Monday, June 27, 2011

Music of the Moment - The Rechords !


One of my totally favourite bands are performing a gig to raise funds for their upcoming European Tour - so get along, get down and get dancing at the St Kilda Bowls Club on July 16th..... and if you havent heard of the Rechords before, then check out these Youtube clips and be totally inspired by their fantastic harmonies and foot tappin', knee slappin' songs ! And to purchase one of their hot little CD's head to their myspace page.......


Thought it over


Money in my pocket

You're the boss with Harry De Lux

Why does my baby cry?
** All photographs used in this article are by the incomparable Brooke Orchard at Brooke Orchard Photography - check out her highly awarded and nationally acclaimed talent !!

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Once upon a time....

Once upon a time in a land far far away, there was a beautiful castle in which lived a handsome prince and a beautiful princess. The castle was built by allot of handwork, dreams and love by the prince and princess and they spent many years making it as perfect as they imagined it could be. There were many good times had in the castle, many laughs, many guests, many evenings spent curled up on the couch watching a good flick or listening to music, many many many sunny days spent in the garden turning the old empty paddock into something worth enjoying.























Unfortunately, this fairy tale doesn't end all that happily. The prince and princess had a number of unfortunate 'diverting of their plans' that would have enabled them to keep their castle and have lots of little princes and princesses too, but in the end they found they had to sell their castle to be the parents they aspired to be. Much water has passed under the bridge since the prince and princess sold their castle, and the prince and princess are no longer together.......but then, life is really not the fairy tale we start out hoping it will be - is it?

Quote of the month - June 2011

One thing I personally found disappointing in 'The Kennedy's' was that they neglected to mention that Jack Kennedy and Gene Tierney (one of my fav. actresses) were very nearly engaged, however both families disapproved of the match based on religious grounds. (Doesn't that just seem totally absurd in today's world - a mere 60 years later?!!!) I thought it would be quite timely to share some photographs and quotes from one of the worlds most beautiful, sensitive, intelligent and unfortunately, mentally traumatised women of Hollywood in the 1940's, considering the recent screening of 'The Kennedy's' on ABC.


 When I met Jack Kennedy, he was a serious young man with a dream. He was not a womanizer, not as I understood the term.

Gene Tierney


I admire anyone who rids himself of an addiction.

Gene Tierney


I approached everything, my job, my family, my romances, with intensity.

Gene Tierney


Eccentric behavior is not routinely noticed around a movie set.

Gene Tierney

I was fine when it came to cheering up others, not so fine with myself.
Gene Tierney


I hole up now and then and do nothing for days but read.

Gene Tierney

 



About my career I was serious and earnest, sometimes impatient.


Gene Tierney


As an actress, I was trained to show emotion I did not feel, or no emotion at all.

Gene Tierney


Cars, furs, and gems were not my weaknesses.

Gene Tierney


Chaplin was notoriously strict with his sons and rarely gave them spending money.

Gene Tierney



Children don't understand about people loving each other and then suddenly not.

Gene Tierney


Day after day, I spent long afternoons in the talent pool, being told how to walk, how to talk, how to sit.

Gene Tierney


Everyone should see Hollywood once, I think, through the eyes of a teenage girl who has just passed a screen test.

Gene Tierney



Fonda and Gary Cooper had the best sense of timing of all the actors I knew.

Gene Tierney


For years it never occurred to me to question the judgment of those in charge at the studio.

Gene Tierney


Hollywood can be hard on women, but it did not cause my problems.

Gene Tierney


Houses are one of my passions. I probably should have been an interior decorator.

Gene Tierney


I always tried to play my hunches.

Gene Tierney


I am not the kind of woman who excuses her mistakes while reminding us of what used to be.

Gene Tierney


I ask myself: Would I have been any worse off if I had stayed home or lived on a farm instead of shock treatments and medication?

Gene Tierney



I dated dozens of young men, had fun with all, made commitments to none.

Gene Tierney



I do not recall spending long hours in front of a mirror loving my reflection.

Gene Tierney



I existed in a world that never is - the prison of the mind.

Gene Tierney


I followed the same diet for 20 years, eliminating starches, living on salads, lean meat, and small portions.

Gene Tierney



I had been offered a Hollywood contract before my 18th birthday. It gave me the spark I needed.

