Oh Michael

I’ve been spending my Tuesday afternoon watching some old MJ videos. In terms of music videos I think my favourites are ‘Thriller’ (of course), ‘Ghost’ and ‘Leave Me Alone’. I love the visual artistry in Michael's Leave Me Alone music video. The clip contrasts imagery with lyrics. It's bright and very uncanny featuring Michael going through a theme park (of himself). Very Salvador Dali inspired! The music video was nominated for Best Art Direction but was beaten by Madonna's 'Express Yourself'. Codswollop!

I’m pretty sure the Thriller video and Michael’s leather jacket triggered a love affair with me and the colour red. It was after seeing the Thriller video that I went to my first dance class too. Whilst on the subject of Thriller Ben Gibbard from Death Cab for Cutie does an interesting cover of the song as well as Imogen Heap, but nothing compares to the original.

Leslie Nielson, Dead & Loving it

I am in mourning after hearing that my favourite childhood funny-man Leslie Nielson died yesterday from pneumonia. I can't really imagine a child hood without Frank Drebbin. I think my local video shop still holds a massive grudge against me because I would repeatedly hire out the Naked Gun trilogy.

My favourite film of his is Dracula Dead & Loving it. I think it used to be played on channel 10 like all the time. Dracula Dead & Loving it, is a classic Mel Brooks spoof that pokes fun at Bram Stoker's novel, Dracula. The movie did pretty badly at the box office but received more of a following after it hit vintage VHS. If you can't remember it, look it up on YouTube and I'm sure you'll get those warm feelings of nostalgia (kind of like when you watch old ABC kid shows)

Dracula Dead & Loving It - YouTube Trailer

Mount Kimbie

With study taking over my life I have taken solice in Mount Kimbie's new LP Crooks & Lovers. My friend Shel showed me it when she was visiting Perth in September. The band is made up of a UK duo who met each other in college. This album has been a perfect companion this week with International Marketing melting my brain cells. Mount Kimbie absorbs eminence by layering sounds with real life sounds like chatter, the clicking of a tongue on the roof of a mouth, echoes and erratic slaps and claps. My favourite song is Before I Move Off. The songs feature syllables rather than actual lyrics making it a perfect record to have on during a creative vent (drawing, writing, reading, painting). When describing what 'Mount Kimbie' stands for Kai Campos (one half of Mount Kimbie) said;

"It's a place inside all of us where buses arrive on time. Not a cloud-scraping peak where the sunsets burn pink and white for miles, not a metaphor for the grandeur of creation, just a small town with reliable public transportation".

Suck

Last Friday morning after some heavy antics at the Scottsman my friend and I watched this movie called 'Suck'. I can't say that I am totally on board with the vampire fetish that seems to be sweeping the nations but there is a strange fascination about the subject so I was interested.

Suck is a slapstick-musical comedy that pokes fun at the vampire genre. Rob Stefaniuk wrote, directed and starred in the comedy. The film is about a struggling band trying to make their mark on the music scene (which is proving impossible so far) but when the lead bassist, actress Jessica Pare goes home with a vampire after one of the band's shows, she emerges the next day with a sexually charged charisma and a thirst for fame and blood. Her new image arouses the beginnings of stardom but sacrifices are made (moby gets massacred in a bath tub, but it's funny cos it's moby).

The movie features cameos by Alice Cooper, Moby, Henry Rollins, and Iggy Pop. This movie has received multiple awards in various film festivals, which is well deserved.

The other funny thing about this movie is how casual they act when they find out about Pare turning into a vampire. I loved how they treated Pare's vampirity as a drug problem and the ensuing dead bodies as an inconvenience to the band.

I also really liked how the film was shot, they use a concoction of dark and seedy sets juxtaposed with the beauty of the vampires.

For such an impossible budget this film has made me smile, squirm and laugh.

I highly recommend this movie as it is definitely a potential cult flick, the only negative things I could say about this movie is that the lead singer and main character, Stefaniuk is a massive downer and his blonde tips made me cringe.

Number Tooze

After some hard saving I decided to do some serious spending on some delicious Karen Walker sunglasses. It's been a heavy toss up between Karen Walker Super Duper Strength sunglasses and my beloved Karen Walker Number Two's. The shades come in mottled blue and black, I went with black because of the amount of lipstick I wear. I am now prepared for my holiday to the east coast in December & January to see JUSTICE at Summadayze! Considering the Aussie Dollar is doing so well I purchased these from Eyegoodies

Cherry Bomb

The biopic, The Runaways did not do a phenomenal job at the box office but in my opinion it was a damn good film. Stewart puts on her usual cool-dude facade that she maintains in reality smoking bongs in front of the paparazzi and flipping the bird when possible. It was Fanning who stole the show playing Cherrie Currie. This film revealed the grown-up in Dakota with one scene before Cherrie is about to take the microphone, pills are dropped on the stage and she grinds them with her high heels and snorts them right off the floor before launching into "Cherry Bomb". The songs in the movie feature Stewart and Fanning's voices which aren't bad at all. I am very disappointed that I won't be gracing Southbound this year to witness Joan Jett in the flesh.

The Killer Awoke Before Dawn, He Put His Boots On.

I never thought I'd find a book as good as Wonderland Avenue, but here it is. It's not as good but it comes a close second. This is Ray Manzarek (keyboardist) for The Doors' memoir. Manzarek gives us a very detailed and juicy account of his "Life With The Doors". Ray was Jim Morrison's closest friend and it was he and Jim who founded the brilliance that became this intrepid band. This is definitely the best rock bio I have ever read. Manzarek is spiritually perceptive and a bit of a space cadet. I picked this baby up for a mere $11 at an Elizabeth's in Subiaco. I urge people to look this up immediately it will make you fall in love with The Doors all over again.

