Andrea and I are back at it! We went to see the Cat Video Fest for 2023 at the North Park Theater. Don't know what the Cat Video Fest is? It's a compilation of viral cat videos, tik toks, and gifs from the past few years all in one place! If you like cats it's def worth seeing, and as a bonus a percentage of the proceeds goes towards local animal shelters and animal welfare organizations!

I like that you can submit pictures and videos to the North Park of your cat, and they will show them before the movie. I submitted a pic of my little Ginger. She had the whole big screen to herself! I didn't have time to pull out my phone to take a picture, but this was the one I sent in. The time she had a blep.

Cat Video Fest 2023 was divided up, as before, with CATegories like "Drama", "Action", "Documentary", and "Musical". Some of the highlights for me included the movie opening with songs from the Cats soundtrack (I love musicals), there's a Shining reference, you see the life of Fred the boat cat, Cat Man Chris the owner of Marmalade, Simon's Cat with the cutest cartoons, Cute Aggression metal song (which I just learned about and LOVE!), and the catchy Hold On to My Fur song from thekiffness. Not to mention, there are clips of kitties sleeping on books, wearing raincoats, the first ever cat video, and lots of one-brain-cell orange kitties! It's delightful.

The compilation was slightly different from last year. There were more musical clips and the clips seemed longer. They feature hirokisan79 and his piano cat duets more than once. I wish they sold the soundtrack to Cat Video Fest 2023! 

You can read about the other years I attended too 2019, 2020, 2022.

After getting our cat fix, we were hungry, so we went down the street to The Merry Shelley. I'm embarrassed to say, it took me way too long to blog about The Merry Shelley, a local goth hang out. It's a small bar that has it all, spooky decor, goth music, fun events, good drinks, food, and... books. Yes, books! It's a little free library too! We popped over, I donated some books, and picked up some that were on my tbr list from eons ago.

This particular night, there were tarot card readings being done by Liz from Divination Station. She's a sweetheart, and manages Rising Goddess a local metaphysical shop that I recommend, not only because they have a "house cat" named Trixie, but because it's a great store with good vibes. Naturally, Andrea and I had to get our readings done. 

Trixie & her blep. (Pic taken from the Rising Goddess Facebook page.)

During the course of our evening we saw old friends, and made some new ones. I don't get out much because I work a lot, but when I do, I like it to be a quality night like this! A night of cats & bats!

I reviewed Cronenberg's original Rabid a few years back, you can read about my thoughts here. The story is solid and original, and I could see where he was going with it... the Soska Sisters saw the potential too, and made it even better in their 2019 remake! It's nice that they kept it directed by Canadians.

Side note: remakes don't really excite me, but this one was intriguing. I'm always interested to see a woman's perspective. There were a lot of boobs in the 1977 one, and it did nothing for me.

***Spoilers Ahead***

The plot somewhat follows the old one, Rose gets into a motorcycle accident and has experimental reconstructive surgery that causes her to crave blood. The gore is excellent, and her story line is fleshed out in the new movie. (See what I did there?) Rose is a lowly fashion designer that works for a design house where she is publicly ridiculed and ignored. She has one model friend, Chelsea, that looks like Krysten Ritter. This movie peels back the curtain of how design houses work. It gives off In Fabric vibes too. Quick background, Rose is a vegetarian and has scarring on her face from a car accident when she was a child that killed her parents. (So very Disney. Heaven forbid she's not an orphan!)

Krysten Ritter is that you?

The story moves quick, and she gets hood winked into attending a nightclub party by a friendly male co-worker named Brad. He truly seems sincere and likes her. Rose finds out that Chelsea asked him to ask her to go, and she leaves upset, getting into the motorcycle accident.

All the horrible things about an accident happen if you work in the modeling industry. Part of her face is ripped off and her jaw is wired shut, so she can't talk, her intestines are punctured, and her face is pretty gnarly. Chelsea takes Rose in once she's released, since this cost her the design job. She finds an experimental treatment facility that ~ if she qualifies ~ will take care of her reconstructive surgery for free. (Brings up the idea of the problems with healthcare and how it should be accessible to all regardless if you can afford it or not.) Surprise, she qualifies!

Frankenstein face.

They graft a gooey clear jello looking piece of prosthesis to her face that bonds to her skin and makes her look like a model (she kind of already looked like a model before the accident), but now she's a supermodel. It clears up her childhood car accident scars and eyesight. The only problem is that she has to take medication that can cause "hallucinations", and she has to drink "protein" when she can't stomach anything else. Calls into question, what are you willing to do to be beautiful? And the doctor claims they are hallucinations, but are they?

