BPAL Project: Come to Me

When dipping into my imp supply I like to vary how I go about testing them. Sometimes I look up a few oils to avoid testing too many in the same vein in a row. Often I am feeling adverse to a certain kind of scent, gourmand or lavendar or any manner of things and I want to avoid sampling something I'm distinctly not in the mood for. However I do love to just dip in and pick one out based on the name or colour and that's what I did with Come to Me. I assumed there would be some seductive quality to it, perhaps similar to Suspiro. Come to Me would wear a beautiful white dress that revealed rather more than you expected when the sun shone on it.

I did get the white dress right, but there is no come hithering here. This is the scent of CLEAN and showered, freshly laundered and dried in the sun and freshest of air. 'Fresh' and 'cleanly laundered' are usually code for dryer sheets--a comfort scent for some but chemicals to me. However this very light scent captures the hot sun on clean sheets blowing in the wind. Yes the detergent element is still there; how else did the sheets get clean? But it is light and clearly some enjoy the fresh laundry experience slathered on their arms.

I've never explored the clean sheets area of fragrance so I can't compare this to any other offerings in that realm. I do enjoy the hot sun on cotton waftings but over time I know the detergent element would irritate.

BPAL Project: Snake Oil Revisited

My first BPAL review was of Snake Oil, the lab's most popular scent. I was very unimpressed. I did note though that I had at least two samples of Snake Oil and that there was much discussion in BPAL land about the wondrous ageing qualities of this oil. It seemed prudent to revisit, though I don't know the age of either sample.

My 5ml bottle is an entirely different creature from the imp I took my original sample from. Vanilla cream with none of that odious cake mix spice, the drydown has some solemn woods to it which beautifully compliment the still dominant vanilla. Twelve hours later the scent remains. Am I sniffing an aged bottle of Snake Oil or is this the fresh one and the imp the old soul? I guess I will have to order a new one to find out.




Painting by Vicki McDonald Leppek, Beginning & End, Minoan Snake Goddess.

BPAL Project: Mata Hari

"Five roses with soft jasmine, warmed by vanilla, fig, tonka bean and mahogany, spiced with a drop of coffee bean."

*SOBS*

Look at these beautiful, beautiful notes! Oh My Goodness and other creamy things, how to seduce an oriental lover with near edible florals. Sigh.. if only it were true. Let me repeat that:

IF ONLY IT WERE TRUE.

This begins with horribly strong jasmine with a sweet undertone. I was sure the sweetness would soon dominate and the jasmine recede. The tonka was ever so softly discernible, for a very short time. Soon it was all nose burning jasmine and rose in the soapiest possible way. I waited for the coffee, I hoped for the coffee! All those warm dark sweet thangs well.. maybe they sank to the bottom of the vile.. oh, I mean vial.

The drydown has a slight staleness to it which might be the coffee (I was still hopeful).

Painting by Stephen Brayfield whose Fine Art section is lovely.

A Favorite Fragrance Ad: Egoiste Platinum Chanel

A Fabulous Ad!

Surprising, almost hilarious, evocative. I am sure this fellow read The Magus far too many times in high school, with much underlining.

"Our accepting what we are must always inhibit our being what we ought to be."
John Fowles

BPAL Project: Numb

Anaesthetic. I feel it should be applied with a swab, prior to a 'procedure'. Designed to wear in sweltering heat it does have a cooling effect, but so does an alcohol bath. If you find antiseptic soothing this may agree with you; but don't forget it only exists because you began with sepsis. I would wear Numb to a crummy hotel lobby hosting a UFO convention, dousing myself liberally at regular intervals in the ladies room. This would add authenticity to any tale I had to sell.

It is exactly the sort of odd smell you notice on someone that, while not offensive, causes you to minimize the conversation and keep your distance. Whatever they were doing to acquire this smell you do NOT want to know about it. You can't escape the notion that it involved unpleasant fluids.

