Thursday, July 30, 2020

Thursday Movie Picks:TV Edition-TV Series Based on Movies.



Wandering Through The Shelves picked a doozy this week because there are many TV shows on air now or recently that came from a film but I don't have Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, Kootcy, Bootsy, Bugaboo blah blah blah. It will be fun to see which 3 TV shows people will choose this week. Here are my 3....

1. THE PINK PANTHER-1964(SHORTS FOR FILM)-1969-1978 PLUS MORE


The film, The Pink Panther, is from 1963 and starred Peter Sellers as Inspector Clouseau in a hilarious romp mainly in the Swiss Alps. The opening and ending to this very funny film has the iconic music from Henry Mancini with a pink panther always getting away from the Inspector Clouseau who just can't help himself. The music and the cartoon characters were so popular that Fritz Freleng, of Bugs Bunny fame, created some shorts with one winning an Oscar(or maybe an Emmy...Brain fart). Anyway, I enjoyed watching this cool pink cat evading capture by the Inspector. Sometimes The Pink Panther did get into a pickle but he always gets the better of Clouseau in the end. Later the studio introduced other cartoons to run with the Pink Panther and my favourite was The Aardvark and the Ant. It is a fun show.

2. PLANET OF THE APES-1974 (FILM WAS IN 1968)


This show did not last long, just 14 episodes, but I watched all of them showing the 2 astronauts and a chimp on the run from the ape militia who want to capture them...those darn astronauts never mind those darn, dirty apes! I was 10 when this came out and I had a real crush on James Naughton who played one of the astronauts. The first 2 episodes were actually written by Rod Serling which is pretty cool but it just never caught on and went the way of the Dodo.

3. STARMAN-1986-1987 (FILM WAS IN 1984


14 years after Starman left earth  leaving his only earth friend on her own, he comes back after realising he has a son and the son and mother have been separated. He locates the son, who has some of dad's powers, and they go on a search for Jenny-mom and Starman's great love. Of course you have a bad ass man on Starman's butt all the way through who would love to capture him and dissect him..ewwww. This was another show I really enjoyed that didn't make it through even when millions wrote in to save the series.

Which 3 would you choose?



Wednesday, July 29, 2020

Cards Galore



Different blue dye inks,egg shaped sponge, stamps, white pen, different cardstock, washi tape.

Simon Says-Anything Goes
Tic, Tac, Toe Challenge-Used the 3 on the right-Adventure, Beach, Pam Trees tttc074

I had a lot of fun creating this image first building up the blue colours to create this moonlit image. I cut out a circle to make the moon and used the sponge to colour around it plus used a piece of paper to make that horizon line. Once that was done, I stamped different stamps to create that scene that we all wish we could be right now. I finished it off with the white pen to create stars and the moon on the water.  My dear friend, who visited with me last week (did the social distance thing), told me of one of his adventures when he was in Indonesia. He took a tour of some small islands with a few other people on a very rough boat and slept in a hammock on the deck for the 5 nights out in the ocean. He saw beaches in the moonlight that just looked black against the blue, starry night along with the palm trees and remembered how bright the moon was and the stars. This man lives quite the adventure!


die-cut ornaments, sizzex machine,  perfect pearls, versamark ink stamp, brushes, water spray, colour bursts, saying sticker, ribbon jewels.

Dream Valley-Christmas In July

I took out my ornament die cut and used purple paper to run it through the machine to get this die cut. I had this smple paper I had used color bursts on-you just tap out some powder, very little,  add water and watch the colour just burst out. I used yellow and pink and kept adding and spraying until I got the desired effect. the ornament cardstock was covered with versamark ink and then covered with perfect pearls in a couple of different purples to create a shimmery effect. I spritzed it with water so the colour would not come off onto your fingers. Once the other cardstock was dry, I took the ornament card and glued it onto the colorburst card. I glued that onto a glittery gold cardstock, added ribbon, a card remnant that I placed the Merry Christmas sticker onto it with a couple of snowflakes plus the gems and there is Christmas in July. 

alcohol pearl inks, alcohol(not to drink...hic!), flowers I drew with markers, scissors, butterfly embossed die-cut, Happy Birthday die cut, blue mirror cardstock, stickers, stickles, gems.

