Nº 14: Kate Weir
Kate swings by to rec mudlarking, wedding powerpoints, unusual toast combinations, and much more.
We’re back with UX designer Kate Weir. Read on to find out what she’s into, and if you’re new here, hit subscribe for secret recommendations every Monday and Wednesday.
Kate is a UX designer & 1/2 of electro-pop band dogbit. You may recognise her from the provisional driving license she dropped outside the pub.
☞ BLEACHING UR EYEBROWS: Low-cost, high fashion. Worth it for the sheer variety of looks people give you e.g. bankers on the tube like you’d whip them silly / colleagues on zoom like they know the HR policy means they can’t ask in case it’s an illness. I used Jolen creme bleach, which took a few applications to get them frosty white & not ginger. When you’re bored, re-colour them with a box-dye of your choice.
☞ RE-WATCHING ‘EVACUATION’: My 9-year-old self had 3 ambitions: Tudor maid, grape crusher of ancient Greece, WW2 evacuee. Twelve lucky city kids had my dream come true when CBBC sent them steam-training into the countryside with a colossal ham sandwich and a gas-mask. Bye bye 2006, hello wartime Britain. The show follows them as they settle into life on a 1940s farm without their Motorola flips & modern hairstyles (this one kid who’d been growing his hair for 6 years gets a bowl cut within minutes of arrival and slips into an identity crisis as a result…very peak, amazing TV). Needless to say, it remains a must-see – the kids’ intro VTs alone are a gold-standard of the medium. Watch it here.
☞ LONG-TIME NUCLEAR WASTE WARNING MESSAGES: Growing up, my sister would sharpie ‘DO NOT EAT, DAD’ on all her chocolate bars in the fridge. If my sister was a nuclear power plant manager, my dad future humans, and the chocolate bar nuclear waste, then ‘DO NOT EAT, DAD’ would be a (bad) example of a long-time nuclear waste warning message. The problem of how to deter people from happening upon nuclear waste repositories in futures beyond language and culture was given its own research field in the 80s called nuclear semiotics. The results range from embarrassingly small minded (essentially ‘DO NOT EAT, DAD’) to extremely elaborate. A personal highlight entails genetically modifying pet cats to glow in the presence of radioactive emissions & creating a legend to cement the idea ‘cat changing colour = move away’ in the collective awareness. You can buy a t-shirt from the Ray Cat Solution online store, the capitalist equivalent of sitting round a fire telling tales of old.
If you want to delve deeper into this topic, then the Wikipedia page ‘Long-term nuclear waste warning messages’ is a good place to start. The documentary Into Eternity, whilst overusing the imagery of a burning match, makes a fascinating watch.
☞ MUDLARKING: Maybe I enjoy mud-larking because it’s a reminder that people have been scattering their lost possessions around London since the dawn of time. On a nice day, it’s very zen to be on the Thames foreshore looking for little treasures amongst the mud and stones with only the rhythmic lull of the waves for company – it’s a rare occasion where my mind feels truly empty in a nice way. I haven’t yet found anything of historical note, but I did find a glass bottle stopper which I now use as a ring holder (omg sustainable!). I would recommend waterproof footwear – I don’t have any and have been burned by the wake of a passing Uber boat soaking my trainers through on multiple occasions.
Check the low-tide times, consider getting a permit (technically a legal requirement – I’ve never seen the foreshore police but have heard tales they do exist), and follow some mudlarkers on Instagram for inspo – @charlie.collects & @london.mudlark have amazing collections of finds.
☞ WEDDING POWERPOINTS: Never seen one in the flesh, only been to two weddings in my life, truly believe a PowerPoint is essential for wedding speeches. In my extensive research for GSTS I found Tobe Woodbine’s ‘The PowerPoint Best Man Speech’ on Youtube –the guests are howling and the jokes aren’t even funny, genius.
☞ DYEING CLOTHES: I decided this year that pink is a colour I shouldn’t wear. I had a lot of pink clothes I liked the cut of, so instead of getting rid I dyed them brown. I now have 5 lovely brown pieces that I wear all the time! Also good for getting your favourite jeans back to their store-fresh jet black. Bleaching is riskier business & potentially garment damaging – I wouldn’t necessarily recommend spraying Cillit Bang on your clothes, but I have done this with pleasing results.
You’ll need different dyes for different fabric types – always check the label and do a bit of research. In general, for natural fibres you can use a machine dye – just chuck the pod of dye & your garments in the washing machine and run a cycle, very quick and easy! For synthetics, you’ll need a synthetic dye and to boil your clothes in a big metal pot on the stove whilst constantly stirring - more effort, but fun witchy vibes. Try to do tester where you can (cut of a bit of excess fabric around the seam). Colour theory applies, but often in mysterious ways. I find that black dyes for synthetics never work out how you wish – no matter, you can always bleach!
☞ UNUSUAL TOAST COMBOS: Caffeine makes me jitter & blush with the slightest change in the wind. To wake myself up I opt for extremely acidic and salty toast combos instead (+ a big huff on the vape).
Kimchi + chipotle paste + hummus
Sauerkraut + fermented black beans
Butter + Dijon mustard + lemon juice
Mango pickle + feta + cucumber
Turkish Red Pepper paste + mayo + gherkins
♪ LISTENING TO: The dogbit playlist ;)
☠︎ HATES: Losing all my possessions each & every week
TY Kate! Follow Kate here. Keep up-to-date with new dogbit gigs and tunes here.
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