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Taking Time to Live Well
Photography by Jonathan Cherry
We could hardly stop tapping our feet after we finished reading all about the swing dancers in our December issue. So we’ve put together a playlist of songs that are great to swing dance to.
You can listen to our Swing Dance List here on Spotify, and meet the dancers from page 76 of the December issue, which is on sale now.
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Photography by Jonathan Cherry
If you like the idea of longboard skating but fancy something a little more elegant than laser flips and pops, you could learn to dance on your longboard.
There are lots of steps and routines you can incorporate into longboard skating but if you’re new to it the one step you need to know is the cross-step. It’s a basic piece of footwork that you can then add steps and moves into and use it to link sequences. Here’s how you do it.
Choose a flat, smooth piece of ground. Start with your feet wide apart in a normal skating position, and start skating to pick up a bit of speed.
Move your front foot back towards the end of the board next to your back foot, taking your weight to the back of the board, and using your arms for balance.
Move your back foot slowly around your front foot, up the board, so your back foot becomes your front foot.
Shift your weight onto your ‘new front foot’ and then smoothly swing your ‘new back foot’ around it up to the nose of the board.
Enjoy looking cool, skating at the front of the board.
Do the same in reverse until you’re back at the back of the board.
Max out the car park and feel pretty rad with your gnarly new dance steps.
Who says you can’t be a skate longboarder? In our October issue’s Modern Eccentics feature, Julian Owen met a group of women from Bristol Girls Longboard. Jonathan Cherry took the photos and did the Ollies. You can read all about them from page 76.
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Photography: Jonathan Cherry
If you’ve ever sprawled on the grass, looking up at the sky and marvelled at the undulating shapes of the clouds, this gardening trend might be for you. The Japanese art of Niwaki or ‘Cloud Pruning’ is all about pruning trees and shrubs into the shapes of clouds.
Niwaki literally translates to ‘garden tree’ and Cloud Pruning is all about showing off the ‘true essence’ of the tree. Cloud Pruned trees look a bit like bonsai; the only difference is not size, but the fact that bonsai trees are grown in pots and Niwaki trees directly in the ground.
How to start Cloud Pruning
Select your plant. Evergreens are best; perhaps a box, pine or Japanese privet.
Plan your secateur attack. With privet, box and other hedges, prune into curved, fluffy cloud shapes from their usual ‘box’ shape. With trees, you might like to ‘clear’ some branches of leaves and twigs close to the trunk so that the ‘leafed’ parts appear to float like clouds.
Use secateurs to trim the outside of a bush or shrub, and a pruning saw for thicker branches on a tree. Try to take out branches close to each other to allow the silhouette of the branches you leave to shine out a bit.
You can use weights and stakes to encourage the branches to grow in a particular direction.
Prune once or twice a year to slowly form the shape you want.
For more on Cloud Pruning, you could read Niwaki: Pruning, Training and Shaping Trees the Japanese Way by Jake Hobson.
If you’d like to know more about general topiary, turn to page 84 of our July issue, in which Julian Owen meets some practitioners of the art, in our Modern Eccentrics series. Buy this month's The Simple Things - buy, download or subscribe
Photography: Jonathan Cherry
Inspired by our visit to a cat cafe in our January issue, please meet five of our favourite cats from Modern History
Larry
Role: Downing Street, chief Mouser
Best known for: Smirking in the foreground at the scene of various PMs’ demises and lounging in a louche manner on the doorstep of number 10.
Macak
Role: Inventor of the Hybrid Car
Best known for: Inspiring the electric car. Well, kind of… The story goes that as a boy Nicholas Tesla stroked his cat Macak’s back and saw sparks of static flying, which inspired his lifelong fascination with electricity and, by association, the hybrid car, years later when Elon Musk took up the Electricity Pioneer baton. What a cat!
Snowball
Role: Muse to Ernest Hemingway
Best known for: Having six toes. Snowball was given to Hemingway in the 1930s by a sea captain, and began the author’s love of polydactyl cats. Hemingway collected six-toed cats thereafter and many of Snowball’s ancestors still roam the grounds of Hemingway’s home in Key West.
Felicette
Role: Astronaut
Best known for: Being the first cat in space (and the only one to have survived). Felicette beat 13 other unlucky cats to her place in the mission thanks to her unruffled disposition. One small step for man… four tiny paws for felinekind.
Ollie the Polite Cat
Role: Being Polite
Best known for: Being the star of the 2018 viral meme ‘polite cat’ with his very polite (and quite possibly Photoshopped) smile. We’d probe further but it just wouldn’t be polite. Follow him on Instagram at @Polite_Cat_Olli_Official.
