Pictures are from more of the weirder wanderings in London.

Today’s talk is on Cuba…something or rather place that’s been in the news again recently and so kind picked up on it.

Kinda scattered this week I guess….but first I” pull my thoughts together for a little lusting over my favorite Scott.

MISS PIGGY CERAMIC BANK   $8.75

North Americans don’t understand… that our country is not just Cuba; our country is also humanity. Fidel Castro

Ways to keep your mind occupied during Droughtlander:

Read The Making of Outlander:  http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2016/10/inside-outlanders-hunt-for-claire-fraser

Sign up for the OUTLANDER GIFT EXCHANGE:  http://www.threeifbyspace.net/2016/09/outlander-3rd-annual-holiday-gift-exchange-now-open/

check out the more mature…love those blue eyes–Fergus:  http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2016/10/outlander-season-3-fergus

UNOPEN THANKSGIVING GAME JUST IN TIME FOR THE HOLIDAY  $12.00

I don’t want anything from Cuba. I want them to be free and enjoy the things I enjoy. Gloria Estefan

Cuba has long been a tiny source of huge irritation to the US of A.

“The city of Havana was founded by the Spanish in the 16th century and due to its strategic location it served as a springboard for the Spanish conquest of the continent becoming a stopping point for the treasure-laden Spanish galleons on the crossing between the New World and the Old World. ”  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Havana  It was the center of culture as well hundreds of years before Flagler created Palm Beach and help with the development of Miami in the early 20th century.  In fact one of the reasons Flagler build the rail road that went to sea across the outstretched tiny little islands that make up the Florida Keys was to get to Key West as a jumping off point to go to Cuba only 90 miles—not because he wanted to have a drink at Sloopy Joe’s.

But we went from Spanish to British (who traded Cuba back to the Spanish for Florida) and then Spanish again here in Florida and from colonial to democracy.  Things got pretty busy over here and things went along Ok and the US paid little relative attention to the Island less than 100 miles from it’s Island shores.

I think a policy of isolationism toward Cuba is misplaced and hasn’t worked. Rand Paul

Our first major issue was while the island was still under Spanish rule and one of our warships, the USS Maine was supposedly torpedoed or otherwise intentionally blown up in the harbor at Havanan.  Survivors and the injured were taken to Key West where they were nursed by nuns  (they actually had a convent there at the time–don’t say it).  Key West’s fantastically strange cemetery–only in Key West–has a small section devoted to the military and included there are several of the unidentified sailors who perished in the infamy of explosion and fire.

And we all know that we went on there to the Spanish-American War…a gross misjudgement and poor military discipline according to current forensics and investigations the explosion was the result of slip shod maintenance on the ship and a captain that wasn’t paying attention.  No torpedo, but an internal  explosion that blew outwards not inward.

What ever the cause the result was that a huge power of America (along with Teddy Roosevelt and his Rough Riders who spent some time at the Plant Hotel in Tampa–now the Unviersity of Tampa.)  went up against the mighty power of Spain all on a tiny island in the midst of the Caribbean.  Guess who won.  So after all was over and Spain slunk away (hint its easier to supply your army from 90 miles away than it is from Europe) things quieted down again and it at least for us.

She is Cuba. If you want to love her, you have to be with her, but you can’t be with her in her current state. It’s the point of view of all exiles – you have to leave the thing you cherish most. Andy Garcia

Cuba went from the Spanish rule to a series of dictators, rebellions and freedom fighters many of whom ended up in Key West, which was prime escape point for disinters.  While in the US we made note of but didn’t do a lot about this ongoing situation.

Cuba wasn’t forgotten though as it grew into a wild and crazy vacation spot that was known for its’ live sex shows and all manner of “What happens in Vegas Stays in Vegas” except substituting…well you know.

The last of the long line of dictators (discounting the Communist ones) was Batista who encourage Mafia involvement and investments.  But while we vacationed there we failed to note (we’re good at that) the unhappiness of the people.

