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To Cast a Deadly Spell & Witch Hunt

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There are a few movies that I included in my Ultimate Witch Movies List that deserve some special rumination. Of course, I already mentioned Cast a Deadly Spell, and Witch Hunt when I announced the list, but I didn’t really say enough.

Both movies are HBO originals from what I remember as the heyday of HBO, when Home Box Office meant movies all the time. The main character in these films, Private Detective Phil Lovecraft isn’t the only reference to science fiction storytellers.

Detective Morris Bradbury plays the essential role of police officer foil to Lovecraft, referencing their long relationship including from when Lovecraft worked for the police as well. This relationship is cliche to so many murder mystery sleuths and yet I find its predictability completely amusing in these movies. Also on police payroll is Detective Otto Grimaldi. Could this be a reference to Hugo Grimaldi, producer of sci-fi moves in the early 60s?

There is obvious Lovecraft influence in the movies (though don’t expect Detective Lovecraft to be anything like the real man). These influences are explored in a thorough play by play of the movie on tor.com along with commentary that draws connections between thematic elements, Lovecraft reality, and the true history of the time the movies are set within.

I wonder if the naming of the three detective characters is indicating primary influences, in which case, I will be checking into the movies produced by Grimaldi and revisiting Bradbury to look for the other connections.

Happy New Year

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woman sitting on crescent moon with martini glass

My favorite Christmas Carol

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Much like our Halloween watching, our Christmas watching is such that it is getting its own zine at some point in the near (I hope) future. In lieu of a Holidays in the Movies post for Christmas, I just want to spotlight An American Christmas Carol.

Henry Winkler plays the stingiest man in town in this version of a Christmas Carol. His name is different; but the beats of his story are the same. Though, perhaps he modernizes the cruelty of Scrooge in a way that makes him seem an even worse person. Which makes his redemption even more effective. The acting in this TV movie is comfortable with a few shining moments. Unique is that, instead of being a specter of death, Dorian Harwood’s ghost of Christmas future walks into the scene with costume, music, and demeanor of someone decades ahead of the story line. This too, makes this interpretation very incisive.

Baking vegan with old recipes

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One of my favorite recipes for the holiday season is Hot Water Ginger Bread, which I have dubbed: ‘no ingredients left in the house ginger bread.’ I found it in a reprint of Fanny Farmer, and I have now amassed a large collection of cooking pamphlets from the turn of the last century through the depression and war years. The recipes that offer innovative ways to compensate or just plane ignore the lack of an ingredient are especially interesting to me.

So it was that I was looking through some of my cooking pamphlet collection for a cake recipe that either was or could easily be made vegan with very little change. I found Depression Cake. The only non-vegan ingredient included in the original recipe was butter and I figured I could easily substitute vegetable shortening. The batter was not thin as the recipe warned so I added ½ cup of applesauce. The denser cake took one full hour in the oven when divided into two loaf pans.

The result was decidedly good, though not very sweet. It would be easy to make this into a mock fruit cake by increasing the sugar, soaking the fruits in rum, and then drizzling the cake afterward. I will have to try this next.

Holidays in the Movies: Hanukkah

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Weird that we haven’t already covered Hanukkah in our movie watching. This year we will be taking some first steps toward addressing this.

  • Lamb Chop’s Special Chanukah (1995) : I may have been born just a little too late for lamb chop, but it has the comforting television special feel that I grew up with.
  • Hanukkah (2019) : a horror movie unseen by us so far, we shall see.

And now, something different

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Happy Halloween!

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Halloween doodles

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Beautiful Tools

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I was on an online used goods site looking for an unrelated thing when I found these two gorgeous things that I didn’t even know I needed. I am sad to say that I am not often struck by the beauty of new tools. Maybe its the plastic or the lack of cast iron. I am so happy with these and I can’t wait to use them!

Mending and revitalizing

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WWII propaganda poster from the British Board of Trade. 1939-1945

I wore myself out this weekend juggling a few fixes and projects all revolving around keeping the household running smoothly. One of those projects, long on my list, was to redye my black clothes. I am so pleased with the results that I had to think this over with y’all.

I haven’t bought new clothes in years. Oh, I’ve bought new-to-me clothes, but no newly manufactured clothes. Picking up used clothes at a thrift store or wearing a simple knit long sleeve top from a discount department store for ten or twenty years will inevitably require some mending and upkeep. There is nothing that shows its age more than black. Nobody really knows what other colors were supposed to be when new, right? But everyone knows when black is faded.

So, in addition to darning little cat claw holes and repairing popped stitches, I did a black load. Now my cotton blend knit tops are as dark as my synthetic skirts. I feel like a fancy lady.

I’ve seen a lot of challenges online where people try to not buy any clothes for a month, a year, or what not. Well why not a challenge to find that thing in your wardrobe that you loved so much so long ago but never wear any more. Find it, and then figure out what you can do to make it wearable again. Its a good feeling. I promise.

Lighthousemen of Eilean Mòr

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Have you seen Tasting History with Max Miller? Do you watch it? ‘Cause I heartily recommend giving it a try. It was among the few really fabulous and reliable YouTube channels my household watched during lock-downs and shut-ins and the just-getting-used-to-not-having-cable times. For someone who loves old recipes and story behind food, it is perfect.

But that’s not actually what I wanted to talk about. Max’s most recent episode, above, reminded me of a thing I did a long time ago for a comic anthology submissions call. It didn’t get in the anthology, but I am super proud of it all the same: The Lighthousemen of Eilean Mòr.

The short comic follows the real mysterious disappearance of three men from the Eilean Mòr, and the strange clues they left behind.

Comic challenges have always resulted in some surprising results for me. I have more of them in my comic directory if you’d like some fun reading.

Levi Levi: continuing?

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Hello hello! So…if you had previously been a reader of Levi Levi, and were wondering if I would ever finish the 3rd installment of the comic, well I have some news for you. Levi Levi has quietly begun posting again, picking up from the page it malingered on for so long. I promise I really want to finish up this volume and I do have ideas for more stories.

Boy Fishing

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Amaryllis

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A couple of years after we first bought the house, a mystery plant showed up in the back yard by the neighbor’s fence. It opened close to Easter weekend to reveal it was an amaryllis. Since then it has slowly grown in size and flower stalks. We have not lifted it to separate the offset bulbs and plant them separately. But I have gathered a seed pod and embarked on growing new plants from seed.

Amaryllis from seed will take a few years to become a mature plant and bloom, and they may not be the same as the mother plant at all. I’m no stranger to waiting for plants (hello pineapple), so I figured I’d give it a try.

over 4 weeks
almost six months
planted out at over 18 months

After almost two years I got tired of tending the little grass shoots in their pots. They had really only gotten a bit fatter. We planted them out near where the original plant had self planted in the yard. And, they were immediately eaten down to the ground. Not surprising since the original plant looked like this by the end of the spring:

It has spread a bit since we first noticed it and has several whorls of leaves from which erupt flower stalks each spring. I am hoping that the babies I planted out will somehow fight their way through to flowering someday. Though, I’m not sure how far away that someday may be. Five years? Who knows. Eventually, we might get a mess of this:

Aquarium deceit

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man visiting an aquarium and seeing a 404 error screen.

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