Manic Monday: Alice in Wonderland

it's Alice in Wonderland Week!!!!

it's no shock that i'm obsessed with Alice in Wonderland.
you've all seen it here before, it's a pretty obvious obsession

[for me & many others]

but, since the new *Tim Burton* version is coming out shortly, everyone seems to be even MORE manic about the tripped out story of a little girl lost.
so, i'm bringing back Manic Mondays to celebrate:

Alice in Wonderland

As a child of the Disney generation (if that's even accurate), my initial thought of Alice in Wonderland is the, semi-terrifying, 80 min long, animated version from 1951.

i've always luvd the story of the girl named Alice, even if it is a liiiiittle weird...

i luv the imagination, the implied horror & excitement in a topsy turvy world, & the gratitude we can have when we finally get home again.

Of course, i'm not the only one who's found inspiration pouring from the seams of Wonderland.
the Lewis Carroll original is, arguably, one of the most provoking stories in literature, inspiring everything from:

Music

Jefferson Airplane's White Rabbit 

[one of my personal fav songs ever.]

Aerosmith's "Sunshine"

GWAR's "Phallus in Wonderland"

[see parts 2-6]

Art

Salvador Dali's "A Mad Tea Party"

[collection of Alice in Wonderland inspired images part 1 & 2]

Jewelry, Fashion & Photography

Annie Lebovitz Alice in Wonderland Photos for Dec 2003 Vogue

[more here!]

 

watch the impromptu Mad Tea Party where Disney released a preview of 

Alice is the New Black 

line.

view other pieces by Tom Binns's Alice in Wonderland line for Disney Couture at Creative Contrast and Boutique for you, & see some of Tom Binn's work as well as more Swarovski pieces at the Disney Store!

[Also, follow @TomBinnsDesigns on twitter for updates on new gorg pieces.]

Science

there is a medical term called "Alice in Wonderland Syndrome" a "disorienting neurological condition" which has symptoms of seeing things in disproportion.

personally, i think i have "White Rabbit Syndrome", since i'm perpetually late!

[learn more]

there are a million other ways that Alice in Wonderland has applied, inspired, enlightened culture, but there's no need to overwhelm!
i imagine whatever is next is going to be amazing...
i can only hope that it's a Cirque du Soleil!

Do you know of any others, that i didn't mention? 

Do you have any fabulous photos, news or links to share?

e-mail them to Spankyluvsit@gmail.com!

Continue with me through Alice in Wonderland week & look forward to reading about my trip down the Rabbit Hole to be posted this weekend 

[i'm seeing the movie Thursday at midnight!]

luvs it*

Manic Mondays!

Planning a summer event can be fun, more fun sometimes than a winter event, because you can't wait to fire up the grill, set up a few picnic tables a frolic around the night air barefoot and happy catching fireflies, or.. more likely... sneaking off into a dark corner or sand dune w/ a sandy haired beach baber...

but.. not ALL of the corners should be pitch black. Probably the best part of planning a summer party is the decorations!!! & what better decoration, than...

Lights!

Paper lanterns, twinkle lights, candles & tiki torches everywhere with flickering flames in crystals strung from the trees. beautiful!

This amazing site LunaBazaar.com has everything from beautiful paper lanterns in every colour, size and price you can imagine, they have printed & square, cheap & more pricey. So many paper lanterns i can barely contain myself! They also have beautiful glass vases, these gorgeous water lily tea light holders, paper parasals, & even Budah statues for the karmically inclined.

I've been thinking about what to do for my upcoming birthday (hint hint, nudge nudge) & i can't think of too many things i'd rather do than eat a little, drink a lot & dance like mad on a beach with friends surrounded by

umbrellas dripping with twinkle lights, warmed by a bon fire, and only being able to see the stars reflecting off the water & the people around me being lit up by these gorgeous paper lanters.



can we say fuck'n magical? what a way to bring in 23. You can best believe that's what my Wedding Reception will be... i am determined. Also... this adorable site hotdateideas.com says set up some cutsie lanterns & have yourself a little late night picnic by lantern light... awe!

it's just another manic monday...

luvs it*

Manic Mondays!

I'm a little confused about aspects of my childhood, mainly when it comes to timing & the logic behind it. I guess that's normal, but the facts that i know & the memories that i have sometimes don't add up.

