He was on the sofa, and then I put him in a chair…the drawing anyway not the Richard. Obviously, Richard also doesn’t sport such gnarly claws.
Posts authored by leems
Comic Review: The Cat of a Madman | shes in ur base
You may have seen that I finally got with the program and did some At The Expense of the Listener. Well, I’ve been invited to blog on she’s in ur base along with some fabulous crafty girl nerds! My first post:
First of all, hi, I’m LeEtta aka leemsmachine, nice to meet you. I am honored to be invited onto she’s in ur base and also that my first post will be reviewing The Cat of a Madman, a comic written by Alex Ponting, concept and art by Geneva Rosett-Hafter.
Curious story of St. Expeditus
St. Expeditus is dressed in the uniform and red cloak of a Roman soldier. He holds a palm leaf in one hand, a symbol of peace, everlasting life, victory and martyrdom. In the other he holds up a cross with the word ‘hodie,’ Latin for ‘today.’ Under his foot is a crow, coughing up the banner ‘cras,’ Latin for ‘tomorrow.’ His story begins with a young Roman soldier in Armenia traveling down a road, possibly to Melitene. Suddenly struck with an epiphany, he decided that he would convert to Christianity. A crow, the devil in disguise, flew up to meet him then and encouraged him to wait until tomorrow. The soldier would not be delayed, however, and stamped on the crow, vowing to convert immediately even in the face of certain death (Wikipedia). He was decapitated shortly thereafter by emperor Diocletian in 303 AD during Christian persecution. In another story he is a German soldier who longed to stop the war, which one is not known. He laid down his helmet and shield, picked up the palm leaf, and cried out that the war must stop today! (Louisiana Folklife)
There are equally as many tales of his remains as there are of his life. At one point his body was retrieved from the catacombs and sent to a group of Parisian nuns who misread the rush shipping instructions on the box as the name of the saint (catholic.org). Later, when his statue was sent to the St. Jude Shrine in New Orleans, it contained no identifying documentation and the people of the city assumed that the shipping instructions on the box must have been his name (http://www.judeshrine.com/StExpedite.pdf).
Expeditus has been petitioned to as the patron saint of emergencies, times of haste, and against procrastination long before the nuns in Paris and the church in New Orleans. He is included in ancient lists of Christian martyrs, and appealed to for centuries, but the true origins of St. Expeditus are unclear. The stories of shipping instructions that surround his name sound ludicrous and, though all disproved, point to a general doubt about the real life of the saint. Additionally, his name was removed from the list of Catholic Venerated Saints in the 1960s after much debate about what action to take against his cult following (Path Less Traveled). Yet, even as an unofficial saint, he inspires a large community of devotees and is called on by all sorts of communities in Brazil (WSJ: Jobless Brazilians Needing Fast Action Call on St. Expeditus), France, Sicily, and the U.S.: he was heartily adopted in New Orleans and is now invoked in hoodoo rituals to speed results (Demoniacal) and in Voudon where he is associated with the spirit of death (Crossroads University). His followers know that when they ask him for help he will come through, and they thank him with declarations in the classifieds, offerings of cake, dedication of chapels, great feasts and celebrations, and even websites (saintexpedite.org).
The Electric Prunes on At the Expense of the Listener
Source: At the Expense of the Listener: The Electric Prunes
Watching The Name of the Game is Kill and enamored of a song that a willowy blond danced to in an eerily tense scene. I am all surprise that I hadn’t already heard these in my Dad’s van way back when.
And one of their big hits:
–LeE
when the devil asks you a question
What do you do? Huh? Huh?
Some kind of fairy tale
Songs for tomorrow
chorus:
let’s sing an endless song for this shitty world.
let’s sing an endless song for all of these useless beings.
let’s sing an endless song for me, you and them.
let’s sing an endless song to make sure you’ll laugh on tomorrow.
there has been often times that i feel like i’m done for.
because people were just passing me by, and i was crying in all alone in night.
there has been often times that i feel like i wanna get out of here.
because the moment that the truth shows up is always fearful.
chorus
i don’t like to have some chattings with people
if you are misunderstanding me, it’s not your fault.
but i’ll never forget you.
chorus
let’s sing an endless song for this shitty world.
let’s sing an endless song for all of these useless beings.
let’s sing an endless song
the nights i had cried in all alone.
let’s sing an endless song
the days people call me “nuts”!!