Whilst your at it play "Love Street" and "Love Her Madly" and if you want to dance "Touch Me" is the way to go.

Midnight Juggernauts

Unfortunately I didn't get to catch the amazing midnight juggernauts this last weekend as they played Capitol, and I am deeply regretting it after purchasing their new album The Crystal Axis. This is their second album since Dystopia which was good, but not as good as this. They have improved their cosmic sound with even catchier hooks and beats. The songs are thick and overflowing and make you want to dance. The boys from Melbourne have done a mighty fine job. My favourites are 'Vital Signs' and 'Lifeflow Blood'. No need to skip any tracks on this album- it's all amazingg!

Death Proof

For Tarantino lovers out there, see this movie!

From what I have heard from my friends they all prefer Planet Terror instead of Death Proof but I can't resist Kurt Russell as a masochistic stunt man killer rather then Bruce Willis as a gooey faced zombie.

America, it's like Britain, only with buttons

Happy 70th Birthday Ringo

A written ovation is essential

I can't get used to living here,
While my heart is broke, my tears i cried for you.
I want you here to have and hold,
As the years go by and we grow old and grey.

Fat Bottomed Girl

I'll take Chanel over food any day.

Confessions Of a Groupie

Pamela Des Barres

I have just conquered my first book of the holidays and it has started off with a bang! Pamela's book is a memoir and recount of her days along the streets of L.A as one of the most iconic and successful groupies of all time. I'm With The Band is injected with humour and brazen confessions of her sexual romps with the most sexiest men in rock n roll. Pamela's conquests are of the likes of Mick Jagger, Jimmy Page, Keith Moon and Jim Morrison. I am left euphoric, excited, and very jealous of "Miss P". Pamela is not one of "those" groupies, though she did have sex with a few, she saw herself as more than that, a supergroupie, she was inspired by them, and they admired her. All she wanted to do was thank them for the magical music and insights they exuded upon the world; and that she did.

"A hippie was sort of the unwashed, unkempt kid. A freak was someone who put a lot of care and intention into their appearance, wanting to stand out instead of blend in. I was a combination flower child-freak, because the former was all about love and sharing and adoring each other and having flowers in your hair, literally, and lace and feathers and all that. I never considered myself a hippie. She`d be wearing one of those Indian madras-type skirts with her hair split down the middle, no makeup, sandals, braless - of course, we were all braless. I would have on an old vintage lace tablecloth with ribbons woven through it, feathers in my hair, loads of makeup, sequins stuck all over my face, and spike heels."- Pamela Des Barres

Some people get rich and others eat shit and die

"There are times, however, and this is one of them, when even being right feels wrong. What do you say, for instance, about a generation that has been taught that rain is poison and sex is death? If making love might be fatal and if a cool spring breeze on any summer afternoon can turn a crystal blue lake into a puddle of black poison right in front of your eyes, there is not much left except TV and relentless masturbation. It's a strange world. Some people get rich and others eat shit and die."

—Gonzo Papers, Vol. 2: Generation of Swine: Tales of Shame and Degradation in the '80s, 1988

Take your protein pills and put your helmet on

Abbey Lee Kershaw

is an absolute futuristic space goddess in her spread in i-D for Spring 2010 (America). I am dying for the golden hues and body paint. She is like a super hot female version of c-3PO. I'm loving the star wars undertones, and not to mention her kick-ass Alexander McQueen thigh-highs. The shoot was photographed by Emma Summerton, who has done work for Italian Vogue, i-D, German Vogue, Nylon and Elle Magazine and she has photographed everyone from Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell to Lily Donaldson. The shoot was styled by Charlotte Stockdale.

Shine on you crazy diamond

Marina Diamandis, is Marina & The Diamonds. The songstress is equipped with quirkiness and what seems like multiple personality disorder. My favourite songs are 'hermit the frog' and 'Mowgli's Road' because they channel Kate Bush's "Babooshka", which comes under my top 10 adored songs. Marina's album, The Family Jewels is refreshing and unlike anything we are currently being exposed to. Enriched with keyboard ballads, base, guitar and drums this album will have you imitating her strong accent and silvery tune.

"Diamonds" refers to the fans as she says:

"I am Marina, you are the diamonds".

Wonderland Avenue: Tales of Glamour & Excess

Wonderland Avenue is a personal memoir written by the late Danny Sugerman. It starts off with him as a juvenile trouble maker living in the prosperous streets of Beverly Hills. Sugerman had a passion for music and landed his first job at 12 years old opening fan mail for The Doors. Through this blossomed a very close friendship between himself and the lizard king, Jim Morrison. Sugerman became The Doors' protege and though it sounded perfect, it lead to a thrilling but lethal world of drugs, sex, groupies, and an expensive heroin addiction. Sugerman went on to work with Ray Manzarek and Iggy Pop. The book does an amazing job at painting a picture of the seventies and the american poet.

You are cordially invited

You are cordially invited to take a stroll through

the avenue.

My brain is the avenue in this scenario, and I find it being filled with too much golden litter. I hope to talk about music, fashion and general inspirations and so on, I'm no grammar goddess so bare with me, i'll try and use spell-check but my brain has too much to say and i'll probably go at 100 miles per hour. The above photograph was taken during a little getaway time during an exam study week, I failed to study but who cares when the sky is this gorgeous.