I had fun making this card. My friend, VJ, chose the colours from my colour bursts. I sprinkled a little dust from the bottle, added water and voila! He chose a blue, green and a yellow. I think you see more blue but I think it turned out quite well. I proceeded to create the night scene with stamps that are, at least, 15 yrs old. They got stamped in basic black. I took a branch, at least 20 yrs old and just stamped a slight image of an evergreen on the right side. I tore up paper and sponged on a "surface" so it looks like everything is where it should be. I didn't realize, until later, that the small pumpkins look like they are near a pond. I took out some colour from the big pumpkin to make it stand out more.
Wandering Through The Shelves picked a toughie this week but I hope I chose well...
1. SATAN'S SCHOOL FOR GIRLS-1973
I don't think I've seen this since it appeared on TV back then but I still recall Kate Jackson( the smart Charlie’s Angel) coming face to face with a cult on campus. Pamela Franklin's sister turns up dead by suicide but she doesn't buy it so she goes undercover atvthe school to find out and becomes good friends with Kate's character. It's campy, a bit scary for this young kid but still good.
2. GUYANA TRAGEDY: THE STORY OF JIM JONES-1980
I remember when the Jim Jones mass suicide and murder happened and I sat, riveted, to the TV listening to the events that happened before, during and after this nutbar took himself and over 800 people with him, many willingly to the Koolaid death. This film soon came out on TV and is quite good re-telling of this evil a hole and how people succumbed to his charms where he could do no wrong. I’d love to see this again…
3. THE X FILES-1993-2002
Well, of course this show dealt with cults and these cults always seem to take place in quaint small towns, of course. Muldaur and Scully go to investigate each one, over the years with some seeming to hit close to home like when Muldaur feels he had been at that town before and that he lived a previous life. All are quite entertaining because…it’s the X Files!
These 3 are biggies when it comes to scary movies. Boris Karloff made it big as the monster in Frankenstein and appeared as a sinister being in many other films but he was a gentle soul who loved to garden. One time, still dressed as Frankenstein’s monster, he went home, in the Hollywood Hills, to water his garden but didn’t count on a neighbour frightened out of gourd. Next thing, cops came rushing and he had to explain who he was.
Vincent Price played in many films but is most famous for his ghoulish turns in some great and some campy horror films plus he lent his voice to many shows including the Thriller video with Michael Jackson who stiffed him by never paying him…jerk. Vincent was a very mild and gentle man who adored his first wife and loved to cook and loved art. In fact, he wrote books on both and was considered an expert.
Christopher Lee is known for his sinister looks, deep voice and sinister characters like Dracula. To be honest, he would be the most scary since he was part of the OSS during World War 2 and could not talk about his experiences but let’s just say, he probably was a Bond type. He was a voracious reader, loved meeting great minds like Tolkien and he loved to sing. A couple of years before he died, he made a heavy metal album!
I’m joking the Monday Music Moves Me over at Curious As A Cathy and here I picked 3 that connect directly to these 3 horror icons…
1. I CANT ESCAPE FROM YOU WITH BORIS KARLOFF AND ROSEMARY CLOONEY-1957
I can’t believe I found this gem that is from the Rosemary Clooney show and showcases Karloff’s comical side. By the way, Karloff was the narrator for “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas”.
2. YOU’VE GOT A FRIEND WITH VINCENT PRICE AND THE MUPPETS-1977
This is from the Muppets first season and it’s a gem, at least, I think it is. Who doesn’t love the Muppets.
3. NAME YOUR POISON SUNG BY CHRISTOPHER LEE
This comes from a campy film that I now must see called, “The Return of Captain Invincible” that stars Alan Arkin and Christopher Lee. Lee actually has a good baritone voice and has sung many songs over the years and made more than one album.
I have to add one more which is just eerie and comes from a TV show called , “The Haunting of Hill House”….quite eerie, if you ask me.
Here we go…I started this on the 6th and am finally posting it. Oh well...hahaaa
MOVIES
1. CHEVALIER-2023
This is a true story based on an African American man sent to France for formal education when he shows an amazing ability with the violin to his white Americanslave owner dad. He could create music as well but we never heard of him because...guess. it's really quite a good film.
