Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Halloween Hotness 4 - Vamp Lestat Anyone?


Stuart Townsend...oh so very yummy. Sparky's choice is Amy Lee of Evanescence and I give her two thumbs up. She's gorgeous! Now Click Me and go visit Sparky and see more Stuart and Amy. And be sure to check Sparky's tomorrow for the final wrap up of hotness, where in I lay waste to the theory that Goth's have no sense of humor :P

Scroll down for my Wordless Wednesday!

Wordless Wednesday # 36 - They're Creepy And They're Kooky



Monday, October 29, 2007

Halloween Hotness Pt 3 - Biff! Bam! Boom! Batman


Part 3 is up kiddies! <----click me!

Ladies, for your pleasure we have Batman himself, Christian Bale. And gentleman, you get a lovely lady named Serena Star - I approve!

In addition I posted the link for a Gothic Modeling site. Guys..Sparky approved so be sure to take a peeky. But be sure to read the info prior to viewing. So head on over to Sparky's and take a peek.


And with that I am off!

I Like Candy When It's Wrapped In A Sweater - Halloween Hotness Part 2!




Click Here to check out Part 2 of the Hotness. More Johnny and Spark's choice of the gorgeous Rose McGowan!

Click the pic of Johnny above to visit Oh Johnny, the fan site!

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Cat People - Putting Out Fire With Gasoline

Now this is what I call Halloween Hotness!




That is my soon to be new Kitty Kat. A major wrong will be righted and I shall once again be the owner of a black cat. And Harley, aka Destructo, will have someone to play with. Name poll will be in the works soon for your input and help. So far Bram, Gabriel, Zillah, Dante, and Sabbath are high on the list.

And yes, a cat THAT gorgeous can only be a Kissables Persian!

Friday, October 26, 2007

Halloween Hotness Pt 1

I love me some Halloween. I also really love me some Gothy Halloween Hotness, so I was quite tickled when Sparky from Philly Transplant asked me to help out with the his 5 Days of Halloween Hotness to celebrate all that is dark and sexy about Samhain. Which ain't the Banshee, let me tell you. Sparky makes a good point, Halloween has become more of an adult holiday than ever before. And by adult I mean way too many people stuffing themselves into way to many inappropriate costumes. Makes ya wonder what Rachel Ray does for Halloween, no?

You still breathing Matt?

In light of this, don't you think it is wonderful of Sparky and I to provide you with really pretty eye candy? Part 1 is currently up on Sparky's blog. Look for Part 2 this weekend with 3-5 following Mon - Wed.

Go on...Head on over to Sparky's and I promise you we will Treat You Right. No Tricks!

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Thursday Thirteen #32 - We Are Spirits In The Material World

For your Halloween TT Pleasure I bring you 13 spooky places to visit. Some I have been to, some I would love to visit, and others I'd have to think long and hard about venturing in!


1. The Bell Witch Haunting - Tennessee
She was reputedly so scary even Andrew "Stonewall" Jackson retreated before spending a full night at Bell Plantation. The malicious entity that plagued a Tennessee farmhouse in 1817 ended in the only known murder by a poltergeist. The problems began when John Bell saw a strange animal in his cornfield dissolve into thin air. Soon, the family heard scratching at the doors and windows, then gnawing sounds started coming from inside the house. Within a year, the presence began speaking and threatened to kill John. The fame of the "Bell Witch" spread, and even Andrew Jackson came to dispel the spirit. Nothing worked. John Bell was beaten so mercilessly by the presence that his tongue swelled and he could barely eat. A doctor prescribed a tonic, but the witch bragged it poisoned it. "I've got him this time," it bellowed, "He’ll never get up." John went into a coma and died on December 21, 1820. Then, the witch promised to return to wreck havoc on John’s descendants, and it plagued the Bell family again in 1827, 1852, 1861, 1935, 1977, and 1988. Today, the apparition of a demon woman and eerie balls of light are seen gliding over the Bell farm, and the so-called Bell Witch Cave near the family cemetery is haunted by chains rattling and inhuman screams.


2. Eastern State Penitentiary - Opened in 1829 as part of a controversial movement to change the behavior of inmates through "confinement in solitude with labor," Eastern State Penitentiary quickly became one of the most expensive and most copied buildings in the young United States. It is estimated that more than 300 prisons worldwide are based on the Penitentiary's wagon-wheel, or "radial" floor plan.



Legislation specifying "separate or solitary confinement at labor" was passed.
Many leaders believe that crime is the result of environment, and that solitude will make the criminal regretful and penitent (hence the new word, Penitentiary). This correctional theory, as practiced in Philadelphia, will become known as the Pennsylvania System.

Plans are finalized to prohibit all contact between prisoners at Eastern State, the world's most ambitious Penitentiary, now nearly ready for its first inmates. Masks are fabricated to keep the inmates from communicating during rare trips outside their cells. Cells are equipped with feed doors and individual exercise yards to prevent contact between inmates, and minimize contact between inmates and guards.

Some of America's most notorious criminals were held in the Penitentiary's vaulted, sky-lit cells, including bank robber Willie Sutton and Al Capone. After 142 years of consecutive use, Eastern State Penitentiary was completely abandoned in 1971, and now stands, a lost world of crumbling cell blocks and empty guard towers.



3.Waverly Hill Asylum
Waverly Hills Tuberculosis Sanatorium was built on a mountain ridge in Louisville, Kentucky in 1910 through the efforts of several prominent Louisville residents who were concerned about the spread and treatment of tuberculosis. When the hospital opened, it had 8 patients, but it soon reached its capacity of 40. At the time, Jefferson County had one of the country's highest rates of tuberculosis, a highly contagious, sometimes fatal lung disease characterized by coughing, hemorrhaging, fever and shortness of breath. The hospital offered plenty of bed rest and fresh air as well as some surgical methods of treating the disease,and was thought to be an excellent facility. In 1924, the hospital was expanded to house 400 patients.

