East of Albion

Laura Marling

2009-07-21T00:25:00.000-07:00

http://www.lauramarling.com/

spirit animals.

2009-07-18T03:18:00.000-07:00

I really want to know who did these.

beautiful people of the week.

2009-07-18T02:56:00.000-07:00

Marianne Faithfull.

Penn Badgley.

artist: Daniel Danger

2009-07-08T17:35:00.000-07:00

These prints take my breath away. You can see more at http://tinymediaempire.com/ and I would highly reccommend doing so.

Beautiful people of the week

2009-07-02T21:17:00.000-07:00

Tom Sturridge

Harley Viera-Newton

beautiful people of the week.

2009-06-30T17:05:00.000-07:00

Clara Bow.

Jimmy Page.

Fuck Forever

2009-06-29T22:48:00.000-07:00

curious things (photo post).

2009-06-28T19:18:00.000-07:00

Beautiful people of the week

2009-06-22T23:30:00.000-07:00

Mark Ronson

Josephine De La Baume

elephants: all the rage.

2009-06-21T14:28:00.001-07:00

I've only recently discovered just how ruthless elephants could be. I once thought they gentle giants, probably spurred on from my good experiences with them in Thailand. But as it turns out 'elephant rage' is extremely common in all elephants and according to Wikipedia:

In the Indian state of Jharkhand, 300 people were killed by elephants between 2000 and 2004, and in Assam, 239 people have been killed by elephants since 2001.In India, elephants kill up to 200 humans every year, and in Sri Lanka around 50 per year.

One famous case was of Tyke the elephant. In August 1994, Tyke killed her trainer and "gored" her groomer in front of a crowd of hundreds in Honolulu before running out of the arena and running rampant around the streets of Kakaako for half an hour before being shot at 86 times and dying.

This can probably be attributed to the circus elephant being treated extremely badly, as they are smart creatures and as such I would assume they can be spiteful. The moral of the story is; treat your elephant kind, and you won't get crushed to death. It took me a while to actually find an article on a famous elephant that hadn't killed someone. So keep it in mind.

Here's some adorable elephants to wrap things up.

Donyale Luna.

2009-06-20T19:55:00.001-07:00

Donyale Luna (1 January 1945 - 17 May 1979) was the first notable African American model and the first black cover girl.She also appeared in several films, most notably as the title character in Salome, a 1972 film by director Carmelo Bene, and several films by Andy Warhol.

She was born Peggy Anne Freeman in Detroit, Michigan.Her parents were Peggy and Nathaniel Freeman; her father, who was reportedly abusive, was murdered when she was 18. Luna's mother wanted her to become a nurse.

Despite the parentage stated on her birth certificate, she insisted that her biological father was a man with the surname Luna and that her mother was Mexican. According to the model, one of her grandmothers was reportedly an Irish former actress who married a black interior decorator. Whether any of this background is true is uncertain. In the mid 1960s, a relative described Luna as being "a very weird child, even from birth, living in a wonderland, a dream."

Luna died in Rome, Italy, in a clinic, after an accidental drug overdose.

beautiful people of the week.

2009-06-18T16:41:00.000-07:00

Jane Birkin.

Marlon Brando.

Omahyra Garcia

2009-06-16T19:11:00.000-07:00

Been looking through old Rolling Stones magazines. she is described as, "a women who could fuck a man to death." Admits she has tried it too.

poem of the week.

2009-06-16T16:45:00.000-07:00

All The Hemispheres

By Hafiz

Leave the familiar for a while.
Let your senses and bodies stretch out
Like a welcomed season
Onto the meadows and shores and hills.
Open up to the Roof.
Make a new water-mark on your excitement
And love.
Like a blooming night flower,
Bestow your vital fragrance of happiness
And giving
Upon our intimate assembly.
Change rooms in your mind for a day.
All the hemispheres in existence
Lie beside an equator
In your heart.
Greet Yourself
In your thousand other forms
As you mount the hidden tide and travel
Back home.
All the hemispheres in heaven
Are sitting around a fire
Chatting
While stitching themselves together
Into the Great Circle inside of
You.