When i was in pre-school i lived in a different town. I remember my house with the red door, the mural my mother painted in the hallway of my pre-school (which, in my memory seemed to be 50 feet long). I remember going to beach day camp in the summer, playing with a water table and the huge triangle shelving unit built into my wall in my room.
My uncle was about 18 years old & i remember that he lived with us. He had a huge teal jacuzzi tub in his bathroom that i remember begging to go in & having to climb up what seems like 4 stairs to even get in it.
I remember the blueberry bushes under our deck, singing the "Name Game" song about whomever was being picked up next from the end of the day at pre-school & my pink Princess dress my mother sewed for me for Halloween.
I can recall eating cucumber & cream cheese sandwiches on pita bread & my friend Alissa's legendary Chocolate Band-Aids her father had gotten from China or Japan. I remember that we'd purposefully bite our tongues so that we could have one to make the boo-boo go away.
I have vivid memories of figuring out how to dismantle my uncles G.I. Joes (which might be worth a lot of money now, if i hadn't ruined them!) & placing the casualties on his chest while he slept past noon.
I remember my awesome blue trucker hat wich a Triceratops on it & thinking i was the shit, wearing it cocked to the site, fighting with my mother because i desperatly wanted to wear my red snoopy sweater backwards so i could see the pictures that were on the back & the time i "ran away" in Kids R' Us & hiding under a rack of jeans because she wouldn't buy me a Mickey Mouse tank top.
My mother used to tell me to stop saying "Cheese Mom!" (a 4 year olds version of "geez") because it was rude.

I KNOW that i took ballet & i remember it all intensly, but what doesn't add up is that i'm pretty sure my classes were on Saturday mornings (around 9am?), but i have years worth of memories of watching the late great...

90's Saturday Morning Cartoons!

How i saw them, i'm not clear, especially if i was busy learning how to Plie in first position, or do a saute into an arabesque, but Oh, how i remember the glorious lazy Saturday mornings of Pj's, cerial and cartoons.

I know everyone remembers the staples; Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Ghostbusters, Smurfs. But here are a few Saturday Morning Gems i don't hear about too often.

Madeline:

In 1993 the catroon started on The Family Channel, but in 1995 it moved to ABC mornings as "The New Adventures of Madeline". Madeline was an obvious favourite character for me. Let alone the fact that i had all the books, was read them by my mother for years & even dreamed of cracks in the ceiling looking like bunnies, little boys next door who had menageries, and having my appendix out like Madeline, but being a very short girl with unfortunately bright red hair, i not only did i love the little french girl, i idolized her.

"I'm Madeline, I'm Madeline, I may be very small, I'm Madeline, I'm Madeline, but inside I'm tall!"

Fudge:

1995 brought us the live action show "Fudge". The show was based off Judy Blume's book "Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing" (one of my FAVOURITES) about a kid, Peter Hatcher who lives his life in the shadow of his nutball little brother Farley Drezel ("DON'T CALL ME FARLEY") better known as FUDGE. The book is great, its sequel "Super Fudge" & others in the series ("Fudge-a-Mania", "Double Fudge" & "Otherwise known as Shelia the Great") are all wonderful.
There's something about the kid that played Fudge on the show though... Luke Tarsitano. This 5 year old kid has the comedic timing of the stooges, the big brown eyes of a cherub & the smile of a devil child. He's absolutely hilarious & i still can't help but crack the f up when i watch him.
The show has recently been added to Hulu.com and i couldn't be happier. Now i can see Fudge hop around to his Dad's Dancing Birds coommercial & sing the "Soupio" song whenever i want. Life is good.

"Supio, Supio, warms your head down to your toes, Oh Soupio, Soupio, Soupio-o-o!"

(watch the rest of the episode & others at Hulu.com)

The Wizard of Oz:

No one remembers it? Well, i do. It was fantastically weird, off beat & i'm pretty sure my mother hated it. 1990 was the birth of another remake of something classic. This one happened to be a very loopy rendition of the Wizard of Oz... it was bascially a somewhat cracked out cartoon version and basically showed us why Dorothy should have just been happy to be home in Kansas instead of ever going back to Wacko Oz. Not to mention that a very Judy Garland-esque voice doesn't really translate the right way to a cartoon girl... She just seemed kinda scary, but she was nothing compared to the bumbeling sidekicks & the straight manic Wizard.

"there's no place like Oz... there's no place like Oz..."

it's just another manic monday...

luvs it all*

Manic Monday!

