My friend Shannon ~ the talented seamstress and tailor ~ owns Krampus Cuties hair ties. (Cats Like Us sells a lot of them and you can see exclusive designs here). She chooses really fun prints including cats and horror! I've collected several and what's nice is that they are reversible and adjustable. (I mentioned her in a past blog.)
I'm wearing the "You've got to be kitten" me hair tie
in this picture, but on the solid side.
Here's my small collection... so far.
When she started making The Shining rug print hair ties I knew I needed a dress. (You might know I'm a fan from this blog post.) The pattern of the rug lends itself to a 1960s design. I just so happen to have a collection of vintage sewing patterns. I always thought I would learn to sew. My mom tried to teach me, I took sewing classes, and yet I have zero percent sewing skills. I asked Shannon ~ if I gave her the pattern ~ if she could make me a dress out of The Shining print? She said, "Yes!". (I made the buttons. At least I'm good for something. lol.)
The Shining print rug is the last one pictured above.
For reference, here's what it looks like in the movie...
Here's the fabric and my dress pattern.
So now I have this amazing reproduction 1960s dress and matching hair tie made of The Shining print rug. What's the best way to show it off? A photo shoot of course! I asked Destiny my friend and neighbor from Sweet Heart Pin Up if she could help me. If you ever want a full pinup experience she is the person to see! She made me feel like a queen on a throne while she applied my makeup. It was so relaxing. I just told her I wanted it to be heavy 1960s makeup and boy did she deliver! Eyelashes here, eyelashes there, eyelashes everywhere!
We watched the movie for inspiration beforehand and Destiny was able to pull props from other sets to fit the theme of The Shining. She has lots of sets in the basement of her studio already set up for pinup shoots. She put a room together just for me! I have to say I was impressed. I'm so lucky to have such talented friends.
Here are some quick behind the scene shots she took with attention to detail.
I wanted to keep it kitschy with a 1960s Shining theme and she made my vision a reality. I'm so happy I could make the photo shoot my own. I highly recommend booking with Sweet Heart Pin Up if
you are near Buffalo, NY. Destiny is empowering, and fun and real. She
made me feel like a million bucks. I'm flattered she said I have the
skin of a twenty something. (Little does she know I have the skin of a
twenty something in a box on my dresser...muhahaha.....just kidding....or am I?)
This past week I've been under-the-weather and hermit-ing with it being
in the single digits outside. Yay. Buffalo, NY. So I snuggled in the
couch with Ginger and watched Catwalk: Tales From the Cat Show Circuit (2018). It's a documentary on Netflix
about a friendly rivalry between two cat owners. To most it probably
sounds boring, but it was just what I needed to feel a little better.
I've
never been to a cat show. I have mixed feelings about pure-bred cats.
I've heard so many horror stories about health problems among pure-bred cats, as opposed to all the mixed breed kitties that need FURever homes. I don't think I would ever
have a need to get a pure-bred, that being said I love all cats.
Cat
shows are primarily beauty contests for pedigree cats and the prize you
would want to win is the "Best of Breed" black ribbon. At each show the
cats earn points and at the end of the season the cat with the most
points is the winner .
Catwalk
follows Kim the owner of Bobby a white Turkish Angora Cat and Shirley the
owner of Oh La La a orange Persian Cat. Both ladies love their cats,
enjoy what they do and are surprisingly supportive of each other throughout the competitions. Their
cats go neck and neck the whole season with a few upsets along the way.
New cats get introduced like Colin the Norwegian Forest Cat or Mr.
Sandman a Himalayan or the one time Bobby coughed up a messy hairball on the
judge. As an outsider, it's suspenseful because you want to see who the winner
will be.
Kim with Bobby & Shirley with Oh La La.
The documentary
introduces you to some of the judges, breeders, and other competitors.
I'm surprised at how many cats some of the owners have. We once had four cats and that was a lot. You see where they live, all the cat prize ribbons, and just what goes into
caring for a show cat. Shirley washes Oh La La once a week and they
include it in the movie. It's so cute!!!