Photo from Alien 3 "Alien 3 isn't a cheery film but then the experience of the last 15 years of Aids hasn't been either"

"Revel in the gelid polar frostiness that is Numb, and forget about the heat for a moment"

BPAL Project: Verchernyaya

A little whiskey..

A little tobaccy..

A little patchouli..

A little post-coital sweetness.. or perhaps a little poppy seed paste.

This is a comfort scent that dries down to furs and lingering stories. I like it very very much. The poppy is that of poppy seed pastries with their sweet nutty quality rather than anything floral. Bury your face in a warm red fur, your ears burning in the cold and breath in deeply. Oh the leather settees in smoking rooms that fur has draped itself over.. the cedar chests at the foot of beds it has been discarded upon. How beautiful to think of fur gathering moments as the years go by and warming them for those who later seek them out.



"Vechernyaya: The Evening Star
Three white musks with poppy and patchouli."

YSL Cinema

Cinema, released by YSL in 2004 is often poorly reviewed on fragrance forums. "Bland" "Banal" "Uninspired" "Boring floral".. these tags make me sad. Cinema is a beauiful amberry floral with curl of vanilla weaving gently into its base. Often it gives me the impression of warm hay, that delicately perfumed scent that has nothing to do with flowers and makes you want to breath in deep. But most compellingly Cinema smells like strong, fragrant, milky tea.. it is a comfort scent that warms a cold autumn day and sparkles in the summer.

Some 20 years ago I was happily drinking tea with milk, no sugar. Though I had drunk it black as a child a year spent in London soon cured me of that as you practically needed a bullhorn to make the cafes serve it to you that way. I had quickly acclimatized and continued on with my white habits for some years. Then one day in the throes of reading my way through all of Dostoevsky the words "samovar" "tea" "glass" "sugar" lit up in my mind. Suddenly I had to have some tea, black and in a glass with a teaspoon of sugar. I had no silver tea holder, but that did not matter. I went on a long jag of tea in a glass with 1 and when I got past that I ended up firmly a black tea drinker, no sugar, in any manner of cup. My black tea days continued on for 2 decades.

And then came Cinema. For all the world it smells to me, most divinely, of strong sweet and fragrant milky tea. Oh it is very enjoyable, a comforting and filling aroma in the chill of winter. I was happily lavishing it upon myself when once again I was gripped with a desire teaward and I found myself drinking cup upon cup of strong white tea, sweetened. Now not only have I preferred my tea black for these many years but I've considered white tea to be somewhat revolting. This notion is now quite dead! I am happily calcium enriched and probably consuming several hundred more calories a day.

I also fell in love with the bottle. Unfortunately in my search for bargainfulness I ended up with the 2005 Christmas Gold Collector edition which looks like some tacky glam bag. I'm making a little promise to myself that when the time comes to restock I will go for the original.

Top note : Clementine, Almond Blossom, Cyclamen
Middle note : Amaryllis, Sambac Jasmine, Peony
Base note : Amber, White Musks, French Vanilla, Benzoin

BPAL Project: Blood Kiss

Very vanilla and honey in the nicest possible way. A sweet and delicate cake perched on a saucer to be had with tea. Unfortunately this contains a dusting of the generic BPAL spice that is horribly tiresome. At first I thought the amount quite forgivable but the drydown is mired in BPAL spice mix. If this doesn't bother you and you want a gentle sweet cake of a scent it does succeed at that, at least for a time. No doubt if this was promoted as a lustier scent the delicacy would be even more stifled by BPAL spice.

"Lush, creamy vanilla and the honey of the sweetest kiss smeared with the vital throb of husky clove, swollen red cherries, but darkened with the vampiric sensuality of vetiver, soporific poppy and blood red wine, and a skin-light pulse of feral musk."

Wan Fung Art Gallery

The Wan Fung Art Gallery is an online exhibition of contemporary Chinese artists. The gallery itself is located in Hong Kong with branches in three Chinese cities. There are many striking works here to explore; I was thrilled to discover this site of treasures!





This print is by Dai Bin.

