Sedmikrásky

I watched Sedmikrásky, by Věra Chytilová today, it was such a beautifully visual satirical surrealist film and a great experience to watch. I've wanted to watch it after studying the Czech New Wave in my film course earlier this year, we watched Lásky jedné plavovlásky aka Loves of a Blonde which I also enjoyed, it had such a great youthful spirit, similar to the famous French New Wave of the same time.
The two films both had the added dimension of a certain political bent and though I'm no expert in Czech politics both before and after the Prague Spring the messages both have of oppression, rebellion, sex and gender are certainly universal and easy to read in these films and they're certainly films that makes you think. I think the added dimension of the political climate of Prague at the time makes the Czech New Wave movement unique from the French New Wave despite having similar themes and styles. The Marie's rebellion for example, such as feast on the food in the communist-run factory is certainly more daring and risky than the run through the Louvre by the gang in Bande á Part, it certainly has darker consequences. Even the filming of such scenes caused the film to be banned in it's country of origin after the Prague Spring.
Sedmikrásky was certainly more surreal than Lásky jedné plavovlásky and the films I have seen from the French New Wave, though this wasn't unsettling to watch, there were many visually beautiful sequences, such as this colourful train sequence which meant the film was still engaging to watch despite the slow plot development. The use of colour in the film in particular was innovative and many of the frames were so beautifully arranged they could be art as screen shots alone. The co-ordination of the sets, costume and props gave the film a very synthetic feel, which made everything seem so artificial, the film certainly wasn't realism, but made a great statement in not being so.
The two female leads in Sedmikrásky were another really enjoyable part of the film, both equally charming and exasperating as the troublemaking Maries. The film had the potential to be annoying and forced if the actresses didn't embody the fun, naivete and curiosity of the characters (they're in almost every scene together) but Ivana Karbanová and Jitka Cerhová are thankfully very engaging. Just the statement of having two such free and rebellious female leads, only using male characters as sex objects and authority figures was a revolutionary move for the time and its still very rare now to have such a female-centric film, especially in the mainstream.
It was a great film, really worth watching. I really need to spend more time watching films that make me think and discover more. Maybe blogging about it might give me the motivation (hahahaha).
Finally the fashion of Daisies was so amazing:

blonde bob/halo virgin flower hairband

matching black and white shifts. very 60s. still cool.

THIS PRINT!!

such an awesome colour dress and I love the way she matched not only the set but the dress she wore earlier in white
MONACLE!!

I'm a sucker for outfits that match but are slightly different

those flicks!!

Songs For Sally Draper

I did this a while back and posted it on tumblr (much easier to update, much lower quality content) based almost entirely on Rookie's 'Hanging Out With...' series, I was shocked they didn't have one based on Sally actually, she's the coolest fictional pre-teen on TV and an inspirational future badass/cult member/militant feminist, I guess Jon Hamm says readers are too young for Mad Men which makes me feel OLD.
This playlist however makes me feel YOUNG (great tie in/going for the ad approach) as only chintzy 1960s pop music can do. I guess that's something that may surprise people who know me quite well, I'm super into chintzy old fashioned pop music (chintzy being the perfect word to describe odes to holding hands and wishing you could get married), I put my secret habit to good use anyway.
KEY THEMES:
1. boys r weird
2. i want to be older
3. beatles love
4. being a rebel
Anyway, enjoy the chintz and how great this font is (Arsenale While)

The Only Thing You Have To Be At Age 23 Is Yourself.

Its been a while! For which I apologize. I had a 4 week internship at ITV Yorkshire which was so much fun, but really time consuming. I've wanted to work in TV production for a while and this was a really interesting experience for me, just to see how everything works and was run. I also met some brilliant people, who were really great to talk to and learn from.
In terms of first time work experience I was lucky to get such a good placement and some people were saying I am still quite young to start thinking about life outside of uni, but if you know what you want to do there is no harm in reaching for it as soon as you can. Its also a scary world I'll be exposed to when I no longer have the comfort of student finance or living my parent's house, with the recession and the tough job market and media in general is notoriously hard to crack (and I've probably watched Girls and Reality Bites so much it's making me paranoid about Adult Life). Hopefully the work experience I did and have done before will provide a strong platform for further work prospects.
I know for a lot of people getting into the industry they want after uni has been a real struggle. For some it seems like a battle between what they want to do and supporting themselves. The unpaid internship culture for many is an impossible reach as they can't afford to support themselves or even travel to their placement. Though I can see the employers' pov, as they are basically training people for nothing, there should be at least a living wage in place, or even travel or food expenses as these are people who are time they could be working in a job to support themselves. Sometimes it is a matter of balancing a placement and a job, but this can be trying on time, again these are people, is it really possible to balance two full time jobs and not get seriously ill?
What really annoys me about this issue particularly is the class bias this causes, people whose parents can afford to pay for their living expenses and can travel to major cities are going to outweigh people who cannot. This isn't a meritocratic system based on passion, talent or pragmatism, it is based on who can afford the free unpaid time. Everyone should have equal work opportunities and class barriers may not be as obvious as race or gender or disability bias but it is equally important.
This post was in part inspired by this article on VICE which got me kinda mad, written by someone who fails to see beyond their own middle class privilege and luck (he never mentions how he got his own writing break, but he never had to intern, which doesn't give him a leg to stand on imo). Yeah some people's attitudes may be unsatisfactory, but if they are being whiny and ungrateful, or don't do the jobs they're given YOU CAN FIRE THEM. There is no legal obligation for employers to keep interns on after all and you're not paying for them, obviously. I think the pressure groups do have a point and interns and employers deserve to have a proper ENFORCED policy to reduce exploitation and class bias. But what do I know? I'm so young it's probably a steaming pile of crap.
[FYI ITV has a paid internship scheme and keeps to UK laws on internships and work experience, many places however do not keep to these :(]
[picture from tumblr and quote from Reality Bites, which you should watch if you know what's good for you.]
[also I'm 19, not 23. That's the film quote dummy]

