Theme week part 3- Live in the Now!

The Skeleton Key

plot: A home care worker takes a job looking after an elderly man in the middle of the New Orleans swap. But she becomes suspicious of the wife's intentions when the husband begins begging for help to leave even though he's bed ridden with a stroke. She soon discovers the house has a history deeply rooted in hoodoo, and fears the ghost stories are more then stories.

This is a 2005 paranormal thriller staring Kate Hudson and Peter Sarsgaard

The big plot in this at first plays like it's a psycho revenge/control story of the wife wanting to keep her husband from leaving, one would assume for the money. But, as the story unfolds, and you learn about the prior people who lived there, it doesn't take long to realize it's a body-switch movie.
The characters of Mama Cecile and Papa Justify end up becoming more then just a "ghost story" or even supporting characters; proving to be the actual plot twist.

I love this film. The idea of body-switch movies are a genre all their own, usually dumbed down to fit Disney or teenaged comedy-romance, but giving it a horror twist makes this one worth your time.
I also love the fact the script didn't shy away from actual hoodoo practices, like the red brick powder that becomes a theme all it's own throughout the film.

Another theme here is the idea of what are you willing to believe? A point that gets made over and over in this film is the idea that not only is there more out there then what we see as life and death, but once you are willing to believe it, a world of unseen experiences opens up to you.

Coffee Talk and a challenge

Got my coffee, and some Twiztid playing this morning. Thinking about vampire movies. Then again when am I not thinking about vampire movies...rhetorical there babe...I've been working every so often on a prop for the "what that movie inspired me to do" for a vampire movie. Two props actually. So, here's my challenge for anyone reading this who gets a kick out of those posts, or likes vampire movies, or is the arts n crafts type or what have you. 

Pick any vampire movie, and tell me what it inspired you to do.  Anything, from building a prop, to checking out the original book it's based on, to having a coffin build for your bed...anything.

No time frame on this, it's just whomever whenever you come across this post, leave me a comment and let me know.   Partly because vampires are always a cool topic, and part because I'm not finished my props yet myself.

Okay my little fang-club, till later.

Theme Week part 2- Live in the Now!

The Banger Sisters

plot: After Suzette looses the same job she's had as a barmaid for over thirty years, she decides to track down her best friend Vinnie, whom she hasn't seen in over twenty years since their days as rock groupies. Along the way, she picks up Harry, an uptight writer who is set to get revenge on his dead father. The three find themselves dealing with their past, while trying to handle the fact they've gotten older.

This is a 2002 comedy starring Goldie Hawn and Susan Sarandon.

One of the main themes in this film is the fine line between growing up and hiding from life.  At first glance, it looks like Suzette just hasn't grown up while Vinnie has; but as the film progresses, you realize that Vinnie hasn't necessarily grown up as much as she has given up.
Both women look at the other and part of them each wants the life the other has created for themselves.

The film deals with the idea of self acceptance, as much as it does finding your own freedom. Accepting that in life you are going to do things you're not always proud of, and being able to get past them.

There is one scene where the two leads are sitting in the basement smoking a joint, looking at a bunch of old photos of rock stars penises. It's a crack up type of moment that could have gone horribly wrong, but instead touches on the lighter side and innocence of the era. It's the first bit of real tension too between the Sarandon character's present and her hidden past.
It asks the question what are you willing to give up of yourself, in order to be who you are truly meant to?

The Nosferatu Adventures s8 p5

The Nosferatu Adventures
page 205, chapter 205

2015

Bacchus just managed to dodge the table as it went flying across the room. Loki was standing in front of the mirror, breathing like he'd just run a marathon, his brown eyes shifting to pools of black, as if staring into the empty socket, his mouth turned down in a pout.  The dark haired god pointed at him not saying a word as he stepped over the splintered furniture.  Bacchus raised his hand fixing the room back to the way it was moments before. "And we're redecorating why?"

"Your pet! Your precious warlord Vlad has just undone what took me days to fix." Loki pointed to the mirror showing his buddy the scene from 1462, as prince Vlad snapped our heroine's neck. "You need an instant replay?"

