Meet Hooten the Owl

Aug 312006
 

Hooten the OwlIsn’t he wonderful? He has such a annoyed expression there. Hah!

I was roaming around through Union Square one day and I happened upon this find. He was the only one on the shelf and demanded to be brought home.

Gund really does make some wonderful plushes. He’s soft and squishy, yet can stand upright on his own. And the coloring of his “feathers” is well blended. His eyes are clear and open and not covered by “feathers,” as is often the case of owl plushes.

So often it’s hard to find a good plush owl. And this one was a wonderful find. He has a rather dignified attitude about don’t you think?

Have a wonderful day! :)

“Night Visit” by Mark Ryden

Aug 312006
 

Night Visit by Mark RydenI’ve always wanted to learn to paint so I could create cool, creepy images like this one.

This is one of his paintings from his collection entitled Blood: Miniature Paintings of Sorrow & Fear. The collection features ten tiny paintings and each radiates a haunting beauty.

With some, “Wound” for example, it’s shock that registers first, but then you look past that and see the softness of the colors he chooses, creating an almost angelic aura over the horror that is there.

There’s something creepy too about the children all having large heads. It gives them a doll-like innocence, yet dolls can be scary too. And some of them have huge, open, sad eyes, that at times seem too real.

These paintings are well done and enchanting to behold.

His other collections are just as enlightening, but this is the one that speaks to me most.

———————————–

And since I love to use artwork as inspiration:

Writing Prompt: What’s the little demon critter in “Night Visit” up to? Bet there’s a fun story in there. Or a poem, or even just some rambling freewrite. Enjoy!

The Dark Queen by Susan Carroll

Aug 282006
 

The Dark Queen by Susan CarrollI found The Dark Queen by Susan Carroll to be a whole lot of fun. It’s a historical romance set in 1572 when Catherine de Medici rules the throne in France.

Airiane Cheney is Lady of Faire Isle, a title bestowed upon her after the death of her mother, and a Daughter of the Earth (a healer). She takes the her mother’s former role reluctantly, and continually questions how well she can aid those around her, having little faith in herself.

A captain arrives on Faire Isle and seeks out Airiane’s help to prove that the queen, Catherine de Medici, has murdered another queen, Jeanne of Navarre, through the use of poisonous gloves. She agrees to help and we quickly find ourselves deep in a plot of intrigue.

She must contend with the Dark Queen’s solders seeking out the gloves as well — evidence must always be destroyed you know. There are also witch hunters out on the prowl and as a Daughter of the Earth, they see her and those like her as witches too. As their guardian, she must protect and care for her younger sisters, Gabrielle and Mirabelle, too. Plus, there is the dashing Comte de Renard, who is vying for her attention and filled with his own dark mysteries as well.

Yes, this story is one that’s chock full of adventure, mystery, humor, love, and all those great moments in between.

A wonderful book indeed!

Deadwood Season 3 Finale – What a Let Down!

Aug 272006
 

Deadwood FinaleMan, I was psyched to watch this episode. I’ve been pacing all day. All season there has been this wonderful tension building between the town of Deadwood and Hearst. I expected a showdown or some sort tonight.

Nope.

What I got was Alma selling her gold mine to Hearst. WHAT THE!?! She spends all season not willing to sell it and just hands it over in the end.

We also see Hearst win at having bought the elections so Bullock isn’t sheriff. But, wasn’t Bullock elected sheriff in real life? It makes no sense.

And then a cocky Hearst leaves smugly at the end too.

This episode seemed like they tried to give everyone two minutes on screen and being that it was a short episode, it left for a choppy plot. They have the fire engine arrive and we never get to see it together. Why bother having that story line? I figured there would be a fire at the end.

And why have the theatre people at all? So they can go on and on about delaying the opening of the show? Langrishe had potential as a character, but his storyline too never went anywhere.

Tolliver’s just gone crazy. There’s nothing that character does that I can even attempt to understand any more.

And there’s all this finagling with Wu and Hawkeye to get men there and for what, just to stand around?

Plus, HBO did some smart ass maneuver too by making the episode start seven minutes late. Then for some reason, in the last few minutes, the screen froze and went black. We lost about three minutes of an Al scene there. Lovely.