Welcome to the first ever Spanky Luvs It Manic Monday post.
Once a week i'll blog about something i'm currently luv'n extra. (so much that i'm crazy about it!)

this weeks Manic Monday topic is...

RED

"You know those days when you get the mean reds?"

"The mean reds, you mean like the blues?"
"No. The blues are because you're getting fat and maybe it's been raining too long, you're just sad that's all. The mean reds are horrible. Suddenly you're afraid and you don't know what you're afraid of. Do you ever get that feeling?"
"Sure"
"Well, when I get it the only thing that does any good is to jump in a cab and go to Tiffany's. Calms me down right away. The quietness and the proud look of it; nothing very bad could happen to you there. If I could find a real-life place that'd make me feel like Tiffany's, then - then I'd buy some furniture and give the cat a name!"
-Holly GoLightly & Paul "fred" Varjak, Breakfast at Tiffany's

I've been feeling a bit of the *mean reds* lately, but i've also been mad OVER red, especially as an accent colour.


Nails:
The red nails are fun. I used to go either sans polish, or paint some black on & call it a day. (black goes with everything, so why not?) I'm always a little nervous about picking a specific colour for nails because i'm way to lazy to keep removing & repainting according to my outfit & colours can clash if you're not careful. Well, i'm kinda over it. Unless I plan on wearing a neon pink or orange dress, no one is going to notice. Red nails have become a standard again in young Hollywood (which is cute because red always makes me think of OLD Hollywood). Luvrs of the red nail are L.Lohan, the Olsens, and nail polish conesuir, Lauren Conrad.

i recently bought "Cherry on Top" from Victoria Secret ($7 or bundle specials of 3/$15 or 6/$20)

Lips:
Classsssssic. Nothing takes a little black dress or a white tee & jeans to a different level like a red lip. Unfortunately for ME, i haven't found a lipstick that i really like or trust. I've tried a few & have never been thrilled with them (maybe because i'm a little bit cheap & don't buy $50 lipsticks from Sephora!) I've tried the non-kiss off, the gloss, a darker shade, a bolder shade, but i can't find one that i really luv. (anyone got a hot red lip tip? i'd luv to know!) Luvrs of the red lip are C. Aguilera, G. Stefani, L. Conrad & of course, the Queen - Marilyn Monroe.




Clips:
Sometimes i like to splash in a bit more colour with accessories. Hair clips are a very easy & hassle free way to do this. Since a lot of the time i wear the front pinned back anyway with a bobby, i might as well add a little clip there as well. On the side, on the top of a pony, or even just clipped into loose 'do.
I bought the "Rasta Bow Hair Clip" set of 3 colours (duh, rasta, red, yellow, green) from HotTopic ($6). They also have other fun varieties like the silver, blue & pink set that are totally glitterfied & the 80's snow leopard set i bought my lil sis. Be careful though ladies, she's cute, but you don't want to have too much of a Matilda Moment.


Bracelet:
So the karmic trend of the Kabbalah bracelet might be soo over, but this cute little bracelet from BleuDame.com is a luvly little accent (& we can tell ourselves that it's bringing us inner peace if we want!) I used to wear the red & black until they broke (& i made a wish...). I'm wearing the blue one right now! $1.80 & the thing has been on for months through showers, swimming, even spray tanning & still looks great (& not tan).


Earphones:
Sure, there is something to be said for the Apple EarBudd symbol, but as a girl with tragically small ears, they don't fit me. So, i was forced to look elsewhere. I'm glad that i did, because now i have these hot little budds from SkullCandy ($19.95). The earphones are called "INKD" & come in a bunch of colours. I have red! (i also have these hot rasta "smok'n budds" starting at $29.95) They make for an extra flare & personality, even if you're sweating your butt off at the gym.


Charity:
If you don't already know about the (RED) foundation, you should look into it. It's an amazing organization devoted 397759to raising money to fight AIDS in Africa. The organization has teamed up with such companies as Gap, Apple and American Express to heighten the awareness and raise money through product sales & donations. The king of the Celebu-RED movement, Bono, pulled me in years ago with the sister company "One". I became involved DURING a U2 concert!



What colours are you currently obsessed with? Do you have any rivals to the products i've listed? How else could one rock out with a mean red? tell me! I gotta know! after all...

"it's just another manic monday"

luvs it*