"No but I'm guessing you're not buying the beers tonight. What is she even doing there...or should I say then?"

"I don't know!" Loki said raising his hands out to his sides. "She's suppose to be all safe and snuggling up in the vineyard with Dagan, getting dogged. But she's not!" he slapped the mirror. "Instead, she used the Seer's spellbook and opened a damned portal following Reuben and the others."

"She does have a thing for Reuben." the sandy haired god replied as he moved across the room, his suite dissolving into a pair of leather pants and a white silk shirt. "Remind me again why you sent those mutts back to the crusades?" Bacchus smiled to himself as he opened a large wooden chest picking out a worn ripped notebook that had 1969 written on it.

"That's the year their magick mirror was created. They are suppose to have gotten it by now and be off to the 1800's. But, this little detour may have just made things worse." he stomped around the room, jumping over the table, kicking everything off of it, before ripping a tapestry off the wall.

"And pouting is going to work." Bacchus shook his head as his hair suddenly grew to his shoulders.  "So what? Nosferatu got her neck broken. She's a vampiric half breed. As long as her heart and skull remain intact..."

"What does he want with her anyways?" Loki raised his hand to keep him from speaking. "He's proving a point to the wolves. And by the way, Reuben is now the pack alpha."

"But I thought you just said Dagan was still in 2015?"

"He is." Loki jumped down from the table waving his hand as a fresh bottle of rum appeared on the table beside him. Uncorking it, he drank half in one swallow. "I'm talking about the pack from 1462. Rolf's ancestors. He's the pack alpha of Rolf's ancestors. And it's because he was in his own backassed way, saving the female from the full moon ritual." he emptied the bottle tossing it at the wall, shattering it into pieces.

"Fine, I'll go talk to Vlad." he huffed, tossing the notebook back down letting his clothes once again drift off to be replaced by the leather armor of the time.

"No! I'll deal with it." Loki replied as he shimmered into the shadows.

"Good. I'd rather be at a concert anyways."


1462...

Reuben sniffed as he stood there, his chocolate brown puppy dog eyes having flashed the amber-grey of the wolf, frozen in place, hands at his belt. Rolf stood a few feet away frozen in mid air, his fist in mid punch.  Loki stepped around everyone as if walking through a garden filled with statues.
Grumbling to himself he made his way into Vlad's tent. Touching his finger to the prince's forehead, he made a ssshh sound, as Vlad collapsed to the ground in a heap.

"What part of take care of yourself I don't have time to be babysitting did you not understand?" Loki spoke to our heroine who was still not revived yet. "UP Now!" he clapped his hands rubbing them together. Our heroine sat bolt upright a scream escaping her throat. "Quiet!" the dark haired god said, cutting the scream off midway. Leaning over her, his hands on his knees, he smiled. "Now. We've got two choices." he held one hand up to her counting on his fingers. "One, we can send you back up the line so that you can shack Dagan till his brains bleed, or two, you can go out there and find away to get Reuben to give up the goods. Either way, you need to instigate the seduction otherwise, you won't get the alpha position."  Loki scratched the back of his neck. "Personally I think you should go home and reconnect with Dagan. Build up that sire bond once more, but since Reuben is here now and everyone is acting like the lead in sleeping beauty." he shrugged. "Don't you want just a slight bit of revenge on him for the time he claimed you doing that full moon ritual? I know I would." He cupped his hand to his ear. "What's that might want to turn the volume up can't hear you." he laughed at her wiping the corners of his mouth.
Our heroine shocked the god by grabbing his neck pulling him down to the pile of rugs she was still sitting on. Pointing at her own throat, she slapped the god on the back of the skull. "What's that? You want your voice back? Oh I don't think so." he shook his head, his jaw clinched as he knelt over her, one hand on each of her shoulders. "I've killed people for less than that." sticking out his tongue, he grabbed her right arm licking her flesh from the inside of her wrist to her shoulder, dragging her tighter to him before continuing to lick her face; punctuating it by winking at her. "But darlin, if you ask really nicely I might go a round of musical chairs with you."  the dark haired god grunted as a cloud seemed to overwhelm his features. He stuck his finger in her face tapping her nose. "Just don't breathe a word of it to Bacchus okay." he leaned in about to kiss her but pulled his face away. "After you go take the alpha position from Reuben." he turned his eyes up to look at her from under his lashes. "I don't care how you do it, just...do it." Loki tossed her to the ground before getting up off the pile of rugs himself. He snapped his fingers giving her back her voice. "You give me what I want and I will consider giving you what you want." he backed up a few steps, letting the magick mist swirl around him in a thick cloud. Licking his palm he trailed his hand down his body through the magick mist. "And trust me I'm the greatest thing since sliced bread."