I made this playlist last night. I've not really found any good hangover playlists on 8tracks at all. A good hangover playlist should be sort of woozy and dreamy, chillwave and shoegaze are good, but I tried not to make it to heavy on any particular genre, also it shouldn't be too depressing or sad, you're hungover because you (hopefully) had a good time (i found some that had Bon Iver and James Blake on, it was all wrong!) also NO ABRASIVE NOISES, (this should be amazing, if it wasn't for the bit at the end which isn't good for a weary brain), lyrical content should be sort of relevant in that it shouldn't be about regret or doing something other walking to mcdonalds, or dwelling too far in the past, any explicit reference to alcohol might make you feel all queasy again, most of the songs are about the present, enjoying who you're with and what you've done also I don't know about anyone else but I like a sort of otherwordly transcendence theme when I'm hungover, maybe cause I feel all world weary and a need to get out of my own body, anyway, that might explain this one (I also considered the space-y and the existential but they didn't fit the 'flow' of the playlist & got cut). Finally don't just base it on song title (e.g. this or that) just because the title fits, doesn't mean you want to listen to it when you're hungover (too upbeat).
ANYWAY. The moral of the story is its hard to make a hangover playlist, just listen to mine.

[the playlist art is by Agnes Montgomery I chose it because it was beautiful and no other reason was needed (also have you tried to find an image representing hangovers? Almost as impossible as making a playlist about them)]
[I wrote out the playlist by hand but my scanner broke so this hideous paint affair was my attempt to recreate it. It looks like it was written on a scroll in Lizzy the First's day, but w/e]

Winter Skincare Dos and Don'ts

I suck at focusing and finishing projects, procrastination is my downfall all the time. I started writing recently, mostly just notes on my ipod when I'm out and tiny bits of fiction on word documents that are mostly still unfinished. It's so easy for me to waste hours in front of the tv, or reading articles online or on tumblr or facebook instead of focusing my energies onto something more expressive. I'm not of the opinion that these things are entirely bad, but there's something more satisfying about creating something yourself. Exorcising your demons through creativity is much more healthy than suppressing them and succumbing to the tv/laptop.
I haven't written in my spare time for years, I always felt like there were a lot of things holding me back. I always blamed my lack of productivity on having work and school pressures ("I write all the time at school!!"/"I'm too tired"/"I'm bored"/"I'm re-watching Mad Men" etc.) and though some of these excuses are ok, I don't want to force myself to write when I don't like some strict parent, I guess I saw it too much like a chore, like I had to write to finish a project for school with a deadline and a wordcount of exactly 1000. It really isn't a chore if you write what you want, when you want. If anything, for me, it's become something of a stress-buster. Even if what you write at first doesn't get finished for months, or is so bad you wouldn't even show your cat for fear he would laugh, you did it bro, you put pen to paper, or keys into a word document, which sounds like more of an accomplishment than watching the entire series of Teen Mom 2 doesn't it? All it really takes is an attitude change.
I guess another thing that held me back from writing for so long was the idea that I was somehow unworthy of it, just because I wasn't writing masterpieces with intense emotional depth that it was pointless to even bother writing. Which seems silly if you think about it, I mean there are so many books which sold millions which don't fit that description at all (ahem ahem ahem) and yet people still love that shit. Just cause you're not shakespeare doesn't mean you're not entitled to make a stab at writing what you want. You can only really speak for yourself and from your own thoughts and experiences, the only one you should really be trying to write for is yoself qurl. And if you're so critical on literary standards you've probably got a good head to decide whether what you write is any good anyway.
Writing offers a good way to let out your emotions and feelings and all that messy shit (though its not the only way) it certainly helps me make sense of things if a piece of work was inspired by something I'm trying to comprehend myself (this doesn't have to be autobiographical, it can just be about ANGER if you're angry or w/e). Sometimes it can be painful reading really emotional work back (I'm bad at reading back my own work anyway, I cringe when reading back my essays in exams even if I've done well) but no one's saying you have to publish it, you can even delete it afterwards, but it can make your mind less foggy and focus your brain on something other than how crappy you feel.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that writing is something to be enjoyed and something I want to use this blog to chronicle and explore. I might have a few bambi moments but I guess this is me trying to find my writing feet. Plz don't judge.
[title and picture a reference to Daisy from spaced, master procrastinator]