Sunday, April 30, 2017

Night Bleeds April 2017

Spudguns! It's that time again, for the all vampire book and movie club. This month's combo is the book The Vampire Lestat (1985) and the movie version Queen of the Damned (2002).  Now, the movie actually is half of this book and half of the third book in The Vampire Chronicles.

I have to say, The Vampire Lestat, is my favourite book. I read this when it first came out; when I was 12. Most of it went over my head, but that didn't stop me from connecting to it. My copy ended up being a permanent fixture in my purse from the time I read it in 1986 until just a few years ago. I've read this four times completely in the last 31 years. It also coloured the spiritual path I ended up on.

Book: We open in 1985, with Lestat waking up after sixty years buried underground. His dreams have been affected by the radio news, and general conversations of the people living in the area around him. It's steeped his hunger in more than one way. Lestat is most drawn to the punk metal band living on his property, their music having coloured his dreams. He decides he wants to become the new lead singer, telling his new neighbours that he's going to write everything, and pay for everything. He then begins to tell the group about his life, and decides to write not just the music/lyrics of their album, but his autobiography as well. He's done this with the intent of stirring up trouble with the vampire community.  We then are taken through flashbacks to his childhood in France, where he has runaway to join a group of traveling actors, where he falls in love with his best friend Nicolas; who has also runaway to become a musician. Nicolas's violin music has helped to propel them to a small theater, where Lestat is the lead actor and Nicolas is the head musician. Before long, Lestat is kidnapped and taken to a tower by the vampire Magnus. Magnus does not teach his new fledgling much other than telling him the most basic of rules, before setting fire to himself and dying. Lestat is then left to explore his new nature. Soon, Lestat returns to his friends at the theater and learns his mother Gabrielle is dying. He decides to turn her then. She's his first fledgling. Nicolas becomes his second, and for a few years they live in harmony. But Nicolas has become so depressed, he sets fire to himself as well. At this point, Lestat meets the ancient vampire Armand, who is the coven leader in the area. The coven proves to be lacking in their own own identity, until Lestat gifts them the theater. He then goes with Gabrielle to Egypt. Here, Lestat meets Marius, one of the oldest vampires on the planet. Marius tells Lestat about how he was turned, just as Armand had told him his own story. Marius also tells Lestat about Those Who Must Be Kept. The two first vampires, whom Marius is the caretaker of. Akasha and Enkil.  Akasha and Enkil, have not moved or fed in hundreds of years, and have become like stone. Lestat does not let this stop him though as he plays music for them, causing Akasha to move for the first time in over a hundred years.  Lestat is then turned out, banished from them, and goes to the New World. Here, he spends nearly a hundred years with his next two fledglings, Louis and Claudia, before Claudia's attempt to kill him. From here, Lestat confesses that he went underground for the first time in 1929. We are now back to the "present", and Lestat is getting ready for his first rock concert. He has openly broken all the rules of the ancient vampires, by telling mortals about them. This enrages the other vampires, and they have all begun showing up at the concert trying to kill him. But, each of his enemies suddenly bursts into flames, and Lestat believing it's Marius returns home to wait for his friend. When he is given a dream message of Marius trapped in ice, he learns that the one causing his enemies to burn is indeed Akasha awakened. His last image is of her grabbing him just as the sun is rising.

The main themes I got from this novel were desperation, vanity, loneliness, fear, grief, anxiety, wanting to be loved and fearing the ability of not being loved, and the ying-yang of spirituality.  We are taken through every major religion from Christianity to Celtic beliefs to Egyptian beliefs to the lack of beliefs.
This novel manages to hand you every polarity there is in spiritual terms, from Armand's coven who claim to devote themselves to Satan but still follow Catholic ideals; to Dionysus, to Osiris and Isis's myth, to the Druidic worship of nature.