Don't get me wrong, the red is striking, religious vestment style, but how do they see where the blood is when doing surgery? Isn't that why doctors wear white or green? Bonus: I bet they are easy to clean!

Now that Rose is a gorgeous party girl, she gets noticed by her old design house. Pretty people are rewarded. She gets her design job back, and then some. The difficulty is that she can't tell what's a hallucination or not, and she spreads her illness to others by sharing drink glasses etc. It transmits through saliva and blood. I like how they highlighted this is the movie, so the viewer can catch how it spreads. She creates dead people and zombies in her wake. Hospitals think it’s a contagion and kill the infected. Feels a little COVID-y. There's a slow motion nurse scene that looks like Silent Hill ~ the music video ~ and it's great.

She feels like a monster, and tells the doctor what's happening, and he's not listening to her. We've all been there, huh, ladies? Instead of getting annoyed at the doctor, check out the wonderful, surreal artwork on the walls in his office!

Painting behind the doctor of a person without a face. Turning a "blind-eye" ~ if you will ~ to what's happening at this facility or giving off the feeling that Rose one of the many faceless victims to his whims.

Rose gets contained in the treatment facility, along with her friend Brad, who's been in on what's happening to her. But it doesn't feel malicious, he cares about her and was just told to keep an eye on her. It's a body horror ending that will remind you of The Thing, and Society, combined with a little Slither. Reminder: don't just stab, but ALWAYS chop off the head. It ends on a stark, depressing note, but did you expect anything else from the makers of American Mary? 

"Being human is limited, Rose is so much more." The actress that plays Rose conveys all the concerns you would have in this situation. This is the perfect homage with respect to the original, and you won't be disappointed there's still an armpit dick and lots of red doctors uniforms. Highly recommend. I give it 4.5 protein shakes out of 5.

Here's the trailer

 

Even though I am catless (don't get me started, I'm really depressed about it, and just want Ginger and Vicktor back ~ no other cats...yet) I belong to a bunch of cat groups on Facebook. One of the common questions people ask is about FIV+ cats, aka cats that are positive for Feline Immunodeficiency Virus. 

FIV+ affects the cat's immune system, and may be dormant for many years. It may make the cat susceptible to other infections, but as long as they are taken care of by their owner, the vet visits are the same as any other cats. They can live long happy and healthy lives. It's only transmitted to other cats through a bite, not shared grooming or sharing bowls. So logically, keep your FIV+ cat indoors.

FIV+ cats aren't as troubled and deathly sick as people seem to think they are. When we had Hans, he was FIV+. As far as I know, he didn't pass it to Vicktor or Ginger. 

Our Christmas card 2007. Hans, Ginger, & Vicktor. As you can see, Hans was a handsome fellow.

So please don't let a cat being FIV+ deter you from adopting them.

Click here for a good website on FIV+. 

 The Oddities and Curiosities Expo came back to Buffalo, this year for two days, and again I dragged Jodee Bowie with me. (You can read about my experience last year here.)

This year it seemed like there were fewer booths compared to last year, and fewer attendees, but that could be because it was broken into two days instead of just one. I went on Sunday. There was a ton of taxidermy and wet specimens ~ if you're into that sort of thing. I mainly went looking for "Evil Eye" jewelry. After reading The Evil Eye: The History, Mystery, and Magic of the Quiet Curse by Pagliarulo, I've become obsessed. (You can read my full review of the book in the upcoming Auxiliary Magazine issue for Fall/ Winter 2023.) 

I'm surprised they didn't have much in the way of Evil Eyes, but I did find a necklace I fell in love with! This is from Misty Bondy, who I remember being at the Oddities show last year, but her booth was so crowded I think I just walked on by. I'm so glad I stopped. She not only designs her jewelry, but makes original art work too! 

I had to visit Smell of Fear candles. She's a local gal that has worked with Grady Hendrix (he wrote a few books that I have reviewed) and she's also a customer at my shop Cats Like Us! I picked up this candle because I love the smell of old lady....I mean lavender. 

Next, I stumbled into the booth of lynne&lucille where I couldn't resist the simplicity of these modern looking earrings made from autopsy needles. She has jewelry made from bones and drum cymbals too. Even cool skull choker necklaces.  A truly unique addition to the Oddities show!

I was excited to see that Morose & Macabre were back! They have some of my favorite loose tea, so I grabbed more of the Amityville, and I liked the smell of Widow Black (even though I'm still trying to quit caffeine.)

Overall, it was a good show again and I saw a bunch of friends. Here's a picture that someone took for Jodee and I. I'm wearing these wonderfully comfortable swishy cargo/ harem pants that everyone hates except me. lol. And it's super off kilter, just like we are. 

Thanks again for reading!