Jack O' Lantern

Spookable!

The Addams Family and Bela Lugosi's Dracula

We watched several episodes of the old Addams Family TV series, including Halloween with the Addams Family, which had the kids dressing up for trick-or-treat in frightening costumes of everyday people and bank robbers playing Bob for Crab at their Halloween party.

Bela Lugosi's Dracula is still the one all others are measured by. We watched it tonight and once again thrilled to the vampire legend. Lugosi's "official" web site is here.

9/20/2007:

1001Flicks has a review of Dracula.

Reflecting the Sky, by S. J. Rozan

I finished Reflecting the Sky, by S. J. Rozen, as part of my plan to become more familiar with mystery novels. This book is one in the Bill Smith/Lydia Chin series and takes place in Hong Kong. There are ashes to be delivered, a kidnapping and a smuggling ring that's been in operation for decades. The book was interesting, but I didn't enjoy it enough to seek out others in the series while I still have so many in my tbr stack.

The Mummy

#2 Son and I watched Karloff's The Mummy during lunch today. This is a wonderful film.

Scary Mary

You'll never see Mary Poppins in quite the same way again.

Happy Hallowe'en!

Photo from 3drt.com

Halloween was always great fun for me as a child. My favorite costume was a witch, and I dressed as a witch most years for Trick-or-Treating.

Now, not only am I grown, my kids are too old for Trick-or-Treating. We watch DVD's that seem suitable for the season. Here's a list of some we try to watch during October:

The Halloween Tree. This is a video version of Ray Bradbury's book which uses a group of trick-or-treating kids and a trip back in time to explore some common Halloween traditions. We _love_ this one and have since it first came out. It's only available on VHS right now, but we're on constant look-out for a DVD version.

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. A classic. I remember when this one came out, too , and it's a long-time family favorite.

Winnie the Pooh Boo to You Too. We still get a kick out of this one even though my youngest is 16.

The Nightmare Before Christmas. I remember the controversy over this one, and there are still some well-meaning people who condemn this video, but I honestly think none of them can have actually seen it. It's a touching story and filled with glee -in a spooky kind of way.

Beetlejuice. Not about Halloween at all, but a ghost story where the ghosts aren't the scary ones.

The Ghost and Mrs. Muir. This is another ghost story, but not a scary one. This one is from 1947, set in 1900 and stars Gene Tierney, Rex Harrison and George Sanders. This is one of my all-time favorite movies.

The Ghost and Mr. Chicken. What a romp! I'm not a big Don Knotts fan, but I've liked this one since I saw it in the theater when it was released.

The Hound of the Baskervilles. We like the Jeremy Brett version of this Sherlock Holmes story best.

King Kong. The old 1933 one with Fay Wray.

Godzilla. The old one meant for American audiences with the Raymond Burr inserts.

Phantom of the Opera. There are 2 of these we like -the older silent with Lon Chaney and the less old (g) one with Claude Rains.

Creature From the Black Lagoon.

The Wolf Man. This is my favorite of the monster movies. A classic tragedy.

Frankenstein. The Boris Karloff original.

Dracula. There are several of these. Our favorites are the Bela Lugosi one and the Louis Jourdan one. The Bela Lugosi one is the classic, of course. This entry has been edited to remove the Frank Langella joke and suggest our real preference for Louis Jourdan. This Dracula was a made-for-tv production and is nigh onto impossible to find. It is fairly faithful to the book and has some interesting 70's special effects. The Murnau classic silent Nosferatu is also well worth seeing.

The Mummy. The real one with Karloff.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. We have the John Barrymore silent version.

Cat People. The 1942 version.

And there's Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. But only if you've already seen the originals.

We always carve a Jack O' Lantern. The pumpkin is on the patio awaiting the moment of transformation. Here's a photo of last year's:

Greek Mythology Personality Test

Aphrodite

66% Extroversion, 86% Intuition, 55% Emotiveness, 52% Perceptiveness

Funloving, talkative, flamboyant, social... you are most like Aphrodite. You love parties, people, fashion, and sex. You're impulsive, inconcise, and you find crowds and parties to be energizing. You're optimistic, upbeat, and frequently irrational. You hate structure and routine, and you don't like know-it-alls. You're not really a "big picture" person, however, and might not always assess the consequences of your actions before taking them. You do have a very strong hedonistic streak, though, and this gives you a magnetic personality. You dislike people who think too much.

Like Dionysus, you classify your life as a search for meaning and, when things go wrong, you can become manipulative. To others, you can often seem directionless and impulsive, but you make sure that everything that you do is in line with your strong, internally motivated set of moral guidelines. Your funloving streak, although your greatest asset, can sometimes prevent you from realizing goals or staying on task. As accepting as you are of other people, you have a great need to be accepted yourself, and this can sometimes lead to an overdemonstration of affection and insincerity on your part.

Famous People like you: Elvis, Eva Gabor, Paris Hilton, Elizabeth Taylor

Stay away from: Atlas, Prometheus, The Oracle, Daedalus, and Hermes.

