The Good, The Bad and The Weekend away.

Hello all! I haven't posted in a couple of weeks but have a valuable excuse. I've returned to England, moved house and tried to get everything in gear. Just For The Halibut is my priority fish fans so fear not, new excitement is on the horizon including a new website. All will be revealed!
In the meantime I've been to some shows ,one was brilliant and the other truly terribly but for the benefit of comparison I'm glad I attended the latter!

V. ~Good 9/10 Ghost Stories, a play at the Duke of York Theatre in Covent Garden. An unusual style of play set to scare and delight the audience. I loved it altho I prepared myself mentally for the fear factor. Ideal date to take a lady on if you would like to the squeal and jump on you several times during the show. I was lucky to have my boyfriend sitting next to me to hold my hand but the combination of the theatre effects in lighting and sound, the fact that if you leave the theatre re-admittance is prohibited and you aren't allowed to talk about the show once its over (its like fight club, the 1st rule of fight club is don't talk about fight club) makes it a really good show. Check out their website scaredy cats Ghost Stories

V. Bad 2/10 Going The Distance, film attempting to entertain in cinemas nation wide. Starring Drew Barrymore and Justin (looks like a neglected puppy) Long. I still may have not quite recovered from watching this film last night. It was a cheese board of predictability! Admittedly we did set out to eat popcorn and chocolate, chill out and engage in a chick flick so something with Drew Barrymore in I thought, must be good! All I want to know is who wrote it...sat back in their chair and thought....thats quite good, we should make it into a film. Non engaging emotional scenes that just filled in the gaps between the 3 jokes in the whole film, I failed to laugh, I did think about crying and left feeling frustrated that they didn't feel the need to challenge the audience in any way. Surely do they not realise that we have all been in long distance relationships? Ok, I don't think that was a plot spoiler but that is the pretense for the film, weak weak weak, like my feelings how attractive Juston Long is. If a film is coming to be rubbish I at least need some totty to get me through.
The weekend away is this weekend to celebrate my housemate's/co-worker's 30th..happy bday James....updates this week! Happy weekend y'all

Two Sided, probably my favourite shop on the planet.

Whilst this blog is turning into Louise's rough guide to her travels this summer I have to share this shop I have found with all of you. We took ourselves off for a day of exploring and came across this little beauty of a shop in the outskirts of Chicago. Think Portabello market in London meets Urban Outfitters and they go on a date to the Contemporary Museum of Art in Chicago covered in chocolate sauce and everything is reasonably priced. Are you with me yet? This shop was the definition of lush and I fell just a little bit in love. I have always had secret fantasies about owning my own shop filled with trinkets, art, cats and things which make me laugh. All for folks who are as cheap as I am. Here are some pics to wet your appetite.
Check out there blog too!......Two sided, 2958 N Clark St
Chicago, IL 60657, United States

SOCK MONKEY MADNESS

Knitted Monkey Madness. When I saw this exhibition I did a little squeal and decided this was undoubtedly blog worthy! This is the work of LA based artist Mike Kelly featured in the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago....a brilliant day out for anyone available to pop to Chicago any time soon!
Kelly's 'Craft Morphology Flow Chart' 1991 is a collection of children' toys from past years. Religiously scouring thrift stores (charity shops) flea markets and yard sales Kelly to build up a varied collection. Items that evoke a feeling of the past and feel dated, represented in real and photographic form. Hand knitted sock monkeys of all shapes and sizes, curly poodle dogs and those crazy clowns with the curly long necks.

Street Art of Chicago

This actually happened......

The Shiny Silver Bean of Chicago! At least thats what the tourists call it, also known as 'Cloud Gate' by the artist Anish Kapoor. We found this little gem in Millennium Park....its so much fun to take pictures with, in the reflection of, next to, lying upside down of etc etc. My fav bit is the fantastic reflection of the skyrise building of downtown and the distortion of the cityscape!

Just a minute away from the shiny bean in what I call 'Millennium park of arty fun' is this installation. Two 50ft high glass boxes known as the 'crown fountain'. Eerily the towers project the faces of Chicago citizens, very slowly moving so you have to pay attention. Every once in a while the expression of the face alters and a spurt of water comes from the mouth to the delight of the baking hot tourists. The ambiance and sense of fun these 2 towers created espeically for several hundred toddlers splashing about between them was refreshing for a central city park. This was flipping cool refreshing outdoor fun. Chicago you arty farty entertainer.

In amongst our journeying around the city and suburbs of Chicago we came across lots of street art including this fakey Banksy monkey ( well i think its fake, hard to tell tho...its unsigned). I'm such a massive fan of Graffiti (when its thoughtfully done) and street art I'm sharing some images with you!

Inspirational Philadelphia!

I've been spending some time in Philly of late, its my 2nd most explored city in the USA to date so I thought I'd share a couple images from the last couple of weeks. I find myself singing 'west Philadelphia born and raised , on the playground yeah I spend most of my days" and wistfully humming theme tunes as my soundtrack.

Renown for mosaics, murals and outdoor art Philly's vibe is softer and more personable than New York. The mosaics are constructed from mirrors, china wear and hand painted tiles and as intriguing as they are hazardous (highly recommended not to lean against!)

URBAN KNITTING!

O to the M to the G. I have experienced my 1st taste of Urban Knitting, also know as Guerrilla Knitting. How amazing is this!! A sweater on a tree. Urban Knitting is a group activity organized to clothe and adorn objects in our urban landscape. Knitters come from far and wide, pick their urban target and lovingly create patchwork squares which are fitted to said object. I had heard of this phenomenon and seen some amusing pics on the interweb but never actually seen the end product. This lucky tree has a patchwork designed sweater with lovely twisted braid detail and a little central patch that says "love you philly". Its so touching. My only concerns are how hot the tree must be (the weather is beautiful and scorching here) and how jealous all the other trees must feel. Tree fashion, you saw it here first!

Beautiful Bryn Mawr, Philadelphia, USA

This is Bryn Mawr College on the outskirts of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, where I am lucky enough to be spending some time. Beautifully set in a leafy campus the buildings date back to 1830's. Proudly the college boasts of its most famous student Katherine Hepburn and her naked runnings into the fountain which is now a yearly tradition!! The emblem of Bryn Mawr is the owl found printed on everything....I'm getting quite inspired for some owly prints and most charming can be found carved out of stone and reading books. Many of the buildings have owls doing various things and its bringing me no end of joy!