Live On From Beyond The Groove

Ever wanted to leave your loved ones a little reminder of yourself after you're gone? Then look no further - And Vinyly offer music lovers the world over the chance to have their ashes pressed into a vinyl recording. For a mere 2 grand you get to leave behind your very own soundtrack complete with sleeve artwork and the option to have your record distributed worldwide.

But what choon would you choose?

This needs some serious thought...

I have to thank my rockin pal Alistair for linking to this on his Facebook ;)

Bandana Split

Raquel Reed from Flickr

From We Heart It

Solene Percher from Miss Clawdy

Kerosene Deluxe by Tina Korhonen (tina-k.com)

I have a massive crush on bandanas at the moment. And cupcakes ;)
New fave tumblr: Fuck Yeah Girls Wearing Bandanas

Dancing Yakuza

These images of beautiful tattooed porcelain arms are by Korean artist Min Jeong Seo. The molds were taken from traditional ballet dancers arms and then intricate irezumi style 'tattoos' were painted under the porcelain glaze. The concept being that just as a real tattoo lies under the skin, so too does the painted one. I just think they're really pretty.

Gotta Get Me Some Of That

I remember when Mac launched their Heatherette collection back in 2008, but I'd never seen this video collaboration until this morning. Thanks to Andrea Merlot from Put It All On Me.
How much do I want that lipstick?! And Amanda's wearing my favourite colour combo - the lipstick and the shoes - sweet! Be warned though, this is unsurprisingly NSFW ;)



David LaChapelle/Amanda Lepore/MAC/Heatherette

Westwood Shoe Exhibition

Damn it. Nae chance.

New Windaes!

The new windaes are finally installed! Wee Mildred Pierce has spent the last 2 days hiding in the back room behind the bookcase and 5 minutes after the men left, here she is, sunning herself on the yet to be hoovered living room carpet. Yay for new windows!

Before :(

After :)

Britpop?

Britney has teamed with contemporary Japanese artist Takashi Murakami for the front cover of the next issue of Pop magazine. Hmmm...
I've been thinking about this for most of the day (whilst hiding in the bedroom waiting for some 'men' to fit new windows - more about that later). I don't like it. Never been a Britney fan, but always willing to give folks the benefit of the doubt. However, I am a huge Murakami fan and have been for well over ten years. I wrote my Uni dissertation on the Superflat movement and he was the inspiration for my Japanese half sleeve. I've always had reservations about his Louis Vuitton collaboration, but put that down to my distaste for anything brown :(

However, I'm still struggling to enjoy the Murakami/Britney combo in my head. Perhaps I'll reserve full judgement until I've seen the full shoot in print. Pop is out on September 1st.

My Murakami Kaikai doll and my dissertation, "Tokyo Goes Pop! The Explosion of Playfulness in Contemporary Japanese Art"

Window Shopping

I'm stuck in the flat all day today and tomorrow while we have new triple glazing installed. Yay! For nice clean windows and warm flat, but Boo! for being stuck in...
Miss Lou has been round most of the day keeping me and the cats company and drinking endless cups of tea, but since she's left I've been occupying myself doing what a girl knows best - no, not cleaning - that can wait til I'm really bored. Shopping! Well, browsing online, ready for this month's pay check.
Here's a few bits n bobs from the sweet little shop Bows and Crossbones which sells 'vintage, rockabilly, tattoo inspired gifts and accessories.

Altered Barbie

I've never been a big Barbie fan. In fact, I only remember owning a few secondhand dolls when I was probably too old to be playing with them anyway. They instantly received a 'punk' makeover complete with spiked hair, hand drawn tattoos and customised fishnets. The 8th Annual San Francisco Altered Barbie Exhibition sounds right up my street. This year's event runs from 9th - 30th September at the Shotwell 50 Studio. Wish I could be there. But for now, I'll just have to satisfy myself with these entries from last year.