BPAL Project: Bliss

This is pure milk chocolate, with a dusting of cocoa powder in the drydown. No florals or patchouli to grownup-fy it and not sickly sweet but just right. If milk chocolate is what you want then this is it. Not much staying power but chocolate is usually eaten pretty quickly.



"A shot of pure, self-indulgent euphoria! A scent that is very, very wicked in its own way: the serotonin-slathered scent of pure milk chocolate."

Taking Vetiver by Strategy: Brian Eno on Perfume

A wonderful article by Brian Eno on his fascination with scent, perfume and the difficulty in finding objective language for olfactory truths. Thanks to POL for bringing this to my notice, what a treasure!

"You don't have to dabble for very long to begin to realize that the world of smell has no reliable maps, no single language, no comprehensible metaphorical structure within which we might comprehend it and navigate our way around it."

BPAL Project: DREAM FORMULA IV, Nanshe

Nanshe is part of BPAL's Somnium collection, created to aid and abet sleep and dreams. Nanshe "opens up psychic sensitivity during sleep and aids in the understanding and correct interpretation of portents and symbols."

Down the loooooong dark tunnel of sleep into an interior greenly lit this draught if over applied would make a spiffy smelling salt. I suppose the idea is to wake within, after you have fallen into slumber.

Nanshe is fresh spruce, verbena and lemon. There are moments of ozonic after-rain scent which are quite fascinating but sadly the lemon soon dominates. The spruce opening is very bright eyed and the drydown settles quickly into verbena. Something nicer to wake to than burnt feathers.

Photo of the interior of the Spruce Goose.

Boucheron Trouble

Top Note: Citron, Digitalis

Middle Note: Jasmine

Base Note: Precious wood, Vanilla,
Amber, Blue Cedar

Glancing through this blog I see a small theme unfolding; I have always considered "dry" to be a highly desirable attribute of perfume. I may enjoy my fragrances that embrace the word "lush" from time to time but my long term respect is lavished upon dryness. In revealing itself to be a non-sweet, dry vanilla Boucheron's Trouble has me kneeling at its feet.

My favorite posession is an antique Chinese altar table from the late 1800's. It is beautifully carved with the red lacquer darkened over time. If my table had a scent that scent would be Boucheron's Trouble. The wisdom of ages past distilled into one perfect red bottle, Trouble is a portal to universal truths. If Trouble were an oil it would be used to anoint the postulant seeker, wrapped in study and meditation.

Often compared to Dior's Addict I would offer this; Addict is richer but Trouble is wiser. Richness will make you ill after a time and needing respite but no one ever woke up with a hangover from too much wisdom.

I do wonder at the note listing choosing the word "digitalis" rather than "foxglove". Is there an actual difference there or is digitalis the dangerous, non-flowery choice? Digitalis make us think of poison, medication, the heart.. and foxglove reminds us of our grandmother's garden.

Trouble is in my Top 5 scents and though some on that list will vary with time Trouble shows no sign of doing so. Boucheron Trouble, I am quite besotted with you.

BPAL Project: Sophia

We begin..

Almost eye watering freshly opened lavendar soap!

We settle for a spell..

Lavendar soap with a beautiful jasmine tea accord!

We dry down..

My, that was a pretty soap. I must buy some of this for Mother.

And a very fast scent journey this is, from oh-my-goodness strong to faint memory in less time than it takes to finish one's ablutions.

"The Gnostic goddess of Wisdom. A solemn, deeply profound draught of lavender, soft musks, star jasmine, black rose, delphinium, and gentle spice."

BPAL Project: Bordello

Bordello starts off very sweet. The plum and blackcurrant are candied and enticing and soon develop into deeper and more delicious fruit. Amaretto adds a grownup nod in the background and very enjoyable it is. Once the candy fades you are left with an intoxicating liqueur, sweet but not for children. A wonderful rendition of purple fruits that puts the unending crop of fruity perfumes to shame. Yes I, a not very foodyscent much less fruity person, could just about chew off my arm! I love the way the tartness of fruit skins isn't lost but lingers in the background like an aftertaste.

