Father's day musings

I hope all you fathers out there had a fantastic father's day yesterday, and were spoilt by your loved ones. And if you are not a father, I hope you were able to convey to your own father how special he is, or if departed, how special he was.

I appreciate also that not all of us have had the greatest relationships with our fathers. If that is the case, my sympathy to you. I was fortunate enough to have (and still do) a very good relationship with my own father. For me, the sad thing is I live more than 10,000 miles away from him now, on the other side of the world. I won't go into the feelings of guilt that this invokes.

While I am thinking of father's day, I feel I ought to express how wonderful it feels to me to be a father to my own two beautiful girls. I don't want to go all soppy, but truly, it is a very privileged position I find myself in. I was walking around today, thinking about this, and realised that there was never a truer saying than 'money cannot buy you love'. My own daughters are living proof of this. I would exchange (if I had it) all the money, status and material possessions I own to see their unbridled joy as they run to hug me, and say "I love you daddy!"

My perfume on father's day was Serge Lutens' Cedre. Cedar, tuberose, musk, amber and cinnamon. A manly fragrance with a feminine touch. Dare I say it.

The Civil Wars - Tiny Desk concert

I listen to and watch quite a few music videos on Youtube these days. It's not good for my bandwidth and internet charges, but I like it anyway...

A really good source of unusual 'concerts' are the NPR Tiny Desk videos, which are recorded and filmed in the NPR radio station's studio. I've stumbled across many excellent performances here, including Laura Marling, Lisa Hannigan, Adele, Steve Earle, The National, The Decemberists, Martha and Rufus Wainright, Lyle Lovett and most recently, a great one by The Civil Wars.

As I liked it so much, I've included the video here:

SOTD - Olympic Orchids Gujarat

Olympic Orchids do some very interesting perfumes. Today I wore Gujarat, which as the name implies, is inspired by India. 

Olympic Orchids describe Gujarat thus: "Like a full-scale Bollywood extravaganza, Gujarat is made with just about every spice you can name and some you probably never even heard of, softened and sweetened with exotic tropical flowers, supported on a base of smoky woods, resins, and balms, and garnished with a dash of chili and a twist of lime. Don’t worry - it doesn’t smell like curry. Gujarat is like nothing you’ve ever smelled before. You may love it, you may hate it, but either way you’ll have a unique and exotic perfume experience."

What I like about this house and Ellen Covey, is that they freely admit you may love it or hate it, a bit like Marmite (perhaps only a Brit will appreciate that). I don't know what Gujarat actually contains, but on my skin it smells like a supercharged marmalade being made, using the most intense Seville Orange rinds imaginable. This bitter orange smell, sweet yet bitter, fragrant, complex, is complemented by an undertone of spices and wood, yet at no time can I pin down what they are. 

I have to admit that while I like Gujarat, I don't think I could wear it every day. It is very intense, but equally, I have never smelt another perfume remotely like it, which speaks volumes, at least to me.

Scent of the day - Andy Tauer Incense Extreme

Those of you who've read my blog over the years will possibly know that I am a big fan of much of Andy Tauer's earlier work, and Incense Extreme is a case in point.

It was a sad occasion today as I finally finished my sample, which I've had for what must be over four years now. I bought it as part of a sample pack directly from Andy Tauer and the size is very generous. I know it may seem slightly silly to be attached to a small sample of perfume, rather than a full bottle, for example, but I've worn its contents on a few occasions over the years, each time feeling uplifted by what is a beautiful perfume. 

One is almost tempted to say: "they don't make 'em like they used to"....

                

Serge Lutens La Fille de Berlin

I've had a sample of La Fille de Berlin lying around for some time, which I've tried on and off, in addition to the occasional wearing after a visit to a department store. I just haven't felt particularly compelled to write about it. bearing in mind that I haven't been doing much writing anyway, to be fair.

Don't get me wrong. I actually like La Fille de Berlin - it is well made, as is always the case with Serge Lutens, but it doesn't excite me. Part of the problem, for want of a better word, is that I am already familiar with Lutens' other rose fragrances, namely Rose de Nuit and Sa Majeste La Rose, and both of those strike me as more interesting, at least to my nose. In my opinion, La Fille de Berlin falls somewhere between these two, almost a hybrid. Rose de Nuit is a darker rose, with woodier notes, a slightly polished feel in the sense of polished wood, and complex. Sa Majeste La Rose is bright, sunny and exuberant, like a pure distillation of some heady rose flower, and not for the faint hearted. La Fille de Berlin, however, is more subdued, a bit more restrained, perhaps a result of the use of violet and pepper notes, yet is still recognisably rosy. 

Perhaps this post is damning La Fille de Berlin with faint praise. I hope not, because I certainly don't want to do that. I guess what I am trying to say is that I just prefer the more extremes explored by the two other Lutens rose fragrances. I must admit that La Fille de Berlin would be better suited to everyday wear compared to the others.

What I am...

Listening to:

I have just bought the new album by Laura Marling, Once I Was An Eagle. This brilliant English singer-songwriter is only 23 years old and this is her fourth album release in as many years. Some people have called her the English Joni Mitchell, and while that may be flattering, it also doesn't do her total justice, as she is very much her own artist. She is about as non-mainstream as you get, so you aren't likely to find her in the top twenty, but give me Laura any day over Lady Gaga, Katie Perry, Beyonce and the like...

I'm also revisiting Neil Young, one of my favourite artists, after having read his great autobiography. More about that later.

Watching:

Lots of stuff. I really enjoyed seeing Watchmen, which is based on the Marvel comic/graphic novel series. The film is a very realistic cinematic take on the comics, and very noir, but brilliantly done.

I've also been following a very good TV show hosted by Elvis Costello, who interviews and plays with (in some instances) some well known musicians, such as Rufus Wainright, Lou Reed and even Bill Clinton, who is somewhat of a music aficionado.

Reading:

As mentioned above, Neil Young's autobiography, Waging Heavy Peace, is a good read. Like Neil himself, the book is long, rambling, hippie, meandering, odd, eccentric, and in places downright genius.

Game of Thrones. Yes, I am soldiering on. Will it ever end....

There is a lot more than this, but I'd be interested in finding out what you are up to. Any recommendations?

Blogging blues

Some regular visitors to my blog over the years may have noticed my output dropping significantly over the last few months.

Not that I need to reassure you, but I am still around, albeit intermittently at present. I wish I could blame this solely on work commitments, as I have done in the past, but if I'm being honest, the 'muse' has deserted me somewhat, such as I can pretend to have a muse of sorts. The long and short of it is that I am not feeling particularly motivated to blog and I'd rather not force it just for the sake of being 'seen' on the internet. 

I'm still very interested in perfume, and nothing has changed on that front, but I suppose a combination of work, family life, distractions like going through the process of becoming a British citizen, plus general tiredness and malaise has contributed to my unreliable posting.

Fear not, I shall return!