Thoughts from the Bus Stop

New Laura Cantrell album on 21 June
Woo-hoo! This just in from Matador:
"Laura Cantrell's absolutely gorgeous debut album for Matador (and third album proper) is entitled 'Humming By The Flowered Vine' and is scheduled for June 21 release worldwide. Featuring a mixture of original songs, the traditional "Poor Ellen Smith" (a classic murdered-woman ballad), and interpretations of songs by Lucinda Williams, Emily Spray, Dave Schramm, and others. With star guest musicians to boot. We'll have more information on this release shortly; in the meantime, feast your eyes on the cover art, based on a painting by Fred Tomaselli."

More Tomaselli pics: Fred Tomaselli: Monsters Of Paradise At The Fruitmarket Gallery (24 Hour Museum)


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Chocolate Tiffin
Since the Gorgeous Blonde made me a tin of chocolate tiffin for Easter, and since whenever I'm not eating it I'm thinking about eating it (drooling out of the side of my mouth like Homer Simpson), here's the recipe (acquired by the Blonde via Sarah's grandma):

Ingredients
4oz margarine
2oz caster sugar
1oz drinking chocolate or cocoa powder
1tbs golden syrup
¾ cup raisins
6oz crushed digestive biscuits (seal in a sandwich bag and whack it with a wooden spoon!)
300g block of cooking chocolate (milk or plain)

Method
1. Prepare a greased flat tin (approx 11” x 5”)
2. Melt margarine in a saucepan, then add sugar, stir in well but DO NOT LET IT BOIL!
3. Keeping stirring – add cocoa powder and syrup. The mix will be liquid.
4. Add crushed biscuits and raisins. Mix in well.
5. Turn out the mixture into tin and press down well, especially into the corners.
6. Break up the cooking chocolate and melt in the microwave or a saucepan – remembering to check and stir it every 30 seconds or so until completely melted.
7. Pour liquid chocolate over the praline and spread it smoothly with a knife.
8. Leave to cool – then put in the fridge until totally cold – I find it easier if you score the lines across the surface of the squares you are going to cut it into, before the choc goes rock solid! Then you can cut all the way through the mixture into squares.
9. Turn out of the tin carefully, using a warmed knife if you experience difficulty.
10. EAT!!! Be careful, it's very addictive! Mmmmmmmmm… it can be frozen as well and saved for a later date...
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Little Green Book
Sharry requested a homemade card for her 30th birthday. I didn't know what to buy her for a pressie, so I took the making of the card to The Next Level. This is made from one piece of rectangular card, simply folded and cut according to a great basic pattern from Creating Handmade Books by Alisa Golden.

I made it in her favourite colour and included a little '30' cake decoration, definitions cut from an old dictionary, maps, a stamp by Peter Howson (her favourite artist), bits of old artwork of mine (heavily endebted to Tom Phillips' A Humument), old photos and photos of 'number 30' houses in Brighton and Hove streets. The '30' on the front is made from french knitting. Then I made a simple folder with a ribbon tie and her name in letter beads. It's bits of me and bits of her and things she's into and things we've done together - since we were 12, bless!

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Crowded House star found dead
Incredibly sad news - Paul Hester takes his own life.
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You learn something new every day
inaminuteago's Wisdom of the ages project asks the public to respond to the question:
What lesson have you learnt in life? All contributions are archived - browse through and maybe you'll learn something!
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Reader, I shagged him
Tanya Gold, The Guardian: "Elizabeth Gaskell is a literary criminal, who, in 1857, perpetrated a heinous act of grave-robbing. Gaskell took Charlotte Brontë, the author of Jane Eyre, the dirtiest, darkest, most depraved fantasy of all time, and, like an angel murdering a succubus, trod on her. In a "biography" called The Life of Charlotte Brontë, published just two years after the author's death, Gaskell stripped Charlotte of her genius and transformed her into a sexless, death-stalked saint...(continues)..."

Edited to add: Brontë Parsonage Museum To Hold Minute's Silence For Charlotte (24 Hour Museum)


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Having the painters in
OK, it's getting kind of scary when my museum research gets into rhythm with me... check out this online exhibition from Sydney's Powerhouse Museum:
The rags: paraphernalia of menstruation.

I particularly love this quote from Liz Giuffre in the 'Heckler' column of The Sydney Morning Herald (23 August 2004):
Despite the GST [Goods and Services Tax] classification of pads and tampons as 'luxury items', let me, on behalf of the women of Australia, let the manufacturers know that they have a captive audience. There is absolutely no need for this continued marketing push to make the products 'fun' and 'funky'.


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Prompted by In A Minute Ago's Sharon B flagging up the website of the The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute, New York, I've ended up surfing around looking for other international fashion and textile museums. Here's a list of sites to browse - I'll add to it whenever I see another I like the look of. So many beautiful, fascinating things!

