Shoes for Fashion Slaves

A little bit of whimsy for your enjoyment.

Prada Jumbo

My personal favorite.

 

Shoe 'tem Down

Marie Antoinette Shoes

Full Steam Ahead

 Vladimir Kush

Tea Petrovic 

Tutankhamun's Gold Sandals

Dire Straits

Imelda Baby

( I tried and tried but I couldn't embed the video. Google is a hot mess.)

She's going shopping shopping for shoes

She wants them in magenta and caribbean blue
Platinum and buttercup lilac and black
They fill a bucket up and laugh behind her back
Imelda baby Imelda baby what to do
All the poor people saying that they gotta quit paying for you

In New York and Paris on the Champs Elysée
They see her coming from a long long way
They clap their hands together when they get her in the store
She's gonna wanna get more more more and more and more
Imelda baby Imelda baby what to do
All the poor people saying that they gotta quit paying for you

Everyone's gone Jackie O
She was a regular here
We thought madame would like to know
We've got the blood red rouge right here

Now we've got all of madame's requisites and all in madame's size
Madame's taste is truly exquisite she must accessorise
The belts are alligator the bags are kangaroo
Enchanté may I say the jade was made for you
Imelda baby Imelda baby what to do
All the poor people saying that they gotta quit paying for you
Imelda baby Imelda baby what to do
All the poor people saying that they gotta quit paying for you

Imelda baby Imelda baby what to do

All the poor people saying that they gotta quit paying for you

In New York and Paris on the Champs Elysée

They see her coming from a long long way

They clap their hands together when they get her in the store

She's gonna wanna get more more more and more and more

Imelda baby Imelda baby what to do

All the poor people saying that they gotta quit paying for you

Everyone's gone Jackie O

She was a regular here

We thought madame would like to know

We've got the blood red rouge right here

Now we've got all of madame's requisites and all in madame's size

Madame's taste is truly exquisite she must accessorise

The belts are alligator the bags are kangaroo

Enchanté may I say the jade was made for you

Imelda baby Imelda baby what to do

All the poor people saying that they gotta quit paying for you

Imelda baby Imelda baby what to do

All the poor people saying that they gotta quit paying for you

- Mark Knopfler

The Strolling of the Heifers

Linking to My World and Shadow Shots

My last post Homelessness in the U.S, is a serious and sober one. Let's have some fun now, shall we?  :-)

 Last Saturday, The Future Mr. Pagan Sphinx and I awoke early to beautiful morning of sun and a fresh spring breeze. A perfect day to take in the 10th annual Strolling of the Heifers parade (and Slow Living Summit) in nearby Brattleboro, Vermont. It was to be our first time, as previous years we've missed it for one reason or another.

The Strolling of the Heifers celebrates New England small farm tradition, new-age organic farming and, as my friend Susan put it, generous doses of fun and funk! Enjoy!

There is a tradition in Vermont that if you see a cow in the middle of the road, go ahead and milk it. Just make sure you leave enough milk for the next guy.  ;-)

The sign on the back of the cart reads save gas, ride an ass!  :-)

 The first crop of local strawberries is on its way to the markets this week!

Harlow's farm and sugarhouse is a business that was always generous to the kids at my former Vermont school; giving us free tours and great deals on fruit to take home.

 And proud.

 I thought this girl was especially sweet. The heifer, I mean!

 The Dairy Fairy organizes her ring!

Not just for heifers:

Finally, for you foreigners who assume that all Americans are obese, a skinny cow!  ;-)

15 Films Meme

Just when I thought I was done with memes, up pops a blog called The Banksyboy Brief and here I go...okay...I admit to being a bit bored this holiday break and looking forward to getting back into my regular routine tomorrow.

Anyway, don't take too long to think about it and come up with a list of fifteen films that you will never forget. Leave me a link, won't you.

1.  Taxi Driver

2. Breaking the Waves

The incomparible Emily Watson as Bess McNeil in  Breaking the Waves directed by Lars von Trier

3. Midnight Cowboy
4. The Piano
5. Knife in the Water

7. Black Orpheus

8. The Bicycle Thief
9. I Am Sam
10. The Hours
11. Annie Hall

12. Blood Simple



13. The Graduate
14. The Last Waltz
15. The Girl with a Pearl Earring



Caution Sea Monsters (Watery Wednesday)

 And there it is! Spotted in or around Black Rock, Nova Scotia, on the Fundy Shore.

I did a net search for information on the history of this particular sea monster decoration and found absolutely nothing but if you click on the links below you will find some interesting tales about sea monsters, both real and make-believe.

This type of whimsy and fun is part of the cultural charm of  beautiful Nova Scotia.

Sea Monster Sightings

Sea Serpents

Watery Wednesday

Pagan Sphinx Photo © All Rights Reserved

Spoofing David and ...

...appreciating David

Pagan Sphinx Entertainment Highlight - NRBQ

This one's for Bob.  ;-)  Let's dance!

For Shadow Shot Sunday - Little Red Flyer

Little Red Flier

(click photos to enlarge)

Taken yesterday at recess

Visit Hey, Harriet, who hosts Shot Shot Sunday, and see the work of other shadow seekers

Bookworm Meme

Susan has tagged me for a bookworm meme that includes this racy badge, which makes it all that much more fun!

Am I a bookworm? I don't read nearly as much as when, as a child, I earned the title, but I'm surrounded by books both at home and at work, which is an elementary school. Books have played a tremendous role in my life as the shapers of values, ideals, ideas and common sense. I credit my appetite for books with helping shape an art and literature lover whose experiences were not vast due to the limits of a Portuguese immigrant upbringing.

