Fun With Monsters

From the project files.

This has been stashed on my to-do list for a while now. I thought these monster masks would be fun to print out, mount on mat board and frame. Lighthearted and fun with a touch of retro thrown in. Hey, not everything has to be dark and scary.

Get your own at Disney's Family Fun.

Haunt on!

Romancing The Vampire

Father's Day is on the horizon and the hubby is taken care of. His poor PC is painfully slow and has developed an attitude so I decided it was time to get him all techno-geeked out with a new laptop. All done and crossed off the to-do list. Yeah!

Oh, but wait... Now I have to figure out what to get my dad. This is a bit more challenging and even though he loves gift cards I always feel like a loser when I give him one as they don't take much thought. So, as I'm pondering this dilemma the dear hubby calls. He's needing assistance on what to get his mom for her birthday which happens this year to fall on - yep - you guessed it...Father's Day! Yeah.

The MIL is impossibly hard to buy for and never remotely excited about any gift she receives. I inform said spouse that I have enough problems to solve and am on the hunt for a gift for my dad. Big mistake! He feels it would be so very easy for me to kill two birds with one stone and shop for her at the same time. Yeah me.

So here, in the middle of my work day, I'm standing in the book store considering the ideal dad gift. (The MIL doesn't read so I was going to have to throw more than one stone.) I wander the aisles and something catches my eye. Romancing The Vampire From Past To Present.

Here's the overview:

"Long before Edward Cullen and the Twilight phenomenon, there was Angel, Barnabas Collins and Bela Lugosi, and many others in between. They are vampires the undead. Add an infusion of Bella, Buffy and Carla Laemmle, then sprinkle in unforgettable characters such as Renfield and little Eddie Munster, and you have a capsule of how cinematic vampires are viewed by today s world. But there were vampires walking this earth long before the invention of movies and television. In this book, author David J. Skal weaves a narrative history of vampirism, from the ancient Aztecs through the writings of Bram Stoker, Anne Rice and Stephenie Meyer. But what makes this book even more unique are the replicas tucked inside sleeves and pockets. There are removable photos of Bram Stoker, Carmilla and Lord Byron. For movie buffs, it has posters from Nosferatu, Dracula Has Risen From The Grave starring Christopher Lee, and Bram Stoker s Dracula along with a replica of Stoker s Dracula notes. Take a walk through the history of the undead, with romance, horror and blood along the way."

This puppy is huge, heavy and a vampire pictorial delight! Loaded with pockets and pull-outs, it resembles a scrapbook and covers everything from Bela to Buffy and Vlad to movie vampires. There's even a paper, vintage style vampire mask complete with elastic headband at the back of the book. And it's as if the Great Pumpkin himself knew how challenging my day had become he granted me a bonus. The book was a mere $4.99!

Needless to say, I scooped up a copy (a well deserved gift for yours truly) and I intend to spend tonight discovering all the little treasures it holds inside.

Oh, and don't worry. I found the perfect book for my dad.

As for the MIL? She's getting garden frogs for her birthday and hubby is pleased. To-do list...Done!

Haunt on!

The Vampire's Assistant

It's my youngest son's 10th birthday today so after cake and presents we hit the theater to see G.I. Joe. After ten minutes of commercials (ugggg) we got to the previews and I finally caught the trailer for Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant on the big screen. In case you haven't caught it online or otherwise consider this my gift to you. Mwahahahahaha

The Boys Have Lost It

Ok, so I have the worst head cold in the history of man. Yesterday I got out of bed only to land in the leather recliner, that I affectionately refer to as my bark-o-lounger, in the family room for the better part of the day and night. I dozed on and off but had the misfortune of being awake when Lost Boys: The Tribe came on the tube. Oh lucky me!

The Tribe was released in July 2008 - 20 years after the original LB - and went straight to dvd if that gives you any clue as to how bad this flick is.

Where to begin?? Ok, the first scene opens with our modern tribe of young vampires jumping a fence to surf off a private beach. The head of this vamp tribe, Shane, is played by Angus Sutherland the younger half-brother of Kiefer Sutherland - original LB head vampire David. When confronted by the owner (played by none other than Tom Savini) who is also a vampire, they slaughter him and take over his beach house.

Enter Chris and Nicole, a brother and sister who lost their parents to a car wreck. They move into a beach rental owned by their Aunt Jillian. (Somewhere I remember reading that the siblings were the offspring of Michael and Star from the first LB but I didn't pick that up from the movie. Did I miss it?)

Chris, also a surfer, meets up with Shane who invites him to a party at the beach house. At the party Nicole is seduced by Shane and drinks his blood from his handy-dandy flask thus making her a half vampire.

Now this is where the fun begins. Enter Corey Feldman in the role of Edgar Frog now a surf board shaper and master of the bad wise crack. He tells Chris that in order to save his sister he must slay the head vampire. They hatch a plan for Chris to join up with the tribe and then betray them at the last moment. (Are you on the edge of your seat yet?)

No need to go any further as the plot (ha) can pretty much be predicted from here on out (blood, chaos and vampires dying). But let me get back to the cast...

Gabrielle Rose (Aunt Jillian) serves no real purpose to the movie and probably should have been left on the cutting room floor. Her attempts at humor are boorish at best and we can thank the Gods of cinema that she appears only a few times.

Angus Sutherland (Shane) has a sexy, rock and roll thing going on in this movie which is sure to make the hearts of teenage girls go pity pat. I'm sure many a tween would be lining up for a life of immortality if they got to spend it with him.

Chris (Tad Hilgenbrink) and Nicole (Autumn Reeser) did their parts and looked good doing it but I'm sorry to say their was nothing stand out about either of them.

Corey Feldman (Edgar Frog). What to say about one of the "Corey's"? He delivers his lines in this tough, hardened voice that sounds utterly stupid. His one-liners (even more stupid) include "Your sister's a suck monkey" and "Build a man a fire, he's warm for a day. Light a man on fire, and he's warm for the rest of his life." WTF?

Oh, and one other little tidbit...right after the credits start to roll Edgar (Feldman) confronts Sam (Corey Haim) who has crossed over to the vampire dark side. Please, oh please tell me this isn't setting the scene for a sequel?!

Why did I sit through the entire thing? Perhaps because I lacked the strength to click the remote. I confess I felt pretty crappy so maybe the movie isn't quite this bad? No - really it is.