The last book I read...

Interview With The Vampire - Anne Rice

I've wanted to read this book since I was a teenage goth who liked vampires because I liked My Chemical Romance and the opportunity presented itself when I was in a bookshop in Preston stocked with complimentary literature on its last stop before the recycling centre. Never one to turn down a free book, I scooped it up and stuffed it into my backpack which was already full to bursting with tour souvenirs, where it began the next leg of a 40 year journey (the edition I have was printed in 1977, not long after the story was first published).

I saw the movie version of the book a few years ago but couldn't remember too much of the plot; I knew that Christian Slater of Heathers fame conducted the interview, Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise played the two main vampires and Kirsten Dunst was an adorable vampire infant, but aside from that I had little recollection. The story is that of Louis, who, over the course of an evening, recalls how he came to be immortal and recounts the major events in his long life. The book is broken up into four parts which relate to the four settings for the novel: firstly in New Orleans where Louis spends the first part of his life, meeting the vampire Lestat and procuring the child Claudia, then moves on to adventures in Eastern Europe and Paris before arriving at the present day.

This is the first of Anne Rice's books that I've properly read, discounting The Taking Of Sleeping Beauty which is an erotic novel she wrote under a psuedonym and which I've never managed to finish. I really liked her descriptive style, particularly in explaining the splendour of the town house the vampires inhabit in New Orleans and the articles Claudia surrounds herself with. It's not an action-packed story of gore like some vampire stories, although there are some gruesome scenes, and I think it's my second favourite vampire story after The Lost Boys. The ending has made me eager to seek out a copy of the sequel which tells Lestat's story and has the added excitement of an 80s rock'n'roll excess setting. Like Less Than Zero, the last book I wrote about, this is another book I saw the movie of first and now need to go back and rewatch.

The last movie I saw...

Behind The Candelabra - dir. Steven Soderbergh

Before seeing this movie I had very little knowledge of Liberace; I knew that he was a cultural icon, a pianist, a homosexual, but not much else. Behind The Candelabra tells the story of the last decade or so of his life through the eyes of Scott Thorson, played by Matt Damon, who became his companion during that period. Their life together seems almost too bizarre to be true - they're lovers but Liberace (Michael Douglas) wants to adopt the orphaned Scott as his son, then he pays for Scott to have plastic surgery in order for him to look like the young Liberace... it's all very weird but oddly compelling. Of course, like in all glittering celebrity biopics there is a sharp turn for the worse, in this case when the star shows signs of ditching his protégé for a younger model, and the movie kind of lost my interest at that halfway point, not picking up again until the ending. My favourite things about this movie were the performance by Rob Lowe as the creepy Hollywood plastic surgeon and the gorgeous costumes and set pieces, particularly in the stage scenes and in Liberace and Thorson's home. The whole place sparkles with so much gold and silver and gleaming white, a look that Liberace refers to as "palatial kitsch" which has inspired me to let more tacky gold and glitter into my life.

On my turntable...

Frankie Goes To Hollywood - Welcome To The Pleasuredome

I found this 1984 double-vinyl album in my Dad's collection which surprised me as dance music isn't really his scene, but I'm so glad he bought it because I'm obsessed with it. Hits 'Relax' and 'Two Tribes' have been on my playlist for a couple of years now and I was familiar with the band's notoriety for flirting with sex, homosexuality and violence, but until I heard this album I never realised how important they really were.

Welcome To The Pleasuredome comprises four sides of vinyl which each have a different feel to them - side one is more or less one long side of dancefloor music which sounds like the wildest orgy since the Roman era; side two has the aforementioned hits; side three is more nostalgic with excellent covers of 'Born To Run' and 'Do You Know The Way To San Jose?' and the final side has the huge ballad 'The Power Of Love'.

Listening to this album is like taking the most exciting journey through a hedonistic 80s paradise and the artwork fits perfectly. On the outside are the Picasso-esque portraits of the band and their vibe but the slipcases for the records are my favourite part, combining little logos of hearts and crosses and sperm and bullets with quotes and complaints and a reading list and a merchandise catalogue featuring a jumper I'm coveting despite it being 32 years old. Welcome To The Pleasuredome is probably my favourite old album that I've discovered this year and if you don't have a record player you should definitely head to Spotify and listen to the deluxe version in all its excessive glory.

On my nails...

OPI - Kermit Me To Speak

I haven't taken a photo of my own nails this week because they're not especially exciting, but I'm using this fancy nail polish for the first time today. This shade came to me for free via Pink Parcel and is from the OPI Muppets Most Wanted collection which came out with the movie in 2014. Despite being named after Kermit the Frog it's not green which seems a little strange to me; I'm not sure where the name came from at all.

It's quite hard to work out from the bottle what colour the polish was going to be but on my fingertips it's a sparkling pinkish-lilac colour in some lights and golden in others. It's a pretty colour but not as striking as my usual black or bright coloured looks and I doubt I'll be using it a lot. I can't complain about a freebie though, especially one that's worth as much as OPI polishes are.

My playlist... 

Now that it's summertime I've added some more retro 60s sounds into my playlist alongside new favourites. Highlights:

1. Are "Friends" Electric? by Tubeway Army which I've recently become obsessed with

2. Christian D'Or by Adam & The Ants which is my other obsession song right now, there's something about these post-punk boys with English accents that's doing it for me recently...

4, 22, 30, 36. Songs by The 1975 that fit into the whole 'summer of love' theme 

6. I Wanna Be Yours by Arctic Monkeys, current favourite by them

8, 19, 23, 24, 26, 27, 28, 29, 33. 60s classics

9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 25, 31, 35. 50s and 60s teen idol hits

21. Blue Moon Motel by Nicole Dollanganger because even though she was on the last playlist I'm still in love with this song

34. Milord by Édith Piaf who was on my turntable last week

A random image from my aesthetic blog on Tumblr...

Ladies restroom at the 2016 Met Gala, themed "Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology". Part of a gorgeous set of pictures of ladies in sparkling silver dresses in the bathrooms at the ball looking classy and trashy and a little bit 'palatial kitsch'!

R