When I think about my love of books and reading and learning, I invariably think of my father, who died in 2005. He was a working class, immigrant man with a veracious appetite for reading. While his English was far from perfect, even after having lived in the U.S. for 20 years, he read three U.S. dailies from cover to cover, as well as books in Portuguese and French.

I recall family shopping trips to the local Mars department store, where in the toy department, I would seek out these cheap, hardbound copies of children's classics, which I would ask my father to buy for me to which he would almost always oblige. Some of these included Heidi, Little Women and Gulliver's Travels. I've managed to hang on to the ragged copy of Heidi, which I must have read at least 25 times.

Now, you may think that reading Heidi was a nine-year-old isn't very sexy but I had a hell of a crush on Peter, the goat keeper! ;-) Besides, before I knew it I had graduated to D.H. Lawrence!

Okay. Now for the rules of the meme. If you play, you are instructed to find a nearby book, turn to page 46, select the fifth sentence and type if out, including subsequent sentences. I interpret this to mean that whatever after the fifth sentence makes sense, should be included.

Like Susan, I picked up a couple of handy books that didn't quite work out. One was a book of the artwork of Nick Bantock, the creater of the Griffin and Sabine books, but the pages were not numbered and there is very little text. The other was a book I just bought at The Book Mill where I also ran into the problem of not enough text on the page due to the art plates. Finally, I resorted to grabbing a random book among several that were on top of one stack on a bookshelf:
Wintering by Kate Moses, a fictionalized account based on documented events and the work of Sylvia Plath. The book chronicles Plath's last six months living in a London flat before she killed herself, as well as weaving in and out of the pasdelving into much of what may have gone on during the period when Plath wrote Ariel, the last collection of her work. It's a beautifully written novel, clearly written by a scholar who both appreciated and understood Plath's work.

Here we go.

In truth, they are moving eagerly on, their life telescoping out fromthis claustrophobic walk-up; what does it matter to them who takes their exiguos flat? But surprisingly, it does.

"Hullo?", Sylvia says, elbows on the kitchen table, her free hand fingering her braided bun. "Assia, this is Sylvia Hughes - "

Her voice carries through the apartment, moving over it lightly, like a fine mist. It settles over the painted floors and glossy molding that traces the rooms. " - you'll have to visit us there. It's Ted's dreamscape. Our own Avalon, complete with apple trees and the bones of pagans."





Is reading sexy?

You can play too, just let me know if you do, so I can read your post.

Our Holidays

WP's sister and his mother, A.P. who is 87

WP's lovely daughters M an L, lighting the Menorah, in honor of their Jewish heritage on their mom's side

My Supergirls

Left: Supergirl Two and her BFF S.A. (whom I've known and loved since she was born)

Some favorite gifts

A Santa from SG2

A cool stapler from WP's daughter M

Dark truffles from WP

And this sums it up in the form of a warm pair of socks with a logo, from WP's daughter L. :-)

If you'd like to check out my holiday slideshow on the side bar, there are a ton of photos there. Just click on it and it will take you to Picassa where they can be viewed bigger.

I finally had success in figuring out how to install a slideshow, so this is a major technoligical victory for me!

Meaningless Meme

Ed tagged me for the Meaningless Meme and I, being unable to say no to such easy frivolity, am playing along.



1. Five names you go by:
* Gina
* Mommy
* Baby (at least it's not "Babe". which always reminds me of the pig)
* Mrs. P (which is not accurate but people always assume we're married)
* Pagan Sphinx (you know, in the blog world)

2. Three things you are wearing right now:
* earrings (always)
* an Indian print scarf
* purple tights

3. Two things you want very badly at the moment:

* a vacation
* a new work environment

4. Three people who will probably fill this out:

* Sherry
* Steve (because I'm curious as to what movie clip he'll choose)
* You!

5. Two things you did last night:

* Watched the movie Zodiac with WP
* Ordered a pizza

6. Two things you ate today:

* toast with butter
* black coffee

7. Two people you last talked to on the phone:

* SG2
* one known as a "busybody" - don't ask :-/

8. Two things you are going to do tomorrow:

* go to work
* pay bills

9. Two longest car rides:

* Paris to Lisbon (as a wee lass)
* Cape Breton, Nova Scotia

10. Two of your favorite beverages:

* wine
* sparkling spring water


And finally, my favorite part: a clip from a favorite movie, Breaking the Waves with the incomparable Emily Watson as Bess McNeil, and a stellar soundtrack.

Look What I Got In The Mail!

This is from the generous and thoughtful Kelly. She runs these little contests where if you are the second or whatever commenter, she sends you a gift in the mail. I love this - it makes a perfect book end for my art books. Thank you so much, Kelly.

In the same spirit of Paying It Forward, I would love to send something cool to the third commenter. You will have to trust me with your snail mail address.

Concert in the Park

After our family picnic yesterday we packed it up and went down to our town park for a benefit concert of local music. The night was hot but breezy and it was a very groovy scene. The proceeds are going to help support our local community theater, The Shea.

Headliners The Alchemystics. Excellent reggae, hip-hop and dub. Heavy grooves, great vocals, and positive messages.

(below)
Lin Preston’s Musical Time Machine

The band leader has an amazing voice reminiscent of Nick Lowe. The band sound is loud but melodic rock; all original material.
This dude has star-power. It seems he was once a rather good Elvis impersonator. The drummer is the talented Nick, Supergirl Two's boyfriend. This is a band that's going places, I think.

The lovely Alice, W.P.'s mother, diggin' the show