Oh La La getting a bath.
***Warning Spoiler***
Oh La La ends up being the overall winner for the season at the Canadian Cat Association. They even have a little retirement party for her since Shirley decided her show days were over!
It IS a feel good movie. The only thing that seemed out of place is that
they spent a lot of time showing Kim's other hobby ~ scuba diving. In the
end I give it 4.5 out of 5 show ribbons.
Here's the trailer...
With the hype surrounding Bird Box on Netflix , I thought I'd check it out. I know some of my friends and horror fans don't like S...
With the hype surrounding Bird Box on Netflix, I thought I'd check
it out. I know some of my friends and horror fans don't like Sandra Bullock so they won't watch it, but I have to say she stepped up and out
of the rom-com "box" (see what I did there?) in this movie. It really showcased her dramatic
acting. Also, she's either had a lot of plastic surgery, or she's aging and doesn't even look like the Sandra Bullock I remember.
***Warning Spoilers***
The
movie timeline flashes back and forth five years. We start at the end
where Malorie ~ played by Bullock ~ forcibly warns two kids ~ a boy and girl
~ that they must keep their blindfolds on because they are leaving the
house. If they don't they will die. The three of them hop in a row boat, with three birds in a shoe box, and start a two day journey down the
river.
Flashback to five
years ago when Malorie is a pregnant painter living alone in her rustic
studio and her sister ~ Jessica ~ visits with groceries and tells her about
the news. There's "mass suicides" in Russia and the UK. Malorie dismisses it to focus on her OBGYN appointment. She's a reluctant mother, and it's assumed that her old roommate is the father.
Jessica
drives Malorie to the appointment where she thinks about putting her
child up for adoption. As Malorie leaves the hospital, she sees a woman smashing her
head against a window. Then all hell breaks loose! Malorie gets in the
car with her sister. Jessica starts driving avoiding cars that are
running red lights and purposefully getting into accidents. Total chaos in the streets. Then Jessica
sees something and runs her car off the road. It flips over. Both women get
out and Jessica stands in traffic to get hit by a truck. It's disturbing
imagery since they show the impact as it happens.
Malorie is left wandering the road, getting pushed over by mobs of people
running until a woman from a house notices she's pregnant and goes outside to
meet her. The woman from the house sees her dead mother in a vision (we assume) and
commits suicide by going to sit in a burning car. Malorie gets inside
the safe house and is taken in by a bunch of panicked strangers with all
different backgrounds presumably in the same situation ~ avoiding
looking outside.
At this
point I'm intrigued. It has religious connotations with the world being
"cleansed" by other worldly beings? The victims see incredible sadness
before they kill themselves. Are they visions? Are the monster just reflecting a person's inner turmoil? It seems there's a
darkness and swooping sound along with whispering voices when the
monsters are near.
Flash
forward to Malorie and the kids on the river for 8 hours. She's still rowing.
She hears the voice of a man telling her she's safe and can take her
blindfold off. He's in the water without a blindfold. She doesn't trust
him, never takes hers off and stabs him. So now we know there are people
that can still "see" and live.
Back
at the safe house it's been three days and they are running out of
food. Another pregnant woman ends up on their doorstep. It's revealed that one of the people works in a supermarket and has keys to get inside. They
divide up, black out the windows in the car and use the GPS to guide
them. They stock up on everything and Malorie rescues three
caged birds. (Not sure why they are in a supermarket? Seems odd and
unsanitary.) There's one casualty and they get back to the house, only
to have the car stolen later by a couple in the house.
24
hours on the river (Malorie must have really prepped with a lot of
sleep beforehand to keep rowing by herself and to be up for so long!)
She hears wind chimes, docks the boat with the kids and goes exploring
for supplies.
Then 28 hours on the river, then 38 hours...
Flashback
to the house where they take in Gary who they think is sane but ends up
being able "to see it's beautiful, so beautiful...it shall cleanse the
world" and kills half of the people staying in the house while both
women are having babies at the same time. The survivors are Malorie, the
two kids, and Tom. They all become scavengers, Malorie and Tom become
lovers and raise the kids for five years.