Worst written

2009-06-16T00:47:00.001-07:00

A competition to write the worst possible opening line.

http://www.bulwer-lytton.com/lyttony.htm

"The countdown had stalled at T minus 69 seconds when Desiree, the first female ape to go up in space, winked at me slyly and pouted her thick, rubbery lips unmistakably--the first of many such advances during what would prove to be the longest, and most memorable, space voyage of my career."

Arrested again.

2009-06-15T20:31:00.000-07:00

Arrested for doing heroin in a bathroom on a plane last week. Released after he paid a fine.

Beautiful people of the week

2009-06-10T20:10:00.000-07:00

James Dean

Bette Page

famous rock groupies.

2009-06-10T19:16:00.001-07:00

Well not even really just groupies, but also famous female partners of great rockstars. I feel groupies are often perceived in more of a negative light than they deserve. Yes, groupies did sleep with band members, but they did more than that and it was just their objective. Groupies went on tour with the band, often acting as a surrogate girlfriend. Not only providing them with sex, but also acting as a sort of assisstant and caring female figure. Groupies were people who loved the bands they toured with, and just wanted to give back anyway they could. The ones that only slept with celebrities for their status were called "starfuckers" and were often looked down on by the groupies and musicians. A lot of these people mentioned were just the partners of famous rockstars.

Anita Pallenberg.
Anita Pallenberg was the romantic partner of Keith Richards from 1967 to 1979. She was also considered a fashion icon of the time.

Pattie Boyd.
Pattie Boyd was the girlfriend of Beatles' member George Harrison, and later went on to marry him. They divorced in 1974 and she then went on to marry Eric Clapton.

Sable Starr (with Johnny Thunders).
Sable Starr was known as being the "queen of the scene." She had an affair with Iggy Pop when she was only 13. In 1973 she met Johnny Thunders and their relationship lasted about a year until Johnny's growing drug addiction and aggressiveness made her attempt suicide, though she was saved and taken to a hospital by Syl Sylvain, another member of the New York Dolls. After that she ran away, though Johnny continued to pursue her, and they got together once more until the end of 1974.

Lori Maddox.
Lori Maddox was brought into the groupie scene when she was only 13. She first met Jimmy Page when she was 14 and they dated for a year and a half, though had to keep the relationship private as Lori was underage.

Jenny Boyd.
The sister of Pattie Boyd. Jenny dated folk-singer Donovan who named a song after her (Jennifer Juniper) and eventually married Fleetwood Mac drummer, Mick Fleetwood, and had two kids. She travelled to India with the Beatles and her sister in 1968.

Cyrinda Foxe (with David Bowie).
Model, actress and groupie, best known for her marriage to Steven Tyler of the rock band Aerosmith.

just a 'happy monday' image for you.

2009-06-07T17:08:00.000-07:00

Focus, then blink rapidly.

beautiful people of the week.

2009-06-06T16:53:00.000-07:00

Natasha Khan.

Devendra Banhart.

Antarctic Center

2009-06-02T16:34:00.000-07:00

This is where I am spending my holidays!

With some of these.

And definitely some of this.

Beautiful people of the week

2009-06-01T15:19:00.000-07:00

Sasha Pivovarova

Ashley Stymest

knit pick.

2009-05-28T15:53:00.000-07:00

I always said that if I ever learnt to knit I would just knit around things. Around buildings, around trees... people. Create some sort of new art form so that the public can get frustrated arguing about whether or not it really is art, or just vandalism. Could knitting around public things be vandalism? It's strange to think about it. I think what makes it strange is knitting is not generally associated with vandals. Goddamn, if I were an older lady that would be my gimmick. I'd be an elderly vandal with a penchant for knitting around your favourite dairy, or knitting robot suits over the post boxes. They'd all say "D'oh! The Knitting Bandit has struck again!"

