flashback fun 1x01: the beach

FADE IN:

1 INT. BEDROOM - NIGHT

MEESH LOUNGES AGAINST A PILE OF PILLOWS, HER KNEES TUCKED UNDER HER CHIN, SLOWLY TURNING THE PAGES OF A WEATHERED, YELLOW-PAGED PHOTO ALBUM. A SUNHAT HANGS IN THE BACKGROUND. SHE SUDDENLY PAUSES ON A PAGE, HER EXPRESSION AMBIGUOUS. A BREEZE FROM THE OPEN WINDOW LIFTS HER HAIR.

CAMERA TIGHT ON MEESH AS SOUNDS FADE IN -- WAVES CRASHING, SEAGULLS CALLING, A BABY LAUGHS -- THEN CUT TO:

2 EXT. BEACH - DAY

I kid, I kid. I'm currently scanning my grandparents' photo albums for posterity (and will probably do my parents', too, as no one has seen fit to swap out the old albums for new, non-photo-destroying ones.) There are some amazing things in there, from turn-of-the-century portraits of great-great-grandparents to 50s Polaroids to the 80s Polaroids of my childhood, as seen above. Most of these are in decent condition, although there's a few that look like someone let a baby chew on them. (And there are some fantastic clothes, so you can bet I'll be making more flashback posts every now and then.)

These pics caught my eye because we've been making sure our beach gear is ready for summer. We do CT's public beach thing now, but when I was young, my parents and grandparents would rent a cottage at a private association's beach in Old Lyme for a few weeks every summer. Many of my best memories happened there. When my grandmother died, this tradition ended. Went back once for old times' sake when in college. Things had changed.

(Am I really seeing rental listings at 3k/week for some cottages? I am pretty sure we rented for $800/wk back in the 80s. Hot damn.)

I still miss the hell out of that place, though.

Just Granny & Me, probably about 1983

Grampa & Me, clearly a few years later

There are tons more, but I don't think anyone would be particularly pleased with me posting their swimsuit pictures online!

Read more...

cinematographic: sarah williams, labyrinth

Labyrinth is a 1986 Henson Company fantasy production starring a young Jennifer Connelly, David Bowie, and Bowie's trousers (if you've seen the film, you'll know what I mean.) This'll show my age, but it's also one of my favorite childhood movies.

The film follows teenager Sarah Williams through her struggles with coming to maturity, by way of a rescue mission. In a typical coming-of-age fashion, Sarah learns the hard way about responsibility, romance, consequences, and how to harness her own willpower. This sort of thing could have been dull in anyone else's hands, but the Henson team set up a fantastic world populated with artist Brian Froud's goblins and creatures, and their fabulous Goblin King Jareth (as played by Bowie.) Add stunning visuals, a fun musical track, the usual amazing Henson puppetry, Terry Gilliam's comedic style, and you've got me hooked.
And then there are the costumes.

Sarah's playtime dress, which every little girl I knew wanted desperately.

What's this, a real neighborhood, looking real? Do I ever miss on-site filming sometimes.

My face when I hold crying kids, too. Usually I'm not wearing a giant pirate blouse and brocade vest, though.

Goblin puppets, lookin' better than CGI since 1986. There is really something to be said for having people manually control the expressions and body movements of tangible fantasy creatures.

Who's there?

Oh shit, it's Bowie. Come to hit on you.  ...well, okay then!

Except first you have to solve a giant labyrinth and save your baby brother.

Are we seeing these straight-legged jeans? She's got moccasins on, too. Oh, so 80s. And yet...

Speaking of 80s....  I took about a million caps of the ballroom scene, but this post is not enough to contain the awesome of all the incredible gowns, masks, and decor. Another post, another day.

The famous Escher painting come to life.

One of the things I love about the film is that there's no Peter Pan ending here. Nor the ultimately depressing "it was all in her head" type of conclusion. Instead, we are left with a positive note, not about eradicating childhood dreams, but about balancing adult life with fantasy.

And that's me out, before I get lost and post the whole damn movie.

Read more...

chasing stormclouds

Grabbed this group of photos among scattered rainstorms today, with thunder rumbling overhead and the sky's color fluctuating between overcast and ominous. Laura and I kept having to duck for cover, and probably ended up with only a few minutes of shoot time total. It's funny how great (for photography) the lighting becomes in such crummy weather.

Even though I keep swearing I'll never buy another top with elastic shirring again, I did it again anyway. (Tell me I'm not the only one who has the elastic snap on me all the time. So many lovely summer tops, gone. And shirring really can't be fixed--at least not by me.) Hence this glorious thing from Ruche, which I'm sure I'll be wearing over and over again this summer, despite urgings from others to brighten things up. I am good and firmly stuck in some ill-timed moody color phase. Can't help myself.