The very thread of the main relationship between Lestat and his mother Gabrielle is that of the Pagan views of the moon/sun stories and metaphor for the changing of the seasons. As his mother is dying of a wasting disease, the son rises to her aid; giving her this new rebirth. (the mother goddess with her lover/son with the death rebirth of the seasons) This is then paralleled with the characters of Akasha and Enkil, who are the center of the Isis/Osiris mythology. The god being struck down by his brother who chops him to bits, leaving his wife to piece him back together all but one part. Thus, he becomes the god of the dead/underworld. (as the vampires in The Chronicles can not have sex)
The male/female roles are very blended here as well. The female characters are very strong characters who as they become vampires become cold towards everyone else, while the male characters are the more emotional and passionate characters.  And of course, this lends once again fittingly to the whole idea of the destruction side of the goddess, and the nurturing side of the god.  In fact, all the female characters seem to be the ones in control of the situations. From Gabrielle being not just Lestat's mother, but the fact she directs their journey for most of it, and comments about how she could see the direction the world is headed. That she envisioned a new religion where the vampire was feeding openly and humans being little to nothing. (which of course is Akasha's grand goal later on) The mention of Claudia from the first novel, who demands to be given equal power as Lestat, feeling she is more deserving than he is given her being stuck as a child. To the female vampire in Armand's coven who is clearly more in charge than even he is.

When Marius is telling the story of when he first drank Akasha's blood hundreds of years before, how he fell to his knees kissing her hand, therefore becoming her most devoted follower. That is just another version of the Dracula/Renfield story line. Master and servant. This also finds its way in to the rest of the novel in a much subtler way.  Lestat's human lawyer/banker is nothing more than another example of this pure devotion. Even though Roget does not know of Lestat's true nature, he still acts in the same way. Even Enkil is nothing more than an over barring bodyguard to Akasha in the end. The character of Enkil sits silently moving in a rage only when someone tries to come between himself and Akasha.

I actually loved the idea that we come full circle with the little "families" that Lestat has. In this novel, (which even though it's book two, it's first in the story's timeline arch) we see Lestat with his fledgling mother who is this blonde wild creature, and his dark haired depressed best friend/lover Nicolas. And in Interview with the Vampire, we find Lestat in a family with dark haired depressed best friend/lover Louis and the child fledgling Claudia who is this blonde wild creature. I thought the direct parallel was a brilliant link to the chain. And once again, comes to the idea that it's a metaphor for the old myths of the changing of seasons, the cycles that constantly repeat themselves.  (the women he can never possess, never understand, never get over and never control)

I also love beyond words, the fact Lestat is a telling of Dionysus. It's not just something the character refers to, but is in part woven directly into the whole make up of the plot. There is a section on page 330 where Lestat is thinking about the myths and stories of Osiris and Dionysus comparing them. "This god Osiris was the god of wine to the Egyptians, the one later called Dionysus by the Greeks. And Dionysus was the 'dark god' of the theater, the devil god whom Nicki described to me when we were boys at home. And now had the theater full of vampires in Paris. Oh it was too rich. I couldn't wait to tell it to Gabrielle."  It's the character of Nicolas who brings up the whole idea of becoming a Dionysusian. Of throwing their breeding to the wind and diving into the arts, living in a frenzied state of that of actors and musicians. And then we see Nicolas fail to reach his own ideals as Lestat embodies them effortlessly.


movie: it's the year 2000, and Lestat has been in a self induced coma for most of the 1900's. He is drawn to the goth band who are down the road from his hiding place, and decides to join them. As the band gets ready for their first concert, a group of paranormal scholars, called the Talamasca, are worried about the sudden rise in paranormal activity. They have been watching for hundreds of years, chronicling the most powerful vampires and witches around. Jessie is still new to the Talamasca, but very eager to take on the task of being Lestat's watcher. She soon becomes involved with him on a personal basis. Jessie also feels connected to other members of the vampire society, experiencing odd dreams of her family and members of the biggest vampire coven.  On the other side of the planet, Akasha the first vampire, has been awoken from a three thousand year sleep by the sounds of Lestat's music. She frees herself from the confines of her hideout and begins searching for him. Everyone ends up at Lestat's concert. The members of the Talamasca, Jessie, Akasha, Marius, Armand, Pandora, and Jessie's aunt Maharet. We learn that Maharet is one of the oldest vampires, created at the same time as Akasha, and therefore Jessie's dreams are more than she has believed. Akasha then kidnaps Lestat, promising to make him her new king, as she begins to create her version of a new world run by vampires. Everything comes to a head in Maharet's underground mansion, as the vampires declare war on each other. 