The episode was a huge let down. I’m just disgusted.

*sigh*

Now that I’ve ranted I will point out that I do like Jane and Joanie together and loved that Charlie gave them Bill’s coat. Plus, I liked the Sol/Trixie moment when Trixie comes back after being tossed out too. And Charlie waking Hearst in the middle of the night and getting snippy with him was a nice scene as well.

And that’s that.

Deadwood Costume Design

Aug 262006
 

Deadwood CostumesHBO’s site has this great feature on that you should check out. If you are a fan of the show, like I am (YAY!), then you may find it interesting to see how and why the costumer selected what she did for character wardrobes.

For example, she talks about how Swearengen’s look started as more formal English attire and ended with him wearing just his baggy long johns under a suit. Plus, something I never noticed while watching is that the fourth button on his jacket is a golden nugget.

Another fun one to see is just how she helps make EB look wilty and cowardly by the ruffles and colors she chooses.

All in all, a well done feature.

A Poem: Gettin’ That Fix

Aug 252006
 

A poem written in haiku stanzas:

Gettin’ That Fix

Ravenous, wild eyes
show the truth that lies inside,
creature in his soul.

Sickness lives within,
immense hunger festering,
unquenchable pain.

He begins twitching,
an addict craving that fix,
aching, “Just one hit!”

A child sits nearby
trembling, crying for mother,
eyes frozen in fear.

Pulse, thud, thud, the beat,
life blood courses through the child
with a steady pace.

An itch pulls at him,
luring that succulent bite,
of pure ecstasy.

Urge satiated,
casually, he creeps on,
stalking his next prey.

Cast from Deadwood Who Also Made Appearances in X-Files

Aug 222006
 

I noticed a few familiar faces in Deadwood, having seen the actors before in X-Files episodes. So I went through the list of the cast to see who all appeared in what episodes. Here’s what I found:

Whitney EllsworthJim Beaver (Whitney Ellsworth in Deadwood)

He was the coroner in the X-Files season 6 episode, “Field Trip.” I don’t remember him in this episode. I need to re-watch it.

Dan DorityW. Earl Brown (Dan Dority in Deadwood)

He played Robert M. Fassl in the X-Files season 9 episode, “Underneath.” Being that I only suffered through seasons 8 and 9 once, I thankfully can’t remember much of the episodes then. But I like this guy. Perhaps I should watch his episode. Only I don’t own the DVDs for those so-called seasons either. :P

Doc CochranBrad Dourif (Doc Cochran in Deadwood)

He played Luther Lee Boggs in the X-Files season 1 episode, “Beyond the Sea.” And he did an amazing job on that character too!

Side note: He played Grima Wormtongue in Lord of the Rings. Great stuff! Yeah.

Sol StarJohn Hawkes (Sol Star in Deadwood)

He played Phillip Padgett in the X-Files season 6 episode, “Milagro.” I adore his role in this episode. Creepy kinda writer. Fun, indeed! :)

Side note: He played George in the Buffy the Vampire episode, “I Only Have Eyes for You.”

E.B. FarnumWilliam Sanderson (E.B. Farnum in Deadwood)

He played Edward Funsch in the X-Files season 2 episode, “Blood.” Excellent role.

Silas AdamsTitus Welliver (Silas Adams in Deadwood)

He played Doug Spinney in the X-Files season 1 episode, “Darkness Falls.” This is one of my favorite episodes! YAY!

And that’s about all I’ve noticed so far. I’ll end with a video done from clips of the episode “Milagro” with Alanis Morissette’s “Uninvited” playing fittingly in the background:

The Lone Gunmen: Why it Went So Dreadfully Wrong

Aug 212006
 

The Lone GunmenI had this DVD collection sitting on my shelf and thought it was time I got reacquainted with the show. I love the trio of The Lone Gunmen, Langly, Byers, and Frohike. They each charmed their way into our hearts through their initial appearances on The X-Files. At the initial launch of this series, many of us X-files nuts were excited for obvious reason.

