With a Bit of Mayhem

There was a film I was made to watch once - never quite understood why. It was an awful, horrid film - terrifying, and I really couldn't recommend it. It was sick and twisted (interesting, but twisted, and not having enough to recommend it to surmount the twistedness....) and creepy.




The above picture is from The Abominable Dr. Phibes - I think. Well, it's the right character at least.

Anyway, the really, really, really terrifying, sick man that I had to watch in that film? Is played by Vincent Price.

But because I was rather young when I had to see it, I didn't notice the name, and so.... Vincent looked familiar, but I'd no idea why.

If it weren't such a horrid film, I'd watch it again. But as it was...  I'll stick to older films. Thank you.



I also figured out why his voice sounds so incredibly familiar. Not enough for me to figure it out on my own - I've always been rather horrid at voices - but enough to connect it after the fact.

He played Dathan's precurser that Moses kills in Cecil B. DeMille's Ten Commandments.

See, how come no one tells me these things? How come no one sits down and tells me about the past? Why must we talk about modern actors, and modern effects, and modern films? They're really not worth it that often....

And why not appreciate the past? It would have been harder to bring the same effects about! It wasn't something that was just.... Well, "we don't cut it up the way they do in film. We play it all the way through."

And then - speaking of Price - John Carradine was also in the film.

He played Moses' brother Aaron and I never ever would have recognised him. He just like.....shrank and squished and....aged. I think that's the best way to put it.

I know him from that lovely movie I keep speaking of: House of Long Shadows  - if it's ever NOT coming up, I'll say, but then it would have come up and so the who thing would be pointless then.....


He's the one in the picture that hasn't shown up before - the older man standing beside Lee.

On a side not, I really miss being able to use references that people get - or at least knowing people that catch the references. It was fun....

But The Ten Commandments will never quite play through the same I think..... Rameses, and Bithia, and Baka, and Moses, and Aaron, and Rameses.....  They're recognisable now! I know them from elsewhere!

I wonder if he ever plays the.... Well, not villain. OR monster.

If anything, the older ones would be fun to watch just for him - he is a good actor.

I'd rewatched House of the Long Shadows the other day, and - although I watched it for Cushing first, he's really a lesser character. Price, on the other hand, is....  Well, constantly soliloquising as he termed it.

Rather pointlessly too - but! That's a different story.

I actually managed to find the Muppet Show episode with Vincent Price too! I do so enjoy those things....

In Order:

That really is a terrific joke - that of the hand.

We tend to do that quite a lot. I'm rather blind without my glasses, and am often teased when others signify a number with their fingers and ask how many they're holding up.

My rejoinder? Unless they've been getting into some business I know naught about and decimating the sparse population hereby, they can't possibly be holding up any fingers.....

I've Heard That Song Before...

Can I just say that Howard really needs to be slapped at times? However, COMPLETELY FORGETTTING DOTTIE was priceless. Actually, what was priceless was Jarvis' and Carter's eye-rolls in response, and Howard ONLY remembering after Jarvis reminded him what he was wearing. Jarvis does not deserve to get slapped in Howard's stead: Howard needs some....  Brains? More usefull than that genius ones? Maybe?

And, look at this I found!!  Alright, completely pointless - BUT! HAT! GLOVES!!!  I love it!!  I actually just made a hat much like that - not that it matters....  I look rather like some vintage airline stewardress when I wear it. 

No, actually. I was trying to make another Film Noir photograph compilation for a character. Of course, as you can - or will - see, I got distracted.

All of what I've learnt in graphic manipulation has been by trial and error. Most early ones I really need to remake - but some were good in their simplicity. Or at least not so horrid.....  Which we were on the subject of Marvel, I tried to find some of my old ones....

First: NONE OF THE TEXT ON THESE PICTURES IS MINE!!  The pictures are mine - well, the compilation at least - but the text comes from a tumblr site of SHIELD recruit survival tips. http://shieldrecruitsurvivaltips.tumblr.com/ A hilarious site, and well worth the read.