Since this film is the combination of books 2 and 3 in the series, it is a bit unbalanced. I do like this film, the ideas are there they just could have been polished a bit more. I didn't care for the way they did the character of Jessie at all. Nor did I overly click with the "goth scene" they threw them into. That's something I would have kept to the original a bit more, having it either still in the 1980's rock style or better yet, given it was done in 2000-2001 I would have maybe set it in the very late 1970's.

One of the big differences in the movie to the book is the fact they combine two of the vampires; Magnus and Marius, making them one character. (Another is that they completely removed the main story of the twins from book 3.)

The fact they had a different actor playing Lestat in this movie from the first (as well as Armand. Who are the only two characters brought over from the first movie) actually makes sense to me. This story is suppose to be a good hundred years after the first movie. Lestat is in a different state of mind, he's grown, had major loss, basically been through a divorce (yes I'm comparing the idea of Louis leaving him to a divorce) and pretty much has a different attitude. Having Stuart Townsend playing Lestat as the rock star works. He looks like he could be Jim Morrison. (though I would have loved loved loved to have seen Val Kilmer in this role)

My favourite scenes are pretty much the ones between Lestat and Marius (Vincent Perez from Crow 2 City of Angels) Perez brings a nice balance of slyness to the role. Almost as if he's playing a cat and mouse game that no one really realizes they are part of. The term seductively bored, could easily be used for the way he presents the character. He manages to say more with a tilt of his chin and down casting his eyes, then some of the other actors do with a full monologue.

The big themes I got out of this film were acceptance of self, and the feeling of belonging. You almost get the idea that they were subtly exploring oppression, but it gets lost somewhere along the way. You also completely loose any of the spiritual aspects from the novel Vampire Lestat. All the questions on what is good/evil, all the metaphors and myths about world religions are completely missing here.


And that's about all for now. Our next combo will be in June, and it's Witches of Eastwick, both book and movie. But I'll be back later in the week with the official announcement post for it.


Sunday, April 23, 2017

The Nosferatu Adventures s12 p9

The Nosferatu Adventures
page 309, chapter 309

Out of Time...

Edric slammed his fist into the brick wall as he stomped around the outside of the warehouse. A snarl escaped his throat as he thought about what the mirror guy said. Nodding to the now broken bricks, he ran back across town to the Van Helsing house.  It seemed his refuge was become his weakest link.

"Hey dude, you're just in time for..." Seward commented as he locked the car door holding up the bag of take-away. It went flying onto the lawn as Edric grabbed his friend slamming him face first into the hood of the car.

"I just saw some guy in my bathroom mirror telling me Nosferatu, my sire, the female I claimed; would be giving birth to a Van Helsing! Shacking explain to me how would that be possible?" he rubbed Seward's face harder into the hood of the car.

"Good news! Good news!" the dark haired human said.

"How is that good news? The only way someone else can claim her is if I die." the sandy-blonde hybrid screamed.

"It means we get her back! We get her back..." Seward was starting to run out of breath. Edric let go snorting, as he took a large pace, circling back around to glare at his young friend. Edric picked up the bag of food, moving as slow as possible to make sure Seward saw the gesture. He could tell by the weight of it that it was still okay, nothing had fallen out, or it seemed spilled. Carefully the older male placed it on the hood of the car. "Tell me what happened. Exactly?"  Seward said rubbing his hand then at his throat. Edric filled him in on the situation, his blue eyes shifting to the amber-grey of the wolf as he seemed to get angry again.  "Okay, what do we know about it? We know..."

"That I die is what we know! I end up dead and someone..." the hybrid began screaming again.

"...we know that in order for her to give birth, that means she will get her soul back. And if it's someone claiming to be in my family, then we get her back." Seward said his hands up trying to calm the hybrid down. "And one of us get turned." Seward swallowed hard, his eyes darting back and forth quickly.

"If you think I'm going to sit back and allow you or Ruthven to take my place you've got another thing coming!" Edric was pointing at Seward, his nails having become glass like and at lest two centimeters. Seward swallowed again trying not to blink as the nail on Edric's forefinger was getting just a bit too close to his face.