Then I watched the pilot episode and suffered through episode 2, “Bond, Jimmy Bond”, and episode 3, “Eine Kleine Frohike,” only to be reminded at what went so very wrong with this show. *sigh* It’s sad, it really is. Breaks my heart when I really think about it.

The first episode starts off with over the top acrobatic feats by having Frohike suspend himself from the ceiling, ala Mission Impossible style, in an attempt to retrieve a chip. It’s stunts like these that push the limits for what the Lone Gunmen were originally meant to be.

I did catch in the credits that the characters, Frohike, Langly, and Byers were based off of the characters created for The X-Files. Based. Did you catch that? Based. They were no longer doing the things we fell in love with them doing. Sure, the actors did well with what they had here. And I feel bad for them that the writer’s perverted their story so.

That right there was mistake number 1. Let’s move on to number 2: Adding the annoying sidekicks.

Next we meet Eve. She is disguised as a man initially, but as soon as she changes clothes, it’s vixen spy, here to stay. She comes as a complete vixen spy set, donning black leather and super high, often trampy heels. *groan* The actress even has a habit of sashaying those hips a little too hard in what I imagine is her attempt at being sexy. Sadly, it too falls short. And that’s just the beginning of poor acting that’s seen in that character.

Add to that dopey Jimmy. The All-American good ol’ boy that’s just about as bright as a dim 20 watt bulb. Let’s have another groan. *groan* Yep.

Don’t get me wrong. The show does have it’s moments. And I do love the trio. But man, what the creators did to this show just bummed me out. And that’s about all I can say about that.

Freewrite Inspired by “The Nightingale” by Ida Rentoul Outhwaite

Aug 162006
 

The Nightingale by Ida Rentoul Outhwaite“Mr. Moon. How you hide from me tonight. But I can see you still, tucked behind those branches there.”

Bethie concentrated hard on the moon, hoping she would feel its rays again instead of the shadow that seeped out of the bushes. She knew if only she could remain in the moonbeam until dawn, she would be safe. She shifted to her left, careful not to sit on her hair, and centered herself into the fey light again.

“Please don’t hide yourself from me,” She whispered as a tear fell from her eye. “I’m sad is all. That doesn’t mean you need to hide. It’s ok to be sad sometimes you know. Just stay with me.”

She rested her head on her knees and shivered. The day had gone dreadfully wrong. She never felt more alone.

Just then she heard the soft sound of water moving to her left. She looked up to see a skinny toad crawling onto the grass beside her. She eyed the toad over carefully and noticed that he stared awfully hard back at her.

“Hello, Mr. Toad. Good evening to you,” she said politely.

“Good evening, child,” the toad responded.

Bethie gasped and backed up toward the tree. “You…you…can talk?”

“Naturally, my dear,” he chuckled.

“But….but you’re a toad!”

He replied, “Indeed I am. And you, child, are a girl with wings, and one that talks to the moon….and toads no less.”

Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby

Aug 152006
 

Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby“The story of a man who could only count to #1”

I have a hard time remember the name of this movie and have taken to referring to it as the flick with Will Ferrell wearing a Wonder bread suit. Hey, it works for me. :P

In the movie, Ferrell plays, Ricky Bobby, whose mission in life is to go fast and to be number 1. And that about sums it up. He has the trophy wife and two sons named, Walker and Texas Ranger. Tells you what kinda humor it is right there, eh?

Ricky’s best friend, Cal Naughton, Jr., is the one who helps keep him in that #1 NASCAR spot. He’s played by John C. Reilly and he does a great job with this character. Highly entertaining dimwit of a guy Cal is. Hah!

What is Ricky to do when arch nemesis, Jean Girard, challenges him for that #1 spot? Oh no! :P Jean is an over the top French character, who naturally dons a Perrier branded suit.

Over all, there were a lot of great performances in this one too. Ferrell and Reilly of course, but also Gary Cole, Greg Germann, and Molly Shannon, who all gave wonderful performances in this movie!

This movie is chock full of good time laughs. It’s the kinda movie where you don’t have to think about anything, you can just zone and relax. And sometimes that’s all you want from a flick.

So go see it, sit back, laugh, and have a good time!

 Older Entries