Surgical Spirit

I love this show!
New episodes have been really fantastic - with the extra bonus of Addison Sheperd (Kate Walsh, who got a shout-out here before...)

Hurrah!

Still in the Running...

I'm very curious to see who wins Top Model this time around. Each has things that mitigate against them, but each also has their strengths. For the sake of readers in Dublin who'll watch it on Living, I won't mention names, but there's really only one girl I want to win. And I've wanted her to for a long while...

It was remarkable watching the show this week, seeing Paulina modelling for the ladies - she seemed very good at her job! The Model Judges are all there for a reason, I guess...





As has become relatively clear as the season have gone on, there's really only one ACTUAL Top Model. And that, of course, is Tyra.




Doesn't Tyra look like a slightly hotter version of Wilhelmina Slater in this photo?? I wonder if La Banks will end up running her own magazine. I imagine she will - given her beautiful photographs on all sides of the camera, and her apparent desire for world domination! But despite her meteoric post-modelling reinvention and her assault on all global media, I gotta say I really admire her.

A small commemoration

This rambling set of thoughts, lists and impressions is named after The Pillow Book of Sei Shōnagon (清少納言), written about 1000 years ago this year. I reckon it's all very well (and perhaps unexpected) for me to have a pretty blog with an Asian lady as its frontispiece, but I say give credit where it's due!

In many respects, her book could be considered the world's first blog - a selection of little entries, in various formats, in which she documented her life in the Heian court. She and Murasaki Shikubu, author of The Tale of Genji, are two of the foremost ladies of Japanese literature.

The Pillow Book (枕草子 makura no sōshi) is a lovely thing to have beside one's bed, it's perfect for dipping into, or indeed to read straight through.

Of course there are plenty of other blogs that reference her style, including THIS ONE (a fun literary blog).

For a slightly less sensational read, my other FAVOURITE book at the moment is by Liza Dalby. (Who, in glorious synchronicity, wrote a lovely novel about Murasaki!) It's called East Wind Melts The Ice and it's a compendium of thoughts throughout the seasons - based somewhere between California and Japan. No prizes for guessing why I'm enjoying it so much.

Just lovely.

How talented is this friend of mine??
A lovely song, a lovely singer.
No more commentary required.

Cut it up, turn it loose

How cool is THIS - you can now upload and send 'mixtapes' (well - collections of MP3s) online!

I love it. Thanks to M & J for giving me the nod ;)

My sugar is raw!

News just in - World Tour Autumn/Winter 2008!

She's starting in Cardiff and heading around Europe and the USA. Curiously, a lot of the dates seem VERY close together - does this mean that there won't be an enormous number of extra shows added?

And what about all those promises to go to Australia? I reckon she'll go to Mexico and South America, and certainly Dubai, and perhaps finish in Japan like last time? I'd like that.

Watch this space...

三島由紀夫 の宅急便!

After writing an essay about Kinkakuji (The Golden Pavilion) by Yukio Mishima, back in November, I was recently given a prize by the Japanese Embassy in Dublin. The award was a voucher for Kenny's Bookshop in Galway, who rather wonderfully have hunted down my (very obscure) choices - and the books are on their way as I type!

I think there are few pleasures greater than a new book. Perhaps this might explain why I'm so pathologically loath to crease spines, turn down page-corners, or write on them - I want to keep them as pristine as possible! My bookshelf looks like a bookshop. The only moth-eaten, dog-eared books I have are my rehearsal copies of plays I've directed. And they occupy a whole different category ;)

Put Your Hands Up For Detroit!

I just love the new version of Music mashed with Fedde Le Grand's Put Your Hands Up For Detroit. Awesome!

Roll on the tour!

My little tribute...

If you wanna see some little shots and snippets of Ninagawa's Caligula, click here.
It's gonna be out on DVD during the summer, I can't wait.
Funny that that play is still on my mind - I ain't free of it yet!
(The カリギュラ chapter is underway at the moment... argh!)

City of Angels

In case any of y'all are ostriches...

I'm going to LA! Come September, I'll be relocating to sunny California.

And yes, you're welcome to come visit. Yes, I'll be driving.
No, I'm not getting a perma-tan. Or plastic surgery.

Re-appraisal

I know everybody is sucking and chewing on her 'Hard Candy' at the moment (and for the record my fave trax are 'Give It 2 Me', 'Miles Away' and 'Devil Wouldn't Recognize You'), I had a lovely moment of re-finding one of the less flashy tracks from 'Music' this morning.

Check out 'Gone', the album's final track (for those who didn't get American Pie or Cyber-raga thrown on for good measure....)

The woman manages to get it right just about every time!

Selling out
Is not my thing
Walk away
I won't be broken again
I'm not
I'm not what you think

Dream away your life
Someone else's dream
Nothing equals nothing

Letting go
Is not my thing
Walk away
Won't let it happen again
I'm not
I'm not very smart

Why should I feel sad
For what I never had
Nothing equals nothing

Turn to stone
Lose my faith
I'll be gone
Before it happens

Selling out
Is not my thing
Walk away
I won't be broken again
I won't
I won't fall apart

Dream away your life
Dream away your dream
Nothing equals nothing


Turn to stone
Lose my faith
I'll be gone
Before it happens

Turn to stone
Lose my faith
I'll be gone

Spring forward...

...now that I have a fall back!

I've been offline and hibernating for much of this winter, it was pretty hard for several reasons.

BUT things are looking up!

I have decided to spend the next few months writing, it's high time that I got my stuff together and finished several projects. Might even list them here sometime soon ;)

So welcome back, I'll be here much more often from now on.