I have been listening to a whole lot of Carmen Mcrae recently. I really love her music.
Inside a silent tear, I have a silent dream That sometimes sails across the patterns of my mind. The silence follows me and dreams just disappear and then I find myself inside a silent tear
Sometimes I laugh too much to hide the emptiness, to lose the loneliness. I’m not the laughing kind. I can’t say anything I really want to say. I guess I try so hard I stumble on the way.
I’m always finding love when it’s not meant to be. What is reality and can it be defined? When you’re a fool like me it’s never really clear so you have silent dreams inside a silent tear.
I’m always finding love when it’s not meant to be. What is reality and can it be defined? When you’re a fool like me it’s never really clear so you have silent dreams inside a silent tear.
“The world of Jamie Laubhan-Oliver and Larry Oliver is very black and white. Every Saturday, following a proper breakfast prepared by patient and kind Larry, the duo set course for estate sales all over town. Jamie is compulsive about hitting every single one and handling every item. “Once I get her to the sales, she blacks out and doesn’t remember any of the inventory that currently sits in our garage,” Larry says. “I love the thrill of the hunt and finding that amazing piece for a dollar,” Jamie retorts. “A friend of mine once said that you never regret the things you buy—just the ones you don’t.” It’s safe to say that Jamie has few regrets. “
I see my future house in this pictures. Absolutely breathtaking. I always declared I wanted a monochromatic home, and this is it.
Haven’t posted these photos from sometime back, a load to catch up on!
Visited the Ma Maison katsu outlet in Mandarin Gallery on the day of the Topshop event, and I love the quaint homely feel of the restaurant. The curry katsu don was lovely and the oysters were such a treat! The place was so cosy and I could sip on my root beer float and look at quirky japanese pig pictures all day.
I want to try my hand at drawing…chalk pig!!
A little dessert to sweeten the soul.
From the Topshop bloggers event – I love Shane’s entry, he’s really cute and nice in person.
I’m crazy about Topshop polishes. I know they are not good for the nails, but who else makes funky colours like industrial blue and retro mustard?
Listening to the evening edition of my favourite radio programme, BBC’s String of Pearls, on an early Saturday morning and thinking of you, dear Irving! Nice songs make me think of how much I do want to share them with you.
But did you know the history of Dewi Griffiths, the little Wales DJ? Such a romantic little story of growing up in the 30s and 40s!
“Dewi was born in Ton Pentre in the Rhondda Valley in 1931. His father became the librarian at the Workmen’s Hall and Institute, and part of the building was the family home. The Institute also provided the village with a cinema, which was why Dewi grew up seeing almost every film that came out of Hollywood and the British Film Studios throughout the 30s and 40s – and was very much influenced by the musicals of those years.
The family wireless was hardly ever switched off and a day at home was never without the sound of the Dance Bands on the BBC. With a piano in the living room on which his mother played the popular songs of the time he grew up with a wide knowledge of the songs and singers of what he refers to as ‘The Golden Age of Entertainment’. During Dewi’s three years with the Royal Air Force he became a member of a small jazz group and with his imitations of famous Hollywood musical stars he became the opening act of The RAF Revue Show. He also formed and skippered the Rugby XV at RAF Luneburg.
Dewi joined the BBC in May 1954 as a Probationary Technical Assistant with The Welsh Home Service in the control room and studio centre at Park Place, Cardiff, making full use of his work as a Radar Technician during his RAF days. He transfered to television in 1956 at the BBC TV building at Baynton House, Llandaff, the site of today’s Broadcasting House. Along the way he was a Vision Engineer, a Cameraman, a Sound Supervisor, balancing the microphones for outside broadcasts and the choirs and BBC Orchestra in the studio.
In 1961 Dewi became an OB Stage Manager with Peter Dimmock’s Outside Broadcast production team in London, returning at the end of 1962 to join the legendary Welsh Outside Half, Cliff Morgan, the newly appointed Sports Organiser and Tom Davies, the radio producer, as BBC Wales formed its very own Sports Department. Over the next 30 years Dewi directed the cameras at every rugby match played at Cardiff Arms Park, his first being Wales v England in 1963, live into Grandstand, with three cameras, no action replay and no zoom lenses. Dewi has particularly fond memories of The ‘Golden Years’ of the 70s and the famous 1973 Baabaas defeat of The All Blacks.