Cuba is such a beautiful country, and everywhere you go, there’s music and people dancing – especially in Havana. Julia Sawalha

Then came the Communist promising, like all politicians, everything.  Butista fled (some say with a little help from Errol Flynn) taking the Cuban Art Collection with him (and which you can see at the Science and Art Museum in Daytona Beach to this day).  Fidel and his gang took over, but unlike his pre-runners he changed the social order and made alliances with some bigger kids on the Communist block–mainly Russia.  And now there was too many refugees for Key West and Miami became the center of the influx and went from tacky tourist to a city that is referred to by some as Little Cuba.

But Cuba and Castro was never the real problem, at least for our politicians…it was Castro getting involved with the big boys in this tiny part of the big confederation that included not only Russia but China, and who included some of the most powerful dictators the world had ever know standing against the free (some parts freer than others) world.

So here we have a group of everybody owns everything share the wealth group against democracies also know as the “free world” where you had to pay for everything.  And as things got tenser and tenser we now had a new member of the bad guys glaring at us across 90 miles of salt water.

It turns out Cuba has this incredible healthcare system for a very poor country. Michael Moore

Then came the Russians first as a military presence to help protect them from all those strange people in Key West and then the missiles started to arrive…we had the standoff with the blockade and later the terribly botched Bay of Pigs mess.

Since then even though the missiles and Russians are long gone our relationship with the still Communist island has been strained even with the dying out of the Cold War.

The onslaught of refugees in makeshift rafts to our shore reached it’s peek with event causing up swings of arrivals from Miami down to Key west with most recently appears to have died out.

Both of my parents were born into poor families on the island of Cuba. They came to America because it was the only place where people like them could have a chance. Marco Rubio

More recently we have been working on a return to a better relationship with the Island.  President Obama has worked to increase contact between the two countries and while tourism is still out:  “The 12 categories of authorized travel to Cuba are: family visits; official business of the U.S. government, foreign governments, and certain intergovernmental organizations; journalistic activity; professional research and professional meetings; educational activities; religious activities; public performances, clinics, workshops, athletic and other competitions, and exhibitions; support for the Cuban people; humanitarian projects; activities of private foundations or research or educational institutes; exportation, importation, or transmission of information or informational materials; and certain authorized export transactions.”

Resuming relationships with the small island is a hot topic with certain politicians mostly Republican which is amazing to me when you consider that everybody was so bragging about Reagan’s developing relationship with China, that has done wonders in taking our jobs and if you want to talk about human right violations that country makes Russia look good—Cuba’s not even a freckle compared to them.

So if you have a purpose you may return to Cuba which is nice for so many families in this country…but the tourists among us will have to wait a while longer to view the sunny shores of our nearest not always friendly neighbor

‘]

“Cuba ought to be free and independent, and the government should be turned over to the Cuban people.” — William McKinley

Ladies Petite Pin Stripped Black Slacks (262679359378)  $16.80

“I think we’ve seen once again that Cubans are seeking to flee Cuba due to the lack of political and economic freedom that has spurred so many of them to undertake illegal voyages to the United States.” — Philip Reeker

Barringtonn Small PJ’s Long Sleeve and Long Leg (262679355784) $7.90

Had a nice weekend.  Sat. Nails and Pedi then lunch at an Irish Pub and then a bit of the ole shopping.  Sun back to the museum where I volunteer.

Pictures today are still the out of the way parts of London, and quotes are noted.

but first my favorite Halloween or any other day show:

Green ceramic bowl on pedestal with leaf scallops  $6.99

“The only fully developed cult of the cat existed in Egypt and lasted over two thousand years.”  Patricia Dale-Green

SHAKE THE DROUGHTLANDER BLUES BY

Celebrating the Nominations:  Outlander nominated for three BAFTA Scotland awards at Glasgow ceremony http://www.glasgowlive.co.uk/news/glasgow-news/outlander-nominated-three-bafta-scotland-11986409

KEEPING UP ON ALL THE NEW characters and their alter-egos:  http://tvseriesfinale.com/tv-show/outlander-season-three-casts-cesar-domboy-lauren-lyle/

Get your style on: http://www.hottopic.com/product/outlander-claire-riding-coat/10715503.html?CM_MMC=CSE-_-GGL-_-PopCulture-_-1_9999W1_CSE_GGL_PopCulture_10715396&003=29905769&010=10715503&mr:referralID=54b3f4db-94be-11e6-b7ae-005056946dac&gclid=CjwKEAjw7ZHABRCTr_DV4_ejvgQSJACr-YcwAIYXAlr2SkVtJvvQHu6_-Fc499kcO6G8chrexExNVBoCY8Pw_wcB

“The Elizabethan statue made the conjuration of evil spirits and killing by WitchCraft a capital offense.  Hugh McLachlan & J.K. Swales.

