Tuesday's Tees - random

Know the Difference

Turtle

Gentle Fox

Spaced Out

on the outside looking in - Stratford

The Olympics and Paralympics are fast approaching - kicking off in about 6 weeks - and as I don't have a ticket to any of the events it seemed like a good idea to go down to Stratford to see the Olympic park while they add the finishing touches. The park obviously wasn't open so we went to snoop from afar.

The red structure on the left is The Orbit designed by Anish Kapoor, to the right is the equestrian centre and between the two is the Olympic Stadium. 

I rarely, if ever, travel out as far as Stratford, the furthest east I tend to go is shoreditch or hackney and the site of the Olympic Park couldn't be more different with it's numerous new builds - modern flats, bridges, the gargantuan shopping centre Westfield, public sculptures and art pieces and of course the Stadium itself and it's accompaniments - the Orbit, equestrian centre, international train station, water polo building, basketball arena and the Olympic Village. The work that's been completed is simply vast! It sounds silly but I really had no idea how big the Olympic Park was going to be - the scale of the construction is insane! But then again, it's got to hold however many millions of visitors between the end of July and beginning of September.

View from outside Stratford Station -Titanium sculpture and the Stratford Centre

As we were in the area we stopped by Westfield for lunch. I've not been to either of the Westfields in London before and the one at Stratford is absolutely huge - it's quite overwhelming how much choice there is and not just in the World Food Court. It's like Oxford Street over three floors! Whilst in the biggest shopping centre I've ever been to I was of course super tempted to buy stuff. Being v.restrained I came away I giant ball of yarn in order to start my first ever knitting project and one of the vests Orla Kiely has designed for Uniqlo :)

And, so you really can appreciate how big the yarn ball is...with a beardy update for good measure.

You remind me of the babe...

Aside from all the jubilee related fun over the weekend, my sister and I had the added bonus of attending a ball, but not just any ball...

Yes, that's right - a Labyrinth themed evening at the Prince Charles Cinema, complete with a prelude of David Bowie music vids, a costume competition, a David Bowie impersonator, goodie bag complete with lollipop, poppers and bubbles AND of course the film in all it's 35mm glory. We were also encouraged to quote and sing along with the film (as well as loudly respond to the different characters appearing on screen - including the excellent Bowie in his rather revealing pair of leggings)!

Prior to the ball, we spent the afternoon making our masks which was fun and quite a challenge what with pesky sequins not sticking but the finished things looked pretty good I thought!

The best part for me was when everyone blew bubbles during the actual masquerade ball in the dream sequence. Not to sound twee but it was pretty magical. I am a total sucker for bubbles though :)

lovely jubbly jubilee!

For the past four days, I and my fellow Great Britons and Commonwealth chums have been celebrating the Queen's Diamond Jubilee - that's 60 years on the throne! There's been street parties and a concert outside the palace, parades and processions (on the Thames as well as on the roads), speeches and bunting (miles and miles of it!) London's been a-wash with red white and blue. I'm not the biggest royalist and to be honest I've not thrown myself into the very thick of the celebrations but the joviality in the capital has been pretty infectious and it's been great to see everyone getting together to have a good time! We had a little party on the Monday with all the trims :)

Party munch including Coronation Chicken - get it?! :)

patriotic goodies

I've gotta add, hats off to all those who were outside at any point celebrating during a seriously cold and wet June bank holiday weekend (ah, trust our english weather), I admire your spirit muchly! And that includes the Queen herself - she is after-all in her 80s and I swear she always wears heals!

Designing Women - FTM

On Saturday I finally went to the soon-to-be-over exhibition at the Fashion and Textile Museum, Designing Women - Post War British Textiles. I'd never been to the museum before, it's a big square bright orange building situated on a quiet street a short walk from London Bridge.

The exhibition focused on a small selection of revolutionary female fabric designers who, after the drab days of the World War II, brought new bright progressive designs to English textiles. As a great lover of repetition and geometry in design you will find a lot of patterned fabric in my stash and in my wardrobe which basically means I coveted practically everything in the collection at the FTM.

Lucienne Day

The work of Lucienne Day was my particular favourite. Her designs were printed for furnishing fabrics as well as other media including wallpapers (yes please!) and carpets but that didn't stop me wanting a dress or two made from the same prints!  Walking around the exhibition it was v.clear and interesting to see how much designers today take inspiration from the amazing fabrics printed throughout the 50s. Prominent themes included nature, geometric shapes, repeating patterns and abstract forms (seriously, I couldn't have been happier surrounded by all the gorgeous designs).