Now
the timeline is caught up. We find out there are people outside that
don't use blindfolds and encourage everyone they meet to take them off
and see "it's a beautiful thing".
While stealing from a house, the family
encounters the un-blindfolded and they shoot Tom who then shoots them
and himself.
Malorie, the
kids, and the three birds get away and take the rowboat to a place they
hear of on the radio. Two days down the river,
through the rapids to a place where you follow the sound of the birds.
They surprisingly make it through the rapids, the forest, and the supernatural monsters to this sanctuary in the woods. Ta-da it's a school for the
blind! The school takes them in, the birds get set free, Malorie meets up with
her obgyn there and everyone is happy now.
You
never see the monsters. They are never shown or fleshed out, which was the whole reason I was watching AND
you never find out why some people need blindfolds and others don't. Are the visions demons to some and angels to others? Not sure.
Acting was really good considering the dialog was just ok, the story line was similar to A Quiet Place, the hearing impaired/
blind people come to the rescue of a mom who had to give birth either
silently or without looking outside. It has similarities to The Happening, but even then the mass suicides are explained
by a natural plague. Not explained here. Overall I'd give it 3.5 birds in a box out of 5....and Ginger was disappointed there weren't more birds in it.
Trailer...
I've been busy with the holidays and feeling overwhelmed. Do you ever feel like you'll never catch up on all the horror movies? Who...
I've been busy with the holidays and feeling overwhelmed. Do you ever feel like you'll never catch up on all the horror movies? Who can really? Maybe if you're a career movie-watcher? I will forever be playing catch-up and I've decided that that's a-ok. (btw~ Netflix limits you to 500 DVDs in your queue if you were wondering.) In future blogs, I'll continue to feature older movies.
I saw this on Facebook and thought it was relevant...
I decided to get in the Christmas spirit and catch-up with a couple movies starting with Krampus (2015). Krampus while fitting in the holiday-horror-genre as a "classic", I thought it was just ok. I liked that it had great actors, but the actual Krampus reveal was a little disappointing. I followed it up withA Christmas Horror Story(2015)~ also made the same year. Not expecting much and kind of being sick of horror anthologies, I was delighted that William Shatner was in it and there was a plot twist ending, not to mention all the gore! I would recommend making it a yearly movie tradition. Finally, I finished with a non-horror holiday movie The Christmas Chronicles(2018). Kurt Russell makes a great Santa, and him singing "It's Christmas Pretty Baby" was cute but the story was a little boring. I guess I like my Santa with more edge and guts...literally.
Speaking of overwhelming, do you find yourself with a ton of T shirts? Just when I think I've downsized I end up with more...and more... and more. I've decided to enjoy some of my T shirts as back patches! Here's what I've been working on. (Some of them you'll remember from unboxing videos.)
I made a Frog Bros. (from The Lost Boys) back patch. If you recall this was a T shirt from the Santa Carla Creeper Crate. I added it to a bat hoodie I had, and this Christmas I was gifted some Frog Bros pins, so they went on the front! (The pins are from Laser Kitten.)
Last is a really fun cat jean jacket. I haven't made the back patch yet, but I placed it on the back where it will go. I'm a klutz and white Ts and I don't mix, so this just made sense.
Since Jodee and I both like cooking I invited her over for a Kitchen Witch Occult Box unboxing video. I told her we are going to have a traditional meat and potatoes comfort food dinner ~ but with a twist ~ and she's welcome to bring the potatoes! For the menu I made BBQ Turkey Meatloaf and Steamed Broccoli, Jodee brought Scalloped Potatoes, and I made Chocolate Tiger Cookies for dessert. I've included the recipes if you are interested...