This scent is remains wet and juicy thoughout its development. The drydown ages into a bosomy merlot. Unless you have been tainted by a childhood spent sucking blackcurrant pastilles all thoughts of candy are gone in the drydown.

The name is quite a misnomer and the description lost in this oil. "lusty"? Well perhaps in a very airbrushed portrait of a cathouse you might find wine and crushed fruit skins signifying "snarls of pleasure". I am more of a Mitsouko girl.

"A decadent, deep perfume, lusty and luxuriant. The scent evokes images of velvet-lined Old West cathouses, tightly laced corsets, rustling petticoats and coquettish snarls of pleasure. Bawdy plum with amaretto, burgundy wine and black currant."

BPAL Project: The Caterpillar

"you flicker
and you're beautiful
you glow inside my head
you hold me hypnotized
i'm mesmerized...

your flames
the flames that kiss me dead"


From The Caterpillar by The Cure

The Caterpillar is a song of great charm from The Cure's seventh full length album, The Top. Whimsical as peyote fueled haiku, adorable and at times gripping, The Top is a one off Cure masterpiece. Pay no attention to Robert Smith's spouted opinion about The Top, he is wrong. He is also fond of saying any thing that comes into his head during interviews.

So, what does this have to do with BPAL's The Caterpillar? Absolutely nothing. The Caterpillar is a very well blended scent, sexy and perfumey in the classical vein. With neroli and jasmine dominant this starts out as a lovely floral, reminding me of what I had hoped for in Boucheron. The vetiver adds some real vavoom to this one, heady and seductive. The Caterpillar is far closer to classical perfume than other BPAL's I've tried. The drydown becomes warmer and sweeter, leading the floral into more oriental realms. A pretty and potent old school scent that is very grown up.

"Heavy incense notes waft lazily through a mix of carnation, jasmine, bergamot, and neroli over a lush bed of dark mosses, iris blossom, deep patchouli and indolent vetiver."

BPAL Project: Wanton

A clean and watery rose
A reedy greeny smell..
The bathroom is so fresh!
A scent to perfume hell

No subtlety for those
Wantons wandering from the fold
The headache blast of aerosol gas
A harshness burns the nose

poem by A. Scrubber

"Feminine sexuality in it's rawest form. Palmarosa, red sandalwood, attar of rose, patchouli."

BPAL Project: Saint-Germain

"We begin to take up people . . . the other day they seized an odd man who goes by the name of Count Saint-Germain. He has been here these two years, and will not tell who he is, or whence, but professes that he does not go by his right name. He sings, plays on the violin wonderfully, composes, is mad, and not very sensible. He is called an Italian, a Spaniard, a Pole; a somebody that married a great fortune in Mexico, and ran away with her jewels to Constantinople; a priest, a fiddler, a vast nobleman. The Prince of Wales has had unsatiated curiosity about him, but in vain. However, nothing has been made out against him; he is released, and, what convinces me he is not a gentleman, stays here, and talks of his being taken up for a spy."

Horace Walpole, 1745

If Comte Saint-Germain wore pomade in his hair I rather doubt he would have acquired it from the local barber--rather he would have made it up himself in his apothecary's lab and invested great meaning and purpose into every ingredient. Straight from the alabaster jar this hair pomade would have smelled like any man's cologne, fresh with lavendar and brisk. But combed thickly into the hair and warmed by the scalp Saint-Germain's pomade would soon give off the somewhat dirty scent of powdered roots, roots Saint-Germain believed would increase his intellect. The emollient would settle into something warm and aged, dry but still with the aromas of lavendar. Carnation, geranium, mosses; herbaceous and dead things sifted together into a promise of special erudition to the wearer. Secretly Saint-Germain would inhale his own creation. To the modern observer an element of foppishness is inescapable, but to an elaborate creative creature such as Saint-Germain his scent is an alchemy adding to both his powers and his mien.

"gilded amber, hypnotic lavender, brash carnation and deep mosses."

BPAL Project: Bastet

Bastet is creamy white icing with grownup spices.