Kahula Decorative Bottle Jade Green Ceramic Aztec God (262679385560) $7.99

IN our modern day and age Samhain (Halloween) is all over the board, some see it as Satanist, while others as just a fun time to dress in everything from a rag doll to a zombie.  It is associated with Ireland and England–a local pub has a celebration with Irish music and Scottish bag pipes to celebrate the day.

All Saint’s Day and all Hallow’s Eve (Halloween) were introduced (or maybe we should say re-) in the 7th century on Nov. 1st (with Halloween, the eve on the 31st) to honor saints of the Church of Rome.  It was to be a time of somber prayer and quiet contemplation.  Beliefs moved on, changed, reformed with persons like Calvin and Luther and many,  many more protesting and demanding and eventually getting changed and so we moved on and forgot again.

In the new world we had a surplus of people who were not (obviously) happy with the status quo in the old one.  Things were shaped and re-shaped depending on the colony one was in and the background of the people within it.

“Druids would not know this night and witches would in wonder gaze to see the festive costumed souls that dash about the night in play.”  David G Narrah

There was Mischief Night with bon fires and local fall festivals.  Out houses were turned over and other rather childish and usually harmless practices evolved.

By Victorian times Halloween had caught on with most of the American upper class.  Carving pumpkins and the Orange and black fall décor came into being like a lot of our customs for other celebrations during this period of time.

Of course nothing in America can go very long without being picked up by merchants and developers.  Soon their products and ads introduced the fervor to those of us not of the upper classes.

“Witches hats and harvest moon.  Ghosts that dance to haunted tune.  Apples, goodies, food galore.  Halloween has this and more.

Old Post Card

Unfortunately as in any major movement not everything was good–some mischief nights resulted in real damage, harm and even death.

In the 90’s Halloween came under fire from some Protestant Sects who took up where previously pope’s had made the effort.  It was discouraged, forbidden even called Satanic.

More recently the Holiday has been embraced by some as innocent fun while some organizations have decided to forgo any mention of it in an effort not turn away customers, or upset employees who has strong beliefs against it’s pagan past.

“The ghost she conjured howled then,

To match the winds that moaned outside.

Her witches crossed the moon on brooms,

Above the clouds they’d ride.”

Today some of our local churches have huge sales of pumpkins in October for carving or pies there’s no restrictions on the use.

Most US cities have Trick-or-Treat (where kids go house to house asking for candy from the inhabitants) though in some areas this has been restricted or discouraged either for the safety of the children going out in the dark, or the fear of the residents to open their doors to stranger knocking.

Many cities have developed alternatives:  like stores at the local malls passing out to costumed children on specific nights.  There are also community events at local parks or halls and church events.  One of our local small town museums has tours about the down town where you visit different story tellers who tell tales of Halloween and even zombies wandering about drooling and doing what ever it is Zombies do when they’re not eating brains or loosing body parts.

“Come with me All Hallow’s night

We’ll frighten everyone in sight

Such pranks for once are justified

And fun and frolic amplified.

Anonymous

Of course there are still costumes, parties and all manner of events–from Zombie walks to locally sponsored haunted houses and scary mazes set on road sides, church properties and the like.

On a more commercial set-ups are events like Universal Amusement park that goes for the horror aspect of the Holliday here in Central Florida.  Halloween Horror Nights while Disney goes for more cute and cuddly aspect as one might expect (though when you think of the Holliday it was never originally considered a cute and cuddly period of time).