Skullduggery by Rex Buethe. Yours for a mere $325.

Fun In The Dungeon by Arabella Champaq

Gene Simmons Barbie by Lavonne Sallee

Rocky Horror Picture Show by Lavonne Sallee

Mojito Magic

It's Mr G's very special birthday today and we celebrated in style starting with a fry up consisting of 3 rashers of bacon, flat sausage, black pudding, 2 eggs, mushrooms and beans. Next up we got the bus into town with the full intention of going to Edinburgh Zoo, but, as per usual, the Scottish weather put a spanner in the works as it starting pissing it down and the wind whipped up like pissed banshee. Fuck soggy animals in the rain. Toy Story 3? Aye. Giant pick n mix with the potato heads - sweet. Feeling peckish? Nandos? Fuck aye. Hot sauce and corn on the cob. We cheeky cocktail - in the casino? Mine's a mojito - bitch. Piranha 3D - get us a fucking ticket! Awesome - boobs and gore galore. Bottle of rum and night to ourselves? Get in there!

Piff, Paff, Poff!!

Purr-fect Pussy Pout?

Cute, but maybe a little too creepy?? I think I would be more interested if the actual lipsticks were decent colours. Never really been one for 'barely there brown', 'nonchalant nude' or 'pathetic pink' especially with descriptions such as:

Clair De Lune: A graceful and soft pink that reminds users of the romantic, classic sounds of Debussy

Quirky idea, but at the end of the day, it's what's on your face that counts, not what's on the end of your lipstick.

Mad As A Hatter - GIVEAWAY!

Sadly, this is NOT a Baroque Boudoir giveaway - although I'll have something special lined up for when I reach 100 followers ;)

However, the wonderful Eri from Pretty Portobello is giving away this fantastic Tom Binns for Disney Couture Mad Hatter necklace.
Head on over for your chance to WIN!!

Dancing At The Disco

Spent Saturday night through on the East Coast dancing my wee socks off at the notorious Bang Bang Club run by none other than my good pal 'The Baron'. Top night x

Ahoy Matey!

Thought twice about posting these, but what the hell...

As I've mentioned before, I work for The Tall Ship in Glasgow. It's a 19th century sailing ship that's been restored as a museum and we're always trying to promote it. Although it's the ONLY ship berthed along the River Clyde and thousands of people pass it every day on their way to work, most weegies still think I work in a pub called The Tall Ship (as featured in local Scottish TV programme, River City).

A few months ago we hosted an exhibition of photographs of my home town and I thought I'd ask my mum to mention this to her pal who works for the local rag. Needless to say she did, and the next day I got a phone call asking all kinds of questions about me, my career, the ship etc. They were gonna run a spread on 'Local Girl Done Good' or something of that nature. Time passed and I forgot all about it. Until today.

Mum rang me this morning to say her pal had asked for a photo of me - eek! As I thought of the array of dodgy pics my mum has collected of me over the years: age 2 with a bowl of spaghetti hoops over head, age 12 in a pair of dungarees and ringlets in my hair (rocking the 'I'm so alternative hippy' vibe), age 18 with pink hair and posing in a dodgy trilby etc, I began to freak out.

Shit, I'm at work, what can I do?? That's right - grab a colleague and do a quick photoshoot!
Here I am rocking a back-to-front pirate tshirt to cover my chest tattoo, my 'emergency smart jacket', a pair of white sannies I picked up last night for a fiver in Pradamark and a cheesey grin to rival Nicky Wire. Ahoy!

Ladies + Gents

I have to share this - it's my favourite band in the whole world playing a cracking wee tune onboard the Cutty Sark for a film called "G.M.T." must be back in about 1998/9?? I knew this had taken place, but I've never seen the film. It's a clash of worlds for me as I work for The Tall Ship in Glasgow. Gotta get them onboard. Although I might actually explode with excitement, even at the prospect - eeeekk!!
(edit) Thanks to RikkiSixx for hunting this down after many a year x

Here's a full length live video of them performing Crucified at The Horror of Rachel Stamp gig, London 2000. Enjoy xx

The Morphea Affair

The Morphea Affair from BULLETT MAGAZINE on Vimeo.

