The Wilky Way

So you know the film Big – where a 12 year-old wishes to be a grown-up and wakes up as a 30 year-old Tom Hanks. Funny how 30 really doesn’t seem that old any more…

Well it was a favourite film for me, as it was for many people of my generation. Who DIDN’T want a giant trampoline in their front room, or the chance to play chopsticks on a massive floor piano?

But one thing I had never even IMAGINED possible was the possibility of owning myself the weird, creepy, but oh-so-iconographic Zoltan machine. Oh how wrong I was.

At www.zoltarmachine.com you can order, and event customise, your very own fortune telling wizard-in-a-glass-box.

Depending on your required size, shipping one of these bad boys over from the US should cost you in excess of £4,500, but wouldn’t it be worth it??

The first wish I’d make would be to be so stinking rich that I could afford to buy Zoltar Machines for all my friends. Just imagine what hilarious scrapes we’d all get ourselves into….

No Comments | In: geek stuff | tags: 80s, Big, movie, Tom Hanks, Zoltar Machine. | #

So there’s going to be a Yogi Bear movie. In 3D. I feel neither happy nor sad about this, I never really liked Yogi that much anyway.

But the promotional poster… well, there are no words. THAT pose, with THAT tagline? REALLY?

No Comments | In: comedy | tags: great things, great things come in bears, movie, poster, tagline, Yogi Bear Movie. | #

Africa by sleek 80s band Toto has to be one of my all-time favourite retro tunes. It’s a truly epic track, and the chorus is particularly incredible; it’s the perfect way to get a whole room singing along (usually very badly – it’s not the nicest octave for karaoke…).

But has anyone ever really thought about the lyrics? They’re seriously terrible. I mean, ‘Sure as Kilimanjaro rises like Olympus above the Serengeti’, are you kidding me? That doesn’t even fit into the music.


All I can assume is that ‘bugger it just scribble something down’ Toto were so busy congratulating themselves on their incredible melody-writing skills that they simply couldn’t be arsed with the rest. “But Toto, what about the lyrics?” “Lyrics, schmyrics – have you heard that bloody chorus?! We’re gonna be rich!”

TOTO – Africa
I hear the drums echoing tonight
But she hears only whispers of some quiet conversation
She’s coming in 12:30 flight
The moonlit wings reflect the stars that guide me towards salvation
I stopped an old man along the way
Hoping to find some long forgotten words or ancient melodies
He turned to me as if to say, Hurry boy, it’s waiting there for you
Chorus:
It’s gonna take a lot to drag me away from you
There’s nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do
I bless the rains down in Africa
Gonna take some time to do the things we never had
The wild dogs cry out in the night
As they grow restless longing for some solitary company
I know that I must do what’s right
Sure as Kilimanjaro rises like Olympus above the Serengeti
I seek to cure what’s deep inside, frightened of this thing that I’ve become
Chorus
(Instrumental break)
Hurry boy, she’s waiting there for you
It’s gonna take a lot to drag me away from you
There’s nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do
I bless the rains down in Africa, I bless the rains down in Africa
I bless the rains down in Africa, I bless the rains down in Africa
I bless the rains down in Africa
Gonna take some time to do the things we never had

No Comments | In: music | tags: Africa, lyrics, Toto. | #

I figured it’s time to introduce little Daisy, the newest addition to my household. She’s a Chocolate point Birman, a breed we chose particularly because they are notoriously good natured, and are fine to keep as indoor pets (I don’t have a garden so needed to make sure she’d be okay). She’s also absolutely beautiful – little brown nose and bright blue eyes!
I’m certainly a smitten kitten-spoiler, and seem to be succumbing to her every demand, which mostly mean lots of cuddles and plenty of food. The house seems to have a new princess, and one who eats, sleeps and demands as much attention as I do!

There’s an ancient legend about how her breed came to be, which has often resulted in the term ‘the sacred Birman’ – a name that will no doubt go straight to little Daisy’s head.

