Victoria Day!

Hip hip - hooray! Hip hip - hooray! Hip hip - hooray!

I wish I knew the words to "God Save the Queen" so I could have sung it today. But alas, I had to settle for doffing my hat and cheering. In fancy dress. At a heritage village. It was a bit weird, as people took pictures of us (and asked us if we worked there) and that always makes me embarrassed.

It was cool though, cause I'd never been to the place before, even though it's close by and I've often walked around in the area. But I went, and it was awesome, and there were lots of houses and a blacksmith and bowls with potatoes and log cabins and a giant cake with a Union Jack on it and an outhouse and an old radio station and  lots of other stuff too! And I frowned at the only two young people costumed volunteers (they had little grasp of period appropriate costume). However, there was an appearance by Queen Victoria herself, being driven about in 1924 Model-T, so I suppose that opens the door to all sorts of anachronism.

This really has nothing to do with anything, except it's art based on a short film called The Anachronism.  It's pretty cool, we almost went to the opening (they were having the giant squid ship on display!) but the whole shindig was in one of the dodgiest areas of the city, at night. Linked to the Tumblr page, iffen you're interested.

She was escorted by Mounties and a piper and then a brass band! They played ABBA, Elvis, and...Barry Manilow after her speech. And there were Red Hat Ladies and lady Morris dancers! I think when I get old I'm gonna be a Red Hat Lady and drink tea and be a lady-in-waiting to the Queen on Victoria Day. Yep. That sounds about right to me :)

Hat by milliner Sally Faith Steinmann of Maggie Mae Designs.
Linked to her website.

Lots of good times were had, and then we were ready to go! And the bus disappeared, as they so often do around here (as in you're at the stop ten minutes early, and there are already people waiting who have probably been there an additional ten minutes prior, so you know it hasn't already come, and then it just never arrives.) so we had to wait for over half an hour. Without foooooood. Cause by then we were really hungry.

And then we made pasta with pesto and alfredo sauce when we got home and ate the whole thing!

Then watched the last Doctor Who episode! Ooh la la!

Richard E. Grant! And then...John Hurt?! That was weird. Very much so. But a pretty decent episode all in all!

The cake was like this! But waaaaaaaayyy bigger!

So I leave thee with a picture of a cake, and bid thee adieu! 

Gatsby

In honour of tomorrow's opening, me and the gals are having a Gatsby party. That means dressing up and going to the movie. Rather obvious, but c'mon! 1920s! Baz Luhrmann! Gotta get excited about something!

Shoulda used a filter! Too much light!

In this one you can see the colour of the dress better...

So! Here is my outfit for the night. Dress made by me for a 1920s museum event - basically two rectangles and a neck facing (the event was later that night, and of course I waited til the last minute, so I skipped my plan for a handkerchief hem and those pesky arm hole facings). The purse is from work (surprise!) and was an awesome find - nicely heavy and beaded on both sides with silk braid and tassels - for $7 and it even matched my fabric!

We all remember Leo and Baz's last outing - Romeo + Juliet - hopefully this one's a bit better :) If not, well, SPARKLES AND GLITTER AND SWOOPY CAMERA MOVES! And I get an excuse to dress up (I need more of those!)

Foraging at the Library, Thoughts on Birthday Parties

Huzzah!

It's been a couple years since I read Blacksad, and I totally forgot about these guys (Juan Diaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido, creators of aforementioned comic books). But lo and behold, tucked away on the shelf of my third favourite local library, the latest addition! I was gonna wait and read it with the BF* but he was incommunicado eating candy from a party we went to last night** and I just couldn't help myself. 

How many 20 somethings have goodie bags at their parties?! When were little bags of candy replaced with craft beer? And you have to bring them instead of get them? Folks, goodie bags need to continue. They make everyone happy, especially when you're almost a part of the real world (i.e. almost done with your degree, moving out, having to get real jobs, etc.) but you don't really feel like it. 

But I digress! The first Blacksad collection was gorgeous and atmospheric, you should pretty much read this series just for the artwork. And don't be fooled by the animal characters (and the fact that Blacksad kinda looks like Batman) it works perfectly with who they are. Only downside, sometimes the writing isn't up to snuff (maybe a byproduct of being written by a Spanish dude in French and then translated into English?). It's hard boiled detective stories, but without the kind of guts that really stick with you (also, I've just come out of a class on noir, reading some of the great crime writers of the 40s and 50s so my standards might be a bit high. When I read the first Blacksad my only experiences of noir were Humphrey Bogart everything, but still.) Anyway, I'll update after I finish it, maybe with a second opinion :)

UPDATE: Second opinion sez, best art and character design of the series so far, but definitely the worst story.

Now, you can get away with plot holes in The Big Sleep, but for something of this length...nope. (That part was me)

*amazingly I do have one. He's secretly weirder than me, so we get along alright.
**Minecraft themed. Unfreakin' believable (this is what Pinterest has done to our society!) I actually felt like the least nerdy person there. What.