2. RUNAWAY JURY- 2003
This stars John Cusack, Gene Hackman and Rachel Weisz in a courtroom thriller that has many twists and turns and you wish this would happen. Thats all I'm going to say.
3. SIXTEEN CANDLES-1984
I stayed up and watched this teen show, from my time, although I was 20, not 16. Its not bad even though I am not a Molly Ringworm fan. Basically, she turns 16 and her family has forgotten because her older sister is getting married. She also has the hots for this guy who is a jock not knowing he has noticed her. It's dumb but I like the music and, I think, the actress, who plays her sister, and the actor who plays the foreign exchange student, steal the picture.
4. MY COUSIN VINNY-1992
I finally saw this comedy, which is pretty funny, about 2 young teens arrested for robbery and the one calls his Uncle Vinny to be his lawyer. To say he is uncouth is a mouthful and his brooklyn girlfriend would agree. It's a sweet comedy but I'm still in disbelief that Marisa Tomei won the Oscar for her role.
5. EQUALIZER 3-2023
I enjoyed this film just like I did the first and second one. Denzel is great as the man who can't be stopped. He ends up in a small Italian town on the Amalfi Coast that is bullied by a big, mean bad guy. He's not, literally, big, but this bad guy is rich. It is a good action thriller with heart.
6. LIFE ITSELF-2014
This is a documentary on one of the best film critics, Roger Ebert, who, with his TV partner, Gene Siskel, made film critics fun. We see Ebert in the last few months of his life when, to be honest, is difficult to see because he no longer has any jaw and can no longer eat or drink due to cancer. He can still write and you find out about his life and his love of film and his love for his wife. It's quite compelling especially learning more about his relationship with Siskel.
TV SHOWS
1. DIGGING FOR BRITAIN-2010-2020
I love archeology and this show is great! It's from the U. K. and Alice Roberts narrates and stars in this program showcasing some great finds from the ancient world and even the more recent, like World War 2.
2. QUANTUM LEAP-2022-PRESENT
I finally saw the new series of a show I love from the late 80s/early 90s starring Scott Bacula and Dean Stockwell of the same name. This show is the same but more to it and I'm enjoying it. I like the actors and the new premise built on an old one.
3. 10 STEPS TO DISASTER-2023-PRESENT
I love watching shows about actual disasters...I'm a bit weird that way. This is well done because it goes through each part step by step. They had programs on the Boston marathon bombing, Mount St. Helen's and the earthquake In Japan. Well thought out.
4. STAR TREK: STRANGE NEW WORLDS-2022-PRESENT
This is an excellent instalment of the Star Trek franchise that takes place when Capt. Pike, and his magnificent hair, is in the chair of the Enterprise. I love that #1 is a woman and then we have an array of people, including Mr. Spock who all must deal with many events each time. We have the dreaded Gorn who look nothing like the rubber suit Gorn from the original Star Trek to a cross over episode with the animated Star Trek: Upper Deck which was really fun. Worth checking
Halloween edition over at Wandering Through the Shelves and this time it’s about the workplace. Sometimes, we’ve been in a workplace that conjures up…say it with me…”The Horror….the horror” but usually, we just go to work, work, gab, check out YouTube, work some more, go to the loo, gab and go back home.
Before I forget, from yesterday’s post, the song that won the Oscar was “The Way You Look Tonight”, while, “I’ve Got You Under My Skin,” was nominated and my favourite song, “Let’s Face the Music and Dance” got nothing! Anyhoo, I thought of 3 films that made me think of horror in the work place and here they are…
1. CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON-1954
This is a film where even Marilyn Monroe felt bad for the creature but it was the 1950s and creatures like this deserve to die at the hand of scientists. Oops…spoiler alert but no big surprise. You have scientists who find a skeleton of a half man/half fish in the Amazon and travel there to investigate more. The one scientist, who is too good looking to be a scientist, brings is hot girlfriend along for the ride because who wouldn’t want to go into the insect nuts, piranha watered, huge snake filled Amazon jungle? Forget Paris, Vienna and Munich..I’m there baby! I want to have something crawl up my anal cavity to lay eggs and…ooops, I’m going off on a tangent here. Anyway, the scientists have their workplace on location not realizing they are being watched by this Aquaman who takes one look at the gal and falls in gill lust for her. It’s actually quite a good movie that has spawned sequels but this is the best one to see.
