Asoka
(dir.Santosh Sivan) (2001) Surreal Bollywood biopic of the great Indian King who eschewed violence after his campaign to conquer Kalinga in Madras, circa 250 B.C. Shah Ruk Kahn as Asoka smoulders, swivels eyes and bleeds from the nose with all the subtlety of Rudolph Valentino; vivid scenes of robust battles (of conquest, family strife and romance); not a lot of H.G. Well’s Outline of History.
Continue Reading →Purple Wednesday
Welcome to the third edition of my blog, Annabel Lee. What colour is Wednesday? You may be surprised to learn that it is purple. Quite obviously that means evening bags. So, in honour of Wednesday, here are a couple which I prepared earlier…. Many of the beads in this first little one are Swarovski crystal, one of my favourite things. The medium dark filling in the lace sections in the lower part are comprised of precisely 1,267,098 French knots. This second bag is a lovely soft bouncy embossed velvet netted beaded beribboned thingie. The Tarot card which I have chosen for today…
Continue Reading →I See Red
Hello again and welcome to the second edition of Lesley’s blog, “Annabel Lee”. The Tarot card which I have chosen for today is the Two of Batons, a card of movement, of course, being a baton. It refers to a project which has commenced, but which requires further work. Shuffling and concentration brought forth the Queen of Swords. Fittingly, Her Majesty points to the uncovering of a new path and finding satisfaction in what you do, while an idea develops. So, today is a day of consolidating your work to date and waiting for the next step to be revealed to you. But do beware! …
Continue Reading →Annabel Lee, Miranda & Stevie
Annabel Lee, Miranda, Stevie, and Lesley (image by Stephen Reid)
Greetings and a warm welcome to Lesley’s blog, the part of The Varnished Culture which is girly, crafty and sort of ethereal. Our muses are Stevie Nicks, Joyce Carol Oates and Lily Cole. Our poem is “Annabel Lee” – a poem by Edgar Allen Poe – Stevie does an otherwordly,
Continue Reading →Franny and Zooey
(by J.D. Salinger) (1961) This perfect little novella (actually, a short story published in The New Yorker in 1955 and followed by another a couple of years later, then combined as a diptych) is a personal favourite. One would not wish to go on a houseboat holiday with any member of the Glass family (maybe Les) but their mood storms are always worth getting caught in. Frances Glass, the baby of the family, has discovered a little book called The Way of a Pilgrim (in real life purchased from Brentano’s by Salinger’s bride-to-be and reputed Gestapo staffer, Claire) which she…
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