One Halloween or in the vicinity of that day, is FANASY FEST in Key West in which you have a week of escalating activities, costume contests, some of which have prizes that are in the thousands and we’re talking dollars not pumpkins.  The whole thing hits a peak on Saturday night with a parade where the local stores and organization go out to create floats that are amazing.  Oh and did I mention all the lovely ladies running about town in nothing but bikini bottoms and painted boobs—and they’re everywhere and range from perky to droopy and all manner of in between.  Finally the action winds down on Sunday with kids events and a pet custom party.  This year’s theme is Political Voodoo and Ballot Box Barbarians.

Check it out–but if you’re going leave all your inhibition at home in Kansas.   http://www.fantasyfest.com/

On Halloween the thing you must do

Is pretend that nothing

can frighten you.

Post Card

Costumes and masks (which have continued from sources such as the Celts and the Day of the Dead in Mexico) are now big business.  Stores carry everything from ghosts to angels and all manner of thing in between for all ages from babes to grandmothers.

Candy comes in mini-sizes to put in grasping children’s bags and don’t forget the special themed items like peanut butter filled chocolate skulls–even Dunkin Donuts have themed items to meet the demand.

And heavens don’t forget the décor items from front yard graves to front porch scary and entire house with pictures that change from historical to hysterical to creature that scream and move about.  It’s 20th century commercialize, but it is a holiday that has survived over a thousand years  or more….so maybe there is something to the thin space between earth and the underworld (not our hell, but not some place the average person would normally visit–except maybe on Halloween).

BEAN EARTHEN WARE POT  $6.99

“Just a little Witch on high

She’ll tell you that

Your love is nigh

Your fortune on Holloween when told

My secret when the witch unfold.

Post Card

(tower of London)

I miss you most each Samhain

When the boundary turns to Sheer

I wait until the vale is parted

At the ending of the year.

Musical Wind-up Clown with Porcelain Head, Feet & Hands (262679386734)  $15.99

Hello–hope you’re enjoying the Halloween time of year–today we’re looking at spells and the like–something that has been a part of our lives and folk lore for a long time.

All quotes are from THE ENCHANTED WORLD:  SPELLS AND BINDINGS.

AND pictures are from a Derelict London Tour—at least mine.

But first we start at the spell binding Outlander with a few Droughtlander home aids.

“Finding women flawed, the Greek Sculptor Pygmalion carved an ivory maiden, fair but cold and still.  He wished her living.”

Spells have been a part of many of our lives as children as fairy tales, growing up with the stories, the movies, the TV shows and books galore.

Ok last week we had psychiatrists and hurricane…I mean that’s about as scary as you gets–so today we’ll do Creatures of The Night….less scary than last week.

As you can see I’m back and Florida dodged Matthew which could have been a major bullet, but turned out to be for a lot of the State (though not all) to be bad but not total wreckage….in fact for a lot of Central Florida it’s a return to BAU today.   We loss some lives and that is horrible– all the buildings in the state not being worth a life…and there is still dangers–one of my neighbors was cleaning up her yard when a huge limb that had been broken during the storm, dislodged and just missed hitting her on the head.    Where I lived (inland on higher ground that drains well) we only were without electric (though I have at least one friend that had been out a couple of days at last count) only about 5 hrs on Friday.  In fact I was to a Birthday party for this foxy lady on Sat afternoon.

Isn’t she a beauty?!

But now it’s time for the creature I’d most like to creep into my bedroom and …..opps not that kinda blog

Rachel Ray 30-Minute Meals $4.00

http://www.ebay.com/itm/262668287987?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2648

Stephen and time are now both even

Stephen beats time

and now time’s beaten Stephen

Music Teacher

St. Ives

Cornwall, UK

Droughtlander crutches:

Check out Sam’s new movie (that’s a scene from it above and another below) When the Starlight Ends     http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/arabella-oz-her-first-feature-936609

Start counting the days:  https://www.romper.com/p/when-is-outlander-season-3-april-cant-come-soon-enough-18346

If you haven’t had time to read  Entertainment Tonight–get the condensed version here:    http://culturess.com/2016/09/30/outlander-season-3-sneak-peeks-speculation/

B,H. Morris

Died April 1900

Kind friends I leave behind

Cast your votes for Wm. Byron

Bethel Cemeteries

Savannah, Ga.