Gene Tierney



I had known Cole Porter in Hollywood and New York, spent many a warm hour at his home, and met the talented and original people who were drawn to him.

Gene Tierney



I had no romantic interest in Gable. I considered him an older man.

Gene Tierney



I have a role now that I think becomes me. I am a grandmother.

Gene Tierney


I knew I could not cope with the future unless I was able to rediscover the past.

Gene Tierney


I loved to eat. For all of Hollywood's rewards, I was hungry for most of those 20 years.

Gene Tierney


I needed to be accepted, not humored. I intended to act.

Gene Tierney


I remember the 1940s as a time when we were united in a way known only to that generation. We belonged to a common cause-the war.

Gene Tierney


I simply did not want my face to be my talent.

Gene Tierney


I used to annoy my father by telling him how much I felt luck was with me.

Gene Tierney


I used up every cent I earned as an actress.

Gene Tierney


I was fortunate enough to work under directors who were, most of them, brilliant, emotional men.

Gene Tierney


I was going to live on my salary or go down swinging.

Gene Tierney




I was not cut out to be a rebel.

Gene Tierney



I was plunged into what was known as the debutante social whirl. This was one of the ways fathers justified their own hard work and sacrifices.

Gene Tierney



I'm not sure I can explain the nature of Jack Kennedy's charm, but he took life just as it came.

Gene Tierney


In later years, I craved foods that were almost always fattening.

Gene Tierney


In my early days in Hollywood I tried to be economical. I designed my own clothes, much to my mother's distress.

Gene Tierney



In the months leading up to World War II, there was a tendency among many Americans to talk absently about the trouble in Europe. Nothing that happened an ocean away seemed very threatening.

Gene Tierney



It is difficult to write about any form of mental disease, especially your own, without sounding as if you were examining a bug under glass.

Gene Tierney



It was the fashion of the time, still is, to feel that all actors are neurotic, or they would not be actors.

Gene Tierney



Jealousy is, I think, the worst of all faults because it makes a victim of both parties.

Gene Tierney



Life is a little like a message in a bottle, to be carried by the winds and the tides.

Gene Tierney


 Men are wonderful. I adore them. They always give you the benefit of the doubt.

Gene Tierney



My departure from Hollywood was described as a walk-out. No one understood that I was cracking up.

Gene Tierney



My mother would not talk to me for weeks, would not stay under my roof for as long as I was married to Oleg.

Gene Tierney



Rehearsals and screening rooms are often unreliable because they can't provide the chemistry between an audience and what appears on the stage or screen.

Gene Tierney



Some women feel the best cure for a broken heart is a new beau.

Gene Tierney



The Hollywood structure was monopolistic, run by four or five big studios.

Gene Tierney



The Howard Hughes I knew began to change after his plane crash in 1941.

Gene Tierney



The main cause of my difficulties stemmed from the tragedy of my daughter's unsound birth and my inability to face my feelings.

Gene Tierney



The word actress has always seemed less a job description to me than a title.

Gene Tierney


There were days that I worked all the time, without a layoff, or a rest, finishing one picture and reporting for another sometimes on the same day.

Gene Tierney



Those who become mentally ill often have a history of chronic pain.

Gene Tierney



Throughout my career, I was to be cast as a frontier girl, an aristocrat, an Arabian, a Eurasian, a Polynesian, and a Chinese.

Gene Tierney



Trying to make order out of my life was like trying to pick up a jellyfish.

Gene Tierney


Unlike the stage, I never found it helpful to be good in a bad movie.


Gene Tierney



We cannot calculate the numbers of people who left, fled or were fished out of Europe just ahead of the Holocaust.

Gene Tierney



Wealth, beauty, and fame are transient. When those are gone, little is left except the need to be useful.

Gene Tierney


What a different world it was when I first sailed for Europe in 1930, with my mother, sister, and brother to spend six months abroad.

Gene Tierney


When my mood was high, I seemed normal, even buoyant. I felt smarter. I had secrets. I could see God in a light bulb.

Gene Tierney



When you have spent an important part of your life playing Let's Pretend, it's often easy to see symbolism where none exists.

