Saturday, June 12, 2010

Double BitchBuzz: Tea and Fairy Tales

Busy week and I'm making good use of it! Two extra columns:

Fox's New Biscuit and Tea Tasting Guide

"I prefer a nice cup of tea to sex." - Boy George
What could need less thought than your tea and biscuit? Kettle on, package open, insert in mouth. Well, Fox's Biscuits wants you to reconsider everything and to get you to approach tea and biscuit combinations as if you were pairing wine with your dinner. I had my doubts, but I have to say I was won over.
Pearl Lowe hosted the tea party to launch Fox's new Biscuit and Tea Tasting guide, adding a touch of her particular style to the event, but it was the surprise appearance of notorious tea lover Boy George that really brought the point home: some people are just fanatical about tea. And why not? There's no indulgence quite as comforting as a big tea party. Add a little Buck Fizz if anyone feels like they're being deprived somehow...

Read more: http://home.bitchbuzz.com/foxs-new-biscuit-and-tea-tasting-guide.html#ixzz0qdBiGCcM

Joan Jonas's "The Juniper Tree" Exhibition

Joan Jonas ignites the resonant power of the fairy tale in her installation The Juniper Tree at the Tate Modern. What is it about the magic of "once upon a time" that seems so well suited to echo the tangled webs of female existence? Whatever it is, Jonas has harvested it for this piece, which memorializes a performance piece she has presented in various forms since its debut at the ICA in Philadelphia back in 1976, although like all her productions, she considers this to be a "work in progress" yet. While a static version of a performance piece may not sound ideal, as Jonas herself puts it, it captures "the shifting nature between performance, memory, and physical presence." Think of it as a 3-D scrapbook...

Read more: http://culture.bitchbuzz.com/joan-jonass-the-juniper-tree-exhibition.html#ixzz0qdBvG2QG

Check the two pieces out and be sure to retweet or post on Facebook if you want to help share them. The Jonas installation has inspired an idea for a play which I'm pecking away at while I work on ten other things (as usual). And no, Robert -- she's not related to the Jonas Brothers as far as I know.

Yesterday went to the new exhibit at the Saatchi Gallery, but I found it rather disappointing and uninspired. The only pieces I liked much were paintings by Sigrid Holmwood and Ged Quinn. I was hoping for more.

Off to the wild west today (Hanwell, that is). Fun!

9 comments:

Todd Mason said...

Glad to see that you're becoming their Roving Correspondent.

Joe De Vito the bespectacled comedian, rather than Joe De Vito the "R and G Rated Hypnosis" comedian, ran the tie-game, how boring Is soccer line past us last night in the course of emceeing the Jackie Kashian/Maria Bamford show...me, I like a sport where ties are possible.

Todd Mason said...

Well, the risk to reward ratio in tea is somewhat different than that of sex, but that doesn't make it universally preferable...

--Man Todd (tea so rarely moans gratifyingly) [obvious references warm liquids and "just a squirt here, just a drizzle there"--because of course We All Know that distaff ejaculation is a myth, koff Sure it is, Sigmund, you keep telling yourself that koff--are deemed too R rated for today's performance].

Joan Rivers has a new autobiographical documentary out that will surely be a mixed bag but probably of more than passing interest to both you and me...I forgot to mention it to Kashian or the somewhat more distracted Bamford last night.

C. Margery Kempe said...

Argh -- apparently there was a tabloid headline in one of the Murdoch papers "1-1, US WINS!" which is insane. I'm of the opinion that sports should be played not watched, but if I have to watch a match, footie is good because there's always something happening, unlike American football which seems to be a lot of standing around and advertisements, occasionally punctuated by 10 seconds of movement.

See you saw Bammers! Did you speak to her? Did you blog this? Guess I better go check your blog.

I'd definitely check out the Rivers bio. Have to sift through the celeb nonsense to the good stuff I imagine, but hey.

My already hefty tea consumption has only risen. There were of course goody bags for the event, so I have a fine selection of teas to choose from.

Anonymous said...

oh,.... JOan JONAS.
Any relationship to the Fab Three?
r

C. Margery Kempe said...

If you had read my post more carefully, you'd see that I already TOLD you she is not related to them at all.

Hope Anna's doing okay!

Anonymous said...

If it's in the Saatchi gallery, I want it.

C. Margery Kempe said...

For most of the current exhibit, I would say you're welcome to it. Not much there to inspire.

Anonymous said...

Are there any blood heads?
r

C. Margery Kempe said...

Nope -- but there is a crowd of people standing in a corner...