If you’d like to meet some more fabulous cats, don’t miss our Modern Eccentrics feature in which we visit a cat cafe, in the January issue, which is on sale now.
It’s all in the name where Roller Derby is concerned. Here we have collected together some of our favourite team and player names. Warning: this blog is pun heavy
If you aren’t familiar with Roller Derby you can read all about it in our June issue, where we meet some Roller Derby women in our regular Modern Eccentrics feature. It’s a whole new world, is Roller Derby, with its own rules and culture. Basically, it’s a contact sport on wheels, played on a flat oval track. During each ‘jam’, each team fields four blockers and, behind them, one jammer. The jammer scores a point for each blocker they lap from the opposing team. It’s masses of fun. And massively brutal.
Possibly our favourite thing about Roller Derby, however, is the amazing name that both the players and the teams give themselves. To give you an idea, we’ve collated lists of our favourites here.
The best team names are feminine, funny and fierce. Bonus points if they reference the game. Here are a few we admire:
Women of Mass Destruction
Spawn of Skatin’
Blockwork Orange
Belles of the Brawl
Grim Derby Scarytales
Split Lip Sallies
Heels ‘n’ Wheels’
Polly Wanna Smack Her
Shevil Knevils
Sweatie Betties
Here’s where you can get really creative. Take a famous or literary name, and jazz it up, Roller Derby style, with a lot of pun, a bit of literature, and a lot more fearsome adjectives…
Audrey Deathburn
Pippi Longstompings
Alice in Wounderland
Pain Eyre
Hermione Danger
Sylvia Wrath
Agatha Crushdie
Wilma Shakesfear
Tess of the Derby Wheels
Jabba The Butt
If you’re inspired to learn more, the Roller Derby feature starts on page 60 of the June issue. And we’d love to hear your ideas for Roller Derby names. Send us yours in the comments!
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Photography: Jonathan Cherry
Fetch the dressing-up trunk; we’ve found a solid reason for grown-ups to get in on the fun
If you’ve ever been intrigued by Steampunk style, or simply passed someone on the street looking like they’ve wandered out of the 19th century, via a branch of Ann Summers and an RAF outfitters, and wondered what it was all about, here’s a brief explanation: Steampunk is a style, a lifestyle and a philosophy described as ‘a sub genre of science fiction and fantasy that incorporates technology and aesthetic design inspired by 19th century industrial steam powered machinery’. It’s a bit of a hybrid genre, however, and often also incorporates elements of the Gothic, Wild West and more.
In more layman’s terms, it’s dressing up in fabulous costume, adding technological accessories and having a jolly nice time enjoying all the best aspects of Victoriana and indulging in some hearty afternoon teas, to boot.
In our February issue, we meet some Steampunks, in our Modern Eccentrics series, but if you’re keen to get in on the Steampunky action before that (we know we were) there’s nothing to stop you gathering together a Steampunk dressing-up box at home. You could hold your own Steampunk afternoon tea knowing at least that no one is going to surprise you with a visit, or look forward to surprising the postman or supermarket delivery driver if you’re feeling almost ready to take your new look out to the world.
Here’s a guide on how to dress like a Steampunk
Choose your theme. Your basic Steampunk look is Victorian with a steam-powered twist, but within that are various sub genres. Some of the popular looks are Gothic, military, aviator, adventurer, explorer and pirate (we told you it was all jolly good fun, didn’t we?) but you can choose your own and give your costume your own twist, related to your own career, hobbies or heritage.
Source a top with a strong Victorian style, but a bit of glamour too. A corset is ideal. Clearly stepping out in just a corset would have given Queen Vic herself an attack of the vapours, but that’s the fun of Steampunk; it takes the bits of Victorian style that are fun and leaves the judgement back in the 1870s. A laced-up corset that would look at home in a bodice-ripper novel is ideal, but if you feel more comfortable in something a bit less risque, look for blouses with big sleeves, and anything wreathed in lace.
Hunt out tiered and gathered skirts that show a little leg, or trousers with a lot of attitude. Leather is very much encouraged but skirts with multiple layers and lengths are also de rigeur. It can get a bit hot under all those layers and leather so skirts are often gathered higher at the front to let a little air in.
Rediscover your waist with a cinch and add a bustle. Steampunk is all about the exaggerated silhouette. And while the cinch may slightly hinder your efforts at putting away cake and cucumber sandwiches, there’s plenty of room under that big skirt for seconds.
Boot up with something sturdy. Long leather boots are ideal but an old pair of DMs paired with fancy tights works equally well. ‘Hardy’ and ‘a fine turn of ankle’ are your watchwords.
