Movie Screen

Before fellow AR-people ask, no animals died in the process of making that fluffy piece! Maybe a Care Bear or two but surely that's acceptable enough, compared to the real thing. The boots are surprise freebies I once received from Pennangalan, and the song is an earworm I picked from Metalhead movie.


For a film enthusiast, times have been good in this town in November! First the horror night of Cinemare offered some wonderful trash, gore and horror through the whole night, and then came Rokumentti Rock Film Festival. So I have spent most days rewinding movies in my head and watching them, both in cinema and at home.

I strongly recommend seeing What We Do In the Shadows if you even slightly enjoy twisted humour and vampires. I have seriously NEVER seen a film that funny, and I've seen many! Wiping away tears of laughter after ten minutes usually is a pretty good sign, and it's hard to get over how heart-warming the dandy vampire Viago was. I would definitely add this hilarious piece to the top three list of modern vampire films.

The first place in my mind belongs to the mesmerizing Only Lovers Left Alive, which, given the chance, I had to see again on the screen. It was perfection packed in an hour and a half; a night presentation where I secretly sipped red wine while melting on the red velvet chair, silently giggling at the thought how it doesn't get much gothier than that. Another intense experience was seeing La Chute de la Maison Usher, the live music show went beautifully with the silent Poe classic. I've seen Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari in the same way, and find the concept of live music and silent cinema altogether beautiful.

And some other small mentions; 20,000 Days on Earth was a must-see piece for any Nick Cave fan, and Metalhead was entertaining, with little sprinkles of Icelandic humour over the quality drama. I'm always eager to hear new film suggestions, so if you have something in mind, let me know!

Salvio Hexia

An outfit from the other day, before travelling to my family home for the resurrection holidays. 

Here my days have been filled mostly with woodland walks, lazying around, absorbing the scent of freshly cut flowers and watching Potter films with the ladies of my family. A hint of spring perfection in an eggshell.

These pointy boots are one of the best thrifting finds of late, scored them for just a couple of coins and have worn them ever since! Most of the outfit is fished from different second hand ponds as well, the only kind of fishing I could ever do. I thought the outfit had a little witchy school mistress vibe going on, but nothing wrong with that. Most of my outifts do.

This photo is the essence of how I feel now with my life, aimless weird floating and enjoying it! Thehee.

She saw the stars on gravestones, and sung the sky in blood

An outfit from a few days ago, on a spring walk before entering the red seats of the cinema. I'm heavily addicted to ranger looks again, big hoods, boots and simple black forms have covered most of my days. The cloak has been almost glued to my shoulders, it's the perfect shield for prawling the woods or running busy errands! 

Spring is definitely my least-favourite season, but I can't help but loving nature just before it starts to bloom. It's so stagnant, with all the shades of grey and brown mixed up in a wonderfully bleak palette.

Ovate cloak / bag & shoes flea market / leggings from my sister 

And about the cinema. We went to see Only Lovers Left Alive, and both liked it very much! A rare treat for any artsy or vampire film lover. The film was beautifully shot, with a dreamy slow pace that's best for the days when you need some slow drama in your life. It's worth watching for the performances of Hiddleston and Swinton alone, I find it rare to see believable romance on the silver screen and both were so compelling in their roles. And beyond beautiful!

Extra points for the mentions of Kit Marlowe and Nikola Tesla! (I always get childishly excited when someone mentions Tesla!) Also one of the best things about the film was that it didn't underestimate the intelligence of its viewers, which usually is a common flaw in the modern vampire film pool. Only Lovers Left Alive was slow, clever and shamelessly stylish, and I think the drowsy scenes fit the immortal life perfectly. Not my favourite vampire film, but still a very good one.

The film really made me want to listen to melancholic Arabic-influenced music and travel to see the decay of Detroit. Some films just cling to the back of your head for days after you've seen them, like a tangible dream. Do you ever get the same feeling, thinking about a film for days, different twists and camera angles, and all that could have been? 

7: My favourite animation

The world holds many incredible creations of animated art. I especially admire the wonder works of Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki, and the other half of my love for animation belongs to stop-motion puppet animations. But solely in the category of drawn films one tops all others for me: Mononoke Hime. Giant wolves, a deer-god and kodamas, I enjoy it all so much it hurts.

"These days, there are angry ghosts all around us - dead from wars, sickness, starvation - and nobody cares. So you say you're under a curse? So what? So's the whole damn world." - Jigo

Superb artwork and music that plays your heartstrings are of course a huge part of Miyazaki movies, but I also love the blurred lines in the concept of good and evil. Things are not as black and white as as they often are in western animations, villains are just hurt beneath their icy masks and heroes bleed and make mistakes. But there's always a certain sense of hope and positivity in the stories. Absurd scenes also, but that's what makes the films so great! Miyazaki's films often convey a message and clearly speak against acts of war and the destruction of nature, so they're not just the average, shallow happily-ever-afters. And that's why, to me, they beat Disney.

Do you have a favourite animation?

I solemnly swear that I am up to no good!

Well I solemnly swore that I would never wear beige, but crazy spandex (another thing I thought I wouldn't wear) does tricks to your mind. Especially when it's covered in an irresistible map print! 

I immediately knew I had to get my hands on this piece from Black Milk Clothing's Harry Potter-collection and snapped mine the very minute it was released.  Mischief managed! I wished to snap a few other things too but I'm trying hard not to buy too many new things these days, with a few exceptions like this of course. Although the fabric choice isn't fully "me", I feel spellbound by this mini dress!

(I look so haughty in this pic that I scare myself a little!)

So guess what's my plan for tomorrow and the days to come? That's right, HP all the way. I watched them all not three weeks ago (!) when I was visiting my parents but hey, sometimes a little too much of Hogwarts isn't still enough. 

