Movie Monday: Phantom Thread

On Friday evening Greg and I headed over to the Violet Crown to see Phantom Thread, the latest and supposedly last film of the formidable Daniel Day-Lewis. He portrays Reynolds Woodcock, a British couturier in 1950's London with impeccable taste and a rather extreme and demanding temperament. If I were to choose an astrological sign for him Virgo comes to mind with his obsession to detail mixed with a bit of the cardinal signs of Capricorn and Aires who tend toward control. This compulsion for attentions to intricate parts of a whole, intense work ethic and commanding others is inherent in most genius artists who are committed to mastery and a defined aesthetic, Coco Chanel is a great example.

The film is beautifully rich, threaded with symbolic messages which hid themselves at first, presenting themselves on a conscious level as I continued to ponder and savor all the little details carefully stitched throughout—literally and metaphorically.

Film maker and director Paul Thomas Anderson co-wrote and produced this glamour packed, elegant morsel with Daniel-Day, previously the two had collaborated on There Will Be Blood (2007).  Mr. Anderson also undertook the role of "director of photography" which leads one to speculate that he himself contains some of the same eccentric devotions to quality we see in Mr. Woodcock.

The film also stars Vicky Krieps as Alma, his strong willed, young muse and Lesley Manville as Cyril, the very discerning and observant assistant and sister. Both Alma and Cyril have a similar look, which before I knew of the brother/sister relationship, had me speculating that the two red heads may have metaphorically been aspects of the same character. Something else to note is that the word alma means soul in Spanish.

Viscerally compelling from the start where we get a glimpse into Mr. Woodcock as master craftsman in the fashion house of a post war, London master craftsman and his entourage of assistants as they arrive at dawn and put on their uniforms.

The exquisite scrolling, calligraphic title is what captured me instantly in the trailer, followed by the setting of Londons mid century, high glamour fashion world coupled with Daniel Dy-Lewis and Paul Thomas. The haunting soundtrack weaved throughout was composed by Jonny Greenwood.

SPOILER ALERT

Before continuing, I recommend to STOP READING from this point forward so that you can view this cinematic gem in pure ignorance of the spoilers I am about to share.

As we drove out of the parking lot of the theater, Greg shared that he found the film troubling and was left with an uncomfortable feeling. I on the other hand didn't have that impression, in my mind I thought how in a way it was a modern day Taming of the Shrew in reverse. And to be completely honest, can see how in a partnership there are all sorts of issues going on simultaneously as each person makes concessions, or not, for the other—or over time one becomes resentful of the other. Relationships, especially close ones, are extremely complicated, as I am sure you are keenly aware of. To be the wife of a celebrated artist with a healthy ego can be anguish, daunting and constantly work on your own self esteem, it demands you to stand up and be heard, even when the other has no interest in having his shadowy self revealed.

So, where Greg was made uncomfortable, I relish Alma finding her own way of dealing with the bully and bringing him to his knees in an act of equanimity.

Another intriguing aspect that came to mind was how Alma, symbolic of the creative, circular womb, would go out into the forest to harvest mushrooms. I thought about how in many of the old faery tales untamed nature is so often needed to bring restoration to a life out of balance. There is also the concept of the mushrooms acting as a detox.

I'm sure as I continue to contemplate Phantom Thread and see it again and again, more of its inner linings will be revealed.

The Triple Goddess: Crone in Santa Fe

As you may already know, in September, Greg and I moved from Los Angeles, California to the high desert in Santa Fe, New Mexico.  It's been a bit of a wild, Mr. Toad adventure which has presented many challenges and interesting (to say the least) characters (Crazed Tesuque lady) along the way.

A few weeks ago, along the dirt road that leads to our new temporary dwelling, we met a crone that walks with a tall staff. After passing her on the road and waving, Greg and I turned to each other and gasped, “Female Gandalf!”

"In Joseph Campbell's classic work The Hero with a Thousand Faces, the first encounter of the hero on his journey is with a protective figure who provides him with amulets or magic devices against the dangers he will face. The crone is one of the most common of these protective figures"

Then as we returned home, just before making the turn down that same dirt road, I spotted about ten bee hives to the side of a house with a little sign that said "Earth Nurse". I gasped and pointed it out to Greg. We started wondering who the “Earth Nurse” was.  ???
🐝

On another day, heading back from town along that same dusty and bumpy dirt road, we spotted the “Female Gandalf” once again. We choose to stop and say hello, assuming that she might be the "Earth Nurse”, after all she certainly embodied an Earth Nurse by her outward appearance and great staff. Her answer to the question was, “Well, the Earth nurses me.”