Although I couldn't really find too much on knitting around things, I did find some other interesting knitted things...

I can't believe I actually found a knitted tree. That is so cool.

This giant knitted bunny can be seen from satellites that orbit the earth. Who ever did this, is my hero.

This may be the best thing that my eyes have ever experienced.

And it's non-flammable!

Romance was born

2009-05-26T19:27:00.000-07:00

One of my favourite australian labels, Romance Was Born. http://www.romancewasborn.com/ I love how free and romantic their clothing is, a feeling of life and being seems to be injected into every creation.

Nagi Noda

2009-05-26T18:08:00.000-07:00

I think these are beautiful, they are by the Japanease artist Nagi Noda who sadly died last year after a car crash. But what I would do for one!

http://www.naginoda.com/

poem of the week.

2009-05-24T21:08:00.000-07:00

Detroit Annie, Hitchhiking.
By Judy Grahn.

Her words pour out as if her throat were a broken
artery and her mind were cut-glass, carelessly handled.
You imagine her in a huge velvet hat with great
dangling black feathers,
but she shaves her head instead
and goes for three-day midnight walks.
Sometimes she goes down to the dock and dances
off the end of it, simply to prove her belief
that people who cannot walk on water
are phonies, or dead.
When she is cruel, she is very, very
cool and when she is kind she is lavish.
Fisherman think perhaps she's a fish, but they're all
fools. She figured out that the only way
to keep from being frozen was to
stay in motion, and long ago converted
most of her flesh into liquid. Now when she
smells danger, she spills herself all over,
like gasoline, and lights it.
She leaves the taste of salt and iron
under your tongue, but you dont mind
The common woman is as common
as the reddest wine

music that makes you dance as you walk

2009-05-24T13:58:00.000-07:00

The kills

my top ten favourite drug enthusiasts.

2009-05-21T01:43:00.000-07:00

Amy Winehouse. She's such a controversial figure today, people always going on about whether or not she actually has talent or whether she's just a media-hyped crackwhore who has the hair of a dozen or so Russian homeless girls on her head. Personally, I love her music, and I love her voice. And so what if she's on drugs? She still makes good music, and it's nobody's business but her own. I think the media has done enough already to prevent her from becoming a role model, so it's not the children we're worrying about. Considering that most great musicians had a downwards spiral at some point or another, Amy really shouldn't be "open-fire bitching" material. As my friend put it, "Amy Winehouse is a much better crackwhore than Lindsay Lohan."

Timothy Leary. Who could forget Timothy Leary? The most renowned LSD prophet, Leary first started out as being a professor at Harvard University before getting kicked out for preaching psychedelics to his students. He was essentially the cold to Ken Kesey's hot; whilst Kesey preached the good word of LSD using massive parties (known as the "acid tests") Leary preferred to give LSD to people in a more relaxed environment on his estate where the users could walk around the gardens, relax and meditate. Leary died in 1995 from prostate cancer.

Russell Brand. So he's off drugs now, and practicing the religion of Hare Krishna which has a strict no alcohol, no drugs rule but who could forget the old heroin-fueled Russell that came into work dressed as Osama Bin Laden the day after the September 11th attacks, and subsequently got fired? Not me, and not anyone else. But the sober Russell Brand is just as good, if not better than the drugged up one. A sober Brand is better than an over-dosed Brand, that's what I always say.

Pete Doherty. The infamous lead singer of Babyshambles, and formerly The Libertines, Pete Doherty is renowned for being a crack cocaine and heroin addict. He's been arrested multiple times for it, and has been in rehab a couple of times, but has still managed to relapse into his old ways. Not only that but he had an implant fitted to block the body's opiate receptors, an extreme resort to stop his heroin addiction. Still, as his manager Andy Boyd once implied in an interview with the Daily Mail, all this did was cause Doherty to replace heroin with another drug. What a mess, but good music he does make. And I typed that out strangely.

