Friday, December 28, 2018

Coffee Talk Dec 28th 2018

Spudguns!, it's been a snowy week here where I am, hope it's better where you are.

Food n' Flix. Might as well get it out of the way. I said earlier in the month, that I was going to be doing a recipe for it and had planned to have it by Boxing Day. Well, I missed the deadline. I know, I suck.  I had sat down, watched the movie, took my notes and...nothing. Couldn't come up with a damned idea. I just didn't get anything from the film. Horrible, I know, but true.
I'm finding it harder and harder lately to do things that don't excite me. I'm just getting old I suppose.

Okay, just feeling a bit of blogging guilt so that was about all I was coming in today for. I'll be back in a few days with the weekly serials. 

Wednesday, December 12, 2018

The Nosferatu Adventures s13 p15

The Nosferatu Adventures
page 345, chapter 345

2012

Our heroine dropped her purse down on the kitchen table as she went to hang her coat up in the hall closet. The movie had not been as good as she'd hoped, as she mumbled to herself about a cup of coffee. Actually, she'd hoped to see the guy she'd met in line again. Bach. But, sadly for her, he'd disappeared before the movie had started. The phone rang as she decided to let the machine get it.  "Hello. Hey, sorry I missed the movie. I'll make it up to you I promise. I've got to cancel for tomorrow too, but I'll make that up to you too. Promise promise. Okay. Later."   the male voice sounded hollow as the line went dead and the machine made a small beep.

"Sure Qunn. Not like I haven't heard that one before." she let out a deep sigh as the tears forced their way down her cheeks. Her maybe-realationship with Quincey had fallen so far down the trail of importance that it was clear to everyone that it was not working out. It just took our heroine longer than everyone else to admit it. Leaning over, she deleted the message resolving to never speak to him again.


Present Day...

"Mrs. Frankenstein. A word."  the voice was over our heroine's shoulder before she realized. Her senses were off. Turning she saw The Seer.

"Edward?" the shock of seeing him nearly floored the female banshee.

"Now!" the dark haired male sidhe grabbed her arm guiding her around the corner. "You can't be here."

"You? The mirror is yours?"

"Nosferatu I'm not kidding. You can not be here in this reality." he seemed to be actually worried as he shifted to look down both directions of the hall. "You, your fledgling and your human buddy need to leave now."  The familiar soothing of the Seer's seduction spell was already weaving it's way through her as he continued to hold her arm.  Nosferatu shook her head, trying to clear her mind of his magick, but found it no use. His abilities had been strong naturally, but he seemed to be ten times more so since having what was left of Pan's energy.  How long had it been since she'd last seen him? For her just over three years had past while she'd been with Rolf and Reuben in Rolf's Kingdom. For The Seer, who knew?  "What?" he squinted at her, his blue eyes both sparkling and reflecting a void at the same time.

"How long have you been here? What year is it here in this reality?" her words were a mere breath. She felt dizzy, the seduction spell deep under her skin. Her mind was foggy as she found it difficult to focus on anything but his eyes.

"Oh, Umm..." he cleared his throat rolling his eyes to the ceiling for a half second before closing them again. "It's 2037."  Edward less then gently started to guide her back towards the others and towards the props room where the portal was. "If you don't leave right now, you're going to really shack things up." He ran his hand then through his hair. Finally he let go of her, allowing her to catch her breath.

"So sort out this timeline for me then. How long since that last time we saw you? I mean, on your end here." she dug her heels in, moving from him just enough to keep her ground.

"It's been a long time. I lost track. Maybe fifteen years, I don't know." the Seer licked his lips in fret. "I'm asking you please go before something horrible happens." he gestured towards Seward noticing the canvas bag he was holding. "That's extremely valuable. Be very very careful with it. I will want it back someday." he pointed then to the spellbook.

"No. I want answers. I'm not going anywhere." our heroine said demanding the Seer's full attention.

"Fine!" he growled as he bent at the knees in frustration. "What do you want to know?"

"How are you here? How are they here?" she gestured then to Bryon and Finn. "Why do they not smell or taste like they should? Why do you want me to leave?"

"A. I don't want you to leave, I need you to leave. All of you. B. I'm here because I need to feed. Remember? Which I can't do back in our old reality. It's why way way back when in the Darkest Forest, we opened that portal and tried to leave. So when you made the deal with Odin to send Dagan and the others back there, I made a deal with Odin to not go back there. And so here I am. Here, in the one reality you're not suppose to ever be in. And C. These two Finn and Bryon, are not your Finn and Bryon. They belong to this reality. Doppelgangers if you will."

"Why am I not suppose to ever be in this reality?" the female asked tilting her head to the side, her arms now stretched out on either side as she blocked the doorway to the props room. Both Seward and Edric hovering inches away.

"Because this...this was your reality. This was the reality you were part of before Bacchus and Loki found you."


Tune in again for another installment of the Nosferatu Adventures starring your heroine...me (straight up story. Sometimes the past just doesn't wanna stay dead)

Saturday, December 8, 2018

Cinema Files s1 p14

The Cinema Files
page 14, chapter 14

Rancid Romance

The bed squeaked every time we moved. I'm sure the people in the next suite were jealous thinking we were hot and heavy for hours. I know that would have been my automatic thoughts with each creek and moan. Sadly, for me it wasn't the case.

"Hand me the page again about that CEO fellow." Detective Whitechapel said mindlessly as he wandered slowly across the room, having just ordered our second pot of coffee from room service. Leaning over, I plucked a bad photocopy of the report from it's position on the pillow, causing another round of squeaks and creeks. I followed this with a yawn. "You getting bored?" he asked.

"No just haven't slept much this week. I'm thinking I'm going to have to bail on you soon." I replied, daring to finally glance at the bedside clock. It was already after midnight.

"Oh? Should I be jealous?" he poured what would be my fourth cup of coffee handing it to me. "After all, you are my fake wife." he winked causing his blue-green eyes to shimmer in the lamp light.

"The only thing I'm cheating on is the box of identical files I have waiting for me at home."  my cell phone started to ring suddenly causing my purse to vibrate slightly on the arm of the sofa.

"You sure about that? That's the fifth time in the last hour your phone's gone off."  Getting up from my cozy corner of the bed, I finally checked my messages. Rudolph had called twice, there was a text from Blake and another two from Vincent. "Popular girl."

"You boys are all the same. Only want me when there is a crime wave happening." I snorted shaking my head fighting back a few tears my throat having tightened. I had to bite my lip to keep it together. Sighing, I made a decision. "Fine. Let's get this ganger banger over with shall we?" Another sigh as I sent off a group text telling them all to meet me at the video store before it opened in the morning. Ryan looking over my right shoulder the whole time. I felt the air change around me then as he seemed to process this information. His breath hitting the back of my neck, lighting up my flesh with steam.

"Huh." the detective tossed the pages he was holding onto the sofa. "Well in that case..." he scratched the edge of his thumb against the corner of his mouth licking his lips. "Since you're already here Desdemona, you might as well stay."  There was a sudden awkwardness between us as I blushed beyond control. I felt so unsure of myself then, like I was fourteen again.

"For?" I closed my hazel eyes unable to control my stomach as butterflies took possession of it. I needed to hear him actually say it. So there was no mistaking his motive, no chance I misread the tension between us. Ryan Whitechapel flirted like most people breathed. It was so normal so part of his moment to moment dna that he'd accidentally led on so many; I could not risk ruining our friendship over my own one sided attraction.

"Ah for the love of Odin!" he swore under his breath running his left hand over his neck before proceeding to undo his belt and the buttons on his shirt cuffs. "Stay find out."


I was not dressed for work. It was 9am and I was still wearing the outfit, though more professional than my usual t-shirt and jeans; that I had been wearing the night before. I could not pass up the invitation, I had to stay. And to be honest, I don't think he was prepared for me to. I had agreed, tossing my purse back down on the sofa, sitting back down on the bed. Ryan stood in the dimly lit room frozen for a half heartbeat before removing his shirt and joining me on the bed. For a man who was normally as smooth as silk and in total control of every situation, he became quiet. One would almost say nervous. I had called his bluff and he was scattered by it. The awkwardness filled every pore around us. Every breathable molecule of air in the room. That clumsy embarrassing first time with someone you just met at a drunken bar moment.  Only worse because neither of us were drunk and we'd known each other for the last four years. The uncomfortable weirdness didn't stop there though. The good detective Whitechapel, got called into the station around 2am, and asked me to go with him. "Just in case." he said as he struggled with his underwear. The man could dress faster than he could undress. It was painfully obvious he'd been in the situation many many times before.
I ended up waiting for almost an hour for him. Just pacing back and forth between his desk and the front lobby vending machines. I was about to call a taxi to go home when Ryan darted out of one of the little closed doors, his jacket clutched in hand the biggest grin in his face I think I'd ever seen. Startling me, he planted a kiss on the side of my mouth as he leaned around me to open the lobby door. "We've still got a few hours before we have to meet your friends."   I was expecting the next sentence to be that he'd drop me off at home, but instead he just smiled at me kissing me again. "That means you're still my fake wife for another few hours at lest. I still owe you breakfast. Why don't we go work up a real appetite?"


Tune in again for another installment of the Cinema Files starring your heroine...me(straight up story. At some point, everyone has those awkward butterflies.)