UK
Fashion, Jewellery & Accessories at The Victoria and Albert Museum, London
The Fashion and Textile Museum, London (run by Zandra Rhodes)
The Museum of Costume, Bath
Allhallows Lace Museum, Honiton, Devon
Fashion and Style at Brighton Museum and Art Gallery, East Sussex
Bexhill Museum of Costume and Social History, East Sussex
Costume at Worthing Museum and Art Gallery, West Sussex
The Boot and Shoe Collection at Northampton Museum and Art Gallery
The Gallery of Costume, Manchester
Hatworks, Stockport
Shambellie House Museum of Costume, New Abbey, Dumfriesshire
The Fashion Collection at the Ulster Museum, Belfast
The Sheelin Irish Lace Museum, Bellanaleck, Fermanagh

Europe
ModeMuseum, Antwerp, Belgium
The Fashion Collection at the Gemeentemuseum, Den Haag, Netherlands
Tassenmuseum Hendrikje (Museum of Handbags), Amstelveen, Netherlands
Le Musée de la Mode et du Textile, Paris
Musée des Tissus et des Arts decoratifs de Lyon, Lyon
Musée et Jardin Christian Dior, Granville
El Museu Tèxtil i d'Indumentària, Barcelona
The National Costume Center of Finland, Jyväskylä
Textiles, Clothing and Jewellery at the Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nürnberg
The Textile Collection at the Museum of Arts and Crafts, Zagreb, Croatia

USA and Canada
Costume Museum of Canada, Dugald, Manitoba
Textile Museum of Canada, Toronto
Bata Shoe Museum, Toronto
Costume and Textiles at the Musée McCord Museum, Montreal
Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute, New York
American Textile Museum, Lowell, MA
Textile Museum, Washington, DC
Black Fashion Museum, Washington, DC
Kent State University Museum's Fashion Collection, Ohio
The University of Virginia Collection of Historic Dress
Costume and Textiles at The Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA
Cincinnati Dressmakers and Costume and Textiles at the Cincinnati Art Museum
The Fashion Collection at the Phoenix Art Museum, Arizona
The Costume Collection at the Goldstein Museum of Design, St. Paul, MN
The Lace Museum, Sunnyvale, CA

Rest of the World
The Palestine Costume Archive, Canberra, Australia
Decorative Arts & Design at the Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, Australia
Kobe Fashion Museum, Japan
The Kyoto Costume Institute, Japan
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You do something to me that I can’t explain
There's this lovely, lovely bloke. He's quietly handsome with a really warm personality and a gorgeous smile. He's sweet and funny and modest and down to earth and he's even a Christian. And he keeps playing me my favourite records without knowing they're my favourites, which really floors me. Last week, totally unprompted, he played me Thinking of You by The Colourfield. This week it was Islands in the Stream followed by Juxtaposed With U. But he's got a girlfriend. Oh, Dermot O'Leary... I think I love you.
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The Magic Piper
Some good news about Edwyn Collins's condition (after suffering a cerebral haemorrhage), from his wife Grace:
"This is the most relaxed I've felt about giving you news since this all began. I think we can say that Edwyn is now virtually out of immediate danger. We are organising his next move, to intensive neuro rehabilitation, which should happen in the next few weeks at the latest. This is a tough challenge, but you know he's beaten the odds already and I fully expect him to go on in his customary stubborn manner. He is aware of the wonderful support he has received and I'm printing all the messages out so he can read them when he is able in the near future. If you wish, you can send cards to him at:

West Heath Studios,
West Heath Yard,
174 Mill Lane,
London, NW6 1TB.

Meanwhile, his doctors are delighted and a bit confounded at his progress. He's Edwyn. Love to you all Grace"
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'I can't work with heavy coats
They're not revealing
We have to see each others clothes
So we're all freezing...'
(Kenickie, 1997)
The Telegraph's Fashion section reveals a shocking new trend: teenagers aren't wearing coats!
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Raspberry beret
The Red Hat Society encourages all women of 50 and over to wear a red hat and purple clothes - inspired by the poem Warning by Jenny Joseph, which describes an older woman in purple clothing with a red hat. If you're under 50, restraint is requested:

'We suggest rather strongly that women under 50 stick to the pink hat and lavender attire until THE BIRTHDAY. This adds an element of fun to aging, which we think is invaluable to women in our society who have learned to dread aging and avoid it at all costs. We believe that aging should be something anticipated with excitement, not something to dread.'


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Good Queen Bess
Just booked to see David Starkey speak at the Brighton Festival! I love his Tudor stuff - the books, the TV programmes. Nothing beats sticking his Elizabeth DVD on while working on something crafty (unless it's sticking the Cate Blanchett Elizabeth DVD on).

