Selkie

I'll be there opening weekend, but I'm not without reservations. My memories of the book are vague to the point of meaninglessness, except that I remember finding it vaguely distasteful. I don't remember why, and as young as I was at the time I may not have been able to identify the reason logically. I'm also allergic to high fantasy in general - my enjoyment of the LotR movies surprised me immensely, because LotR is the wellspring of almost all the fantasy cliches I dislike - which adds another strike.

Still, there's something drawing me to this movie, and it's not just the rabid housemate who can't wait to see it.

Now Goblet of Fire - THAT one I can hardly wait for.

I've long maintained that the best horror fiction isn't about the ghoulies, ghosties, long-leggity beasties, and things that go bump in the night, it's about the hot topics in real life that scare the hell out of us. The GGLLB&TTGBITN provide a buffer that makes talking about those topics more palatable. Kinda of like an oven mitt for handling a hot pan, I guess. As such, I'm all for bringing on tales of the occult in all its manifestations. Besides, I can't resist looking at all the creative energy that gets unleashed when creative people are allowed to break free from the restraints of reality in their storytelling.

I'm well-known around these parts as a cranky ol' atheist who doesn't believe in the supernatural per se, and a such my attitude toward real life magic/occult/neo-Paganism etc. isn't any different than it is toward organized religion. What I do find fascinating is why people gravitate toward, believe in, and participate in, these events. (Charlie, I blame it all on being an American Culture major! ) I won't bore anyone with my thoughts on the rise of neo-Paganism (and its strong association with "magic"). Suffice it to say the topic affords me no small amount of intellectual interest.

Drowner?

I was thinking the same thing. A quick Amazon search turned up this book. I've never read it, so can't comment on content.

Selk, you may be right. As I read more I may come to the same conclusion. It doesn't surprise me considering the climate he was writing in and writing for, you know?

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I suspect that for the genre and times, the books were probably reasonably enlightened. It's just in this day and age that they grate on a cranky ol' feminist such as myself. I don't expect all women in fiction to be smart, enlightened, and strong - but I don't want them to be all weak, passive, and needy, either.

Here is how McGee describes a working-class female character in Good-by. May also touch on what Selkie was talking about.

That doesn't bother me a bit - in fact, I rather enjoy that passage. It's the passivity, especially the sexual passivity, of the McGee women that irritates me. None of them stands up for what she wants, and they're almost always just casually available to whatever man wants them. The one and only sexual encounter I recall being initiated by a woman included language like "... but I knew that thereafter, the aggressor role would be mine." If memory serves, that woman got herself killed, too. Another woman talks being seduced and turned into the toy of an older rich man with "Sometimes an older man can manage a green girl like that." (Keep in mind it's been probably 15 years since I've read a Travis McGee novel, so I'm heavily paraphrasing). Then there's the Mexican prostitute who seemed to be "one of those women destined from birth to become a whore." THAT'S the sort of thing that finally interefered with my enjoyment of the books sufficiently that I stopped reading them. The McGee women are all passive victims of men and/or circumstance who never even try to stand up for themselves. Their lives revolve entirely around men, as either their victimizers or their saviors.

A shame, really, because aside from the women I recall enjoying the books quite a bit, and there was no one "ohmygod, that's just unforgiveable" moment that pushed me away from them - it was just the cumulative effect of all those weak, spineless women that did it.

pooka, you might want to ask whether they still carry the 5'6" "Budget Bucky" skeleton. That's what mine is. Cost was around $48USD, plus shipping (around $16USD, IIRC). The guy who answered the phone when I called in my CC number was definitely English, so I'd be surprised if they wouldn't ship to the U.K. if asked.

If they won't ship to you directly, drop me a PM and we'll see whether I can assist you. I suspect that shipping would be difficult because of the size of the box, but it's got to be possible.

