Month: May 2020

Redheads Writing In Cafes (except when it’s from my bedroom) Why I Love Vamps

No. No. No that kind of vamp. Not a vampire. The silent film vamp! Ok. Ok. Let me explain.

The term vamp (for a woman) originated in during the silent film era. Prior to that it was generally a short form for the word vampire. In the 1920s A Vamp was the combination of the Flapper and the now more public erotic behavior of women. It might have also been used toward a woman who was a tease. Vamp gained even more popularity when silent films began.

Along with my love of silent film, I absolutely a more interesting characters, clothes and their make up was always way over the top. They were saucy. They were seductive. They were sassy. They definitely were bolder, braver and stronger. These were women I would have looked up to if I was around in the 1920s.

Theda Bara was probably one of the most famous vamps or at least a name that is recognizable to most. But… there were more. So many more.

Olga Petrova, Nita Naldi, Pola Negri, even Hedda Hopper (aka Hollywood gossip column queen), and Virginia Pearson, were also incredibly popular vamps, but somehow their names don’t come up as often. Some of these actresses went on to have long careers on stage and screen while others were not able to make it past these roles.

Olga Petrova

Nita Naldi

Poala Negri

Here are a few other great articles on Vamps in the Silent Movies.

https://silentology.wordpress.com/2016/10/15/vamps-your-great-grandfathers-femme-fatales/

Stay The Fuck Home The Creature From The Black Lagoon Edition

I have a soft spot for B-movie creatures. My biggest soft spot is for King Kong, Frankenstein and the Creature from The Black Lagoon. I often wonder if I’m drawn to them because I always feel like I’m out of my element, especially when I was a teenager. I felt like I was growing up in a place I not only didn’t belong in, but was put there without my own choice. The three creatures I just mentioned, were either yanked away from their home, brought back to life against their will or had their home invaded by unwelcome visitors. All things they never asked for. All things throwing them out of their own element.

Many moons ago, while I was browsing DVDs at Sonic Boom (Toronto), I came across one of many box sets I ended up purchasing, of these beloved creatures. The first one I bought was Frankenstein, then The Creature From The Black Lagoon, Then Dracula and finally The Wolf Man. The only one I’m missing is The Mummy (again… my birthday is coming soon). I’ve watched all of these box sets over and over again, but the one I’ve watched the most is The Creature From The Black Lagoon. I tend to crave it the most right around this time of year. I’m not sure why. I tend to watch it along with the first Jaws movie. Maybe it’s my version so Summer Fever?

My good friend Carlin who passed away in December of 2019 created dolls and made me my very own Creature From The Black Lagoon. I will cherish it always.

The Creature From The Black Lagoon had two sequels, Revenge of the Creature (1955), in 3D and The Creature Walks Among Us (1956), filmed in 2D. Abbott and Costello even had a comedic episode on the Colgate Comedy Hour called Abbott and Costello Meet the Creature from the Black Lagoon.

Then… there was failed attempts at a reboot. I’m generally not a fan of remakes. I love when movie creatures inspire other movies such as The Shape of Water, but when a movie doesn’t need to be remade… just leave well enough alone.

Watching all of these amazing b-movies and creature features, really has me wanting to finally make one of my own!

Bat Adventures Bat Rescues

It’s been hot and humid this week, which means lots of bugs out, which means lots of bats! Or… usually means lots of bats. Oddly, I only hear one tonight near Lithuania Park. I’m certain there were many more, but there was a crowd of people in the park, so I decided not to walk into the park. Physical distancing and all of that jazz.

As with all animals, bats can get injured and will require care. I cannot stress this enough! DO NOT TOUCH THE BAT. Keep an eye on the bat and call a bat rescue! Though I don’t want any one to be afraid of bats, they do carry the rabies virus and it is important that a profession come rescue the injured bat. They will be vaccinated and know how to handle a bat so further harm isn’t caused. A simple Google search will help you find a rescue near you.

In Ontario If you live in Ontario, here is a link to a list of rescues. http://www.ontariowildliferescue.ca/wildlifecentres/?care=bat

Around the World

Batzilla!