Tune in again for another installment of the Nosferatu Adventures starring your heroine...me(straight up story. Have I mentioned yet today how much I love wrestlers from Detroit?)

Theme Week- Live in the Now!

Timer

plot: Two sisters who have a timer embedded on their wrists, informing them when they will meet their soulmates, look at life differently. Steph knows she's going to be in her 40's before the love of her life arrives, while Oona has a blank clock. Steph throws caution to the wind and decides to have a good time enjoying being single, while Oona refuses to waste her time on relationships knowing the guys are not her one. That is until Oona meets Mikey, a much younger guy who she gets swept up with. Everything goes well, until til Steph's new love interest Dan ends up being Oona's one.  

This is a 2009 romance starring Emma Caulfield and John Patrick Amedori

I see both sides of this coin. The whole idea of should you jump into relationships every chance you get because you never know what might be around the corner, vs the idea of not being foolish just because someone seems interesting. Where do you draw the line and find the balance? And should you?

The character of Steph's first instinct when she sees Dan does not have a timer, is to set him up with her sister Oona, but ends up becoming emotionally attached to Dan herself. That in itself kind of points to the idea that as humans we instinctively know when someone is right for us. In her case, she ignores the gut reaction and just goes with the flow.
Oona on the other hand, knows there is no real future for herself and Mikey, but out of fear, jumps into a relationship with him. The more she learns about him, the more it's obvious to her that their romance is only meant to be short lived.
Oona convinces herself that everything will be okay as soon as she knows who her soulmate is. Her single minded obsession to find him leaves her unable to deal with the information, thus hurting everyone around her. 

There is a scene, where Oona goes to see her father whom she hasn't seen since she was a kid, and discovers that he too has a timer. That he got one to prove to her mother that love isn't always enough, that when you know in your soul, not all romances have happy ever after stamped on it you have to let yourself admit there is better for you.

I loved the fact there are hidden clues foreshadowing  Oona finding her one. She has a dream about a masked man after watching a tv show, an in the dream he tells her not to watch the eggs in the pot because it won't boil. Later on, when she's breaking up with Mikey, he's boiling an egg and not bothering to watch what he's doing, causing it to boil over. This is followed by her seeing a group of joggers wearing the same masks from her dream, right before bumping into Dan.  Again, this is pointing out that as humans we really do have internal knowledge of when something is true/right for us, we just have to pay attention.

As you can tell, I love this movie. It hits really close to home for me...I personally would love to have something like that telling me when Mr. Right is going to show up, would save me a hell of a lot of heartbreak. And just like the lead character Oona, I like my men like I like my wrestlers, younger than me and from Detroit. (and Ohio and Iowa and the Toronto area...)

April Food n Flix

This month's Food n Flix selection is the movie Chef   and is being hosted by Culinary Adventures with Camilla.


I originally talked about this last fall (Year 3 Day 120)

plot: After getting a bad review by a food critic, Carl quits his job and starts a public fight with the critic. After it ends up on the internet, he decides to go on a vacation with his son and ex-wife. Along the way, he buys a food truck and hires his best friend to help him.  The three guys, then spend a few weeks driving across country in the truck, creating the foods they love and earning a large fan base.

This is a 2014 film starring Jon Favreau and John Leguizamo.