Seek out: Pan, Dionysus, Apollo


My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:

	You scored higher than 99% on Extroversion
	You scored higher than 99% on Intuition
	You scored higher than 99% on Emotiveness
	You scored higher than 99% on Perceptiveness

Link: The Greek Mythology Personality Test written by Aleph_Nine on OkCupid

I found the meme here at livejournal.

Weight Training

I did Kathy Smith's Lift Weights to Lose Weight 1 this afternoon but without the abs section. I hope to maintain a MTh plan for using the weight training DVD's.

More on Eric Newby

I saw this new article from WorldHum today. It has a few links for more information. Eric Newby was a treasure and his writing will provide continued enjoyment.

photo of Tirich Mir, highest point in the Hindu Kush, by John Jackson found at Wikipedia.

Light, by M. John Harrison

I found myself quite confused reading this book. I am glad I read it, but I doubt I'll read it again. It took a while for me to get into it and get any real sense of what the characters were. InfinityPlus has a review here. Bookslut's review is here. Harrison's web site is here, and a wiki entry on him is here.

Walking Again

We did our 3 1/4 mile walk in 50 minutes and 9 seconds this morning. It's light early in the morning now and easier for me to get on up and do the walk.

The Ghost and Mr. Chicken

Tonight we all watched The Ghost and Mr. Chicken. I've never been a Don Knotts fan, but for some reason I like this one. #2 Son did not remember it since we last watched it so many years ago. This is a new DVD for us; it also includes 3 other Don Knotts movies.

trailer:

The Firm Cardio

I did The Firm's Super Cardio Mix DVD this afternoon, and I'm not going to keep this one. I have to do too much adjustment to the routines, as there's entirely too much jumping and hopping for my fitness level. I'll pass this one along to someone who will benefit from the challenge.

Cat People

This afternoon #2 Son and I watched Cat People. This was his first time to see this eerie movie, which is a much more subtle and nuanced effort than the graphic violence-filled special-effects-happy 1982 remake. It could be called psychological thriller rather than horror, since horror these days seems to mean shock and slasher films. Simone Simon was perfect as Irena Dubrovna, a young Serbian immigrant who falls in love with an all-American architect but fears that she is doomed by her evil ancestry. Simon died in 2005 at the age of 93. The film was directed by Jacques Tourneur and produced by Val Lewton.

You can watch it online at this link. Here's a trailer:

Roger Ebert considered it a Great Movie. Filmsite has an article.

8/17/2008:
Only the Cinema has a review which concludes,

Cat People is an incredibly effective piece of psychological horror, rising far above its low-budget genre origins and creating an enduring work of psycho-sexual exploration.

Sunday Psalm

Psalm 34 (King James Version)

1 I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
2 My soul shall make her boast in the LORD: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad.
3 O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together.
4 I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.
5 They looked unto him, and were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed.
6 This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.
7 The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.
8 O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.
9 O fear the LORD, ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him.
10 The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing.
11 Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
12 What man is he that desireth life, and loveth many days, that he may see good?
13 Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile.
14 Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.
15 The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry.
16 The face of the LORD is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.
17 The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.
18 The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.
19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all.
20 He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken.
21 Evil shall slay the wicked: and they that hate the righteous shall be desolate.
22 The LORD redeemeth the soul of his servants: and none of them that trust in him shall be desolate.

The Beatles in 1963

Frankenstein

Tonight we watched Frankenstein, released in 1931, and Bride of Frankenstein, released in 1935. They both starred Boris Karloff as The Monster and Colin Clive as Dr. Frankenstein; but Fritz, the assistant played in the earlier movie by Dwight Frye, died in that film, so the assistant in the later movie was re-named Karl but still played by Dwight Frye. Interestingly, Frye's character got killed by the Monster in the second movie, too. I liked Frye as Renfield in the Bela Lugosi Dracula. Mae Clarke played Elizabeth, Dr. Frankenstein's fiancee, in the 1st movie, but the character was played by Valerie Hobson in Bride of Frankenstein.

9/20/2007: 1001Flicks has a review of Frankenstein.

Walking with Leslie Sansone

Today I did her 3-mile walk, but I did the arm movements without the stretchie.

Weight: 90 pounds

Waist/Hip ratio: 8.2

Rain, rain, go away

It was pouring at our wake-up time, so we didn't walk. I did 1st Richard Simmons Sweatin' to the Oldies videotape. It's about 45 minutes long. I'm a bit sore from yesterday's weight training, so a light work-out didn't feel so bad.

We took Mother supper, presents, cake and ice cream for her birthday tonight.

Gaudi Afternoon

Tonight I watched Gaudi Afternoon. You can watch a trailer here. It's based on a Cassandra Reilly mystery by Barbara Wilson. I haven't read any of the books, but I am reading mysteries this year, so I guess I'll be adding her to my tbr pile. I would never have picked this movie out of a stack, but it was great fun. It's all about mothers. Kinda.

I did get a kick out of what seemed to me to be a play on the name "Gaudy Night". This Lord Peter Wimsey novel by Dorothy Sayers is a different kind of mystery.

I will never hear this song in quite the same way again.