Adorn your shoulders with a faux fur stole, or a bolero, or a nice tweed jacket... whatever you like. You will never be cold as a Steampunk, even standing in front of dark satanic mills in February, trying to get a good selfie.
Here’s where it gets even more fun: add lots of cogs, gears and general ‘industrial’ paraphernalia. You can go mad with brass buttons that look like nuts and bolts, earrings and necklaces made of cogs and heavy chains to adorn your jacket. As long as you look like you might chug instead of breathe, you’ve done well.
Add some lace into the mix. Lace is a bit of a must for Steampunks; definitely essential for the Gothic style but frankly it looks just as good if you’re going for a pirate look. Even the most intrepid Steampunk aviator’s style is improved by the softening effect of a little lace at the neck.
Pop some specs on; the tiny little round ones are best, but anything that gives you an air of Miss Marplesque curiosity is what you’re going for. You don’t even have to have them on your nose; simply perch on your head, pop in a top jacket pocket or wear them on a chain around your neck.
Accessorise with some time pieces: as many as you like. Clocks are a big part of the Steampunk look. You can go for a beautiful pocket watch pinned to your person, or just a nod to it with some tights or a tattoo that references the inner workings of clocks. Or go all out and drape them everywhere. You’re aiming for a look that is somewhere between legendary clock-wearing rapper Flavor Flav and The White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland.
Pin some medals on yourself. In Steampunk circles we are told many people wear crosses and stars to celebrate their victories. What victories these are, we aren’t certain. Perhaps getting into those corsets or lacing up those boots? Who knows. Either way, if you’ve ever yearned to be decorated, now’s your chance: make free with the medals, get sewing them on your jacket and feel heroic.
Invest in a pair of flying goggles. We wouldn’t say they’re a <must> for a Steampunk but they do help in adding that ‘adventurey’ look you want and they’re just the best bit. Being a Steampunk without goggles is a bit like going to a fancy dress party as Dracula without the teeth. They’re historically significant due to the Victorian need for cinder goggles when riding on the newly expanded railways and later for driving, with the advent of the motor car. And stylistically, well, a Steampunk might need them for any eventuality: to throw on when jumping in the cockpit of one’s bi-plane, for protecting one’s eyes during a pirate battle or in a mad scientist’s laboratory, or simply as protection against generic ‘industrial steam’. One can never be too careful. Also, they look really, really cool.
Get an airship. Because why wouldn’t you want an airship?
Meet some Steampunks in our February issue, out now.
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Photography: Jonathan Cherry
Psssst! Considering moonlighting as a guerilla knitter? Over here… We’ll sort you out
We met some rather marvellous yarn bombers for our ‘Modern Eccentrics’ pages in our November issue. The women in question have been yarn bombing their home town of Dorking in Surrey with colour and style for several years. You can read all about them from page 76.
Yarn bombers (aka guerilla knitters) use their craft to make political points, raise money or awareness for charities and sometimes just to make people smile or think. If you’re inspired to do some yarn bombing of your own, you’ll need a few bits and bobs to get you going.
Here’s a guide to what you need for your Yarn Bombing Toolkit before you head out under cover of darkness with your knitting.
The permission of the owner/local council (and in lieu of that, the cheek of the devil and a winning smile should the police arrive).
A head torch so you can shine a light on your work hands free.
Sturdy, waterproof shoes (you never know what you may have to climb on or through). Also hand wipes, as you never know what you may inadvertently put your palms in either.
A raincoat in case of showers.
A hat to keep you warm (and to pull down to hide if your neighbours drive past).
A floral silk scarf or knitted corsage to give off the impression of being a mild-mannered woman who’s vanishingly unlikely to interest the long arm of the law.
A small first aid kit, just in case.
Your knitted ‘installation’.
A map of the local area so you know where you’re going and can beat a hasty retreat if that seems best.
Spare yarn and a large needle for stitching your piece in place.
Wire and garden ties (like you’d use for tying back in the garden).
A good pair of scissors and a pen knife (if you’ve never used that thing for getting stones out of horses’ hooves, now may be its time to shine).
A camera to take some shots of your finished work.
A strong sense of mischief.
A Thermos of tea to warm you up and toast your hard work afterwards.
A fulsome apology and some nice biscuits to offer if you should happen to be asked to move on.
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We celebrate slowing down, enjoying what you have, making the most of where you live, enjoying the company of of friends and family, and feeding them well. We like to grow some of our own vegetables, visit local markets, rummage for vintage finds, and decorate our home with the plunder. We love being outdoors and enjoy the satisfaction that comes with a job well done.
