In Which I Fangirl. A Lot.

Ok, so the new Game of Thrones season 2 trailer is out...

...which basically means that my brain is now completely mush.  Well, more than usual, anyway.  Aside from the teeny-weeny complaint that it needs more Richard Madden (Robb Stark) and Kit Harington (Jon Snow) in it, it is actually amazing.  Conleth Hill as Varys has just turned one of my most uncertain characters into a total favourite; Carice van Houten looks amazing as Melisandre (and ohmigod, was that a birthing of a shadow-baby thing I saw?!!) and Emilia Clarke (Daenerys) and Peter Dinklage (Tyrion) are just amazing.  I cannot get over how beautifully-shot the whole thing is, how brilliantly-acted the whole thing is and goddamit I want it to be April 2nd right NOW!

I'm off to do some re-reading and some major fangirling...

Lest They Forget...

Yesterday was International Holocaust Memorial Day, marking 67 years since the Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp in Poland was liberated, and when the Norwegian Prime Minister publicly apologised for the role his country had played in the arrest and deportation of Jews after the Nazis invaded.  Of course it wasn't just the Jews who were imprisoned and murdered during the Holocaust - political dissenters, Communists, intellectuals, homosexuals, Gypsies and many others were also systematically targeted and murdered by the Nazi regime - but due to the sheer numbers of Jews who were exterminated in the camps and the liquidization of the ghettos the two have become almost synonymous.

And yet while the vast majority of the civilised world stood and remembered the atrocities inflicted upon the Jewish population all those years ago, it seems the Powers-that-Be in Israel seem to be suffering from a prolonged and ongoing attack of collective short-term memory loss.  Now this isn't intended in any way to diminish what happened in the Holocaust or anything - I've never understood those idiots who claim the Holocaust never happened and when I visited Dachau last year the sheer futility of the loss of life was utterly overwhelming - but the attitude of the Israelis as a nation has always struck me as being faintly hypocritical and yet very few people ever stand up and point out the double standards.  Those self-same Western leaders who wring their hands in public and apologise for events which happened seventy-odd years ago have not once ever called the Israelis out on their policy of land grabbing; have never once publicly compared the wall they have built around Bethlehem and the rest to the walls which sprung up around the ghettos of Lodz, of Krakow.  The ghettoisation of the Jews stands out as a black mark in the history of the twentieth century while the ghettoisation of the Palestinian people remains un-discussed.

When the UN Partition of 1947 was drawn up, it allowed for a Jewish state and an Arab one; Israel and Palestine were destined to sit side by side on the map.  There was always contention - the holy city of Jerusalem, for example, has been fought over by the Jews, Muslims and Christians since time immemorial - but nevertheless there were to be two states, two nations, sanctified and enshrined in law.  The very same nations which interfered to bring about the state of Israel now stand by and do nothing as they continue to encroach and build on land that doesn't belong to them and which legally they do not own.  Britain, America and the rest say nothing when Netanyahu and his cronies decide they're going to build another 2000 homes on occupied land, or that they're going to extend their ridiculous wall another few hundred yards into Palestinian people; they say nothing when hundred of thousands of men, women and children are denied access to health care and are living in the bleakest poverty, except to condemn those who take the only course of action they feel is open to them.  I don't condone what the bombers and the shooters do, but I think perhaps I understand their motives: Israel refuses to negotiate with them and they are denied any recognition by the rest of the political world and so desperate men resort to desperate measures.

On the 27th December 2008 the Israelis bombarded Gaza and murdered 1,300 Palestinian people.  Approximately 6,537 have been killed since the year 2000; since 1948 over 1.5 million Palestinian men, women and children have died.  While this may pale against the approximately 6 million Jewish men, women and children murdered during the years of the Holocaust, nevertheless it begs the question: where is the sense of outrage and anger?  In 1945 the world looked at the ghettos and concentration camps, the forced marches and the mass graves and said "never again": how many more times must we say "never again"?  How long will it be before the rest of the world rises up and puts its collective foot down over Israel's policy of murder and containment, when they of all people - with their long memories and their shared history - should look at what they're doing and realise that they are perpetuating almost the very same deprivations and misery which they and their ancestors were subjected to during the war?

