Alienation Generation

Cat Eyes

2011-02-05T11:46:00.001+11:00

I had been wanting a pair of nice vintage cat eye frames for quite some time and the other day I finally came across a pair at my local Savers, and they only cost me $2.99. Bargain!

The only problem is that the lenses are extremely strong. It's like looking through them for one second has the possibility of giving you a headache for 5 years. So I've popped the lenses out and have toyed with the idea of wearing lenseless frames. I'm unsure whether this is totally lame or not, and it probably is, but hey, at least they're not the 3D glasses you get from the cinemas that we've all seen so many people wearing thinking they're totez geeky in a totez ironic way. Maybe I should get some sunglass lenses put in or wait until I actually need glasses.

Clap Your Hands

2011-02-05T11:32:00.000+11:00

On the 1st of February I saw Sia. When my friend texted me asking me if I wanted a ticket I said yes without hesitation. Part of my lack of hesitation was due to the heart wrenching article Sia wrote a few months ago about her quitting music due to her depression and dislike of fame. This is very likely to be her last tour ever, so how could I not get on that?

The show was amazing! She is so great and funny and I love how she can be so beautiful and so hilarious interchangeably, or even at the same time. She was painted black, wearing a black puffy top and a pink puffy tutu-like skirt. She had a painted black sheet of cardboard attached to her back, which camouflaged her painted black face and hair into the darkness. Possibly a comment on fame and feeling the need to not stand out for the sake of happiness? For the encore she came out in the same outfit, without the black cardboard and with a set of 'bubble wings', which with the help of some fans behind her blew bubbles out into the audience. Amazing!

Her little talks in between songs were so so so so hilarious. She just seems so lovely and down to earth. From getting the audience to heckle her to singling out and complimenting a seven year old girl who's outfit was inspired by the cover of We Are Born because she was singing along to every word. We later 'wrote' a collaborative audience/performer song which Sia dedicated to the seven year old. YOU DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH I WISH I WAS THAT LITTLE GIRL! She was consistently communicating with the audience and it was so lovely. Really, she mentioned that parents are like TV channels and what words she used to mispronounce (ambulance as amblience).

Sia performed a mixture of her two latest albums We Are Born and Some People Have Real Problems, with the exception of the song Breathe Me, which boosted her career when it was featured on the finale of the TV series Six Feet Under, of course (and oh my gosh it was too lovely to hear this song live ahhh). Her setlist was great. It's hard to even single out any highlights because it was all so spectacular. Before You Will Be Loved she assured us that the maths has been done and there are 1.4 million people out there for every single person, which was a lovely thought right before a lovely song. She signed the whole way through Soon We'll Be Found just like in the film clip.

I'm so glad I got to see Sia's (most probably) last tour everrrrr! I think I've already said it but oh my gosh she is so beautiful and funny and amazing and talented and spectacular. Oh, and her dogs' names are Pantera and Lick Lick Science.

Happy Hottest 100 Day

2011-01-26T20:45:00.000+11:00

Australia Day for me is more like Triple J Hottest 100 day. If you are unfamiliar with the Triple J Hottest 100 it's a massive annual music poll which counts down the one hundred favourite songs of the previous year on Australia Day each year. 1.26 million votes! All over the world! 152 countries participated! Even Mark Ronson voted! Wow! Exclamation mark!

In alphabetical order of artist/band names these are the songs I voted for:

Gorillaz - Superfast Jellyfish {Ft. De La Soul & Gruff Rhys}
Janelle Monae - Tightrope {Ft. Big Boi}
Joanna Newsom - Good Intentions Paving Co.
Kimbra - Settle Down
Kyu - Pixiphony
Mark Ronson & The Business Intl - Somebody To Love Me {Ft. Boy George & Andrew Wyatt}
Patrick Wolf - Time Of My Life
Robyn - Dancing On My Own
Washington - Underground
Yves Klein Blue - Walk On The Wild Side {Like A Version}

These are the songs that really stand out for me in 2010. They are the songs that helped to make my year what it was. Some define specific events and some define whole series of events of my life in 2010. I saw Yves Klein Blue do Walk on the Wild Side just before jumping up on stage and dancing with them during Getting Wise (one of my most beloved live show experiences ever with my number one Australian music crush, Michael Tomlinson), I saw Megan Washington front and centre and snatched her setlist after the end of her beautiful performance, I saw Kyu in the boiling heat of the Worker's Club beat their chests like drums and scream amazing harmonies, and I can never forget dancing in my bedroom to Mark Ronson in my best Boy George getup. Most of these songs I've listened to while driving, with the window wound down all the way, the radio up way too loud, with me singing my heart out. There were so many other songs I wanted to include. Kanye, Sia, Cloud Control, Cold War Kids, the list goes on. I really had a hard time whittling down my shortlist to just ten songs, but there they are, my favourite songs of 2010.

There were a few surprises. Kanye West's Monster was only number 88! How on earth did that happen to such an amazing song with an amazing ensemble of guests? Nicki Minaj's verse alone is clearly deserving of top ten status. At least Runaway came in at fourteen. M.I.A.'s XXXO just missed out, coming in at 101, and there were no other M.I.A. songs. Ridiculous.

