It Came from the Office

I'm super excited about Cemetery Junction, the latest film from Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, the super-sly Englishmen who gave us this little gem a few years ago. I might have been an even bigger fan of their sophomore effort, Extras, even though it didn't make much of a mark here on our soils.

Anyway, the Gervais/Merchant team has been laying low lately (at least in terms of writing; Ricky Gervais has starred in some questionable movies lately, but for that we shall just have to forgive him), so this film has been all the more anticipated by Brit-Com fans (like me!). Here is a newly-released poster for the film:

 

The film's plot - a coming-of-age story set in the 1970s in a somewhat dreary English town, told through the eyes of a group dissafected yet hip youth - sounds admittedly vanilla. But given the writing team and the descriptions critics have given it thus far (aka the Office meets Mad Men, ZOMG), I'll be eagerly waiting for its release here across the pond.

And because embedded HTML is so hawt right now, trailer:

Riddle me this

Normally I'm a huge fan of Scandinavian fashion, but sometimes it's over my head. Like, miles above it. For instance, when I visited Norway two years ago, I was so so overjoyed to see many of the populace sporting the stylishly resilient & gender-neutral combo of skinny jeans+black bomber jacket+boots+keffya (or some variation of the sort). But then I began to notice that nearly everyone (9 of 10 people, no kidding) were indeed wearing almost exactly the same thing. It was a fashion homogeneity I had never seen before, and it would have almost been unsettling were it not for the gorgeousity-fest that is the Norwegian peoples.
 More recently though, I can't wrap my head around why singer Robyn is considered to be one of Sweden's top fashion icons of the moment. To wit:

I'm finding it hard to put my confoundedness into words. So I'm going to call on my favorite hawt mess to sum up my feelings:

Seriously. What am  I missing here?

In My Ears//2009

Here is a list of the 16 European albums I listened to the most in 2009 in no special order (along with the country of origin, woohoo). Looking at this list makes me realize that my selections were pretty homogenous; I listened to a lot of female vocal-backed, dancey, poppy artists. On the flip side, I was also drawn to some minimalist, almost-folksy tunes. All in all, feel-good stuff. I think it reflected the sentiment of the past twelve months; it was a year of change, growth, challenges, travel, and lots of food. It was all rather lovely (albeit sometimes difficult).

Also, I noticed that with the exception of France's Phoenix, I stuck with either straight-up English bands or Scandinavian ones. So in 2010, gotta brach out some, yes yes.

Hands//Little Boots

England, United Kingdom

Stand out tracks: Earthquake, Click, & Remedy

Junior//Röyksopp

Norway

Stand out tracks: Vision One, Girl and the Robot, This Must be It, Tricky Tricky

Wild Young Hearts//The Noisettes

England, United Kingdom

Stand out tracks: Don't Upset the Rhythm (Go Baby Go), Beat of my Heart, Atticus

Alas, I Cannot Swim//Laura Marling

England, United Kingdom

Stand out tracks: Tap at My Window, Crawled out of the Sea, Night Terror

Twenty One//The Mystery Jets

England, United Kingdom

Stand out tracks: Flakes, Young Love, Veiled on Grey

Don't Stop//Annie

Norway

Stand out tracks: Songs Remind me of You, Bad Times, Hey Annie

First Days of Spring//Noah and the Whale

England, United Kingdom

 Stand out tracks: My Broken Heart, Our Window, Stranger 

Fever Ray//Fever Ray

Sweden

Stand out tracks: If I had a Heart, Seven, When I Grow Up

Lungs//Florence and the Machine

England, United Kingdom

Stand out tracks: Lungs, Dog Days are Over, Rabbit Heart

Wolfgang Amadeus//Phoenix

France

Stand out tracks: Fences, Armistice, 1901

Crossing the Rubicon//The Sounds

Sweden

Stand out tracks: My Lover, Midnight Sun, No One Sleeps When I'm Awake

Wall of Arms//The Maccabees

England, United Kingdom

Stand out tracks: Love you Better, Kiss and Resolve

A Brief History of Love//The Big Pink

England, United Kingdom

Stand out tracks: Too Young to Love, Velvet, At War with the Sun

The Beat is... // Alphabeat

Denmark

Stand out tracks: The Spell, Always Up With You,  DJ

In and Out of Control//The Raveonettes
Denmark
Stand out tracks: Suicide, Breaking into Cars, Boys Who Rape (Should All Be Destroyed)