ETA: Oh look, they do still have him, but they've raised the price considerably since I bought mine. Especially with the pitiful weakness of the dollar against the pound, he's still not bad:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...item=7559112337

pooka, don't you dare apologize for black humor directed toward me. Gawds, it's a relief to laugh about it. Alas, I look nothing like Jack even after several months of not eating. What I'm turning into is much, much scarier.... and you'll notice that I did not include a photo of myself, even in costume, in the display. Even the cape, mask, and hood can't completely disguise how odd-looking I've become. Far better that everyone focus on the loveliness that is Pooka in her Catwoman costume!

Anyway, I bought him from this eBay seller, a medical supply house. The quality of the skeleton (a nice heavy resin, with stainless steel pins for articulation) is many times better than anything I saw at a Halloween or party store, and he cost a lot less than those too.

There's a lot to enjoy about the Travis McGee novels, but my enjoyment of them was seriously curtailed by the dated gender roles presented therein. YMMV.

It looks like quite a display Selkie. I guess the party store finally discounted the witch enough. :)

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Yep, a couple of days before I managed to corral a store manager and got a great deal. Today I nabbed a 4' mummy on close-out to incorporate next year.

pooka, until I saw that pic of the jelly rabbit I wouldn't have believed there was such thing as a "menacing wobble." However, I have seen the light. That's one creepy looking lagomorph, all right.

I couldn't have ordered more appropriate weather for Halloween: crisp temperatures, absolutely still winds, and fog The sun didn't appear all day. What better conditions for a Dead Man's Party?

The whole merry crew was out in force. Jack (skeleton), Bob (vampire) and The Right Hand of Doom had a raucous card game going, complete with tiny skeleton hands and gooey eyeballs for appetizers, and a variety of unspeakable beverages servd from spider and bone goblets. Both Hand and Jack also took the opportunity to sneek in some smokes. No one's taking responsibility for the mummified terrier barking at the rat under the table.

Morrigan the witch, pleased with herself after raising the dead men from the adjacent graveyard using her spellbook, rat familiar, cauldron, and a variety of decapitated heads, cast an indulgent eye on the masculine goings on while practicing a spell involving a black rose coming out of her wand. Various small spiders, bats, frogs. and snakes were mysteriously drawn to her. How many wound up IN the cauldron is anyone's guess.

The graveyard itself was watched over by the dread specter of Ann Coulter, while a fat rat scrambled amongst the pumpkins trying to escape Maggie the vulture, who was seeking a meal for her hatchling Freddie.

As the living require more illumination than the dead, light was provided by a Bates Motel sign, and some ghoulish eyeball chandles placed inside a Seven Deadly Sins gargoyle candleholder. The flocks of human younglings (at least 150) brave enough to pass the Dead Men were rewarded with containers of Play-Doh, McDonald's Happy Meal toys, and the odd bit of candy.

Pictures at the links below, for as long as that low-traffic web site holds up:

http://www.spinningtheinfiniteswitch.com/i.../DMP_final1.JPG

http://www.spinningtheinfiniteswitch.com/i.../DMP_final2.JPG

http://www.spinningtheinfiniteswitch.com/i.../DMP_final3.JPG

http://www.spinningtheinfiniteswitch.com/i.../DMP_final4.JPG

http://www.spinningtheinfiniteswitch.com/i.../DMP_final5.JPG

http://www.spinningtheinfiniteswitch.com/i.../DMP_final6.JPG

Great Og, it's over.

I'm feeling that fearsome combination of extreme exhaustion and the crash from spending an entire day hyped on sugar. Had about 150 rugrats come trick or treating, plus innumerable drive-bys. The Dead Man's Party posed a serious traffic hazard as people slowed their cars to look at it; good thing I live on a quiet street. Had lots of fun, took lots of pictures, will post more tomorrow.

Will be terribly disappointed if others don't post pictures of their costumes, yard displays, and other Halloween-related activities ....

On a different tack, I saw the Clive Owen/Malcolm McDowell film "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead" last night. Owen plays a former gangster in self-imposed exile who returns to London when his younger brother kills himself. It was...OK. But just OK. The acting and cinematography were very nice, but the pace was.....so......unbelivably.......plodding. The actual amount of story could be summed up into one sentence. I felt really drugged and sleepy when it finally ended, and had to watch "Layer Cake" again to wake myself up.

