Viva Las Vegas

The King is dead - long live the King! I came across these pictures of Elvis, and had to share. He died the year I was born, but his music remained a big part of my early life. These photographs were taken by Alfred Wertheimer who was instructed by Elvis’s record company, RCA not to shoot in color because they thought he was just a flash in the pan. How wrong they were! Oh yeah - and I know that guy isn't Elvis, that's my actor brother Tom Duncan, but hey thought I'd throw him into the mix anyway ;)

Viva La Diva

I just listed my new line of silk hair flowers on ebay - yay! It took me an absolute age to get the damned listing right, but at least the ones I have are up. Phew. Over the next week I will be listing my jewelry for sale there, alongside my new site going live. Busy times ahead. The flowers are up now at brambleboutique on ebay. My Mum is busy finishing the illustrations for a children's book I wrote, I'm hoping to fire it at publishers over the Summer. Fingers crossed it will be the first of many. Speaking of my Mum - she, my Aunt and Cousin have formed a new company, organizing fairy parties and selling fairy merchandise. I named it for them - however until it's copy written I can't tell you my fabulous name choice - argh... keeping secrets, my worst trait.

Lost at Sea

So although I didn't participate in the parade (due to my sweet little water baby still not sleeping at night argh) I did attend as a photographer :) Here's a sample of what went down at the Coney Island Mermaid Parade this year.

lovely ducky

In this day and age where the news is filled with countless stories of human parents being cruel, or worse, to their children, I find joy in hearing of incidents like this one in the animal kingdom. Six little mallard ducklings in the North of England this week found themselves trapped in a dark sewer - their only hope of survival lay with their mother - whom they had last seen more than a mile away as they were sucked into a drain. The mother duck managed to follow the little ducklings more than a mile, apparently listening to their cheeps of distress at manhole covers as they were swept along below ground. The long journey took her across countless roads, a busy roundabout, a rail line, a housing development, two school playing fields and hospital grounds. It finally ended when she waddled into a street, where her chicks suddenly stopped. For the next four hours she stood over a man-hole cover, until local residents heard chirping coming from down below. Using a child's fishing net they managed to scoop all six from the sewer one by one and reunited them with their mother in a paddling pool.

when hope is gone - part deux

EDIT: There are some sick people out there.

dream on dreamer

On Saturday night I dreamed that I was taking care of 3 bunnies.. It felt like one of those long dreams with very complex other bits to it. The last of it was me carrying 2 of the bunnies and looking for one that was hiding. All of a sudden one of the bunnies I was carrying started biting my neck but it didn't hurt just felt like a pressure. But then I felt something biting my bum! And that hurt - a lot! It was like a long pressure pain then and OWW!! At that point I woke up thinking that the missing bunny had bitten me, only to find there was a mosquito in the room and I now had a lovely bite on my bum (It was hot - who needs blankets!) Anyway, the thing is, that apparently dreams are just seconds long, and therefore my dream was probably a reaction to the bite ie my mind had to make up a story to match the pain I felt in reality. So this leaves the question - why the hell was I dreaming about psycho bunnies?!

on newstands now

Published in 4 newspapers in Scotland today, and I made the front cover next to Dumfriesshires better known export Ugly Bettys Ashley Jensen - yay!

Can't bear to be apart - hehe

Eight years ago this beautiful black domestic cat Muschi (which means pussy in German) appeared from nowhere at a zoo in Germany and immediately struck up an unlikely friendship with a 40-year-old Asian bear called Maeuschen (little mouse' in German). Who to me bears (sorry) and uncanny resemblance to Totoro! They eat together and sunbathe together. Regardless of their differences - sounds puuurfect to me :)

Happy Friday 13th

Not a horror in sight. Just some sweet pics instead! A family of swans in a town in the South of England took a walk along the main street, stopping by the fish and chip shop before returning to the lake.

too hot to handle

95f is not fun - tomorrow it's to be 97f - joy isn't a word that springs to mind either! In New York I spend the long icy Winter praying for warmth and the long sticky Summer praying for that first crisp day of Autumn. Mother Nature simply can't win. Yesterday I spent 9 hrs in the high 90s at the market - dehydration came quickly. I couldn't have possibly drank enough water to satiate my thirst. High 70s/low 80s is my ideal Summer weather - preferably with a cool breeze. I have such a craving for Alaska right now.