As the number of patients and workers grew, a community developed on the hospital grounds. Most employees lived there. Some shared large homes, while doctors had private residences for their families. A dormitory-type building was constructed for nurses.
Almost all the employees' needs were met on the premises. The doctors and staff could order groceries from the hospital's storeroom and make other purchases at the gift shop. The hospital raised hogs for a while to provide meat. A bus made daily stops, and a former patient began making taxi runs there. The hospital also held Protestant and Catholic church services each week.

Many people died at the hospital, and because hospital officials were concerned that the sight of hearses would be bad for morale the bodies were sent to the bottom of the hill through a steam tunnel, also known as the body chute. There was a morgue on the first floor that was used for autopsies but the majority of the dead were processed through the body chute to the receiving morgue off the hill.


4. Pirates House - Savannah, GA
Pirate's House Tavern - 20 East Broad Street - Now a popular family restaurant, this rambling clapboard home dates back to the 1750's and was once an inn for sailors and swashbucklers. In Robert Louis Stevenson's classic, "Treasure Island," Captain Flint died here in an upstairs room, and his ghost is said to still tread its boards - a literary figure who has taken on an (after)life of his own. Employees have also reported laughter in empty rooms and poltergeist-like activity in the Herb House, one of the restaurant's dining rooms. Although this house was once the home of famous pirate Jean Laffite, it is the ghost of another notorious pirate, known as Captain Flint, who haunts the place. It is said that as he lay on his deathbed, he kept calling to his First Mate, Darby McGraw, to bring him more rum. Today, his cries are still heard by visitors to the restaurant that now occupies the house. His scar-faced phantom has also been seen roaming in the basement tunnel. The tunnel, big enough to drive a bus through, was discovered during renovations. It leads to the river and probably served as an escape route for pirates trying to make it back to the sea. Pirate's House is at the corner of East Broad and Bay Streets.


5 . The White Eagle Tavern - Portland Oregon Kidlet and I have acutally been to the White Eagle and yes it IS haunted. Both of us have had other guests, so to speak, in the bathrooms with us.

For non-believers in ghosts, strange things happen there, unexplained sounds, doors unlocking and locking, odd noises, and toilet paper flying through the air. The tavern opened in 1905 and served as both a tavern and a brothel. The upstairs, with it's thirteen rooms was the white brothel, and the basement was the location of the black and Chinese prostitutes. Being a typical whorehouse of it's time, a number of violent, premature deaths happened there.

The upstairs portion, which was closed off until recently, when it was renovated and opened for overnight stays, is reportedly haunted by at least two spirits. One is rumored to be the ghost of Rose, one of the prostitutes who was killed by a jealous lover. Her story is interesting and will be explored in a later node. The other is the ghost of Sam, who lived a solitary existence in the rooms until his death in 1955. His spirit is seen from the street below, staring out the window. Doors in the upstairs portion lock and unlock by themselves, according to the tavern's owner, and some clothes of Sam's left in the abandoned rooms move about by themselves.

The basement ghosts are unidentified, but they have manifested themselves by strange noises, unexplained voices, physical pushes and other unexplained phenomena.

Some of the oddest occurrences in the White Eagle are the toilet paper incidents. Something in the building likes to play with toilet paper. One tavern patron engaged in a playful tp tossing fight in the women's bathroom thinking her friend was in the next stall, only to find noone there. The owner says toilet paper rolls often unroll themselves into piles on the bathroom floors.




6. The Myrtles Plantation - Baton Rouge Louisiana
General Bradford (builder of The Myrtles) had a fourteen-year-old daughter, who married Judge Clarke Woodruff. During his days as master of The Myrtles, Woodruff took one of the plantation slaves named "Chloe" as a mistress. He moved her up to the house to make their arrangement more convenient, under the guise of having her care for the Woodruff children. Chloe took advantage of this situation, however. To gain power, she began to eavesdrop on the conversations of Judge Woodruff and his guests. Although he warned her against this practice many times, she was caught on one occasion when the Judge had several influential friends in the gentlemen’s parlor. He had to punish her to save face, so he had her left ear cut off, and she was banned from the main house and returned to more harsh work elsewhere on the plantation. From that point on, she wore a handkerchief wrapped around her head to hide the defect.
Chloe reportedly longed for the comfortable work caring for the kids, and soon hatched a plan to return her to the former position. Woodruff’s nine-year-old daughter was having a birthday party, and Chloe volunteered to make the cake... but she laced the cake with a potion brewed from Oleander leaves. Her plan was that when the children got sick, she would treat them with an herbal cure and appear to have miraculously cured them. She must have misjudged the dosage, though, because two of the children and Mrs. Woodruff died from eating the poisoned cake.

The Judge had been away, so he returned home to find that he was a widower. As the slaves were questioned, those who knew about Chloe’s dark plan turned on her. When Judge Woodruff learned what had happened, Chloe was hung from one of the plantation trees. When she was dead, her body was cut down, her pockets and clothes stuffed with rocks, and her body dropped into the river.

Not long after that, stories of Chloe’s presence in the house began to circulate among the staff and family. Today, the housekeepers lock the house up at night, only to return the next morning to find chairs in the parlor rearranged, and other furniture moved out of place. During tours, as ladies pass through the doorway to the gentleman’s parlor where Chloe was caught eavesdropping, an earring is sometimes snatched by an unseen hand. The staff regularly finds earrings in the oddest places, and write it off to the fact that Chloe loves earrings, but only needs to take one, since she only has one ear.

These stories and more continue to be a part of The Myrtles Plantation, a hauntingly wonderful place to visit.