As disappointing as it is, I'm not surprised that barely any of the songs I voted for made the list, although I was surprised that Superfast Jellyfish by Gorillaz didn't make it. Mark Ronson & The Business Intl. just got into the top ten at number ten with Somebody To Love Me, which is probably my favourite song of the year. A lot of really great times come to mind when I hear it, and from the first time I heard it I fell in love with it. Just great music, great guest vocals, great lyrics, great everything. Ughhh, just such an amazing song.

One of the highlights was Big Boi coming in at 77 with Shutterbugg, which is not one of my favourite songs, but features some of my favourite funniest/worst lyrics of the year: "I'm shitting on niggers and peeing on the seat." I'm very happy that Washington got multiple songs in there, same with Gorillaz, Mark Ronson & The Business Intl. and Sia. It was also good to hear some songs from a bit earlier on in the year that I'd sort of forgotten about like Darwin Deez and You Got the Dirtee Love by Florence and Dizzee Rascal.

But anyway, the Hottest 100 top ten songs of 2010 are:

10. Mark Ronson and the Business Intl. - Somebody To Love Me {Ft. Boy George and Andrew Wyatt}

9. Art Vs. Science - Magic Fountain

8. The Wombats - Tokyo, Vampires and Wolves

7. Cee-Lo Green - Fuck You!

6. Adrian Lux - Teenage Crime

5. Boy & Bear - Fall At Your Feet

4. Birds of Tokyo - Plans

3. Ou Est Le Swimming Pool - Dance The Way I Feel

2. Little Red - Rock It

1. Angus & Julia Stone - Big Jet Plane

The Hottest 100 for me marks another year of music gone. Makes me wonder what 2011 will bring to me in terms of music, emotions, events, people etc. Fingers crossed for the Golden Ticket!

Won't Let The City Destroy Our Love

2011-01-26T10:53:00.000+11:00

The video for Patrick Wolf's next single The City has been released! Yayyy! This song makes me so much more excited for the new Patrick Wolf album, which will officially be called Lupercalia. The City is such a beautiful, high spirited song with a great sense of assurance, and I'm predicting the new album will project that same sort of vibe.

The film clip is a collaboration with Australian born director Kinga Burza, who has worked with artists such as Marina and the Diamonds, La Roux, Kate Nash and Katy Perry. The film clip makes me want to play with Patrick on the beach, with his understated James Dean-esque outfit choices (something we haven't seen much of from him) and his attractive model friends/extras. It's a bit of a reinvention and new direction for Patrick, and it's all so romantic and exciting. I can't contain my enthusiasm and eagerness for more songs from Lupercalia, which shall be released in May 2011.

Unfortunately I can't embed the video, so here it is. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

You're The Only One I Want

2011-01-25T19:48:00.001+11:00

I was hanging out with a friend yesterday and we were talking about Kate Bush's album The Red Shoes. I realised I've barely done any blog posts in over a month now and I have decided that Kate Bush is the perfect person to blog about.

Kate Bush is an amazing lady. She's not only an amazing singer song writer, she is also a spectacular performer (which is evident in The Line, the Cross & the Curve, which I will get to a bit later). She puts more emotion into her songs than in any other songs I've heard by other artists before. You can just tell that she cares about her music and what she's singing. The only tour she's ever done, Tour Of Life, was ambitious and was a template for modern pop concerts. She was a pioneer of the big theatrical style of concerts today and she was the first performer to wear a radio mic so she could sing and dance freely. Kate Bush is incomparable to any artists of her generation and to artists of today. To put it plainly, she's spectacular.

I have often brushed Kate's later work aside, assuming that it's not as good as her earlier work from when she was more in the limelight after the success of Wuthering Heights, but I was definitely wrong to do so. For the past week or so I have been a little bit obsessed with her 1993 album The Red Shoes. There's so much contrast, light and shade. From fun, quicker paced songs like Rubberband Girl, Eat The Music and one of my favourites Why Should I Love You? to the beautiful, slower songs like Moments of Pleasure, The Song of Soloman, and another one of my favourites You're the One. And then there's something with a bit of both in a song like Top of the City. Her lyrics are always pretty great, but on this album they are out of this world fantastic. I really just can't get enough of this album.

The Line, the Cross & the Curve (1993) is pretty much a series of film clips for The Red Shoes album with bits of dialogue in between to string them together that was inspired by the the 1948 film The Red Shoes. It has some pretty great choreography, particularly in the opening scene, where Kate and a male dancer are moving as one in Rubberband Girl.

There's also some great visuals including a floor that is covered completely with fruit, a mirror that gets smashed releasing a gush of water (this reminded me of Titanic when the windows cave in), and a scene in which a character is running down a tunnel that eerily reminds me of a recurring dream I had as a child where I was walking down some sort of creepy never ending dark tunnel (surely there's some fucked up interpretation for that one).

The short film gets a tiny bit silly at times, sometimes even a little kitsch and often over the top. It's also a bit strange, but I wouldn't expect anything less from Kate Bush. Some could almost find it a bit pretentious and gratuitous, but I have too much respect for Bush to think that. Kate herself described it as "a load of bollocks" but I actually enjoyed it. I think it was fun, and a short film provided a good platform for Bush to showcase some of the great songs from her album, and they are very good songs.

