3 posts tagged “2007”
Everyday I've blasted the flat with a tune to get the 2008 party started with joy. Oh Happy Day, as performed by the Edwin Hawkins Singers, is destined to make this new year rock.
2007 was my best year yet of living in London, and it has been packed with exciting happenings. My personal top three:
1) Promoting the debut of Richard Barbrook's long-awaited book Imaginary Futures from Pluto Press. In addition to winning fantastic serious attention from the media (including a feature in The Guardian) everyone who came out to support the author had a great time. He booked the Soho nightclub Madam JoJos and invited Chicago House music legend Robert Owens to perform, along with a line-up of house music DJs that got 300 of his fans grooving, and even got a lot of the high-powered academics out on the dance floor. It is a book launch event that is still being talked about among the literary community and will be for many years to come.
2) Attending Glastonbury -- my first visit ever to the world's hugest, muddiest music festival -- Loved it!
3) Performing at the Nativity Hoedown, as the narrator and producer of a 'White Trash Nativity' skit -- a great night to top off a really terrfic year in London.
There are plenty more highlights to list from my work and play life, but the above three roll out the best of my year.
I'm looking forward to my 2008, and I think --- I'm going to totally rock this year!
Wishing all an 'Oh Happy Day' everyday in 2008,
-Lisa
This season, my scent of choice has been anything with notes of jasmine. The potent white flower has the power to transport you directly to a tropical fantasy land. Lush got me addicted to the scent, offering tiny tins of perfume and temple balm that is easily portable. The Flying Fox scent kept me dancing all through festival season and was a fantastic carry along that worked to dispell the less enjoyable smells that are inevitable when thousands of people camp in a field for days on end for the love of music.
Now I hear that jasmine is a strong note of this season's sparkle scent from Diesel Fuel for Life Bling Editions.
When it comes to perfume style, High Street retail shelves are having a battle of bling this year, with Diesel's perfume bottles bedecked in gold chains, and JLo's bejeweled Glow. Diesel wins on bling factor over JLo's line, as they have even gone so far as to bling up the classic skater look of chain wallets by offering a concealed perfume bottle that can be worn as a decorative chain with your jeans. It is a sly way to stash your sniff for the night:
So sling on the bling this season. Looks like gold chains are still the 'in' look on perfume bottles and necks.
An even more elusive flower to capture in a bottle is the French Neroli, and a bottle of this stuff from L'Occitane is definitely on my holiday gift list. I know that many Brits will be delighted to find Clinique's Wrappings under the tree, as that seemed to be among the top items visitors from the UK were after when shopping with their all-powerful pounds this season in the US. Apparently Wrappings is not available at retail shops in the UK.
If it is one-of-a-kind, custom, secretly delicious scents you are after and you happen to be near Brooklyn - I know where to send you. Scout out CB's I Hate Perfume Gallery headed by scent master and fragrance artist Christopher Brosius. You'll find a collection of scents that are a mix of poetry and fragrance. He lets the magic of words mingle with smell, evoking intimate, personal, memories with his creations. What do frost covered hand-knit woolen mittens smell like in Winter of 1972? Or the experience of being In The Summer Kitchen just before heading to the seashore to let your nose evoke History at the Beach in 1966? Go into the gallery and let your nose take the journey.
(slyly dropped to those who might be reading my blog for gift clues)
-Lisa
As a child, New Year's Eve was thrilling because we got to stay up 'till midnight, mostly eating and watching Dick Clark get nostalgic about news events of another 1970 year, while he ticked off the traditional countdown. Close to the striking time, my family of six would rush into our suburban backyard with as many pots and pans as we could carry. We'd scream and bang the metal kitchen utensils together, joining in the neighborhood's noisy racket. A neighbor would likely have bought an arsenal of fireworks, despite the fact that they were illegal in our state, and we'd be amazed by the explosions overhead. The cops would start chasing the illegal firework blasters, but they would hop over fences and find new roofs, backyards and parks to light them off from. Some neighbors would even hide the culprits, if the police came looking. Easy, cheap entertainment and great when you are 12.
Well, this year, actually for the first year ever, my husband and I decided to actually plan something fancy and festive for the New Years celebration and we headed to Volupte Lounge for a night of cabaret, burlesque and vintage themed style. The masked ball was a popular venue for London revellers, unfortunately for punters, the organizers overbooked for the size. Plenty of entertainment was on offer - but seeing it was the hard part. I missed getting some video of the fantastic Can-Can dance, and couldn't even see the number :-(. But, I did catch host Dusty Limits who bills himself as The Dark Prince of Cabaret, doing a naughty little number of You Put a Spell On Me (see video below).
London had what the BBC reported as being the largest gathering along the banks of the Thames River for the coming of 2007 - with 350,000 people attending fireworks. The city was a generally happy place, except for a few drunken fights (99 were arrested) and there were numerous disgusting vomit piles to avoid the next day. Everyone was smiling at each other, it seemed.
At the party, Midnight could not pass without all the traditions of Champagne toast, and the singing of 'Auld Lang Syne'. Now, this is where I learned something, and I am not afraid to share my ignorance - its a Scottish tune and tradition, written by poet Robert Burns. Firstly, this is of major shame for me, as I've been married to my wonderful Scotsman for two and a half years now and did not know this. Secondly, I always thought it was 'Old Lang Sign' and who knows what the other words are. I have learned that Auld Lang Syne, losely translated, means Times Gone By. I'm very happy to say that he is not planning to divorce me in 2007, and hopefully anytime after that!
And so I offer a tribute to Scotland's heritage by noting the orgins of Auld Lang Syne and hope that others will remember its highland roots at future New Years Eve celebrations!
The Devaneys (right)
-Lisa