Wardrobe:

top: Ruche heavenly dream dolman top

tunic: New York & Co.

flats: Charlotte Russe

pendant: Gifts of a Lesser Goddess

sunglasses: Windsor

Camera:

Laura

Read more...

no saying do svi-dawn-iya

There is a reason why I haven't had any outfit pictures lately, and her name is Dawn.

Dawn is 5 years old, and has lived with us in relatively good health and happiness since she was a baby. Recently, she developed difficult dental problems and can no longer eat on her own, so she's getting hand-fed by syringe until her situation either improves or, which is often the unfortunate outcome with guinea pigs, deteriorates completely. I'm happy to hand-feed her for the rest of her life if necessary, but it is pretty time-consuming since she eats very slowly. Mostly I just end up reading my bloglist or messing around on Polyvore when I'm feeding her, but can't really do anything else.

Sometimes Dawn forgets that she can't eat like the others!

It's also been miserably rainy around here since Sunday (and looking like it's not going to stop for a few more days), so I might not have been able to take great shots, anyway. However, I'll be making time for a shoot soon. I just got this great top in from Ruche and I'm completely in love with it.

Cast Credits (left to right): The Dove, Fizzy, Dawn, Demi, Fred, Nissa

Camera Operator: my sister Laura

Read more...

cinematographic: virginia lewis, the 10th kingdom

Who the hell is Virginia Lewis, you ask? She's the heroine of one of my favorite fairytale stories.

Unlike your typical through-the-wardrobe wish fulfillment fantasy, this one's a fractured fairytale that deconstructs and subverts plenty of tired genre tropes. At the same time, it follows through on classic folk story elements, has a truly likeable cast, and manages to be pretty good fun for an 8 hour epic.

I can't say why this miniseries didn't do well upon the initial broadcast. Maybe it had bad timing coming out just after the 90s, wasn't advertised widely, or didn't fit into a clearly-defined enough genre for people. I remember reading some complaints that the jokes were too cheesy for adults, but the story too mature for kids. Funny how today's reverse formula of infantile stories + totally inappropriate jokes is a-okay, though. (Not really knocking it. I watched plenty of shows that fit this description as a kid, but then, no one was praising them for it, either.)

The screwball humor and general lightheartedness of The 10th Kingdom keeps the story enjoyable. I've seen plenty of relentlessly dull "grown up" versions of fairytales, which the forgettable characters, patchy plots, and mindless gore couldn't save. Nice to have ones that don't take themselves so mercilessly seriously, but aren't complete fluff either.

Read more...

muumuu or maxi?

I know what you're thinking. "Oh, honey, no. You did not go out like that." You're right. I didn't. This was a work from home day, so I was stuck in the house typing and dressed up only for myself. I did not go anywhere that I might be seen in it.

But I wanted to.

dress: my grandmother's

belt: Forever21

sandals: Nine West

bangles: gift

sunglasses: Windsor

I often want to wear things that are maybe a little too eccentric for daily life. So much that I might as well start a feature titled "Wish I Could Wear It," full of weird costume pieces and other questionable bits that I'm not entirely sure I can pull off. (Half my belongings could fit into this category.) This one comes from my late grandmother's closet. It is polyester, sloppily altered, has a too-big-for-me floral pattern, and I love it.

Granny's wardrobe usually included head-to-toe black, nightgowns as house dresses, and a whole bunch of costume jewelry. I saw her in this particular gown all the time when I was little, but there were several others I'd also recognize instantly (my sister has two of them.) The sudden impact of sense and place and memory colliding when I put it on was a little unsettling. And a little sad.

And a little wonderful.

I feel weird having this hang in my closet, unused.

Read more...

how does your garden grow

Very well, actually. I both love and hate gardening at this time of year, when most of the flowers start blooming, but will quickly fade, leaving the yard with nothing but tiger lilies throughout the summer. Even so, we're looking forward to doing a few garden parties once the flower beds are filled in a bit. I kind of want to do them themed--like, Sophia on the lanai or something similar. Little old ladies young. 

...my next outfit post may explain this desire. I hope.

Read more...

cinematographic: helen rossi

Was thinking about travel today and got to dreaming. Specifically, I was thinking of the romantic type that really only exists in books. My favorite of that variety is The Historian, which features badass 1950s scholar Helen Rossi on a dangerous journey through eastern Europe.
This isn't as practical as Helen Rossi's actual wardrobe would be, but I really couldn't resist!

Read more...