"What if it's not? One of us I mean?" Seward inched away from him grabbing the bag of food slowly moving towards the house. "You did say the guy said he isn't born for like over seventy years still. So what if it's not us? What if it's our grand kids or something who ends up..."

"You're over looking the me being dead part!" Edric said following the human into the house and straight to the kitchen. The sandy-blonde hybrid brought his left hand up to his skull, in the gesture of a gun, his eyes wide having gone back to their human blue. "Trust me, I really don't have any suicidal tendencies."

"Are you sure right now? Cause that's a really impactful gesture." Seward replied dropping the food on the table picking up a stack of napkins. "Really, a cartoon character?" he said waving the children's birthday napkins at the nearly empty kitchen.

"They were on sale." Ruthven shrugged as he walked into the room. "So, if I heard you right just now, you saw something..."

"Someone! I saw someone." Edric corrected him growling.

"Someone, who may or may not be Nosferatu's kid, and may or may not be related to us down the road. And may or may not be lying to you? Don't we have a coven we're suppose to be crapping our pants over? Huh? Isn't there a couple of uber powerful male witches out there that both just happen to be Nosferatu's exes who might want to screw with your head because you're her guy right now?"  Ruthven ran his hand over his beard, wiping the corners of his mouth before picking up the files on the table, waving them for dramatic effect, then dropping them in front of Edric. "You had me watch weeks of that soap opera cause Quentin had a hunch about The Seer leaving a trail of breadcrumbs in it." he pointed to the table before turning back towards the kitchen door. "I am pretty sure Hansel and Gretel were punished because in their selfishness, they didn't see the forest for the trees."

"What's that suppose to mean?" Edric growled again.

"You're not the only one who's affected here." he doubled back to the kitchen table grabbing the small glass of rum, the ice clanking as he did. "I forgot my drink." he mumbled as he then left the kitchen.  Edric stood there blinking shaking his head in a double take.

"What just happened here?" he asked hooking his thumb towards the doorway.

"He misses her too you know." Seward replied shrugging as he removed five plates from the cupboard. "They'd become friends."

"Friends? He thinks they became friends." Edric crossed his arms in defiance. "He just got suckered into her spell is all. Friends my arse." his eyes became hard slits as he shook his head, the sandy-blonde hair falling over his one eye, forcing him to fix the limp mohawk. "Banshee half god." Edric snorted in disgust.

"Edric. Go home. Go home get some sleep grab a few iv bags, go for a run. I don't know." Seward said closing his eyes emotionally exhausted. 

"Wait. Are you kicking me out?"

"Yeah." he nodded making a clicking noise with his tongue. "I am. In fact what time is it?" he looked at the little clock on his cell phone. "For the next four hours. Edric I'm uninviting you from this house."  he pointed towards the backdoor.  Edric snarled his hands in fists at his side, rocking up on his toes. Opening his mouth he tried to speak but found he couldn't. It was as if his throat was closing in on him. The air trapping in his lungs as if he were holding his breath underwater, his neck and face turning red. But he couldn't move. The hybrid was stuck in place as if part of the floor. Burn marks began to form on the edge of his collar, small blisters appearing over his skin as his nose began to bleed.  "I undo it! I unto it! You're invited to my house! I invite you in, and give you free reign of the place!"   A howl of pure pain escaped Edric's lips finally as he grabbed his skull in both hands falling to his knees. The magick mist seemed to burn off him in one giant puff of smoke, leaving the male naked for a few seconds, a heavy layer of sweat across him where the blisters were already beginning to heal.


Tune in again for another installment of the Nosferatu Adventures starring your heroine...me(straight up story. The X-Division might just save wrestling again.)

Wednesday, April 19, 2017

Random movie April 19th 2017

Spudguns!  It's National Film Day here in Canada, -beauty Eh? - and I decided to dig through the vaults and offer for you one of my favourite Canadian films.  Strange Brew.   But since I'm lazy cause I had too many donuts Eh?; I am not going to write about it, I'm just going to pop the top on this and give you my video review.  Beauty.


Sunday, April 16, 2017

Coffee Talk April 16th 2017

Spudguns! How's your night going?  Well it's night where I am right now.  Anyways, I thought I'd slip in for a moment, because...I didn't have a reason to be honest. Just sitting here having a coffee, watching the weather being craziness. We've gone from +22C to -3C with snow in the last 24hours.