Nikki Sixx. You know, because he over-dosed on heroin, then got better and wrote a kickass song about it. Now that's class. And even before that, Sixx overdosed in London at a dealers house causing his dealer to apparentely try to "beat the life back into him" with a baseball bat then throw him in the dumpster. Sounds like the most fun you can have without taking your pants off. Sixx has been sober since 2004.

Keith Richards. You got to commend this guy for still being alive. That's some serious skill right there. This life thing, it's hard to do when you've spent the majority of your life snorting coke and shooting heroin, but ol' Keith Richards held his head up high and he said "Fuck it, I'm riding this train to the end" and his fathers ashes he did snort, and a tree he did fall out of, but it was all in good taste, and he's all better now anyway. Of snorting his fathers ashes (and having reported to have mixed it with cocaine) Richards said, "I said I'd chopped him up like cocaine, not with. I opened his box up and ... out comes a bit of dad on the dining room table. I'm going, 'I can't use a brush and dustpan for this." Did I mention he may be crazy? He may be crazy.

Johnny Thunders. Thunders was a member of the New York Dolls, a prominent band on the New York scene in the early seventies managed by Malcolm McLaren who was to later go on and manage the sex pistols. After the break up of the New York Dolls, Thunders formed the band The Heartbreakers, and later on started performing in a band called Gang War. He then went on to pursue a solo career. Thunders was most notably known for his excessive heroin use, and it is believed his addiction was the reason he was kicked out of the New York Dolls, which consequently caused it's break up. It was initially believed that Thunders death in 1991 was caused by a heroin over-dose, but it was later revealed that the levels of drugs found in his system was not fatal, and that he had mostly been on methadone at the time, in order to tame his heroin addiction. Not only that but the rigor mortis had his body in an unnatural 'U' shape and his house had been completely ransacked and robbed of passports and clothes and other possessions. What a mystery.

Janis Joplin. After arriving in California and becoming popular in clubs, Joplin's amphetamine use and alcohol abuse reached a whole new level. Later on in her career she started to turn to heroin and all other her other substances she abused became even more of a problem, too. In 1969, Joplin quit drugs and seemed altogether more happier yet in October 1970 Joplin was found dead, following an over-dose of heroin, combined with alcohol. The album Pearl was released after her death and became the biggest selling record of her career.

Iggy Pop. Known as the "grandfather of punk" Iggy was the lead singer of the Stooges during the late 60's and early 70's and became famous for his outrageous stage performances where Iggy would self-mutilate (including rolling around in broken glass), verbally abuse the audience (and occasionally throw up on them), and expose himself (penis!). Iggy's growing heroin addiction led to the break up of The Stooges in 1971 and later on Iggy checked himself into a mental institution to try and overcome his addiction, though it was believed that David Bowie, who was one of Iggy's regular visitors, would sometimes smuggle in cocaine for Iggy. His drug habit continued afterwards, but went in and out of varied intensities. In 1984 Iggy took a three year break from his career in which he took the time to overcome his heroin addiction. Iggy Pop still continues his career today as a recording and performing artist.

Hunter S. Thompson. It's no secret that Thompson liked his drugs, as is proven in the 1972 book Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas where Thompson (under the alias "Raoul Duke") and his attourney go on a massive drug binge whilst covering a story for Rolling Stone in Las Vegas. In the book, Gonzo, an autobiography of Thompson's life, he was described as nearly always being on something or another-- either drugs or alcohol. Most of the people who knew him wondered how on earth he managed to live the way he did, which was basically everything in excess. It was reported that Thompson wrote the whole second half of Hells Angels in one night, on cocaine. And later on during Nixon's resignation he reportedly told Rolling Stone he couldn't write their story on Nixon because he didn't have any cocaine. Hunter S. Thompson died in 2005 from a self-inflicted gunshot to the head, left with the suicide note: "No More Games. No More Bombs. No More Walking. No More Fun. No More Swimming. 67. That is 17 years past 50. 17 more than I needed or wanted. Boring. I am always bitchy. No Fun — for anybody. 67. You are getting Greedy. Act your old age. Relax — This won't hurt." Hunter S. Thompson was a legend.