Gene Tierney

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

The Kennedy's

We have been so fortunate to have been able to see 'The Kennedy's' here in Australia. It has been a fantastic mini series - so beautifully cast and well acted, so totally intriguing - especially to those of us who were born after the 1960's and know only of accounts we have read in books or seen in documentaries. It has been wonderful to have it all put together into one depiction. I particularly loved the fashion, of course, but some of the characters really stood out too - Katie Holmes as Jackie for one. A very sensitive portrayal of one brave gal, and for me the standout personality was without a doubt Bobby Kennedy - what a total legend he was !! The man who should have been president for sure !

Of course anyone who views a 'period film' knows that much of the dialogue will have to have been created - no one has a personal scribe for every word uttered, not even the President of the United States - so we are intelligibly aware that there is an element of potential fiction to any historic adaption. However, let's give credit where credit is due, and in the case of 'The Kennedy's' the factual accounts of events, political, social, moral and family crisis are quite sensitively portrayed. Bravo to the History channel for producing such a fine piece of work. Bravo to the ABC in Australia for airing it here. Boo to the Kennedy family who had it censored in America. Come on guys - every family has it's skeletons, but the truth that I found in this series was that the Kennedy's, for all their problems and failings, were a fine group of people who had the best, most honourable and just intentions at heart. And like the majority of people on this planet, none of them were perfect. If that isn't encouraging to everyday people, I don't know what is. I don't usually go in for blogging about controversial topics (better to keep things peaceable), but I really think it should be able to be seen on American television. Let people decide for themselves - after all, it's just 'freedom of speech or the press' isn't it?






 

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

A cute bikini top...

I dont know about you, but I am a lover of 'freebies', so naturally, I LOVE the burdastyle website for it numerous free sewing patterns - they make great clothes, or are terrific to use as a base for something original. And how about this cute as pie bikini top and skirt. It's not on their freebies list, but check it out just the same ..... and take a peek at this wonderful vintage style bathing suite too - it's on their FREE pattern list, and so worth a try !! I cant wait to see all my vintage gal pals strutting their stuff next summer in some darling little cossies and dresses !!!

Cute Bikini Top and Skirt Pattern




Monday, June 6, 2011

The trip of a lifetime.................

Now I KNOW I have said that many things are drewl worthy before, but this time, this one, well.....what can I say.....this REALLY takes the cake !!!! You cant IMAGINE how much I would love to go on this trip.....just take a peek at the information below from the adorable Miss Kim of the Lindy Charm School for Girls and you too will be in swoons over the very idea of an Old Hollywood Glamour Vintage Shopping, Nostalgia and Sightseeing trip with all the loveliest ladies from across our country - IN AMERICA !! If anyone of my fair readers has a brilliant idea for how I can get the money for this together, then I am dying to hear from you - I'd do just about anything !!! (Almost !!)

Hello ladies,

Oooh! It’s so exciting! The Lindy Charm School ladies are going on holiday and you can come too.

You asked for more detail on our Los Angeles Vintage Shopping trip and here it is!!!!!


10 Fabulous days living it up in the lap of luxury in LA staying in the beautiful Millenium Biltmore Hotel and escorted sightseeing and vintage shopping at the best stores by limousine…..if only every day were so glamorous. The package price of $3,200 includes airfares, accommodation, breakfast, limousines, sightseeing, some meals, dancing, glamour photo-shoot and more (price per person, based on twin share)

You may wish to travel solo with like minded souls or take your significant other, it is up to you.

The itinerary and booking form are attached, but you better hurry ladies……… numbers are limited to 20 people (with 3 already sold) a $500 non-refundable deposit secures your place.

Over to you ladies……first in best dressed!!!

Kim x

Vintage Charm by Kim


E: vintagecharmbykim@hotmail.com

W: vintagecharmbykim.com

For more information you can email Kim at the addresses above, or contact myself for the itinery and booking forms. Ahhhh....sighs of rapturous daydreams emitting from me in my computer chair at this very moment..........

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Dreaming of Spring ......

Brrrr....winter is here. I know I should be enjoying rugging up in gorgeous coats, with velvet hats or natty beret's, lots of lovely layers and snuggling under quilts, but I simply cant help dreaming about the coming spring..... floaty dresses, cardigans, colour and roses in my garden again ! So I hunted out a couple of lovely magazines from 1958 to pour over the fashions and ideas from mid 20th Century Spring......I decided that you all might like to share some Spring dreaming with me, so here are some gowns that would leave Betty Draper green with envy. Oh, and by the way, if anyone has a decadent hot chocolate recipe for me to brave the next three months with, do let me know !!! Kisses to everyone !