Don't forget, Night Bleeds is this month. Sunday the 30th, and we're covering the book Vampire Lestat and the movie Queen of the Damned

And if you're outside of Canada, you might not be aware that April the 19th is National Film Day.  So do yourself a favour and check out some Canadian movies on the 19th.  If you go to the official website  https://canadianfilmday.ca/  you'll be able to get a list of some great movies to inspire you. 

That's about it my little moose droppings, I'll be back later in the week.

and now, coffee

The Nosferatu Adventures s12 p8

The Nosferatu Adventures 
page 308, chapter 308

Out of Time...

"That's what that blast was. No, that blast didn't come from there it came from my photo thing." Landin was mumbling out loud to himself as he continued to shuffle papers around on the edge of the bed. They still had him hooked up to an iv bag, which was nearly drained, causing the bleached blonde to have to be careful how he moved. "There is so much anger with this guy, so much regret." he continued as he held up a page that seemed to have been overrun by a spilled liquid. Sniffing the page, Landin felt certain enough it was safe to taste as his tongue darted out over it. "No that's ink." he nodded to himself.

"Who you talking to?" Edric asked as he appeared out of nowhere to hover in the doorway.

"Myself." the human replied not bothering to look at him. "Not allowed. I've had my fill of your lot. So you just stay right where you are on the outside of the hallway. Whatever healing my body has done, I really don't want it re-torn by you. Any of you."

"Memo received and read." Edric answered feeling slighted. "Not that any of this matters anyways." he continued on back out of the house, heading quickly down the street. The sandy-blonde hybrid had thought that being supernatural would mean he finally was part of something. But, it was turning out not to be the case. More and more he was really feeling the weight of being alone. These people whom he was forced to be around, were the only friends he had left. The only family he had ever really had. And it felt like they were purposely shutting him out inch by inch.  Edric continued walking until he found himself back at Quentin's warehouse. Another place that just reminded him how empty things had gotten.

Flopping down on his bed, Edric reached for the half empty bottle of water that our heroine had left by the bedside. The last time he'd seen her when Bacchus had kidnapped her. He was all out of anger. Self pity had moved into him, into every fiber of his being as he lay there on his stomach, tilting the bottle one way then the other. If he was suppose to be the all powerful creature everyone kept saying he was, then why couldn't he figure out how to get his sire back? There had to be a way to find her?

"There is a way."  the voice said from nowhere and everywhere at the same time. Edric was standing, his eyes having turned to the amber-grey of the wolf, his nails claw like talons. Sniffing he smelled nothing to indicate anyone had sneaked in. He was alone in the vastness of the warehouse. "Over here boy."  The voice said from the direction of the bathroom. Crossing the length of the building in a blur, Edric stared into the mirror.

"Who the hell are you?"

"Someone who wants the same thing you do. To get Nosferatu back. She's important to me."  the dark haired male said from the other side of the mirror.

"How important?"

"Important enough." the reflection smirked showing off two very sharp teeth that seemed to be just a little too glass like.

"Why? Why is she important to you?" the sandy-blonde hybrid asked as he stood his feet planted firmly, his torso turned a half centimeter towards the mirror.

"Let's just say, I will cease to exist without her. I'm Iosef. Nosferatu's my mother."

"Na na na na!" Edric let his shoulders droop as he let out a sigh. Bringing his right hand up to the mirror in a wait a second gesture he turned fully towards it. "She already had two sons, Damen and William. I've been told all about them already and how she can't have any more because of the Frankenstein family curse of only two kids a generation. She's had them, and since both her and Dagan are immortal..." he shrugged "there is no way another round of kids can be born." he moved his hands as if brushing dust off them.

"But I'm not a Frankenstein. And I won't be born for another 75 years. Give or take a decade. Mirrors, some believe they were created to be portals originally. It's why I can see you in the past where you are, and you can see me where I am. "

"How can you possibly be Nosferatu's son if you're saying your not a Frankenstein? She is a Frankenstein, through and through. By marriage, by blood, by the whole death regeneration thing."  Edric commented suddenly feeling a slick sickness in the back of his throat.  Iosef's eyes flashed then from their human hazel to the amber-grey of the wolf before becoming the pure white of the banshee.

