2011 was a funny old year. In a lot of ways I felt more mellow, more self conscious and observant than previously. A little shaky perhaps. Despite that I still managed to get things done that made my bones shake. I played three gigs with my band, first time being on stage was a scary, scary experience. I went camping and survived. I visited my Dad. Wrote less in my journals and felt a lot more melancholy towards the end of the year. I also moved home to a city I’ve wanted to live in for a long time, a home which was found only after spending half of the year looking.

So here’s to 2012. Not sure what you’ll bring, but hopefully more sunshine and a few more experiences to tie under my belt.

5. Cecil B. Demented

I saw this film a few years ago, and coming from John Waters knew it would be worth a watch (not to mention a residual intolerable girl crush on Stephn Dorf from the 90′s) . The film centres around Dorf’s title character who along with a bunch of misfit movie extremists work to capture famous actress Melanie Griffith and force her to star in their guerrilla movie. The namesake of the film being Cecil B. Demille, creator of all films grandeur during his many years with Paramount from the 1920′s. It’s spoofy and fun and hard not to like.

4. Play it Again Sam

The only film in this list not about actually making a film, but rather living vicariously through one: Casablanca. Woody Allen stars as Allan a recently divorced film critic who goes through a series of messy dating sagas all the while getting tips from the spectre of his alter ego, Mr. Humphrey Bogart. It’s got some brilliant scenes, it’s funny and I particularly loved the decor in Allan’s San Franciso apartment. This started out on Broadway and I think it translates really well to to the screen.

3. Ed Wood

Everyone’s seen Ed Wood right? The fact it was filmed in black and white endears it to me more, coupled with my love for all things Lugosi. Historically there’s a few facts and figures that are at war with each other like Ed’s true relationship with people like Bela, but who knows. For now it makes a brilliant entry into Tim Burton’s early 90′s arsenal. Not to mention Martin Landeu won the best supporting actor Oscar for playing the aging and antagonistic Lugosi.

2. Living in Oblivion

Living in Oblivion switches between black and white and colour cinematography, and is far more of a quieter black comedy than the trailer suggests. Steve Buscemi plays the brilliant an angsty director who’s attempted to make his movie are thwarted at every turn. I really need to watch this again, my copy lies somewhere in a pile of  old scribbled on vhs from my years of video+ all the good late night movies. Does video+ still event exist?

1. Sunset Boulevard

Directed by Billy Wilder Sunset Boulevard is the Hollywood film to end all Hollywood films. It’s my own personal favourite movie of all time, telling the tale of aging silent film actress Norma Desmond played superbly as artifice by Gloria Swanson – herself one of the most famous silent stars of her time. Desmond lives reclusively in her dilapidated grandiose mansion with old Eric Von Stroheim as her doting butler. The film is genius on so many levels, particularly in hindsight. An intricate story which also interweaves other Hollywood gentries taken straight from their hey day in the 1920′s: Cecil B. Demille, to Buster Keaton and Hedda Hopper, the notorious and much feared queen of the gossip columns.

I could write about this film all day, and for me, it’s one of the best films ever conceived and constructed to end all Hollywood films.

You tend to find a lot of these kind of cameras kicking about in charity shop or on ebay, usually with variable results. I quite liked the feel of this one, but having not used manual cameras for a while it takes a bit of getting used to remembering to focus/aperture/shutter instead of pointing and shooting. I started off 12 years ago shooting film on a beat up Olympus OM10 my dad gave me, and later on had the opposite problem; manual focusing with digital lenses which have no distance guide!

Film now is even more of an expensive hobby, and if you’ve found yourself a cute looking old Soviet model that didn’t come with LOMO seal of approval you might be better off asking for the negatives to be developed first to see if there’s any treasures on the film worth printing. Maybe I’m a cheapskate but even £5 in Boots seems expensive for a less than satisfactory film roll.

I didn’t use filters. Your own sunglasses can be natures cheapest visual effects tool.

That last photo was a bit of a tiny revelation. When I was at my sickest my mum used to take me for drives and we would sit in the moors on ‘Bob’s Seat’. So it was quite touching to go back and to see they’d updated the seat plaque which appears his partner has now joined him.

I feel incredibly disillusioned with the general blogging stratosphere these days. The evolution of words and expression seems to have become a homogenized expression of the same ideas, tastes and flavours.

Putting your best foot forward, and I blog therefore I am.

