Boyhood/I Am Divine

It's come to the point now where I leave the house so infrequently, when I do I feel it's blog worthy!

So today (Friday) I went to see Boyhood. I have a few days off work so thought what better way to spend this lovely warm day by sending in a cool dark cinema for a few hours.
This morning I was thinking about going to see Boyhood when I got the offer to accompany the lovely Suzy and see it for free, so I was all hell yeah!
I didn't know much about it before going in aside from it was by Richard Linklater and featured the same cast as it was filmed over 12 years! I waited outside the cinema and saw a girl I went to both Primary and secondary school with begging outside of Sainsbury's and thought 'what is life?!?!', so I was hardly surprised when I came out of the cinema a few hours later thinking I'm about to have an existential crisis!

I'm not going to review the film and say what happened cuz I am rubbish at that and I don't want to spoil it. But I'll say a few words.

Firstly I bloody loved it, I mean it was like 2 1/2 hours long! I come from the John Waters school of films, where 90mins is as long as I want a film to be (I think I do everything so fast I don't even like long songs and some of my favourite albums are probably no longer than 25minutes!) so for me to sit through a film for that long is a feat in itself! And do you know what, it didn't even feel that long, at no point did I think is it over? It should end soon.

Secondly, it kinda blew my mind! Like I knew they used the same actors, but I was used to coming of age films where younger actors are replaced and older actors are made to look younger/older. SO I was sat there thinking oh look Ethan Hawke looked still kinda 90s at the start and now not so much, or haven't they made Patricia Arquette age really genuinely, and I had to keep telling myself THEY AGED IN REAL TIME!!!!

This also made me feel like I was growing with the characters, like when you really get into a book and by the end you feel like you are friends with the characters and a few days after you missed them. like watching someone's home videos for over a decade.

I left the cinema with a lovely warm feeling, yet that cloud of 'WHAT IS LIFE' aforementioned existential crisis!
I turned 30 this year and feel like I'm having a second adolescence and as much as I love a coming of age story I sometimes get freaked out by them. I'm currently reading Rainbow Rowell's Fangirl, which is about two sisters going away to university. Towards the end of Boyhood, there was a lot about going off to University.
I pretty much sucked at higher education, once a highschool student most likely to go to university, I ended up being a 4 time college dropout and never made it to uni! Whilst most of the time I don't regret my education choices it's when I see/read stories like these I do regret it.
I feel like I missed out on a lot of things! I mean those college/uni years I did do stuff, but with my fear of change and new things and my natural state being 'let's just stay holed up in my room' I start to panic and worry that I didn't have that chance to grow.
I'm just being dramatic and what's done is done, but it's how I sometimes feel and how the film made me feel...

Anyway enough about me, the point being Boyhood made me feel, whether it was the impending second adolescence I am possibly in or the warm feeling I got, it made me feel and that's good.

I said to Suzy she must have really enjoyed it as she is a mother and it focusses a lot not just on children growing but parents too. Something for everyone.
In fact anyone that has ever been a teenager or unsure of the world (which I think is everyone!) then there is something you can relate to.

Indietracks is on this weekend and I am of work and feeling sorry for myself that I wasn't stood next to some steam trains in Derbyshire watching The Blue Minkies kill it. So the next day (Saturday) saw me hitting the cinema again (filling my thrice yearly cinema visit quota already!) to see the documentary I Am Divine.
I didn't really have any expectations of this, I know a few people who had seen it but don't really know what the general feeling about it was.

Unlike Boyhood it was my perfect film length at just 90minutes! And I was engaged for the whole time!
It was your early years-rise to fame-mainting your career- sad sudden death kinda documentary with anectdotes and commentary from friends and family and co-stars (Divine's mum, John Waters, Mink Stole, Ricki Lake, drag performers, PA's, and more).
I enjoyed seeing how Divine's look came about, his work ethic and him enjoying life. I also totally loved seeing all his looks!
I really enjoyed it and it seems they managed to fit it all in there without feeling like they were repeating themselves or missing large parts out. I don't think I learned much but enjoyed seeing all the footage, my only qualm was some of the graphics used seemed a little cheap and not in a good way, but I am fussy!
I laughed, I cried a little but mostly I felt inspired. With Divine's closing quote about dreaming big, working hard and believing in yourself left me feeling like I could do anything....
So off I went to dream big (and even when my mood turned sour after a one hour wait for the bus home) and fulfil my destiny!

