Fiddling While Rome Burns...Bangs Trimmed & Movie Review

Perhaps dear constant readers you may need an antidote to the recent forced jollity of Xmas and New Years

Then welcome, I have been in a gothic frame of mind the last few weeks, perhaps it was the bump on the head at work that ended with me in emergency.  I seem to have avoided a concussion but had to spend the next day in bed and was told that texting, computers, TV or books were verboten. The headaches have abated now all that is left is the voices telling me….Redrum. Redrum. REDRUM!…never mind

Not wanting to spend the time in meditation or seeking inner peace I decided to download some old radio serials to my phone. After escaping to late forties noir LA with Philip Marlow I started an audio version of Stephen King’s latest Dr. Sleep, a sequel of sorts to his earlier work the Shinning.  Not done yet as it is about thirteen hours long but highly recommended so far.

On Friday I had my bangs trimmed, stylist quickly curled my laser straight hair, a quick selfie in the Seville to capture for posterity. Seville has been acting up....strange noises and ISC (idle speed control motor) sticking due to age or Siberian like weather we are having.

I love horror movies but I am not a fan of the slasher kind, an exception is American Mary by the Soska sisters. The film avoids easy classification, it is more than typical  slice and dice drive-in fare. Rape revenge fantasy, body modification primer? One of my favorite horror writers Kim Newman (Anno Dracula) agrees.

In a nutshell financially stressed medical student Mary finds her calling I the field of body modification surgery. Things don’t end well.

I will leave the film’s artistic merits up to you but I have to say her look and costume choices were to die for. Actress Katharine Isabelle wears a Bettie page fringe and is invariably in heels and some very racy outfits even when operating.

Hope you decide to check it out yourself, but maybe postpone until after SRS 

sweet dreams....

Joyeux Noël from Johnny and Sylvie

Dear constant reader, even the coldest heart can thaw a little at Christmas time

It has been a frantic week in the retail sector with customers becoming ever more "grichier" as the last shopping days slowly evaporated in a blizzard of sales and two for one offers.

I had today off to catch up on my own Christmas shopping as I had been working some nights to eleven pm. But back on the front lines of consumerism on boxing day...yikes!

I may not be feeling an excess of jollity but I hope you all have a great Christmas and by next season you all have found (if not already) your own Johnny or Sylvie.

Of course that is Johnny Hallyday and Sylvie Vartan. From the swinging Christmas video I would say the year is 1964 as that was the year Johnny entered the national service, he and Sylvie were married on April 12th 1965. 





 

Boiled with his own Pudding

For my sins I am temporally (I hope) in a work environment that features near continuous Christmas music of the saccharine kind.

For the most part I can block it out but it does tend to leave me with a rather bah humbug take on the holiday season. Scrooge's line jumps readily to mind:

"every idiot who goes about with 'Merry Christmas' on his lips, should be boiled with his own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart".  

Occasionally a cool yule tune by the Beach Boys or Elvis slips past whatever guardian of mediocrity programs the muzak.

Now if this version of the King's Santa Claus Is Back In Town (dig the line about Santa arriving in a big black Cadillac) by The Creepshow ever gets played I will gladly get up on the counter and do the watusi.

go here:  http://youtu.be/KvFVQT-8N6I

Santa if you are listening I would just love a 56 Continental Mark II, you don't even have to wrap it...what do mean of course I've been good...

 


 

Modelling the Fifties Delinquent Mugshot Look

A day or two of mild weather, so I reverted to my fifties bad girl JD look, fitted leather jacket, leopard print T and not quite visible Betsey Johnson skull earrings and necklace. I think I looked good swinging my high heeled black boots out of the lowered Lincoln Mark IV.  http://www.betseyjohnson.com

Yes it has occurred to me that I sometimes cling to the rockabilly look as a crutch, leather armor that makes me feel like a tough girl when really I am feeling terribly vulnerable. 

Trying my best Les-Lee impression

Les-Lee was a Canadian who performed at the Le Carrousel and a contemporary of the Coccinelle, April Ashley and Bambi. I believe Miss lee was also famous for this difficult to pull off open mouthed pose.
http://zagria.blogspot.ca/2013/04/les-lee-1929-2010-performer.html

some bad girl music for you:

Sad Ass Christmas

First an apology to my American cousins who have yet to get Thanksgiving and Black Friday out of the way. Above the 49th parallel we celebrate turkey day a little earlier so the stores can begin their Christmas sales that much earlier.