Indeed she is the "Earth Nurse" and in my opinion the community crone, a facilitator of balance in our little neighborhood here along the Santa Fe River. As we dialogued I learned that she is hosts many gatherings at her home and planning is to create a "closing" event for the Counter Culture exhibit currently at the New Mexico History Museum. Since the Counter Culture tribe is alive and well, particularly here in Santa Fe...meaning Holy Faith. Perhaps you have heard me mention that Santa Fe is the city of the retired hippie?

Despite the constant challenges, Santa Fe continues to enchant and surprise daily. In many ways she herself is the crone, an ancient city with a very bloody HIStory which may be being healed a bit by the creative presence found here.

Here is a link to the Counter Culture show here in Santa Fe just in case any of you are local or come for a visit in the next few weeks.

(1)  Joseph Campbell, The Hero with a Thousand Faces (orig. pub. Princeton University Press, 1968; 3rd ed. 2008), p. 57.
(2) Fine Art America, the Crone

Chamisa photo along the Santa Fe River and text ©Roxana Villa
I couldn't find attributions for the two pieces of art used in this post, if you happen to know who the artists are please leave it in the comments or send me a note. The second image says Wheel of Life, oil on canvas 1998 (?) with an attribution that is hard to read ©maiana.de perhaps?

Movie Monday: Epic

The 2013 animated film Epic, by Blue Sky Studios, is loosely based on the children's book The Leaf Men and the Brave Good Bugs by William Joyce. Why the marketing department at Fox choose to go with Epic as the title instead of The Leaf Men and the Brave Good Bugs or just plain Leaf Men is difficult to understand. But alas, most marketing decisions are archiac to those of us who dwell in the land of imagination.

Writer/illustrator William Joyce has authored over fifty children's books, received an Academy Award for The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore and three Emmys for Rolie Polie Olie.

Although the Epic film received mixed reviews from the critics, I thought it was absolutely wonderful, crafted with a rare beauty seen in American animation. This little gem, in my opinion does not contain the over stylization of humans and over the top songs, seen in so many animated features these days. The creators did add an annoying pop songsat the end—but at least one can turn the volume down when watching from the luxury of your home or device.

The critics main challenge with this viscerally rich film was that they'd already seen this story, citing Fern Gully and Avatar as examples. I read a few reviews which felt the characters appeared very "plastic-y and doll-like", where as for me they looked so much better than the plasticine-like characters that Disney churns out of their profit driven animation factories.

I was captivated with the depiction of the wee fairy folk in the forest, particularly the leaf men and their arch nemesis, a Boggan named Mandrake. The lighting of the scenes, character textures and costumes, and the fantastical depiction of nature in all her glory, including decay. Perhaps the critics are correct, this is a story that we've heard told over and over again, but humans are dense, slow moving creatures who need to hear things over and over again, particularly when the subtleties of nature are competing various forms of technology and an onslaught of loud, gore driven media.

Movie Monday: Blade Runner 2049

The original Blade Runner is one of my husbands absolute favorite films, he owns every version that has ever been released, including two copies of a few of those. I'm a fan too, but not quite to that extent. My draw to the sequel was mostly curiosity after having seen the trailer and heard the hype amongst our artist friends, along with being a fan of Ridley Scott and Denis Villeneuve. Greg and I both saw the original in the theater back in 1982, it was one of those films like Star Wars and the Matrix that caused a ripple in artistic direction.

"Ryan Gosling plays an LAPD officer heading for an encounter with Harrison Ford’s Deckard in a film whose sheer scale leaves you hyperventilating" ~ The Guardian

Although Santa Fe, New Mexico isn't quite the "movie town" that Los Angeles is, we do have lots of industry people living here which is most likely why we have an awesome new theater called The Violet Crown Cinema located at the Rail Yard, the new arts district.

So, over a week ago now, we purchased our tickets online and headed over to a 10pm showing after making ourselves a delicious meal. Since Santa Fe tends not to be a "late night" we thought the show would be fairly empty, especially since we were the only ones in the theater when we bought our tickets online. To our surprise, by the time the film started the theater was almost filled from teens to the silver hair community like Greg and myself.