Bastet is sugared almonds with an addicts saffron.

Bastet is holy lotus with whispers of myrrh.

Bastet is intoxicating, delicious, an intense potion you wish you could lick off your fingers..

Bastet is a ravishing liqueur.

Bastet fades into the dryness of the desert, warm with a scent memory of perfume. This is perhaps Bastet's true wisdom.

A stunning BPAL who's scent journey from vial to drydown has a lifetime of experiences in it. A BPAL that will inspire me to always hope for every imp to be, again, The One.

Painting by Frank Frazetta

"Luxuriant amber, warm Egyptian musk, fierce saffron and soft myrrh, almond, cardamom and golden lotus."

BPAL Project: Fenris Wolf

When I was a child just reading about dark forests would make the back of my neck tingle. They conveyed most vividly an interior world of fears and intensity. From "Where the Wild Things Are" to Mirkwood of "The Hobbit" these descriptions were incredibly real. I knew the dark forest intimately. I had feared it and known that one lost step could find me eyes wide, unable to make my way back to light and safety.

Fenris Wolf is a sticky dark red goo in the vial, like sap. It starts off a very natural incense woody resin. If you had ever forgotten that sandlewood was actual wood this will remind you. The rosewood is dominant, dry and very impressive. Soon a little spiciness emerges, the spiciness of earth and bark. Always this is the forest at night; a still, crackling, scary scent. The red dominates in the heat of the wolf moving through the cooling forest and the glow of his eyes.

This is a private scent. A power scent. The drydown is increasingly bitter as befits the deepening night. There is some green in there of crushed leaves and vines which brings a roundness to the bitter tone. Though never a sweet scent there are edges of sweetness to it. Multi-layred, Fenris Wolf is a masterpiece.


"The raw, untamable power of chaos. Rosewood, amber, red musk and a dribble of red sandalwood."

Farewell to Two Fine Gentlemen

Last week I farewelled two fine gentlemen who have been living with me for a year or so. We went down to the local international point of departure office and, with much bubble wrap and a few tidbits to accompany them on their journey I sent them on their way. By now they will have traversed one of the most inhospitable deserts on the planet; they are quite some travellers as both of them were born in France. I expect they are now languishing in in a busy city center, waiting a tedious trip out to the 'burbs. I should be hearing from them this week.

I can't really say that I enjoyed their stay, though I did try. At one point the more distinguished fellow, Monsieur Ivoire I will call him, seemed to making himself slightly more agreeable than I had initially thought. I had read that others enjoyed a subtle raspberry note in Monsieur Ivoire and yes, now that it was pointed out, my impressionable self enjoyed it too. But a bit of red fruit repartee did nothing to cover up Monsieur Ivoire's indecorum in other areas. We all have our little standards and tastes and it saddens me that Monsieur Ivoire is so welcomed in other parlors but I am unable to appreciate him. Hopefully he will be loved and feted in his new home.

His cousin I am quite glad to see the back of. No regrets here, I gave up trying to appreciate his worldly ways some time ago. He may be revered in some circles but in my home Monsieur Cabochard has always been gauche. Harsh words yes, but harsh has been my experience with him. I will be glad to no longer be scrubbing his ashtray scent out of my skin and clothing. Maybe if he had taken up a pipe rather than his dreadful Gitanes I would have enjoyed some chummy moments.. but no, it is too late for any speculations. I shall not see him or his cousin again.

I hope all the best for them and not wishing to be churlish I do feel pleased to think they will be taking their rightful place in their new social circle. Charming, given to delicacy and able to show off their highbrow pedigree I expect they will both be very happy. Beaux esprits, as they were meant to be. Farewell, farewell!

BPAL Project: Dublin

Something truly must be off kilter with my nose.

"Dublin: The scent of misty forests, damp alder leaf, and the gentlest touch of white rose."

Doesn't that sound fabulous? Even a poor rendition of just one of those things would be pleasant in its own way. In the vial there is a lovely green, piney, promising waft that made me look forward to sampleing this one. My response was SO far removed that I can only blame it on my skin rather than my tastes.