My new Sunday residence

I will be at the Brooklyn Flea Market - Downtown on Sundays starting this one, the 8th. Details can be found here:

http://www.brownstoner.com/brooklynflea/

I'll be selling my collection of original Vargas alongside jewelry and repro prints. And yeah ok the picture above is Cologne in December - but hey - whenever you find love it feels like Christmas or you know whatever.

a darker shade of gray

I feel so lonely. Strange to some I guess who can't imagine that one could ever be lonely - having 3 small children each requiring attention on a constant basis. But somehow I am still very much alone. I have a very bad cold. The kind that makes it almost impossible for you to speak or breathe without coughing up your lungs. My throats so raw I've spat blood down the sink 3 times since I got up. The children are of course being on their worst behavior - it's like they could instantly tell the moment they got up that I can't raise my voice today. My husband is at work, of course. So no help there. My family as you know are over 3000 miles away. I wish I was at my Mums house. The children could play in the garden all day long while my Grandmother would adore looking after the baby. That's the way I envisioned raising a family - isn't that the saying - "it takes a village to raise a child"? Well this village is a one woman show, who's not doing such a great job today. Roll on tomorrow.

Eggs anyone?

Easily the coolest thing I've seen in a loooong time - the Eglu. And yes as soon as we move to a bigger property there will be one in my garden :)

Can't bear to think about it...

I was upset to hear that the first polar bear to swim to Iceland in 15 years has been shot dead by police, even though the knockout drugs that could have spared his life were less than an hour away. The bear was spotted by a farmer strolling along a road near the town of Skagafjördur yesterday morning. The argument going on now is the police man who shot him says he had to do it to protect people who were gathering to look at the bear, and the local vet says they should have closed the road, and could have watched him for an hour while the tranq gun was flown in. Whatever. I just find it a damn shame that this happened. The last time a polar bear visited was in 1993 when sailors saw a bear swimming off the coast of Strandir. It was also killed. Le Sigh...

Goodbye to the fat ladies

One of Britain's best-loved artists, Beryl Cook, died peacefully at the age of 81 yesterday. I loved her lovely 'seaside postcard' paintings of portly ladies having the time of their lives. A great loss to the art world, indeed.

sky high

Some pics I took of the planes at the U.S. Air Force air show at Jones Beach today. The blur is the damned heat - I am burned to a crisp :-/

blue

My parents left town today. They'd been visiting for my newest arrivals Christening, and stayed a little over a week. I feel devastated. You really don't know how much you miss something until you hold it briefly and once again let go. Why did the weeks up to their arrival go so slowly yet the 8 days here flew at record speed? All the way to the airport my eyes continuously welled up. Yet it wasn't until my Mum was safely out of sight did the tears start streaming. I watched them walk from the car across 3 lanes of parked cars to the entrance and felt that familiar hot flush, then as her auburn hair vanished from sight - I dissolved. They were due to depart at 7.30pm and I just checked the flight tracker only to see they're delayed. So now my thoughts are with them, I wonder how they feel - given more time to mull their departure. The week was mixed with all kinds of emotions. My Father has Parkinson's Disease. Seeing his deterioration since Christmas was heartbreaking. My Mother painted my front door frame, cleaned everything in sight, planted out the garden, cooked at midnight for the Christening, and trailed with me to the hospital when I stood on a rusty nail. Not exactly the relaxing holiday one would usually take, but hey - it's our life. I could never express the love and admiration I have for my Mother. She is everything she should be to everyone in her life times a million. I wish them a safe and comfortable flight home.

more dangerous than Al Gore

When I read that ASIMO, a robot which was designed by Honda Motor Co., conducted the Detroit Symphony - my heart sank. To me this is not the way forward we should be looking for. Maybe it's the *cue Cartman voice* damn hippy in me, but robots as smart as this one scare the bejesus out of me.

must see

Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum. At the Met Gala Anna Wintour looked awesome in a Storm inspired outfit by Karl Lagerfeld. Maybe I'm biased seen as I play the character on the 360s X-Men!