7. Marie Laveau Tomb and The Cemeteries of New Orleans
A "free person of color," Marie Laveau was the illegitimate daughter of a rich Creole plantation owner, Charles Laveaux, and his mistress Marguerite (who was reportedly half black, half Indian). Marie was probably born about 1794. At the age of twenty-five she married a carpenter named Jacques Paris, also a free person of color, who soon went missing and was presumed dead. Following the custom of the time, she began calling herself the "Widow Paris." Soon, she entered a common-law marriage with one Christophe de Glapion with whom she would have fifteen children, but as late as 1850 a newspaper still referred to her as "Marie Laveaux, otherwise Widow Paris" (Tallant 1946, 67).
The Widow Paris learned her craft from a "voodoo doctor" known variously as Doctor John, John Bayou, and other appellations, and by 1830 she was one of several New Orleans voodoo queens. She soon came to dominance, taking charge of the rituals held at Congo Square and selling gris-gris throughout the social strata. Marie worked as a hairdresser, which took her into the homes of the affluent, and she reportedly developed a network of informants. According to Tallant (1946, 64), "No event in any household in New Orleans was a secret from Marie Laveau." She parlayed her knowledge into a position of considerable influence, as she told fortunes, gave advice on love, and prepared custom gris-gris for anyone needing to effect a cure, charm, or hex.

If she did not actually save anyone from a sentence of death, she allowed such stories to flourish. "The Widow Paris thrived on publicity," observes Tallant (1946, 58). "Legend after legend spread about her and she seems to have enjoyed them all."

The legend of her perpetual youth is easily explained: She had a look-alike daughter, Marie Laveau II, who followed in her footsteps. About 1875 the original Marie, bereft of her youth and memory, became confined to her home on Rue St. Ann and did not leave until claimed by death some six years later. "It was then," reports Tallant (1946, 73), "that the strangest part of the entire Laveau mystery became most noticeable. For Marie Laveau still walked the streets of New Orleans, a new Marie Laveau, who also lived in the St. Ann Street Cottage."


8. Hammond Castle
Hammond Castle is majestic Medieval-type structure built on the rocky shores of Gloucester, completed in 1929. It was the home and workplace of a wealthy, eccentric genius named John Hammond, who was one of the great inventors of our time. During his lifetime, Hammond traveled widely, outfitting his castle with incredible centuries-old furnishings and relics. Being a consummate inventor, he also integrated somewhat bizarre features into the structure, such as indoor fog and rain devices and secret passageways, not to mention a magnificent pipe organ of his own design. He called the house his "Abbey by the Sea" and often entertained many of the notables of his day there. At night, he would sit in a monk's robe reading philosophy by candlelight, behaving as if he were in a monastery. Hammond died in 1965 and is buried with his pet cat near the castle.. Unfortunately, at his behest, the entire burial area is covered with poison ivy, so "no one can bother me."

No wonder then, that this strange place has a history of odd sights, sounds, and energies. Stories of spirit entities here mainly revolve around sightings of Hammond, his wife, and his black cat, though the staff there have confided to a select few that there are more entities here than just those three, including one groundskeeper who died there tragically, and still others who are unidentifiable.

Today, Hammond Castle is a museum, and walking tours are available. The castle and grounds can be rented for special occasions, and group tours can also be arranged. If anyone has been to this remarkable place and taken any pictures, we would love to see them. Please post to the message board below if you have further information, pictures, EVP's or stories to share about this marvelous and mysterious place.

9. The Catacombs of Paris
"Far below the city streets of Paris, in the quiet, damp darkness, seven million Parisians lie motionless. Their skeletons, long since dis-interred from the churchyard graves their survivors left them in, are neatly stacked and aligned to form the walls of nearly one kilometer of walking passage." I have actually been to the Catacombs of Paris and it is one very intense place. The feeling of being in a crowd is pretty overpowering. Even when you are in a alcove completely alone.


10.The Tower of London - Another of the places I have visited. Again there is just such an intense feeling of being in a crowd. It is of course impossible to not be impacted by the history of the place especially if like me you are a fan and student of English History. Here's a sort of who's who of Tower Ghosts:

During her long and illustrious 900 years, The Tower of London has developed a reputation as being one of the most haunted places in Britain.
She has been home to beheadings, murders, torture and hangings, as well as being a prison to Nobles. Thomas A. Becket is "the first reported sighting of a ghost at the Tower of London."

During the construction on the Inner Curtain Wall, Thomas appeared apparently unhappy about the construction, and it is said he reduced the wall to rubble with a strike of his cross. Henry III’s grandfather was responsible for the death of Thomas Becket, so Henry III wasted no time building a chapel in the Tower of London, naming it for the archbishop. This must have pleased Thomas’ ghost because there were no further interruptions during the construction of the wall.

The Bloody Tower was the scene of the infamous disappearance of the two princes; Edward V (12) and Richard Duke of York (10), who are thought to have been murdered in 1483 on the probable command of the Duke of Gloucestershire, who was to be crowned Richard the III. According to one story, guards in the late 15th century, who were passing the Bloody Tower, spotted the shadows of two small figures gliding down the stairs still wearing the white night shirts they had on the night they disappeared. They stood silently, hand in hand, before fading back into the stones of the Bloody Tower.

These figures were identified as the ghosts of the two princes. In 1674 workmen found a chest that contained the skeletons of two young children, they were thought to be the remains of the princess, and were given a royal burial not long afterwards. The story of the little princes is still to this day a heartbreaking story. They are "among the most poignant ghosts" in the Tower of London.

The most persistent ghost in The Tower of London is the ghost of Queen Anne Boleyn. The King, Henry VIII, after learning the baby she carried for nine months was a boy and still born, accused by her of infidelity. She was taken to TOWER GREEN and was beheaded on May 19, 1536. Queen Anne appears near the Queen’s House, close to the site where her execution was carried out. She can be seen leading a ghostly procession of Lords and Ladies down the aisle of the Chapel Royal of St. Peter ad Vincula. She floats down the aisle to her final resting place. Queen Anne is buried under the Chapel’s altar. Her headless body has also been seen walking the corridors of the Tower.

Sir Walter Raleigh lived quite comfortable compared to others who were imprisoned within the walls of the Bloody Tower. His "rooms" are still furnished as they were in the 16th century, and can be seen when visiting the Tower today. He was executed by James I, and has been seen looking exactly as he does in his portrait hanging in the Bloody Tower.