The film doesn't have a lot of dialogue, but I particularly liked this monologue said by Kate's character:
I can't go on. I'm torn between what I was and what is to become of me. In these shoes every step I take is laced with madness. They fill me with pain and confusion, with thoughts that are not my own. I have danced their dances. I see streets and buildings I know so well, although I have never been to these places. Together we raced with wild horses til they dropped, we have leapt from cliffs into the raging waters below. And together we tripped from a stage into the pit. I see me falling. I feel my fear. And yet I was never here. These shoes are all anger and passion. I am possessed. And I no longer have the strength to fight them.

Of course it's hard not to love purely talented ladies. Kate Bush is certainly fits that discription.

Kate Bush - Why Should I Love You?

If I Could Have A Second Skin

2011-01-25T19:42:00.000+11:00

I very much enjoy dressing up. In fact it's probably one of my favourite things. I dislike when I haven't been to a dress up party in a while and I substitute that by getting dressed up in my bedroom when I'm bored. Around two years ago I even made a friend have a certain themed party so I could go as a certain amazingly talented yet completely tragic crack whore singer. Last month I threw a Virgin Mary costume together from sheets and tablecloths about twenty minutes before I left my house for Christmas Brinner (which wasn't even dress up, any excuse). Another time I spent a few days gluing hay to the insides of a Wizard of Oz Scarecrow costume I had made. I get pretty into it... sometimes if I've had a bit to drink I'll even get into character, as shown in a tagged video of me on facebook, waving a flask of vodka around singing If I Only Had a Brain from The Wizard of Oz, and, luckily not captured on video, my awful Amy Winehouse impersonation.


Right: A certain amazingly talented yet completely tragic crack whore singer. Left: Miscellaneous oriental lady aka Mulan (I took some liberties, okay?)

I've noticed that the majority of my costumes and costume ideas happen to be quite female oriented, and I've never really thought much of this, especially considering the fact that if a girl goes to a dress up party as something more male oriented no one really blinks an eye. And why should they? It's called a dress up party for a reason, and I will dress up as whatever I like (as long as the theme permits, of course). At one party I even got mistaken for a girl on more than one occasion.

My friends and I as the Wizard of Oz gang, me as the Scarecrow. Unfortunately some of us didn't put in as much effort as others (ahem, the cowardly lion).

Dress up parties are just so good, ugh! I'm already planning my 21st theme two years in advance. I do not miss any opportunity to dress up. So I think if you're having a party it should be a dress up party and I should be invited. That's all. Thanks.

All I Want For Christmas Is Good Music

2010-12-25T00:54:00.000+11:00

I'm not a big fan of Christmas at all. I think it's all of the religious and consumerism bull shit that I just don't care for, that and the terrible Christmas themed songs and carols. This Christmas my parents have gone away and I am left all alone, an orphan on Christmas day. There is no Christmas tree and no gifts underneath it, but I don't mind.

Christmas isn't all bad though, not when there's people making wonderful Christmas music (as opposed to your regular cringe-worthy Christmas music that makes you want to stab yourself in the ears with a letter opener and/or any other sharp objects you can quickly find in a close vicinity).

All I Want For Christmas by Yeah Yeah Yeahs (who are one of my favourite bands in the world and are incredible live) is just so beautiful. It's so sweet and lovely and poignant without trying too hard, unlike another Christmas song with a very similar title by a certain Mariah Carey (just kidding, that song's pretty great too). I believe every word coming out of Karen O's mouth, and I feel I can relate too, ha.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - All I Want For Christmas

Of course another favourite artist of mine is Kate Bush, who makes December magic again with December Will Be Magic Again. This woman makes every month magic for me. I feel like I've learnt most of my dance moves from watching her videos on youtube, and seriously, just watch her wriggle and groove around in that sexy red jumpsuit on that silky red chair. I want to join her while sprinkling fake snow all over the place. It's just magic! She's magic! And now December is magic (again)! Magic!

Kate Bush - December Will Be Magic Again

An obvious classic choice of fantastic Christmas songs is Eartha Kitt's brazen 1953 hit Santa Baby. I don't really know what attracts me to this song, but it's obviously attracted a lot of other people too judging by the countless cover versions that have been done. I don't know, maybe it's just that Eartha is seductively convincing Santa Claus into giving her expensive gifts, and well, I don't know, maybe she's willing to do some sexual favours in return? Who knows? It does sound a bit like that to me though.

Eartha Kitt - Santa Baby

The Ramones remind us of what Christmas is supposed to be about with Merry Christmas (I Don't Want To Fight Tonight). Joey reminds us that "Christmas ain't the time for breaking each other's heart" and I suppose he's right, but a lot of people seem to forget about that and they just focus on drama (and very often which presents to get for who). This song reminds me of Christmas when I was fourteen years old, but not for any reason other than because I was fully into punk music at that time.

The Ramones - Merry Christmas (I Don't Want To Fight Tonight)

These songs are what makes Christmas good again. These are the songs I want to hear by candlelight, or when I'm innocently walking through a shopping centre during the month of December. Not fucking Silent Night or Rudolf The Red Nosed Reindeer, those are not songs that I want invading my ears.