Other people that deserve a mention include; Aldous Huxley, Ken Kesey, Allen Ginsberg, Syd Barrett, Jimi Hendrix, Slash, Jerry Garcia and William S. Burroughs.

beautiful people of the week.

2009-05-20T15:13:00.000-07:00

Uschi Obermaier.

Ian Hunter.

Louis Vuitton

2009-05-20T14:22:00.001-07:00

They remind me of Crash Bandicoot!

I'm not usually a fan of Louis Vuitton, but I think their spring/summer 2009 collection is lushly tribal.

I don't really know what I'd do with them though, not really my sort of thing and very expensive, but they are beautiful, and anybody who could pull off wearing them!

sketches on acid.

2009-05-17T13:58:00.000-07:00

I may be a little late on this, but recently I stumbled upon a website showcasing a series of drawings that were done by someone under the influence of LSD-25. It was part of a test that the US government was doing on the psychoactive drug in the 50's. The test basically was that the artist was given doses of LSD and then asked to draw the doctor that administered it to him. You may beg to differ, but I find the results of this experiment incredibly interesting.

20 minutes after the first dose.

85 minutes after first dose and 20 minutes after second dose.

'I can see you clearly, so clearly. This... you... it's all ... I'm having a little trouble controlling this pencil. It seems to want to keep going.'

2 hours 30 minutes after first dose.

'Outlines seem normal, but very vivid - everything is changing colour. My hand must follow the bold sweep of the lines. I feel as if my consciousness is situated in the part of my body that's now active - my hand, my elbow... my tongue'.

2 hours 32 minutes after first dose.

'I'm trying another drawing. The outlines of the model are normal, but now those of my drawing are not. The outline of my hand is going weird too. It's not a very good drawing is it? I give up - I'll try again...'

2 hours 35 minutes after first dose.

'I'll do a drawing in one flourish... without stopping... one line, no break!'
Upon completing the drawing the patient starts laughing, then becomes startled by something on the floor.

2 hours 45 minutes after first dose.

Patient tries to climb into activity box, and is generally agitated - responds slowly to the suggestion he might like to draw some more. He has become largely none verbal.

'I am... everything is... changed... they're calling... your face... interwoven... who is...' Patient mumbles inaudibly to a tune (sounds like 'Thanks for the memory). He changes medium to Tempera.

4 hours 25 minutes after first dose.

Patient retreated to the bunk, spending approximately 2 hours lying, waving his hands in the air. His return to the activity box is sudden and deliberate, changing media to pen and water colour.

'This will be the best drawing, Like the first one, only better. If I'm not careful I'll lose control of my movements, but I won't, because I know. I know' - (this saying is then repeated many times).

Patient makes the last half-a-dozen strokes of the drawing while running back and forth across the room.

5 hours 45 minutes after first dose.

Patient continues to move about the room, intersecting the space in complex variations. It's an hour and a half before he settles down to draw again - he appears over the effects of the drug.
'I can feel my knees again, I think it's starting to wear off. This is a pretty good drawing - this pencil is mighty hard to hold' - (he is holding a crayon).

8 hours after first dose.

Patient sits on bunk bed. He reports the intoxication has worn off except for the occational distorting of our faces. We ask for a final drawing which he performs with little enthusiasm.
'I have nothing to say about this last drawing, it is bad and uninteresting, I want to go home now.'

To see the website I got these from, click here.

Beautiful People of the week

2009-05-14T16:03:00.001-07:00

Carl Barât

Natascha McElhone

jimmy backius.

2009-05-13T13:26:00.000-07:00

Jimmy Backius. I really want that headpiece in the first photo. I bet it invokes spirits.