Blade Runner 2049 is an extraordinary visual epic, which had me gasping at rich hued landscapes, in fact I had a hard time keeping my convulsive utterances silent. The set design, use of color, sound and music push this lucid dreamscape into new boundaries of cinematic excellence. Even the opening scene with the Columbia picture logo suggests you are entering something visionary in film history.

The story begins thirty years after the first film in wasteland Los Angeles with Ryan Gosling and his very cool futuristic car. Gosling is an LAPD officer named "KD6.3-7" hunting first generation replicants. As I write this it occurs to me that this film , like the first, is going to be more for men than women Although not quite as patriarchal as the first Blade Runner, this futuristic dystopia is very male driven, despite several strong female characters like Lieutenant Joshi played by Robin Wright. My favorite scene is with a female character we encounter working with an insect in what appears to be a tropical forest, this is the only scene with nature and offers some hope due to her very creative power of imagination.

It's pretty amazing to conceive that the first film was based on the simple short story "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Phillip K. Dick. Hmmm, could the middle initial in Phillips name be a reference to our protagonist?

Ryan Goslings character K is subjected to a “Post-Trauma Baseline Test” each time he returns from a mission where he responds to specific key words. The test contains a verse from Nabokov's novel "Pale Fire", a nice little piece thrown in to compound the mystery and captivate book nerds.

I couldn't help but remember of Somni-415 of Cloud Atlas throughout this majestic journey into a surreal nightmare that suggests humans and their need for greed and technology have led is down a very dark future. I didn't have a problem with the length of the film, 152 minutes, in fact I was thrilled that the eye candy continued for as long as it did and delighted in the slow pace of the journey.

What fragrances shall we associate with the dystopic worlds of the Blade Runner films, would they be the same or different? Dark, dusty, melancholic and lifeless are some descriptives that come to mind. Blade Runner 2049 references a tree which made me think of frankincense when I saw it onscreen. Since frankincense has a bit of a dusty element in some varieties that could work nicely as a note to build upon. My fragrances featuring frankincense would be Vespertina and Chaparral, which don't quite work. Perhaps Figure 1: Noir, what do you think?

Images: Stolen movie promotional material from various sites on the internet.

One foot in front of the other

This journey of moving both the perfumery and our household has been epic! During the entire process I've been listening to a a book series proposed by my daughter Eve. Today, as I was driving from our little woodland house to my moms home in Encino, I realized that most of our personal experiences mimic iconic stories of heros/heroines. We all have characters in our lives that hurtle fire balls at us and a wizard/wizardess or two who come to help us as we attempt to refine ourselves into the wizard/wizardess. Personally I like the image of Galadirel as the powerful force that battles the dark forces with me, but Serafina Pekkala is pretty cool too. I'm sure there are others I could conjure given some extra time. Who do you envision coming to help you or yourself becoming? I really need to go check out the new Wonder Woman movie.

Ah, speaking of fantasy, Greg is currently at Comic Con in San Diego, find him in Artist Alley at table EE-24. He took the Divine Alchemy banner with him along with lots of original art that he has been threatening to burn in a bonfire in New Mexico. If you have always wanted to own one of his vintage original pieces, get it now before the burn!

Speaking of characters, the garage sale was good but a really odd experience due to some of the very eccentric personality traits that descended at the event on Saturday. Ben mentioned that "garage sale people are a different breed", yea, no kidding! Thing is, I go to garage and estate sales hunting for vintage treasures, and I am definitely not part of that breed. However in the end we were able to get rid of things make some bucks to help this journey we are on and also meet lots of my moms neighbors.

Next on the task list is donating items for a tax deduction and/or  listing others on venues such as Craigslist. I began the process of listing items with my four original, vintage Emeco chairs. After taking the photos, writing the listing and putting it up I'm feeling sorta done with selling furniture and other stuff online. I prefer to donate the stuff and move onto teaching about the plants and pure fume. If your interested in the Emeco chairs, keep reading, if not I'll catch ya later with another update soon, probably with dates on live, local classes.

The Emeco chairs are light and extremely cool, Greg and I decided to sell them since we are planning on going for a more classical type style in Santa Fe. While typing out the description I learned quite a bit more about the chairs and the company that have made me fall in love with them again!

The legend of these simple, sturdy, humble chairs begins with its founder Wilton Carlyle Dinges and the creation of the Electrical Machine and Equipment Company (EMECO), still located in Hanover, Pennsylvania.