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Word. I thought "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead" was a terrible waste of a lot of talented people. Could it have gone any slower? I only wish "Layer Cake" had been released when I watched it so I could have used it as a chaser.

Lou, glad to amuse. My friends and family have heard all my stories so often, they just roll their eyes and tune me out when I trot them out.

Tigger, you are officially the only person I've ever met who's crazier than I am. As a child, I used to regularly clean the tank, bare-handed, of a Heteropneustes fossilis catfish; reports of stings from those make for some gruesome reading and people regularly lose digits, if not limbs, to them. I used to feed small prey items to my 10" stonefish with my bare hands. And you know what? Even I am not crazy enough to go picking up a strange octopus, let alone a strange octopus in Australia. Do you wrangle venomous snakes in your spare time?

I'll never forget the time I had to fight with some emergency room doctors over what had happened to my mother after she'd been stung by a particularly aggressive carpet anemone. "She was bitten by a fish?" "No, she was stung by an anemone." "So, she was bitten by a fish, right?" Went on like this for ages. Tried desperately to explain what a nematocyst was, and why it was damn important they treat her for the venom, to which she was allergic, NOW. They were so thick I finally gave in with "Yes, she was bitten by a fish." :rolleyes: (To this day, I can't think of a single fish that would introduce venom into a person's body through biting. Stinging, certainly, but biting?!) You'd kinda sorta think that some time during, I dunno, MEDICAL SCHOOL these people might have enountered a sea anemone. I realize this incident occurred before the days of "Finding Nemo", but criminy, even then I think most kids had a passing familiarity with them.

Well now, the STONEFISH has an anti-venom, but if you get bit by the Blue-ringed Aussie, you have about 20 - 30 seconds to kiss goodbye your loved things.

You'll just LOVE how the blue ring was being housed at the wholesaler's. Most invertebrates are kept in specially built tanks. Hard to explain, but think of a large, shallow tank with no top that's subdivided into a grid of little compartments. The walls of each compartment have small slits or holes in them for water flow, but the occupants can't get to each other. The top is left open for oxygen exchange, and to enable customers to reach in and pick up whatever animal they desire to purchase. (Keep in mind, this is a wholesale facility and not a retail one, but there are still plenty of people wandering unsupervised around the warehouse).

The one BIG exception to this housing sustem is the octopus. Even the tiny ones are immensely strong and capable to slipping out of even the tiniest opening, so they're always left in nearly hermetically sealed tanks with bricks on the tops of the lids. Even then, one know to watch where one is stepping because there's always a chance of encountering one on the floor.

Imagine my surprise when I saw a blue ring being housed in a standard invertebrate enclosure, with no top on it at all. It was casually hauling itself over the top of a divider wall intent on nabbing a crab in an adjacent compartment. I was stunned to see such a total disregard for safety, and pointed out the blue ring to my father, whose hand was only a foot or so away from it. He didn't quite get my point, and asked if I wanted it - if so, he'd be happy to buy it for me as long as I thought I could prevent it from escaping. Even I, notorious amongst the local wholesalers for seeking out the stonefish that even the importers were terrified of, declined.

The other really great "what were they thinking" moment involved a sea snake. The wholesalers knew how toxic its venom was, but thought it wouldn't leave the water so left it in a tank with no lid. I had to explain to the owners that this was a banded sea snake, a species that climbs out onto land all the time, and that they'd really better get a lid on that enclosure ASAP. After they had to hunt it down in the corners of the warehouse SIX times, they finally listened to me and commented to my father that I really knew a lot about their stock. I would have thought that one would be a no-brainer for an importer, but apparently not. I was told it wound up being sold to a retailer as a display animal (which I think was the height of stupidity) but I never did find out who got it or how they housed it.