Made by Angelique

Tip #22 --  This - and most of these - were made after I saw the promo for the pilot of Agents of SHIELD. And had just found out that Coulson was still alive.

Made by Angelique

OBVIOUSLY written for Tony....  Tip #48

Made by Angelique

Tip #131 --  Again, after the...well, this one is later in the series at least because these images weren't available before. Basically, Ward being condescending to Hill concerning Agent's death....

Made by Angelique

Tip #132 --  I adore that oneshot. It was hilarious, and priceless. And truly perfect. For some reason, a lot of these I always feel were written in some way for Stark....

And now I hate Sitwell - but this was before Hydra....  Well, technically not - but still!

Made by Angelique

Tip #220  .....I don't like this one, really. But it was the first I made, and I might as well include them all, so....  Voila - there it stays. I'll remake it at some point......

Complications

There are some types of people that I really envy. Not in a...'I'd kill you to do what you do or have what you have' but more in a 'I really wish I had the means or the courage to even try to do what you do'.

Actors  These are probably at the top of the list. I adore watching good acting. It is a treat and better than Christmas day. (Actually, most things are better, but that's a different rant...) But it's....horrid. Because I absolutely adored acting and am not nearly so good nor have I the opportunity to do so again.

So while I adore watching good acting, I hate it. It's bittersweet.

Violinists  These are so beautiful and frustrating for the same reason as acting!

Historians  Ah, this lovely group....  I do so love history. Sadly, I just collect random trivia basically. I can just....try.

Historical Writers  This probably extends to simply fiction writers, but I'll keep it simple. But while I can write, and know enough about history that it permeates my writing; I don't know enough about history to convincingly write in a time without my modern upbringing tainting my worldview.

It's...annoying. And sad. Bittersweet, at best.

Which, reminds me of something else....

A complex versus a simple life.

Some people see it as complex, others see it as simple; some people over-complicate, and others over-simplify.

Who's in the right? Is life simple? Is it complex? Should we simplify our problems, or look for complexities?

I know that I probably over-complicate things. I just....  Life isn't black and white. It hasn't been for a very, very long time. It used to be black and white with many shades of grey, and now it's just....mostly shades of grey. God is White, but after that.... Shades of grey.

There are reasons for everything. They aren't always the right reasons, sometimes might not even be sensible reason - but they're still reasons. The end consequences do nothing to negate the reasons that set the person on that path to those consequences.

So looking back, there are always hundreds of shades of grey. what about looking forward?

In the past, there are reasons for actions; in the future, there are choices between actions.

Ah, and there is were 'over-complicating' comes in.

Has anyone played chess? I quite enjoyed it. Not good, but I can play it at least. Now, I was told once that an excellent tip for playing chess well is to plan out the next several moves. In other words, you move a piece, and for every move they might make in answer you have another move to countre theirs and so on for several layers.

Some players are off the cuff of their sleeve. They make each move as it comes, not bothering with planning to countre their opponent's moves.

Others plan out countless moves, allowing for every possible opportunity. They're basically computers, but they consider every possible outcome.

As long as I'm talking Chess, and because there are apparently absolutely no gifs of that scene - there are also the people that don't need to plan out multiple opportunities that may arise because they do not fill the mind with clutter of things that aren't factual, and they can basically know what's going to happen.

The only fun in THAT is when you get two such people to play against each other. The danger is if they ever team up.... (Which, while we're speaking of this - it could just be two people that know each other really well - it's fun to pair them off, especially for them; but if they pair up against another?)

Irrelevant.

But! Chess!

The point being is that choices in life are that way.

Some people don't plan ahead at all. They just do what they feel or know is right. Others can plan a bit further, considering the consequences and rewards a choice will have and basing their decision on that. And then there are others that see multiple choices and options for everything.

Personally? I think those that can just make a decision are blessed. I personally can't. Nothing is simple, and everything has reprucussions and consequences to more than just oneself.