There’s always tomorrow, tomorrow’s a new day
In my youth I have dreams.
Someday surely, someday surely
You’ll come to understand this.
There’s always tomorrow, there’s always tomorrow, tomorrow is a new day.
There’s a guy from work who went off to form his own company
And I’m left behind at my job.
I convince myself, that there’s no need to rush,
there’s still plenty of time.
there’s always tomorrow, there’s always tomorrow, tomorrow is a new day.
My new superior is French.
Not even body language gets through to him
this is my big chance, this is my big chance
It could be good studying.
there’s always tomorrow, there’s always tomorrow, tomorrow is a new day.
One day I suddenly thought
What am I killing myself for ?
For my family ? For myself ?
The answer is in the wind.
there’s always tomorrow, there’s always tomorrow, tomorrow is a new day.
“Kids these days” often say it but,
things are much better than when I was young
Let’s overlook, let’s overlook
the fact that they can’t even speak properly.
there’s always tomorrow, there’s always tomorrow, tomorrow is a new day.
There’s always tomorrow, tomorrow’s a new day
In my youth I have dreams.
Someday surely, someday surely
You’ll come to understand this.
there’s always tomorrow, there’s always tomorrow, tomorrow is a new day.
Elvis movie marathon
When I was a kid in Texas with no cable there was a TV station that would pack it’s summer Sunday programming with Elvis movies. They are mostly formulaic, have familiar faces, take very little commitment, and include spontaneous music. I would commandeer the 4.5 inch portable TV and putter around in my room to the spontaneous Elvis-a-thons. This is how I best know Elvis. Over the fourth of July weekend I made cherry pie, and my husband and I embarked on an Elvis-a-thon of our own. We had bought a few extra movies just for this occasion; we didn’t watch them all.
We started on Thursday after work:
Jailhouse Rock – 1957 – Vince Everett is in jail for accidentally punching a guy to death in a bar fight. A young man, he forms a partnership with his cellmate, Hunk, who used to work the music scene. Vince is talented, and Hunk takes advantage of his naivety by drawing up a 50/50 partnership contract. Once Vince is out of jail he meets a woman who gets him set up in a recording studio, distribution deal, and whom he treats badly. Hunk gets out of jail and Vince treats him badly too. Vince is basically the jerkiest of all jerks. If you have favorable notions of Elvis, this movie might surprise you and possibly annoy you. That’s probably why the Texas TV station of my youth never included this in their spontaneous Elvis-a-thons.
Flaming Star – 1960 – Pacer lives with his Dad, half brother and Kiowa mother in untamed Oklahoma. Power struggles among the native tribe are testing the family loyalties and there are deaths and misplaced blame all around. I totally thought they made up the tribe name for this movie, and am happy to find out the Kiowa Indians are the native tribe of Oklahoma. My notes say: “I’m just gonna concentrate on the horses ’cause the plot ‘s kinda losin’ me.” Elvis sings very little.
And then continued on Friday:
Viva Los Vegas – 1964 – Lucky Jackson is a gear-head racer who is consistently thwarted in getting an engine for his car so he can win the big race. He is in a friendly rivalry with an Italian count, that escalates slightly when they both set eyes on Ann Margaret’s character. That’s pretty much the plot. There is some racing derailment while Lucky takes various odd jobs both to get money and be close to his leading lady. It all comes back around when they butt heads over him only ever thinking about racing. Ann Margaret, triple threat, pretty much steals the show as she sings, dances and acts as both the perfect girl and a strong woman with standards. She’s so frenetic it would be annoying if she weren’t so damn cute.
Blue Hawaii – 1961 – Chadwick Gates returns home to Hawaii from the army and spends the first few days avoiding his folks. By the time he sees his parents, he’s got a plan to avoid the family pineapple plantation and is set up as a tour guide by his girlfriend’s boss. His first customer is, of course, a pretty lady teacher and her 3 female students. Flirtation, jealousy, and unacceptable behavior ensue. Includes the most annoying female character of any Elvis movies I’ve seen to date.
