Following Arvind’s perfect day post asking what would make yours it reminded me of the BBC’s children in need compilation.
See how many faces you recognise as a wide range of singers came together for children in need.
A pefect day - Why not look at whay you have now, be grateful for it and brand today that perfect day? Is this possibe or just wishful thinking….do tell.
So what’s in store at the cinema this year for those of you who want something a bit different?
These are the three I’m looking forward to that may offer something more interesting than the normal popcorn blockbuster:
S. Darko (July10th)
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Watchmen (March)
S. Darko is the follow up from the cult film Donnie Darko. Set 7 years after the first film it follows Donnie’s sister Samantha. Richard Kelly, the writer and director of the first film, isn’t involved though. Whoops I smell some controversry. Fans are not happy.
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is the latest from director Terry Gilliam and Charles McKeown. A travelling theatre, through a deal with the Devil, takes people through a magical mirror to explore their imagination. Staring Heath Ledger, Brad Pitt, Colin Farrell & Jude Law.
“(It’s) fun and humorous story about the consequences of our personal choices in life. I’m trying to bring a bit of fantasticality to London, an antidote to modern lives.” Terry Gilliam
Terry Gilliam & Charles McKeown also started to work on Watchmen, an adaptation of Alan Moore’s & Dave Gibbons comic book, years ago and stopped saying the complex novel was unfilmable in a 2 and a half hour film.
Now, Zack Snyder, the director of 300 has brought it to life. Set in an alternative 1985, the film follows a group of former vigilantes as war breaks out between the United States and the Soviet Union.
So will Alan Moore, who has never been happy with any of the adaptations of his work (V For Vendetta, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen ,) be happy?
Well actually he doesn’t care and won’t be watching it!
So it could be a good year. Do you think there are enough films that provide an alternative view on our world that makes us think? And what film have you seen that has effected you and challenged your perspective?
Whew! I don’t know about you but time has just been flying for me! This past year went by so fast I think I blinked and missed most of it. Sometimes we just need to take the time to stop and appreciate the changes that every year brings with it, like Eirik Solheim did with his video entitled, One Year in Forty Seconds.
We all have different ways of trying to record the past. Maybe its just to help us remember the important things. Or it’s so we can actually force ourselves to appreciate changes life has wrought.
I have a trail of papers and detris in the form of articles and web content to remind me of the past year. What do you have to help you remember 2008?
Here’s a strange thing - my The ViewFrom Here magazine has been selected as a finalist for the WebBlog Awards for best UK blog.
I’m giving cockney lessons to the international team now before they rumble us.
Do vote for us here - would be a laugh if we won!
And here’s a quick lesson in in British slang for you:
(Do share your cockney slang right here in the comments!)
Above: KLF with founders Jimmy Cauty & Bill Drummond.
Stuck for a new year resolution? How about burn all your money?!
On the 23rd August 1994 Cauty & Drummond burned a million pounds in an abandoned boathouse in Jura, Scotland. The money was the proceeds from their career as KLF which they had just disbanded to form the K Foundation.
Jimmy Cauty: Every day you wake up and go, “Oh God! I burnt a million quid.”
In 1995 they dissolved the K Foundation and agreed not to talk about the burning for 23 years.
The question seems all the more relevant today.
So what do you think?
A bold statement against the control money can have over our lives or an irresponsible waste of money that could have gone to charity? And just why did they do it? Any theories?
Go! Smell the Flowers accepts no liability for any person taking the title of this post literally.
Bored now Christmas is finished? Why not dig out your old vinyl records and do a Sleeveface? - heh you can use that new camera you got. Sleeveface, which is the art of - well see above - sticking a record cover in front of your face, really took off last year. There’s a website, a facebook group and a book:
“This book WON’T help you lose weight, make friends or money, won’t help you give up chocolate or change the way you think. It will, however, make you laugh, stare and wonder at the brilliance of Sleeveface!” Huw Stephens, BBC Radio 1
Here’s a step by step guide to the fad that is saving vinyl from extinction:
Particullaly helpful at this time of year if you are looking a bit rough after a late night party! Now then where’s my copy to Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s Relax 12 inch? A light limber up with naked twister and I’ll be ready to Sleeveface!