Other than a brief dabble in pine shortly after application all I get from this is.. Tutti-Frutti. I can just about taste that rock candy and its sugary stickiness of fruity impressions. There is nothing unpleasant about it but mist, damp, forest, leaf are no where to be found. I will be filing this one under "try again, temporary olfactory delerium".

BPAL Project: Les Infortunes de la Vertu

Okay let's get this over with.. this is extremely boring. The drydown has some potential but this oil needs more of everything. It opens with a herbal blast that is blah men's cologne and soon a wee bit of leather makes itself know. The cologne is replaced with oak moss. When a bit of floral peeps through there is one very brief moment where this oil is prancing around playing at being Agent Provocateur. Unless you have your wrist glued to your nose you will have missed this.

The orange blossom sweetens the drydown and you can now see where this scent wants to go. Unfortunately it is too tired a leather and too muted a floral to get there. If by "monastic" the BPAL description means "an empty room" that is fairly close. This is the scent memory of someone who once slept in that cell but has been gone for some time.

"A pain-tinged, pleasure-soaked blend of leather, oakmoss, orange blossom, amber, and rose with a breath of virginal French florals and a hint of austere monastic penitential incense."

BPAL Project: Jack

Jack is all about pumpkins and their pies, their season and their sentiments. Thankfully I live in a country where the pumpkin is a blue squash your mum made you eat before you could have ice cream so my scent triggers are untainted by years of Halloween body butters, candles and LE lip balms.

Buttery and sweet Jack begins as a typical foodie scent, pleasant but who knows what will happen after an hour. The first surprise is that this oil is STRONG. Powerful pumpkin! There is a cooler scent under the warm butteriness that soon becomes quite dominant. Yes it's RAW pumpkin, at least briefly, but before I can get caught up in reflecting on raw veggies and their fragrance merits it gets very fruity in a way which eventually settles on apple. I had two people drifting in the jetstream of my sillage comment they could smell apple. By now I was starting to be bothered by this seemingly inescapable pumpkin on steroids aroma.

Too much pie, too much apples-of-autumn, too much food. It was truly beautiful for a short time. The drydown some hours later is a little harsh and waxy, dare I say stale candy corn? Yes foody scents on the way out often smell like old food. Create a very apt fragrance portrait and the brain keeps running with it down well travelled paths. Jack is nice in that it has a fresh natural quality and escapes that "you are now sniffing pumpkin" blast that some products carry.

"The scent of warm, glowing jack o,lanterns on a warm autumn night: true Halloween pumpkin, spiced with nutmeg, glowing peach and murky clove."

BPAL Project: Belle Epoque

Starting with the dreaded lily I initially thought this would be a transparent floral with soapy tones. That soon changed.

Belle Epoque dries down to a pretty sandlewood. The lily adds a certain coquetry to the sandlewood's warmth which is quite delightful.If there is any mandarine apparent I suspect it is the slight sharpness that keeps this scent fresh rather than creamy. Never heavy this is a lovely rendition of sandlewood that could be worn in all seasons. Very enjoyable!

"'The Pretty Era', France's Golden Time: an age of beauty, innovation and peace in France that lasted from the 19th Century through the first World War and gave birth to the cabaret, the cancan, and the cinema as well as the Impressionist and Art Nouveau movements. Sweet opium, Lily of the Valley, vanilla, mandarin and red sandalwood."

BPAL Project: Undertow

Long after this scent was washed off I decided that I do not like it. Some things I am indifferent to on first try and later develop a craving for; Undertow has had the opposite effect.

First impressions were unpleasantly of rotting melon. Honeydew to be exact. Perhaps this is the lotus? The melon too far gone pong disappeared quickly to be replaced by menthol. This scent is arctic cold.. the fruit gradually emerges. If you like cold scents and have a fondness for mint this is an interesting one, though the fruitiness/mint accord when most balanced has the unfortunate memory of chewing gum.

Unlike many BPAL's Undertow is STRONG. You don't need a lot and it has great staying power. I had a bit of a skin reaction to it.