Megabattie

Bat World

Each time I post, I am going to also suggest music that goes with bat adventures! Today I’m suggesting Theadora Feu Follet.

Type of bats: likely a large brown bat
No. Mosquito bites: 0

Here is a link I’ve created to all of our bat sightings.

Important: Do not handle bats. They can carry the rabies virus. Only those who have been properly vaccinated and have knowledge of bats should be handling them. If you find a bat in your home call a bat rescue. Do not call an exterminator, call a rescue. Bats are important for our environment. I have links below for rescues.

Types of bats in Ontario: https://onnaturemagazine.com/bat-guide.html
High Park Nature Centre: https://www.highparknature.org/wiki/wiki.php?n=Mammals.Bats
Bat rescues: http://www.ontariowildliferescue.ca/wildlifecentres/?care=bat

Bat Adventures and Bats in the Movies

Bats have featured predominantly in many movies. Sometimes in supporting roles and sometimes as the main character. In the movies, bats are usually associated with sinister things such as vampires or death. Sometimes, they are a foreboding message and generally, you see them in crypts, graveyards and creepy old Victorians. Thing is, bats live everywhere! Bats are good for our environment.

As you will know from reading my many posts, I’m a lover of classic movies, so this list will be mainly from that category. You are also going to see a few Bela Lugosi movies listed here as well. We all need more Bela in our lives.

Le Manoir du diable (1896) The movies begins with very clever Silent Movie special effects.

The Kiss of the Vampire (1962) I love Hammer movies and I especially love this one! https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057226/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

The Bat (1926) A masked criminal who dresses like a giant bat terrorizes the guests at an old house rented by a mystery writer.

The Bat Whispers (1930) This is a remake of the 1926 version of The Bat. I don’t generally like remakes, but this is a really great edition to bat movies.

The Bat (1959) We can’t have a list of bat movies without Vincent Price!

Dracula (1931) This is by far one of my all time favourite Bela Lugosi films ever!

The Vampire Bat (1933) The stunning Faye Ray is in another of my favourite bat movies!

The Devil Bat (1940) I also love this movie and of course it has Bela Lugosi! I warned you!

Here are a few great articles about bats in the movies.

https://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/news-bfi/lists/10-great-bat-films

https://english.manoramaonline.com/entertainment/entertainment-news/2018/08/04/these-bat-movies-will-give-you-the-creeps.html

Each time I post, I am going to also suggest music that goes with bat adventures! Today I’m suggesting is The House Of Haunt! Go buy their music here! https://thehouseofhaunt.bandcamp.com

Type of bats: Large Brown Bats
No. Mosquito bites: 0

Here is a link I’ve created to all of our bat sightings.

Important: Do not handle bats. They can carry the rabies virus. Only those who have been properly vaccinated and have knowledge of bats should be handling them. If you find a bat in your home call a bat rescue. Do not call an exterminator, call a rescue. Bats are important for our environment. I have links below for rescues.

Types of bats in Ontario: https://onnaturemagazine.com/bat-guide.html
High Park Nature Centre: https://www.highparknature.org/wiki/wiki.php?n=Mammals.Bats
Bat rescues: http://www.ontariowildliferescue.ca/wildlifecentres/?care=bat

Bat Adventures Bats and Crows and Crows and Bats.

Wait one minute! Aren’t these blog posts supposed to be about bats! Well… yes. They are, but it doesn’t mean I can’t be obsessed with two things! In addition to bats, I also love spiders, ravens and crows. As a matter of a fact, along with my bat sightings, I am also including crow sightings in the map I created (link at bottom of post).

I’ve noticed that since COVID has started I am starting to see Corvids, especially crows, return to my neighbourhood. This makes me incredibly happy as I always found it odd that crows are in almost every other neighbourhood in Toronto, why not mine! After all, we live near the biggest park in the city!

To learn more about Corvids, click here.

Type of bats: Large Brown Bats
No. Mosquito bites: 0

Here is a link I’ve created to all of our bat sightings.