GO! Smell the Flowers must have a post on an event all about flowers and other organic materials!!! For those, who live in other countries you may have had Boxing Day on your news! However, in Southern California the day after Christmas is about shopping and the Pasadena Rose Parade. (Pasadena is about 30 miles NE of LAX). By the day after Christmas, all the grandstands and most of the barriers are in place. And, lots of tourists fill the shops, entertainment venues and restaurants. The last week is crazy, long days, no sleep, tedious work, cold evenings and days, tons of organic material and thousands of workers and volunteers!!! And, everyone praying it doesn’t rain. Planning for the next year begins on January 2nd, so no rest for the weary.
Having lived in Southern California all my life, I have had wonderful opportunities to be apart of many aspects of the parade. Three evenings a week I had the privilege of watching a float being built from frame to flowers and it was an animated float. The best part was seeing it work on television. I’ve had the honor of being involved in the Rose Parade in other ways…
American media claims the CIA has found a novel way to gain information from fickle Afghan warlords - supplying sex-enhancing drug Viagra, a US media report says.
The Washington Post said it was one of a number of enticements being used.
In one case, a 60-year-old warlord with four wives was given four pills and four days later detailed Taliban movements in return for more.
“Whatever it takes to make friends and influence people,” the Post quoted one agent as saying.
“Whether it’s building a school or handing out Viagra.”
‘Silver bullet’
The newspaper said the use of Viagra had to be handled sensitively as the drug was not always known about in rural areas.
It quoted one retired agent as saying: “You didn’t hand it out to younger guys, but it could be a silver bullet to make connections to the older ones.”
In the case of the 60-year-old warlord - the head of a clan in southern Afghanistan who had not co-operated - operatives saw he had four younger wives.
The pills were explained and offered. Four days later the agents returned.
“He came up to us beaming,” the Post quoted an agent as saying. “He said, ‘You are a great man.’
“And after that we could do whatever we wanted in his area.”
The pills put chieftains “back in an authoritative position”, another official said.
The paper said the CIA had a long line of inducements for the notoriously fickle warlords, including dental work, visas, toys and medicine. It quoted one private security official as saying that simply handing over large sums of money would raise suspicions about newfound wealth.
Full story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7800549.stm
OooOoooo lala…I hope you’re all enjoying a MARVELLOUS Holiday/end-of-year Celebration time…
Myself and Mr. Monarch are still in Mexico, enjoying the winter sun. I am fasting on coconut water and juices at the moment for a few days, as it feels SO good to me. I passed Winter Solstice on coconut water and felt inspired now to just keep going…(loving the cocos)…onwards into the ever-expanding light with coconuts in hand…
We’re also excited to announce this week that we’ve started our own raw TV show: TheRawFoodWorld.TV 
We’ve been posting videos daily so far, including interviews with Matt’s family (starting with his mum, who has seen great changes in her health since eating more raw foods and juicing), footage of our current residence in Mexico (complete with rescue dogs we’re rehabilitating on raw) and insights into a raw Christmas…You can see our vids at TheRawFoodWorld.TV, or click the picture below to watch a recent episode. If you have any suggestions for future episodes, please feel free to post them here on GSTF - we’d love to hear your ideas 
We hope you’re all feeling perky and bright at Yuletide and we send you all best wishes and blessings for a marvellous, healthy new year…
All love,
Angela (and Mr. Monarch) in Mexico. xxx
Hello friends, apologies for being away for so long, I have been Tweeting Away these past few weeks and I’m addicted to it. You can follow me on Twitter on RYK1.
For the last 10 years, I have been silently watching as one crooked scheme after another, from fancy bonds to illegitimate wars, has been hatched and sold to people. The people readily guzzled all these down, faster than a tequila shot, showing that ignorance is bliss so long as there is a new BMW in the garage. Now with the souffle finally popping and bringing the house down with it, I can snigger and say “you greedy b@#$@#$s”.
Today someone forwarded me an interview with Gerald Celante, who is one the only people who calls it as it is. Here it is for your listening pleasure:
Part 1
Part 2
After you hear this, you are going to say “ofcourse”, so then I ask you, why is it that we want to hide from the truth and exist in an unnatural state of bliss?