(I'm still waiting for my owl to arrive.)

Frankenweenie!

Today's outfit with a woollen dress and kitschy bone hair clips, nothing extravagant since I only left home for some grocery shopping. The bone clips are icky and fun at the same time, sometimes a healthy dose of kitsch is needed. At least when it makes me feel like a cartoon character.

Judging from the way my head blurs and how my nose resembles a miniature waterfall, I think the flu germs are digging their way into my healthy parts. My spider sense says that the next few days will most probably include a lot of movies, dwelling in the dreamland and gallons of hot blackcurrant elixir, but I don't complain! After so many industrious days I welcome the flu as a healthy pause. I just hope the pause will pass quickly and not linger on for weeks..

I wore the bone clips also last night when we checked out Frankenweenie with a couple of friends. I've been waiting for this animation for over two years, and I'm glad it turned out to be so goood! I love Burton's work to death but honestly, some of his recent films haven't even nearly reached the former glory of his golden days of deep characters and bad (=awesome) special effects. 

Stop motion animation however has never disappointed me in the slightest. Frankenweenie was such a beautiful wonder work of puppet art, filled with little hints to old horror classics. Mr Whiskers, my favourite character, is a little legend already. I mean who could resist a fluffy, psychic cat whose droppings are interpreted as omens? Legendary, says I.

Kudos to the choice of featuring the film in black and white, it created just the right atmosphere and feeling of the 1984's version. If you haven't checked out the original version, I strongly recommend it! In the video below are both of Burton's older films, the first one is my all-time favourite animation, Vincent. I'm sure most of you have seen both of them, but for those who haven't, I truly hope you'll enjoy them! ♥

Day 24: Yule night

I'm absolutely too overwhelmed with joy, fatigue and effusive plates of food to come up with anything spectacular for today's calendar, so I'll leave you with possibly the most heartbreaking scene in film history. It's also the film I must watch every Yule Eve, no matter how long I need to burn the midnight oil. My cheeks resemble waterfalls every single time I see this enchanted piece, at the first times I used to sob in the best parts but nowadays I start already at the titles. But there's nothing bad about weeping at something so beautiful, something that reaches deep down and plays your heart in it's own special way.

But now my eyelids are seriously starting to feel like lead, so I've got a long date with the Sandman ahead. Good night to you all, and sweet dreams. ♥

Day 9: Blueberry waffles

Today's calendar offers the first-ever recipe of this blog!  Might be the last one, too.

I'm not much of a baker and I'm nowhere near a happy home maker, and I always prefer 

salty delicacies over the sugary ones, but waffles are my secret weapon.

Even an anti-Martha Stewart like myself can prepare these!

Waffles (vegan)

6-8 waffles

• 5 dl flour (you can use wholegrain if you'd like a healthier version)
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 - 1 dl sugar (preferably brown)
• a pinch of salt
• 1 tsp. cardamom
• 7 dl soy milk
• 3-4 tbsp. soy yoghurt
• a small amount of oil

 + virgin coconut oil for frying, and whatever you wish to put on the waffles. I used blueberries and Tofuline's Stracciatella chocolate ice cream, dee-ee-licious! And a cup of rosebud tea called Romeo and Juliet to go with it. Equally delicious.

Here's the simple instructions: Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl. Sculpt a hole in the middle, pour in half of the soy milk and mix well. Pour in the rest of the soy milk, the soy yoghurt & oil. Mix well and let the dough swell for about half an hour or less in room temperature. Heat up the waffle iron, oil it with coconut oil and start frying. Simple as that! ♥

And one good tip; don't pile up the fresh waffles, they stay nicely crunchy if you store them on the oven's grate like this: 

And here's a little extra something that made me laugh! I was watching Charlie and the Chocolate Factory while munching away on these waffle hearts, and this popped right out of the blue. So appropriate! I bet Willy Wonka would have the same expression if he ever tasted my baked goods..

Darkness there and nothing more

Mother nature has shown her cold shoulder again, so it was time to dig out the winter coats and warm layers from the dusts of last winter. As you can see, the ghostlike blanket covers the land again in death and sleep for months and months to come. And I'm not ready for it yet, it all happened so quickly! I wish that autumn could linger on for a few more months, I hate to admit that it's finally time to cradle those lovely sheer stockings and high heels into hibernation. 

The photos were snapped on our Sunday stroll a few hours ago. I'm drawn to this old, mildewed house around the corner, buildings like these positively scream with old memories and I can't help but wonder how it's crumbled into such a mess. The untended garden and cracked paints makes it look like it's abandoned, but sometimes you can see a dim light glowing in the upstairs window. Perhaps it's a ghost (or more realistically thinking, a hobo) but I'd really like to visit the place's insides. Living in a place like that would be so dreamy.

Today's outfit: mourning hat & granny bag ~ vintage  /  dress ~ Restyle / coat ~ from mum (orig.Lindex) 
necklace ~ Kreepsville and  stockings by Pamela Mann, both from Back Street  / shoes & gloves ~ second hand

And a worthy mention of the best activity of the weekend: the yearly tradition of the local horror/trash film festival Cinemare! I'm always anxiously waiting for this event and I scan the selection with glee, but I still made it to only two films this year (plus DREDD 3D, which we saw right before the actual festival). The idea is to watch films all through the night, but my concentration and sitting skills just aren't adequate for a crusade of that magnitude. Next year I shall try my best to last through the night, with sheer will power as my weapon. And gallons of coffee.


PS: The last shown film included a short film premiere (the Gates of Evil) in the beginning, and the fun thing is that I acted in it! As a zombie! :D And I'm a bit ashamed that I couldn't keep awake for that occasion, but luckily I'll see it later on a separate presentation!