The most grisly execution and thus haunting is that of the 70 year old Countess of Salisbury, the last of the Plantagenets. King Henry VIII had her executed for political reasons. The feisty Countess refused to put her head on the block like a common traitor. When her executioner came after her she ran, but was pursued by him, with his axe in hand hacking at her until he had hewn the Countess to death. Her ghost has been seen reliving this truly gruesome act. Also the shadow of a great axe has been seen falling across the scene of her murder.

At one time the Tower of London was home to the Royal Menagerie. Lions, leopards, bears, birds, monkeys and an elephant, that was a gift from the King of France, were kept on exhibit. On the stroke of midnight in January of 1815 a sentry saw a bear from this menagerie emerge from a doorway. He lunged at it with his bayonet, it passed right through the apparition. The Sentry was later found unconscious, it is said he died of fright within two months of this encounter.

Something unseen and very frightening is in the Salt Tower. This is one of the most haunted areas of the Tower of London complex. This is a very old section, dogs will not enter this ancient building, and ever since one of the Yeoman Warders was nearly throttled by a force unseen, they will not go in the area after nightfall.

In 1864, a soldier whose post was to guard the Queen’s House at the Tower of London, saw a apparition so real, that after ignoring the soldiers three challenges, he charged with all his might at the intruder with his bayonet, only to go straight through the figure. He was found unconscious at his post and was court-martialled for neglecting his duty. Luckily there were two witnesses who corroborated his story. The soldier was eventually acquitted.

Lady Jane Grey is another tragic story of a young life cut short at the Tower, due to the actions of others the most despicable of who was her own father. She was the granddaughter of Mary (Henry VIII younger sister) and Louis XII of France. The Duke of Northumberland would lose everything if Henry VIII’s son was to die and Mary, who was Catholic, would become queen. He and her father arranged her marriage to his son and persuaded her cousin Edward VI to name her his successor in case of his death instead of his two half-sisters. When Edward VI died she was crowned Queen of England, but the supporters of Mary overthrew her.

Her own father got scared and in hopes to save his own skin, left the Tower of London and went to Tower Hill to proclaim Mary I, as the Queen of England, Lady Jane never left the tower; she and her husband were immediately imprisoned and sentenced to death. Queen Mary carried out the execution of Lady Jane’s father-in-law but set both Jane and her husband free. Her father was involved in a rebellion against Mary I, Lady Jane and her husband were again placed in the tower. Lady Jane watched as her husband was taken to Tower Hill where he was beheaded. She saw his body being carried back to the chapel, after which she was taken to Tower Green where she was beheaded. She was only 17 years old.

Lady Jane Grey’s ghost was last seen by two Guardsmen on February 12, 1957, the 403rd anniversary of her execution. She was described as a "white shape forming itself on the battlements". Her husband, Guildford Dudley, has been seen in Beauchamp Tower weeping.

Catherine Howard escaped from her room in the Tower of London. "She ran down the hallway screaming for help and mercy. She was caught and returned to her room." The next day she was beheaded. Her ghost has been seen sill running down the hallway screaming for help.

Other strange sightings at the Tower of London have been "Phantom funeral carriages" and “A lovely veiled lady that, upon closer look proves to have a black void where her face should be."


11. Raynham Hall England
In 1713, Lord Townshend married Walpole's handsome sister, Dorothy. She was his second wife, and is reputed in the gossip of the time to have been previously the mistress of Lord Wharton, "whose character was so infamous, and his lady's complaisant subserviency so notorious, that no young woman could be four and twenty hours under their roof with safety to her reputation."

Lady Townshend was buried in 1726. But there is a tradition that she did not die in that year and that the funeral was a mock interment.

Instead, she is rumoured to have been locked up in the house by her husband. This is why the ghost of "Dolly" Townshend, the "little brown lady of Raynham," is said still to haunt the oak staircase of the house in the twilight. Currently, a famous ghost picture is said to be her, being known as the most famous picture of a ghost to date. (see above...CREEPTASTIC!)


12 The LaLaurie House
Delphine Macarty LaLaurie was the daughter of an aristocratic Irish officer in the French service. Delphine Lalaurie and husband Dr. Louis Lalaurie bought the house at 1140 Royal St. from Edmond Soniat du Fossat in 1832.The three story mansion was somewhat plain on the exterior but the inside was another matter. Delphine LaLaurie was the ultimate social "Creole Lady". She had wealth, social standing, and was regarded as one of the social elite of New Orleans society.

She threw lavish dinners with the most elegent suroundings and her slaves attended her guests every need. Delphine's invitations for dinner and parties soon became quite coveted. Her demeanor was that of a refined lady with inpecable manners and the social graces that only came with the finest breeding. At least that is what appearances were. Delphine's slaves however must have cringed at the attitudes of Delphines highly respected guests, For they knew a very different Delphine LaLaurie.

Rumors have it that Delphine kept her cook chained to the fireplace in the kitchen...and many of Delphines slaves dissappeared without explanation. House slaves came and went...and so did stable boys. In 1833 A neighbor wittnessed Delphine chasing a house slave girl on the upper balcony with a whip in hand. The slave girl was screaming and running from Delphine, no doubt she knew the wrath of her Madame. She jumped to her death rather than face that wrath. An investigation insued and Delphine was fined and her slaves were confiscated and sold at auction for mistreatment....but Delphine badgered one of her realitives into buying back the slaves at auction and soon they were returned to Delphine.

After the rumors of her harsh treatment of her slaves Delphines dinner and party invitations were polietly declined by many of New Orleans polite society...But the rumors would turn into pure horror on the night of April 10 1834. A fire broke out in the kitchen of LaLaurie MaMaison. Some say it was the cook herself who set the fire to avoid any more of the unbearable torture.The slaves of the house tried to extinguish the fire themselves but finally had to call the fire department. When the firemen arived and started going through the house ...what they found would horrify New Orleans to their very roots!