Penny Black-In The Garden
Tuesday Throwdown-Favourite Embellishment

I decided to doodle one day just to see if I could create some pretty flowers and leaves using markers and water. I took some glossy cardstock, placed a bunch of alcohol on it and dripped some pearl ink and regular alcohol blue ink onto the card and let it swirl around. Once it was dry, I took my sizzex machine and cut out the Happy Birthday saying in both the blue and an orange cardstock piece I had. I glued that onto the mirror card and took the orange words and glue them in place. I fancy cut the flowers and placed them on using pop up dots. I filled the centre in with my favourite embellishments-gems. Finally I used the machine again to cut out the butterfly and emboss it  on a piece of coloured cardstock remnant I had used for trying out colours. I placed the butterfly down and the stickers.


alcohol inks, glossy cardstock, Undersea stencil, pearl and glitter goop, spreading knife, paints, sizzex machine, saying

Animal Friends-Fish, Whale or Dolphin

I was having fun playing around with this stencil after I took different alcohol inks to create the background. I took my spreading knife and, like icing a cake, I spread the pearl goop in some areas and the glitter goop in another and set it to dry. Once dry, I had fun colouring everything and finally added the saying at top for a card that can be used any old time. 


alcohol inks again, alcohol to spread the inks around. saying stamp and flower stamp, gold and Egyptian gold stamping embossing powder, gold embossing dye ink pad, versamark ink, gold leaf!

Crafty Creations-Anything Goes

So I am on a kick using the alcohol inks and tried to achieve a garden and sky look. I watched a youtube video and took my versamark pad and stamped the edges and took gold leaf that I have never used and placed it down to create the rough edging all around. I stamped the flowers and saying in gold and embossed in 2 different gold powders, placed it on blue shimmer paper and voila!


dark and light grey shimmer paper, cuddlebug, sticker border, orange pen, orangy cardstock with the Happy Birthday already cut out using the sizzex (see the orange Happy Birthday a couple of cards above), black saying die cut out, ball player stamp, markers, border die-cut.


This was a card for my brother who loves Baseball...all sports(almost) but he loves baseball and I had this ballplayer for years and every once in a while he comes out to play. I am so...not sports-art, film , yes-sports-no. I did hit a baseball once, in grade school and shocked all my classmates:) Anyway, my brother's favourite team are the Baltimore Orioles so I decided to colour the player all in orange since they had this type of uniform once. I looked up their uniforms and noticed they used black and grey too so this is why the colours are used this way. I took the papers and put them through the cuddlebug using different embossing folders, pieced it all together and there was his card. 

Thursday, July 23, 2020

Thursday Movie Picks-Secret Doorways/Hidden Worlds



I am on vacation for 2 weeks and am very happy about that because ...well, I am off that's all, even though I am not going anywhere. I am seeing a friend of mine...social distancing in place and it will be nice to just relax. On a sad note, I followed a blog by Rick Watson who died suddenly last week after a short illness. He actually posted the night before saying he felt under the weather and would be going to the doctors the next day but he didn't make it. This was a shock to me because, even though I never met this man, he seemed genuine, very happy, an excellent writer and photographer, who loved his wife, Jilda, their home and dogs. I am unsure if he died of a heart attack or if he had Covid or just something else but, whatever the cause, he is no longer here and that is very sad. Sorry for being a downer but I wanted to talk just a bit about this gallant man. Now on to films and this week, Wandering Through The Shelves, chose Secret Doorways/Hidden Worlds. I, again, am skipping Alice in Wonderland because, I have not seen any others but the one with Johnny Depp and even though it is not horrid, I find there are others to talk about so, here are my 3...

1. THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA-1962


You thought I would pick the excellent 1925 version but I already spoke about that one so I decided to choose this little known remake with Herbert Lom in the leading role. We all know the Phantom lives in an underground lair in the sewers of gay Paris, right under the Paris Opera house. We know the Phantom is seen in shadows scaring the wits out of everyone and killing a few, but they probably deserved it. What you don't know is how much they humanised this Phantom making him out to be a true victim with Lord Ambrose being the real villain who stole the Phantom's work and saying it was his own. Oh and it no longer takes place in Paris but London but..a sewer is a sewer. You still have Christine with the beautiful voice and the man she falls for and vice versa but it does stray from the original. I still like this film for the variation on it and for Lom's performance. 

2. HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER'S STONE-2001


Any Harry Potter film would do but it all started with this first film (well it started with the books but we won't go there...) and how I loved that Harry went through a brick pillar at the train station only to come to another train station in another world that the humans, Muggles, have no idea exist. Poor Harry is sent to his Aunt's home, as a baby by Dumbledore and Maggie Smith, to protect the boy from the evil that killed his parents. Here Harry grows up being abused by his aunt and uncle and their ugly son because they actually fear him although he doesn't know that. After many, many tries, Harry finally gets an invite to go to Hogwarts school in the Wizard world and he finds out that he is a wizard and is famous as the boy who stopped the evil..that is a lot of Ands! (I never said I was good in grammar). He is befriends not only by Hagrid, who brings him to school, but by Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger fellow students who are not afraid of him and join him on his quest to find out more. This was the start of the long film series that seemed to get better and better. The children are excellent and grew up to be just as good as when they were kids( well, not sure what Rupert Grint is doing). I love this series.

3. NATIONAL TREASURE-2004


Ok this does star Nicholas Cage who I just want to slap, but it is still a very entertaining film that makes you think about what might lurk under our feet. He plays a treasure hunter who grew up with the tales of a secret treasure hidden by the founding fathers and now he is trying to locate the goods before his former partner, played by hubba hubba Sean Bean, gets his fingers on them. With his trusty sidekick, he meets a curator, played by Diane Kruger, who, at first thinks he is a nut(not far from the truth when thinking about Cage) only to realize he is telling the truth. They must outwit Mr. Bean (heehee) and get to the treasure and show that it actually exists just like the M & M guys, Santa and the Easter Bunny do. There were 2 more sequels but I like the first one the best. 

Which 3 would you choose?
Who wouldn't love a secret doorway, I want to create one in my home and think that would be so cool. I love secret doorways. 

Thursday, July 16, 2020

Thursday Movie Picks-Male Buddy Films



Mid Summer and I can’t believe it. It is so hot that we are getting close to 40C which is nuts. Our A/C went kaput and we needed a new motor..it was hell for 2 days. I never want to be without air again. Well, we all need air but you know what I mean. This week it is all about the male buddies on film and there is so much to choose from. Wandering through the Shelves picked another great week. There are some who show great on screen but didn’t like each other off screen and others who do the job and they go on their merry way. There are other male buddies who made great movies and were great friends off screen so this is my theme within a theme and here are my 3...

1. SONS OF THE DESERT-1933


Laurel and Hardy are one of the best comedy screen teams ever and it is a shame many people, today, don’t know who they are. Many actors/comedians, today, still imitate some of the things these 2 created. This film is so funny and it reminds me of a Fred Flintstone episode. The 2 are married( to women not themselves, remember it was 1933) but they belong to some men’s club of which they attend regularly. The club has decided they will be going to Chicago to have a fun meeting. Laurel doesn’t want to oppose his wife but Hardy talks him into it. When they get home, Hardy has forgotten that he was to take his wife to the mountains. He claims illness and that he and Laurel must go on a ship to Hawaii. Somehow, the women believe them and are stunned when the ship they were on sinks. The men are horrified too because they were whooping it up in Chicago. Now they must do their best to try to get out of this fine mess. This is so funny and, I think, one of their best. These 2 men were life long friends and so close that Laurel was devastated when Hardy passed away in 1957. Laurel said he lost his best friend(which he did) and that part of him was lost. Stan Laurel died in 1965.

2. THE CHEYENNE SOCIAL CLUB-1970


This is a very funny western starring James Stewart and Henry Fonda. These 2 met in the early '30s in a theatre group that also had Joshua Logan and Margaret Sullivan in the mix. Henry Fonda married Sullivan and Stewart loved her from afar. Jimmy Stewart and Henry Fonda went to Hollywood and were roommates and had a lot of fun during this time. They were so different, from their politics to their love life but, except for one time, where they argued over politics that almost ended their friendship, they remained devoted friends. I think they made 5 films ( Joel you can correct me on this) and this is one of the best. These 2 are cowboys on the range when Stewart’s character gets a letter saying his brother died and left him this club. Thinking he can start a bed and breakfast type place, he and his best friend go to this club only to find out it is a whore house run by the wonderful Shirley Jones. Now Hank takes full advantage of the  wonders of this establishment but Jimmy is none too happy. It  is a fun film that you can watch more than once. When Henry Fonda died in 1982, Jimmy Stewart was bereft. The great James Stewart died in 1997.

