PONIES ...

Dear readers, this week *P* IS FOR *P*ONIES!
A man who attempted to take a pony on a train last year at Wrexham station in north Wales (above) also tried to get treatment for the animal in A & E (ER) at a nearby hospital! Yes, really!
It’s also just been reported that Dartmoor ponies in Devon are to go on the pill! World Horse Welfare vets have been given the go-ahead to use contraceptive injection on the semi-feral mares (below) after a Devon pony population explosion. Yes really!
Dartmoor takes its name from the river Dart and was designated one of the National Parks of England and Wales in 1951. It's a beautiful moorland landscape with wooded valleys and windswept Tors. 368 square miles in area, it's rich in habitat for wildlife and has a wealth of archaeological remains like the famous Hay-Tor (bottom). Do check out other Alphabe-Thursday posts @ Jenny Matlock. And, finally, thank you to all my dear readers who have visited or commented.
Enjoy,
XOXO LOLA:)

OSCARS ...

Dear readers, this week, natch, *O* IS FOR *O*SCARS!
The Artist became the first silent film to win the top prize at last weekend’s Oscars, taking the award for Best Film and Best Actor. Meryl Streep (below) won Best Actress for The Iron Lady. Same awards as for the British BAFTAs two weeks ago!
Here are some of the most striking frocks on display:
1. Emma Stone (Giambattista Valli, above)
2. Meryl Streep (Lanvin) 3. Natalie Portman ( Dior)

4.Gwyneth Paltrow (Tom Ford)

5. Glenn Close ( Zac Posen)

6. Viola Davis (Vera Wang)

7. Jennifer Lopez ( Zuhair Murad)

8. Penelope Cruz (Armaini Privé)

9. Angelina Jolie (Versace and THAT leg!)
10. Michelle Williams (L Vuitton) And now a gown that, unfortunately, resembles landlady gold lamé rather than a golden screen star. Dressing like an awards statue is no guarantee you’ll actually win one:
11. Stacy Keibler (Marchesa) 12. Kristen Wiig (J Mendel) – a feather duster?
13. Sandra Bullock (Marchesa) – walking on her knees?
WHICH WERE THE EVENT'S HITS & MISSES…? AND, ER, THE MOVIES TOO!
Do check out other Alphabe-Thursday posts @ Jenny Matlock.
And, finally, thank you to all my dear readers who have visited or commented.
Enjoy,
XOXO LOLA:)

THE BAFTAS ...

Dear readers, this week *M* IS FOR *M*OVIES – THE BAFTAS (British Academy of Film and Television Arts)!
The Artist became the first silent film to win the top prize at last weekend’s Baftas in London (often viewed as a dry run for the Oscars in two weeks’ time), taking the award for Best Film and Best Actor. Meryl Streep (below) won Best Actress for The Iron Lady.
Here are some of the most striking frocks on display:
1. Penelope Cruz (above), 2. Meryl Streep (below)

3. Christina Hendricks(in Vivienne Westwood) 4. Michelle Williams5. Naomie Harris

6. Jessica Brown-Findlay (is her next rôle a governess?)

7. Edith Bowman (is that a tent?) 8. Christina Ricci (Is that a bar of Toblerone?) 9. Tilda Swinton

10. Miss Piggy (immaculate in Vuitton) – the star of the show! Miss Piggy rools OK!

WHAT’S YOUR OPINION ABOUT THE AWARDS/ FROCKS/ THE OSCARS?
Do check out other Alphabe-Thursday posts @ Jenny Matlock.
And, finally, thank you to all my dear readers who have visited or commented.
Enjoy,
XOXO LOLA:)

FAMOUS LAST LINES ...

Dear readers, for this week's Alphabe-Thursday *L* IS FOR *L*AST WORDS, FAMOUS *L*AST WORDS - OFMOVIES!
Everyone has personal favourites. Maybe it’s "Don't let's ask for the moon! We have the stars!" – the famous last
lines of Now, Voyager (1942) spoken by Bette Davis. Now, while it is true there have been movies that have not ended well, it is also true there have been movies that have not started well. However, I don’t believe this is the case with any of the following. Any here your favourites?