Sunday, December 2, 2018

Coffee Talk Dec 2nd 2018

Spudguns!,  how's it where you are? Spiffy sweetness.  It's just after 5:30pm on a Sunday, and if you're keeping score, we are 333 Days till Hallowe'en. And tomorrow marks the fresh blogging year. Year 8.

I can't believe it's been that long? Craziness right? Righty-ho, righty-ho. 

If you missed the post from the other week, I'm bringing back the book club for 2019.  Details on that are on the Night Bleeds page. 

Onward to The Nosferatu Adventures and The Cinema Files. I should have the next piece of each for you later in the week. And this month I'm planning on rejoining Foodn' Flix, so I should have a recipe for you before Boxing Day. Here's hoping this coming blogging year is better scheduled than last. I know, I wasn't the most reliable this past year.

I'll be back later in the week.

Tuesday, November 20, 2018

The Cinema Files s1 p13

The Cinema Files
page 13 chapter 13

Drive-In Drama

I found myself checking my phone just after 7:30pm. I'd missed a text from Vincent. Hitting the forward button on the cd player, I had commandeered the music on the ride back as a Doors song blasted into the interior of the vehicle.

"So, you got what you need?" I asked noticing a chipped nail.  Detective Whitechapel said no as his eyes darted back and forth from the rear view mirror to the windows and back again.

"The detectives running the case found nothing in the warehouse. They think someone tipped the Hosts off." he cleared his throat as he turned the corner. "I need to get invited to another event."

"A lot of work for a decoy. Come on, tell me the truth. This is your case isn't it? Not just a decoy but full on your case."

"I owe you dinner." he said trying to change the topic.  I leaned back in the seat shaking my head.

"Huh. I don't understand why you can't admit when I'm right?"

"At lest I know that anything I tell you won't end up in the morning edition."

"That why you're so..." I gestured towards him. "You? My aunt's job.?"

"I was serious Desdemona, when I said the other day about not wanting to start with you now she's gone. The less I have to ban you from my crime scene coattails, the better for us both." he punctuated his point by changing the song on the cd player, letting Johnny Cash slither around us.

"Talk about your mixed messages."

"What's that suppose to mean?" he never took his eyes off the road.

"You ask me to join you on a case and scold me in the same second about not hanging around your cases."

"Totally different situations." He looked at me in the sideways way again in the rear view; his eyes sparkling under the passing streetlights. He pulled into the parking lot of the Ruthven causing me to have to catch my breath. Unbuckling his seat belt, Ryan moved in his seat just enough to have to reach over my lap for the glove compartment. The heat of his breath on my knee made me jump. Not finding what he was searching for within it's depths, he slammed it closed again. "There a keycard in the pocket there?" he nodded towards the cup holder in the door. I held up the plastic rectangle just as the driver side door slammed and I found myself in an otherwise empty car. Detective Whitechapel already standing in the parking lot. "Come on then." he gestured in that slow way of his that ironically made you feel rushed. I got out of the car as the sound of the lock beeped in my wake. "I do believe I still owe you breakfast."

"Uh dinner. It's dinner time."

"That's what I said." his eyebrows rose double time as he took the keycard from me, his free arm at my elbow. Just as we entered the hotel lobby his phone started to ring. "Oh it's the station I've got to take it."  Ryan moved a few feet talking into the contraption before turning right back handing me the room key mouthing the words room 333.  I found myself shaking slightly as I got off the elevator my breathing ragged knowing I was blushing. "Sorry." I felt more than heard Whitechapel as he arrived a moment later behind me from the second elevator. "Well Mrs Whitechapel." he said barely holding the smirk as he tapped the fake wedding rings we'd worn for the undercover job. "Any thoughts to what you'd like for breakfast?"

"Dinner." I said without thinking.

"Yeah, what I said."

"You do realize the restaurant is back downstairs. Yonder." the sarcasm was the only thing holding me in check keeping me from just throwing myself at him as I hooked my thumb over my shoulder.

"Haven't we had enough crowds tonight?" he replied unlocking the door to his room hitting the light switch. I watched as the room began to glow in the semi spotlights that began to flood the space in the delayed seconds. The sofa was in the middle of the room dividing it, the bed to the front of us and a table and dresser behind the sofa; the bathroom beyond that. A small styrofoam board was sitting on the sofa covered in notes and photos, two large case files beside it in place of the throw pillows. "I said I can't have you at my crime scenes. I didn't say I wouldn't let you into my briefs." Whitechapel stood between myself and the sofa hands now in his pockets. "Your instincts as good as your aunt's?"  My turn to raise an eyebrow.  "Officially, your aunt Jackie was the biggest pain in my arse. Unofficially my best partner."   I felt the deflation of my ego as a woman at the same time an excitement traveled down my spine. I should have known better. The good detective only wanted me for my mind.


Tune in again for another installment of the Cinema Files starring your heroine...me(straight up story. Well, that's one way to get into a man's briefs.)
 

Wednesday, November 7, 2018

Night Bleeds 2019

Spudguns!, How's it where you are? Spiffy goodness spiffy swell.

Anyways, as you can tell by the title of this post, I'm bringing back the book/movie club. This year is set to be very Stephen King heavy, with half the books being novels by King.  Also, since some of the selections this year don't have movies or have movies that are difficult to find; the movie half is optional. So technically, it's just a book club this time around.

The selection of novels can be found on the Night Bleeds page. You can also follow along on my facebook page.

Monday, November 5, 2018

Random movie Waxwork

movie: Waxwork
starring: Dana Ashbrook, Zach Galligan
genre: Horror, Comedy,
year: 1988
format: DVD

plot: A group of teenagers decide to visit a wax museum at night, and find themselves the victims of a devious murder plot. The owner of the museum is using the displays as supernatural portals, and needs eighteen real bodies to finish his work.

This is one of those movies that tried to be too ambitious. You're never really sure what the end goal of the film itself is? Is it a commentary on the animal within (the werewolf, vampire and Marquis de Sade are the longest segments all having to deal with duality and repression) the fear of others (the staff of the museum are a pair of butlers - a midget with an authority issue and a mute strong man) a comment on greed (everyone is rich and the lead villain sold his soul to live forever) or is it something else all together?

As this does try to cover all sub-genres of the larger horror world; vampires/ghouls, zombies, aliens, werewolves, serial killers/psychos, cults etc. You sort of know that each segment of the story will be rushed, as they are only smaller segments of the larger story happening, but you want to linger on them and try to understand why they were used.  (Such as using the Marquis de Sade instead of Jack the Ripper to cash in on the fact Hellraiser had just been released.)

The sad part of this is, the film is really pretty good till the last ten minutes, when an angry mob of secret society members shows up to battle the reanimated wax works. Then it just looses all credibility and becomes a massive joke.

Sunday, November 4, 2018

The Nosferatu Adventures s13 p14

The Nosferatu Adventures
page 344, chapter 344

Instability on Stage 5

"Okay, what do you want?" Finn asked dipping his shoulder towards our heroine. "Cause he doesn't have any money, and he can't get you anything. He's really not that important." he licked his lips slapping a hand suddenly on Bryon's shoulder. Before he knew what was going on, Finn found himself in pain, trying to pull his arm away. Our heroine had sunk her teeth into his wrist as quick as a cat with a mouse.

"You're not you either. You taste wrong." she huffed as she moved past them back into the props room. Grabbing the mirror she licked it. "Mmm. Metallic."

"You're gross. And insane." Finn said holding his arm, a welt and deep pink bruise starting.

"And you are way too calm for someone who just got a chunk taken out of him." Edric retorted as he slammed his shoulder into Finn, moving past him. "Anything?"

"It's not meant to be a portal. It's meant to be just a magick mirror. That's all." our heroine said leaning one pale arm on the large mirror. Her fingernails rapping the edge of it.

"How can you tell?" Edric asked "Why aren't you panicking?" he said over his shoulder towards the taller male.

"I've had worse trust me." Finn remarked blowing on the bite. 

"Aha!" our heroine's hazel eyes brightened as she pointed to the small smudges of blood. "Someone keyed it." she mumbled then as she sniffed the mirror's frame. "Bryon, you keyed it. Why did you key it?" Turning our heroine pointed at the shorter goth before hooking her thumb over her shoulder again towards the mirror.

"What?" Bryon shook his head still trying to wrap his mind around what was going on. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he gave in to the fact he was beyond clueless suddenly. Our heroine gestured towards the blood.

"The doorway. You unlocked it with your dna. Which, means, you're not you." she reached for Finn's arm again. "Oh for shacks sake." her tongue darted out over his pale flesh once more as she whispered something. The wound dried up and healed instantly.

"You keep saying that! What the hell does that mean? I'm not me? What does that even...You acted as if you knew me, but I have no idea who you are?" Bryon was starting to feel light headed all of a sudden.

"Okay, so what does this mean?" Edric asked gesturing towards the room in general. "Can we go back now?"

"Um no. If I knew what this meant, I wouldn't still be standing here looking semi confused. I'd be fixing the situation. I can't fix it if I still don't know what the problem really is." the female banshee said crossing her arms now under her chest.

"Not like there's a book of all knowing." Finn commented.

"What if there is?" our heroine's tone was soft. "Why did you say that? That's a very odd thing for you to say. You who is not you." she gestured wildly towards Finn.