2. SE7EN-1995
I would say nothing is more horrific than man and, considering what’s going on in the world, I think you will agree. This is the most horrific of the 3 films I chose because it’s too real and sad but it’s an excellent film. Morgan Freeman plays an experienced detective who takes his partner under his wing, played by Brad Pitt. Brad is married to Gwenyth Paltrow( they actually got together while making this film and then he woke up, became sane and ran) and are happy but she sees that Brad has a bad temper and it’s made worse by this diabolical killer who is killing people in the manner of the seven deadly sins. It’s not a film for everyone, there’s no ffreaky zombies or Jason's around, just evil people or person, in this case.
3. SHADOW OF THE VAMPIRE-2000
Sorry! I wrote this on my IPad last night and thought it took but it didn't!!!
Willem Dafoe plays Max Schrek( German for Terror) hired by F. W. Murnau( played by John Malkovich)to portray the Vampire, Nosferatu, for his film that was made in 1922. Murtaugh has a lot of stress on the set not the least is Schrek who is a real vampire. The film company is told that Max likes to always be in character so they never suspect that he really wants to suck their blood. Willem deserved an Oscar nod for this role that he made quite comedic especially when Schrek was high on laudanum. I enjoyed this film that took actual people who made that German Expressionist film and created a whole story o the making of. It's all fictional but it's highly entertaining.
Sorry for this screw up and any grammar and spelling errors.
So night...day and can I find a song that connects with an Oscar contender? Yes, I can and I chose 1936 as the year. Over at Monday Music Moves Me, you can find out how many songs fit day or night. Now, let's see if you can guess correctly who won the Oscar, who was nominated and who got nuttin'.
1. I'VE GOT YOU UNDER MY SKIN SUNG BY FRANK SINATRA
This song comes from the film, "Born To Dance" written by Cole Porter. This is a very famous song made very famous by Frank Sinatra but has been sung by many.
2. THE WAY YOU LOOK TONIGHT SUNG BY NAT KING COLE
Nat King Cole is such a great singer and died way too young but he did this song justice. This comes from the film, "Swing Time" and was written by Jerome Kern(music) and Dorothy Fields(lyrics).
3. LET'S FACE THE MUSIC AND DANCE SUNG FRED ASTAIRE
This is a haunting song that is one of my all time favourites. This comes from the film, " Follow The Fleet" written by Irving Berlin. When they danced this number, Fred got slapped so hard by Rogers' dress that he was almost knocked off his feet! You can see it hit his face if you look close enough. Often Rogers co-designed her dresses much to Astaire's chagrin. This dress was made with sequins and beads which was very heavy. It looks beautiful though.
So, who won, who was nominated and who came up empty-handed?
I hope Wandering from Wandering Through The Shelves is ok because she did not have her post up for last week for the tourist theme. This week it’s all about the new person whether it’s a new girlfriend/boyfriend, mom/ dad etc… I went with the new gal in town and hope you like my picks and here they are…
1. REBECCA-1940
A suave, filthy rich, brooding man, played by Lawrence Olivier meets shy, mousy, sweetie, Joan Fontaine and, after a whirlwind romance, they marry and he brings her back to his house, Manderley. Manderley is a nice cottage…oh please! It’s a big ass mansion that I would love to wander through which has the biggest fireplaces I’ve ever seen. So, in comes the new Mrs. who feels intimidated from the get go when she meets the staff and some of his “friends” especially the head housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers. To say Mrs. Danvers is creepy is an understatement and she is played wondrously by Judith Anderson who deserved an Oscar for this performance as the off balanced, totally devoted to the first Mrs. DeWinter (Rebecca) head housekeeper. Mrs. Danvers is so devoted to Rebecca that she does all she can to drive the new Mrs. DeWinter nuts and good ole Larry doesn’t seem to do much to help his new wife out. Joan Fontaine won an Oscar for her role and the only actress to ever win in an Alfred Hitchcock film.