1. Gone With the Wind (Victor Fleming, 1939)
“I’ll go home and I’ll think of some way to get him back. After all, tomorrow is another day!” The optimistic reaction of the determined southern belle Scarlett O’Hara (Vivien Leigh, above) when a terminally exasperated Rhett Butler (Clark Gable) gives up with: “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn”.
2. Chinatown (Roman Polanski, 1974)
“Forget it, Jake, it’s Chinatown.” (To Jack Nicholson character)
3. The Usual Suspects (Bryan Singer, 1995)
“The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist. And like that – poof – he’s gone!” (Kevin Spacey about criminal character)
4. Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, 1942)
“Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.” Said by nightclub owner Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) to collaborationist police chief Captain Louis Renault (Claude Rains)
5. Some Like It Hot (Billy Wilder, 1959)
“Well, nobody’s perfect!” (Much married millionaire Osgood Fielding III (Joe E Brown, left) after “Daphne’s” (Jack Lemmon) confession “I’m a man!”
6. King Kong (Ernest Schoedsack, 1933)
“Oh no, it wasn’t the airplanes. It was beauty killed the beast.” The epitaph on the giant ape Kong, shot dead by fighter planes after carrying Fay Wray to the top of the Empire State Building.
7. The Front Page (Lewis Milestone, 1931)
“The son of a bitch stole my watch!” The final line of the 1928 newspaper comedy by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur, delivered by the cynical yellow-press editor Walter Burns over the telephone as a message to the police, his ultimate dirty trick to prevent ace reporter Hildy Johnson escaping from his services.
8. Little Caesar (Mervyn LeRoy, 1931)
“Mother of mercy! Is this the end of Rico?” The last words of the dying gangster in the Warner Bros film that made a star of Edward G Robinson 9. Dr Strangelove (Stanley Kubrick, 1964)
“Mein Führer, I can walk!” Dr Strangelove (Peter Sellers), the German-born wheelchair-bound US presidential adviser’s shocking final line that suggests an ultimate triumph of the will 10. The Maltese Falcon (John Huston, 1941)
“The stuff that dreams are made of.” PI Sam Spade (Humphrey Bogart) to San Francisco cop (Ward Bond) who holds up the fake version of the priceless Maltese Falcon and asks: “It’s heavy, what is it?” ANY OTHER LAST LINES OF MOVIES/ BOOKS/PLAYS SPRING TO MIND?
Do check out other Alphabe-Thursday posts @ Jenny Matlock.
And, finally, thank you to all my dear readers who have visited or commented.
Enjoy,
XOXO LOLA:)

LADY GAGA OUT-"GAGA"ED?

Dear readers, this week *K* IS FOR ... *K*NOCK-OUT HATS!
But first it’s ‘fess up time. I don’t do hats. Never have. Ever since being forced at school to wear one both winter (felt with brim) and summer (straw boater)! Consequently, I’ve avoided wearing them since (except for, umm, special occasions when hats – or at least fascinators - were obligatory!) Now, where was I? Oh yes! Where best to go for inspiration regarding hats that, were one to have to wear them, would get one noticed and be, err, *K*nock-out! Where else but …Lady Gaga!
Here are some recent examples:
1+2. For her single ‘Telephone’ (above & below) 3. For Bambi Awards, Germany 2011 4. ‘Sperm’ hat, by Philip Treacy, London 2011

5. Diamond hat by Philip Treacy
6.With Philip Treacy7. Fascinator 20098. Fedora9.Lobster hat, Philip Treacy 2010

And some more of the same:

And finally, has Lady Gaga been out-“Gaga”ed? What do you think? Here’s Uggie … and his hat: APART FROM WINTER HEADGEAR, DO YOU WEAR HATS? OR JUST FOR SPECIAL OCCASIONS? Do check out other Alphabe-Thursday posts @ Jenny Matlock.
And, finally, thank you to all my dear readers who have visited or commented.
Enjoy,
XOXO LOLA:)