"What? The Seer's spellbook?" Edric asked suddenly alert, his eyebrows raised as he shook his head in disbelief. "The one you have been panicking over because Dax wants it? The one you had us make a fake one for to switch out?"

"Um yeah."

"Who's Dax?" Finn asked.

"What's a Seer?" Bryon asked.

"So you're just going to run back home and get it?" Edric ignored them both.

"Um no."

"What then? Have them read it to you via the mirror like a phone chat?" Edric continued.

"I'm going to have it delivered like a pizza. It's going to deliver itself to be precise. If I can remember the Seer's spell." she added with less confidence. "I mean, that was so long ago. Nearly twenty years ago depending on the reality..." she started to look around the room. Moving a few feet she stood behind the large prop coffin, grabbing a handful of the fake spiderwebbing, tossing it back and forth between her hands. "Okay, Edward how'd it go? Talk to me hon, tell me all about it."

"Who she talking to?" Bryon asked.

"Herself I hope." Edric shrugged.

"So not working. New plan we stay. Okay, in the meantime, we just need to lower our profiles. Yeah, that's it." Nosferatu said in frustration.

"Or we can just go home." Edric gestured towards the mirror. He found himself on the floor suddenly laying across Bryon's feet having knocked Finn over in the process, as a bin of hats landed on them both.

"Sorry sorry. Dude, Oh shack my bad. It was glowing and started to float."  Seward said as he stood there having just stumbled through the mirror. The dark haired human was holding a large canvas shopping bag in his hands, the handles drooping over them.

"See, delivered. Just not how I was expecting." our heroine smiled tilting her head to the side as she snatched the treasure from her friend.


Tune in again for another installment of the Nosferatu Adventures, starring your heroine...me(straight up story. Yes yes, I'm three weeks late with the story, but then again I've been running three weeks late in every area of my life lately)

Sunday, October 28, 2018

2018 October Foodn'Flix

Spudguns!, it's time again for another Foodn'Flix recipe. This month's selection was hosted by our fearless leader Heather at All Roads Lead to the Kitchen; and her pick was Princess and the Frog.  Now, if you've been following this blog much at all, you might remember I talked about this back in Year One of the blog. (Day 292)

plot: A young woman -Tiana, has a dream of opening her own restaurant in the heart of New Orleans in the 1920's. But it seems, every time she gets a step closer, something gets in her way. When a young prince comes to the area, her best friend's dad throws a grand ball for him, in hopes the prince will marry his daughter. Unknown to anyone, the prince has become cursed and turned into a frog. Tiana who has borrowed her friends clothes, is mistaken for a princess, and the frog prince talks her into kissing him. Only, instead of saving him, it turns her into a frog as well. The two then end up going to the local Hoodoo Priestess to help reverse the spell originally cast by the Voudon Bokor. When nothing seems to work, the two admit they have fallen in love and are willing to stay frogs as long as they can stay together. As frogs, they get married and are suddenly transformed back to humans.

notes: tea, gumbo, apples, salt, ground black pepper, hush puppies, cake, rum, eggs, bacon, ketchup, fruit, waffles, rice, coffee, honey, toast, bagels, pancakes, hot sauce, donuts, sugar, wine, soup, carrots, red peppers, mushrooms, chicken, pumpkin, crawfish, bananas foster, okra, strawberries, jelly beans, candy, garlic, herbs, flour, walnuts.

I ended up pulling my inspiration from a short scene midway through the film. The main characters are in the middle of a swamp and decide to make a gumbo from the ingredients they can forage for, which included a pumpkin.  I ended up making my Pumpkin Sludge Cake.

Ingredients

2 1/2 c flour
1/2 c butter softened
1/2 c white sugar
1 1/2 tablespoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 c water
1/3 c spice mix (cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice)
2 c pumpkin shredded or pureed

Mix butter, sugar and salt
then add in flour, baking powder and eggs
add spice mix and water mix well
add the pumpkin

Bake at 325 degrees depending on your oven for 75 to 90 minutes

The name came from the colour the batter took on. I also topped it with a few pumpkin seeds I had roasted in salt and pumpkin spice mix.
 
And that's about all I've got for you today.  Don't forget, you can join in next month with Foodn'Flix for  A Man Called Ove, which will be hosted by Wendy at A Day in the Life on the Farm.

Wednesday, October 24, 2018

What that Movie Inspired #78

Spudguns!, I mentioned back nearly two months ago, I had done a recipe inspired by a vampire movie. I had decided to hold off on posting because I really wanted to add it to the Hallowe'en stuff. That and I was trying to turn it into a video. Sadly for me, the video end of it just didn't  come together.

The movie in question is Underworld 2 Evolution. The scene where Michael goes into the tavern and orders food, refusing to believe he's been turned into a hybrid vampire. The tavern owner puts a plate of boiled potatoes and cabbage down in front of him.

Since I had already done potatoes and cabbage for a Foodn'Flix back few years ago, I went with another potato combination. Perogies and onions.

Sort of.  I stumbled across a few recipes on the Kraft Canada website for variations of perogi lasagna.

Ingredients

Mashed potatoes
Cheddar chesse
Green onion
Herb cream chesse
lasagna noodles
 
Cook noodles to package instructions, drain.

Mix the cheese, onion, herb cream cheese into the mashed potatoes.

Layer it like you would a normal lasagna.

Bake for about an hour at 350 degrees
depending on your oven.

The original recipe called for bacon, but I left that out given I'm vegetarian. If you do that, you should add a little butter or milk to your potatoes, because this will become extremely dry without the bacon. 

Monday, October 22, 2018

What that Movie Inspired Oct 2018

Spudguns!,  I've got one of the very long awaited recipes for the season. Inspired by the Munsters, I give you "Lily's Black Widow Tea".

This is inspired mostly by the 1996 movie Munster's Scary Little Christmas and the scene where Lily is offering Santa a cup of tea; which to his horror is made from the venom of black widow spiders. But, throughout the series Lily Munster was often heard talking about a nice cup of black widow's tea. This has been brewing in the back of my mind for months, and to be honest, it took me awhile to get the flavours right.


Ingredients

Silken Pu'erh
Organic Rooibos
Cinnamon sticks
Whole cloves
Dried blueberries
Black peppercorns ground and whole

I was making enough for 1 cup, so I only put a teaspoon of the Pu'erh and Rooibos each, 1 cinnamon stick crushed, about 1 teaspoon cloves, 5 large dried blueberries, and roughly a teaspoon of the black peppercorns.



Let it steep for 8 minutes. That will allow it to get a nice dark colour to it.

What you end up with is a rich spicy tea, that leaves a bit of a kick in your throat from the peppercorns; much in the flavour of a gingerbread.

As I said, it took me a long while to get the flavour combination right, as there were a few failed attempts with other loose leaf teas as the base note. Some were too bitter, some too sweet, others overpowered the rest of the ingredients.

That's it for the moment. I've got a few other recipes coming at you in a few days.

Tuesday, October 16, 2018

Random movie- Crimson Peak

movie: Crimson Peak
starring: Mia Wasikowska, Tom Hiddleston
genre: Drama, Crime, Thriller, Paranormal,
year: 2015
format: Netflix Canada

plot: A young writer, who has the ability to see ghosts, is swept up in a wild romance when she meets a young man and his sister. Having arrived in town to ask her father for a partnership on his invention, the English baronet begins courting her. Much to the quiet disapproval of his sister. After her father dies, the young writer, Edith, marries quickly only to run off to the English countryside with her new husband, Thomas, to live with him and his sister, Lucille. Edith's romantic notions are soon destroyed as the house is falling apart around them, and the fortune has long been lost on Thomas's inventions. As winter sets in, Edith finds herself isolated from the town, and begins to uncover the secrets the family are hiding. Namely, that she's not the first wife. Her ability to see and communicate with ghosts is heightened as she finds them in every corner of the house. Intent on figuring out why they were killed and by who, she realizes no one can be trusted.

I have to admit, I wasn't too sure on this one when I first sat down to watch. I'm not a fan of the lead female actor, and it took a few minutes to get past that fact. But, the story itself was completely worth it.

You get that feeling of isolation; not just from the sets but from the coldness of winter, the loss of her father and friends. It's just the right level of eerie madness. And you can't help but compare it to the Shinning from start to finish.  There's this great sense of uneasiness just in the love story itself. You're given a hint from the first scene between the characters of Thomas and his sister Lucille, that they are plotting something. Then as the film progresses, you're swayed away from Thomas and back again on whether or not to trust him.

The addition of the family dog appearing, which seems to irritate both siblings, is a wonderful little hint that they're not who they seem to be. 

Monday, October 15, 2018

Random movie - Little Evil

Movie: Little Evil
starring: Adam Scott, Clancy Brown
genre: Comedy, Horror,
year: 2017
format: Netflix Canada

plot: As a new step dad, Gary is convinced is his new wife's son is more than a little troubled. After their wedding photographer points out the priest spoke backwards in the vows and instead of asking the normal wedding vows, asks Gary to look after the son instead, Gary and his best friend Al; begin to investigate. They soon learn that the boy Lucas was conceived during a cult ritual. Before they know it, all the dads in the neighbourhood have to band together to fight the cult leader and keep the devil from rising.

