STILETTO VANDAL PACK

Come to Mamma!!!!






Available now at Kendo

SOME GIRLS

BAD ASS BETTY

Betty Davis Rocks

DREAMING OF A CALI CHRISTMAS

So I spent Christmas eve and Christmas pumping up shrimp at a resort in Mission Bay, San Diego. I don't dream of a white Christmas but more of a sandy Christmas because I'm not too fond of the snow. Well thank god for California and MERRY CHRISTMAS WAH READERS!

And this is Santa Al that I met at the bay and his friend the spotted sea bass. No, he's not cruel. Fish and let em' free.

Best of wishes and I hope everyone's presents list was checked off.

Ciao,
Dianne

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE BIG APPLE!

This is what i woke u to! Its sunny as hell here! Merry Christmas to all my dear WAH readers worldwide!!!

LADY VENGEANCE

I spotted this fim for three reasons:

1 - The self explanatory title, I love self explanatory titles which still draw your attention.
2 - Its part of a triology from Park Chan-Wook, the director of Oldboy, which is quite brilliant
3 - The posters which were of a beautiful delicate religious, tattoo style

I bought it from Fopp for £3! (God Bless you FOPP!) and finally managed to watch it after allowing it to fester in the bottom of my suitcase for a while. I cannot believe I didnt watch it sooner, although the blubbering it induced from me makes me glad i didnt watch it at the cinema. Oh, the strength of a woman! Go check it out...

DIPPED IN THE BLOOD OF MALE VIRGINS...

BILLIE + ELLA + NINA

I've been listening to a lotta Ella Fitzgerald lately, kickstarted by an amazing song from a mixtape someone made for me recently...(which jumps by the way Mr P! Please rerecord it for me!!), called I Wonder Where Our Love Has Gone, a song that was also recorded by Billie Holiday (although Ella's version touches me more in this instance). Unfortunately I can't find a youtube vid of it, so you'll have to do some good ol' fashioned record shopping for that one.

Ella Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917 – June 15, 1996), Billie Holiday (April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) and Nina Simone (February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003) are so often quoted and revered and idolised that it turns into the ultimate cliche to love em. However, this is completely deserved. All three cause an uncontrollable feeling for me, its like overwhelming emotion I can't really describe. I grew up watching a lotta matinees from the 30s, 40s and 50s when I was a kid, sometimes bunking off school to catch em, so it also adds to that nostalgia for me, of being 7 years old, warm and content in my grandparents house and watching movies when it was cold outside.

Billie

Ella

Nina


I don't wanna do a whole write up here of their histories and biographies, theres enough on the internet by more knowledgable people than I. But if you don't know much about them, please find out! They had such mental and interesting lives; divorce, rape, slavery, prostitution, prison...they had it hard! But suffice to say that these three amazingly talented black women were alive in an era of unrest, racially and politically, and all made noteworthy contributions to the causes with their art. Check the lyrics to the haunting song by Billie, "Strange Fruit".

Southern trees bear strange fruit,
Blood on the leaves and blood at the root,
Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze,
Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.

Pastoral scene of the gallant south,
The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth,
Scent of magnolias, sweet and fresh,
Then the sudden smell of burning flesh.

Here is fruit for the crows to pluck,
For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck,
For the sun to rot, for the trees to drop,
Here is a strange and bitter crop.

Check her lve here:

Here's a few more of my favourite songs...

Billie Holiday - The Blues Are Brewin'

Ella Fitzgerald - Georgia On My Mind (love this track!!)

Nina Simone - My Baby Just Cares For Me (great video..)

Its a rainy Sunday, im in New York, all wrapped in a blanket on the sofa, sorry "couch". I think I'm gonna watch "Stormy Weather" now...

COCK N BULL

In a bid to satisfy my English urges I went o the Cock n Bull pub on Lincoln in Venice. I shoulda guessed by the name, but my "homemade" pie tasted like congealed cow balls....

MOVIE OF THE DAY

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO....

Miss Dy-Na-Mit-Tee???? I was working recently with someones ipod on shuffle and I totally forgot about this HEAVY tune. And then I remember the first time i heard Booo, at my grandmothers house and I immediately started to get up and dance around the coffee table. I did get mildly annoyed when she kept going on about "THE CHILDREN" and appearing at charity things every 5 minutes, but other than that - WE MISS YOU MISS DYNAMITE...