Cats
The Formula For An Episode Of Murder, She Wrote – a post on Tom Francis’ blog
The Formula For An Episode Of Murder, She Wrote – a post on Tom Francis’ blog published on Read more posts by the author of The Formula For An Episode Of Murder, She Wrote – a post on Tom Francis’ blog, leemsNo Comments on The Formula For An Episode Of Murder, She Wrote – a post on Tom Francis’ blog
You know I love Murder She Wrote. I found someone else who loves Murder She Wrote. At least, he watches it a lot:
Apartment, day
HANDSOME YOUNG MAN WHO WORKS FOR SOMEONE BUT IS OTHERWISE NOT REALLY INVOLVED:
I love you PRETTY YOUNG WOMAN WHO IS RELATED TO SOMEONE.PRETTY YOUNG WOMAN WHO IS RELATED TO SOMEONE BUT OTHERWISE NOT REALLY INVOLVED:
Oh, but it’s no use HANDSOME YOUNG MAN WHO WORKS FOR SOMEONE! In some obtuse way this business merger makes our love impossible!HANDSOME YOUNG MAN WHO WORKS FOR SOMEONE BUT IS OTHERWISE NOT REALLY INVOLVED:
This is weird but accurate.
Source: The Formula For An Episode Of Murder, She Wrote – a post on Tom Francis’ blog
What Jane Saw
A historical art exhibit, rendered in colored drawing, capturing the perspective of a famous writer. What more could you want? Source: What Jane Saw
Stephen Chow movies on Netflix – watch this now
Not long ago the only Stephen Chow movies you might stumble upon in any moderately sized, moderately international city in the U.S. were Kung Fu Hustle and an awfully dubbed version of Shaolin Soccer. You probably had no idea that you were being deprived of a basic right to watch one of the funniest actor/directors ever. You poor soul. Thankfully, the universe has righted itself a little and put some awesome Stephen Chow films on Netflix! Do you have Netflix? Yes? Have you watched these yet? What do you mean no?
Go forth and watch Stephen Chow. Watch The God of Cookery. Watch them all. And always remember rule number one to watching a Stephen Chow movie: Cantonese is the only language.
Annie, Misfits style
in the woods
For the love of Florida
I saw on the DVR that the next recorded episode of Stephen Fry in America was going to include Florida and I thought, ‘heh, I wonder what awfulness he’s going to find there.’ Not long ago I was actively looking for opportunities outside of Florida, and I have never been a fan of the traditional Florida fare of sunshine, beaches, mice, and water sports (citrus, I like). Maybe because I have since settled down in my birth state, or maybe because it is my birth state, I was a little disgruntled when Mr. Fry’s primary visit was Miami, and his primary reaction was understandably scathing. How, you might ask, can I be disgruntled when I understand his reaction? Well, he visited Miami. Except for The Golden Girls, there is and has never been anything tied to Miami that could entice me to visit there. It’s like having someone come visit your house and they only see the inside of your garage, dented, stained holiday decoration boxes and all.
–by the by, I am in entertainment consumer love with Stephen Fry; as in, I love to consume and am terribly entertained by all his writing, speaking and acting.
So, partially as an exercise in state love, which I am still new to, I started wracking my brains for the bits of Florida that I’d rather have been seen by Stephen Fry. What I realized, is that the bits of Florida that I think make it great are withering away. Fewer and fewer of the quaint and wholesome tourist attractions of a hopeful postwar (WWII) U.S. can still be found in our tropical peninsula. They are slowly making room for the attractions of today’s tourist.
Case in point: Cypress Gardens. I remember Cypress Gardens as a bright, hot, floral and fragrant fairy land of leisurely enjoyment. As a typical American little girl, I was in awe of the pretty ladies who twirled their gigantic ball gowns into perfect circles of fabric as they perched on the green green lawns of the gardens. At the time of my visit, Cypress Gardens was still doing well, but was most definitely the day trip that grandparents took their grandchildren on. It was of their generation. And, while they tried to pass it on to a new generation, most grandchildren, me included, didn’t spare it a second thought until it was too late. Now that I’ve come around to my grandmother’s way of thinking, Cypress gardens has been swallowed up by LegoLand.Continue reading For the love of Florida