The answer, clearly, is never.  America fears the backlash of its large number of Jewish voters and, anyway, don't they and the rest of the Western world sneakily suspect the Palestinians of being nothing more than Arab terrorists, what with their bombs and their guns and shiz?  There was a hugely interesting article in the Independent today (here) about how the present (and perhaps the future) stands no chance when the past has such a sway over the state of Israel - thousands more Palestinians look as if they'll be moved from their land so Israel can build a park to glorify some conquest of King David's three thousand years ago that may or may not have happened.  Even the Palestinians themselves believe the Israeli leftist Miko Peled (whose father was a legendary Israeli general) when he says the state of Israel wants to "eliminate the existence of people who live on their land to solidify the myth of a glorious past".  It's not really surprising given that the self-same President of the USA who told them they they deserve their own state subsequently vetoed their demand for statehood when they approached the United Nations; wouldn't you feel a little confused and a little hacked off about the state of affairs (or the lack of a state to have affairs about?)

But Israel will keep building, the Palestinians will keep dying (as will the Israelis, when the bombings start again) and the rest of the world will keep looking away, ignoring the similarities between what's going on in Gaza and the West Bank and the events they come together to collectively flagellate themselves over once a year.  What happened in the Holocaust was more than despicable; there aren't enough words to describe the horrors of that catastrophic event or how, even now, you can stand in what used to be a concentration camp and weep at the pointlessness and the horror of it all.  But what's happening in Israel right now is equally despicable and horrific, and it's about time the Western politicians stood up and brought the Israelis to heel before yet another systematic extermination of a people is complete.  We went charging into the Balkans when the Serbs were being slaughtered; how can we stand by and do nothing as thousands of Palestinians are turned out of their homes and treated as less than human?

Friday Fix

Ok, so it's Friday which means only one thing.  Yep, my Little Black Book is being dusted off so I can present another very sexy extremely talented young man for my your pervy fantasies viewing pleasure.  Today has been a little bit flat for a variety of reasons so for that reason (not that I exactly need a reason, but humour me), today's Lust List entry is the very lovely and very Scottish Mr Richard Madden...

Best known for playing Robb Stark in the acclaimed HBO drama series 'Game of Thrones', Richard Madden's first acting experience came as a child when he joined a local drama group at the age of 11 in an attempt to overcome his shyness.  His first breakthrough role came in the children's TV show "Barmy Aunt Boomerang", followed by a critically acclaimed part in an adaptation of Iain Bank's "Complicity", which involved his character being raped by Jonny Lee Miller.  Interesting start to his career aside, he then decided that all the hassle he got from his schoolmates wasn't worth it and gave up the acting lark.  As he got older, however, he realised he still wanted to act and graduated from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in 2007.  He has won critical acclaim for his roles in theatre (most notably Romeo in Romeo and Juliet in 2007, just before he graduated, and as Callum in the 2008 stage production of Malorie Blackman's phenomenal book Noughts and Crosses - if you haven't read it you really should because it's brilliant).  Richard has also been in various film and TV roles including Sirens on Channel 4, Hope Springs on the BBC and the utterly brilliant "Worried About The Boy", an utterly brilliant BBC drama about the life of Boy George in which he played Kirk Brandon, singer of Theatre of Hate and, more recently, Spear of Destiny.

As well as all the critical acclaim for his acting, Richard was also named one of Esquire magazine's "Hottest Stars of 2010" and one of Screen International's "Stars of Tomorrow 2011" (where the hell have they been for the past few years?  Keep up, Screen International!)  More importantly, given that he's a bit of a dedicated follower of fashion, the not-at-all-hideous Mr Madden was also named "Most Stylish Male" at the Scottish Style Awards 2010, thus proving once and for all there really is something worth investigating among all those tartan kilts...I'm sorry, I'll switch my perv-switch off again now...

