for your daughter'.
You'll see, it's just lovely.


The Cloth House- 47 & 98 Berwick Street W1F

While I'm usually more inclined towards stationary shops The Cloth House has held its position as my favourite browsing spot for the last few months. It's just one of those places that you can go into and know that it'll make you dream, and I'm not even particularly good at sewing. The layout is perfect, lighting soft, background music always spot on and the staff are absolutely lovely. Oh and the fabrics are heaps nice. If you're not really into sewing but happen to be in the area just stroll past their window display and I guarantee you that you'll want to go in. And then you'll realize that actually you could really do with some vintage buttons or a reel of reclaimed lilac ribbon and that while you're at it you should probably buy a scrap pack to cover your school books with. And a bit of felt because it's bound to come in handy some day. Crack's got nothing on this shit.

Also...


Tiny gifts from great friends. Makes the world go round.

Week 14

Hello buckaroos!
(ha, feel like I should be wearing dungarees and holding a pick-axe!)
A thousand apologies for the late posting, a certain young lady moved into her new house yesterday and expected her palatial bedroom to be double-coated in paint by the end of the day, so duty called.
It's been a strange week with tension rising in our little cottage until we had a big shout, a big cry, decided we needed to stop being such squares and rode down an epic hill with no helmets and Ginny on the bike rack. Wild. And while the adrenaline rush has more or less died down this is our message for the week: get over yourself.
You know those stupid urges you get, and your hand is just itching to throw a plate at the wall/stroke a stranger's fur coat/hold that nice looking boy's hand: you should probably just do it.




Our project this week was to make the most amazing moving-in hamper the world has ever seen. This ended up comprising of: a marshmellow mermaid pie (as seen above), a jar of pesto made with the basil from our grannies garden, a bottle of the same lovely lady's home made elderflower cordial, little tupper ware boxes of meals to last a week, 2 handmade pillows (featured) and some draw liners that supposedly smell of white flowers. Not too shabby.

This week we love...

Tales of the Forgotten Melodies- Wax Tailor
Big big thank you to Katherine for recommending this guy to us. Feels like an appropriate follow up to Onra, like the cheese platter at the end of a lively dinner party. You feel happily drowsy and all the excitement has fizzled down to a contented smile and random but brilliant conversation, you know where everyone talks really slowly and thinks they're enlightened. Tales of the Forgotten Memories is a 'sample based hip hop journey', or as I'd say, some groovy music with lots of snippets taken from old films. Very chilled, very mellow and you can play it as loud or as soft as you like depending on how stoned you are. Better find a couch and some friends who've read Jung.




The Beat that my Heart Skipped- Jacques Audiard

A remake of Toback's 1978 film 'Fingers', The Beat my Heart Skipped follows the story of Tom, real estate thug and aspiring concert pianist. Presenting the young man's struggle between his town lifestyles, Audiard holds up the base reality of a shady business world and stands it in contrast to the redeeming and almost ecclesiastical quality of classical music. There's no racy soundtrack and the mafiosas don't have concise little catch phrases or sunglasses but it's all the more shocking for it. Harshly realistic and stripped of any glamour. Big thumbs up to Romain Duris for actually playing all his own pieces and practicing like a maniac to manage Bach's Tocata in E minor.









A sneak peak at Cambridge:
In a nutshell: Harry Potter fantasy freakishly close to being realized. If my better judgement hadn't got the better of me I'd say Ginny and I would have spent the day chasing each other down side alleys screaming 'wingadio leviosa!' But it did, so we didn't and spent the day mossying around town, drinking tea and soaking up the atmosphere. Think Britannia, but not in the 'we are the Empire, look at our enormous white buildings' kind of way. It's pretty much everything romantic that foreigners have ever allowed themselves to associate with England and even though it was gorgeous and sunny while we were there, I could completely imagine snuggling up in one of those little brick buildings and playing Scrabble until the wee hours of the morning, getting pissed on Sherry and smoking a pipe.

Also...

Somehow decided that it would be a good idea to stay up til 2am drawing faces on bananas so that whenever we wanted to eat one we'd have to 'evict' it from our big brother house. Candidates include the Elephant Man, Welma from Scooby Doo, Adolph Hitler, a transvestite, a fat chav and Brad Pitt look alike. Who will go first, nobody can say at the minute.