Bridget Bardot Eyes

I wish, my attempt to mimic her dark sixties eye makeup was met with...."pretty but it makes you look really tired". 

Inspired by my viewing of the French bio pic of Serge Gainsbourg, A Heroic Life.  I was aware of his influence on French popular music and of course his love affairs, Juliette Greco, Brigitte Bardot and Jane Birkin.

I mean where to begin? From his obscene "Les Sucettes" pop hit for yéyé girl France Gall to his "Aux Armes et cætera", a reggae version of "La Marseillaise" that caused riots in Paris. He courted controversy, had the most beautiful women in the world and lived for his art. Oh and of course made a lot of money...."I'll get into hack work and buy myself a Rolls"



I will leave you dear constant reader to search out the above mentioned tunes, here are two of my favourites Gainsbourg numbers:

Hugs,

April

Lucky 13: Rockabilly Birthday

Friday was my birthday, 29 again! In an attempt to spit in the face of fate/karma/what have you, I journeyed into the sinful big city on the 13th to catch the monthly Rockabilly Shake Up at the 3030 on Dundas St. West.


A cool venue that featured a line of vintage pinball machines, (I have a 1975 Bally four player “Bukaroo” in my basement...well not my basement for long).

Two bands were playing, The Alistair Christl Trio and Christian D and the Hangovers.
Both were great but I preferred the Hangovers Cramps like sound, it was their psychobilly style version of Tear It Up that finally got the normally shy me up on the dance floor.

Good DJ spinning some obscure rockin wax, including the impossibly infectious and nutty Snacky Poo Part-1 by  The Del-Mars [Mercury #72244] 1962. See below to have your musical taste permanently warped.

You don’t turn up to a rockabilly show without spending some time on your look. Lots of guys and gals really dressed the part. For the guys, leather jacket JD style or dapper sport coat wearing Sun era Elvis. The girls were an eclectic mix from bad girl biker, forties factory worker, Bettie Page clones and one redhead who was the splitting image of Joan from Mad Men.

Me; leopard print mini dress, black leather jacket and four inch black pumps, yes I can cut a rug in them.

 Because I have no mercy, here is Part 2

Remembering

Today we met with the lawyer to basically finalize our separation agreement and pave the way for a divorce decree before the end of the year.

In happier times it was this view that we both looked out upon as we embarked on a honeymoon cruise to Bermuda. New York is also where I first set foot in the new world, only one year old.


But not about me today.

In Southern Ontario we are having a mini heat wave,  warmer than even that perfect day back in 2001... when the world changed.

It was a global tragedy, an atrocity, my heart goes out to all my American friends.

Love,

April

Marie France….Role Model, Better Late Than Never

I recently discovered an very cool album from 1980 by Marie France called 39 de fièvre (RCA). The record combines, rockabilly, sixties garage and the ye-ye girl sound. So right up my alley.

Despite her punk background she has become something of a traditional French chanteuse. In 2008 she returned to her roots teaming up with the Phantoms to record a rockabilly/garage album.

As my regular readers will remember I have a thing for late fifties, sixties French pop culture. Most of the tracks are available to listen to on You Tube ...enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6e3iJALQj4&feature=share&list=FLxikIp479qca6R03Yo1hPPw

And one more thing….she is or rather was transsexual. 

Fast rewind the time machine to 1980 and I was a boarding school in the UK,  beginning my obsession with rockabilly and Cadillacs. At the same time tormented daily by my own thoughts….what the hell was wrong with me, was I the only one, I must fight this curse at all costs, the shame, the guilt. Heck you all know what I am talking about.   

Wonder if things might have been different if I found this record….what a role model! Better late than never!

Good Night Campers

My recovery seems to be going well and I am following my dilation routine to the letter as Dr. Brassard recommended. My times during the day are not consistent but I get in three required sessions.

On the home front things are less rosy.  Divorce will soon be finalized and I will have to vacate our home for the last fifteen or so years. J and children to stay in family home. Employment is still an issue and my writing doesn’t generate a steady income. Wherever I end up I will be seeing a lot less of my children about which I am extremely upset.

My emotions have been on the raw side this last week and I have found myself sobbing at the most ridiculous things.

I had been watching an old British sitcom called Hi De Hi about a fictional Butlin's like holiday camp during the late fifties. The series focuses on the camp staff and ran for nine seasons. The other day I caught the very last episode on You Tube. In the final episode the staff learn the camp will not open next season and their little family is cast to the winds.

I think I cried for thirty minutes at the bittersweet conclusion, seeing parallels to my own situation, silly no? 

watch it here;

A real Butlin's commercial:

 

  

ANGER

Sometimes it overwhelms me and threatens drown what I hope is the good person inside of me.

I think I have managed to keep a positive attitude despite personal and employment issues. I can remember how far I have come and how lucky I am to have many supportive friends and family.

But sometimes the old me flames back into being, the old me… always angry/sad/miserable… I take each minor setback to heart and bile floods my soul.  Dear constant reader that corrosive anger is like a drug, I used to draw my strength from it, the fuel of my ambition and a necessity to get me through the day.

I would hazard a guess many transsexuals have that same self hating anger as a crutch. The original concept of anger (wrath) as one of the seven deadly sins meant anger directed externally as well as internally.

Part of me welcomes its return with open arms, so familiar and so comforting. Yes it whispers, hate the world, no one loves you,  you are freak.

Clearly I have written this post more than a few times over my journey, the telling helps exorcise the demons, thanks for listening everyone.

As the villager said in Monty Python's Holy Grail, she turned me into a newt but I am much better now…

 Hugs,

April

 

First Post SRS Car Wash

I will take success where I can.

Today I vacuumed and washed both my Cadillac Seville and Buick Electra. Always a work out but I managed it. I also installed a new dash in the Seville to replace the original that had cracked, hey it is almost thirty years old!

I saved a blue dash from an 82 Seville last summer and had dyed it red (using leather shoe dye) to match my interior. Kudos to Cadillac for making it an easy job to replace, only eight bolts and four Phillips head screws. 

Took the Electra (love that name, just rolls of the tongue) for a spin around the block, OMG forgot how wonderfully smoooooth and powerful and large. 

Fun Facts:

• According to classical mythology Electra was the daughter of King Agamemnon and and Queen Clytemnestra who took revenge against her mother and stepfather Aegisthus for the murder of their father, Agamemnon.

• The Phillips head screw was invented by Henry F. Phillips of Portland Oregon. The importance of the crosshead screw design lies in its self-centering property. One of the first customers, in 1937, was  GM for its Cadillac assembly-lines.

• At 233.3 inches (5,926 mm) long the 75 & 76 Electras are the biggest Buicks ever made.

• GM designer Wayne Kady was responsible for both the 1976 Buick Electra and the 1981-1985 "bustle back" Cadillac Seville. 

 Hugs,

April


ohhhhh Johnny....