"I'm a Van Helsing."


 Tune in again for another installment of the Nosferatu Adventures starring your heroine...me(straight up story. Oh yeah, we're going there.)

Sunday, April 9, 2017

The Nosferatu Adventures s12 p7

The Nosferatu Adventures
page 307, chapter 307

Out of Time...

Bacchus stormed into the area where he was holding our heroine captive. Rolling his shoulder, a basketball sized energy burst echoed out slamming into the female sending her flying into the wall. "I will not play this game with you!" his voice was nearly a growl as he advanced towards the cage. "I don't have time to repeatedly heal  my warriors!"

Our heroine smiled, spitting the finger across the room before wiping her hand over her mouth, smearing the still fresh blood. "Then tell them to stop coming near me and I won't need to defend myself."

"Defend yourself?" the god was still holding on to the Australian accent. "Those bacchae are your sisters! You're to lead them..."

"My sisters? I have no interest in being anyone's sister. Nor do I want to lead them towards anything." she began stalking across the length of the cage. "All I want to do, is go to Transylvania, build a hotel, hang with my monsterous little pack of misfits, and shack some hot guy for the rest of my existence. Now that might not sound like a plan to you, but I think it's swell." our heroine turned a half step, the trenchcoat flaring out like a skirt as she did. "Instead, you and Loki swooped down all those years ago, telling me Elvis talked to you and you were seeing spots. And next thing I know, I'm not just doing my best Buffy impression but I'm handed over like a deed to a chunk of land every time a new king wears the crown."

The sandy haired god smirked as he took another step towards her. "And what do you think your current king did before he met you?" his blue eyes became cold slits as he eyed her up and down. "No wonder Loki fell in love with you. You're both so dreamy eyed believing the world can be better than it is. One reality after another and all you've got to show for it is the fact you can't let go of your heartstrings. Neither of you." Bacchus turned snapping his fingers as he did, the lights going out as he left the room.


Meanwhile...
Ten Years Ago...

Edric zipped up his jeans as quickly and quietly as possible. Looking over his shoulder at the still sleeping female he picked up his shoes and shirt tiptoeing across the room. The hotel room door clicked shut causing him to grind his teeth together in a silent prayer. He didn't let out the breath he'd been holding till he was in the elevator moving. Tossing his head back against the wall he ran his hands over his face, getting dressed. The elevator doors opened revealing the lobby of the hotel, the sunlight as deafening as the noise of the customers. Stuffing his hands into his pockets, Edric walked as fast as possible down the hallway towards the staff entrance.

"You're late." his buddy's voice said as he slammed his locker door already dressed for work. "Please tell me you at lest had time to shower." 

"Not just yet. Can you cover for me for another ten minutes?" he asked grabbing his own uniform.

"Only if I can have table five all night." his coworker nodded towards the staff door.

"Yeah fine." Edric sighed rubbing his temple, eyes closed. "I appreciate it man. Means I don't have to face her today." 

"Couldn't be that bad?" his buddy said moving towards the exit, his usual deck of playing cards in hand. "Two bottles in and she's tipping more than we make in a week."  he started flipping cards like a fan.

"I just want tonight to myself is all." he said not bothering to look at his friend.

"Right, forgot, happy birthday man. Twenty-five man, damn. It's truly all down hill from here." his buddy laughed as he finally left the staff locker room, entering the main area of the casino.   Edric waited till he heard the door close, before digging into his pocket. Counting the money, he grabbed the little key he had tucked away in the pocket of his jacket and opened the metal storage box.

"Five hundred. Thanks you Mrs. Jones, for your contribution." 


Meanwhile...
30 seconds ago...

The sandy-blonde hybrid stared at the small calendar that was sitting on the dresser in the grandfather's room. Edric had been standing there for nearly half an hour in the doorway of the bedroom when Seward found him.

"About what happened outside..." the dark haired human began.

"Don't worry about it. It's a tense situation. You have any idea if werewolves get older?"

"Why? I can ask Vlad he might know..." Seward replied about to turn on his heels again to find the vampire. Edric reached out his left hand stopping him.