Whatever, happy birthday baby Jesus.

(These pictures have pretty much nothing to do with music but I just can't not post some Christmas trashiness from Edith Massey and Divine).

Jack Rabbit Slims Twist Contest

2010-12-10T13:14:00.000+11:00

You know when you like something but you just don't realise how much you like it until it suddenly hits you? Well I've just realised that dance scenes in films are probably one of my favourite things. It's just a bit great when a good song starts and the characters boogie along. In a way it sort of gives you some relief or a break from the story while at the same time still telling the story. So in no particular order here are some of my all time favourite movie dance scenes...

In Romy And Michele's High School Reunion, right after Romy and Michele redeem themselves after lying about what they've been doing for the past ten years (inventing post-it notes in particular) Alan Cumming's character asks to dance, and of course they do, to Cyndi Lauper's Time After Time, and it is hilariously good. Their dance moves are so fucking corny and fantastic (as we've seen earlier in the film when Romy and Michele are dancing at a club together) and the finishing pose just tops it all off. And then they hop into a private helicopter! It is a gleefully great way to end what should have been a tragic high school reunion.

Little Edie's flag dance in Grey Gardens is obviously not a completely pre-planned effort considering the film is a documentary, but that doesn't mean it's not fantastic. Poor Little Edie just wants to be a star and this scene really shows that as she's fantasising about the life she could have had. She looks like she's having so much fun, when in other parts of the film she looks so sad trapped in that house with her mother.

The prostitutes in David Lynch's three hour film Inland Empire dancing to The Locomotion seems to come out of nowhere and then ends so abruptly. It's just so bizarre! But what else would you expect from the wonderful Mr. Lynch? I find it so great that he added this little scene into the long film (which seems to follow similar themes of Hollywood disillusionment as the earlier Mulholland Drive), it helps to add a bit of contrast to the dark film.

Another favourite of mine is the ghost-controlled dance to Harry Belafonte's Day-O (Banana Boat Song) in Tim Burton's Beetlejuice. Alex Baldwin and Geena Davis' ghost characters are trying to scare the people who have moved into their house out of their house by puppeteering them in a song and dance, but it all goes wrong when the guests enjoy it. I've watched it countless times on YouTube and I always somehow believe that they're not controlling their own actions. This is not the only fantastic dance scene in Beetlejuice. A very honorable mention goes to the final scene with Winona Ryder's character Lydia Deetz floating in the air and dancing to another Harry Belafonte song, Jump In The Line (Shake, Senora) along with household items and the dead football team.

And finally, of course a very famous dance scene, arguably one of the best ever, is from the Jack Rabbit Slims Twist Contest scene from Quentin Tarantino's cult classic Pulp Fiction. This scene has become iconic and Uma Thurman and John Travolta are absolutely magnificent in it, all the while being assisted with a great song by Chuck Berry. The dance moves in this scene have become synonymous with Pulp Fiction, and to put it simply it's just fucking cool.

In my opinion a dance scene can just add a little something extra to a film, so I think it's always fantastic for a film maker to chuck a dance scene in, as long as it has a great song and great choreography like the ones I've mentioned. I'd like to know what are some of your favourite movie dance scenes?

Since Yesterday

2010-12-07T17:53:00.000+11:00

I've heard of new wave band Strawberry Switchblade but I don't know a whole lot about them, except of course the fact that they look like the love children of singers Siouxsie Sioux and Boy George, or maybe just like Siouxsie Sioux raided Boy George's wardrobe and mixed it up with some Victorian/Japanese Lolita influences.

Strawberry Switchblade made most of their own clothes and when they were asked who was on their 'boyfriend list' when being interviewed on a children's show in the 80's they answered "Boy George, because we could borrow his clothes." I find it interesting and strange that I can't think of any pop stars today who personally create their own stage outfits. I think if an artist's music is personal to them and means a lot to them then their image should reflect that.

Below is the (very polka dotty) film clip for their 1984 song Since Yesterday.

Too Fast To Live Too Young To Die

2010-12-07T11:15:00.001+11:00

Earlier this year a legend in music passed away. His name was Malcolm McLaren and you may know him as the man who created and managed the Sex Pistols. But Malcolm McLaren did not just invent one of the biggest punk bands that has ever existed.

Another band that McLaren created was Bow Wow Wow, probably best known for their cover of "I Want Candy", formed with some of the members of Adam and the Ants along with singer Annabella Lwin, who was just fourteen at the time, and for a short time Boy George (then known as Lieutenant Lush) who was apparently kicked out because the rest of the band were not so fond of him.

The thing that fascinates me the most about Bow Wow Wow is not their heavily African drum influenced new wave sound but the fact that they were created solely to promote Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood's New Romantic clothing lines and their store World's End. I can't even think of a better way to promote a particular style of fashion than that, because the style of fashion goes hand in hand with the particular style of music. From the 1970's through to the 1980's McLaren and Westwood sold clothes that went with particular styles of music. Teddy Boy fashion to go with the 1970's rockabilly revival, through to Punk and then on to New Romantic. Selling clothes due to a movement in music is one of the many things Malcolm McLaren and his then partner Vivienne Westwood did best. Westwood is often credited as the main person who revolutionised fashion by getting punk and new wave clothing into the mainstream.