This tune is STILL sick - gives me goosebumps!

The lyrics in this are sooooo true to my own experience of growing up, I'm gonna have to reprint them here....

Yo I'm the same little girl that grew up next door to you
Went through all the things a teenage girl goes through
Hangin' out all night breakin my curfew
When my daddy hit the door I gave my mumma the blues
Use 2 spend my time blazin' lazin' days away
Thought I was grown left home at 15 didn't want to obey
Had 2 get my act together couldn't take the heat
And now I'm making beats for the streets

I'm Ms. Dy-na-mi-tee
I stay blowin' up ur stereo everybody gotta hear me though
I'm just Ms. Dy-na-mi-tee
Hear me bussin' on da radio
Now feel my flow u get me though
I'm Ms. Dy-na-mi-tee
See me bouncin' in da video
And I come to rock the show
I'm Ms. Dy-na-mi-tee
Everybody loose control
Let my vibe touch your soul

I remeber all the house parties that took place
Bein' in my bed upstairs and we could still feel the base
And my cousins and my brothers we'd sit up all night
Listenin' to my family vibin' till the mornin' light
Remember my first years of school I was so innocent
I just wanted to learn I never been so content
But the more that I learned I found a guidin light
That showed me the need to fight
And be

I'm Ms. Dy-na-mi-tee
I stay blowin' up ur stereo
Everybody gotta hear me though
I'm just Ms. Dy-na-mi-tee
Hear me bussin' on da radio
Now feel my flow u get me though
I'm Ms. Dy-na-mi-tee
See me bouncin' in da video
And I come to rock the show
I'm Ms. Dy-na-mi-tee
Everybody loose control
Let my vibe touch ur soul

At 13 I thought I was in love with this guy
Anytime I caught his eye I thought that I'd just die
Remember playin' class clown I was just a disruptive fool
And the beatin' I got first time suspended from school
Remember Sunday School and after go to granmas for lunch
Macaroni, rice and peas, chicken and pineapple punch
Never had much my mum brother sister and me
But love was enough to succeed
to grow

I'm Ms. Dy-na-mi-tee
I stay blowin' up ur stereo
Everybody gotta hear me though
I'm just Ms. Dy-na-mi-tee
Hear me bussin' on da radio
Now feel my flow u get me though
I'm Ms. Dy-na-mi-tee
See me bouncin' in da video
And I come to rock the show
I'm Ms. Dy-na-mi-tee
Everybody loose control
Let my vibe touch ur soul

I'm just Ms. Dy-na-mi-tee

And remember when this track came out??? If someone played this tune next week, it would still cause chaos!

IN PRAISE OF...THE DOUBLE ACT

MY XMAS WISH LIST

With a shudder, I just realised - CHRISTMAS IS NEXT WEEK TUESDAY! For anyone wishing to buy me a present, Here is my WISHLIST!!!

DALEK SHOWER CURTAIN


CROWN EARRINGS FROM GIRL PROPS (AKA Best Accessories Site Ever.)

MADONNA SEX BOOK


DIANA CAMERA FROM LOMO

VANS WTAPS CHUKKA OR ERA IN MY SIZE!


DIOR RING - Might treat myself to this one...


A JENNY HOLZER PRINT FROM INFAMMATORY ESSAYS


ALSO KNOWN AS...VOL1



Thats all for now....

ED RUSCHA

I just wanna take a minute out to pay homage to Ed Ruscha, who changed my life aged 17, and instigated my love affair with LA...

VENICE BITCH

Hola - I'm in Venice Beach. Its still raining and wet and its a bit of a dump. There are a lotta bums on the beach. In some ways I'm envious of them in a Michael Douglas Falling Down sota way...what freedom! Anyway, I have a thing about murals. They're a worldwide phenomenon. Even in Wolverhampton we had a Maradona mural along a wall by the football ground. I would really love to go and see the war ones in Ireland. The ones in Venice tend to be colourful, and pretty amateur, but thats why I love em! Heres a few pics that I took while cruising down the boardwalk on Jay from Rogues BMX...