This was a cute film I found it to be less horror and more horror spoof, and I think it would have been a great launching pad for a tv series.  50% Omen, 40% Rosemary's Baby, and 10% nods to other horror classics like the Shinning and Amityville.

Sally Field has a small role as the child services worker/cult member, and the nod to her tv show The Flying Nun, was quick but there none the less.  This movie is actually pretty fast paced given the amount of story that they manage to get across without it feeling rushed. We learn that the wife has a bit of a checkered past with keeping a husband, as they all seem to either die or runaway.

The one tiny detail that stuck in the back of my mind after the movie was over, was the priest. If he never actually referenced the wife, only the kid, why was that never addressed? It's set up in the beginning of the film but then never even used as a joke or anything afterwards. 

Sunday, October 7, 2018

coffee talk oct 7th 2018

Spudguns!, we're 24 Days till Hallowe'en, and I'm feeling like my To Do List, is never going to reach any sort of end. Things just keep piling up more and more.

If you've been following me for any amount of time, you know I'm a big fan of Charmed. I'm actually looking forward to the new reboot next week. In fact, I spent the last few months re-watching the original series ready to compare notes. And realized that I missed an opportunity to have done a big review of the series. That shows you where my zombie eaten brains have been lately.

There will be no serial this week. I'll do my best to have both up next week for you though. (weekend of October 14th 2018)

That's about it for the moment. I hope to be back middle of the week with some of the Hallowe'en posts.

Monday, October 1, 2018

The Nosferatu Adventures s13 p13

The Nosferatu Adventures
page 343, chapter 343

Instability on Stage 5

Finn reached out and slapped the little silver box hard with his palm, causing the high pitched beeping to finally stop. Rolling over in the bed, the male yawned as he threw the covers off. He really hated mornings. Swearing, his left hand then slammed hard into the door frame as he nearly tripped over one of the cats. The large tabby hissed as it jumped up from it's spot on the floor, racing out into the hallway. Closing his own emerald coloured eyes, Finn rotated his shoulders trying to get the kinks out. Walking past the bathroom he told the locked door to hurry up as he continued on towards the kitchen.  "Ah you little shacking..." he shook his head as he spotted the trash knocked over and two of the black cats guarding their treasure. The two felines were batting around a large piece of watermelon rind like a couple of hockey players. "If I go into the other room and see the jar of catnip empty you're both in big trouble." Peeking into the dimly lit living room, Finn swore once again as he saw not only the jar of catnip knocked off the shelf, but tiny paw prints having left a trail of spilled oils leading around the window seat.

"By the way, your cats got into my stuff again." Bryon said too casually as he walked out of the bathroom and into the living room; which looked like it belonged on the set of a late night B-movie. Grabbing a silver skull shaped lighter off the coffee table which itself was coffin shaped, the dark haired goth lit a cigarette.

"And you didn't bother to clean any of it up?" Finn asked crossing his arms over his chest. The shorter male shrugged as he backed out of the room, moving his hands in circles.

"They're your cats." Bryon tossed the sentence over his shoulder, his teeth clenched tight around the stem of the cigarette. Smoke rippled from his nose as he did, putting Finn in mind of a dragon. Letting out a sigh himself, Finn dropped his arms before following his friend back into the kitchen. Leaning on the edge of the counter, the taller male changed the topic.

"Your groupies were by again last night." his short hair was the colour of wet sand streaked with grey and sun-bleached blonde. "You really need to take care of that. I can't keep covering for you." Finn commented as he tore a few paper towels off the roll and began cleaning up the trash.

"Just keep the doors locked. No big deal." Bryon replied as he stumped out the end of the cigarette pouring himself a glass of juice.

"It's a funeral home. Not really an option." he stretched his arm around one of the black cats as it purred contentedly licking it's whiskers. Finn rested his forehead against the top of the cat's head, making a soft purring sound himself.

"Sure you can. After 7pm, you lock the doors. No one needs to be there after that."

"Um...whatever man." Finn mumbled as he stood back up shooing the cats out of the way. "Look, my car's in the shop. I need to grab a ride to work with you."

"Okay. We just need to stop by the television studio on the way. I left my script there and I need to learn my lines before tonight."


Forty-Five minutes later...

The hearse: the one with the company logo, pulled up into the parking lot of the television studio; as Bryon checked his hair in the rear view once more before climbing out. Finn was nearly on his heels as he followed.

"I'm coming with you. Make sure you don't get sidetracked anymore than you already have." he pointed at the shorter goth as they crossed the threshold of the lobby. Tilting his chin, Finn pulled the little round sunglasses down his nose as he gazed around the place. The studio was empty and lent itself to a creepy feeling. "Any idea where you left it?"

"I must have dropped it in the props room." Bryon commented as he turned towards the hallway leading to it. Finn nearly slammed into his friend as he turned the corner to find Bryon hesitating at the doorway of the props room.

"We going in or what?"

"Yeah, just waiting for you." the tone was suppose to be sarcastic but came across with more queasiness than it should. He spotted the script about a foot from the edge of the mirror, but didn't move to collect it. The dark haired goth gulped a large amount of air rubbing his palms over his jeans.

"Are you alright?" Finn asked as he walked around the props room playing with rubber swords and feeling up the crushed velvet curtains that hung over a chair. "For the love of...lazy." Finn mumbled as he scooped up the script handing it to his friend. "Here you go my Highness." Snatching it from him, Bryon screwed up his nose before turning on his heels desperate to leave the room. "What is with you today?" Finn asked as they stepped out of the props room and back into the hallway; promptly slamming into someone.

"Bryon." Our heroine said smiling.

"See, groupies." Finn gestured towards our heroine and Edric.

"Oh my god, Finn." our heroine reached over hugging the taller male.


Tune in again for another installment of the Nosferatu Adventures starring your heroine...me (straight up story. Yeah, I know I'm over a week late with it.)

Sunday, September 23, 2018

Sept 2018 Food n Flix

This is going to be the most informal Food n'Flix post I've ever done.

I've had a crappy week my lovely Spudguns!. I really hope your's has been decent.  September 2018 marks the 8th anniversary of Foodn'Flix. The first year I joined in; which was 2015, when September rolled around we were allowed to do a viewer's choice. And at that point, I did a 4 movie combo with a common theme. I also went with 4 different recipes. So of course, the second our fearless leader Heather said that this month would once again be a viewer's choice month and hosted by the official Food n'Flix blog, allowing us to pick any of the previously viewed months' movies; I knew I wanted to do something like that again. So I quickly picked my four dvds Eat Pray Love, Under the Tuscan Sun, Ramen Girl and Julie/Julia. I had a common theme - starting over. In Julie/Julia, the characters move for their husband's jobs. In Under the Tuscan Sun and Eat Pray Love, the characters move because of a divorce. In Ramen Girl, she moves for her boyfriend's job only to end up getting dumped and stranded. I even had a common food link this time...eggs.  What I didn't really have was the recipe.

I knew that the movie Eat Pray Love, had a scene where the lead character is shown making herself a simple plate of food on a lazy Sunday morning, that included olives, cheese, bread with olive oil, grapes, prosciutto, asparagus and a hard boiled egg.  The movie Ramen Girl, has a quick shot of a bowl of ramen containing noodles, broth, greens, pork and a soft boiled egg being placed in front of the Master for his approval. The movie Julie/Julia has a scene where our lead character is hovering over a large pot trying to get one perfect poached egg while arguing with her best friend. And the movie Under the Tuscan Sun, has an egg shaped  blue vase that the lead character clings to for her sanity. Each scene represented a major turning point for the characters involved.

Now, normally, when I do a Food n'Flix post, I give you a detailed account of the food throughout the entire film. I can't this time. Even had I chosen one of the movies and not the whole lot, there is just too much food to keep up with in each. From chocolate cake, wine, grapes, garlic, cheese, fish, noodles, bruschetta, onions, duck, stew, breads, leeks, pizza, tea, olives, ice cream, to tomatoes, peppers, pork, rice, and of course the eggs; these films were jam packed. And that's just naming a few.

But it was the eggs that stood out in my mind. Each egg scene -seen, came with a lesson for the character.

"Eat Pray Love"- The egg is seen as part of the basic meal our lead character makes for herself. It represents her accepting solitude. The character had been looking at a fancy nightgown while out with friends, and when her friend tells her to buy it, she as "For whom?" her friend replies "For you." We then see the lead character sitting on the floor in the fancy nightgown with her egg plate, having for the first time accepted that she's going to be okay single. She's finally accepted the company of herself as being enough. Up to this point, she's never been without a relationship. It's also the first time in the film we see her cook. Up till then, all her meals have been out at restaurants or at other people's houses.

"Julie/Julia" - The character of Julie has stated near the beginning of the film, that she's never eaten an egg as is. The eggs are done as a bit of a group effort. We see her, her husband and best friend standing in their tiny kitchen, sweating over the idea of making the perfect poached eggs. Which they seem to do. This is the big learning curve moment of truth for our lead as she admits to her desires and envies. It's the first moment she has any real confidence. It's also the first meal she's cooked we see her share with her friends, as well as the first time we see her really being taught by the cookbook. It represents her confidence and what would end up being her celebrity.