BBQ Turkey Meatloaf 2 lb. Ground Turkey 6 oz. box of Stove Top Stuffing 1/2 cup BBQ Sauce (I used Tastefully Simple's Smoky Bacon BBQ Sauce), divided 2 large Eggs, beaten 1 cup Water Mix all the ingredients, but BBQ only use 1/2 cup. Place foil into a 13x9 in pan and spray with nonstick coating. Shape mixture into a loaf and brush with the rest of the BBQ sauce. Bake at 325 for an hour. Tips: I premade it the day before.
Steamed Broccoli Buy a frozen bag of steamer broccoli and nuke it. (I know fresh broccoli is better but I had to cheat on this since I was running from work to make dinner.)
Scalloped Potatoes
1 Tbsp Butter 2 Cloves Garlic, minced 1 Tbsp Flour 1 cup Milk 1 tsp Salt 1 tsp Pepper 1 Bay Leaf 1 large or 3 small Potatoes 1 cup Parmesan or Romano Cheese
Wash and thinly slice your potatoes with a mandolin or with a knife, place them into a bowl full of cold water and let them sit. Preheat your oven to °350.
In a pot, put your butter let it melt then add your flour let it absorb until it starts to smell nutty and add your milk and your spices as well as the crushed clove of garlic bring to a boil stirring. Then turn off the heat.
Butter your baking dish then start to line it with you drained potatoes, overlap then in the circular pattern and when all of them are arranged nicely take you sauce removing the garlic and the bay leaf then pour over your potatoes. (If the sauce doesn't quite cover it, add 1/4 cup of milk over it and give the dish a little shake.
Before you put your potatoes in the oven top with your cheese then place in the oven and bake for an hour. When the timer buzzes take the potatoes out an let them sit for 5 min just to let everything set! Top with green onion if you want.
Tips: You can use a teaspoon of garlic powder if you don't have fresh garlic, you can also add some dried thyme if you like as well or a little dried onion soup mix too.
Chocolate Tiger Cookies 1 1/2 cups granulated Sugar 1/2 cup Vegetable Oil 1/2 cup Hershey's Dutch Pressed Cocoa or Hershey's Cocoa 3 Eggs 1 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract 1 3/4 cups Flour 1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder 1/2 tsp Salt Powdered Sugar 40-48 Hershey's Kisses, unwrapped Combine granulated sugar and oil in a large bowl. Add cocoa, beating until blended. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir together flour, baking powder, and salt, gradually add this mixture to the cocoa mixture. Mix well. Refrigerate for at least 6 hours. I usually make the dough a day a ahead of time because it has to chill for 6 hours. Heat oven to 350. Grease a cookie sheet. Shape dough into 1 inch balls and roll in powdered sugar to coat. Place about 2 inches apart on cookie sheet. Bake 13 min., remove from oven. Press Kiss into the center of each cookie. I flip them upside down so once cooled they are easier to stack. Let cool.
Now that we are full, let's unbox! Included in the Kitchen Witch Box...
*Note: Lots of kitty meows in the background and you can listen to us ramble on about hair. We also mention some of our favorite recipes including Alton Brown's Mac & Cheese (I love this Macaroni and Cheese so much that I eat it even though I'm lactose-intolerant) and Jodee's Lavender Cupcakes, she makes them with Lemon frosting.
1. Rosemary Sage Smudge Stick, you can even see the rosemary in it!
2. Black Salt.
3. Wooden Book Stand.
4. Floor Wash, smells like lemongrass.
5. Kitchen Witch Oven Mitt.
6. Mortar & Pestle. It's pretty heavy duty. I'm glad I have one. I just always used my little metal cauldron, but I feel like this will work much better.
7. Herb Packet. Rosemary, Chamomile, and Yarrow. Interested to try the yarrow out!
I like that although the things included in the box are staples every witch should have, it's a good refresher to have instructions and to restock!
You can check out my other Occult unboxing blog here:
This month has flown by and I'm already getting another Pusheen Box! I have to admit when I saw the email previews of what would be included, I was not that excited, but life is all about balance, right? So there are some things in the box I think are stupid, but to counterbalance, there are some pretty PAW-some things in this box too. They exceed expectations.