Originally created in 1944 for US Navy submarines and warships to withstand harsh conditions such as salt water & air as well as an occasional torpedo blast. The story goes that Dinges tested the strength of the chair by tossing them out of a sixth-story window! By using salvaged aluminum, which was plentiful in 1944, Emeco perfected a 77-step proprietary process which yields aluminum three times stronger than steel resulting in a chair so durable that it has an estimated life span of 150 years.

The chair has survived seven decades of the military’s need and now is a fixture in restaurants, hotels, offices and film. Emeco’s all-aluminum chairs and stools come with a lifetime guarantee and tested to withstand 1,700 pounds of weight. Besides the aluminum is completely recyclable.

Images:
Divine Alchemy and Spalenka paintings ©GregSpalenka
Serrafina Pikala screen shot

Movie Monday: Outlander

The uber popular book Outlander, by Diana Gabaldon is due out this week translated into new mini series by the Starz network. Although Outlander had been mentioned to me in passing at the San Francisco Artisan Fragrance Salon by Sarah Horowitz, the novel didn't get firmly planted into my consciousness until mentioned to me by Beth Schreibman Gehring. Madame Gehring and I share a passion for scent, herbs cooking and things more pagan in nature. If you are a old time reader of this journal you may recall the Perfume Illuminated posts that we collaborated on which has gone out to influence many regular series on other perfume blogs.

Outlander is one eight books that was first released in 1991 as a historical fiction love story that steps into the realm of sci-fi fantasy. I started listening to the book on tape, thanks to Audible, on our drive down to the San Diego Comic Con. Since then I've become obsessed listening whenever I get a chance. Five of the cast members and the author Diana Gabaldon were part of a panel at Comic Con. Here's the trailer for the series along with the presentation.

When I first started listening to the story I immediately thought of John Carter of Mars because of what transpires with the main character, albeit not quite as fantastical as the Edgar Rice Burroughs novels. As the story unraveled I became extremely curious as to why the book had not crossed my path in the nineties! After all, I was devouring such stories as the Medicine Woman series by Lynn Andrews and the Marion Zimmer Bradley books The Mists of Avalon.

Beth has asked me to create an Outlander inspired fragrance, which I am thrilled to orchestrate. At this point I have so many ideas I feel a bit overwhelmed. I'm sure that once I am done with the book I'll have a bit more clarity as what direction to go in....or not, which is fine to, since creativity is very chaotic.

The first episode of the series is available for free to watch now at the Starz site here. The season premiere will officially take place on Saturday, August 9th. Beth has created a fanpage of Facebook titled Outlander Love Affair.

Movie Monday: Cloud Atlas

On Friday evening, September 7th I came across the trailer for Cloud Atlas which took me down a rabbit hole as I realized it was directed by the Wachowski brothers (now actually a brother and sister) and Tom Tykwer. In fact, I was so captivated by the trailer I even wrote a post about it here.

We went to see the film the weekend it came out, I needed a break from perfume bonanza and was really curious about it. I figured it would be stunning visually but wasn't too sure about the story telling component.

 The film is two hours and fifty two minutes long, telling an extremely complicated tale that takes us into the past and far into the future. I am not even going to begin to explain the film since it is so incredibly complex and personally suggest seeing it without too much explanation. I realized about twenty minutes into the film that when I let go of trying to keep everything organized in my head, it all began to make sense. This is not a film for cerebral folk unless it is someone who is very well versed and open to spiritual concepts.

The story is complex and deep. I have the book on my bed side table and can't wait to dive into it as soon as I am done with A Game of Thrones, A Song of Ice and Fire. I'd love to speak with someone who has read the David Mitchell book and seen the movie adaptation. Seeing the difference between the book and TV versions of Game of Thrones for example has been very interesting and as usual I prefer the book.

Overall I really enjoyed Cloud Atlas despite some challenges with actors make-up and some confusion with the story line. The scope of the project was huge and perhaps way too large for a three hour film. I pondered the tale and concepts for over a week after seeing it. When I attempt to pin point exactly why I liked it I can verbalize it which makes me realize it worked on me on a more intuitive creative level. Meaning my right brain totally dug it.

We also recently saw The Life of Pi, another gorgeous film based on a book. Unlike Cloud Atlas, Life of Pi left me feeling empty. The feast of visuals was absolutely glorious, but I wasn't keen how the story was wrapped up in the end and I had a hard time having any empathy for the visiting writer character. From what I have read, the ending of the book is the same as the film, thus I am speculating that the book probably communicated the ending in a more compelling manner.

