Launching People

Photography fascinates me. I have no great skill at it and am still very much a point and click sort of person, despite the fancy(ish) SLR I own, but that doesn't stop me greatly admiring people who can do it properly. Tim Hetherington is a bit of a hero of mine and if you get a chance to watch Restrepo or Which Way Is the Front Line from Here?, I strongly recommend them both.

I went to see Rankin's Alive: In The Face Of Death exhibition at the Walker Art Gallery last year and it blew me away. I suppose he's best known as a fashion photographer which probably explains why I didn't know that much about him before that point - I had a passing knowledge but I don't do fashion magazines so hadn't seen a lot of his more famous images.  His portrait work is so captivating though. The exhibition was, as the name suggests, all about death - people with terminal illnesses (such as Sandra in the photo above), people who had fought off death, people who worked with death every day. It wasn't as depressing as that description would suggest though - I left the room feeling really inspired rather than really gloomy.



That's the man behind the camera. Nice to see him, isn't it? I think photographers can often get overlooked as artists and unless they're massively into self-portraits, you don't often see them on camera themselves.

Samsung are running a Launching People competition which is an amazing opportunity to pick up your camera and work with Rankin as your mentor on a project. If your skill set lies in another creative sphere than photography, there are also chances to work with Gizzi Erskine (food), Idris Elba (film) and Paloma Faith (music). Rather fab bunch of mentors, eh?!



Paloma is so deliciously bonkers. Music really doesn't play that big a part in my life but she's one of the few artists that I listen to a lot. She's a flipping joy to see live - just imagine the fun you'd have hanging around with her in real life!

Alas I don't have enough ability in any of the four disciplines for it to be worth my while entering the competition but I know you readers are a fabulously creative bunch! Why not give it a try? You just need to make a 2 minute video and upload it onto the Launching People site. Deadline isn't until 6th March so you've got plenty of time to get cracking! Check out the video below for a bit more info about it:

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An Alternative Valentine

Valentine's Day: big bag of bollocks.  Am I right?

I fully intend to continue the Odd Socks & Pretty Frocks tradition of scorning hearts and flowers and looking at beautiful people instead.  Join me and feast your eyes on this lot. I know they're mostly actors but this goes to prove my weakness: you shove almost anyone on a big enough screen for long enough and I'll probably think they're fit.

I'll go back to being respectable and non-ogly tomorrow, I promise.

Jai Courtney is new to my notice this year.  Can look a bit like a spud, can look unbelievably fine.

Well hello there Jeremy Renner and your ARMS.

Oh Gene Kelly. Swoon.

Step aside David Boreanz.  T.Y Thyne is my favourite man from Bones.

Excuse me whilst I have a Henry V moment...  Tom Hiddleston and Jamie Parker so close together...

There can't be one of these posts without some Henry Cavill.

Or Jake G.

I'm seriously excited about the prospect of seeing James McAvoy on stage soon. Practically on the front row!

Mark Strong. Cos bald men are sexy too...

Joe Hart.  For a certain someone who loves him.  I personally think he's a Labrador trapped in a human body but what do I know?

My footballer of choice is Danny Agger.  I adore him and all his tattoos.

My ginger of choice is always Damian Lewis. What a joy he is.

I've always had a soft spot for Matt Damon too.

Michael Weatherly. Making NCIS hotter since 2003.

Oh, Clive Owen. You should have been Bond.

Michael Fassbender. So full of testosterone he scares me a little.

I know I shouldn't like Eddie Redmayne (he's a complete skinny wretch) but I'm a sucker for freckles.

Gilmore Girls fans: you know these two are the best, don't you?

I would really love to cuddle Mark Ruffalo. That's all. Nothing saucy. Honest.

And I can't leave out my favourite woman ever. I looked like Drew when I was about 4. Shame it didn't last.

Autumn Holiday

I'm back from my holidays.  Again.  You could be forgiven for thinking that I am always away.  I don't get six months off work a year or anything.  Yes, the holiday allowance is quite generous but I take it as lots of smaller holidays throughout the year instead of one big jaunt to somewhere far away.  Plus I like holiday cottages in this country.  I can cope without sun quite easily - give me somewhere cosy with a log fire, lots of beautiful countryside to walk around and some nearby market towns with good charity shops and I am as happy as a pig in muck.

This time I went to stay in one of the lodges at Calke Abbey, just on the border of Derbyshire and Leicestershire. Mum and Char came for the weekend (see above for them getting up to leaf-kicking larks) and then I spent the rest of the week on my glorious lonesome.

The house is closed at this time of year but I've been before so it wasn't a source of great sadness to me.  If you haven't been, GO. It is the most wonderful place inside and very unlike any other National Trust house you'll see.  It's all preserved in a complete state of 1880's decline with jumble and rubbish everywhere and it's got such an atmosphere.  Even the stable yard (which is open all year round cos it houses the shop and restaurant) is very similar.  Nothing has been tidied up.

I'd also recommend a little wander around Ashby de la Zouch one day. It was pissing it down with rain when I went, which wasn't ideal. But it has a castle and loads of great charity shops, so what more do you want?

Books ahoy! That's a Folio Society copy of Cold Comfort Farm at the bottom, yoicks!