This is how birmankitten.co.uk describes the story:

The myth of the Sacred Cat of Birma takes us back a very long time, indeed, many centuries ago, near Lake Incaougji in Indo-china. There lives a rule of monks, known as kittahs. They belonged to the cult of the god Song Ho in the temple of Lao-Tsun. The temple housed the sapphire-eyed golden statue of the goddess Tsun-Kian-Kse who was responsible for residing over the souls of priests when they died. In their vast monastery lived a hundred sacred cats whose job it was to receive the souls of dead monks who later would be reincarnated. When the cat died, the priest’s soul would be released to complete its ethereal journey to paradise.

Each kittah therefore had his own cat, as did a very saintly old monk (some say the Head Monk), Mun Ha, who, accompanied by his white cat Sinh, passes his hours in meditation at the feed of Tsun Kian Tse. The kittahs’ reputation for holiness was well established in the region and infuriated the Brahmans and one night as the holy man meditated in front of the golden goddess, the temple was attacked and Mun Ha died. At the moment of his dead, Sinh, his pure white cat, placed his feet on his fallen master and turned to face the golden goddess, gazing into her eyes. As he did so the hairs of his body turned golden and his yellow eyes became sapphire blue like hers; his four white legs turned earthy brown as did the other extremities of his body – but where his feet rested gently on his dead master they remained white as a symbol fo purity. Thus the soul of Mun Ha passed into the body of Sinh.


Here the legend varies slightly – either the other priests rallied and drove the attackers from the temple or they escaped with their cats and build an underground temple to Tsun Kian Tse in Burma. Sinh singled out a young priest called Ligoa who was thus chosen as the next high priest. By the next day, the rest of the cats also changed colour to match those of Sinh. During the next seven days Sinh refused all food and water and did not leave his maters side He dies peacefully on the seventh day. His spirit and the soul of his master journeyed to their heavenly paradise to be embraced by the great god Song Ho.

No Comments | In: catty things, pretty things | tags: Birman, Birman kitten, cat, Chocolate Point Birman, Daisy, kitten, Legend, Sacred Birman. | #

With my current enthusiasm for cooking, I’ve been looking at a lot of cooking and recipe sites, which meant I was lucky enough to come across Recipelook.co.uk. This is a sweet site – one of my favourites -  in which readers send in drawings and diagrams of their favourite recipes.

The idea is to use as little text as possible and some of the artists have come up with some really creative ways of presenting their recipes.

Some of these are so pretty I want to print them off and frame them somewhere in my kitchen!

Ultimately, these are a good way for culinary clutz’ like me to understand nice, simple recipes, without too much confusion.

No Comments | In: art, recipes | tags: art, cooking, drawing, Recipelook.co.uk, recipes. | #

A friend recently pointed me in the direction of the Rockett St George interiors site. Everything on this site is so beautiful, I want it all. Unfortunately, have just had my living room flooring sanded, stained and varnished, my interiors fund is entirely wiped out.

However, as soon as I have some money to spare I’ll be heading straight to this fantastic online store and emptying it out.

In the meantime I’ll content myself with wistfully staring at all the wondrous delights it has to offer, like the Jeeves and Wooster top hat pendant lights or some of these gorgeous wall stickers and art prints.

No Comments | In: art, gifts, jewellery, pretty things | tags: cushions, interiors, jeeves & wooster top hat pendant lights, Rockett St George, screenprints, signs, wall stickers. | #

I found a few interesting photos nestled on my phone so I thought I’d share them on here. My phone’s camera isn’t great so excuse any blur or shakiness…

Here’s a bin in Brighton highstreet – one small change to the text has made a big difference:

I strolled past this painted mattress on the way to work – I’m thinking perhaps it’s a local street artist, does anyone know who it might be?

And then I returned home last Thursday to find these Morris Dancers working their magic right outside my house. Seems they’d all piled straight out of the pub!

I picked this up from a street-seller on the way to Glastonbury – purely coincidental that it just so happened to have my name stamped all over it…

Mother Wilkins’ vegetable patch has been doing so well this year that she sent me home with these enormous courgettes – since then I’ve been searching the internet for all the courgette recipes I can find. I’ll try to share them on here if I get a chance:

No Comments | In: Brighton, scrapbook | tags: courgettes, morris dancers, nothing really mattress, photos, scrapbook, street art, Wilkins Farmhouse Cider. | #

Hands up all of those who ‘didn’t get’ Twitter – those of you who took months to figure out what the deal was. Perhaps you still don’t understand. Why should you care about the all these randoms and why, in turn, should they care about you?