And maybe it's an elder thing - a firstborn thing. maybe it's because we've been told all our lives to care for and protect and teach and be an example for our younger siblings - perhaps it's so ingrained to us that it permeates everything. We can't help considering others.

Ah, nature versus nurture....

I honestly think they're one and the same. What one is taught is the same thing that one is. Especially from those ages.

But that is a matter of which I am ill-qualified to handle or discourse on.

Do I over-complicate things? Does it matter in the end? Is considering what impact my grades or lack thereof will have upon whatever future I might desire over-complicating things? Is considering what impact my absence will have on my family over-complicating it? Is planning on how to avoid damage over-complicating things?

I envy those people with happy homes, or those that can at least pretend it's so better than others. I envy those that don't have to worry about what far-reaching consequences their decisions might have. I envy those that don't have to worry about what dreams they might crush.

And in the end, does it even matter.

The funny thing about choices made is that you can never unmake them. A choice made is the only choice made, and the rest are...fantasy. You can think about what might have changed - but how do you know you wouldn't have ended up at the same end regardless?

We can't ever know. Thus is life.

And if that isn't complex? If life is supposed to be simple? Look at the stars! The galaxies! The Universes!

Or go smaller - look at the cells! The organisms! the elements!

Compared to God? They're simple. Compared to God? Everything's simple. But if that's simple? Then how could we ever begin to comprehend what COMPLICATED is?

And the list of books I want to eventually grows longer.

But no, this is only here because of the words. Because of the insight it has into WWII.

Sorry. Random digression as always. What I get for looking into history again....

It is such an intriguing time.

Have You Ever Buried Someone? (a mess of analogies and what have you....)

Have you ever buried someone?

Not physically.

Not in any way that gets dirt beneath your nails or through your clothes. Not in any way that makes your muscles ache or your palms burn. Not in any real, tangible way.

Just in a way that matters.

One changes as time passes. Sometimes it's sudden, other times slow - but one always does. Those that don't are unnatural.

But when you're a child, there are interests and games you enjoy. Tea parties, or Hotwheels, or Cops and Robbers, or Ghost stories and Barbies - does it really matter? There always comes a point where childhood is set aside. The little boy in t-short and stained shorts and the girl in her ragged princess dress will get shoved further and further back until one is standing beside a grave that was dug and filled in with their own hands.

And this person rarely comes back from the grave, whether as a ghost or a true person again. Once the child is buried, the ground is undisturbed. For some people, this funeral is early. For others, the child lives for many years before it is put to rest.

But none truly miss it when it is buried. In fact, they may be relieved. Later, when they return to the grave, they may regret it - but never in the moment. Then, it is necessary and wanted - whether to fit in with others, or live up to expectations, or simple to take care of those around them.... In the moment, it is necessary.

But this is only the first burial. There are always more. There are many, many more to come. Some are mourned more freely, some are buried in secret, some buried alive, and some are torn away and buried by others - but they all end the same: all lost beneath layers until secrets and truths and history and future is forgotten.

Have you ever had a secret?  As a teenager acted differently when out of your parent's sight? As an adult had a different face for work than in public, and a different face at home than either?

These are all different people.

They have the same foundation, and the same facets - but they are different. Perhaps it's a single interest that would not go over well in the professional world. Perhaps it's a educational interest in highschool that one hides from parents or friends to avoid mockery. Maybe it's a taste in music, or a taste in clothes, or a taste in books, or a love for art - whatever it is, it shapes a different person.

These faces all taken together equal the complete truth - but who can show all these at once? At what point does someone ever feel comfortable enough to show all of their facets, if they even can? To them, each facet shines in a different light - in a different place. To move to another facet is to move to a different light and the original facet no longer shines - it is a different view.

And so the others are buried.

Have you ever buried someone?

Sometimes the funeral is forgotten. Sometimes it is of someone dear. Sometimes it is hasty for a regret. Sometimes is is unsurprising, and other times it's ripped out of you.