Painting, "Undertow" to be found here.

BPAL Project: Coyote

Coyote is a beautiful scent, dry with a gingery tone. It has the natural sweetness of grasses and is a wonderfully autumn. The amber weaves it's way through the varying layers but it is the dryness overall that charms. This is apparently a "masculine" scent though I would not have labelled it such myself, unless the absence of florals is enough to qualify. Warm and interesting this scent is also very light.. it's staying power is good but it is not very strong. Very nicely created, it was a pleasure to sample this one.

"The Native American Creator / Trickster God of Chaos and Change. The warmth of doeskin, dry plains grasses and soft, dusty woods warmed by amber and a downy, gentle coat of deep musk."

BPAL Project: Suspiro

Suspiro "A Latin word that means to sigh or draw a deep breath, that also suggests longing, desire, yearning, and a passionate wish. Ylang ylang with white plum, white orchid, jasmine, calla lily and lily of the valley."

We begin with lily, a note I am usually avoidant of. It is only just bearable as the syrupy background mutes it. BPAL oils seem to have quite a rapid drydown and soon Suspiro is transformed into a fruity scent with lily drizzled over it. It is sweet in a pleasantly juicy way and in time matures into a beautiful summer evening scent. Very pretty. Both languid and liquid it avoids any hint of powder keeping the lily note fresh in a way new to me. Suspiro is both vulnerable and sensuous, at once desirable and a little too much. It is a scent I would miss and need to revisit on certain perfect evenings.

Photo from Fine Art Infrared Photography by Chris Maher. Many beautiful images to see there!

Suck My Spock

Surely the best album title ever.

Warp 11 is boldly hilarious. Their website offers you some sample MP3's from their 3 unique albums. A delightful antidote to Roddenberry's commie tedium vision of Our Future. See how many eps you can find references to in this song (MP3 available on the website):

From their newest album, Boldly Go Down On Me

Rage Against The Federation

To boldly go - don’t you see?
Is just a ploy - it’s a f****** conspiracy
The final frontier
Is just a lie that kills thousands every year
‘Cause you and me - don’t you see
Brainwashed at the f****** academy
This red shirt - I’ll say it loud
It ain’t nothing but a f****** death shroud

The Red Shirts are dying
The Red Shirts are dying
The Red Shirts are dying
The Red Shirts are dying

We beam down, but not back
Before the break we were under attack
“Forward!” Captain cried from the rear and the front rank died
We get the orders - we make it so
We live fast but we don’t die slow
Our bones are crushed - our blood is spilled
The prime directive is to f****** get us…

The Red Shirts are dying
I ain’t lying
What they sellin’ you buying
While the Captain’s satisfying
His itch in a ditch with some green skinned b****
And the federation grows increasingly rich

I woke up
I went up
To where the captain’s gettin’ intimate
I showed up
I strolled up
I looked at him like I don’t give a s***
He looked up
His d*** up
But it fell before my scrutiny
He stood up
He f***** up
He didn’t know it was a mutiny

Mutiny!

So we breathe our last breath
Beamed into space or choked to death
A phaser blast, a Klingon assault
Drained of blood and drained of salt
Bat’leth, poison spores
While the captain gets laid by alien whores
Our essence, understand
Distilled in a shape and crushed in a hand

BPAL Project: Absinthe

I love Absinthe. Not the drink as I've never had it but the BPAL oil. It is cold, cold, cold.. it is chilled pernod and lemon bitters. It makes you blink as it rushes into your eyes and then.. it makes your mouth water. If this was a drink I would have a serious summer addiction, its cool bitterness quenches thirsts I didn't know I had. All the more remarkable as I've had an aversion to any anise in scents, just a whisper has put me off completely. I wish this was an edt so I could buy the largest bottle and spend summer drinking it into my skin!

Staying power is poor.. this one is best as a secret vice you partake of only for you.

"An intoxicating blend containing wormwood essence, light mints, cardamom, anise, hyssop, and the barest hint of lemon."