This Filthy World.

When I was in year 7-9 I used to hang out at my friend Yama's house a lot. Even though her house was always hectic and crowded (she had several sisters in quite a small house) I used to love going round there to play on the SNES (and later N64) or thread string through those plastic drawstring bags sports shops have (her mum used to do this for a bit of extra cash) or watch films. Her Dad had LOADS of videos, the only film I remember watching is Hairspray. Yama told me I had to watch this mad film her dad had from the 80s. It checked a lot of boxes of things love: 60s clothes, black people, bright colours, DANCING and Ricki Lake*. I was instantly sold on John Waters!
I think next probably came a viewing of Serial Mom on TV (although I have a feeling that was a video night at Yama's) and Pecker and the rest is history!

Fast forward over a decade and I got to attend a talk John did in London for his book Role Models (I wrote about it here) which was ace. Fast forward three years and I got to be in the same room as John again! this time for This Filthy world.

We got to Liverpool Philharmonic (which is a lovely venue) and saw like 80% of people I know, which is always ace.
I wasn't particularly excited (maybe because I'd been to a talk of Johns before, maybe because I have watched This Filthy World, maybe because I was a little tired) but once he hit the stage I got super excited!!!
And he didn't disappoint! I think I enjoyed this one more than the role models one as it seemed less formal. John was as charming and funny as ever! And as always I learnt something new (referring to someone as a blouse- having a bit of a feminine top!).
I laughed a lot. Oh John.

He was signing copies of Role Models after the talk, but the last time I met him he couldn't understand a word I was saying so I didn't want to do that again! We watched him meeting people like big creepers and our friend Amy took this snap as he signed and sipped wine!

I obviously regret not getting another photo with him now, seeing as my friends that did queue and got photos, John looks so dashing on them!

We left and eventually headed over to Chew Disco (but missed Vaginal Davis by like 5 minutes, too busy getting pizza!) and had a dance. I also managed to see an exhibition of photos from the British punk movement and lots of Poly Styrene (all part of Homotopeia).

Overall a great day out!

All I ask is that someone give John some money to make that Christmas film about meat thieves he keeps talking about, sounds like my childhood, whose Dad hasn't bought some bacon off some guy from down the pub?!?!?

*if anyone is interested my favourite episode of Ricki Lake is the one where Alan (goth MM fan) comes on for a makeover and has a tin lunchbox with a picture of Ricki in it and Ricki is well into it!

Eastenders; knitwear pioneers?!?

I watch Eastenders from time to time and over the past couple of years I've noticed they've featured s couple pieces of knitwear that Kandy and I own, but it wasn't until the other day when character Poppy was wearing a third piece of knitwear I own that I thought wow Eastenders are either spot on when it comes to knitwear or they're peeking into our wardrobes!

The characters that have been stealing our knit style are the kinda off centre ones, the ditsy, quirky and loud ones, but who doesn't want those qualities in some knitwear! WE DO!

Poppy styling some sailor knit.

Seleena also styling some sailor knit after Kandy bought this gem in the sale knowing it would fit either one of us (I'm also making a posh chip butty here!)

Kim being 'a sassy black women'

Seleena being a sleepy black woman, at some work training! (Kandy has this cardi and wears it a lot but I can't find photo evidence right now)I think Kim stole my hairdo too in this one!

Jean Slater rocking the best item since the 90s from (now defunct) Bay Trading.

Seleena rocking it whilst meeting the legend John Waters

Kandy with a lion's head drinking tea and looking stylish!