Dewi continued to work on BBC Network Sports coverage during these years, covering Horse Racing, Boxing, Rugby League, Golf, Cricket, Wimbledon Tennis Championships, the Olympic Games, and Lions Rugby Tours. Among his Wimbledon Final matches were the win by Australian John Newcombe and Australia’s Yvonne Goolagong beating Billy Jean Moffat. In July 1967, Dewi’s coverage of the quarter-final match between Britain’s Roger Taylor, and South Africa’s Cliff Drysdale launched the Colour Television Service of the BBC.
But Dewi never forgot his early days in the Rhondda with those stars of radio and Hollywood providing constant entertainment for his family, community and of course, the whole of the UK. It was all before television arrived and those wonderful memories were to be the key to Dewi’s twilight career as a BBC Radio Wales Disc Jockey, introducing original recordings of the songs and stars of yesteryear every Sunday morning since October 1988 in his popular programme, A String of Pearls. He’s particularly pleased that because of the internet he has fan mail from, literally, all over the world. It’s even more pleasing when a couple who have been married for 50 or 60 years, or more, hear a song that was part of their early romantic life together. It’s all about musical memories!”
For blog readers – String of Pearls plays on the BBC radio player, so do check it out if you do tune in to international radio! Another one of my favourites on BBC is Late Junction, eccentric quirky international pieces with the strangest of instruments. For jazz – 1.1 Club fm, the American channels generally are better for jazz as the UK ones are a little tame and quizzically modern when we know old jazz is best. Ahem.
The week flew past, but was a little more exciting from the development of some cases, the chance to meet J again and play rounds of Ravin Rabbids (it was hilarious!), and the annual Enforcement play. We’re doing an insider trading film noir 40s mystery this year, as the theme is the 40s, and we are going to do it part live/part scripted. Gorgeously exciting, with all the silhouetting and funky light effects!
I’m also in love with Sophie Madeleine and her little ukelele! So absolutely charming.
Yes, being the crazy cat owner, I admit to being susceptible to all things cat, even for accessories! So while my little kitten has her collars, her owner indulges in feline necklaces…
Saw this really pretty vintage cat in Topshop today, it was very awesome in real life.
It is now part of my kitty necklace collection, another one I have which is equally quirky is this Aristocats piece…”Everyone Wants to Be a Cat”.
Some other cute ones I saw on Etsy…
Above by Imyourpresent. I love her so much. Also I love the real cat behind the brand!
Eg. the ‘Can you find the cat’ game.
Such a great spot, they couldn’t find her for weeks.
from my new book: Creative Spaces – Urban Homes of Artists and Innovators
Interview with artist/art director Jaybo
How did you end up in Berlin?
I came to Berlin around 1984 or maybe 1985. A beautiful love story brought me here. I fell in love with a Berlin girl. I met her in Toulouse (south of France) and she decided to show me the place where she used to live. After two weeks in Berlin I lost my passport. I could not get another one so easily, the Wall was still up, so I had to stay.
How would you describe your approach to art?
Art is quite a new thing to me and I guess it will take a long time before I can understand what it really means. I learnt to always express my feelings visually – call it art if you want, but for me this is just a normal part of my life. All I am able to feel, good or bad, will be transcribed into a picture, a piece, an object. I just do it. I do art like I play music – first a monotone melody, then the rhythm, then a hook.
What inspires you about your apartment?
The view. This is the only place I know in Berlin where you don’t see any kind of buildings. I just see trees. I am above the trees and I got the simple privilege of a natural horizon, which is essential for my recovery time.
You have a lot of retro 1960s furniture. What appeals about it?
I don’t know. Maybe the fact that I was born in the sixties. I love that period’s naive way of believing that we could leave for the moon tomorrow.
And would it have been worth it, after all,
Would it have been worth while,
After the sunsets and the dooryards and the sprinkled streets,
After the novels, after the teacups, after the skirts that trail along the floor—
And this, and so much more?—
It is impossible to say just what I mean!
But as if a magic lantern threw the nerves in patterns on a screen:
Would it have been worth while
If one, settling a pillow or throwing off a shawl,
And turning toward the window, should say:
"That is not it at all,
That is not what I meant, at all."
Penny Sparkle 