Divine.

I love this guy; not only does he make wonderful music, but he has the most ridiculously strong French accent and is in possession of a great 70's Dad-beard. He also spouts some wise words, my favourites being:

• 'Everybody in France thinks that The Beach Boys are just silly guys with funny closies (!) but, in fact, they are big genius of music!'
  
• 'You know, the first feeling of love, when you are on the beach, and for the very first time you are almost naked in front of everybody, and you can see the girls almost naked, with the hot sun, and I love this kind of ambience... It's a song about that!'
  
• 'The message is, if you want to be a great lover, you have to be a good person.'
  

...Not to mention his spot-on impression of Serge Gainsbourg. Wonderful Sebastien!

Books Galore!

I have a little rule that if I ever spy a classic book in a charity shop, I must snap it up immediately, even if I have no intention of reading it for a good ten years or so. So, as you can imagine, my bookshelves are groaning with well-thumbed copies of Penguin classics, but sometimes you need a little light relief - books that make you chuckle, or consist of nothing but pretty pictures. Here are a few books I wouldn't mind waking up and finding magically placed on my bookshelf. Father Christmas, you listening? 

'Dear Diary' by Lesley Arfin

Having kept a diary since I was on the cusp of my teenage years, I sometimes like to have a little read of the truly old ones, just for lols. Well this young lady enjoyed reading hers so much that she decided to publish them! And believe me, they are rather excruciating. I first became aware of Arfin after obsessively reading her 'Ask Barf' column on Street Carnage; I strongly advise you take a peek, as they are sometimes valid yet always amusing.

p.s. It also features a foreword by Chloe Sevigny, nice!

'Moomins Cookbook' by Sami Mamila & Tove Jansson

Moomins are adorable and Finnish cuisine looks delicious, so a perfect recipe (oho!) for a cookbook it does make. Thanks to this gem I could learn how to make all the delicious treats prepared by Moomin Mamma in real life. With categories such as 'At The Garden Party' and recipes such as 'Laundry-Day Soup', how could anyone resist? Get in my life, please. 

'What Shall I Wear Today?' by Fifi Lapin

Sure, it's written by a fictional bunny-rabbit, but just you wait until you look inside... Despite having 'long ears, a flat chest and a generously padded tushe', this lady (sorry, bunny) can dress! This sweet little book stems from the blog of the same name, and features interviews with wonderful visionaries such as Charles Anastase, Erin Fetherston and Viktor & Rolfe! Sweeeet.

'Luella's Guide To English Style' by Luella Bartley

It looks like a 1950's school book, it's the perfect shade of 70's brown and there's a bloody fox on the cover! Oh, and it's written by Luella Bartley, one of the loveliest designers of the decade. Can't wait to wrap my sticky little mitts around this one. 

Swoon.

Because I am kind, I present to you this lovely video featuring the very suave Aaron Johnson, brooding around in the style of a 5o's matinee idol. As well as his face, I'm a little bit in love with these amazing outfits and his more than impressive quiff. Courtesy of 'Man About Town' magazine, a publication which smells as divine as it looks. 

Geek Alphabet

I enjoy this a lot! (Only recognised about half though, must try harder.)

Give Me Your Eyes, I Need Sunshine

....So, last night, I had the great fortune to hear one of my top ten all-time favourite songs performed live, by the truly marvellous Wolf Parade!

Accompanied by some of the finest folk I know, we trotted off to a tiny working men's club in the student area of Leeds to see everyone's favourite Canadian foursome. Despite some serious heating issues, they put on an absolutely wonderful performance and had us all bopping away and singing along with gusto. A quality of theirs that I've always admired is the way they sound constantly on the cusp of tears as they sing, and I was pleased to note that this rings true in real life. My only gripe was that they did not play 'Grounds For Divorce' (sob, sniff), but with such an extensive back catalogue, personal favourites are bound to be missed out.

 In my mind, I always imagine them to be middle aged, a little bit chubbs and impressively bearded, but in reality they're rather young, reasonably attractive and only one of them in possession of good-quality facial hair. How about that! Despite me bringing along my camera, I took approximately zero photos of them, as I was far too buy enjoying myself/ trying to maintain a decent body temperature. My apologies. I did, however, visually capture this lol-tastic moment in time for your viewing pleasure...

Daydream Believer

I'm currently a little bit obsessed with this here song, by the always-wonderful Animal Collective and Vashti Bunyan, a lovely folk singer from the 60's with a voice a bit like a pan-pipe. Always a good thing, I reckon. This song is ideal for the moment you open your eyes in the morning and as you close them at night.... and every moment in between, really. 

Absoloute Dream Brownies

Our humble batch of brownies may not look much, but they sure as hell tasted amazing. One rainy Thursday, my two dearest chums and I set our hands at making the most ridiculously unhealthy baked goods around. And after more than one thumbs up for this particular recipe, we decided it would be rude not to give it a whirl. I strongly advise you to follow suit!

1. Break up 185g of dark chocolate, all the while exercising extreme self-control and not eating it (save for the odd rogue square). We plumped for Co-operative own Fairtrade confection, at the grand old sum of 90p, and I can tell you - it ain't half bad. 

2. Weigh out 185g of unsalted butter and - for want of a nicer word - mash it into the chocolate. As you can see it looks really quite unattractive, but have patience my friend. Pop it into a microwave for 2 minutes until it's transformed into a tasty chocolately sauce. Forget all about it for a while. 

3. Now is the time to put the oven on at 160 c and line a baking tray with foil. Weigh out 85g and 40g of flour and cocoa powder, respectively. Sieve it like nobodies business, as skillfully demonstrated by an excitable Jess. 

4. Now, chop up 50g each of milk and white chocolate into precise little squares. Alternatively, you could always just snap them in half if you're feeling lazy.. that's what we did, and it turned out just dandy. 

5. Crack three eggs into a mixing bowl, making sure to fish out any inevitable chunks of shell. That would be something of an unwelcome addition to your debut bite of brownie. 

6. Throw in 275g of caster sugar with your eggs, and set an electric whisk to the mixture until it's thick 'n' creamy, much like a milkshake. Make sure you keep swapping hands or have someone else to burden with the task, because it takes forever (well... about 8 minutes). 

7. By now, your chocolate and butter mix will have cooled down sufficiently, so you can begin the arduous process of 'folding' it into the eggs and sugar. The aim of the game is to slowly blend it together without getting too much air in the mixture. As you can see, it starts to looking pretty delicious round about now. 

8. Once it's all thoroughly mixed, it's time to add in your previously sieved flour and cocoa. Actually, you may as well sieve it again, for good measure. Fold this in the same way, until it looks pleasingly like actual cake mixture. 

9. Sprinkle in the chopped chocolate chunks, rejoicing in the fact that you may now eat the remaining chocolate, at long last! Stir furiously, then spatula the mixture into the lined baking tray. Pop it into the eagerly awaiting oven. 

10. Now you must face the longest 25 minutes of your life. Read trashy magazines, do a bit of Facebook noseying, whatever you like - anything to distract you from the chocolatey fumes wafting in from the kitchen. 

11. When those agonizing 25 minutes are up, it's time to seize it from the oven. Give it a little jiggle, because if the centre wobbles, it needs a few more minutes (sorry). If it stays firm like Beyonce's thighs, you're good to go. Well, almost, there's still the small matter of letting it cool down until it's not at a mouth-burning degree. Oh, and it should also be covered, curiously,  with what seems to be delicious brown paper. Give it 15 minutes and it's all yours...