Happy Halloween!

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Happy Halloween! A day to bring out your pumpkins and hack into them and dress up and get free candy! Sounds good, but also a day to remember spirits passed and offer blessings to them as a way of celebration. Naturally I chose to focus on cats and how they have long been associated with Halloween and anything mystical and spooky- especially black cats, but that's just because cats have a superior sense and can communicate with spirits and sense them before we do. Bless them, they're so smart. I'm honouring the spirit of my departed black and white cat and all the souls that have left this earth to begin their next journey. On this Halloween in particular, I'd like to pay respect for all those who died in the wake of Hurricane Sandy and to wish all my American readers the hope, strength and resilience to carry on in the aftermath of natures devastation. I hope you find more treats than tricks and invite those good spirits to guide you through your days. Blessed be. 

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It's all about the Tailoring

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Continuing on with my love of retro cop shows, I am glad my viewers are enjoying my Miami Vice post, that pleases me so! I always think the shows that you grew up with stick with you longer and resonate with you more. Not sure if its nostalgia or simply re-visiting something as an adult and appreciating it with different eyes, but I don't seem to tire of retro TV, especially ones with impeccable wardrobes. Kojak fits the bill. They are playing re-runs of it now and again, here's another cop show like Miami Vice where the wardrobe is almost just as important a character to the story lines. For those that are not familiar with the show, Kojak is an American TV series staring Telly Savalas playing the title role Theo Kojak, a New York Police Department Detective Lieutenant who has a penchant for sucking on Lolly pops and delivery blunt, direct dialogue that has had some begging for mercy. He oozes cool, calm and collective. Helping him achieve such stature I believe is superb tailoring which helps the wearer carry themselves with a different posture of self-assurance and confidence. Telly's wardrobe was specifically made by American apparel brand Botany 500, who have a long list of TV characters as their clients such as Don Adams from Get Smart, Dick Sargent from Bewitched, Bob Newhart from the Bob Newhart Show, Jack Klugman from Quincy, M.E and popular TV talk show host Phil Donahue. The brand is over 100 years old, founded by the Daroff Family in the late 1800's and is still the most recognised men's apparel label in the United States with a stellar reputation. Kojak's outfits consisted of pin stripe suits with waist coats, natural toned suits in greys and browns, double breasted wool coats, his signature black fedora hat with striped ribbon band and gold rimmed glasses. The fashion, which is from the 70's is timeless and can easily be worn today and I think that is a very key point, that when you choose classic, timeless but well fitted clothes, you cannot put a date stamp on them necessarily as they can be worn again and again, as opposed to trend based clothes that can easily be pin-pointed to a time and place. Classic wins out again and again as value for money wardrobe investing. The show aired from October 24 1973-March 18th 1978 on CBS and if you haven't seen it yet, might I suggest you hunt it down on DVD, and watch yourself get hooked.

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On with the Show!

Sometimes being an adult can be hard and rather boring having to be responsible all the time. So, when those occasions get you down it's best to regress to childhood and take part in carefree activities like attending the Royal Melbourne Show. I don't have a memory of the last time I ever went to the show, but I'm informed that we definitely did go as kids, and every year I see the fireworks display and hear the music playing and the sound of people having fun. So, you might as well join them! The big lure for me was having the chance to spend the day with lots of wonderful animals and that was worth the entry in itself. All your cares seem to disappear when you are patting a warm, beautiful creature or hand feeding a sheep and feeling their mouth hoover down the food you held out for them. There was just nothing like it. Well, actually, patting a tiny Spring lamb while sleeping comes close, or watching them smile while looking into their beautiful eyes melts your heart. (Yes- and re-affirming why I'm a vegetarian!) When patting the Merino sheep, I thought, wow, this is the wool of some of my favourite clothes that kept me warm during the winter, so I made sure I gave them a big thank you on all our behalf. 

From this...

To this! Award winning wool!

'Hey! Somebody stole the wool off our backs! Oh well, at least Summer is on its way, we can feel the breeze now!'

And here's what you can come up with when using such beautiful natural fibres such as Alpaca wool.

They are such gentle creatures and make great pets! 

I wished I had a bigger backyard, I would take one of these home with me. Aren't they gorgeous! Actually, I would take 1 of EVERYTHING!

This gave me a great idea for a vertical garden, made out of pallets which are so cheap and you could even paint them pretty stripe colours. Great space saver for those with limited areas but big green thumbs!

Ah, something rather soothing about jams! Especially a whole cabinet devoted to them wrapped in pretty little gingham hats! 

Cabinets like these made me cry tears on the inside being a Coeliac sufferer and seeing such a display of delicious wheat! Oh how you taunt me so!

That's one way to jazz up your dining chairs with some colour!

You can't have a carnival without Hot Chips! It's just not right! So I did my bit.

Look at that pose! Work it!

I have never seen one of these in real life- only movies where I don't want to point out the fate of them! Amazing! Such grace swanning around the pen with those feathers hoisted up in the air.

As night falls, the rides really come alive with carnival atmosphere, even the seagulls got in on the act.

When we arrived at the show and saw this ride at the entrance and heard the screams coming off it, I certainly did not anticipate that I would conquer my fear of roller coasters but as the sun set, that's just what I did! And I think my screams made quite an impression to the staff as our carriage pulled up at the end so I just had to get a souvenir photo of my mouth wide open on the ride. Such an exhilarating experience that I figured life gives you more twists and turns, this ride only lasts a few minutes so I'm glad I bucked up and faced my fear- and lived to see the glorious fireworks display to end what was a great, fun day!

Can't wait for next year!