Marian Mahler

It was an incredibly inspiring exhibition and I would definitely recommend it for those who harbour a love for retro prints and/or an interest in 50s textiles! The museum also has a v.cute cafe attached which sells tasty tarts, cakes and tea (the dark vanilla cream tea was divine).

Reading & Seeing 6

Avengers Assemble
This film awesome. Go! Go watch it now!

(Please note I saw this quite some time ago and I'm not entirely sure if it's still on at the cinema although it might be as the london underground tube announcer seemed to think so and was giving the same advice!)

I feel like I don't really need to add anything to this as you've probably read lots of reviews, all of which rave about it and rightly so. You don't need to have seen the previous individual superhero movies (although you could and might want to after seeing Avengers Assemble) because it is a stand alone film which holds everything together perfectly. There's a lot of big characters stuffed into this movie but they all seem to get an equal amount of screen time and great lines. It's action packed and funny, I laughed out loud a number of times, plus there's Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth and RDJ sizzling away (and Scarlet Johansson who, as Black Widow, was just as kick-ass as her male buddies - not just a pretty face). Oh and don't leave as soon as the credits start you might miss something...

Being Elmo
A documentary about the puppeteer behind one of sesame street's most well known characters. It was really interesting to see into the world of Kevin Clash and how his love for puppets (even at an early age) spurred him onwards and upwards. You learn that as well as making tens of puppets and giving each different personalities (and voices of course) he used to stage little shows and performances for a range of audiences. A lucky break when he was still in school meant that he travelled to New York to meet his his idol who eventually (and a number of years later) introduced him to Jim Henson. From then on more opportunities came Kevin's way - working on Henson's film - Labyrinth and then Sesame Street working on some minor characters. Elmo actually started off as a completely different character (with a deep voice!) until one of the other puppeteers handed Elmo over to Kevin who then created the Elmo we all know and love today. During Kevin's transition into the puppeteering A class the documentary barely mentions his personal life (a wife and daughter) and you realise that the reason why is because his life is almost completely centred around his work. There's one point where he's doing a show (as Elmo obviously) and he says that it's funny how he makes the children (in the audience) happy but not his own child - missing birthdays etc. A lot of people (other cast members, crew) say that Elmo is an extension of Kevin, someone very loving and caring, and because love is what Elmo is all about, it's a really great compliment but for me it seemed like it came as a sacrifice for his home life. The best thing about the documentary was watching Kevin's journey and how he now does exactly what he wanted to do as a child, it's a pretty awesome accomplishment that not a lot of people realise.

The Raid
This film packs a punch right from the get go! We are briefly introduced to the players of the piece: our young hero - who's wife is pregnant, the villain - a violent crime boss and his two henchmen hauled up in a deteriorating residential tower block (the setting for the entire film), and lastly the SWAT team, including our hero, being sent in to put an end to the crime boss's reign. However, not everyone is who they seem and you can't always be sure who's on who's side. Unfortunately for the SWAT team the crime boss has an endless supply of minions which attack them in waves - cue amazing fight scenes (with guns, knives and good old martial arts), gruesome killings and more violence than you could shake a stick/sword/glass fragment at! The film rattles along with such a pace, even the quieter moments are supercharged and incredibly tense. There are some awesome shots in this movie, Gareth Evans (the director) makes the most of different camera angles and perspectives. I don't usually watch action movies in their purest state but I really enjoyed The Raid and it's bass heavy soundtrack.

Borges and the Eternal Orangutans
A v.amusing little book (only 135 pages long) and hard to put down. Depending on how speedily you read you could get in done in an afternoon. It follows the story of Vogelstein, a translator and a bit of a loser who has a large man crush (with his work rather than physically) on the acclaimed writer Jorge Luis Borges. After accidentally irritating his idol (changing the end of his book no less) a string of coincidences place Vogelstein and Borges at the same conference/party in Buenos Aires where a murder takes place under peculiar circumstances and the culprit could be any one of a number of respected and well known individuals also at the conference. Together Vogelstein and Borges attempt to solve the case. It's witty and intriguing and the short tale plays out incredibly smoothly. I'm not going to give anything else away, partly because I think you should read it and partly because the ending is simply delightful.