What kicked my bottom about that, was the FRESH water stingray, i had no idea there were such living in freash water. And what a beautiful pattern, lovely rosettes.

They're neat critters, and the South American ones (which is what I had) don't generally get all that big. Most species reach at most three feet in diameter, so they're much more manageable in a captive situation than the saltwater species. Mine was one of the less colorful species, but I loved her appearance.

Interestingly, they are also live-bearers. I would have loved babies from mine, but never did find a suitable male to expose her to. Besides, as cranky as she was, there's no telling what she would have done to him. Freshwater rays are very difficult to get established in captivity, although once they settle in and if they are kept clean they can do quite well. Mine was over a decade old when she died. My African lungfish, named "Fish", is even older, and still going strong. He was 7/8" long when I got him (at that size, probably newly hatched when captured) and is over 36" long now, about 20 years later. When he's hungry, he stands on the tip of his tail and repeatedly lifts the glass cover off the tank to let me know it's time to buy more goldfish.

While googling up the picture of the So. American ray I saw some pictures of immense Thai freshwater rays, which looked amazing. I had no idea they existed. Worth a look if you have the time.

Selkie, you ever come here, i can show you where 6 or 7 tame LARGE stingray hang out. The biggest ( which i guess is about 2 mtrs across the wingtips, maybe 1.8 mtrs, it is a substancial animal, probably weighs 60 kgs, very thick through, i suspect it is a female ) has figured out it can beg for scraps from me, I think it smells the bits I drop, then turns up, and it clearly can see out of the water, because if you rush forward it swims away, but if you are slow, it will eat from your hand. Wish i had a camera.

That book I was going to send you? How about I stuff myself in the envelope with it?!

Do you ever get to see cuttlefish? That's the one thing I always wanted to keep but never had access to. Well, those and nautiloids, which I could have bought but knew I didn't have the right equipment to maintain.

Re: The ability of filoviruses like Ebola and Marburg to kill you in messy ways (something I know more about than I'd like to, from researching filoviruses for my sculpture work.)

Fatality rates with Ebola depend on the strain. With Zaire, the most lethal strain, fatality rates run between 80-90%. Ebola Sudan, about 50%. Ebola Reston and Ivory Coast aren't know to kill humans - yet. Marburg was usually onsidered less lethal than Zaire and Sudan, although the recent outbreak in Angola was extremely lethal.

(Yeah, I know Wikipedia isn't exactly a definitive source, but what it says jibes with other sources I read while virus-hunting)

Akhira, I have kept many odd things as pets, but the ray was one of my favorites. I had the good fortune to grow up as the third generation of a pet store family, and had access to importers of all manner of strange and wonderful creatures. The ray was about the size of a half dollar when I bought her, and she was over 22" wide when she died many years later. Looked a lot like this one, although she was only that strongly patterned when she was very angry. Not the friendliest of creatures, even to me, but one of the most beautiful and interesting. I miss her fiercely.

The other night I mentioned to a friend that I had had to break off what I was doing to hunt for my father's missing moccasins. My friend said he had to ask whether I was referring to footwear or serpents. In this household, that's a very valid question! Alas, I know my limits, and venomous snakes are about the only things that haven't ever lived with me. Large stonefish are about my limit for "hot" animals, though there was that one memorable occasion involving an escaped blue ringed octopus that I wish I'd taken advantage of....

(waits for Avaunt to jump in and wonder at American stupidity for voluntarily living with a stonefish, especially in an area where no antivenin was available....)

pooka, I the Catwoman costume. Woo hoo!

Avaunt, it is clear that the disappearance of the silt was the work of an Old One. I am happy that you were not eaten. I'm also absurdly jealous of your encounter with the ray. I adore rays, and used to keep a female freshwater ray as a pet. Sounds like you pissed her off but good!

Yesterday was terrific. I did a pre-staging of the Dead Man's Party, which looks great even though it is much more time-consuming to set up than I anticipated. At night I drove into the Loop to see Wicked, which I - and the rest of my crew - adored. Really a lot of fun, and I recommend it to all, especially those with women in the party. The play is smart, funny, and has a lot of heart.