when hope is gone

I wanted to note an incident that happened to me at the weekend. I won't put a picture and I won't dwell on it. It just saddened me greatly. In the supermarket with my husband and children I was pushing the cart when a young woman, early 20s, walked by yabbering on her cell phone not paying attention to what she was doing and walked into my cart. She muttered "ass" and kept walking. Her son, around 6 yrs old, walking while playing his psp/ds whatever, again not looking where he was going - walked into my cart. He looked me in the eye - and said "I'm sorry" in this sweet little voice. I said "it's ok" and smiled. His Mother, and I use that term loosely, turned to him and said "don't apologize to her, she's got 4 eyes - she can see where she's going". I was wearing my glasses at the time. I was flabbergasted. This is what scares me. Here you have this young child being taught to bully others, to be rude, and to have no consideration for anyone. He's doing his best to be a good boy and this woman is ruining him. If this is an example of the adults of tomorrow, then God help us all.

a red night

It's funny how a color can change things so dramatically. My husband ended up in hospital tonight - as that sinking feeling kicks in and I wait for news I change my shirt to a red one. I hear he's been checked in - I paint my toenails red. I hear he's waiting for the CAT scan - I paint my lips red. Suddenly I feel less shaky. I suppose it's my way of coping. Because the children are in bed, I can't be there - so thank goodness for something as simple as color to make me feel stronger. I often live my life in shades of gray, so I rely on color to lift my moods and brighten my life. After the hectic past few months I decided to paint my kitchen a lavender blue, it's so much more tranquil to look at than the previous orangey color. Two years ago following a long, cold winter I painted my living-rooms yellow. I remember feeling ready for Summer like never before. I'm hoping the need for red fades as the night goes on.

UPDATE: With the help of a few IPAs and the return of my love, my red has changed to blue :)

this is my message to you

Call it what you want. I would say here begins my rise to fame. But celebrity is not my goal. So instead here begins my journey to completion. Today marks the day when I woke up. On Friday Liliana started sleeping through the night 12 - 6am, which meant that at 6.30am this morning I listened to my heart and got up out of bed and went running. I ran for 25 minutes in the rain, and it felt great! I got home, did 10 minutes of sit-ups and some toning, and now I feel empowered to continue. Yesterday I cried, I felt so bad about myself. Today I feel like everything is in reach. For years when I felt at my lowest, I would listen to Bob Marleys "Three Little Birds" from an album released the year I was born. The birds told him not to worry and that everything would be alright. This morning when I looked out of my window a little chick sat there chirping away, fluffy down still covering his body. He flew for what could have been the first time. That marked the beginning for him and it gave me a feeling that there is still something watching over me. I know I can realize my goals. I just need to keep on keeping on. My plan for the next month is to keep running, eat better, sleep more. In 4 weeks I start dance classes and vocal training. I'm doing a series of pin-up shoots beginning in July and from that point on I will be opening as many doors as possible. I am excited for my new tomorrow.

The King of Queen

I was just watching some You Tube clips of Queen at Live Aid '85 - I can't believe I forgot how much I loved them! It's not something I have on my ipod or on the car stereo, so I guess I lost them somewhere along the way. Freddie was the ultimate stage-man - so alive, vibrant - such an awesome performer. He makes me smile so easily. Greatly missed. Also he reminded me of Borat so much when he was sitting on the stage in his white underwear. (Sacha Baron Cohen is allegedly signed to play him in a movie).

die another day

Either the new Bond is going to be the best yet or all of the bad karma that seems to be floating around will doom it. Within 5 days an Aston Martin on its way to the set plunged into Lake Garda, and a stuntman has been left in a coma after his car collided with a lorry and crashed into a wall. The latest incidents come just a month after the mayor of Sierra Gorda in Chile, drove on set to complain that the filmmakers had not asked his permission.

for baby

New York City's hospitals are to introduce new technology that simulates the Mother's womb for its premature babies. It will include low lights and special sound monitors that will flash when a neonatal unit becomes too noisy for the babies. When my daughter was in the NICU I was astonished by how loud it was in there, even at night. They had loud alarms going off almost constantly. Every time I held her and accidentally disconnected a wire the noise would make her jump and shudder. The project hopes to complete by the end of 2009.

strange

NYPD Harbor and SCUBA units patrolling the United Nations this afternoon saw a four-foot long beaver swimming in the East River. The 40 lb animal was transported to an animal hospital on the Upper West Side, with breathing difficulties. It's no wonder the poor thing was in distress, the East River's not the cleanest!