2. CAT PEOPLE-1942
A nice young man meets a beautiful young Serbian woman and they fall in love and marry but before you can say, “Let’s do the humpty-dump” she says, in that Meat Loaf song kind of way, “Stop right there!” Because she is scared she will become a black Panther and kill the man she loves. She feels she comes from a long line of panther women and that, when she has sex, the Panther will come out and strike. This is a film by Val Lewton known for creating atmospheric movies based more on suggestion than actual gore or scream type movies. It’s very artistic and still leaves you unsettled.
What does this picture have to do with disguise? Absolutely nothing! I just like it and wanted to use it because my dear friend VJ took this photo when we were at Lake Erie one year and he is coming to see me this weekend. Over at Curious As A Cathy, she has up the Monday Music Moves Me and it’s all about disguise. So let’s get on with the show…
1. ANGEL IN DISGUISE SUNG BY MARION MANN-1940
She has a beautiful voice and does this song Justice which comes from a film called, “It All Came True” originally sung by Ann Sheridan. This was composed by Paul Mann and Stefan Weiss with lyrics by Kim Gannon.
2. THE DEVIL IN DISGUISE SUNG BY CHRIS ISAAK AND LEANN RIMES-2009
This song, written by Bill Grant, Bernie Baum and Florence Kaye back in 1967, was originally for and made famous by Elvis. It was quite popular for the last theme and understandably so. Elvis does the song Justice but I wanted to go with someone different and found this version with Chris and LeAnn. Hope you enjoy..
3. JUDY IN DISGUISE SUNG BY JOHN FRED AND HIS PLAYBOY BAND-1967
This is a fun song despite the sounds of some sex in the backseat of his studebaker sounds the lead singer makes. It was written by John Fred and his fellow band mate, Andrew Bernard.
I enjoyed creating this card with the Tim Holtz dies that I placed on a gelli roll and placed the white cardstock on it. When I lifted it off, I had this neat leather like background. I took a paintbrush, dipped it in water and took off some of the colour around the lantern. Oh yes, I stamped the fairy and the owls in black. I added yellow around the lantern to make it look glowing. I stamped some foliage around the edges and glued it down on the green cardstock. I ended up adding purple stickles around the edge and on the fairy’s wings.
I hope I created a good card that I was inspired by the book from the Library Challenge. I think this card looks like Autumn and I love owls. The dies worked for this Happy Little Stampers challenge.
October and it's horror time...I'm not too much into the grisly stuff but I shall do my best. Ive seen plenty of tourists and have been one myself and some are quite scary( hopefully not me). Wandering through the Shelves always loves a good spooky movie or scary so here are my 3...
1. THE UNINVITED-1944
OK, I spoke about this one before but I love it and it works here. Ray Milland and Ruth Hussey are brother and sister who are on a scenic trip through the English countryside and his sis falls for a house owned by an old timer and his granddaughter, played etherially, by Gail Russell. Without knowing it, this house is haunted but that doesn't put bro and sis off. This is a truly great ghost story and mystery with the moody lighting and scenic views adding to this story.
2. JAWS-1975
If you haven't seen the film, you at least, know about it. The July 4th holidays are approaching and the tourists are coming to the island to swim and have fun. Unfortunately, Bruce, the shark, has decided that humans taste real good and the sheriff, played by Roy Scheider, wants to shut down the beaches. “Not by he hair of my chinny, chin, chin," says the mayor in his horrible suits. Well, things don't go well and the sheriff along with a marine biologist, played by Richard Dreyfus and crusty sailor, Robert Shaw, decide to kill poor Bruce. It's great even after all these years and so is the making of documentary where we find out the mechanical shark kept breaking down so Spielberg named it Bruce after his lawyer.