I think it's funny how despite 'punk fashion' and the punk image being so successful, the words 'punk' and 'fashion' together go completely against the ethos of punk music. But I do wonder what punk, new wave and new romantic would have been without these two people, or whether the music and fashion movements would've even existed at all, or at least thrived as well as they did.

Bow Wow Wow - Fools Rush In

Money, Success, Fame, Glamour

2010-12-06T14:45:00.000+11:00

Michael Alig was cool and fabulous for a little while, until he got so disillusioned that he killed his drug dealer. But, yes, for a while there he was the king of the Club Kids and got paid to party. Imagine how cool it would be to go out every night, get dressed up, get fucked up, have fun and be paid for it. Extremely cool, that's how cool it'd be. Unless of course you spiral out of control and get sent to prison for manslaughter after becoming a decadent junkie mixing heroin, ketamine, rohypnol, and cocaine every night like Mr. Alig did, and then having your behaviour immortalised in a documentary and then a film based on the memoir Disco Bloodbath by fellow Club Kid James St. James starring Macaulay Culkin (baaaaabe) as you, detailing your rise and fall to and from Club Kid stardom. But let's put drugs and manslaughter aside and look into the other sides of being a Club Kid.

Let's start with the getting dressed up bit, which is something I very much enjoy doing. Creating new outfits for each night and piling on massive amounts of makeup in different designs would be tough work but the outcome would be great. I'd have a new theme every night; a geisha one night, Punjabi princess the next and King Louis XV or German school boy (I'm thinking lederhosen) the nights after that, or I'd just make something up on the spot; pop on a corset and paint myself completely blue or cover myself in glitter. Sure I'd have to work on my sewing and make up skills, but it'd be worth it. I'd use Leigh Bowery as my main influence and throw in some Klaus Nomi, Boy George and The Cockettes for good measure. I'm sure I'd get a fair share of obscenities yelled at me on the streets, but that doesn't matter at all, in fact, I would take them as compliments (like that one night in the city when some guy tried to offend me by asking if I came from the circus, hehe).

Alig threw parties in fast food joints and on subway platforms. Partying in unconventional spaces (until the cops shut it down) would be so much fun. Sure, I've been a drunk nuisance in McDonald's plenty of times before, dancing, singing and throwing food around, but let's imagine me and my anti-social behaviour times by 300, having a fast food party. Instead of drink cards we'd have cheeseburger cards. We could even get some table top dancing going on, and dancing on the front counter.

The life of a Club Kid sounds pretty spectacular, but you wouldn't want to end up like the notorious party monster, who could be released from prison in late 2013. Who knows if Michael Alig will get back into the business of partying after his release... Maybe I should get into the business of partying. Maybe I should take Michael's advice to David in the autographed photograph above and just "go for it". But where would it lead me? Into a drugged stupor, oblivious to my surroundings? No thanks. But I do like to party.

Primitive Love For Me

2010-11-26T01:47:00.001+11:00

Today I was primitive.

Wig, fox skull, fox fur, rabbit fur, macrame/bead necklace, skull dagger earrings, shirt.

Róisín Murphy's song Primitive from her album Overpowered has been stuck in my head all day, but I have no complaints about that.

Out from under a rock from the prehistoric sea we came. We are animals, animal. One unbroken chain.

The Pope Of Trash Is My Role Model

2010-11-26T01:11:00.001+11:00

I recently purchased and read John Waters' new book Role Models. If you know me well you probably know that I'm not a big reader (something that I'm not happy about and wish to change), so it is quite a strange occurrence when I actually pick up and read a book. But for a John Waters book it was easy, simply because Waters is such a funny, original and insightful man with some very good views on the world (oh, and because the cover is beautifully drawn in grey lead pencil).

I first discovered John Waters for myself when I found out about his film Pink Flamingos while scouring the internet for interesting, transgressive films to watch. I found Pink Flamingos so hilarious and grotesque (as I imagine most people do) that I had to see more of his films. I went on a rampage of viewing his early films, the ones that mostly star the forever fantastic Divine and the always amazing Mink Stole (Female Trouble, Desperate Living, Multiple Maniacs, Polyester, etc.), and I completely fell in love with these films and the complete atrociousness of them. I have just recently finished watching his more recent, less revolting, but still good films (Cecil B. Demented, Pecker, Serial Mom, A Dirty Shame, etc.) and I very much enjoy Mink Stole's appearances, and quick cameos from Mary Vivian Pearce (both actresses have appeared in every one of Waters' films) and it's so cool that Waters' has used people like convicted bank robber Patricia Hearst and ex-porn star Traci Lords (who is so so so so hot in Cry-Baby as 1950's babe Wanda Woodward) in his films.

His outrageous cult films (particularly his early films) are like nothing I've ever seen before. From Raymond and Connie Marble's toe sucking with 'carpets' to match the 'drapes' in Pink Flamingos to Divine raping 'herself' in Female Trouble or getting raped by a giant lobster in Multiple Maniacs (which was wonderfully paid homage to by Róisín Murphy in her Movie Star film clip). Trash! Pure trash. Oh, and how could I forget Mink Stole shoving rosary beads in Divine's ass hole inside a church, also in Multiple Maniacs. T-R-A-S-H. I could go on and on listing revolting and bizarre scenes, but I digress.