Then I spent the rest of the week reading, watching DVDs and doing a spot of beading. It's my autumn/winter craft of choice.

I did stir from the sofa occasionally, honest I did.  Lots of walking also happened.

The parkland there is quite astonishingly beautiful at this time of year.  I'll leave it to a guidebook to explain all the whys and wherefores of it being a site of special scientific interest but I can tell you how gorgeous it was. Better still, I can show you. Look at the colours!

But look at how lovely the cottage was. I think you can probably understand why I didn't need to go out that much.  

Back to normal life for me now though!

A Break in Belfast

I'm very pleased I decided on Belfast for a mini break.  I got back on Monday night, stuffed full of amazing food and having had a thoroughly lovely time.  Lots of people gave me great tips about things to do and places to go but special mention must to go to Hazel for being full of ideas about wonderful restaurants and especially for tipping me off about St George's Market which I loved.  I was only prevented from spending loads of money by virtue of taking a small hand luggage case with me and having no room to pack anything else into it.

We spent Sunday on a coach tour.  I am sometimes a bit sniffy about coaches but this was ace.  I didn't fancy getting to Giant's Causeway by public transport on a Sunday anyway but this covered loads of other stops - castles and views a plenty!

Yeah, I didn't dare go over the rope bridge.  I'm not scared of heights but I can't cope without a solid surface under my feet.  Stairs with no backs freak the hell out of me too.

Well, Giant's Causeway is a bit good, isn't it?  I must admit, on the approach down to it I was thinking "Pretty scenery and all but hmmm, it doesn't look that amazing"...

Then you get up close and it's all "woah, look at the ROCKS!"  So, um, look at the rocks everyone!  Isn't nature a marvellous thing?

Then you gallivant all over them and it's brilliant.  I was leaping from rock to rock, pretending I was in The Crystal Maze or Knightmare or something, and trying not to fall in the sea.

Everyone was super jolly too - a very nice Portuguese man took this photo.  I should track him down and get him to take all my blog photos!  I actually like it and I never like pictures of me.

Papa Odd Socks (excellent holiday companion that he is) took this one.  It's coming up weirdly out of focus here which it isn't anywhere else, but it does actually show what I'm wearing.

Coat - Very.co.uk
Jumper - Fat Face sale
Jeans - Dorothy Perkins
Boots - H&M
Ancient bag - Oasis
Arm warmers - no idea
Pose - bad idea

I love this jumper.  It's one of the three I bought in Harrogate last week and I really wasn't meant to be buying any of them, but when you're faced with lovely teal and cream stripes and waffly sleeves and general cosy jumperishness, what else can you do?

My Day At The Olympics

I'm still on a complete high after my day at the Olympics.  I don't think I can be coherent about it.  It was astonishing.  From start to finish, just a truly wonderful day.  London was stunning - even more vivid, colourful and exciting than normal.  Everyone was incredibly friendly and happy and helpful.  We were through security in about three minutes flat, the sun shone, I was with my lovely mum and we were watching some of the best sporting action I've ever seen.

My god, was it different to normal though.  Here's the thing.  Eventing is a very polite sport to be a spectator at.  You clap when the horses jump well.  You take a big picnic.  You go for a walk around beautiful countryside. You even bring the dog with you (I don't have a dog, but go with me here).

At Greenwich, it was unlike anything I've ever been to before.  Dogs and picnics weren't allowed.  The park was certainly stunning but it was packed.  So, so many people and because the course was twistier and narrower than normal, there was less room for spectators and so we were all bunched up around the fences. That's not a negative though - it just made it more exciting.  It wasn't polite; it was raucous and nerve-jangling.  Everyone was cheering and whooping and hollering, even for the lesser-known riders. That's what the Olympics are all about.  It was all so close and so thrilling to watch.

No zoom on this picture - I was about two feet away from him.

I was appropriately patriotically-legged.  Wow, did these tights get me noticed.  I don't think I've ever been looked at so much in my life!
 

I am not fessing up to how much my expensive horsey boots cost. Gulp.

The fences were very British and wonderfully designed and built.  Wind in the Willows!  Horses made of horseshoes! Fruit and veg! Cricket! Squirrels aplenty!

Due to the sheer nature of how busy it was, I wasn't able to get quite as up close and photo-happy as usual but here are a few pictures:

Want to see our glorious silver medal winning British team? Of course you do.

Mary King and Imperial Cavalier

 

Nicola Wilson and Opposition Buzz

 

Zara Phillips and High Kingdom

 

Tina Cook and Miners Frolic

 

William Fox-Pitt and Lionheart

I spent the following day on the sofa, biting my nails and watching the showjumping phase.  I am delighted beyond words that we won the team silver medal.  Individual medals weren't to be, but there's nothing to do except applaud Michael Jung and his horse Sam. European champions, World champions and now Olympic champions.  They're an astonishing pair.

I hope you had a chance to see some of it on the tv.  This is one of my favourite things about the Olympics - that sudden opportunity for the lesser known sports to get some tv coverage.  If you liked it, trot on over to British Eventing and see if there are any events taking place near you.  Take a picnic, take the dog (optional, obviously) and have a smashing day out.  If you're NW based you might even see me doing some fence judging!