My Mother's daughter

As soon as I saw these pictures my husband took tonight I thought of my Mother - who has an amazing ability to either look totally serious or punch drunk in every picture of her! Five weeks on, Liliana seems to get bigger every minute. Seems like yesterday she was curled up in a tiny ball, now she stretches and uncurls into a bundle of blubber. Time really does fly when you're having fun.

Nothing grows in our garden, only washing. And babies.

Dylan Thomas

The blossoms out on the tree in the back garden. Tiny balls of green bursting larger every day. I'm hoping they fall in time for a gathering we're having next month, as they'll coat the ground with something other than dirt! Out front our bulbs are all up, so that's nice. I guess Spring is here to stay. Although I do remember an April snowfall in 2004 that left us with over a foot of the white stuff. I repainted my kitchen blue, reflecting my mood of now. Which is relaxed as opposed to the other blue. The baby has started sleeping 4 hours, which is a blessing. Like the garden, I am starting to wake up.

Men are just like children

They need their naps! I'm sure my husband will be adding the MetroNaps EnergyPod to his list of work-must-haves. Designed to isolate the user from their environment with music and lights while angling your body to take pressure off the heart. Vibrations, brighter lights and more lively music awake the sleeper after around 20 minutes. The pod costs around $600 a month - and is said to increase work rate by over 30% - a sound investment!

RIP Charlton Heston

October 4th 1924 - April 5th 2008

He starred in some of my favorite movies from yesteryear, and will always be a legend in my eyes.

Ladies Day

I would never usually let a WAG (Wifes and Girlfriends of British footballers) name pass my lips for imo they're a bunch of glorified whores, but I give credit where credits due! Alex Curran looked fantastic at Ladies Day at the Grand National horse racing meet. There is an article in the UKs Daily Mail newspaper that shows many pictures of other women there, and it's frankly an embarrassment. Ladies Day used to be just that - ladies dressed in their finest with amazing hats teetering about looking beautiful. In 2008 however, that song - who let the dogs out - comes to mind. Le sigh.

fishy fish fish

So my blue gourami died, and turned out my other 2 gouramis had been fin nipping it - and looks like they may have killed the other tetra too. So what have I done to rectify my little tank bullying problem? I bought a shark! :) He's 5 inches long and looks like he has a hammer head, although I must stress he is not an actual hammerhead! So far the gouramis are hiding, and peace has been restored.

it's a sad day

Not only did one of my Neon Tetras get sucked into the filtration pipe and a Blue Gourami is looking non too healthy afloat the top of my tank; but also the New York Aquarium's 43-year-old sand tiger shark Bertha has died. She measured around 7 feet in length and weighed over 270 lbs. Bertha was brought to the Aquarium by local fishermen in 1965. Although the actual lifespan of them is not known Bertha was believed to be the longest living tiger shark in an aquarium.

the king of the rain

When I lived in Los Angeles, Counting Crows were very much a part of my life from the guy singing on the car stereo to the guy next to me in the bar. Unlike some, who consider their style of music depressing, I find their music reviving. The way Adam sang about the rain all the time was the first thing that got me into them and in turn is what made me like him as a person. The rain can be code for so many things, life, renewal, pain. To me it's everything. My favorite CC song is Goodnight Elisabeth, whenever I hear it I have so many good memories flood back - "if you wrap yourself in daffodils, I will wrap myself in pain, and if you're the queen of California, baby I am the king of the rain"... "Elisabeth" was sunshine to his rain. A bright light for his darkest days. It's raining here today and to many it would be dreary, to me it brings hope of a new tomorrow. New flowers in the garden, new puddles for the children to jump in. A better life ahead and beautiful memories of yesterday. One of my best memories from LA was one night when a group of us drove out to Joshua Tree to watch the biggest meteor storm I'd ever seen. We drank bourbon and eggnog and lay on flatbed trucks for hours staring up at thousands of falling stars. I phoned my Mum in Scotland at what must have been 4am my time and I remember I was in tears I was so happy at being able to experience something so amazing. Mother Nature is truly awesome. I saw these wonderful photographs taken by storm chasers Mike Hollingshead and Eric Nguyen - to me they managed to capture the hidden beauty in these powerful storms that others so rarely get to experience in person.