On my list to go see is the SkyFall, The Hobbit (of course) and Hyde Park....and I am very intrigued by Lincoln.Meanwhile I still haven't seen The Hunger Games and Prometheus which I'd like to see. Into the future, gosh Oblivion with Tom Cruise looks amazing, my inner geek can't wait!

Movie Monday: Margin Call

I love good movies, well actually to be more authentic with my words, I love good stories and movies are part of that equation as with books, theater, etc. Last night I decided to take a break from the 24/7 perfume/art making bonanza and watched the film Margin Call by writer-director J.C. Chandor. The modern story is a melodrama with a slew of acting giants including one of my favorites Kevin Spacey. I began admiring Mr. Spaceys work in the 80's when he starred as Mel Profitt in the crime drama Wiseguy. He was also brilliant in The Usual Suspects, one of my all time favorite films.


As I was doing this research I came across on Wikipedia that he Kevin attended Northridge Military Academy, Canoga Park High School (in tenth and eleventh grades), and then Chatsworth High School, where he graduated valedictorian of his class. Gee, so local.

Margin Call is a very poignant film depicting a slightly over 24 hour period taking place at the brink of the recent economic disaster. The acting, story telling and character arcs are fabulous as well as gorgeously shot. When I lived in a coop on Montague Street in Brooklyn Heights most of my fellow neighbors were bankers working on Wall Street or lawyers. Ben and I were the only artists in the building and the only ones who had glass block and brightly painted walls.Despite are vast differences many of them were dear friends. None of them were as greedy and unscrupulous as the characters in the film. Toward the end of the film I was wondering why people with such little morality like this continue to thrive, and then I saw the ending. So perfect and made me think of another film I'll talk about next week, Cloud Atlas.

Other films this reminded me of are Limitless and The Adjustment Bureau, the later based on a based on Philip K Dick short story.

Opening image New York City, NY by Tracey.

Cloud Atlas

Last night, while roaming the world wide web, I came across the trailer for a film titled Cloud Atlas. I'm not sure why I clicked on it, but I did and now cannot wait for its premiere. As I watched the I became more and more intrigued, realizing that I am their obvious niche market with actor choices story content and visuals. By the end of the trailer when it is revealed that the film is created by those behind the Matrix, I thought ah-hah! Here it is just in case you haven't already seen it.







The story is based on the novel Cloud Atlas by British author David Mitchell. The Wachowski brothers (now actually a brother and sister) and Tom Tykwer (Perfume, The Story of a Murderer) wrote the screenplay and are the three directors on the film.

I was thrilled to see Ben Whishaw is one of the actors, I've been in love with him since his portrayal of in Bright Star. He is also fantastic in the Julie Taymor version of The Tempest and the BBC TV show The Hour.

Some of the concept design work looks like it was done by our friend Stephan Martiniere, however, upon researching I do not believe that is the case. (Note to self, ask him to make sure.) It's too bad the directors didn't hire Greg, he would have been so perfect for this film.

Here is a a video of the Wachowskis and Tom Tykwer talking about the film. My only concern from watching the trailer for Cloud Atlas is that I hope it doesn't turn into a What Dreams May Come, which was visually stunning with a great idea but in the end didn't work well as a fleshed out film.

Shadow Lands

Yesterday we hit another indicator of the shift from the light to the darkness as we moved the hands of our clocks back, The light here in the northern hemisphere begins to subside as it increases in the southern half of the planet. A great symbol of the duality found on this earthly plain we reside.

In most parts the trees are now loosing their leaves and moving into a more structural, silhouetted shapes within the landscape. Sometimes trees become slim architectural forms set within the whiteness of a background of snow.

Halloween celebrated the shadow, the darker aspects of the human and our unconscious desires. As we move into this time continual reminders of balancing the light and dark appear. The nemesis rears her ugly snake infested head once more, driving some to hibernation. That wont be the case for me, like my honey bees I will continue to forage despite the low levels of pollen. The great thing about nature is that she is constantly seeking balance between the opposing forces. We can seek nourishment in warm baths with lit candles and essential oils as well as great archetypal stories. Harry Potter, a classic of the light versus dark take is soon to be released and I can't wait.

I've learned that the nemesis, as awful as she might "appear", offers terrific gems to garner from the experience. The most important is not to allow a single individual or event to disrupt one from their mission and path.


While on the east coast last month we stayed with our dear friend Ric Meyers who is loaded with wisdom. In this interview conducted by Greg, Ric shares insight into how to deal with the perceived negativity and stay in balance. I love this one quote in particular...