"Ramen Girl" - The egg is delivered here two separate ways. The physical egg is shown in a bowl of ramen but not by our lead. Instead, it's a minor male character whom serves the Grand Master Chef in order to get his approval. When it's the lead character's turn to serve her bowl of ramen, she's gone off recipe. The Master then tells her she's yet to learn what she needs to know. The lead character's struggle throughout the film is learning to make order out of chaos. It isn't until the day she leaves town, and is handed a large red egg shaped lantern, that she finally gets the approval she's been waiting for. And has discovered the balance within the design/plating of the ramen bowl. Up to that point, she managed to learn technique but without soul.  For her, it was representing restraint and balance.
 

"Under the Tuscan Sun" - Still hurting from her divorce, our lead character grabs an egg shaped blue glass vase as she moves out. She chooses to let her ex husband have everything else, but for some odd reason of defiance, she dumps out the contents of the vase and takes it with her. She keeps it for the first few years as she moves from a rundown apartment to her villa in Italy. Later on, she grabs it throwing it against the wall shattering it. Releasing herself from her hate, desperation and pain. The egg vase in this case represents the cycles of relationships. She first takes it when depressed at the end of her marriage, and breaks it at the beginning of her neighbours' marriage. The egg lesson here is healing and love.

Eggs have always represented beginnings and endings, fertility and protection.

So after all that what did I make?  I had made deviled eggs, (basic egg yolk, mayo, salt, pepper and paprika) but they were just so ugly. Then I remembered the line from Julie/Julia, where the character is taking about how she decided to tackle the poached eggs on a day when nothing in her life seemed to be going well.
So, I ended up making poached eggs. Which, were far far less than perfect.  And paired it with a quick instant ramen and green veggies. So, not really a recipe this time around, but just what the day needed. Ugly eggs to comfort at the end of a bad week. 
That's all I've got for you this time. Yes, I know, not the usual way I like to do Food n'Flix, but it's what I have to offer this time around.  Don't forget to join us next month, when once again, Heather from All Roads Lead to the Kitchen, will be hosting. The selection will be the Disney movie Princess and the Frog.

Friday, September 21, 2018

coffee talk sept 21st 2018

Spudguns! Hey, how's it on your end? Okay, I know I know, I said last week, I'd be in middle of the week with a recipe, and here it is end of the week. I missed the deadline I know. I have been sick to the point of not being able to look at food half the week, let alone try to do a recipe.  But I'll have it in the next few days. It's a Food n' Flix recipe, so yes it's going to be up in the next couple of days.

I'll also have the next serial up in the next few days too. It might be Monday on that one this week instead of Sunday. (so either Sept 23rd or 24th.)

I'm not the only one who's had issues trying to blog the last few months. Just seems to have been a bad few months for bloggers in general. Everyone I've been chatting with has had a string of bad luck/writers block since the new year.

Okay, that's it for the moment. I'll be back Sunday (Sept 23rd 2018) with something. We're 40 days till Hallowe'en.

Sunday, September 16, 2018

Cinema Files s1 p 12

Cinema Files
page 12, chapter 12

Drive-In Drama

I stood on the middle of the parking lot just before 4pm, smoothing down the edge of the grey trenchcoat nervously. Honestly, I don't know what was causing the butterflies more; the fact I was on an official case or that I didn't want Ryan to bump into Rudolph. Or Rudolph to bump into Ryan for that matter. It was becoming very clear, that none of the men in my life really seemed to want me hanging around any of the others. All for different reasons of course, but still.  My jitters were intensified when the sleek black car drove up; letting the sounds of the overly motorized window fill the air as it was opened. Detective Whitechapel smiled his too wicked smirk as he nodded for me to get in.

"You look nice." the words were spoken without a hint of sarcasm. "So our cover story is really basic. We've been together four years, we met when I came into your video store."

"We did meet when you came into the video store." I commented without thinking.  Ryan winked at me. I swear, even his facial ticks had a British accent. "And what do you do for a living? Should anyone ask. As I'm assuming you're undercover."

"I am a lowly office worker who pushes paperclips and counts copy ink." he said turning off the cd player. He'd been listening to a jazz cd when he'd pulled up. "You assume right. The team has been trying to get these guys for awhile now. A couple of embezzlers. No one's been able to get close enough to them yet." he guided the car onto the freeway.

"Wait. You said we were just the decoy." I replied as I squinted trying to see the scenery and cars zipping past us, but the tinted windows were too dark.

"We are." he went quiet again for a moment, unsure if he should be telling me much more of the actual case. "Look, Desdemona, all I need is for you to play the part of the doting wife. The main guy is all about family values and the whole suburban lifestyle. Smile, keep it simple like what your book club is reading..."

"I'm not in a book club."

"...talk about your favourite meatloaf recipe..."

"I'm vegetarian."

"...and whatever else wives find interesting."

"I'm not married."

"Tonight my dear, you are." Ryan winked at me again. "Since when?"

"Since when what?" I asked flipping now through the few cds he had sitting between us on the seat.

"Vegetarian?" Ryan shifted in his seat before looking at me in the rear view.

"Since college many many moons ago." I stopped flipping through the cds nearly laughing suddenly. "It's a bbq we're going to isn't it?" I watched as he blushed. "Don't worry I'm sure I won't die if I miss one meal."

I found myself staring at a painting just outside the hosts bathroom, a half glass of wine in hand as I waited for Detective Whitechapel to return. He'd been ushered into the company of half the husbands in the neighbourhood seconds after we had gotten there. I was left to awkwardly try to figure out how to fit in with the wives while Ryan traded tips on how to keep the car wax from smudging. It was like high school only with bank accounts. Not only did our hosts buy into the suburban ideal, it was like they were Stepfords. A total paint by numbers version of what suburban life looked like in movies. I immediately thought of  that scene in Edward Scissorhands where they throw the big bbq and all the horny housewives are feeding him trying to get his attention. Each one of them trying to outdo the other while not appearing like they were. That's how these neighbourhood wives seemed to be. Each had a mommy and me group they were running, each seemed to be on the council for this or that at the school making it seem way more important than it should have been. Ryan's plan to fit in failed to account for the fact I could pass as a doting wife, but there was no way in hell I could pass as a soccer mom.  I was politely snubbed the second I stepped foot over the threshold.   The sliding door to the backyard opened up suddenly, allowing not only the host husband and Ryan back into the house, but the sounds of the party itself. Detective Whitechapel was beside me in a half a heartbeat, his arm snuggly around my waist.  I had worn a basic black pants that draped in a mini flare from the knees down, and a black and white floral print sleeveless shirt. Of which I had just bought two hours before. All the other Stepford Mums were dressed in vintage style cocktail dresses. The kind that are all the rage with the rockabilly crowd.

"Did you learn anything new?" I asked still staring at the painting. It was of a goat standing in the middle of a fishing boat, the waters calm and reflective.

"Only that I could use another beer." Ryan said nodding to the host husband. We watched as he went back out to the patio getting one from the cooler nearest the pool. "I might need you to play the loving wife a bit longer. I need to get invited to another get together."


Tune in again for another installment of the Cinema Files starring your heroine...me(straight up story.  Stuck in an unfriendly group at dinner time. Talk about fresh hell.)

Thursday, September 13, 2018

Coffee Talk Sept 13th 2018

Spudguns! How's it on your end today? Great spiffy, happy to hear that.

We are 48 Days till Hallowe'en, and I have absolutely nothing to talk about whatsoever. Just thought I needed to come in and post something.  Just when things were getting nice here weather wise, we ended up this week with another mini heatwave. Blah! Not happy about that.

I am officially in the busiest time of the year for me. Hallowe'en season/October season. Yes, I know we're still in September, but that's neither here or there. There's holiday baking, gift baskets, get togethers, decorating etc, to get done. This is the first time though, that I'm turning 90% of it into blog posts/vlogs. So there's that.

Right, moving on. There should be a serial this weekend (Sunday Sept 16th 2018) and at lest one What that Movie Inspired Me to Do middle of next week.

Okay, that about covers today. I'll be back on the weekend.

Sunday, September 9, 2018

The Nosferatu Adventures s13 p12

The Nosferatu Adventures
page 342, chapter 342

Instability on Stage 5

Bryon cracked his neck as he let out a deep breath wringing his hands as he turned to look over his shoulder at the mirror.

Out of Time

An hour ago...

Our heroine, Edric and Vlad arrived back at Quentin's warehouse, Vlad refusing to even look at Nosferatu. The scene at the corner store had been stupid of her, and she knew it. The three stopped nearly in unison as they got closer to the building. For Edric it had only been a few weeks since he had last been there, but for our heroine years had past. She'd forgotten just how small the building actually was. But it was the smells hot in the air that caused the trio to stop cold. The female banshee snarled as she took a step forward, her top fangs suddenly exposed. Edric had no idea what was going on as he watched Vlad grab her by the waist pulling her back. The door opened suddenly but only a crack as the hellhound mix came bounding out of the doorway, Arthur behind. He turned locking the door, while the little furball strained against the leash.