Important: Do not handle bats. They can carry the rabies virus. Only those who have been properly vaccinated and have knowledge of bats should be handling them. If you find a bat in your home call a bat rescue. Do not call an exterminator, call a rescue. Bats are important for our environment. I have links below for rescues.

Types of bats in Ontario: https://onnaturemagazine.com/bat-guide.html
High Park Nature Centre: https://www.highparknature.org/wiki/wiki.php?n=Mammals.Bats
Bat rescues: http://www.ontariowildliferescue.ca/wildlifecentres/?care=bat

Stay The Fuck Home Creature Features Edition

I find some of the best cinematic entertainment, for me anyway, is b-movies. Especially, 1950s creature features and scifi. Honestly, how can you not. Not to mention how inspiring it is to hear stories about what the creators did to ensure their movies got made! Below are some really popular b-movies as a well as some of my all time favourites!

I have most of these in box sets, but you can find many on YouTube!

What are some of your favourite creature features?

Enjoy!

(links below are a combo of full movies and trailers)

Creature From The Black Lagoon

Little Shop of Horrors

Godzilla

Famous Monsters The Wolf Man

Famous Monsters The Mummy

Other B Movie Creature Features I Love Below are some of my favourite b-movie creature features that I’ve watch many times over!

The Giant Gila Monster

Frankenstein Meets the Space Monster

Lady Frankenstein

Attack of the Giant Leeches

The Amazing Colossal Man

Them!

The Giant Spider Invasion

Bat Adventures & Vintage Campers

I’ve always had this fantasy of owning a late 1950s or 1960s Shasta camper. One that was small enough to pull behind a car and large enough to be comfortable for two people. We could travel the country from one coast to the other, seeing all of the sights Canada has to offer and in the evening we would sit under our awning, have a BBQ and when dusk approached, get out our bat detector and see what the night has to offer up.

I’ve always loved bats and these days want to do more than just looks for them. I want to learn all I can about them. Understand their calls and be able to visually identify different types of bats when I see them fly overhead. Mother Nature Network has a pretty good guide on what different bat species look like up close and personal. However, this is just a small list.

For North America there are several types and we see many of them here in Toronto. Below is a handy picture guide.

Additionally, here are some more bat picture charts.

Each time I post, I am going to also suggest music that goes with bat adventures! Today I’m suggesting Mark Malibu & The Wasagas. I think that surf music goes with vintage campers and summer. I also think it goes with bat adventures.

Website: https://wasagas.com/

Type of bats: Large Brown Bats
No. Mosquito bites: 0

Here is a link I’ve created to all of our bat sightings.

Important: Do not handle bats. They can carry the rabies virus. Only those who have been properly vaccinated and have knowledge of bats should be handling them. If you find a bat in your home call a bat rescue. Do not call an exterminator, call a rescue. Bats are important for our environment. I have links below for rescues.

Types of bats in Ontario: https://onnaturemagazine.com/bat-guide.html
High Park Nature Centre: https://www.highparknature.org/wiki/wiki.php?n=Mammals.Bats
Bat rescues: http://www.ontariowildliferescue.ca/wildlifecentres/?care=bat

Stay The Fuck Home And Use Up All Of Those Frozen Banana’s Edition

Raise your hand if half of your freezer is frozen banana’s. Let’s get those hands up. Yes, you in the back, get that hand up!

Chocolate Covered Katie has an amazing blog post that has many recipes for banana, go give it a read. The recipes are delectable. If you are just looking for one or two recipes, below are a few of my favourites.

Smoothies are possibly the number one thing I use my frozen bananas for. I make them several times a week. Sooooooo goood for you! If you want something basic, a banana oatmeal smoothie is a good option.

Banana Bread is my second go to for frozen bananas. The below video is not only a great recipe, but the host of Rainbow Plant Life is a lot of fun!