Rex the Dog Show//Rex the Dog
England, United Kingdom
Stand out tracks: Frequency, Bubblicious, Heartbeat by the Knife Remix

Ford Feast

                              

My BFF and I have been wanting to see the British flick  "A Single Man" for some time now, and finally decided to make a date for it this afternoon. There has already been a lot of buzz around this movie due to the extremely stylized and visually fascinating way in which it was shot and because it is fashion guru Tom Ford's directoral debut. Also, the set design was done by the same folks who design for Mad Men, one of my favorite shows of the moment. The film set in the 1960s and tells the story of a gay British professor in L.A. dealing with the death of his partner and other life maladies. The movie is based on the 1964 novel of the same name by Christoper Isherwood. Paint me excited!

Also, the movie is full of hawt Euro manz, including that dude on the far right: 

Oh haaaay Lovar of the week, Matthew Goode! How fortuitous that you are in a movie I am going to see this week.

Anyway, trailer here; brief review on film later:

    

Baby, it's Monday again

It's Monday morning, and I'm sitting in bed with a stubborn cough that just won't seem to go away, and I can't stop thinking about what I would look like if I got a hair cut like Tilda Swinton in the latest Pringle of Scotland campaign:


I've really been into the bleached blonde look lately, esp. since I saw a photo essay on Pixie Geldof in the July 2008 issue of Tatler. A couple of months ago, I got the blond down but didn't take the daring extra step of getting a crazy 'do to go along with it. Good 'ol Tilda makes androgyny look so regal, it makes me want to take some shears to my head STAT.

Since we are sort of on the subject of Pringle of Scotland, they recently unveiled their pre-fall 2010 line. I'm a huge fan of their Highlands-meets-couture style, and just seeing their new line makes me jubilant in the anticipation of a trip to Edinburg/Galloway this summer. Anyway, you can view the entire line at their website, but here are my favs:




I esp. love the shoes on the last one, ZOMG (even though they don't seem particularly practical for a jaunt into the highlands).

Bistro cakes and sugar flakes

One my favorite ways to waste time during the day on the weekend is to find a yummy brunch spot and just lounge around. Although Austin doesn't have row after row of quaint pedestrian streets lined with cutesy cafes run by culinarily-gifted locals, we do have several lovely food carts that have just as much variety and homegrown flavors. The latest addition to our food cart scene is La Boite Cafe on South Lamar. Housed in a cart that seems to have been inspired by the Scandinavian minimalist aesthetic, it offers European bistro-style eats including brioche au chocolat, French press coffee, and pastries baked fresh daily.
I def. hope to spend some time there this weekend.

Lovar of the week

Happy Friday! To usher in the weekend, I present to you the first of my series of "Lovar of the week." I'd be lying through my teeth if I said my love for European things does not extend to the menfolks. It does, it does, oh my it does. A cheeseburger is a cheeseburger unless it was handed to you by a gentleman gifted with a regal old-worldly British or romantic French or even a slightly stoic Scandinavian accent. In which case, it becomes a zexy cultural artifact that a fascinating gent just bestowed upon you.
(In fact, the name of this blog, Accent Goggles, refers to the term a friend of mine gave to coolness factor of culture, places and men being elevated based on their being international in origin. We all know this to be true to some degree ;))

Anyway, my first lovar of the week is British dude Matthew Goode. I first saw him about a year ago, lookin' all good 'n posh in the remake of Evelyn Waugh's novel Brideshead Revisited. I saw him again recently in a terrible TERRIBLE sappy rom-com called "Leap Year," that was full of plot-holes and insults to the intelligence. However, I can almost guarantee ridiculous repeat viewings based solely on the gorgeous Irish country scenery and of course Matthew Goode's lovely mug. Then literally the next day, I saw him yet again (much to my pleasant surprise) using a Yank accent to do evil things as Ozymandias in "The Watchmen." After watching these three films, at least I know this dude can act.