"Keeping secrets are we?" Nosferatu snorted nodding her head in the direction of the building. She could smell the creature still inside. "Get off me." she shrugged off Vlad's embrace. Her stride was solid as she moved then towards Arthur. Sniffing our heroine spat at his feet, causing Twilight to yelp as the beast got out of the way; cowering behind Arthur's legs. "Unlock the door before I break it." her tone was just on the edge of becoming a roar. She sniffed again, this time because the hot smell of dog urine was now in the air. Twilight had decided the nearest edge of the wall was a good enough place as any to go since it seemed there would be no walk now. The little hellhound mix started jumping up and down his front paws treading air as he barked feverishly. He had so much to tell the female caretaker. "Why is that mutt still even here?" our heroine snorted in frustration gesturing mindlessly at Twilight. "Shouldn't it have gone back to hell or something when I lost that baby? Huh? Or when Odin returned the others to their reality?"

"Loki created it here in this reality. You know this." Vlad's own voice held a scolding to it. The hellhound stopped yelping and turned to look at the male as it sneezed then shivered. Twilight didn't understand the rest of what was said, but he did know it was said silently between Vlad and Nosferatu without them moving their lips. Our heroine had ripped the key chain out of Arthur's hand and was already inside.  Stomping across the room like an angry child set on destruction, our heroine threw back the curtains to expose the large portable tub.

"So this is what bit you." she sighed in disgust, her eyes flashing the pure white of the banshee. "A water sprite. How in the hell did a water sprite even get here to this reality?" the words were barely out of her mouth as she spotted the books and pages scattered across the dinning table and the rippling energy of the not fully closed portal. Her spine seemed to fuse together as a cold sweat broke out over her flesh. They needed to close the portal completely before Dax realized it was open. Our heroine could not risk the familiar discovering it and using it to cross into this reality.

"I was trying to bring you back." Arthur's words were barely a breath. Our heroine let out another deep sigh as she pinched the bridge of her nose between her thumb and forefinger.

"You could have gotten yourself killed. Like no coming back dead. Had a mermaid come through your little portal here and not just some mire sprite...stupid." she swore under her breath in a language that made the sprite giggle. "And what do you have to say for yourself?" she was now addressing the sprite. "Huh?" our heroine let her hand slap her thigh as she gestured towards the portal. "Why come through? What it was shinny so you had to touch?"

"It opened before me. I fell into it by accident." she said in the same language that had just made her giggle, her voice echoing like forgotten windchimes.

"Well, you're going back so don't get too comfortable. Do you have a name?"   The sprite just shook her head.  "No of course not cause that would make sense and why would we want to do that?" another deep sigh of frustration from our heroine as she crossed back to the others.  But before she could say anything else, the group found themselves starring in silent shock as a man dressed in all black fell out of the portal.


Tune in again for another installment of the Nosferatu Adventures starring your heroine...me(straight up story. Water, mirrors, glass, blood...)

Thursday, September 6, 2018

coffee talk sept 6th 2018

Spudguns! How's everything on your end? Great, spiffy, good to know.

We are 55 days till Hallowe'en, and it's a Thursday. Randomness as always leads the day. For those keeping score at home, I'm still dealing with the hand. But, the half cast-splint is off and I'm able to do a bit more. Which means, I'll have something for you in regards to the serials this weekend. (Sunday the 9th September 2018)

That's all I came in to say. See you on the weekend.

Monday, August 27, 2018

coffee talk aug 27th 2018

Spudguns! I know I missed the serial this week. I injured my hand on the weekend and am finding it difficult to type one handed. That is literally all I needed to say today.

we are 65 days from Hallowe'en.

I must now go put on a bra one handed. Should only take about five hours to do. Tying my shoes one handed is an all day event. 

Tuesday, August 21, 2018

Coffee Talk Aug 21st 2018

Spudguns! We're 71 days till Hallowe'en, and how does that make you feel today? I feel groovy about it.

Okay, so I haven't really done one of these in awhile, but the movies I'm looking forward to seeing in the next few months are  The Happytime Murders, Venom, Goosebumps 2, Ralph Breaks the Internet, Robin Hood.

Last week I mentioned I had watched a couple of movies on Netflix Canada and just didn't like them at all. Which is why I decided not to review them. I went back and flipped through them again, and...yeah I still can't find anything nice to say about them.  The Babysitter (2017) and Wild Oats (2016)  I know these two films got a lot of positive from fans, but I just didn't care for them at all. At lest I made it through those two, where as I didn't even get fifteen minutes into Father of the Year (2018) before turning it off.
When I started this blog and the movie challenge, one major rule was finishing the movie no matter what. Which was fine for the first year of the blog when I was actually doing the 'One Movie A Day Challenge' the first time around. Now that I'm just back to watching movies for the simple love of movies, I find my tastes have really changed. 

Okay guys, that's about it for today. I'll be back on the weekend with the next installment of the serials. (Sunday Aug 26th 2018)

Sunday, August 19, 2018

The Nosferatu Adventures s13 p11

The Nosferatu Adventures
page 341, chapter 341

Instability on Stage 5

Bryon hummed to himself as he checked his image in the mirror. Black eyeliner, check, fresh pink streak on the right front corner of his spiked jet black hair, check, black suit coat with studded skulls at the collar tips and cuff links, check. Turning sideways to admire his reflection, the short male stuck his tongue out clearly enjoying himself as he continued to sing. And why shouldn't he? He'd just signed the biggest deal of his career. A male version of Alice in Wonderland. Sure, it was a schlocky little straight to late night television, but it would be playing on Hallowe'en night with a guarantee of being repeated for the next five years. Royalties that would at lest keep rent taken care of for awhile. Checking the clock over the kitchen table, he figured if he didn't leave right then, he'd be late. Grabbing his keys Bryon headed out to the lobby of the building, and to the stairs.  The underground parking lot was smelling extra filthy with an underlay of rotten seafood. He didn't even want to think what the neighbours might have been up to for it to smell that way? The less he knew the better.  The short goth hit the unlock button on his keychain causing the black hearse in the corner to beep twice. The one without the company logo. Bryon had spent the last three years fixing up the company castaway. It was practically a showroom quality piece. In fact, he'd based the design on the one from his favourite movie; Curse of the Bats from the Bottom of the Hunchback's Dirty Bucket.  The interior of the vehicle was slime green leopard print, the wheel a wreath of carved bats, the same pattern on the rear view mirror only in chrome, while a small coffin x-mas ornament swung from it. The hood ornament was also a small chrome coffin with a skull sitting on top of it. It was a complete replica of the one from the movie driven by the main servant. The leader of the zombie drag racers. Bryon pulled up to the edge of the studio parking lot just in time to see a swarm of people huddled in a few awkward seeming groups. The car door slammed as he locked it, clearing his throat, his eyebrows knitted together in puzzlement.  Then his heart sank a notch at what he saw. Teenagers wearing fuzzy glow in the dark t-shirts with the image of Reuben Blacksmith on it. They were members of his fan club. Bryon walked past them cautiously doing his best to ignore their screams and chatter.  They'd worked together a few times before Reuben became famous.Checking his hair one last time in the window, Bryon let out a deep quick breath as he stepped over the threshold of the studio's main lobby.

Leaning over the edge of the bathroom sink, Bryon touched up his eyeliner as he recited his lines from scene four. The last two hours had been nothing but going over the script and standing around waiting for the head of the television station to officially welcome the cast. Of course, when he finally did arrive he mentioned that Reuben had been there for an interview on the local daytime talk show. Once again, Bryon had to wait in line because of Reuben. The thought distracted him, causing the dark haired male to stumble over his lines. Closing his eyes in order to clear his mind, the goth slapped both palms against his cheeks to bring his mind back around to the script. Another deep breath as he opened his eyes to stare into the mirror.

"But hark, the dusk is damp with humming birds and wine. The flask overflowing with broken promises and hurtful glares." he lowered his voice as he tilted his chin downward to deliver the next sentence with as much distrust as he could towards his reflection. "Know now not for who that you bring these things, but what..." he read ahead in the paragraph that said his character lifted a tea cup to toast. Raising his empty hand made him feel silly breaking his concentration once again. The bathroom door opened just as a knight in half his armor walked in. Taking that as a cue to return to the stage, Bryon picked up his script and squeezed past the larger actor. Someone with a clipboard ran up asking him his name and if he had any allergies for the lunch order. As he turned to talk to them, a flash caught his eye in the room behind the assistant. Bryon was dying to see the sets and couldn't help himself. Once the assistant was off again their head down over the clipboard, Bryon made his way quickly to the room. The door wasn't completely closed and squeaked a little when he pushed it open all the way. Thankfully no one else seemed to be in the hallways right then. The large storage room had rows of labeled boxes and bins on large industrial looking metal shelves, and rolling hangers of costumes as one would expect. But, it was the larger props in the back of the room that really caught his eyes. Particularly the giant mirror that was partly covered with a paint stained drop cloth. That's where he figured the flash had come from; the mirror simply catching the reflection of the lights. Pushing the drop cloth to the side of the it, Bryon ran his fingers over the edges. It was a 6'foot tall mirror encased in a thin black frame. Nothing special, nothing over the top as you would expect from a television prop. Just a normal looking mirror. Licking his lips, he felt a rush of disappointment as he began to cover it up again. "Shack." he brought his hand up to his mouth sucking the crimson droplets from his palm. He'd hooked his hand on a piece of the hanging wires cutting it. Not deep, but just enough of a scratch to draw blood. "All I need." he mumbled to himself as he grabbed hold of the mirror with both hands moving it enough to see the back.

That was his first mistake.