"Don’t force things and don’t fight things.
Remember that water doesn’t choose its path down a mountain."

Enough about Medusa, something tells me her head will be getting cut off soon. I'm making chocolate solid perfumes today. Rather auspiciously it is Blanc and Noir that is being created here in the studio. Blanc is the chocolate natural perfume featuring vanilla as the main note while Noir is a musky, dark chocolate with patchouli. Read more here at this link on the journal and find them for a limited time in my E-shop.


Images:
The Head of Medusa by Simeon Solomon British, 1840 - 1905
Ric Meyers photo by Greg Spalenka
Medusa by Franz von Stuck German, 1863 - 1928
Chocolate Perfume Image Roxana Villa

Gathering Blue

Sometimes when I sit to write a post for the blog I find myself in a chaos of inspired imagery leading me from one thing to another in a frenzied state. I usually can tell from the energy of it that there will be an interesting intersection transpiring at some point. All I need to do is faithfully follow it, even if the end does not reveal itself immediately.

Such was the case yesterday morning, just after returning from taking Eve over to the Theatricum Botanicum for her first performance of Much Ado About Nothing. I checked in at Etsy to see what was happening with sales at my shop and was mesmerized by a beautiful photo. The image, by artisan Lisa Jordan, was of a cluster of felted acorns on wood with an autumn leaf (pictured above). I hearted the photo and began to build an Etsy treasury inspired by the image titled A Rich Patina for Autumn.


As is the case when I make treasuries I contact the featured individuals to alert them that they are in the treasury. I then went about the very busy day with the intention to photograph Q solid perfume in a way that captured some of the feel of Lisa Jordan's felted acorn image. I went outside in the late afternoon looking for a piece of wood to bring into the house for the shoot. Instead I found a log that I was using in the garden as a design element amongst the native plants. Since the bottom of the log was covered with dirt, spiders and leaves I choose to do the photo shoot outside. Here are the results...



Today, while editing the above photos, I received back a thank you message from Lisa. I clicked on her shop buttom within the convo and decided to send her the new photo of Q solid natural perfume that she inspired. We got into a little message exchange which led me to her lil fish blog and opened the duirway to Ms. Jordan's vibrant artistic life. Upon seeing her post on a natural dye bath with mushroom and lobster I immediately knew I had met a kindred spirit, in fact her dye baths look like my tinctures and infusion! Reading about her process made me think of one of my favorite novels Gathering Blue, which spiraled down another worm hole.

This bridge led me to discover that Lois Lowry, the author of Gathering Blue, has a blog and that she was inspired by my compatriot Jorge Luis Borges when she wrote The Giver.

So much beauty and interweaving creative paths...like the richly colored robe that Kira finds herself restoring in Gathering Blue.

Images: Verdigris copper and wool felted acorns by Lisa Jordan, Etsy treasury titled "A Rich Patina for Autumn" and Q Natural Solid Perfume photos by Roxana Villa.

Comic Con: Super Heroes

Besides being the largest event for popular art culture in America, Comic Con also boosts loads of super heroes. Most will define a super hero as a character like Spider Man from Marvel. At two panel discussions in the big Ballroom of the SDCC Deepak Chopra and Grant Morrison got down and dirty with these concepts.

Grant and Deepak shared that this idea of the super hero is something that each of us aspires to and might just be attainable. I believe it is. We only use 3% of our brain, don't you think if we used 100% we might have some of those super hero capabilities? These heroes are reminders that these archetypes are embedded deep within our psyche, which is why Comics, SciFi and the Fantastic are such popular genres.

The other type of hero prevalent at Comic Con is the celebrity, usually an actor like Angelina Jolie. For me the super heroes are the master writers and visual artists, these are the folks that the first Comic Con, in 1970, was all about.

I had the auspicious fortune to speak to some of my heroes like JJ Abrams, who I spotted while he leisurely strolled the convention center looking for toys. The moment I saw him, I shot up from my chair and quietly walked up next to him. I had no idea what to say so I expressed my gratitude for his mastery at story telling.

On another occasion I met the two producers and cast of the only TV show I watch, Fringe. There seems to be this ridiculous nervousness that comes over me when I meet folk of high mastery. Even holding a strong intention to stay relaxed and present I find myself in "awe mode" and have a hard time accessing my brain capacity. It's so silly. I did manage to get out a few coherent thoughts to both Jeff Pinkler and JH Wyman, the producers and masterminds of Fringe.