Those who battled the difficult first few months, and are finally able to comprehend the wonders and possibilities that it has to offer, will know that it’s not just about telling people what your dog ate for breakfast  – although there’s a fair share of that too of course.  Twitter is about sharing, whether that’s personal information, interesting links, news articles, tips or just simple ponderings.

So, can you use Twitter to save money? Well of course you can. With thousands of people sharing their thoughts and findings, the possibilities for learning about the latest deals and money-saving opportunities are endless.

Here’s my  my 5 top tips for using Twitter to save money:

1. Follow money saving bloggers:

There are hundreds of bloggers and finance professionals who are happy to share any discounts or vouchers that they discover, as well as their own personal tips on how to save pennies. Most of these have twitter accounts, and can be found with a little research. With hundreds to choose from it’s hard to name just a couple, but some of my personal favourites are @missthrifty, @pennygolightly, @vouchermumuk, @lovemoney_com and @moneysavingexp

2. Twitter search:

Simply typing some key words into the Twitter search bar can bring up a loads of deals and bargains. A quick search for ‘Brighton deal’ brought up an assortment of local money saving opportunities, including gym discounts and deals on activities and meals.

3. Follow collaborative tweeters:

While bloggers can pass on their own findings there are companies and websites that exists solely to pass on some of the net’s biggest savings and tips to Twitter followers. One of my absolute faves is @chiconomise, an online venture from The Apprentice’s Michelle Dewbury, which gathers and shares fantastic deals and savings on fashion, beauty, homeware and lifestyle goods and experiences. Sometimes they’ll simply let you know about online sales and point you in the direction of some of the best items.

4. Follow specific companies and retailers:

By following some of your favourite retailers, suppliers, or even local delis and restaurants, you can be one of the first to discover any discounts or incentives that they offer to their followers. Ollie and Nic (@OllieandNic), for example, regularly posts sales news, competitions and discount codes for their bags and accessories.

5. Ask!:

If in doubt just pose a question to the masses. Ask your followers if they know of any restaurant deals or online discounts. You can even ask if anyone has a spare Orange Wednesday 241 cinema code. Being cheeky can work in your favour!

No Comments | In: geek stuff | tags: how to save money on twitter, money, save, Twitter. | #

I’ve just recently stumbled across Brighton artist Pinkyvision, and am instantly smitten with his brightly coloured, retro psychedelic designs.

His unique graffiti, paintings, posters and papercuts are cheerily presented in bright pinks, yellows, greens and blues, with smiling characters and surreal designs.

As soon as I spied his website I just had to snap up this Star Head poster – the rainbow colours should really lift my shady hallway.

I suspect this won’t be my last Pinkyvision purchase either – I’m already eyeing up a few of his other pieces.They’re just too cheery to resist, and a collection of them hung on a living room wall would look super sweet.

I really must stop buying so much art.

Maybe.

No Comments | In: Brighton, art | tags: Brighton, pinkyvision, pschedelic, star head. | #

As a child I was always obsessed with lockets – I’m pretty sure it had something to do with Annie; if in doubt always blame Annie.

I’ve never really been able to shake off the feeling that if I had a shiny locket around my neck, with a tiny photograph of me and whatever prince is lucky enough to have won my affections nestled inside then the world would be a happier place.

That’s why I’m a little bit in love with these beautiful vintage-effect photograph lockets from heartworksbylori and photographer Irene Suchocki on Etsy.

There are dozens of images to choose from and each comes in a brass frame pendant with space for two of your own photos to slot inside. Plus they arrive in a tiny velvet drawstring bag, so you can keep secret and safe when it’s not being worn.

With postage and delivery they cost just over £30.00 and make great presents for friends or yourself.

No Comments | In: gifts, jewellery, pretty things | tags: etsy, frame, heartworksbylori, Irene Suchocki, jewellery, locket, necklace, pendant, vintage. | #