But it's always there.

But there is nothing.

Is That What Really Matters?

Please, explain to me how 'Bllyyddpaetwr' becomes phonetically 'Baldpater'? Does Welsh just randomly combine countless consonants to make it impossible  for anyone to pronounce the letters? Have they some vendetta against anyone learning the language? HOW did such a language even get invented? It's not even phonetic! Was it created by three year olds?

And on that note.......

On a side note, HOW DOES ANYONE WRITE A COMPLETED MANUSCRIPT OF A NOVEL IN TWENTY-FOUR HOURS?

Even if we allow for the absolute minimum word count of forty thousand (how would he count it in the first place? He's working on a typewriter!) how does one bother trying to  write even a rough draft of a novel, with working characters and plot, in a genre one has never attempted before, and has no practice in - IT'S BASICALLY IMPOSSIBLE!

And perhaps it's not impossible. Perhaps it's just because I'm incapable of writing simple stories - but I'd have lost the bet.

I'd also have bet for a bit more time - say, a week at the absolute least if I could write without interruptions.

But a DAY?? He's insane.

....my feelings on this subject have nothing whatsoever to do with the fact that I've not finished a single book yet because I've an annoying habit of editing and rewriting as I go along, and of worldbuilding forever.

I have immense fun, of course - why else would I do it - but I never get the story finished!

It irks me.

But real life demands my homage, and so Líker must be set aside for the moment. I'm sure it will come back with a vengeance later.

House of Shadows really is a brilliant film. Especially sticking the main character into the setting. Because it really is overly cliched (purposefully), and he is the very character that viewers always clamour for, (no, don't go into the dark dungeon - WHY do you think that's safe?) and he's seen all the cliche's before, and he's not going to be taken in by the atmospheric conditions.

(Don't watch the film when it's actually thunderstorming - it really is a well done albeit simple film.)

Someone else really does need to watch that film so I can discuss it - because I really do refuse to spoil it.

Which, by the way, if you know the story behind that scene above, you will have the answer to all spoilers I may give. Well, all for anyone that has a chance of finishing the series that is.

But look what I found! Finally!

 I've already made Tom Baker's thirty foot scarf from the Fourth Doctor - I enjoy making what little things I can from fandoms. And this? Even better than Benedict's blue scarf from Sherlock.

Unfortunately, there's no pattern for it.

But! I finally found a full length picture for it!!

It's the same stitch and pattern as the Doctors, and I dare say it's just as wide - but! Now I finally have the length and the ending.

I can make it! Once I get the yarn. Of course. Which means I shan't for quite a while....

On a semi-related note - I ALSO figured out his afghan! Blanket - whatever that thing is.

That was the other thing on my 'to make eventually in my lifetime' list, but that has even less of a pattern than Brett's scarf does. The scarf at least, I found another person that made it before - the afghan had no such documented creation.



The problem was always that I had no idea what the pattern was. The yarn...would have to simple be determined by sight - but naught could be done without a pattern!

And then I saw this picture on the left here: I know that stitch. It's really simple and I've already made about ten afghan's with it - it's the granny square. Or at least that's the name I learnt for it.

So, far from being a shawl as I originally thought, this is actually a blanket. Easy enough to make!

Of course, the problems would be make the small stitches - but..... I could manage that. Another problem would be how often the brown rings are put in - I suppose I should have to watch that episode again....

Granada's Musgrave Ritual was...interesting. A bit inaccurate given that Watson was there, but naught the worse for it. And Holmes was quite amusing throughout the whole thing - a bit sulky and sharp, but amusing. Espcially in that I suspect Watson drug him out to the country - I've really not seen it for a while....

But now I can make those items!!

On another sidenote, look what ELSE I found...

by Egle Marcogliese

It's a series of cocktail and formal gowns for the Batman villainesses Catwoman, Poison Ivy, Harlequin, and....oh, there was one more.... Now I can't remember the thing.

