Strictly Irrelevant Sunday -

Yo. Gabba. Gabba.

Strictly Irrelevant - The Linkage Edition

The internet in my flat is still broken and Photobucket is still pouting at me and refusing to play nice, so here's a short and sweet links post on reading, watching, eating and inspiration material that I'd like to share.

I never, ever use the word 'amazeballs', but here's a recipe for some pretty amazeballs, rainbow-y doughnuts (The Dainty Squid)

Ever though it's, errrr, late July at this point, people are still getting very excited about A/W and all the expensive camel capes that we'll be buying.  Since I'm a cheap young wan, I'll be following bloggers tips on how to get next season's look without spending any money.  At all.  (Fug Girls at The Cut Blog and Disneyrollergirl).

Absolutely endless inspiration in the TFS forum thread for Fashion in Film Movie Stills (TFS)

Anna Dello Russo is apparently going to release a perfume.  But this mini manga novel about her life has nothing to do with that.  (annadellorusso)

Blatant plug alert.  Hem...  You can read this weeks Licentiate column for the Cork Independent here!

My new source of fascination - North Korean synchronised gymnastics a la that new Faithless video.  Pardon the bad quality, but the things these kids do is, frankly, amazeballs (Did it again...).

Strictly Irrelevant: I'm on holidays!

Morning flight to Italy and I am outta here!

Treehouse of Horror - Strictly Irrelevant Saturday

This weekend I will mostly be watching old Treehouse of Horror episodes.  The old ones are the best methinks...  Actually putting these up is kinda sorta slightly illegal so I shan't be hosting them, but you can watch them by clicking on the links.  Loopholes, eh?  Bless 'em.



The_Simpsons_405_Treehouse_of_Horror_III - An evil Krusty doll and a King Kong parody. Need I say more?



The_Simpsons_505_Treehouse_of_Horror_IV - Homer sells his soul for a donut, a gremlin only Bart can see vandalises a moving bus and Mr Burns is a vampire.



606_Treehouse_of_Horror_V - No TV and no beer makes Homer something something...

Strictly Irrelevant Sunday - Summer Reading List

It's summer and Ireland is getting an inordinate number of nice sunny days that can only occur when people are taking their final exams.  Murphy's Law dictates to these poor specimens that have to do their finals or college entrance exams that, once they are done and can go out and frolic with the rest of us, the sky clouds over and the weather turns crappy again.

I don't have exams (don't be jealous, I barely have an income either) so when I'm not listing items on eBay and wanting to bash my head against my laptop (more on that later in the week) I can usually be found down the park or in my back garden reading a good book.  Here are a few of my summer picks.

Perfume by Patrick Suskind - A tale of Grenouille, a man with a miraculous sense of smell and no odour.  Grenouille cuts a swathe through 18th century France in search of an unattainable perfume, which eventually degenerates into mass murder.  This book is simultaneously hilarious and grotesque, and is written with a wry disgust for humankind.   Fun Fact - I bought this book when I was sixteen because I had heard that it was Kurt Kobain's favourite book.  I'm not too sure if that's true (I can TOTALLY picture him enjoying it though...), but this is one of my favourite books nonetheless.

Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham - If you have ever, ever been in an unhealthy, slightly obsessive relationship, then this book will probably make you feel incredibly uncomfortable at how much Maugham knew about human dynamic.  This book is semi-autobiographical and the writing unnerves me so much that I find I have to put it down from time to time.  It's understandably known as one of Maugham's masterpieces and hopefully a massive re-issue of his previous works will mean that he is no longer criminally underread.

The Classic Fairy Tales by Iona and Peter Opie - I've been reading a lot of Angela Carter recently and her novels are like adult fairy tales, with strong woman and immoral men, magic, comeuppances and twists and turns that are both human and otherworldly.  This is what the original fairy tales were... Peter and Iona Opie compile 24 of the most popular fairy tales and trace them back to their unsavoury, unsanitised beginnings (Did you know that the Prince from Sleeping Beauty was a rapist?  I don't remember that in the Disney version).  This goes back to last weeks Strictly Irrelevant post about Dina Goldstein's work and how, in fairytales, not everything is what it seems...

The Sex Revolts: Gender, Rebellion and Rock'n'Roll by Simon Reynolds and Joy Press - I haven't read this yet, but I'm a big fan of Simon Reynolds' brand of well-researched, passionate musical polemics and his encyclopedic knowledge of almost every popular musical movement.  This book is about rock and roll as seen through a prism of gender - from mysogynistic rock to woman on top.

Alexander McQueen: Genius of a Generation by Kristin Knox.  I don't have this book as it was only released a few weeks ago, so i'm still not sure if it's a cynical cash-in or a loving tribute.  Nevertheless the book is a bit slim at 128 pages, but is chock-a-block full of photos and commentary.  Just a quick FYI though - the book doesn't dip into McQueen's menswear collection, which would lead me to think that this may be more geared towards fashionistas looking for a quick fix rather than a proper overview of the man's work.



Yep, I'm a big nerd.  What is everyone else reading this summer?

Fallen Princesses - Strictly Irrelevant Saturday

I tend not to write on weekends.  Firstly, er,  it's the weekend and secondly, I feel like I'm the only person who stays in on a Saturday night and trawls through blogs while the boyfriend plays XBox (we are a very cosmopolitan and exciting couple).  Thirdly, I tend to get a bit frazzled looking at style-related news from Monday to Friday so by the time Saturday rolls around I'm in need of a fairly serious reboot.  Reboots are good.  Reboots are essential to a person's wellbeing.

So, either I have itchy typing fingers or the XBox is really getting to me but I am now blogging on a weekend.  Since a weekend is a break from the norm I won't be talking about style but things I like, things that make me go 'hmm' and probably a few cocktail recipes (fun fact about me #641 I'm a competent mixologist and have been tending bar since it was illegal for me to do so). 

Weekends will be strictly irrelevant - after all, everyone needs a break from the norm.

The picture below popped up in my feeds and I think any woman with a vested interest in feminism that clashes with a nostalgic love for Disney films will find this relevant. And a bit scary. Just what were these films supposed to teach us?

Image from Boing Boing

This reminds me a little of Dina Goldstein's somewhat disturbing series 'Fallen Princesses', which plonks the Disney Princesses straight in the real world and royally screws with any little girl's view that there might be a happily ever after.

Photos - Dina Goldstein