Actually, screw it.  I've had a bad day and he makes me feel better.  So until next Friday, I shall be perving over studying the remarkable talents of Richard Madden...

THE Most Amazing Video You Will Ever See...

One of the few benefits of having a cold and not being able to breathe properly at stupid-o-clock in the morning is occasionally discovering a complete gem of a thing in the unlikeliest places.  Last night was one of those nights...sick of coughing up my spleen and was fed up with staring at the ceiling I started channel-hopping and caught the end of an episode of Rude Tube.  Oh. My. Actual. Life.  This video...this guy is AMAZING.  You all need to watch this.  Right now...

In November 2010 Scottish street trials cyclist Danny MacAskill decided to cycle from his new base in Edinburgh back to his home village, Dunvegin on the Isle of Skye.  Now I've made the trip from Edinburgh to Dunvegin and it's absolutely gorgeous, although I was on a minibus when I did it, but Danny decided that merely cycling from A to B was dull and not for the likes of him.  So he decided to do the whole journey as one long stunt ride, using his bike to jump on and off pretty much everything he came across.  It. Is. Ridiculous, and yet completely brilliant all at the same time.  You really have to see it to believe it...

Get Your Frocks Off, Baby!!

It's January, which means several things.  First, I will get a cold.  Check.  Second, the weather will be mardy and arsy. Check.  And thirdly, movie awards season swings into full-on fashionista hysteria.  Oh, and gives out some awards, or something.  But seriously, who focuses on the awards when there's fashion going on?!!

This year's Oscar nominations were announced today and, as always, I have high hopes for not only the awards themselves but for the red carpet catwalk beforehand.  I think The Artist will do incredibly well in all its nominated spots and, although I suspect Meryl Streep might be sashaying off with the little bald man for Best Actress, I personally am willing Michelle Williams to nab it for her role as Marilyn Monroe in "My Week With Marilyn".  Not only was the film sensational but she herself was phenomenal - I think she's a hugely underrated actress at the best of times but I am crossing everything I have that come the big day she will triumph.  I'll do whatever kind of voodoo I need to ensure this happens...

Come Oscar time, however, I hope Michelle has a suitably Marilyn-esque dress.  Her choice for the Golden Globes was simple, chic and understated, but she needs to pull out the big guns if she's going to compete on the carpet at the Academy Awards.  What I love about Michelle Williams is she dressed in whatever she seems comfortable in, yet she always looks so gorgeous when you see her...

 *sigh*  Just fabulous...

So since the Golden Globes have already happened, lets take a quick fly-by-night glance of some of my favourite front-line frocks.  These ladies dressed to impress at the Golden Globes; with Bafta and Oscar on the horizon, it's going to be time to pull out the really big guns...

Shailene Woodley looked absolutely stunning in her Marchesa frock.  I might steal this...

Kate Winslet could, of course, wear a bin bag and still look like a total glamour-puss. With curves, thank you very much...I swear this woman can do no wrong in my eyes; even if you were to tell me she murdered a thousand kittens a week to make her knickers I could probably find some way to excuse her.  She stole my heart in Titanic (sorry, Leo, although you were cute too), and it's been girl-crush central ever since...

Emma Stone's Lanvin dress is another one I'm thinking of 'borrowing'...

Tilda Swinton was as quirky and gorgeous as always...

...while the always-adorable Zooey Deschanel went from girl next door to green goddess in a flash.

The one outfit I am looking forward to come Oscar night is Bérénice Bejo's.  Not only is she impossibly French (and therefore impossibly chic) but her dress at the Golden Globes was stunning...

Can't wait to see how she tops that on February 26th!!

But of course no awards ceremony frock post is complete without a mention of "The Dress That Everyone Remembers Even If They Never Actually Saw It At The Time"...

Bjork, I salute you.  I don't care what anyone says, I thought you looked incredible in the swan dress.  You and I should meet up - you wear the swan, I'll wear Ducky Dress™ and we'll all have a fabulous time...