3. OUT TO SEA-1997


Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau were another great team, on and off the screen. They met when they made "The Fortune Cookie" and stayed friend until Matthau died in 2000. Jack Lemmon died, almost to the day, one year later. They made a total of 10 films together not counting Kotch where Matthau starred and Lemmon directed. You can Youtube these 2 and listen to their shenanigans while on different talk shows of the day. I love Grumpy Old Men and the sequel as well as the others but I felt this film was closest to them being buddies rather than adversaries. Lemmon plays a widow who doesn't do much in his life since her death. His Brother in Law, played by Matthau, gets into constant schemes. Matthau convinces Lemmon to take a cruise with him not knowing that they are actually working on the ship as dancers for the lonely women who would like to dance. The scumbag who lords over them is played by Data, er, I mean Brent Spiner who is funny in this and tries to outwit Matthau which he doesn't do. It is a nice romance between older people ...rarely seen, where each meet women on this ship. Lemmon meets a lovely widow, played by Gloria DeHaven and Dyan Cannon is the love for Matthau... who loves her money. Little does he know he is being scammed himself. Hal Lindon, Rue McLanahan and Donald O'Connor round out the rest. This was the last film role for Donald O'Connor, Edward Mulhare and Gloria DeHaven. If you want a very nice film that makes you laugh and forget a couple of hours, then watch this. 

Which 3 would you choose? 

Thursday, July 9, 2020

Thursday Movie Picks-Globetrotting



I hate this heat! We have had over a week of very hot, very humid weather even mentioning over 40 C! I hate it!! Ok, I am done bitching, now, I love travelling and I feel so good when I can travel and can’t wait to go back to Europe. It won’t happen any time soon, not just because of COVID19 but a little thing called money...but it will happen. This week, Wandering Through The Shelves chose globetrotting and there are so many good films to choose from but I decided to stay in Europe and I wanted to choose films that did not stay in just one country so here are my 3...

1. IF IT’S TUESDAY, THIS MUST BE BELGIUM-1969


This is a favourite film of mine even though it is not a great film but I love it because you can take all the places these people go to and look at and nothing, I mean, nothing has changed. Any tour one takes today, they still visit  The Tower of London,  a cheese factory, a trip down the Rhine, see a Venetian glass blowing factory all within a little over a week. The wondrous tourists can then claim they have seen Europe...hahahaaa. I will never take a trip like that on a bus in Europe because you don’t see much at all. In this film you have the tour director, played by Ian McShane , who has girlfriends in every port, but has taken a liking to Suzanne Pleshette, a very nice tourist. On the same bus, you have a husband and wife taking their dumb ass daughter to see the sites when all she wants to do is go home...idiot, a World War 2 vet, a nice older lady, a creepy guy who is a kleptomaniac and Norman Fell and even Donovon of "Mellow, Yellow" fame. All is well and good until Ian realizes he has fallen for husky voiced Suzanne.

2. FOR YOUR EYES ONLY-1981


What would James Bond be if all he did was stay in London?  This is one of the best James Bond films starring Roger Moore in the leading role, who has to retrieve some scientific thingy under the Mediterranean Sea before the Commies get it. Of course there is a girl but this time, the girl has some brains and is deadly with  a crossbow. She is seeking revenge for the murder of her parents but she just screwed things up for Jimmy. Poor Bobo must travel to Northern Italy to meet the nasty a hole who would sell his mother for more..er...money. Anyway, the mean guy happens to be rich (what else) and the benefactor of a future Olympian figure skater who is very young but has to hots for Bobo. Now, Jim Bob realizes she is just a bit too young for his purple headed warrior and will not entertain this gal’s fantasies, but this does not mean he will not stop seeing her since he is after her benefactor. Ok, not in that way, but to kill him, kind of way. With a Greek man, and his minions, who hates the mean guy’s guts, in tow, they go to Greece, specifically Metorea. This place is a very unique set of cliffs with monasteries set on top of each craggy edifice. It is something to see for sure and is on my bucket list. This is a fun film that brings Bond back to being more mortal.