3. PIRANHA-1978
So, this is not the best flick but it’s the 2nd one that popped into my head, after Jaws. This came out the same year as Jaws 2 and there was rumblings of suing until Spielberg mentioned this movie in a favourable light. Anyhoo, the piranha were given some great shit that made them meaner and loving flesh so they could be released in the rivers of Vietnam to win the war. Alas the government, being morons, never got around to sending the piranhas to Vietnam, so they are kept locked up in some place where people come to have fun including a camp for kids. Of course, the piranhas are freed from their area and are able to swim freely to where everyone has fun. This is campy and dumb but I was still scared of these toothy buggers. They have remade the film, of course, but this one is still the campiest best.
It’s Masquerade, disguises or Truth week over at Monday Music Moves Me which is with the beautiful Cathy at Curious As A Cathy. U am going with masquerade and hope you enjoy the musical choices.
1. ALL HALLOW’S EVE BALL BY ALAN SILVESTRI-2004
This piece is from the film, “Van Helsing” which is not a great film by any means but I always enjoy watching it. This piece takes place in a wondrous ballroom filled with Vampires who are dancing and in a circus way with twirling and people flying through the air like we see in the circus. The costumes are exquisite and I love this scene. You can go to YouTube and see this scene as I wanted to just concentrate on the musical piece.
2. MASQUERADE SUITE BY THE ST. PETERSBURG ORCHESTRA-2018
I love this piece which was written by Adam Khachaturian in 1941. Yup, it's a new one since I thought it was written in the 1800s. I can easily see people waltzing to this dressed up with a bit of the sinister involved.
3. MASQUERADE BY THE FILM CAST-2004
We all know Phantom of the Opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber which broke many records on the London stage and Broadway. This is a musical film version of this musical hit with Emma Rosson in the lead as the love of the Phantom played by...Gerard Butler! He doesn't have the strongest voice but I do need to see this again.
Can you think of Masquerade songs or disguise songs?
CHILDREN: 5 daughters with 4 going into show business
KNOWN FOR: his soft and mellifluous voice that could be used in such a sinister manner which he attributed to his elocution lessons he had when he was young.
This man is a great character actor who could steal a picture away from the stars, like Steve McQueen and James Garner and Bond, James Bond, Sean Connery. He was known to play evil characters but also heroic ones like Dr. Loomis in several Halloween movies. He has always been one of my favourite actors even in the many schlock flicks he made. He was known not to turn down roles which is why he is credited with over 200 film roles never mind TV roles and the theatre where he was nominated for 3 Tony Awards.
He always wanted to be an actor and strived for this so, when Britain entered WW2, he labeled himself a conscientious objector because of his pacifist belief until London got repeatedly bombed. Seeing first hand, the Blitz of London, he entered the war and became an aircraft wireless operator. He flew over 60 missions in a Lancaster bomber until they were shot down in early 1944. Donald parachuted out but when he landed, he was surrounded by Germans and when they started to act all “Heil Hitler” he started to giggle not thinking they actually acted like he saw in parodies. They did not take kindly to this and he was sent to a POW camp where he was beaten and tortured. He finally was free once the war ended and started right back up in acting. By the time he played the gentle forger in “The Great Escape”, he had quite a few roles under him including a heralded TV performance in a Twilight Zone Episode. His role in The Great Escape wasn’t that far off and, initially rebuffed by the director when Pleasance wanted to give some ideas about the POW camp, the director changed his tune when he was told that Pleasance was a real survivor of these camps.
Along the way, he had 4 marriages and had 5 daughters but often said he had 6 but that, I believe, was because one of his wives had a daughter from a previous relationship. 3 of his daughters became actresses, Angela, Miranda, Polly Jo and Lucy..oh, that’s 4:). The one daughter did say he had trouble with alcohol but quit cold Turkey around 1980.
We know him mostly from the Halloween films playing the psychiatrist, Dr. Loomis who keeps trying to get nasty Michael from killing…and killing…and killing. His other famous role was as Ernst Blofeld, the very first time we actually see this evil SOB in the Bond films. He played him so well that Mike Myers used Pleasance’s version for his Dr. Evil character in the Austin Powers movies. I’m pretty certain he would have loved to be in these movies. Did you know he was on Saturday Night Live?