In the attic were slaves chained to the walls...some had been mutilated. Many were dead. Some were in cages like dogs, some had missing limbs, some had no limbs. There was a female who had her mouth sewn shut. Some had their eyes poked out...some had metal spikes through their heads There was another whose bones were broken and re-set in odd diections. The gruesome discovery was to horrible to imagine.

The gruesome tales spread quickly and a lynch mob soon gathered outside the LaLaurie House. They were demanding the hanging of Delphine and Her husband. Delphine and her husband fled in the middle of the night in their carriage and boarded a boat for unknown parts. There are many rumors that they lived in Europe and other places...I don't think that anyone knows for sure what happened to them.

The house sat empty for about 60 years...and then was re-built after the Civil War. But rumors of horrible apparations and unspeakable screams and noises haunted every owner since. It has had numerous uses and owners...but the one constant factor about the LaLaurie House is that "It is Haunted to this Day!! Just recently the new owner while remodeling discovered skeletons of humans under the floorboards in the back of the House...Could this be what happened to all Delphine's missing slaves?


13. Bonaventure Cemetery - Savannah
Bonaventure Cemetery, in Savannah, Georgia, is located on the site of a plantation originally owned by John Mullryne, whose daughter Mary married Josias Tatnall, Sr. The wife of Tatnall's son, Harriet Fenwick Tattnall, was buried on the plantation in 1802. Legend has it that when the plantation caught fire during a dinner party the owner had the dining room moved out of doors and the dinner continued while the house burnt to the ground. The plantation was converted to a cemetery in 1868, and was originally called Evergreen Cemetery; its name was changed to Bonaventure Cemetery in 1907. At night time legend has it you can hear the clink of glasses. It is also the home to The Bird Girl Statue made famous by Midnight In The Garden Of Good And Evil. We plan on visiting Bonaventure next summer!

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Wordless Wednesday #35 - The Virginal Brides File Past His Tomb




A not quite Halloween Themed Wordless Wednesday just for Helen from West of Mars. The Ultimate Goth Anthem, Bela Lugosi's Dead - Bauhaus.




Monday, October 22, 2007

She's A Promise In The Year Of Election

That's right. Me and the duck billed platypus. Rare, baby, yeah!






Your Personality is Very Rare (INFP)


Your personality type is dreamy, romantic, elegant, and expressive.

Only about 5% of all people have your personality, including 6% of all women and 4% of all men
You are Introverted, Intuitive, Feeling, and Perceiving.



I ride a steel horse, too!






Your Karaoke Theme Song is "Livin' On a Prayer"


You believe the best things in life are mostly forgotten, and you're definitely more than a little nostalgic .
You're likely to still like the same foods, fashions, and music as you did when you were a teenager.

You have a knack for knowing what elements of pop culture people have missed, without them even realizing it.
It's great to remember the past, but don't forget that not everyone is as stuck in it as you are.

You might also sing: "Pour Some Sugar on Me," "Rapper's Delight," and "Cherry Pie"

Stay away from people who sing: "Toxic"



Well I have yet to use flash, so yeah.






You Should Get an Abstract Tattoo


Artistic and unique
You're the most likely type to personally design your tattoo



Here is the funny part, I hear or see EQ and think Evercrack :P






Your EQ is 140


50 or less: Thanks for answering honestly. Now get yourself a shrink, quick!
51-70: When it comes to understanding human emotions, you'd have better luck understanding Chinese.
71-90: You've got more emotional intelligence than the average frat boy. Barely.
91-110: You're average. It's easy to predict how you'll react to things. But anyone could have guessed that.
111-130: You usually have it going on emotionally, but roadblocks tend to land you on your butt.
131-150: You are remarkable when it comes to relating with others. Only the biggest losers get under your skin.
150+: Two possibilities - you've either out "Dr. Phil-ed" Dr. Phil... or you're a dirty liar.



Ooh...deep thoughts! Although everything listed is a favorite of mine






Your Scholastic Strength Is Deep Thinking


You aren't afraid to delve head first into a difficult subject, with mastery as your goal.
You are talented at adapting, motivating others, managing resources, and analyzing risk.

You should major in:

Philosophy
Music
Theology
Art
History
Foreign language



Just so long as my karma does not run over my dogma






You Are More Yin



Feminine
Devoted
Forgiving
Fall
Winter
Afternoon
Moon
Time
Passive
Metal
Honey

Saturday, October 20, 2007

YOU MUST VISIT!

I visit Ascender Rises Above every Wordless but it occured to me that those of you who do not participate in that Meme are totally missing out. I don't normally pimp anything that involves you spending money so you know this is gotta be good. And this was unsolicited so don't be getting all pay for post snotty on me, anyone.

Ascender has the most gorgeous ornaments available and I will be purchasing a few for christmas this year. Check these out and go visit. This is one of my favorite places on the web.

Ascender Rises Above

Shop Ascender Here

Friday, October 19, 2007

The Tracks Of My Tears



I was recently honored with another Blogger Blingage award courtesy of John over at Altjiranga Mitjina and I am of course blushing again. Thank you for your kind words John and back at you. I can count on you for tips on great under appreciated music and a fellow Buffy fan is ALWAYS fine by me!

And in a Karmic twist, procrastination on handing out MY award choices has paid off. First off let me say that the folks I read and visit on a regular basis are a diverse and fabulous bunch of people. All of them are worthy of this award.

But today I want to recognize one person in particular. Vinny Bond over at the Big Leather Couch has a beautifully written and very well thought out post up today about a special young man. Please, go read it. Get your kleenex and go read it. Bond made me cry, AT WORK and then I was forced to eat a donut to regain my equilibrium. Bond, my ass says, "DUDE!! WTF!!"

Seriously.

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

I Am Stretched On Your Grave & Will Lie There Forever - Thursday Thirteen #31

For this weeks Halloween/October themed Thursday Thirteen, I give you my list of spooky Halloween songs for you Spooky Party pleasure!