Role Models is a manifesto of essays about the people who have inspired Waters, from famous to practically unknown. The list of names include singer Johnny Mathis, ex-Manson Family member Leslie Van Houten, Comme des Garçons designer Rei Kawakubo (Waters walked the runway for Comme des Garçons once in the 90's) and rock and roll legend Little Richard, just to name a few. I found it great to get some insight on John Waters as a person, especially after seeing his films. It was great to read how varied his influences are and how he's reflected them in his films.

Role Models is John Waters latest book and he has a few other books which I hope to read very soon. He's not only a film maker and author, he has also exhibited an art show with installations such as a giant bottle of Rush that has been tipped over and pictures of Hollywood children with cigarettes photoshopped into their mouths. The Sultan of Sleaze, with his signature pencil moustache, is just an all round trashy man, and definitely a role model of mine. Who'd have thought there'd be a massive hit musical based on one of his films? (That's Hairspray by the way).

I must start reading regularly because John Waters once said “If you go home with someone, and they don’t have books, don’t fuck ‘em.” and I wouldn't want that, would I?

Creative Machine

2010-11-25T20:14:00.000+11:00

Florence Broadhurst was an Australian performer, fashion boutique owner, dressmaker, artist and wallpaper designer. She was a creative genius and although you might not know her name I don't doubt that you've seen her designs one place or another.

She is most well known for her wallpaper designs, even though she only got into that field when she was in her sixties. It just goes to show it's never too late to do what you want, and if you don't know what you want, it's never too late to discover it.

Although wallpaper is undoubtedly less popular than it once was, the beauty of the designs of her wallpapers has easily carried through from the 60's and 70's to today in a timeless manner. When looking at her wallpaper designs it's hard not to think of all of the places she's been, all of the things that influenced her and her work as she was travelling all over the world throughout her life. I can just imagine all of the things she's lived through and all of the stories she's told. Whether the stories are true or false (she was known to tell tales and twist the truth) is not important, what's important is that these stories have come from her experiences and from her mind, and when she was living they had somehow become a twisted reality for her.

From an early age she began travelling performing as a singer and in a comedy troupe, she then went on to start an academy, own a boutique, exhibit paintings and eventually start her internationally successful handprinted wallpaper company. She lived such a creative and fulfilled life, which seems like such an exciting prospect. It seems she was always reinventing herself while always remaining a fascinating person.

Florence Broadhurt's life was cut short when she was brutally murdered in her studio in 1977 (her murder remains a mystery), but she lives on in her work. She was such an eccentric character and the fact that she was so productive and inventive throughout her life is inspiring. I only hope for a life as fascinating and full of creativity as Florence's was.

If I Had A Few Hundred Dollars

2010-11-17T12:52:00.000+11:00

The other day my friend Felicity and I went to Chadstone and just as we were about to leave I remembered that Fat now stocks Comme des Garçons. So I dragged Flick to Fat and went in and browsed around and then I came to a rack which held some of the best clothes I have seen in quite some time. I'm not ashamed to say that I got quite excited (just ask Flick).

By this time in my life I've come to two realisations when it comes to clothes. One is that I like really cheap clothes from places like op shops (or clothes that once belonged to my parents), and quite expensive clothes, but rarely anything in the middle. The second realisation is that I am so underwhelmed by so many of the clothes I see when I go shopping. So many things are just so boring and pedestrian, just created to please the masses. But I was not underwhelmed one little bit while flicking through the Commes des Garçons rack at Fat. Beautiful reversible coats, kaftans, shirts with detachable scarves, drop crotch shorts, jackets with underarm holes and buttons on both sides... It was super lovely to see these clothes in the flesh and it was great to see some clothes that weren't just tediously characterless and the same as the last store I just browsed through (maybe I'm shopping in all the wrong places).

If only I had a few hundred (or thousand) dollars spare I'd purchase some Comme des Garçons to hang on my body (my birthday's coming up, hint hint).

Unlike The Story It Was Written To Be

2010-11-08T18:12:00.000+11:00

When I first heard Joanna Newsom I think I was attracted to that slightly Kate Bush feel of her music, but after I listened more I put my Kate Bush comparisons away (although I still occasionally hear a hint of that genius woman in Joanna's music) and fully embraced her shrill 'cat getting strangled and drowned at the same time' vocals and her wonderful harp (and quite often piano) music.

That description of her voice sounds bad, but I truly don't mean for it to. Come to think of it, sometimes she sounds like a little girl. That is not a bad thing either and I think such a distinctive voice singing such beautiful songs deserves praise. Plus the fact that she started learning piano and harp from the age of four, and harp was her instrument of choice from that age. All of the words coming from her mouth are so enchanting and poetic, so magical. I wish I could string words together half as beautifully as she does, and she does it so effortlessly. The effects are simply mesmerising. The following lyrics are from Sawdust and Diamonds...

Though my wrists and my waist seemed so easy to break,
Still, my dear, I would have walked you to the very edge of the water,
And they will recognise all the lines of your face,
In the face of the daughter of the daughter of my daughter.

