Grrr

Those of you who are regular readers (I have a right to dream!) surely know that I have a garden, from which I draw both inspiration and photographic subjects (e.g. the September 30 post).
However, you have to know that I am not alone amidst the marygolds and the hydrangeas. Someone took up residence here long before I moved in, and by the looks of him (above) is decided on staying. But don't you worry, our relationship is amiable enough, especially since he is usually very quiet and serene. If anything, he does make a bit of a strange noise when disturbed, something like grrr...

More MGMT covers!

Clearly, MGMT have made quite an impression on Britpop artits! I found two more covers of their songs while searching for the previous video on YouTube.
The first is a live cover of 'Time to Pretend' by the Kaiser Chiefs.



The second one is the Kooks singing 'Kids'. (This one isn't really a video, just a recording playing over some pics.)

Unpretentious

I've been hooked on MGMT ever since I discovered them last spring. In case you've never heard of them, they're a two-guy band from Brooklyn known for songs such as 'Kids', 'Time to Pretend' or 'Electric Feel'. (Incidentally, the latter was featured in John Galliano's Summer '08 collection for Dior). This is a version of 'Time to Pretend' by Little Boots. I found it on a music blog, and I think it gives the song a softer, more naive edge. Enjoy!

September Marygolds

I took some shots of the September marygolds that just bloomed in my garden. I believe there is a poem by Keats called 'September is marygold', but I haven't been able to find it. If any of you (very few) readers knows anything about it, please let me know!

Top 5 Weekend Pleasures

Weekend lover's anthem: 'I Don't Like Mondays', by the Boomtown Rats


Now that the weekend is drawing to its usually painful end, I have decided to weigh in on the little pleasures that make it everyone's favourite time of the week. Here go my top 5 favourite weekend things:

1. Going Out On Friday Night
I love the excitement of getting dressed and putting on makeup, and calling up all my friends to see what their plans are. And of course, there's dancing at clubs and driving/riding cabs along deserted streets.
2. Staying Up Late / Sleeping In
This is pretty obvious, but that doesn't make it any less great. Isn't it fantastic when nobody wakes you up and you sleep till two in the afternoon?
3. Sunday Morning Workout
I just can't go without it. I work out on weekdays as well, and sometimes on Saturday mornings, but Sundays are just fantastic. Getting to the gym, boosting your endorphines and feeling great for the rest of the day!
4. The Financial Times Weekend Edition
The best newspaper you can get. The FT is quite good on weekdays, but of course it's got a lot of info on markets and companies, which isn't half as enjoyable as the Arts&Culture and House&Garden sections. Besides, the contributors are just brilliant, especially Tyler Brulée, Susie Boyt and Mrs Moneypenny. My favourite sections apart from their columns would be The Expat Lives, Dinner with the FT and the film and literature section. Oh, and How To Spend It. I'm not its target reader (I didn't make it into the Forbes wealth list), but I love it anyway.

5. Getting Ready for Monday on Sunday Night
You reach this stage after finally coming to terms with the fact that the weekend does have an end after all, and that the end is now. And even though it is a depressing moment, I kind of like the feeling of order and slipping back into routine. Well, maybe I don't. But you see, I need something to trick myself into getting out of bed on Monday morning.

Unexpected Gift

Today I went shopping for groceries at my neighbourhood market. The market is kind of funny, because it's become very posh, with high prices, tens of delicatessen stalls and costumers that consider it a social scene in its own right.
Luckily, not all of it has undergone this upgrading, so shopping there can still be a very pleasant experience. Perhaps my favourite part of it would be the flower stall on the sidewalk just outside of the market. It's run by an elderly lady and her mother, and it consists of an assortment of plastic buckets full of flowers, over which a threadbare parasol casts a protective shadow. There are also two plastic chairs placed in front of the stall, from which the mistresses run the bussiness and survey the passers-by.
Today I decided I'd buy some flowers, so I paid the flower ladies a little visit. As I was standing there, I saw something that I found very pretty; a father, carrying his toddler daughter, stopped by and bought her a beautiful red rose. And I think there was some telepathic exchange between the mistress and myself, because just as I was giving her the money and about to head for the car, she smiled and slipped another red rose into my bouquet.

PS I know this probably makes me sound like a freak, but I really am still sad about Paul Newman...

As Good As It Got

Paul Newman died on Friday after a long fight against lung cancer. At 83, he was a living legend who had changed more lives than most of us ever will, as an actor, philantropist and family man.
I didn't know much about him until I read Vanity Fair's 2008 Style Issue, which features a piece on him by Patricia Bosworth. The article covers all of his life, from his beginnings at the Actor's Studio to the famous Newman's Own line of products, which he created on condition that all the profits go to charity. Bosworth unveils an unknown side of Newman's, as a fame-wary family man who founded a camp for children with life-threatening diseases that he visited personally once or twice a year. For space reasons I cannot post the entire article. However, I'm enclosing a description of Newman by himself:

"Paul Newman (known as ol’ PL to both friends and enemies): The “L” stands for “Leonard” or “Lunkhead.” He answers to both. He is probably best known for his spectacularly successful food conglomerate. In addition to giving the profits to charity, he also ran Frank Sinatra out of the spaghetti-sauce business. On the downside, the spaghetti sauce is outgrossing his films. He did graduate from Kenyon College magna cum lager and in the process begat a laundry business, which was the only student-run enterprise on Main Street. Yale University later awarded him an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters for unknown reasons. He has won four Sports Car Club of America National Championships and is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the oldest driver (70) to win a professionally sanctioned race (24 Hours of Daytona, 1995). He is married to the best actress on the planet, was number 19 on Nixon’s enemies list, and purely by accident has fifty-one films and four Broadway plays to his credit. He is generally considered by professionals to be the worst fisherman on the East Coast."

You can read the whole article at
http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2008/09/newman200809?currentPage=1

Click on the video for the poker game scene from The Sting (1973)

They'll Always Have Carmensita

This is the video for 'Carmensita', a Devendra Banhart song that features in his 'Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon' album. As you can see, it's a kind of Bollywood short starring Natalie Portman.

The news is that Devendra and Natalie were together and have just split, which will probably boost the video's viewcount, and diminish Devendra's appearances on PerezHilton. Anyway, if you like this song, you should try Little Yellow Spider and At The Hop, also by DB. Enjoy!