Cupcakes... a feminist issue?

Granted, there are a lot of them about these days : mostly sold in retro-styled boutiques, lovely little sugar-infused & candy-coloured delights in the most diverse array of flavours imaginable (Jammie Dodger? Ginger & Lime?)

I have sampled quite a few in my time, from places like : Lola's, The Tea Boutique, Bread & Butter, The Sweet Tooth Cupcakery, Cocoa Emporium, Dish and Spoon... there are dozens just popping up all over the country.
A perfect cupcake should be sublimely light, fluffy & flavoursome, in a pretty little package.
Some promise the earth and massively disappoint - all the gimmicky decoration in the world cannot save a bad sponge recipe (Cocoa Emporium, I mean you...)

The recent spate of cupcake businesses has now attracted somewhat of a backlash, with many newspapers already writing about their demise... indeed some writers feel that they infantilise women, who apparently "coo over the cutesy, calorie-jammed treats as if they were newborn babies".
To this I say : how very silly. They are attractive looking, often tasty, cakes. They are not leading to the downfall of women-kind in anyway (other than perhaps causing an explosion in waist-lines).

Pretty as they are, I think I I have had my share of cupcakes for awhile, and shall devote my attention to other, equally worthy treats... chocolate torte anyone?

Darn sailors.

Oh dear. To the left we have the culprit - the wretched rum that I thought it was a good idea to guzzle last night like, as if it was refreshing mineral water.

To the right we have the cure - a dazzling choice of food & drink to settle my angry belly.
A sad state of affairs all around.

The day the music died..

... was somewhere mid 1999 I'd say. I listened to a retrospective of 90's indie classics last night, which plunged me into deep nostalgia - a place I seem to wallow ever more of late. Ah, the 90's. Back when there were no TV shows to set up wimpy little girl&boy bands & bland solo artists (although I admit that before X-Factor et all, newspaper ads seemed to perform this function - hence the creation of the Spice Girls/Take That).

It's sad that many of the great and original Britpop scene are no longer around, at least to my knowledge anyway - Sleeper, Suede, Sleeper, Skunk Anansie, Garbage, Mansun, Pulp (I was lucky enough to see them in concert, supported by Dubstar, when I was very wee in October 1995 - my first gig!)

There's a few that were arguably less notable/prolific, but still had a fantastic couple of 'choons' - The Lightning Seeds, Dodgy, Kula Shaker, Space, Shed Seven, Bluetones, Elastica, Alisha's Attic etc. etc..

Some bands have fractured, leading to solo success for several of the members, or indeed splintered into entirely different bands (Blur - I mean you). Then there's Oasis, who until very recently, continued to tour & release new material. Doesn't look like the Gallagher Brothers will be getting together anytime in the near future though, their brotherly tiffs have not mellowed with age.

Radiohead are one of the few examples who seem to have weathered the storm, and continue to tour & release new music - much different to their mid-90's output, but still hugely respected and full of creativity.

I could write on this subject for ages, delving into more trivial banter about how much better looking the male singers were - the raw appeal of Mr Cocker in all his tradmark lankiness in 'Common People', the scrumptiousness of Blur in their video for 'Universal', the strangely appealing face of Thom Yorke as he stares at the screen in 'No surprises'...

Many bands nowadays, even the 'indie' ones are styled within an inch of their lives, expert lighting and retouchers doing all the rest - what a dull, homogenised lot.