"Half way rhetorical question." his voice was pinched. "Dude, I think...I think I'm thirty-five today. I mean, yeah but..."

"Um, technically you were turned when you were thirty-four so..." Seward answered smiling.

"That's just it. The banshee side is frozen at thirty-four but the lycanthrope side is still aging slowly...so I think...I think I'm thirty-five."

"Do you want to be thirty five?"

"Honestly, never thought I'd live to see the question answered." Edric's voice dropped to a whisper. "It's a little odd to even think about."

"Edric, you're immortal now. Thirty-five, or three hundred and thirty-five. You're good to go." Seward said with a slight hint of sadness to his tone. "Oh chocolate or vanilla?"

"What?"

"For the cake. There is no way I'm letting you tell me it's your birthday without getting you a cake. I mean, dude, specially given we're up against evil covens and angry gods and who knows what else. Seems like the best time to celebrate something. Even for a moment, and even if it's just a slice of cake."

"You're so weird. I'm surprised Nosferatu never turned you?" Edric said shaking his head eyes closed.

"I asked but she told me to come back when I was well...your age."


Tune in again for another installment of the Nosferatu Adventures starring your heroine...me(straight up story. Hang on I plan on screwing up the timeline even more.)

Monday, April 3, 2017

What that Movie Inspired me to Do (iZombie)

Spudguns! It's time for another recipe. And this round, is iZombie based. This came out of a conversation with my friend Heather from All Roads Lead to the Kitchen. She does a zombie themed recipe every so often, and since I had fun doing one last couple of months, decided to go ahead and do one myself.

If you haven't seen the show, in the first season, the food scenes were kept fairly basic for the first few episodes. We see Liv eating a lot of foods that would normally have hamburger in it as well as stir fry. But, season two things begin to get more creative.
I have to admit, Blaine is my favourite character, and I had a few ideas to do a recipe based on the fact he has a butcher shop/deli in season one, but my grocery store didn't have any veggie meat -substitute in stock. So, instead I drew my inspiration from two different episodes where we see Liv eating eggs and hand held foods.
In season One episode 2, we see her eating a taco, and in season Two episode 5, we see her having an omelette. 




I decided to make my Breakfast Brain Scramble.

Ingredients:

2 taco shells
1/2 Tablespoon of taco mix
1/2 cup cauliflower
2 eggs
extras of your choice






This is another so simple it hurts recipes.  I used frozen cauliflower that I blanched and let cool. I DID NOT drain it, just let it cool enough to chop up and put into a small baggie with the 1/2 Tablespoon of taco mix.  This I then mixed like a "shake and bake".
The reason I did not drain was so that the seasoning mix would stick.

I then followed the instructions for the tortilla shells, filling them with some of the cauliflower "brains",

Then scrambled the eggs as normal, adding some slices of onion and cheese. Adding this to the "brains", 



I have to admit, I find myself using cauliflower in almost everything lately. From soups/stews, with potatoes or in place of potatoes (put some in your mashed potatoes, it's my new favourite addiction) in pizza dough etc.

If you want to get a little more "colour" on your "brains" you could add a small splash of beet juice when blanching them. I sadly, was out of beets therefore out of beet juice. Or cook them with a small bit of purple/red cabbage.

Of course, because this is an iZombie, you can always load up on the hot sauce. I chose not to go too heavy with the hot sauce, as the taco mix was already fairly spicy.

That's it for this offering. I might try another swing at this down the road with that recipe based on the character Blaine...

Sunday, April 2, 2017

The Nosferatu Adventures s12 p6

The Nosferatu Adventures
page 306, chapter 306

Out of Time...

"Quoyle!"  the guy standing in the backyard said before sniffing. "Come out come out wherever you are."

"Who's Quoyle?" Ruthven asked.  Edric let out a deep sigh dropping his chin to his chest, rubbing his left hand over the back of his neck.

"My last name." the sandy-blonde hybrid snorted as he touched his thumb to his lips. "Damn it, this can't be a good sign." he shuffled his feet around the edge of the group as they still continued to peek through the lace curtains. Quickly Edric opened the back door crossing the length of the yard.  He was down on the ground before he had blinked; the sky swirling in semi-darkness and shades of crimson. Edric realized a sharp few seconds later, the crimson was the after effect of his skull cracking on the ground.