Banana Chocolate Chip Squares are as close to a healthy dessert as you are going to get! Please don’t eat the whole pan at once!
https://itdoesnttastelikechicken.com/vegan-chocolate-chip-banana-squares/

Banana Pancakes are soooooo yum with real maple syrup! Also, the trick to fluffy pancakes is don’t overmix the batter! You are welcome! https://avirtualvegan.com/vegan-banana-pancakes/

Banana Muffins are one of my favourite things to have for breakfast. https://minimalistbaker.com/vegan-banana-crumb-muffins/

Breakfast Cookies are a great thing to have if you need to take something with you on your walk. This recipe has raisins, which I HATE, so I swap them out for dried cranberries or dried blueberries. https://beamingbaker.com/easy-vegan-peanut-butter-banana-breakfast-cookies-gluten-free-v-df-one-bowl/

Banana Cream Pie is such a decadent treat. We all need a decadent treat right now!
https://minimalistbaker.com/banana-cream-pie-vegan-gf/

Banana Popsicle’s are such a nice summer treat. Plus, you can buy Popsicle moulds at the dollar store!

Banana Nicecream is something I am looking forward to making once it warms up. Mind you icecream is a nice treat all year long!

The Return Of The Bat Adventures

It’s been a bit stressful lately. I know I’m not the only one. A way to blow off steam and bring a bit of happiness back it to go on… wait for it. BAT ADVENTURES! Zoltan saw bats the other day so I knew it was time to get back out there. I popped a couple fresh triple A’s into the Bat Seeker (the amount of times I’ve linked to them and sent people to them, I think they should send me an extra detector) and off we went. We were not disappointed.

We saw quite a few bats tonight. It was 18 degrees with a cool breeze. Even though it wasn’t a hot and humid night, there were still quite a few bugs out. Tonight we decided to go down an alley way and I’m happy to report, it was a good idea. Right away there were two bats chasing each other and likely gobbling up bugs.

So yes! It begins again! I am also going to continue to update my bat map. And to clear up something. No, this is not to help you avoid them. You cannot avoid them. Bats are everywhere, you likely just don’t see them. I am updating the map as research for myself and for anyone else who loves bats. Along with this I will also post bat info. Not today, maybe not every post, but I will add important information about bats.

Hopefully, soon friends can join us.

Each time I post, I am going to also suggest music that goes with bat adventures! Today I’m suggesting my good fiend Thea‘s band Night Chill. Please head over to Bandcamp and buy some of their music!

http://nightchill.bandcamp.com/track/london-fog

Type of bats: Large Brown Bat
No. Mosquito bites: NONE! Yeah!

Here is a link I’ve created to all of our bat sightings.

Important: Do not handle bats. They can carry the rabies virus. Only those who have been properly vaccinated and have knowledge of bats should be handling them. If you find a bat in your home call a bat rescue. Do not call an exterminator, call a rescue. Bats are important for our environment. I have links below for rescues.

Types of bats in Ontario: https://onnaturemagazine.com/bat-guide.html
High Park Nature Centre: https://www.highparknature.org/wiki/wiki.php?n=Mammals.Bats
Bat rescues: http://www.ontariowildliferescue.ca/wildlifecentres/?care=bat

Stay The Fuck Home and Browse Vintage Catalogues Edition

As a child, I was quite shy and would spend a lot of time with myself. I preferred my own company. Aside from that, I also spend a lot of time with my Great Grandpa Bill. He was a great story teller, especially ghost stories. More than that he was a very interesting man.

One of the things he enjoyed was collecting vintage catalogues, eventually, he would collect reproduction catalogues. I was intrigued with them. He would let me look at the reproductions while he supervised as some of the vintage catalogues were too frail. Two of the ones I loved the most were from 1901 and 1927 (Eaton’s). I obsessively looked at them. When he passed away, those two catalogues were given to me and I still have them.


Occasionally, I will use these catalogues or other online catalogues as inspiration for characters in stories I’m writing for for garments I am making. Below are a few I often peruse. You might get some enjoyment out of them as well!

Eaton’s Spring and Summer Catalogue 1907 https://archive.org/details/eatons190700eatouoft/page/n5/mode/2up

Archives of Ontario http://www.archives.gov.on.ca/en/microfilm/eatons.aspx

Library and Archives Canada https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/postal-heritage-philately/canadian-mail-order-catalogues/Pages/canadian-mail-order-catalogues.aspx

Digital Kingston https://www.digitalkingston.ca/presents-from-the-past/store-catalogues