Oh well - it will come to me. Basically, there were four main villainesses.

But she made these cocktail and formal gowns inspired by the comic characters and their costumes.

Sound familiar?

Oh, what would i give to have that dress though - it's absolutely gorgeous!!

And I love the colour scheme. And the fabric. Especially the fabric.

But it caught my eye because it wasn't made as a cosplay - it was just designed marrying comic characters with vintage fashion. And I love it.

And it makes me sad.....

Back to my original point, House of Long Shadows is brilliant - but definitely one to watch more than once. Sadly, I know the end this time adn so it doesn't surprise me - but it's still just as terrifying as it was the first time through. And that's saying a lot for an older film.

However, knowing the end, adds a completely new insight to the characters and the dialogue leading up to the end.

And it's so much more amusing too - especially watching the characters. That was fun the first time through given the caliber of the acting (not of the main characters - but the quartet that is.), but even moreso now that I'm not trying to figure out the ending.

It is, truly superbe. I've a feeling this is  a story I will always enjoy.

And the best thing about it? No horrid romance!

......but I'm not spoiling it. hopefully. (someone, watch it, please? Else I'll memorise the entire film and then heaven help anyone else that sees it....)

Wherefore from Whence?

Grace Kelley

I was asked a few times recently why I dress the way I do.

I didn't have an answer.

Elizabeth Taylor

Oh, there's the one that says I love dresses and I feel pretty in the clothes - but why do I? There are are many gorgeous modern styled dresses that are even modest and would flatter my figure - so why then do I prefer Vintage fashions?

And I don't really know - perhaps I'm proud in that I'm different?

I've always worn dresses. We never really went...out, so my mum allowed me to wear dresses that were better for outings or church in play. I suppose I simply got used to it. I got used to seeing elegant, rich women on the screen - and I copied them.

When I began reading, I read stories of women men fought over and fought for; and I saw that as the way it was supposed to be.

Of course, I grew up, and the world is no longer that way. I grew up, and I no longer fit the dresses; and my style changed to dull trousers and shirts hastily thrown together. My hair had to be hacked off, and I just...didn't care.

Lauren Bacall

I never stopped enjoying the books or the stories, and I wished that I could be within them.

And then I began sewing my own clothes, and I sewed circle skirts and petticoats. And then I began to sew half and quarter circle skirts - styles from the Forties and Fifties. And I imitated a corset in the best way I could, and fitted my blouses and belted my waist. I all but abandoned trousers and that has hardly changed.

Why do I dress that way? Why do I prefer outdated Vintage fashions rather than similar modern fashions that would be easier to keep up and easier to manage?

I think it's because of what they represent.

Not feminity or high-bred manners - rather, perfection. Protection. Bearing. A picture from some carefully posed card that cannot possibly be true at all times, but does enough to imitate it that it's believed.

Amy Adams (who was supposed to be Priscilla....
but that pictures was never labeled....)

When you picture Forties or Fifties fashion, do you picture broken homes and careless scrimping by? Certainly, it existed - but the immediate mental image is of put together....care. From the head to the toes, everything is a sculpted outfit. It's a...shield. Pretending to be alright no matter what has gone on in the home.

It's sort of a balancing act, I suppose. Because a Vintage outfit is not something that can just be....thrown together. It's something that must be planned and prepared. The Hairstyles especially can take at least one day to prepare, and makeup and underpinnings likewise can take some time to put on.

It's a distraction. Oh, it's a beautiful, confident distraction - but it is a distraction nonetheless. Because there is something in acting - if you do it long enough and convincingly enough to lie to others, you'll succeed in lying to yourself for a little bit.

There's also an air of...safety in the fashions.

Lauren Bacall

Vintage fashion - street fashion at least, some formal gowns are the exception - but those I've not the pleasure to make or wear as of yet. And even so, I would shy from the revealing cuts nonetheless.