I asked JH Wyman if they planned to incorporate the honey bee into the story line of Fringe. He said he has been thinking about it quite a bit and enjoys weaving in story elements that relate to current situations. He expressed that he really likes to get people thinking. My kind of guy...my hero!

I also met and attempted to communicate with the cast, they were all there but I got "froze mouth" and wasn't able to say much. I did ask the actor Joshua Jackson, who plays Peter, if he lived here in Topanga. He said "Yes, but lately I've been mostly in Vancouver...which actually has a similar vibe to Topanga." Indeed! Maybe I'll run into Joshua at our local farmers market or post office....but what to say?

Photo of Wonder Woman ©RoxanaVilla

Hidalgo

Every once in awhile a bright star will write a review of one of my natural perfumes that brings me to my knees. Beth has done this with her latest post at Perfume Smellin' Things. She has weaved a story that includes Viggo Mortenson in Hidalgo and the wild west. The review includes a giveaway.

Chaparral Perfume; A Real Bodice Ripper

Hidalgo is the perfect hero for this fragrance that embodies both the American Native Indian and cowboy of the California. I re-watched this film the other day, so delicious, here is a clip.

Good Will Hunting

For some reason or other, probably an overfilled schedule, I missed the brilliant film Good Will Hunting when it came out. The other evening I finally had the opportunity to watch it. My goodness, what a fantastic film from message to story, the acting, whew!

There were multiple themes in the film that struck a chord, but the one that is still resounding loudly is this monologue by the protagonist Will Hunting. Hellooooo, is anyone listening?

Makes Me Happy

Tea every morning....and just about all the time, rain or shine, night or day. Preferably Earl Grey with some artisan honey and milk please.

Botanical perfume, natural perfume and plant smells...like sage, plumeria, the native California rose, jasmine sambac and more. Lately I've been really getting into bee related smells. Their hive, honey, beeswax, etc. Love their natural musk perfume...pure fume.

Speaking of bees....gosh, I am totally smitten and honored to be assisting in their survival here on planet Earth. I heard recently that Rudolf Steiner called them "Love Incarnate" and that they are the facilitators of Paradise on Earth.



A great story...whether a book, a film or told by a great bard. Some of my favs are Great Expectations the 1998 film version by Alfonso Cuarón, Phillip Pullmans His Dark Materials (the book), The Hours (film and book), Perfume: A story of a Murderer (the book), and Love in the Garden (book). I'm sure there are more but I am anxious to get to work so I'll stop with these.

California oaks, specifically the natives from the chaparral that go by Quercus agrifolia and Quercus lobata. What splendid trees, another endangered species like the honey bee.

Travel. I've had the fortune to travel since the age of three. Lately, due to this ridiculous economic crisis, my travel adventures are not as abundant as usual. The last one was Ecuador, I am intending more...like Paris and London, Hawaii, Egypt, Argentina and the list goes on.


PreRaphaelite art, I think my favorite artist of that brotherhood is Waterhouse, I think.

Thanks to Jess at Epheriell Designs who nudged me to do this. Now I am off to work on wonderful smelly things for you. Are you following your bliss today? What Makes you Happy? Do a post like this, leave a comment with a link and make sure to link it up at the Epheriell Designs blog.

Wandering Wonderland

The film adaption of the beloved story, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll releases today. This onscreen version has been done by the ever so creative Tim Burton. Aligned with this several character from the Perfume blogging community have joined together again to present you with some scented fun through Wonderland. In this segment a game has been weaved in providing you dear readers with a chance to win a trial version of a new fragrance I have in the works related to Wonderland. At the bottom of this post please follow the links to each of the blogs participating.

Although I was vaguely familiar with the story of Alice it was when I heard an audio recording presented at the CalTech in Pasadena that I became much more intrigued. The lecture "Parallel Worlds", presented by Michio Kaku, took place in February 2005. Dr. Michio Kaku is a theoretical physicist, best-selling author, and co-founder of string field theory. Like Einstein, Dr. Kaku has the ability to explain complex scientific ideas elegantly and easy to understand.


In the talk Parallel Worlds Kaku mentions how one hundred fifty years ago, a British mathematician from Oxford, wrote the first depiction of a wormhole in the english language.The author realized that the people of Victorian England may not accept the idea. Thus, he choose to write his theory as a children's books. The name of this mathematician is Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, the name of the books is Alice's Adventures Through Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. Charles, a lover of parody, word-play and puzzles, changed his name to Lewis Carroll by reversing and transmogrifing his given names.