Secondly an apology for my lack of blogging, work, looking for a career position, family, car repairs etc have taken most of my time leaving little for writing or friends.

Jeez, I could do a whole post on installing a new distributor in my Lincoln Mark IV....took Napa three attempts to get me the right one. I will save the whole sordid story for another post, I know you can't wait.

I have attempted to write this post a few times but gave up. Again sorry but this will be somewhat stream of consciousness, if I don't write it now I never will. In a nut shell, in approximately one week I will leave my home (I guess it will no longer be my home), separation/divorce will be finalized. I will be moving about thirty to forty minutes drive away. I wish I could be closer but I cannot afford it.  

Circumstances mean that I will not be seeing my children everyday like I have been used to, getting them up in the morning, making them lunch, walking them to school, picking them them up from school, making dinner, telling them bedtime stories.

The oldest understands the dynamics of the situation but younger two will be hurt and confused. I am worried about myself as well. I am not the most happy go lucky person and the new reality of being apart from my children for extended periods of time will be hard to bear. Not to mention being alone and in unfamiliar surroundings during Christmas, which I always found to be a bittersweet holiday.

I wish I could cry those tears now and get them out of the way. I have tried to prepare myself for the emotional impact but how?

Yesterday after a particularly exhausting day at my part time job I hit the grocery store to make sure I had something for dinner this evening and to get a few more school lunch supplies. Christmas music was already playing, cutting through the usual saccharine pap was Darlene Love singing her 1963 hit, Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home) I almost lost it and started to sob as I pushed my cart around the store.

OK here are a few more Xmas tear jerkers and wrist slitters to get out of the way and I promise I won't re-post them.

Ravonettes: 

Judy Garland:

Ravonettes again with Come On Santa, because these guys know black melancholy....enjoy

 OK cats and kittens hope you all had a good cry and feel a little better now. 

Love

April

PS. Yes that is the beautiful Jayne Mansfield trimming the tree. 

Are You Trying To Tell Me Something Dear?

For most of my life I believed I had been born at the wrong time. I love everything from the fifties, the cars, the music, heck even the chrome toasters.

My mom listened to the Beatles and Kinks but I preferred the sounds of the prior decade, rockabilly, the louder and more obscure the better. I pick and choose some of the cool stuff from the sixties and seventies but in my heart I want to turn the clock back to 1956.

Of course being transsexual in the fifties would have been even more of a nightmare. Only a few pioneers like Coccinelle, Bambi and April Ashley had the guts and blind ambition to make their true selves a living reality.

Not very easy being gay or lesbian either. Oh but we were out there….even in the Madison Avenue of the fifties, though the messages were coded to a “knowing audience”.

I had read that gays in the advertising industry (as it would have been mostly men in a creative role at agencies then) often snuck in phrases and imagery that would have only been picked up by “fellow travelers”.

http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/gay-advertising-s-long-march-out-closet-150235

While pursuing some vintage ads for one of my favorite Virgil Exner designed cars, the 1957-1962 Imperials. (he is also responsible for the Stutz Blackhawk) I think I discovered one of those ads. Check out the above print ad for a beautiful black Imperial Crown coupe.

Large version can be found here:

 http://www.imperialclub.com/Yr/1958/Ads/BlackWedding-big.jpg

Going beyond the ads tag line, which could be forgiven for being from an earlier decade the body of the text reads like the script for a gay porno movie….so I ask you am I wrong?

As Cass said when I sent her a copy, "do you think the groom had any idea she had transitioned?"

Who knew Chrysler Corporation was so progressive ;)  

Here is some very modern but vintage sounding rockabilly: 

 

Happy Haloweenie Everybody

A quick post to wish everyone a happy Halloween, of course for someone as zombie obsessed as myself, everyday is Halloween.

Spent last night gutting and carving pumpkins to my children's designs, the youngest wanted her first initial to light up the night.

 

I had to work today so only a little extra eye makeup, red lips and skull earrings and necklace.   Another lady unprompted said I should be a model....Cass I knew it was you in disguise...boy do you squirm when I tried to pull the rubber mask off.

No time for the angel of death costume this year, though I might wear my black halo and wings to hand out candy.

trying to look scary

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

the Cramps, the best band to play on Halloween and every other day too