This is a preview video of an upcoming editorial for BULLETT Magazine Vol 1 which launches on 10.10.10 . The amazing necklace is by London designer Keko Hainswheeler. And I'm pretty sure that's the gorgeous Dan Felton that's trussed up in the body harness. Can't wait to see the final outcome!

Think Fast, Act Quick - Be That Bitch

D&G gold plated gun and Killa Klutch courtesy of 2 Bitchez Deep

Grow Your Own Clothes

"Imagine if we could grow clothing...

BioCouture aims to address ecological and sustainability issues around fashion.

The BioCouture research project is harnessing nature to propose a radical future fashion vision.

We are investigating the use of bacterial-cellulose, grown in a laboratory, to produce clothing.

Our ultimate goal is to literally grow a dress in a vat of liquid..."

This is the BioCouture Press Release. Suzanne Lee is a Senior Research Fellow in the School of Fashion/Textiles at Central Saint Martins. She is heading up a project which basically aims to grow clothing from bacteria. Well, I know there's good bacteria and bad bacteria, but not sure how I feel about wearing bacteria... your thoughts?

Little Rick Riding Hood

**MUST HAVE**
Rick Owens hooded jacket. Image stolen from Morbid Fashion. Seriously, I must have this item - must!

Sharky Tea Infuser

Dinner, dinner, dinner, dinner, tea time!
Designed by Pablo Matteoda

Chillin With Ma Gals

Just worked 6 days on the trot and enjoying a well earned day off. Planned to do a couple of washings, hoover, clear out the back room and gut my wardrobe, but spent the whole morning faffing about on the web, eating jam and coconut cakes for breakfast and crying my eyes out watching episodes of catch-up Casualty. Thank god the postman didn't come to the door!
Mildred Pierce (black and white) and Lydia (white Persian-ish) kept me company - one on either side.

Not So Northern Lights

It seems that due to some kind of super explosion of particles, folks as far south as here in Scotland may get the chance to see the Northern Lights tonight. That would be one of my all time wishes granted. In fact, I would cry at such a sight. Good luck everyone!

And for those of you not lucky enough to catch a glimpse tonight - or ever for that matter, here is a wee clip of the lovely Joanna Lumley witnessing the Aurora Borealis for herself.

Electric Frog

leopard print headscarf from Urban Outfitters sale // fake Alexander Wang sunnies // Westwood choker // Kenneth Jay Lane bee ring // Betsey Johnson snake bangle // Topshop leopard print cardi // Urban Outfitters vest top // skinny black jeans // red Office boots

So my hair's long enough to tie up now - yay! This was the look I was going for on Friday night (Bad Hair Day) but just didn't have enough time to pin it all in place and gave up!

I had plenty of time on Sunday afternoon before heading off to the Electric Frog Street Carnival which started at 3pm. I was in two minds about whether or not to wear my new boots. After all, I was going to a festival in Glasgow - in August - it was bound to rain and I knew I'd be dancing my wee socks off as the line up was bangin', but hey-ho - these boots were made for dancin'!

There are no photos from the event as it descended into chaos pretty much as soon as we arrived. After a half hour set from Factory Floor, the heavens opened and everyone rushed outside the tent to wash the sweat off before grabbing another mojito and continuing the party with Liquid Liquid. Bit of a blur from that point on...

Anyway, despite coming home with god knows what all over my new boots - they looked more like a Jackson Pollock painting afterwards - I managed to rescue them with some warm soapy water and about 20 cotton wool pads - phew!

Here's a wee snippet from Factory Floor - live. A full on sensory experience. Turn the volume up and the lights down - enjoy!