But there is safety in it. When people look at me, I do not feel the need to smooth my garments or cover up - my clothes are not too ill-fitting and they are not immodest. I do not feel that I am.....unprotected. For lack of a better word.

I do not want to be part of the modern world. I want to be in one of my books, in one of my stories - where everything works out in the end. I am not an actress, and writing cannot extend into reality. My clothes are.......Well, they are a small portal to the past. They are my small attempt to be...young and childlike. To play. To pretend that I'm a princess and that there is a knight somewhere to treat me well and to fight over and for me.

There's not. But I can pretend.

It's Not Nice to Swear

It's funny how much a promise means to me....

I'm a bit of a...wordsmith. One might say.

Other's might say that I'm a sociopathic, manipulative, lazy....'insert word here'.

'Wordsmith' is a bit more...fluid. It rolls off the tongue easier.

Basically? I twist words.

I'm a writer. It comes in handy. But it isin my life as well. Why? I don't really know. I'm sure I could blame it on someone else - on my upbringing or the circumstances - but....  Well, I make enough excuses.

I've got too many voices in my head. Sometimes, they're my characters. Sometimes, they're characters from films that I greatly sympathise with. And other times, they're very bitter, hateful, guilty, angry, tired voices that want nothing more than to hurt the world as much as they have been or think they have been hurt but they won't so they want to hurt the only thing left for them to.

Life is a set of balances, a scale. This for that, that for this.... One action brings and equal and opposite reaction - thus is life. There is a price for everything.

And yet, I prefer not to lie.

Well, not outright lies.

As I said, I twist words. Technicalities. The fine hair between a complete untruth and a misrepresentation of facts or different understandings between two parties.

Which, alright, is still lying by most people's standards thus the less flattering appellations applied....

I never said they weren't true.

But back to promises - it's amazing how much this one holds me.

Because it does. I only promised to try, and yet it holds me stronger than any complete promise not to do something would.

And thus why not to straight out lie. Because that's still a promise. In a way.

Promises are something....sacred. Important. Once given they should never be broken - and one should not make promises that they are not certainly able to keep.

Loopholes. Legalese. There should always be a way out of things.

Ahhh.... And there's the over-complications again. Too many things to worry about.

Which, if I'm so good at twisting truth, how do I know what's real? I know all of the voices in my head can't be real - but which ones are? I don't know, and they've all inherited my....knack with tongues....

On a side note, as per usual, I hate pincurls.

Well, not them directly per say - just the part where one brushes and styles it afterward.

AKA: besides Victory Rolls? There are basically no tutorials for those updos.

Have I mentioned the Agent Carter series? And the perfect hair? AND HOW THERE ARE NO TUTORIALS?

Basically....

On a side note as I return.....

Just try it.

I dare you.

Please.

Whosoever says that walking around in high heels two or more inches all day is NOT a form of exersise gets to do it themselves! AND walk up and down about three hundred steps!

No, that number of steps is not arbitrary - I counted them as I tried to remember to breathe. I'm off by a few because I didn't start until later - but on the whole....

So please! Be my guest.

And those kind, merciful people that FINALLY let us use the elevator....

And then made us go talk to people - but we got to use the elevator....

It raised and interesting point: do I detest stairs or elevators more?

Right now, I've decided that the Little Mermaid tried to walk in highheels thus why it felt she was walking on knives, so I am thoroughly against stairs. However, elevators make me nauseous. Even when I hate stairs.

So I think I'll just forgo moving for the moment. It seems to be the only viable option left.

So, I'm back!

Obviously.

And I've a new game! The Green Glass Doors.

There are walls, but no windows; roofs, but no ceilings; floors, but no houses; hell, but no heaven; puppies and poodles, but no dogs; grass and weeds, but no flowers..... What can you bring into the world of the Green Glass Doors?

I'm not going to give you the answer. It is REALLY simple, and easy to work out, and fun to solve. And REALLY fun to share with others.

I will confirm if you are right though, perhaps.