I could of course also be partial to Mr. Goode (above and right below) due to the resemblance he bears to my absolute bestest guy friend (second photo, below):





Either way, hawtness abound. Mkay, time for free margs and Mexican food to kick off the weekend properly!

Year that was - Part Uno

Like clockwork, we are bombarded by 'top ten' or 'top 25' or similarly titled lists when a year wraps up. In that spirit, I want to chronicle the five European films that I really enjoyed this past year, followed by a wishlist of ten that I want to see in 2010 (get it? List of 10 in 2010? I'm so clever, harhar). I only have European 5 films from 2009 because many of them were never released in theaters domestically, and have yet to be released on DVD. Plus, I did see a good many widely-known European flicks such as "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince" and "Sherlock Holmes," but given their accessibility, those hardly warrant mention.

1. In the Loop
I'm listing this one first for many reasons; it was absolutely the funniest film I have seen in a long time. The mockumentary format in which it was shot took the subject manner (spoof of Anglo-American politicos) and transformed it into a witty and sometimes shocking play-by-play of the days leading up to an international invasion. As seen through the eyes of director Armando Iannucci, anyway. Also, the re-quoteability index is ridiculously high. Check out the trailer:

2. Harry Brown
I love Sir Michael Cane. Especially when he is a gun-yielding, hard-talking vigilante justice bad ass, as he is in this film. This film is violent, yes, but still a good look at urban youth culture gone somewhat awry in Northern Ireland.



3. London River
A beautiful cinematic piece showing how in a time of terror and sorrow, religion is often just an after thought. Perhaps because of my own background, this movie really struck a cord. I hope and wish that a similar film will be made soon that covers similar subject matter in the aftermath of 9/11.
Sidenote, I've always been a fan of Brenda Blethyn, and she really nails it in this one.



4. Is Anybody There?

Lovely English scenery + Michael Caine again + coming-of-age tale = me like. Corny, but it still pulls at my heart strings.



5. Tomorrow at Dawn (Demain dès l'aube)

This was particularly hard to get a hold of but it was worth it. Being that I do posses some of the largest accent goggles ever, even though I couldn't seem to understand what was going on perfectly, I would watch this movie over and over again. The scenery is lovely and the overall message was resounding. Plus, eye candy! Yeah!



Wishlist of 'Ten to see in 2010' coming soooooon.

New Year, New Blog

I re-read this dessert blog the other day, and it made me realize just how much I miss blogging. However, I decided that if I was going to get back into blogging, it had to be for something more than just sweets. It had to be for something that excited me in more than just a gastronomical capacity. Furthermore, it had to be on a subject that I would write about just enough so that when I looked back at this blog several years from now, I would be able to get some insight into something (or rather a place, or even an idea) that really inspired me. Even if I am the only one who ever reads it.

So, in the coming weeks I am going to re-vamp this blog, and write on a topic that has been of remarkable interest to me since before the Spice Girls made their mark on cultural relevancy. That is, random European things that make me happy or incite my curiosity. This could be music, film, fashion, architecture, places, people, so many things! Blogging about these things will also help alleviate the restlessness that I am sure to have until I inevitably return to my beloved destination for the summer.

The possibilities excite me! In the mean time, here is a photo I took at the Berlin wall last summer. My favorite, to be exact.

Honest to Goodness

After about two and a half months of gross negligence, I am back with many stories to share regarding my sweet consumptions of late. However, I should throw the disclaimer out there that my latest adventures took place on foreign soils and therefore don't do justice to the name of this blog. Thus, I'd like to ask that we all briefly, in our mind grapes, refer to the blog as 'Nishi Eating Things.' Or something equally ridiculous that captures the essence of ... well, me eating things.
By the way, part of negligence of late was due to the fact that my sweet consumption had indeed plummeted leading up to my 18-day European adventure. But more on that later.