Missing: Culture. If found please post me a ticket to its location

I am feeling rather cornered of late.  I have lost all motivation to do anything.  In fact, you're lucky I'm writing anything at the moment.  I have, thankfully, discovered what I'm missing: culture.  I need the lights, the people, the sounds and the sights in particular that come with cultured society.

Where I live people say hello to everyone they pass.  This may sound lovely but this incessant need to greet strangers becomes rather annoying when I have escaped into my music and therefore look like an ignorant arse hole.  On a good day I can be found smiling as I hurry along to work, grinning at any randomer that passes me or even looks vaguely in my direction.  The woman from the flower shop often suffers this annoying person....this city girl masquerading as a villager.

The thing is I wouldn't say I'm entirely happy with the lack of galleries and intellectual conversation.  The Simpsons every evening with my sister, who is eleven, is not stimulating my mind.  The library is bored of seeing me.  I read more books than they can get their hands on (it's pretty small) and I get annoyed with their meager opening times...needless to say I have turned to friends and family to fuel my need for literature.  However, it usually turns out to be rather unfulfilling.  Girl meets boy, girl and boy fall in love, overcome obstacles and then get married.

High Fidelity, by Nick Hornby, is currently fueling my imagination...thank you to a kind friend...and is currently doing an alright job.  Laura, the ex in the story, has a beautiful name of course...this alone is a reason to love it.  It is not art though is it?

Rothko as seen in the Tate Modern

(...looking rather more purple than it should)

The first time I went to the Tate Modern I walked into their Mark Rothko room and was stunning.  The combination of his large scale paintings and lighting overcame me and I just sat and stared whilst my friend Katie mumbled "I don't like it, I don't like it."  When I went to London this February I was absolutely mortified to find their latest Mark Rothko exhibition had closed leaving me with the same work I had seen previously.  This is what I want.  Art, architecture, people, music, drama, poetry...to feel absolutely lost if I miss it but to vow wholeheartedly I won't miss it again.  I want culture that will overwhelm me, and Katie...that way we can discuss it after.  I want to laugh and cry and smile and ramble incessantly about how wonderful something is.

I don't want to be pompus and try to convince people I'm cool and know more than them.  Culture is just what I need.  That and maybe some flirtation...because who doesn't like attention?  Suggestions are most welcome...for culture that is, not flirtation.  This is not that kind of site.

Selk: A Campers' Dream..

I spend the summer camping in Europe, which was hot unlike what was happening at the time in England.  Needless to say I really wouldn't have needed one of these but part of me would just LOVE one...

It completely stops the problems I have had with camping in the past where I have moved, shuffled out and got freezing cold...one of the reasons I don't like to camp, Europe was most definitely an exception and only because it was a once in a lifetime opportunity...who could say no?

The Selk sleeping bag looks a bit like a spacesuit, it must be great fun to play around in and practical too.  No more freezing cold nights shuffling out of a sleeping bag, interrupting fellow campers, attempting to find a coat and then running as fast as possible to the toilets...oh no.

It's been cleverly thought out: ties, adjustment belts, padding and layered inserts for a snug fit, warmth and comfort on hard surfaces.  The Cool Hunter have said that "even the ugliest camper can look positively cute once wrapped in the Selk'bag" and I think they might be right.  Get your ver own from £69 at the Selk'Bag website.

Kazuki Takamatsu: Ghostly Graphics

Kazuki Takamatsu takes ghostly to a new level with these beautiful, elegant graphics.  Ethereal and enticing they remind me of ice sculptures, perfectly formed and enticing.  According to Today and Tomorrow they are painted with gouache but other sites from Popwhore to Trendhunter don't seem to understand how exactly they've been done.  Guess Takamatsu won't be sharing any time soon if it's got all these people talking...

Tim Burton Brilliance

I can't take credit for finding this...as I am not an avid Harper's Bazaar fan...in fact I must hand over the credit to the lovely photographer Daniela Restaino.  US Harper's Bazaar have the most amazingly magical shoot.  "In anticipation of his retrospective at New York's Museum of Modern Art, filmmaker Tim Burton reimagines the season's dark delights."  Tim Walker's photographs capture the moment perfectly.

This is what I love about fashion.  Fashion is more than just clothes and in my mind the models, styling, location and theme of a fashion editorial thrive most when the imagination is allowed to run riot.  I don't want to see what other people are wearing in a magazine...I want to see how brilliant clothes can be, how they can be artistic and characteristic...that's what inspires me.  Wish I'd seen this before Halloween, I'd definitely have taken some styling tips for a more other worldly outfit.

Uniqlo's new Heat Tech clothing: Not such a new concept

Techological fabrics have been around for YEARS but when I saw Uniqlo's advertisements that they had managed to use them for something fashionable. As it is they do simple tops and jumpers that are pretty standard to be honest...just your basic winter clothes.  Ok so rather than the expensive price tags you usually get in outdoor shops (where you'll find the best fabric technologically because outdoor pursuit's actually require it) prices start at just £7.99.



Part of me is screaming that it must then be rubbish!  I don't really know because I haven't actually given any of it a go.  What I do know is that the lovely jackets and trousers you see on the adverts are not Heat Tech...they're just clothes.  I think I might save £10 and just put on a proper coat.  After all, winter's all about finding the perfect winter coat.

Tree Life

As I have already mentioned I won an award at Graduate Fashion Week for my project Eden Village.  Revolving around sustainable tree houses the idea was that consumers could experience truely sustainable living to see how easy they could adapt.  From simply planting your own vegetables to designing an entirely sustainable house.

It was inspired by The Cool Hunter's Tree Life exhibit...and it's coming soon.  They first announced it in 2008 and have given 2010 as the kick off date...which, in case you haven't realised, is not too far away.  I'm still waiting for them to tell me which city will host Tree Life's launch but I have my fingers crossed for London.

"This event will showcase innovative and creative sustainable architecture, and illustrate that green can co-exist with urban city life." ...pretty much the essence of my entire project.  The biggest names in architecture, design and art will come together to showcase cutting edge eco-design.  Marvellous.

Eolo Perfido: Personal Projects

French born photographer Eolo Perfido has a rather impressive portfolio of imagery, including high profile advertising campaigns for the likes of Pepsi.  However, for me, the creative soul of a person is expressed through personal projects not directed advertising campaigns.

It appeals to that ethereal mood I mentioned in my last post.  Striking and sometimes surreal each of his persoanl images seem to tell a story.  I love it.  Now based in the very beautiful Rome he can't be short of inspiration, which has got to help with his oh so perfect advertising imagery.

Check him out.  You won't regret it.