His blood left a small print on the side of the mirror. Not much, not even noticeable at first, specially after it was absorbed into the mirror itself.  Turning to make his way back out of the props room, Bryon had forgotten to secure the covering as his own reflection seemed to hesitate in the mirror before dissolving. Bryon thought he'd heard a thumping noise and turned back towards the mirror.

That was his second mistake.

He tripped, stumbling towards the mirror his hands out to brace himself. The dark haired goth swore again as he tumbled to the floor. Getting up slowly, he brushed the dirt from his black pants before looking up.  There was a room full of people staring at him. "So trick door. Nice." he said nervously unsure what area of the studio he was now in. But before he could ask, a woman had appeared as if by magick across the room grabbing him, hugging him tight.

"Bryon! Oh my god!" our heroine breathed as she buried her nose in his shoulder. Reaching up to untangle himself from her, Bryon tilted back a half step on his heels annoyed.

"Hi. Yeah. Is this rehearsal? Am I late?" he pointed to the floor taking yet another step back.

"What are you doing here?" she sniffed deeply. "Wait..."

"I'm sorry, do I know you from somewhere? Were we extras together on something and I just not remember?"

"You don't smell like you. Why don't you smell like you?" our heroine asked her nose practically pressed to the flesh just above his collar.  Wiggling out of her grasp, he turned back towards the mirror. Only there was no mirror. There was only an off coloured patch of wall that seemed to move like steam. A panic began to build in the dark haired human as he reached his hand through the wall before walking back through.


Tune in again for another installment of the Nosferatu Adventures starring your heroine...me(straight up story. Remember back in S4 p24...)

Monday, August 13, 2018

Coffee Talk Aug 13th 2018

Spudguns!,  hey, how's it where you are?  Spiffy cool.

We are 79 Days till Hallowe'en, and I just finished posting a little nothing of a note on my facebook page. Thought, while I was in the mood, I'd just run in for a brief second and say hey...hey.

I've got a couple of recipes half way finished for the What that Movie Inspired Me To Do segments. They are vampire themed, so I'm debating if I should post before October or not? I am doing them as both written and video versions of the recipes, so I'm toying with keeping them in the vault until October season.  Honestly, I wasn't sure I was going to get around to getting them done at all, given I've had them on the TO DO LIST since last November.

I did sit down and watch a couple of random movies on Netflix Canada this weekend. I ended up hating them, so I'm not sure if reviews would be of any use?  I might take a second swing at them and see if I can find anything nice to say about them.

I will have one of the serials up on Sunday (Aug 19th 2018) which one is yet to be figured out.

Okay, that's it for now. I'll be back later in the week. And as always, feel free to hang with me on my facebook page.

Till later.

Friday, August 10, 2018

The Cinema Files s1 p11

The Cinema Files
page 11, chapter 11

Drive-In Drama

"Alrighty. I've got no damned idea what I'm doing." I said slapping my hands to my thighs. Blake, Vincent and myself, had just failed at trying to get information from the city's mortician. Seems she didn't care for fruit. Or us for that matter. Detective Whitechapel had already been in to visit her and informed her in no uncertain terms, if I showed up to call him and bar me from the floor.

"Desdemona calm down now." Blake said as he thumped his butt into the wall teetering under the weight of the overly large fruit basket. The thing was nearly two feet tall and must have weighed a good ten pounds. I told him not to add the pineapple but he didn't listen.

"I don't want to calm down. I want to get some results." I think I whined. Turning towards Vincent, I got an idea. He'd worn a button up shirt; which I started to unbutton the top part of, making the collar a little more peaked. "You need to seduce her. Like not doing it on the autopsy table or anything, but you know."   Vincent looked at me with a slight worry before turning back towards the morgue.

"Really Mons? Pimping out your best friend." Blake made a tisking noise before whistling. Less than two minutes caught Vincent walking back through the doors, handing me a small piece of note paper.

"See. I knew you were the secret weapon." I was nodding my head grinning widely as I took the paper. Unfolding it, I let out a deep breath discovering it was not the information we were looking for.

"Her exact words were call the top number first and then the second after 9pm." Vincent remarked buttoning back up his shirt smoothing down his collar once again.

"That's Whitechapel's number." my shoulders slumped as I felt Blake's breath at my neck as he leaned over my shoulder. The fruit basket digging into my elbow as he did.

"Who's number is under the cops?" Blake asked.

"The mortician's. Seems, I'm not her type." Vincent couldn't hold back the smile any longer. I felt Blake nudge me with his shoulder as he joined.

"I hate you both right now." 

"Well...anyone feel like fruit salad for lunch?" Blake nodded balancing the basket then on his knee.


I decided to go into the shop after the lack of leads we followed. Feeling let down and deflated, all I wanted was the familiarness of my store. To stand in the middle of the building, breathing in the scent of cardboard and plastic, the posters staring down at me from the walls. I suddenly felt a heavy longing for a vhs tape. Grabbing a well used and slightly faded dvd off the nearest shelf, I held it in my hands like a doll. It comforted me as if an old friend or pet would. The door opened causing me to blush before putting the movie back on the shelf.

"Good, you are open." It was Ryan. "Did you have fun on your little field trip to the morgue?" he looked around his right hand suddenly at his tie as he loosened it. Detective Whitechapel seemed so out of his element, which of course was all part of his tack. I'd seen him do this before more than once, assessing the situation as if he were less than sure of things, all the while letting his witness or suspect feel like they had the upper hand. Which of course, they never really did. 

"Detective." I moved around the room wanting to get a closer look at the expression on his face. I couldn't tell if I was about to get yelled at or not? "You looking for something in particular?" I saw his gaze travel over the current releases before stopping on a blu-ray for a movie about giant mutant snakes. He shook his head turning up his lips into a duck bill.

"No no." he flicked his left thumb over the very edge of his bottom lip. "What are you doing for dinner?" he smiled that devilish smirk of his, his eyes gleaming like jewels under the lights. They were looking particularly emerald like as he licked his lips tilting his head just slightly to the right, his eyes still encased in small laugh lines. "Been asked to help out on a case for the next town over. They need someone to pose as a couple for a few hours as a decoy. You game?"

"What time?" I had butterflies at the idea.

"I'll swing by your place about 4pm. Wear something elegant but comfortable. It's an outdoors party."


Tune in again for another installment of the Cinema Files starring your heroine...me(straight up story. I wish I was this popular.) 

Sunday, August 5, 2018

Coffee Talk Aug 5th 2018

Spudguns! It's just after 4:30pm EST on a Sunday where I am, and we're 87 Days till Hallowe'en.

I came in here with the intentions of writing the serial for the week, but my writer's block had me staring at the flashing cursor for twenty minutes straight. Yeah, it's getting worse it seems not better. I'm aiming for some point before the end of the week for the next piece of the serial. When you find yourself writing only two sentences a day; it takes way way way longer than it should to get anything done. Deadlines tend to flash past you like speeding cars.

It's yet, another long weekend here. Yes, Canada has a long weekend the first weekends of July, August and September. We're just kooky that way.

I will leave it for now at that. I'll be back middle of the week with the serial.

Sunday, July 29, 2018

The Nosferatu Adventures s13 p10

The Nosferatu Adventures 
page 340, chapter 340

Out of Time

"She's going to go through withdrawals soon." Vlad said cautiously as he stood beside Edric, his arms crossed. The two males were standing in the middle of a corner store parking lot, waiting for our heroine. "After all that time actually hunting. She's going to be in for a time of it over the next few days. Do you think you'll be able to handle it?" the older male raised an eyebrow as he silently doubted Edric was up for the task. Nodding Edric licked his lips waiting for the other shoe to drop. Vlad looked around as if expecting someone to run up from all directions. It was a habit he'd never gotten out of, having to constantly look over his shoulder for attackers. "And when her head's cleared and she's once again used to the iv bags; will you be able to handle what comes next? Huh? I mean, it's already started hasn't it?"

"What the shack are you getting at?" the sandy-blonde hybrid ran his hand through the limp mohawk before blinking in confusion.

"The fact she needs to be with a pack alpha. Nosferatu is dare I say, designed for it."

"Well, no worries there." Edric replied smirking. "We don't even have a pack to have an alpha for." his words were a little too smug even to his own ears.

"Of course we do! It just doesn't look like you think it should look like." Vlad retorted gesturing towards the nearly empty street. "And if you let yourself admit what you already know, then you already know the answer to who's actually the alpha. Hint, it's not you."

"Well it's obviously not Arthur. He's barely got his marbles most of the time. I suppose you're going to tell me it's you?" Edric said crossing his arms taking a guarded stance.

"You really need to open your eyes and see what's going on around you." Vlad raised his chin with authority. "Be prepared to fight for what you believe belongs to you already. Be prepared to possibly loose a friend in the process. Unless you're willing to bow down to Seward."

"Seward?" Edric shook his head in a double take, his eyes fluttering in shock. "Seward?"

"It's his house we all live in. His authority we have been bowing down to in polite hospitality. He's the one taking care of us, stepping in between yourself and Arthur when you fight, feeding everyone, paying for everything. He's naturally stepped into the role of alpha right under your nose and you allowed it. It's only a matter of time before he takes Nosferatu too." Vlad stiffened slightly as he tilted his neck to the side. "Somethings..." he sniffed deeply.

"Blood." the two males said in unison just as our heroine walked out of the store a large plastic bag in hand.