1. Boogieman - Rob Zombie

2. Bela Lugosi's Dead - Bauhaus




3. The Ghost In You - The Psychedelic Furs

4. Every Day Is Halloween - Ministry

5. Ghost Town - The Specials





6. Halloween - Siouxsie And The Banshees

7. Dead Souls - Joy Division

8. Pet Cemetery - The Ramones






9. Sympathy For The Devil - The Rolling Stones

10. Devil Inside - INXS




11. Trick Or Treat - London After Midnight

12. All Hallows Eve - Type O Negative

13. I Am Stretched On Your Grave - Sinead O'Connor or Dead Can Dance.




Sinead's Version



Monday, October 15, 2007

She's A Witch Of Trouble In Electric Blue

Lordy I am not into Mondays.

WTF is Star Reynolds doing on House Hunters?!

Sorry...that just threw me for a loop. So anyhow...Mondays. Bleh. Suckage. Pissy. Dropped Kidlet off at school and then got to enjoy a fabulous commute populated with dill wads who have completely forgotten how to drive in rain. And they chose to decompensate in front of me. Joy!

And then ...work.

Gotta win the lottery. Gotta buy a ticket first. Yeah.

Hit the store on my way home from work and then got home and decided I wanted fried eggs and toast for dinner. So that is what I had. Watched Weeds as it was conveniently on at 7 (?!) tonight. That is a perk of having like 10 Showtime channels available! Season 3 is pretty darn good so far. Even the Olson twin is pretty good. And so far Season 2 of Dexter is kicking major ass. Dexter is easily my favorite show on TV. It just squeaks out Weeds. I am actually digging the plot device on Weeds that added Peter's ex wife. At first I was sceptical. But the mammogram scene won me over. And Dexter's addiction problem? Awesome! I was wondering what the plan would be on Dexter as they used the first two books for Season 1 and the third book was not out yet. So far, their original plots have been great. Showtime is, hands down, the best television out there.

Kidlet and I are reading Anne Rice's Witching Hour and doing a book club. It's kinda fun to get her take on things. Of course we have to stop reading and go look stuff up when we are unclear on the the history of something. Like Electroencephalograms.

Yes we are weird.

Saturday, October 13, 2007

"I Don't Drink Vine, And I Don't Smoke Chit"

Um....no.

What Your Halloween Habits Say About You

A bit of an introvert, you like the special occasions just as much as everyone else. You just have your own unique way of celebrating Halloween.

You often feel invisible when you're in public. And it's a shame, because you're really quite a character.

Your inner child is stubborn and a bit bossy.

Your fears are irrational and varied. It's hard to predict what you may be afraid of on any given day.

You're prone to be quite emotional and over dramatic. Deep down, you enjoy being scared out of your mind... even if you don't admit it.

You are a traditionalist with most aspects of your life. You like your Halloween costume to be basic, well made, and conventional enough to wear another year.
What's Your Halloween Personality?



If I could be an Anne Rice Vampire I'd do it :P

You Could Be a Vampire... If You Had To

Like most people, the thought of being a vampire has crossed your mind. But you're not sure if you'd do it, even if you could.
Living forever doesn't sound half bad, if you could live forever with the people you love the most.
But do vampires even love? And would the vampire version of you even be you?
It's all too much to contemplate. Luckily, the chances of you ever becoming a vampire are astronomically low.

What you would like best about being a vampire: Living forever

What you would like least about being a vampire: Blood stained teeth


Perfect!

Your Vampire Name Is...

Jezebell of the Ghastly


Ok but I wanna be like Imelda Marcos and have a lot of shoes, ok?

Your Monster Profile

Insane Dictator

You Feast On: Grass

You Lurk Around In: Movie Theaters

You Especially Like to Torment: Pop Stars


"It puts the lotion on it's skin or else it get's the hose!"

See, THAT is creepy. I am just mildly off :P

You Are Creepy

Serial killers would run away from you in a flash.


Again, just NO! Try Twix. Kit Kat. The Classic Hershey! The only thing Butterfingery about me (gross, I know) is my ability to drop shit.

Butterfinger

They call you sticky fingers for a reason!

Friday, October 12, 2007

The Jubilee Act

Here is the latest on the Jubilee Act from One.org. Please, take a moment and email your representative and ask them to support this important bill. Rather than email 4 people I am putting the challenge out to you guys to take 2 minutes and make a difference.

" If you've ever fallen behind on your bills or watched a friend struggle to make the monthly payment on a credit card, you know how devastating debt can be. Now imagine entire countries in the developing world—countries already struggling to lift their people out of extreme poverty—facing mountains of debt they didn't ask for and can't afford to pay.

Across the developing world, from Haiti to Lesotho, countries that should be distributing AIDS drugs, building schools and fighting hunger are trapped by billions of dollars of debt—debt often racked up by corrupt rulers who used the money to enrich themselves and used the future of their terrorized people as collateral.

A bill in Congress would cancel that debt for countries that commit to using the savings for poverty reduction, giving dozens of nations and millions of people a real chance at a better future. That bill is the Jubilee Act, and there is man who is dying to get it passed.

Reverend David Duncombe is taking 40 days off from his day job to walk the halls of Congress, asking our elected officials to support debt cancellation and the Jubilee Act. For 40 days, he's stretching his body to the very limits of human survival to pressure Congress to cancel the debt. And we can help him.

His 40 day fast ends October 17th on the Global Day of Action Against Poverty. That gives us one week to back up his fast with our voices. Let's all take action and send 40,000 letters to the U.S. House of Representatives—1,000 letters for each day of the fast—asking for support for the Jubilee Act and an end to the debt trap.

Debt is the kind of crisis that can hold back an entire continent. Sub-Saharan Africa pays $13 billion in debt service to wealthy nations and financial institutions every year, almost enough to pay for life-saving drugs to reverse the AIDS crisis that claims 7,000 lives each day.

And in 2000, when Tanzania's debt was cancelled, that government was able to eliminate school fees, sending 1.5 million children to school almost overnight.