Nothing much else grabs me on an initial flick through the Festival brochure. But there's always the Fringe Festival's fantastic (free!) Streets Alive festival, usually the first Friday and Saturday of the month. I take the Friday off work and wander up and down the North Laine all afternoon with my camera. The acts change constantly and there's always something to see. I go back on Saturday and do the same thing - that way I hope I'll beat any nasty weather and get some fantastic pics.
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I know a song that'll get on ya nerves, get on ya nerves, get on ya nerves...
So that's how tunes get stuck in your head!
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More exhibitions which I love the sound of but can't get to cos they're in Scotland! That's it, I'm moving. Glasgow will do nicely.

* Bags of Style at the Royal Museum, Edinburgh, 'looking at the status and function of bags in contemporary societies'
* Patterns of Childhood: Samplers 1640-1900 at Scotland Street School Museum, Glasgow
* Simon Patterson at the Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh. I love The Great Bear, what with my love of maps and admiration of Harry Beck and Tom Phillips - bought a poster at the Tate last summer but still haven't framed it. Kind of wish I'd waited and spent my 30th birthday money on the £55 framed print.



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The Dangers of Sewing and Knitting
This Deirdre Nelson exhibition - The Dangers of Sewing and Knitting’ - sounds fantastic, but sadly for me it's only showing in St. Andrew's and Glasgow - too much of a hike from Brighton. In other recent knitting-related surfing, I've come across:

* Shetland's Great Gravit
* Year of the Volunteer's Big Knit (pdf) - a national knitting initiative, giving older volunteers the chance to donate knitted garments and toys to children's hospitals and premature baby units
* More on the Crafts Council's Knit 2 Together show (which I STILL haven't got to!)
* Knitting Together: the story of the East Midlands knitting industry over the past four hundred years
* Via Craftster, 'Strathaven folk knit themselves a 1950s room' - knitted cakes, teapots, cups and biscuits - even a knife and loaf of crusty white bread - while over in the corner sits a knitted valve mantel radio. A few Jean Greenhowe items can be spotted in the pics.


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Sticky business
I went into the Newsnight website to find a clip of Jeremy Paxman dematerialising, Dr Who-style, at the end of last night's programme - made me laugh out loud (as it did my colleagues when I replayed to them this morning). While I was there, signed up for the newsletter, which has just arrived. And I'd put good money on Annie getting some PRS money from tonight's programme...

'Gum: And with Ken Livingstone now waging war on the gum that sticks to pavements and shoes, we'll be revealing why chewing gum achieved the status of cool, revealing a secret chewing gum war, and asking how we came to be stuck with it. Personally, I stick mine under the Newsnight desk. Join us at 10.30pm on BBC2. Kirsty.'
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Paper roses
Browsing Plums' friend Revelatrice's lovely blog, I spotted her post about Tord Boontje's room installations. Is there no end to this man's talents? Will he ever design something I don't like?!


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Is that a new boy stuck to your shoe?
Working late, I've been listening to the songs on the Annie website. I LOVE Chewing Gum - which has the Richard X magic, and a fantastic video to boot. I've got it on the brain now. Not so keen on Heartbeat, but I think it could grow on me. When it does I'll buy the album.

27.05.05 edited to add: The Hitmakers: Richard X (BBC)


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Happy, happy birthday
It's my friend Baadad's birthday, so I decided to knit him a Jean Greenhowe cactus, to add to his collection of real ones. To while away the time whilst I did this, I watched the box set of the BBC's 1995 Pride & Prejudice I'd borrowed from Annie. Normally I watch this with Julie on her annual trip down from't North - she goes all unnecessary when Darcy appears in his damp shirt - but this time I was on my own, and I really enjoyed seeing it all again. I picked up so many more subtle jibes and jokes than I had before. And of course the costumes are beautiful and fascinating.

I kept wondering what the little piece of ribbon or braid was, which all the gentlemen had peeking out from under their waistcoats, close to the right hip. My first thought was that it must be a watch fob but it didnt appear to be attached to any chain or button - though obviously it was difficult to get a clear look. Found the answer on Jessamyn's Regency Costume Companion - a fantastic resource. It IS a watch fob. Thanks Jeesamyn!


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Lottery unveils woolly fashions
'Dedicated followers of fashion will get their first chance to study a unique collection of black and white photographs depicting 40 years of haute couture in wool, thanks to a £30,900 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF).

The Woolmark Company Photographic Archive is held by the London College of Fashion and, for the first time, the complete collection will be digitised, made available online and promoted to a wider audience for use by teachers, students and researchers. An exhibition, conference and workshops in a number of London colleges will also be organised, and the original photographs will be preserved to increase their lifespan.' More...


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'Call it open-source crafting...'
Via Crafty Chica, an article in Time magazine which includes interviews with the ladies behind GetCrafty and Craftster.
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