music to die for

in the beginning of march i'll go see two concerts with my favourite person in the world, in oslo. last year we went to see kaizers orchestra and bertine zetlitz, both norwegian artists, great music and the gigs were amazing. bertine was so enchanting, and kaizers had such an energy. well. i wasn't supposed to write about last year, but this year.

this year we'll see two swedish artists.
the first one will be laleh who is just about to release a new album, and from what i have heard on her myspace she gets better and better. here is a youtube for you with her song "simon says":



the second concert will be anna ternheim just a few days later, and as i still haven't managed to see her live i am just as much looking forward to this one than to laleh. anna has recently released a new album, and as far as i know, this is her newest single, "what have i done":

kitty, daisy & lewis

it's wednesday again, time for some books, films, music and whatever else cultural products of interest..

lovely betty lou was so nice to tip her readers about this fantastic british teenage band "kitty, daisy & lewis" who will get you swing and dance in no time! treat your ears with a fantastic mix of r&b, blues, country and rock 'n' roll:



sadly enough i don't have too much to add to this wednesday list right now, but i'll go to the movies tonight to see "Brideshead Revisited" and might just have time for a little review afterwards!

wednesday list nr.2

well. after promising myself so faithfully to do one list each wednesday, i already broke my promise after the first week. to my defense i can only say that that was the day when my favourite person in the world finally arrived here in my town, and we had better things to do than sit in front of the computer. i did get sick also later that day.
but. this is a new week, i am fine and ready to post my weekly list of films and books i saw and read.

- North and South. novel by Elizabeth Gaskell and BBC mini-series from 2004.

i first saw the movie, now i am reading the book. which is a procedure i highly recommend for everybody who does not want to spoil the movie version of a great piece of literature. chances you don't like the movie are much higher if you have read the book first, which is only normal because no actor or place will ever look exactly as you have imagined them while reading. on the other hand, part of the possibility of using your very own imagination gets lost as well. so i guess it depends, but i personally always prefer to see the film first.

the story is set in england, in the middle of the 19th century, and circles around a rather unusual heroine for the time. margarate hale comes from the beautiful south of england and is taken from there to an industrial town in the darker north when her father decides to move. there, she is confronted with work, dirty air and a set of people very different from everybody she ever knew before. her antagonist, or the male hero, is the owner of a cotton manufactory, john thornton.
actually, the whole love story resembles at least in parts very strongly the constellation in austen's pride and prejudice, which i find very interesting, as the setting is so totally different and also some of the main themes of the novel such as issues of faith, social security of the working class and power. the movie features some extremely enchanting pictures and passionate scenes, fantastic victorian costumes and some great acting. i think i have read about one third of the book yet and like it just as much as the mini series, and would like to recommend it very highly to everybody who likes jane austen, the bronte sisters or charles dickens.

- in bruges. when andreas was here, we took the rare opportunity to go to the cinema and watch a movie in the original version with german subtitles. we didn't really know anything about the film, and were positively surprised at how good it actually was. the story is about two assassins, one elderly and one younger, who are being sent to bruges in belgium by their boss. they don't really know why or what they are supposed to do there, it is cold and around christmas and the whole thing is a little surreal. while the elder one of them really enjoys the sightseeing and the fairytale-like atmosphere, the other one gets in touch with a girl who sells drugs and a dwarf who is shooting a movie there.
i won't tell more of the story, but the end is perfect, and all the characters have so much depth, that you feel with them even if you don't really like them. or feel that you really shouldn't like them. anyways, see it, i think it's already out on dvd.

wednesday lists. nr.1

this blog pretty much started out as a - very personal - blog about different forms of culture, such as movies, music, literature, theatre and travelling. it became more of a fashion blog and i feel like i lost a bit of what i originally wanted. it is not that i am unhappy with the blog, on the contrary, i like it very much as it is, but i would like to reintroduce the culture-aspect from the beginning of this blog.

now, i still see fashion as a huge part of the whole cultural sphere, so in a way it has always been a blog about culture, and i still had the one or other review about literature and theatre. to have these things on a more regular basis is what i aim for, and to get there i play the copy cat and borrow an idea from kelly and her blog "i'm nobody too". i will try to post a "wednesday list" (she calls it "look listen learn") including short thoughts about movies and books, music and plays or articles which i have "consumed" during the week before. it will be very personal, but i also do hope i can give some inspiration for others who maybe are looking for films or books that might be interesting for them. i hope you'll enjoy those posts!

here is the first list:

- Peter Pan: i have never before read the book (and apart from the movie "Finding Neverland" never seen any screen version either), and finally started reading it. i am halfway through now, and am fascinated and scared. not enchanted, as i have heard a lot of other people say, but mostly scared.
i am fascinated by the authors way of playing with words and pictures, with our imagination and also with his way of treating questions of gender and growing up. in the meantime the book scares me. at some points i had problems going on with the reading. i admit, i am easily scared, but this is different. it has to do with dreams, thus scratching on my own subconscious and i think i would never ever read this book to a young kid. i can't really understand how people can love tinkerbell because she is a fairy and be enchanted by her. i find her apalling, just as i find peter pan apalling. but still. it's a classic. and somehow i understand why.

- "A Room With A View": ever since i read about this movie i wanted to see it, and now finally i did. i do like it a lot, even though i have a feeling that the dialogue was at least partly done a second time in the studio, and even though some scenes ended rather suddenly. clearly one can see the 1980s influences to the lovely costumes and hairdos, and helena bonham carter is perfect as the rather confused growing up young english lady who stands somewhere between her own feelings, the quite relaxed countryside society (with a terrific country vicar who was a lot more my type than the male lead) and the really stiff and snobbish family of her fiancé. all ends well of course, and some scenes are just plain comic and fun - but best of all i like the key-scene. the one with the kiss. no, i won't tell more. go see it. it's a great costume drama.