For 40 days, Reverend Duncombe is fasting and telling our elected officials about the promise debt relief holds for people who are as hungry as he is. We can add 40,000 voices to his by asking our Representatives to support the Jubilee Act and lead on debt cancellation.

On October 17th, as anti-poverty advocates, we're supposed to Stand Up! for the Global Day of Action Against Poverty. Rev. Duncombe may be too weak to physically take to his feet that day. But by sending 40,000 letters we can stand up for him and send the message that debt cancellation is a smart way to fight poverty and a clear example of America's leadership in the world.

ONE by ONE, thousand by thousand, we can give strength to Rev. Duncombe's fast for the Jubilee Act, even as his strength runs out. 40,000 of us can stand up and tell Congress to pass the Jubilee Act and end the cycle of debt and poverty in the developing world.

Thank you for your voice,

Josh Peck, ONE.org

P.S. Believe in what Reverend Duncombe is doing? Want to help us reach our goal of 40,000 letters in support of his 40 day fast? Take a minute to forward this email to four friends and ask them to support the Jubilee Act, too."



You can help this important bill move forward by taking action here: The 40 Day Fast for the Jubilee Act.



Then go learn more about Stand Up Speak Out Against Poverty.

Thanks!

Hallmark Joins The RED Family


There are some great Product RED items available at Hallmark now. Just in time for Christmas, you can get wrapping paper that will do more than ended up wadded up in the garbage!

HALLMARK RED

Thursday, October 11, 2007

Books, Glorious Books!

ETS has a book Meme up on her site that I felt COMPELLED to play along with. Feel free to play and let me know if you do!! And a shout out to Amy for her guest post adding this and MissZoot for getting the ball rolling!

The Rules

Bold those you’ve read. (I shrunk the ones I have not as it was just not easy to read!)
Italicize books you have started but couldn’t finish.
Add an asterisk* to those you have read more than once.
Underline those on your To Be Read list.

*** For Fun I have highlighted the ones I currently own.

Travis I am looking at you on this one!


Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell
Crime and Punishment*
Catch-22*
One Hundred Years of Solitude
Wuthering Heights*
The Silmarillion*
Life of Pi: A Novel
The Name of the Rose
Don Quixote*
Moby Dick*
Ulysses*
Madame Bovary*

The Odyssey*
Pride and Prejudice*
Jane Eyre*
A Tale of Two Cities*
The Brothers Karamazov

Guns, Germs, and Steel: the Fates of Human Societies
War and Peace*
Vanity Fair*
The Time Traveller’s Wife
The Iliad*
Emma*

The Blind Assassin
The Kite Runner*
Mrs. Dalloway
Great Expectations*
American Gods
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
Atlas Shrugged*
Reading Lolita in Tehran
Memoirs of a Geisha*
Middlesex *
Quicksilver
Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West *
The Canterbury Tales *
The Historian *
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man *
Love in the Time of Cholera *
Brave New World *
The Fountainhead *
Foucault’s Pendulum *
Middlemarch *
Frankenstein *
The Count of Monte Cristo *
Dracula *
A Clockwork Orange *

Anansi Boys
The Once and Future King *
The Grapes of Wrath *
The Poisonwood Bible * (hated it!)
1984 *
Angels & Demons *
The Inferno *
The Satanic Verses *

Sense and Sensibility *
The Picture of Dorian Gray *
Mansfield Park *
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
*
To the Lighthouse
Tess of the D’Urbervilles *
Oliver Twist *
Gulliver’s Travels *
Les Misérables *
The Corrections
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Dune
The Prince *

The Sound and the Fury *
Angela’s Ashes *
The God of Small Things
A People’s History of the United States: 1492-Present
Cryptonomicon *
Neverwhere
A Confederacy of Dunces *
A Short History of Nearly Everything
Dubliners
The Unbearable Lightness of Being *
Beloved *
Slaughterhouse-Five *
The Scarlet Letter *
Eats, Shoots & Leaves
The Mists of Avalon *
Oryx and Crake
Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed
Cloud Atlas
The Confusion

Lolita *
Persuasion *
Northanger Abbey *
The Catcher in the Rye *
On the Road *
The Hunchback of Notre Dame *
Freakonomics
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance *
The Aeneid *
Watership Down *
Gravity’s Rainbow
The Hobbit *
In Cold Blood*
White Teeth
Treasure Island *
David Copperfield *
The Three Musketeers *

Underline is not being my friend but count on the fact that if it is on the list and I have not read it...I will be looking into it!

My Secret For Youthful Good Looks?

Desert pointed this one out to me and I LOVE IT! From over at 2K Blogger and I am rolling! My comments in blue ;)



Starrlight (I didn’t find her real name) (cause Starr ain't that crazy) is a gothy (just don't call me Emo) chick who takes pride in having been kicked out of the girl scouts at twelve. Her blog is called “Here comes the storm - in the form of a girl“, so I am guessing she isn’t really out of puberty yet. (Hey! Those are song lyrics. Poor Courtney, she is not resonating to a large audience these days. And here I thought it was the Oil of Olay that kept me so young and peppy rather than delayed puberty ;0) Her blog is hip and trendy and looks a lot like a myspace page. For those of you who are in this for the fun and occasionally freaky, (Hail to the kink, baby) the Storm’s the place. Oh, by the way, Starr also loves two of my fave television shows: weeds and Dexter. I admit to deep feelings of love for Showtime. (Do The Brick Dance!)



All joking aside, a big "Thanks!" to the folks over at 2K, which to my mind is one of the coolest blog projects ever. Go check it out. I see Matt Man and Bond on the picture selection for today.

Monday, October 08, 2007

Technorati Can Gargle Donkey Nuts

I am off the technorati train my friends. Seeing that if you are blog rolled and the person who has you blog rolled does not remove you and re-add you ever 6 months, well that link might as well NOT exist for you.