3. EUROPEAN VACATION-1985


If you can’t stand Chevy Chase then don’t bother but gosh, golly gee how I love this movie and laughed so hard when I first saw it in the theatre. The Griswald win a trip to Europe after winning  it by being on Pig in a Poke, a thinly veiled game show that looks like Family Feud, Let’s Make a Deal and Jeopardy all rolled up into one. John Astin plays a brilliant part as the lecherous host of this show making the moves on their daughter( anyone remember Richard Dawson??). They end up in Britain first where the quaint place they stay in is truly a dump and the kids have only 3 stations to watch which all show cheese.  They end up meeting Eric Idle by, literally, running into him but he is very polite about it. They end up in Germany, with my favourite moment being when Clark ends up pissing off the men in a  folk dance and they must leave quickly before they are pitchforked..I laughed so hard at that scene because they got this spot on. The Ugly American( sorry guys) is truly captured when they are in France and in Rome dressed  to the hilt as tourists thinking they fit in. when they finally are in Rome, all hell breaks loose and it is quite funny. It is not rocket science, it is dumb and I love it. Oh, When I last watched it I recognized the German town they were in...It is actually in Northern Italy called Brixen and I have visited this beautiful town more than once because I have relatives there.

I could have chosen so many more films but these are my 3...so which 3 would you choose?

Thursday, July 2, 2020

Thursday Movie Picks:Seven Deadly Sins-Wrath



I am writing this late and should be in bed but...I am not. So, this post I am behaving and will not be a cheeky monkey(see my last post if you are curious). We are dealing with the 7 Deadly Sins again and this one is all about Wrath which seems pretty on point given some of the angry people upset about having to wear face masks. Look, I am not much for having to wear a mask  especially since I have asthma, but I am wearing one because I believe in not getting this virus. Besides, Doctors, Dentists, Nurses and many others wear them for their own protection and protection for the people they are helping. This is called common sense... not taking my freedom away.. it's not about you personally. OK enough of me spouting off here so on with the show. Wandering Through The Shelves is the brainchild of the weekly film fest so head on over to see what everyone else has chosen. Here are my 3...

1. FURY-1936


I believe I chose this once before but, I had to choose it again because it was the first film that came into my head and I think it is a perfect example of mob mentality which is often run on anger, lack of control and intolerance. This film stars Spencer Tracy who is mistaken for a kidnapper and is almost lynched by a mob who set fire to the jail. Tracy is assumed dead and his grieving fiancee, played wondrously by Sylvia Sydney, comes to that town where the main perpetrators are on trial. No one is talking until newsreel footage shows the mob caught in the act. More evidence is sent to the courts proving that these men are guilty of Tracy's death but Sydney is not convinced the man she loves is dead. In fact, it seems his anger at what was done to him has consumed him. This is a powerful film that truly shows what a mob mentality can do believing themselves to be right but it also shows that revenge is equally repugnant. 

2. HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER-1973


Man, do I love this Clint Eastwood film that is much more than just a western. I can't tell you but the ending made me gob-smacked as the English say. I was so not expecting that and yet, it all made sense. There is a dusty, sad little town that has the typical, saloon, hotel, barber, church etc... and the townsfolk seem typical but all take notice when a stranger comes riding into town. He quickly kills off 3 no good jerks before taking this slutty lass into the barn for some monkeying around(here I go again). Afterwards, he proceeds to get a shave and a bath before the townsmen request he save their little town from a group of bad men who are coming in 3 days. He takes them up on his offer but not before they do what he says. This film brings on a new meaning to painting the town red. Eastward is always great as the western anti-hero with no name and you are left wondering why he hates this town and the people so much until the ending. Another must see.

3. FATAL ATTRACTION-1987


Oh my, my, my....boys can get themselves into a sticky wicket. In this case, we have the horny Michael Douglas who is "happily" married with a daughter. When his wife goes away for the weekend with their daughter, he ends up having a very steamy weekend with a woman he met. Talk about monkeying around on the kitchen stove, counter...against the fridge! (Monkey again?)....they had a good time.  Good ole Michael thinks it is done until the gal he cooked with, played so well by Glenn Close, starts showing up and calling. At first he feels it is nothing to worry about but she becomes more insistent to the point he becomes quite frightened (Beware of anyone saying "I will NOT be Ignored!" in an eye bulging freaky sort of way). He moves his family to their home in Connecticut  hoping the nut will go away but, think again(Hasenpfeffer, anyone?). She is now very angry, scorned with hellfire in her eyes kind of gal. This was a huge film that created a lot of discussion about men who have roving eyes and, I think, there was some brief dip in infidelity at that time because of this film and some major stories that hit the news all around these years(Remember Bobbitt? I think that happened after this film came out-a couple of years, or so, later). This was a thriller/horror movie that made me think of that film Repulsion(a great movie as well). Anyway, A good film to see

Which 3 would you choose?