Lutwidge > Ludovicus > Lewis
Charles > Carolus > Carroll

According to Kaku the looking glass is the Kerr ring. (Side note: LOST fans are you paying attention?) This gets Curiouser and curiouser! If one were to walk through the Kerr ring you may find yourself transported to the other side of the universe, Wonderland perhaps?

Falling throw a rabbit or worm hole is an extraordinary expereince, which I have documented for you as a fragrance. The formula of this liquid botanical perfume has pulled notes from the book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

The first scent encountered in the story is that of grass and daisies (Galbanum Co2 and Violet Leaf) followed by the aroma of the earth of (Mitti Attar and Vetiver) with a some Orange Marmalade (Orange). Once arrived the aromatic terrain includes trees (Cedarwood), dry leaves (Patchouli), currants (Black Currant), pepper (Black Pepper), mushroom (Cepes), tea (Tea), butter (Butter), rose, (Rose) and flowerbeds (Jasmine). The primary fragrance note of the new perfume called "Smell me" is a green fragrance with rose at the heart.


GAME: What is the use of a talking about a perfume without smelling it? To be entered to win a sample of "Smell Me" please visit each participating blog and determine which character from the story each blogger has assumed, including my contribution. E-mail your guess to me Roxana(at)IlluminatedPerfume.com. Five winners will be chosen to receive a sample of the first edition trial of the fragrance. The game will end next Thursday at 10pm PST. In the meantime I will send free samples with any orders of $25 or more placed in the next seven days. One gram vials of "Smell Me" are available at my E-shop.

Now, please go deeper into the Rabbit Hole and journey on to visit my friends in Wonderland.
I have no doubt they will delight you with their prose, rhymes and songs. Just be weary as you wonder about, the Queen of Hearts has a tendency to separate the head from the body, perhaps she is related to René Descartes, but that is stuff and nonsense!

Perfume Shrine
Indie Perfumes
The Windesphere Witch
Perfume Smellin' Things

The Circle- Moominland Midwinter, Chasing Away The Darkness

I'm super fond of stories, in all their manifestations. Usually books and films do it for me, but, the best is sitting around with friends and listening to a really good story.
This is what Gaia has contributed to our circle today. As I light yet another candle on our Holiday tree please grab a warm blanket and head on over to the Non-Blonde for some good old fashion story telling.

"The Circle- Moominland Midwinter, Chasing Away The Darkness (And A scent to go with it)"

Images: ADVENTure blogging banner by Roxana Villa.

The Giving Tree

Once there were four large oak trees and three smaller ones in a grove and they loved a girl. And everyday the girl looked out at the trees but didn't really see them. Until one day, the girl learned about the value of native plants and old growth oak trees.

The girl learned that the trees grow very slowly from the fruit of the trees, acorns. Once a long, long time ago before man came to the wooded hills there was a vast forest of oaks in the village where the girl now lives.

As the girl learned about the trees they began to talk with her and share their secrets. The trees were happy that the girl would listen to them. The girl was happy that the trees spoke to her. She promised to create a beautiful native garden in their honor.

Then one day a contractor came and said he would cut down the trees and build a huge mansion in their place. The girl began to cry and didn't know what to do.

Looking out at the trees the girl had an idea. On the high Celtic holiday known as Beltane she asked the trees permission and gathered some leaves. She cleaned each leaf by hand and put them into her organic grain alcohol with the intention that her new tree friends would be saved.

The girl asked her best friend to join her in the mission and together they asked more friends to form a circle around the trees to protect them. The high council listened to the concern and the petition from the villagers.

In the meantime, the girl, took her tinctured oak leaves and created a botanical perfume devoted to the California native oaks.

The high council has deemed that the trees add distinction to their location and the trees remain in tact. And the girl was happy.

The End

The above is a true story reconstructed in a similar manner to Shel Silverstein children's book The Giving Tree. As a student in high school I was a member of the Speech Club and told the story of The Giving Tree in competitions.

The perfume is titled "Q" for Quercus agrifolia, the botanical name of the oak. The girl shares profits from each 7 gram flacon and solid perfume compact that is sold with the California Oak Foundation.

Plant the seed of truth, and watch it grow
and when it spreads it's branches,
come with us, and sit under the blossoms.

There, your eyes will open to the secret of truth.

~ Rumi