I guess I’ll sound like ol’ sour grapes like every other mid 20 something who’s been online far too long. But things are continuing to feel far less real, so that social interactions almost become a depressing and awkward byproduct. People re-post creative expressions that were conceived and created lovingly and time consumingly by somebody else, yet these images become specters that are supposed to reveal another individuals style and personality ala tumblr. In the words of Edwina abfab flipping through an interior design magazine locked in the living room with Saffy “I WANT TO BE ALL OF THESE THINGS!”.

I really don’t want to be all of these things and it makes me long for the days of the marginally vain, awkward and not very css forward pages that had far more fun and frivolity about them than being the 179th person to re-post it in the first place.

The internet; a place that makes you feel like to you need to own a £2k lens to take photographs of yourself and your outfits. A place where little explanation of background, media trials and evolution are expressed truthfully. Because who wants to truly be seen as anything less than perfect right?

Taken at Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle, County Durham.

Saturday called for a venture into the wilds of the north east coast, which lead to finding this surprising little coffee house just north of Tynemouth at Cullercoats Bay! And what a treat it was. I find Tynemouth for all it’s seaside town charm, lacking in the eatery department, particularly if you’re off gluten/dairy. So when I wandered in on the off chance to see if this little eatery offered soya milk, I was answered back with a surprising yes, we do! And a look out of the corner of my eye spied a gorgeous almond and orange gluten free cake. Heaven!

And as if that’s not enough, what should sit next door but a wonderful old fashioned style ice cream parlour!

The interior is a beautifully designed elegant space where you’ll find an array of Fornasetti accents. My lust for the wallpaper knows no bounds as I was eyeing it up last year when we were re-decorating our fireplace. True lust! A bit of googling reveals it’s the work of Space ID and Quay Shop Fitters who also designed the beautiful shop/cafe of Gareth James Chocolatier just down the road in Tynemouth.

Well worth the small drive up the coast, especially since I tend to find the eateries in Tynemouth disappointing at best.

Beaches & Cream
Cullercoats,
North Shields,
Tyne and Wear,
NE30 4PN

Recently I went to Shildon’s Railway museum to see the old Victorian sign exhibition, the only one of it’s kind. It was amazing to see these up close and the detail that went into each one by hand. As well as some interesting and questionable advertising from the cigarette companies! Smoking to cure sore throats…

I like Tynemouth, it’s a little quirky, it has a few sweet boutiques and oddments. Notably it’s prolific market held in the old train station each weekend. It’s probably been a year since I’ve been, mainly because unless you live near a metro line it’s a faff to get too. But since my boyfriend got the Birdmobile, this weekend seemed like a fine time to go and also to nose out any boutiques to stock my jewellery.

The market however has gone decidedly downhill depending on your perspective. If you like dirty rummaging fuelled by the constant thrill of the chance of getting hepatitis off a shard of a rusty chandelier or stamp collecting, then tynemouth was the place for you. This time however, and a year later it’s notably 60-40 filled with hand crafted stalls, cupcakes, imported cheap jewellery and other standard market stall tat. There’s still some goodies, but not like there used to be. Not that it stopped me picking up a cute old brooch and my boyfriend going all valentines on me by buying me this picture. I did however miss the tramp like thrill of the rummage. Saturday however is better so choose your day wisely.

I still want to live in either of these houses.

First off was the dainty soft pink faux leather slimline pocket 2011 diary. A perfect handbag sized diary with an impressive inside section detailing health and nutrition, birthdays and even a vintage wine guide. Whilst I don’t tend to use slimline diaries, my mother relies on them so it seemed fitting to pass onto her to use which she has been more than satisfied with.

Next came my favourite, the cushioned cobalt blue ‘Vogue’ diary. The soft padded front is nice and bendy to let you write easily without the bulk of a hardback but is slightly wider than the slimline diaries but still a perfect handbag size.

They also sent me a super cute Cookie note book with a plush soft padded biscuit front which holds orange lined pages, perfect for keeping notes.

The third diary is probably the most colourful out of the two, a lovely material bound cover with a yellow paint splash effect. As well as plenty of space to keep dates and a brillaitn perforated pull out note section at the back.

The downside to this, is that Daycraft don’t appear to have any European stockists! Such a shame as I can imagine they would go down brilliant in a store like Waterstones amongst the Moleskines, Cath Kidston and Rosehip books.

So, to pass on the kindness I am offering up for grabs the Make My Day hard backed 2011 journal! I know February is a late start into the year, but surely better late to start keeping track of dates than never? I hope so anyway. If you want to win one, first come first served! x