"Huh, did he just DDT him?" Seward asked.

"Yeah he did. Do they even still class that move as..." Ruthven stopped mid-sentence as he saw the look of complete awe in his younger cousin's eyes. It left a cold chill down Ruthven's back.  "So who you think he is?"

"I'm not overly sure I want to find out." Arthur mumbled tilting his head to the side the same way a dog does. His movements were becoming more and more uncontrolled as the werewolf became more and more used to his new found nature.

"What do you think he wants?" Seward asked.

"I dont' think I want to find that out either." 

The group watched as the god pulled Edric up by his hair, grunting and smiling at him. "See, we've got a bit of a problem. See, Rolf made a deal with me very very long time ago. He gave me his soul." the god shook Edric like a rag doll still holding him by the limp mohawk. "Only, when I went to collect, Loki had divided Rolf's soul, hiding a piece in Nosferatu. Until she gave birth to that first brat of her's. Then he took a small piece of it. Now, she's dumped all of her soul back into Rolf." Odin sniffed the smile never leaving his face. "and Loki has been bargaining for it back. Only, since she willingly gave it up for you; that's a sacrifice that needs to be honored." he flicked his hair out of his face revealing his missing right eye. "And if I respect anything it's personal sacrifice." he laughed deeply, causing Edric to turn his head, covering his ears. "I can't kill the brat. I won't. But you are Rolf's bloodline. As is the mutt detective in there." he tossed Edric to the ground.

"What does some shapeshifter I've never met have to do with me?"

"Your sire turned you while she still had a soul. A piece of Rolf's soul. It's Rolf's essence that flows through your veins. And since you turned Arthur...well" Odin shrugged too casually. "You're heading into a battle you won't win. I'm just giving you a heads up that your shapeshifting days are running on fumes. Both you and the detective. Live or die, I will collect every remaining piece of Rolf's soul, even if I have to drain every drop of blood from anyone in his bloodline." taking a step back, he seemed to melt into the large maple tree at the edge of the yard and disappeared.

"Dude, that was cool!" Seward said pointing at the window.

"I need a drink. A really large drink." Ruthven said moving around the kitchen opening all the cupboards one after another. "Why is all the rum gone?"

"You drank it last week." Seward replied still focused on the window. The younger male moved then as if jolted by lighting, grabbing his medical kit from the sofa, running outside to where Odin had just been. Moving past Edric quickly, he started grabbing samples of the bark, some of the soil where the god had been standing, even tried to bottle up some of the air between the two spots.  There seemed to be a ripple of warm air flowing at a crooked angle between the two points. Seward knelt below the air flow, punching numbers into his cell phone; promising himself to add them to the map he was making.  Every time someone shimmered into view, there seemed to be a bit more static electricity in the air. Making it harder to breathe in that spot for awhile afterwards. He was sure it could lead to finding away to rescue our heroine.  Walking back into the house, not once did he bother to look up from his calculations.  "Hey, Ruthie, where are your notes on the soap opera?"

"My...oh yeah on the table there." Ruthven said shaking his hand towards the kitchen table like he was trying to get something sticky off. "Quentin really thinks The Seer is out right telling us what's going on?"

"Yeah." Seward grunted.

"But why? I mean, if he's trying to take over the world and Nosferatu was his only real thing blocking him...not that she really seemed to be very effective at that...why would he want to help us get her back from wherever it is Bacchus is holding her, in order to help her stop him...The Seer I mean?"

"Maybe he needs her for something?" Seward said shrugging before slamming into the edge of the door frame. "Hey!" he brushed himself off to see Edric had reentered the house.

"Oh I didn't even touch you much. Thanks for nothing back there. When you grabbed the kit, thought you were coming to see if I was okay, but no, you ran straight for the science." the sandy-blonde hybrid said pointing towards the backyard. He was physically fine, his ego on the other hand was still stinging. Seward hit a button on his cell phone, a sound effect playing as he moved the little machine across Edric's shoulders and face.

"My Star Trek ring tone says you're fine."


Tune in again for another installment of the Nosferatu Adventures starring your heroine...me(straight up story. What about Odin?)