Joanna Newsom is going to be here in Australia next year for Golden Plains Festival and I'm hoping she does a side show and I'm hoping I have enough money to go to the side show. I haven't been into her music for very long but I think it would be pretty great to hear her and see her right in front of me, plucking away marvelously at her harp and singing at the very top of her spectacular voice.

Oh, and her most recent album cover for Have One On Me is pretty fantastic.

Joanna Newsom - Peach, Plum, Pear

Get Used To It

2010-11-06T14:41:00.000+11:00

Portia DeRossi was on The Ellen Degeneres Show the other today and she mentioned that she didn't have any gay role models growing up. I was laying on my bed listening to Grizzly Bear and I realised how lucky I am to have so many famous out queer role models and inspirations that span across a range of generations.

In no particular order...
Ed Droste, Beth Ditto, Alan Cumming, Patrick Wolf, Seth Bogart, Andy Butler, Antony Hegarty, Kele, Owen Pallett, Rufus Wainwright, Leigh Bowery, Boy George, Freddie Mercury, Jake Shears, Sia Furler, Tegan and Sara Quinn, Rostam Batmanglij, Gregg Araki, John Waters, Alexander McQueen, Jobriath, Divine, Klaus Nomi, Gus Van Sant, Bruce LaBruce, Keith Haring, Amanda Lepore, John Cameron Mitchell, David Sedaris... (and no doubt many more that I've unintentionally left out).

Some more obscure than others, but all very important to me. Not only are these people queer or LGBT, they are all fantastic artists, which makes them even more inspiring. They also break free from the gay stereotype and help to show how much diversity there is in the LGBT community.

It's such a shame that many famous people feel that coming out or not hiding their sexuality will ruin their careers. No one should have to live in fear of anything like that. It's just not fair.

The Best Costume For The Day

2010-11-06T13:30:00.000+11:00

A couple of months ago my friend Gus introduced me to the 1975 documentary film Grey Gardens and the 2009 made for television film of the same name that was based on the documentary and the lives of Edith "Big Edie" Ewing Bouvier Beale and her daughter Edith "Little Edie" Bouvier Beale.

I watched the 1975 Grey Gardens first, followed by the 2009 film. The original documentary was a captivating look at the every day lives of mother and daughter living in the filth of a decayed mansion in East Hampton named Grey Gardens. The 2009 film, which stars Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange as the Edies (both do an excellent job), takes you before, during and after the filming of the documentary with flash backs to when Little Edie was young and the mansion was in pristine condition, it also recreates some of the scenes from the documentary.

I was absolutely sucked into the fascinating lives of Big Edie and Little Edie. They're both such incredibly tragic characters, particularly Little Edie, who dreams of fame and fortune but is stuck in this decrepit mansion with her bossy old mother. I was also fascinated by the conditions they were living in. Absolute filth! Heaps and heaps of cats and racoons roaming around and piles of rubbish everywhere (and this was after Big Edie's neice, former First Lady Jackie O, helped to restore the house).

Little Edie to me is a bit of a fashion icon with her iconic headscarves (worn to hide her hair loss due to alopecia), signature brooch and her plethora of outfits, or costumes as her and her mother described them. I watched a clip on youtube from The Beales of Grey Gardens, a film with footage that was not used in the original documentary, where it is revealed that Big Edie made Little Edie change her 'costume' at least ten times a day. Imagine picking out ten outfits everyday... Little Edie did it. I've seen fashion pictorials that have very obviously emulated Grey Gardens and Little Edie's style.

After the death of her mother Little Edie tried to fulfil her dreams of fame and fortune with an unsuccessful stint performing a cabaret.
Grey Gardens is an extremely captivating film and I get excited everytime I see clips I haven't seen and everytime I read about the Beale's fascinating lives before, during and after the filming of Grey Gardens.

You can check out Gus' blog here and his Grey Gardens post here.

Bisexual Twin Peaks In College

2010-11-04T22:22:00.000+11:00

Gregg Araki's new film Kaboom was shown at Cannes Film Festival back in May this year and I am just wishing and waiting for a screening some time soon in Melbourne so I can see it. Araki has described it as "bisexual Twin Peaks in college". Now I'm a massive Twin Peaks fan and the words 'bisexual' and 'Twin Peaks' in one sentence to describe a film sounds pretty good to me, especially if it's a Gregg Araki film, and it looks pretty accurately described judging by the trailer.

I feel like it maybe has a bit of a Skins vibe as well. The character London sort of reminds me of a less spaced out version of Cassie (maybe that's just her blonde hair and british accent). But then again Gregg Araki's Nowhere has a bit of a Skins vibe to it too and it was made ten years before Skins. Either way Kaboom looks awesome!

Kaboom appears to be more of a return to Araki's earlier films Totally Fucked Up, The Doom Generation and Nowhere, otherwise known as The Teenage Apocalypse Trilogy. These films are great, and James Duval, who starred in all three of the aforementioned movies, was a total babe and it's great to see that he will be making an appearance in Kaboom as 'The Messiah'.