Today, by contrast, has been downright depressing. The weather was cold, damp, and miserable, and completely unsuited to the partying of Dead Men even if I had felt well enough to set them up. Fortunately for me, the city decided to celebrate Halloween on the actual day, so I have one more shot at getting the whole merry crew on display and some photos taken.

My family has hidden all the many pairs of scissors. Again. I don't understand why they get on these kicks (which they deny doing, but it's either them or the small day gecko and I believe the gecko's assertions that he's innocent). What evil acts do they think will be committed with cheap pairs of blunt scissors, especially in a household full of butcher knives and guns?!

I highly recommend trying to use the 'net to find someone! I'm not so sure about dating web sites, though. I was in a four year relationship with - and am still friends with - a guy I met on the Authority boards. Back when I met him, the comic was on indefinite hiatus and the tone of the board was not unlike this place (though it never was AS good as here, I must say). X-Force 116 had just come out, he couldn't find it as his LCS, and the last time I'd been in my shop they had stacks of it. Knew he was a board regular and wanted to help him out even though we didn't know each other as well as some of the other regulars did. Was lucky that my LCS had sold out because I was able to regale him with tales of haunting every scary, evil, and dingy shop my area has to offer. We got to chatting, I checked out his personal web site that was linked to in his sig file, and after a few months of regular e-mails we met up in realspace.

Behind every good (dead) man, there's a good woman. Please welcome Morrigan, the newest addition to the Dead Man's Party.

Hmmm....

Do I talk about the job where my boss was murdered?

Or the one where I was told to lie to the client and falsify documents?

Or the one where an entire department committed sabotage, admitted it, and weren't so much as reprimanded?

Or just the one where every member of the company was bugfuck insane?

:ph34r:

Josh, The Question wasn't the only one ready to spew beverages onto a keyboard after reading your post. Since I was going for "scary" rather than "dementedly evil" for the vulture, I've christened the dead, rotting grim reaper as Ann.

The vulture is officially "Maggie", which is the closest to "Thatcher" I could get the family to agree to. I personally liked Morrigan, but that'll have to wait to be applied to something else down the road.

kinki, you're not as alone as you think you are. I was 29 when I had my GN revelation, and I've met quite a few readers (especially female readers) who were as old or older when they first discovered the medium.

One of us! One of us! One of us!

Lou. those are some purty purty toys. I just love that Darkman, and might need to break down and get one. There's a Tower records not far from me - are their on-line prices at all comparable to their in-store prices? Yeah, I know you got it at 25% off, but I don't think the original price was all that bad, especialy compared to the outrageous prices of the BtVS figures that have been moving in at a startling rate.

He he he he....

Me? I'm praying to the Kiln Goddess for warm, dry weather on October 30. I'm going to have to stand outside, in costume, guarding the Dead Men during their party, and I'm not planning to join that party due to a weather-related early demise!

I got a little, um, overboard this year, even compared to my excesses of previous years. Just wait until you see the hors d'oeuvres. The event is going to be so elaborate I'm planning a dress rehearsal on Friday to finalize the placement of all the participants and props, including the new 18" vulture who will be tending the little hatchling I bought a few months ago. I've been so busy planning their festivities I haven't even fixed my Cthulhu mask yet!

Hey, it's either that or dwell on the side effects of the proposed new medication, and I'd much rather think about a party! And continue stalking my local Party City in the hopes they mark down the price of their fabulous life sized witch who would go very nicely with Bob or Jack.

Anyone have a good name for a scary-looking mama vulture, BTW? I wanted to name her Martha, but I'm told it doesn't strike the right note of terror. Personally, I can't think of anything scarier than Martha Stewart, but I've been out-voted.

Mezco's 18" comic book Hellblazer,

Excuse me? The WHAT?!

Lou, you do this just to torture me and drain my wallet, don't you? 8-)

FYI, Time & Space Toys is holding a nice little sale for the next week.