"Here these are for you." she remarked slapping a small pack of disposable razors into Edric's shoulder.

"You've got red sauce on your shirt." Edric whispered pointing just above her boobs as he nervously looked around to make sure no one saw. Vlad had already moved past them into the store. There just on the floor beside the check out counter, was a guy unconscious, a knife beside his broken hand. A few feet away from him behind the counter, the checker was drooling and babbling like a drunk. The dark haired male snorted in frustration before returning back outside, grabbing our heroine by the elbow and guiding her back into the store.

"What the hell is this?" Vlad's voice never rose, never wavered.

"A nice light snack." she began to giggle. "What? He was in the middle of robbing the place when I walked in, so I took care of it. He's still alive. His body anyways. And that one will be fine in a day or so. Just running on empty till the medics get here. Which, by the way, I was polite enough to call so we should go."


Tune in again for another installment of the Nosferatu Adventures starring your heroine...me(straight up story. Red sauce.)
 

Wednesday, July 25, 2018

Coffee talk july 25th 2018

It's just after 10:30pm where I am right now, on a Wednesday night. We are 98 Days from Hallowe'en, and my lovely Spudguns!, I just thought I'd run in for a moment and say hey...Hey.

For those of you who follow astrology; you're aware we've got a Mercury retrograde happening tomorrow, and a Full Moon plus Lunar Eclipse later in the week. So that means, expect miscommunication, mix ups, travel delays, electronic break downs and accidents.
For those of you who don't follow astrology...well you might see the next few weeks as weirdness all around.

I was running in to say that there will be a serial on the weekend (Sunday July 29th 2018). I've just lost track which one is suppose to be scheduled for this week, so I'm just going to write an installment for both and see what I get finished first. Coin toss really.

That's about all I wanted to say...so catch up on the weekend.

Wednesday, July 18, 2018

The Nosferatu Adventures s13 p9

The Nosferatu Adventures
page 339, chapter 339

Out of Time

"Would you like to explain to me your behaviour back there?" Seward asked as he stood suddenly on the second floor landing.

"No." our heroine said crossing her arms under her chest. Her eyes were as cold and blank as chrome plates as she turned to look at her human friend.

"That was uncalled for." the dark haired human began to march towards her in anger. His face beet red as he did, his curly hair flopping around his eyes. "He's just a kid..."

"Just a kid?" she lowered her arms, turning a half step on her heels towards him, closing the gap now between them. "Just a kid? That kid is a psychopath at best. A monster in every sense of the word. A half werewolf, half banshee demi-god with entitlement issues." she snorted having to wipe the back of her hand across her mouth, her fangs beginning to show. "He set a village on fire just because the local boys wouldn't play with him. Crept into their homes after dark and torched it. Not one house, but all of them." she gestured wildly with her right hand in a smooth motion. "Hunting because his werewolf side was coming to the surface. That I could have understood. His emotions didn't erupt causing him to get into a fight and bite someone in the heat of the moment.That I could have understood. No, he waited till everyone was asleep and burned them alive. Fifty people. Just because two little boys didn't want to play tag with him!" her voice had risen beginning to hurt Seward's ears. The colour started to drain out of the human's face, leaving him a sick ashen skin tone. "That kid..." she was pointing now to the main level of the house towards the kitchen. "Should never have been born!" she began to pace around the landing then, like a caged animal. "Loki's magick, Maxwell's soul." she made a noise between a laugh and a grunt. "The last of the pack alphas because Loki wanted his litter of shapeshifters. The Frankenstein curse farthest thing from anyone's mind. The last of the litter." she tilted her head, her words becoming slurred as her double row of fangs were completely exposed. Seward shrank back a half step, ready to run back down the stairs but forced himself to stop. "That damned Frankenstein family curse. Only two children a generation..." she let her chin droop, as she slammed backwards into the wall.  Seward watched himself move towards her as if watching a movie on tv. He had no connection, no control over his own actions as he reached out wrapping his arms around her shoulders, letting the fierce creature melt into his embrace. "If only Loki had left that piece of Maxwell's soul alone." her voice was strained between the half choked sobs and the fact her fangs were making it difficult to do much other than hiss.

"If he had, the youngest would have been Jacob's." Vlad's soft voice said with authority as he firmly planted his foot on the top stair of the landing. "That would have not made any difference to how things are. Edric would still be here now." a frustrated breath escaped Vlad's nose as he gestured towards the stairs, indicating Seward needed to step back. The dark haired human did not budge.

"I don't follow?" Seward said as he finally broke the hug but refused to move from Nosferatu's side.

"Edric is Jacob." our heroine answered; her eyes back to their human hazel as she stared deeply into Vlad's own brown ones. "When we..." she gestured then to Vlad and back to herself. "When we were first married back in the 1400's, before actually...I was with Jacob Oaken. He was the pack alpha. And then he betrayed us." a deep sigh forced her to put her palm flat on her chest to keep calm.

"How?" Seward asked suddenly feeling a wave of fear tickle his spine.

"He sided with my brother Radu to overthrow me as king." Vlad never broke eye contact with the female.

"Still fuzzy on the details. I mean, how could you not recognize..."

"He's soul not his body reincarnated...it's not as simple as movies make it out to be. But it explains why he turned into a hybrid and not just a banshee when I bit him. He'd already been a werewolf in his past life. A born lycanthrope, not a turned one. It was dormant he just needed for it to be triggered." she cleared her throat unable to look at either male as she continued. "And why he was able to claim me with just his desire to. Just a bit of his blood."  her eyelids fluttered as she began to blush. "Why Arthur became just a werewolf when Edric bit him."

"Speaking of wolves. I came up here to tell you Maxwell is apparently ruling Rolf's kingdom." Vlad spoke softly as if trying not to wake some invisible sleeper, as he clasped his hands in front of him.

"That's impossible. I just left there and everything was fine. Reuben was ruling as king. I mean, I know time moves differently, but still it couldn't have been more than a week or so there?"

"Hey, darling." Edric's voice broke their worry as he called from the bottom of the stairs. "You're cake's done. Ruthven is wanting to slap the icing on it." his footsteps were light on the stairs as he bounded up them to join their little party. Jerking his head to the side, the sandy-blonde hybrid tried to assess the situation but got nothing from his friends. Even with his sensitive hearing, Edric hadn't been paying close enough attention to their conversation, and now felt the awkwardness of interrupting it.


Tune in again for another installment of the Nosferatu Adventures starring your heroine...me (straight up story. Things are starting to get sticky.)

Friday, July 13, 2018

Random movie July 13th 2018

Movie: Hotel Transylvania 3 Summer Vacation
starring: Adam Sandler, Kevin James
genre: Comedy, Cartoon, Action, Adventure,
year: 2018
format: Cinema

SPOILERS!!

plot: The gang - Drac, Murray, Frank, Wayne and Griffin are being hunted by Van Helsing, in 1897. The guys end up having to disguise themselves as women in order to sneak on a train. But Van Helsing realizes it's them and chases Drac in all his animal forms. (rat, bat, wolf etc) They eventually end up on a cliff and Van Helsing falls to what we believe is his doom.  Fast Forward to present day, and the gang are at the hotel for another wedding. Drac finds himself the last single monster of the entire group, and begins to feel just how lonely it can be. Mavis decides to cheer him up by planning a surprise vacation for everyone, refusing to tell Drac anything about where they are going. They end up on a cruise in the Bermuda Triangle where Drac meets the captain- Erica. He soon finds himself falling in love with her, and unable to do much of anything around her. Wanting to know if she feels anything for him, he secretly follows her one night after the ship docks, only to have to save her life more than once. While this is going on, Wayne and Wanda are attacked and drugged by Abraham Van Helsing back on the cruise ship, and the kids - Dennis and Winnie are trying to hide the fact they broke the rules by bringing along their puppy. Erica, unknown to anyone, is a Van Helsing, and comes to regret her family's grudge against Drac. Before long, she finds herself falling in love with Drac as well, but Mavis just doesn't trust Erica. Specially after Erica unleashes the deadly Kracken; who the Van Helsings can control with music. It's up to Johnny with his skill for DJ-ing to find the right song that will break the spell and save the day. Once everyone is back home in Transylvania, Drac asks Erica to marry him.

Okay, so there is a lot going on in this movie. It's moved from the typical buddy comedy the franchise has been known for in the first two films, and is a big action-adventure story complete with a Raider's of the Lost Ark style scene. And keeping with the nautical theme, instead of the henchmen being zombies as in the first two, we've got fish-men. They are fish heads with feet.

The timeline is not given, but we know a few years have past because the werewolves have a new litter of kids, expressed with the addition of the second female werewolf. (Winnie having been the only one in the first two movies)  And we've got a role reversal with Mavis being overprotective of Drac's love life; letting us explore the jealousy and feeling of abandonment a lot of kids have when their parents re-marry.

I am torn on this one. I really love the first two in the series, and have literally been waiting for this one to hit cinemas, but it left me little disappointed. There were so many characters that were just left out of the story that we've come to see as main ones. Like Frankenstein, Murray, Wayne and Johnny that were barely there this time around. As the story arch comes full circle with one of the Draculas falling in love with a human, this one feels like it got too wrapped up in being bigger.

Honestly, I am hoping for a fourth film that deals with Dennis and Winnie.