Yes, we're on the Twin Peaks bandwagon here at RR headquarters. We have about 7 episodes until we're done the series (no!) and I just love the style going on. In fact, at the antique show in Olds when Bee and I met up with Cee & Krista, some vendor told us we looked like we were from Twin Peaks. I'll take that as a compliment.

All of the photos in this post are from In Twin Peaks - absolutely THE BEST screen cap website I have ever been on. I've tried not to include any photos that may have spoilers, in case you too are experiencing Twin Peaks for the first time.

I must say, Audrey Horn is my favourite character. And Cooper! And they're both so stylish.

My favourite A&C scene. Love the flannel and her whole outfit. I want her wardrobe.

Garters on men are not AS sexy as on women, but still. Humminah humminah

Great coat!

Love her waves, very subtle.

The outfit that goes with the above hair photo. Peplum!

Cute shoes!

Civil War re-enactment

I WANT HER HAIR.

I love the R&R diner uniforms too

Love Nadine's shorts

I bought a very similar-styled rust coloured dress this weekend. Stay tuned for photos...

Great hat!

Donna also has great hair. Love the blue sweater too.

The latest period drama that you should be watching is Global's new mini-series Bomb Girls.
Set during WWII (but before Pearl Harbor), the show chronicles the lives of the workers at Victory Munitions in Toronto, their struggle for equal treatment in the workplace and what it was like living during the war.

Marco, Kate, Lorna, Betty, Gladys. Photo found via Google

I'll admit, I had some low expectations for the series. "Another Mad Men imitation attempt," was the first thing that popped into my head. Well, so far the first two episodes have surprised me - I hope that it can gain momentum and grow into a full-fledged series, maybe even with a second season.

The Pros:
This is a show with some beautiful dresses! According to a short on the Bomb Girls website (which is amazing and full of great extras, I recommend checking it out). I especially love Kate's blue dress here:

From The National Post

Bomb Girls is a Canadian show! There is very little programming filmed and produced in Canada, so to have a show like this in my country gives me hope to the entertainment industry. The show has also featured some Canadian music, including my favourite gal Alex Pangman as well as Canadian retro songstress Jill Barber.

I also feel like there is a lot of diverse characters: the rich girl, the tormented runaway, the Saskatchawanian-lesbian, the super hot Italian - the actors and characters, for the most part, all have great chemistry. The story could go anywhere from here.



The Cons:
I must admit, the acting in pretty forced in parts. When Gladys tells James that she wants to be a bomb girl, it was almost painful to watch. Speaking of painful to watch, I am going to get a ulcer from this show. Maybe it's just because I am a giant baby but I sit there and freak out the whole time I'm watching it, waiting for somebody to blow up!

In short, I give Bomb Girls a 4/5, but there are still four episodes left before its finale. Who knows what will happen. Have you watched it yet (if not, visit their website - the episodes stream online starting from the day after its air date)? What are your thoughts?

XO Laurie

Welcome to another Edition of Mad Melodies. This round features all Canadian artists with amazing cover songs that I just had to share. First up:

Credit: GoodLovelies.com

I'm falling in love with the Good Lovelies, who I found because they are coming to Camrose Nov 11. An all-girl group that sings close-harmony swing style coming on Remembrance Day? How perfect is that? (if anyone in Camrose/Edmonton is interested in going, let me know!)
I found their cover of K'os Crabbuckit on Youtube and fell hard.

Credit: Google Images

 Jaymz Bee is another cover artist I adore. A little bit like Richard Cheese, Jaymz Bee and his Royal Jelly Orchestra (also Canadian) covers modern tunes in a swinging 60's style. He's hard to track down online, but I have one album (Cocktail: Shakin' and Stirred, 1997) thanks to a former prof and one off iTunes (Seriously Happy, 2004), which has lots of swing standards like Sing, Sing, Sing and Got The World On A String. I am hunting high and low for the Christmas album, so if anyone has any leads on it, let me know! Their cover of Alanis Morrisette's You Oughta Know is the only video on Youtube (below) and it's not great quality, but the audio of their cover of Safety Dance (one of my personal favourites) is here.

Credit: AlexPangman.com

 Alex Pangman is another fabulous Canadian Jazz artist. She's had a lung transplant due to cystic fibrosis and is back on her feet belting out 1930s jazz standards. I heard about her on CKUA's Facebook page and had to buy her album  ASAP. Her latest album is 33 to celebrate turning 33 and it's all songs from 1933. How awesome is that?  Here's a video of a few of her songs from the album launch (LOVE the dress.)



What are your favourite cover songs or artists? I have a whole lot more that I will share soon (perhaps an entire post on Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, hmm?)

Hello, I'm back! Sorry for the unscheduled hiatus, I had a bit of off-line catching up to do for work and household and whatnot. But now I'm back and with a review of The Supersizers Go.

I know this first aired in 2008 but with the Internet and YouTube it doesn't really matter, we can watch it now. My friend Ryan passed The Supersizers Go onto me and G and last night we watched the first episode.

The premise of the show is a food critic and comedian live a week in the diet of a certain era, playing the part with complete wardrobe and home makeovers. Before they embark on the diet they go to a high-end medical centre and get their fitness and health levels tested to see how fit they are before and after the diet.




I was really excited for the first episode, Wartime, because I'm trying to learn more about what life was like in WWII with rationing and other restrictions. While I learned a lot from this episode, I have to say the hosts lacked respect for the era. I understand that it's supposed to be funny, but seeing them mock the clothing made my heart hurt just a little. Maybe they were trying to lighten up such a dark time in history but I just didn't like their approach.

It's definitely worth a watch as I learned tonnes. I liked seeing the creativity of home cooks in their recipes and loved the fact that vegetables weren't rationed at the time, meaning you could have all the greens one would want. As someone who's not a big fan of bread(!) I wouldn't have minded giving it up, but I would have missed coffee something terrible. A great resource to learn more about Victory Gardens and rationing is The Home Sweet Home Front.

I'll continue watching this first series and probably will delve into their next series The Supersizers Eat as they have an episode on the 1920s.