So I am bidding Technocrapi adeiu. Here is my final post. Saved for posterity as I am sure the admin will delete it...once he finishes his 6 month donut break :P

"Well I went from an 8k rank to a 24k rank. Because you, ADMIN, and your little Technorati code nazi's have decided to fuck over blog rolls. Should I ask 400 or so of my closest friends to what...remove me from their blog roll for a couple of weeks and then re-add me? I don't think so.
So here is where we stand Technorati. How is YOUR rank calculated? You all like it when we, your serfs, link you to you with your stupid halfwit coded widgets right? Well guess what?
YOUR AUTHORITY JUST WENT DOWN CAUSE I WAXED YOUR ASS OFF MY BLOG.

Get fucked. "

That was deeply satisfying. I am pretty sure my links to THEM always counted. MyBlogLog wins!

Sunday, October 07, 2007

Echos Of Angels Who Won't Return

First off...damn am I full. I got my Greek on alright. Friday kidlet and I ended up at Outback steakhouse as her guitar lesson ran over and then she had a highly important eyebrow bleach that needed to be addressed. Twist my arm for steak though, right?

So we got our Outback on. Then yesterday I drove Kidlet and her pseudo step brother out to meet the PSB's friends family for a "group date" so to speak. They saw Across The Universe and Kidlet said she got a contact high just watching it.

After dropping her off I high-tailed it to Holy Trinity for my pastries. See we had a deal, Mamasan and I. I was the Greek bearing gifts (paximades!) and she was the Greek grilling steak. That is right people, I lived the jet set life and had steak two nights in a row. In addition to NOT working this weekend. So I bought 40 bucks worth of pastries. Sad part? Didn't do the Loukamades. I waited until today when Mom and I went back and had Tyropita and Gyros and Loukamades. I also got two large orders and dropped them off to Kidlet and Co. Cause I am nice like that.

Back home and looking forward to the whole new Next Iron Chef tonight. In the mean time I am getting ready to have a Koulourakia and coffee and watch Dexter. I am SO FRICKIN GLAD it is back on. I love Weeds but Dexter is just amazing.

Alrighty. I cup of coffee and a Koulourakia with my name on it!

Friday, October 05, 2007

I Open My Mouth And Out Pops Something Spiteful

Yawn

So sleepy today and I have no reason for it. Today, or rather tonight, is Greek Food Festiva! Can't wait. The only downside to this is going to be the parking situation. Holy Trinity Greek church, where the festival takes place, is in a semi residential area with very little off street parking available. So every year is a trip trying to find a spot. I am hoping that because we are going Friday night rather than during the weekend day it won't be so bad. Cross fingers!

Ooh goodie, it is the Friday 8 at 8 on KNRK. Which means Big 80's time courtesy of Mr. Greg Glover. Who has excellent taste. So far we have Outfield'd, Depeche'd and Echo'd. Where is my black eyeliner?

YES! Squeeze - Black Coffee In Bed. What an awesome song.

I need more coffee. And a massage. I have the worlds nastiest neck spasm going. I wake up feeling ok but by noon I can not turn my head left. Perhaps I should try Ouzo therapy at the festival tonight. I had a mojito the other night at Ruby Tuesday that helped it a great deal.

I am pondering NOT WORKING tomorrow...spooky I know. My last day off was Sept 19th. When I was sick. But I have not done full days on the weekend. Last weekend I did 5 and 2.75 on Sat and Sunday. But the system is going to be down and I have to go return the charger I bought that does not work with Kidlet's phone.

Oh my goodness....Men at Work - Be Good Johnny. I admit it, I really dug Men at Work. I owned Business As Usual and Cargo. I actually liked Cargo the better of the two.

Raspberry Beret....why do I not own any Prince? I mean what is my damage? Mind you it is not that I have NEVER owned Prince. In fact I am looking at my vinyl of Purple Rain right now...but my CD's have all been stolen. Break ups do that ya know. I need to get 1999 and Purple Rain on CD foh sho.

My poor canna lily is finally trying to bloom. Our summer sucked too much ass for the poor thing to flower. I hate this state :P

Alrighty time to go kill some trees. I will be sure let you all know tomorrow what yummies I had tonight!

Ooohh! General Public. Tenderness. Such a lovely song! Thanks for the post title inspiration, Mr. DJ!

Wednesday, October 03, 2007

Thursday Thirteen #30 - Kiss Me I'm Greek!

As promised 13 of my favorite yummy Greek Food. Hope you have eaten.


Melomakarona - "Melos" in my Yiayia's lingo. These are SO FRICKIN GOOD. Lots of honey and rolled in ground nuts. They melt in your mouth. SO damn good.



Tiropita - Hot filo triangles with yummy melt cheese. Yummers



Spanakopita - See above but swap spinach for cheese.



Souvlaki - When I was a kid we used to go hang out at a souvlaki restaurant owned by a friend of my Papou's. We'd eat in the ktchen. Piping hot souvlaki and a greek roll. It was the win.



Pastitsio - It's everything Moosekaka wants to be and isn't. And mine is so good it should be criminal.



LOUKOUMADES



Kourabiedies - Again, superb with coffee. My Yiayia's owned all. I fully admit to being a HUGE Greek food snob. But when you have had the best...



Koulourakia - Traditionally an Easter cookie. My Yiayia used to send 3 huge bags. One for me, one for mom, and one for my dad. We had to hide ours from my dad. He is unable to stop eating these. Seriously. We hid them.



Kadaifi - These are hard to find and seriously yummy if you can find them. Not your typical shredded wheat.



Ahh...the Gyro. That is NOT pronounced Jye Row. It is YearRow. It's food not a gyroscope.



Greek Salad - So good even the tomato doesn't suck.



Galaktoboureko - The best use of cream of wheat. Ever. It's a semolina custard baked in filo. Take it out of the hot oven and soak it in a honey lemon cinammon syrup. Chill, cut and eat the whole damn pan. Oh yeah.



And finally, the Greek War Horse. Screw those Trojans. Baklava



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