Totally Fucked Up (1993), which was described as "a queer John Hughes flick" by Araki, is about six queer teens going about their lives together, The Doom Generation (1995) follows a couple played by James Duval and Rose McGowan who get involved in a ménage à trois with Johnathon Schaech and then are on the run after accidentally killing a convenience store owner, and Nowhere (1997) (which is probably my personal favourite of the three) follows the life of Dark (played by Duval) and his friends when some freaky sci-fi shit happens. So it appears that Araki has come back to just that - teenagers and freaky sci-fi shit. Sounds mighty fine to me.

Gregg Araki is one of my favourite directors and he has been a big name in new queer cinema. I'm really glad my friend introduced me to and leant me Mysterious Skin a few years ago which lead me to find out who this man was and the amazing films he's made. I'm very looking forward to seeing Kaboom.

Amy's Party

2010-11-03T20:46:00.000+11:00

Mark Ronson has produced a new track featuring vocals by none other than Amy Winehouse. It's a cover of Lesley Gore's 1963 hit It's My Party and it will appear on Quincy Jones' new album Q: Soul Bossa Nostra, which features other big names such as Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Hudson and Snoop Dogg covering songs that were originally produced by Jones.

Yes, another Mark Ronson post within two days of even starting my blog, but I just can't help it, whatever he touches turns to gold, and whatever he does with Amy is just amazing. I mean, Back to Black is a spectacular album and don't even get me started on Valerie, The Zutons cover that was on Mark Ronson's album Version, such an amazing song! It's My Party is no exception, just listen here for the proof...

It's My Party Feat. Amy Winehouse

I'd like to think this is the beginning of the return of Amy Winehouse but who can tell? The woman's a mess... A talented mess, but a mess none the less. And I think her messiness distracts a lot of people from her immense talent, which is such a shame. Ugh, let's just hope she finally gets started on her third album and that Mark Ronson is attached to produce.

The Wolf Returns

2010-11-02T11:40:00.000+11:00

I just received an email telling me of 'The Return of Patrick Wolf'. This is exciting as I am quite a big Patrick Wolf fan, I have been for about four years now, and news that some of his brand new, sweet, sweet music that has never been heard before is going to be beautifully colliding with my ears in the very near future gets my heart racing just a bit.

I believe I found out about Patrick Wolf while google image searching Siouxsie and the Banshees. In amongst images of Siouxsie's big black hair and dark eyes was a young man with red-orange dyed hair and, I would imagine (because my memory fails me), some fantastic outfit. I clicked the image, found out this beautiful man's name and spent the rest of the day listening to his music online.

Although I was looking forward to part two of Battle, which was to be named The Conqueror to go with his 2009 album The Bachelor, Patrick announced that he's "grown up alot from that battle aggression" and that the album will no longer be titled The Conqueror. But a recent quote from him states that it will still be an optimistic album, and optimistic Patrick makes me happy.

"The new album has a direct narrative about love and optimism surviving through adversity and recession. I wanted to celebrate the love and hope I have found in the last few years."

With the release of his new album there's no doubt he will be touring again and I will finally get to see him! I've missed out three times now due to being underage. His last show here was only five days before my 18th birthday and needless to say I was completely shattered by this.

I'm looking forward to hearing his new single Time Of My Life (which will be getting played on British radio in a months time) and I will be patiently waiting for his new album (title TBA) to be released. New music from Patrick Wolf gets me way too excited!

edit:

Here's an unofficial video of Patrick's new single Time Of My Life that was made in his kitchen. You may recognise the song from the Battle Megamix that was released before The Bachelor was released.

I Want Somebody To Love Me

2010-11-01T17:27:00.001+11:00

I was extremely excited for the new Mark Ronson album when I heard Bang Bang Bang on the radio a couple of months ago. Then came The Bike Song, which got me even more excited for Mark Ronson and the Business Intl's Record Collection.

I got the album a few days after it was released and promptly fell deeply in love with the fourth track Somebody To Love Me which features Boy George and Andrew Wyatt. After listening to this song and the rest of the album quite a few times I was put in the mood for a Record Collection dance party by myself in my bedroom, singing at the top of my voice to Somebody To Love Me, pretending to be Boy George circa Culture Club days, which then lead me into a minor Boy George obsession.

Then the film clip was released! It's a spectacular look at an early Boy George, shot in a home video VHS style. It made me feel somewhat nostalgic despite it being set about 9 years before I was even born. After watching the film clip and falling even more in love with the song, Mark Ronson and Boy George, I started watching Boy George interviews on youtube from the early to mid 1980's. Ahhh! He was so great. His outlandish, androgynous style and the intelligent words coming out of his mouth really captured me.

Halloween was coming up and I contemplated dressing as Boy George in the Culture Club days but I just wasn't sure. I didn't know whether I'd be able to pull it off or not, but in the end after experimenting with my hair, make up and some outfit options I decided I'd give it a go.

I very much enjoy dressing up, and being Boy George for a night was great fun.

It's About Time

2010-11-01T16:11:00.000+11:00

I've been meaning to create a blog for a while now, I promised myself as soon as uni holidays started I would make one and begin blogging... So I've been on university holidays for about three weeks now, and I have been lazy as fuck.
I have so many things I want to talk about, especially when it comes to film, music, fashion, theatre and art, so I'm going to start doing that here, starting from today.

"Without obsession, life is nothing." - John Waters