Here's the unboxing video with a cameo by little Ginger Rogers at the end and Vicktor's collar bell ~ as always.
1. Silky feeling double-sided pillowcase set.
2. Snow Day Vinyl Figure.
3. Fuzzy Pusheen Slipper Socks.
4. Pusheen Ear Muffs!!!! My fav thing in the box.
5. Set of two Holiday Cards.
6. Pusheen Stencils. I guess you could use them for other things. Meh.
7. Felt Garland. I think I'm going to hang this in the bathroom at work. I have the soap dispenser and towels there too.
8. Hooded Blanket that snaps on! Wearing my new socks and Pusheen mug from Winter 2017.
I was disappointed there was no plush Pusheen. I would rather have the plush than the vinyl figures.
I've been MIA lately because running Cats Like Us during the holidays
takes up a lot of time, BUT I did have minute to squeeze in watching
Martyrs (2015). I read all the hype surrounding the movie and how people can't
get through viewing it in it's entirety because of all the graphic content. Hmmm, we'll see about that! I
rented the disc from Netflix and popped it in. It started and I thought
it was supposed to be in French and subtitled. Derp, I ended up with the American version! Netflix doesn't have Martyrs (2008), so that was a little disappointing. I continued to watch it though. From what I can tell, the stories are the same. (Side note: I did watch what I could
find online of the French version. Not as gory as you would think, but gorier than this one. Maybe I'm just desensitized?)
***Warning Spoilers***
From
the get-go you are sucked into a train ride of a movie. It starts with a
young girl ~ Lucie ~ running away from captors, or at least that's what's
hinted at by her clothes, chains, and bruises. You never see who else was with her and they are never found or shown.
She gets placed
in an orphanage and becomes best friends with a girl named Anna. Anna is
sympathetic to Lucie's past monsters but doesn't fully trust that it's not all in
her head. They grow up together and go their separate ways until...ten
years later...Lucie finds her torturers. Ironically, they look like a quaint and
loving family.
Anna & Lucie at school.
Lucie is a
tour de force. She storms their house shooting mom, dad, son, and
daughter in a wave of blood splatter and bullets. Lucie calls Anna to show
her. Anna arrives and is stunned at what she did, still questioning if Lucie is fabricating
parts if her past. Anna begins to call 911, but stops because of Lucie.
While cleaning up the house and bodies Anna finds a hidden basement
prison where young girls are being tortured. Lucie was telling the truth the whole time!
The
house is then taken over by men and one leader (?) woman that were tipped off by
the unfinished 911 call. We find out that they are part of a cult that
experiments on young women to cause them so much pain they transcend
this mortal plane and see what's on the other side of living. They see past the pain. Some victims have a
mental break. Lucie shows some signs of that. Few women can survive the
trials, but the organization always felt that Lucie could physically endure the torture. They are excited to have her back.
Lucie gets chained back up. Meanwhile they try to bury Anna alive. Little do
they know she's a survivor too! She gets out and this time Anna is the one rage killing.
She makes her way to Lucie in the basement, but not without getting fatally
wounded. She finds Lucie who has now been partially skinned alive, drilled through, burned and is hanging on a cross like Jesus in front of all the followers that want to know more about the after life.
In
the end, Lucie whispers to Anna, possibly what she has seen on the other
side. (It's undecipherable to the viewer.) The priest of the cult hears it and kills himself. The cult
disperses. Police finally arrive. No final girls left in this story. The end.
Overall, I thought the acting was good, the story original ~ even though it wasn't the original movie version ~ and the gore was there. I wanted to know more about the cult. Unlike the creepy basement experiments that were held in Get Out, the only explanation you get is that this group has people in it looking to find out what you see when you die. Their proof that something is seen when you die comes from looking at photographed pictures of dead people, specifically their eyes. This didn't explain enough for me. I give it 3.5 bullets out of 5. I've included the trailer for the French version at the end, I think it's helps the back story a little more, plus you can see Lucie completely skinned alive except for her face. Unsettling right?!