Poem of the week

2009-05-12T23:40:00.000-07:00

The Freedom of the Moon

I've tried the new moon tilted in the air
Above a hazy tree-and-farmhouse cluster
As you might try a jewel in your hair.
I've tried it fine with little breadth of luster,
Alone, or in one ornament combining
With one first-water start almost shining.

I put it shining anywhere I please.
By walking slowly on some evening later,
I've pulled it from a crate of crooked trees,
And brought it over glossy water, greater,
And dropped it in, and seen the image wallow,
The color run, all sorts of wonder follow.

karen kurycki.

2009-05-11T16:38:00.001-07:00

Karen Kurycki. Doesn't the mixed media just make you feel all floaty inside like you're pregnant with pure happiness? Oh yes.

Mr Pink-Whistle Interferes

2009-05-10T13:59:00.000-07:00

Known as one of Enid Blytons most loved characters, Mr Pink Whistle is a cheeky wee vixen who interferes at any chance he can get. For children reading this book I am sure he will seem like a hero who saves the day when bullies and illness strikes, however, I was a bit put off.

Mr Pink Whistle is a middle aged looking elfy thing, who spends his time playing with little children. Now I don't usually look for the worst in people, but I didn't really have to go looking;

"He wanted to follow the twins home (they are eight....) and find out where they lived. He meant to give them a birthday present each. So he trotted behind them, although they didn't know it, and saw the house they lived in. He wrote the name of it in his notebook."

Now if a strange man followed my children home then proceeded to write down the address I'd call the police or release the hounds.

Mr Pink Whistle also punishes those who have been bad mercilessly till they cry, or someone begs him to stop;

"Please Mr Pink Whistle," she said, "don't punish my family any more. I can't bear it."

Yes he does stop after this, but seriously, if it got to this point.

Just think about his name, go on think about it.....

yes, even that is disturbing.

beautiful people of the week.

2009-05-08T14:44:00.000-07:00

Charlotte Gainsbourg.

Syd Barrett.

tribe vibe.

2009-05-07T17:21:00.000-07:00

I love mostly everything that has a tribal sort of atmosphere. I think it's my partialness to magic realism because there's something about the Native Americans, or African tribes that just seems completely fantastical, like it's all part of another world.
I think what makes the idea of native tribes so alluring are the images that the mind conjures up of colourful tribal make-up, elaborate headdresses and traditional native clothing. Not only that but I tend to associate tribes with spirituality, and not in a religious sense of the word.

These photos above are by Hans Silvester (can't find an official website). They're amazing.

tea head.

2009-05-06T16:30:00.000-07:00

I'm facing a crisis, I've recently started drinking earl grey and Ceylon tea. Why is this a problem? Because now I have too many options resulting in me wanting them all at once. To combat this I have started to drink several different flavours in succession, plainly because I want to drink them all. This has left me bloated and needing to use the bathroom often, so it isn't possibly the best solution. I feel like a greedy little child, because I want all of the flavours and I want them now.

Another option suggested was mixing all the flavours together, which I am not in favour of. Green, Chai, Ceylon, other herbal teas and earl grey, yumyum - not.

I have lots of reasons for liking tea; it is full of lots of good stuff; like antioxidants, it helps keeps your teeth nice and apparently helps to protect one from cancer, it also makes me think of elephants, which are pleasant enough creatures, it stops me from snacking too much; if I have to choose between chips and tea, I take the tea and also, when I go out for 'coffee' and get a pot, it lasts me longer than a small cup of coffee.

When it comes to tea I try to buy fair trade tea, as it tastes better, is cheaper and makes me feel good. Seems I am not alone, in the United Kingdom retail sales of fair trade tea have increased from £2 million per year in 1998 to £64.8 million and 70% of the adult population can recognise the fair trade logo. This Saturday, the 9th of May, is world Fair Trade day, which I shall celebrate with a cuppa tea.