There is one scene where they go to a bbq place, and you can see the transition from "movie" to "documentary" for that five minutes of footage.

I watched this online, so you'll notice a lack of the dvd cover in photos.

Normally, I find my notes on the Food n Flix selections to go about a half paragraph, but in this case I had a whole page handwritten.  :garlic, fennel, lime, orange, zucchini, milk, blood orange, kiwi, pork, soup, carrots, radish, kettle corn, fruit, jerky, sausage, hero sandwiches, bacon, espresso, sweet breads, french onion soup, caviar eggs, scallops, fricassee salad, lobster risotto, chocolate lava cake, wine, tequila, "pot brownies" (there was a scene where two of the characters are hanging out in the parking lot smoking and it just popped into my head)  beef cheek, saute onions, pasta, fried green tomatoes, green marinade, tuna, prongs, beef, quail with pickled radish, chives, grilled cheese, cereal, "alphabet soup" (one of the twitter scenes) hash browns, fried eggs, "breakfast sausage" (just because of the eggs and hash browns) juice, "tasting menu", brisket, octopus stir-fry, steak with braised zucchini, mixed berries with cream and caramel-brittle dust, iced coffee, "salsa" (they dance) Cuban sandwiches, potato wedges, coconut water, "sugar-skulls"(the office scene has skulls everywhere), "ice cream" (the first time you see the truck I thought ice cream) tacos, "dirty rice" (the New Orleans scenes) yuca /Cassava,  plantain, pickles, "rocky road" (cause of the road trip) beignets/donuts, Po'Boys, "sugar-balls",  "gumbo", shrimp, "churros", BBQ, sliders, "I love you cupcake"(the phone scene), pizza, "California roll" (just that they head to California), wedding cake.

I decided to make carrot and red pepper soup, grilled cheese and "sugar-balls".

The soup and sandwich was pretty much a given, but the sugar-balls popped into my head with the scene where John Leguizamo dumps cornstarch down his pants... thought was in my head and you know me, I couldn't pass this one up.

Carrot and pepper soup

3 carrots peeled and chopped
1 red pepper
1/2 an onion
salt
garam masala
minced garlic
extra virgin olive oil
water
tomato paste
black pepper
1/2 cup milk or cream

Boil the carrots until tender, drain,
Roast the pepper for 45 minutes or till skin has started to blacken, peel the skin, then chop and remove the seeds.
Cook onion and garlic in oil until onion is see-through, add to pot with carrots, red pepper, garam masala, and salt.
Cover with water, and simmer 15 minutes
Add tomato paste, milk and black pepper, stir and simmer another 15 minutes

after the first photo of the carrots, I sort of got caught up with the making the donuts and forgot to take photos of the rest of the soup...and I was watching Bold and the Beautiful so distracted...

Grilled Cheese

monterey jack cheese
cream cheese
onion
sauerkraut
bread

Spread the cream cheese on the bread, add two slices of the monterey jack, then the uncooked onion, layer the sauerkraut over, add two more slices of monterey jack.   Grill in butter as normal.

I used two types of bread, a plain white bread and a raisin-cinnamon bread.   The sweetness of the raisin-cinnamon bread gave a nice depth with the onion and the spice of the soup.






Sugar-balls (donuts)

I have to admit, I've never tried making donuts before so this was an interesting challenge in itself.
I went with a cake donut for this.

2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
teaspoon salt
teaspoon cinnamon
teaspoon nutmeg
1 egg
1 cup milk
1/4 cup unsalted butter melted
teaspoon vanilla
oil for frying

Icing sugar for coating

Mix dry ingredients together, making a well for the egg, milk, vanilla, and butter.  Mix well, then refrigerate for 1 hour.

Roll out on floured board, then shape.   Oil should be at medium-high for frying.  Drop into hot oil, cook 3 minutes per side, drain on paper towel,  cool only till you can handle them,  Roll in icing sugar




Once again...not as pretty as I would have liked, but classic comfort food you just want to have while curled up watching this movie.

And until next time...sugar-balls!

The Nosferatu Adventures s8 p4

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