Friday, November 26, 2004

My crow costume for halloween

The concept:

I smeared my face with vaseline and Amy covered my face with plaster bandages.

The beak has a base made of wired mesh.

The beak and the rest of the mask are covered in more plaster bandages

The mask is held in place by elastic bands. The mask is so close fitting that the elastic presses into me.

Amy glued feathers to the mask.

The body of the costume is a coat from a thrift store. The back is cut away to make a tail. Amy made huge feathers out of black fabric, stiffened with wire. She also made the talons which attach to my shoes.

When we went trick or treating kids would recognize what I was and say hello crow. This is a great feeling, the same thing happened last year when I was Gandalf. After a while I got more confident and started to shout caw and flap my wings.

Monday, November 08, 2004

Edna Mode quotes

I never look back, dahling. It detracts from the now.

I cut it a little roomy for the free movement. The fabric is comfortable for sensitive skin... and it can also withstand a temperature of over one thousand degrees... completely bulletproof...

and machine washable, dahling, that's a new feature.

Supermodels - ha! Nothing super about them. Spoiled, stupid little stick-figures with poofy lips who think only about themselves. Feh! I used to design for GODS!

You can't! It's impossible! I'm far too busy, so ask me now before I again become sane.

No capes!

Well, I'm sure I don't know, dahling; luck favors the prepared. I didn't know the baby's powers, so I covered the basics...

What are you talking about? You are Elastigirl! My God! Pull yourself together! What will you do? Is...is...is this a question? You will show him that you remember that he is Mr. Incredible! And you will REMIND him, who YOU are! Well, you know where he is... Go! Confront the problem! Fight! Win! And call me when you get back, dahling, I enjoy our visits.

Yes, words are useless. Gobble, gobble, gobble. There is too much of it, darling. Too much. That is why I show you my work! That is why you are here!

Friday, October 29, 2004

R.I.P. John Peel

I sent him a letter once. I don’t remember what was in it but he replied in some format. I must have moaned about Chester because he said he had grown up not all that far away. I sent him postcards with requests and he played one or two. Once someone else, besides me, maybe Nath or maybe Mike actually heard the request.

He wasn’t the only DJ. In the sixth form I often wouldn’t start my homework until Peel’s show was finished. I would put on Dave Fanning who didn’t require quite the same amount of attention. On Friday there was Phil Ross and later Roger Hill. I quickly found that music dabblers would listen to the 8pm shows on Radio One. But the real music lovers were listening to Peel. The thing I learned from his show was an attitude to music. There's a lot of it out there, and it's fun to lsiten to it without prejudice Peel would surprse you. I heard King Sunny Ade and Youssou N'Dour from him first. He played that Misty In Roots record a hundred times. He played Napalm Death and they really weren't very good. In the last year I have been listening to his show streamed over the internet. He knew some of us were doing this and mentioned it, and he read oout text messages and emails he had got. I heard him play Mutantes and it was weird that a band I had known for years were new to him. But he didn't worry about being behind the times, he just was playing a record that was new to him. He played what sounded good. For a time he played Sheena Easton and I listened carefully.