SPIDER DEMONS

These are Japanese–an ancient evil that was told of in a story of a nobleman–Raiko, who while ridding Kyoto of demons is struck down by a wasting sickness and awakens bound by silken webs and assailed by a huge, glittery eyed spider.  The Japanese warrior manages to defend himself and his warriors hunt down and kill the beastie.  And of course the Commander and his sword Kumokirt (spider cutter) survived to fight on.

But let’s face it Spiders are scary without being demons.

In 1955 the Americans decided they’d give Japan’s King Kong a run for it’s box office money with Tarantula, a giant with twice the limbs    https://archive.org/details/PhantasmagoriaTheater-Tarantula1955871

       

 

 

X

• News
• Safety tips

Hurricane Matthew strengthens to Category 4 storm

NBC News · 1 hour ago

Up to 1.5 million people are evacuating Florida, Georgia and South Carolina as Hurricane Matthew approaches the …

‘This storm will kill you,’ FL gov. warns ahead of Hurricane Matthew

CNN · 15 minutes ago

(CNN)Hurricane Matthew is pummeling the Bahamas right now, and its dangerous winds have picked up speed as …

Hurricane Matthew Upgraded to Category 4, as Millions Warned That ‘This Storm Will Kill You’

ABC News · 30 minutes ago

With Hurricane Matthew upgraded to a Category 4 as it tracks closer to the U.S. coast today, Florida Gov. Rick Scott …

See more news about matthew

1. Close all shutters, curtains, blinds, as well as external and interior doors.
2. Turn off propane tanks and, if instructed, utilities.
3. Do not use your phone except during a true emergency.
4. Retreat to a small interior room, closet or hallway on the lowest level.
5. Lie on the floor under a table or similarly sturdy object. .

See more on: Ready.gov

 

• Hurricane Matthew: Evacuations underway as storm nears …

  www.cnn.com/2016/10/05/us/hurricane-matthew-florida-carolinas/…

  Oct 05, 2016 · Hurricane Matthew likely won’t strike the United States for another day, but authorities are urging residents to get ready.

• Gospel of Matthew – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gospel_of_Matthew

  The Gospel of Matthew is anonymous: the author is not named within the text, and the superscription “according to Matthew” was added some time in the 2nd century.

• Nearly 2 Million Under Evacuation in US Ahead of Hurricane …

  abcnews.go.com/International/hurricane-matthew-continues…

  Oct 06, 2016 · Hurricane Matthew, the strongest Caribbean storm in almost a decade, tore across the Bahamas on Thursday, with the coastal U.S. lying in its path as …

• Dangerous Hurricane Matthew barrels toward Bahamas as …

  MSN1 day ago

  Hurricane Matthew, blamed for 11 deaths so far, weakened to a Category 3 after making landfall in Cuba, its maximum sustained winds dropping to 115 mph on Wednesday …

• Matthew 1 NIV – The Genealogy of Jesus the Messiah – Bible …

  https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+1&version=NIV

  The Genealogy of Jesus the Messiah – This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham: Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the …

• Hurricane Matthew leaves 11 dead in destructive march …

  www.usatoday.com/story/weather/2016/10/05/hurricane-matthew-leaves…

  Oct 05, 2016 · Hurricane Matthew leaves 11 dead in destructive march toward U.S. Tropical storm conditions expected to reach parts of the Florida coast by early Thursday.

• Hurricane Matthew picks up speed as millions in US are …

  www.foxnews.com/us/2016/10/06/…strengthening-hurricane-matthew.html

  Oct 06, 2016 · Matthew strengthened back into a Category 4 hurricane Thursday, the National Hurricane Center announced, as emergency officials urged some 2 million …

• Matthew – Name Meaning, What does Matthew mean?

  www.thinkbabynames.com/meaning/1/Matthew

  Thinking of names? Complete 2016 information on the meaning of Matthew, its origin, history, pronunciation, popularity, variants and more as a baby boy name.

• Matthew 1 – NIV – Bible Study Tools

  www.biblestudytools.com › … › New International Version › Matthew

  Matthew 1 – NIV: This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham: Abraham was the …

• Matthew the Apostle – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_the_Apostle

  The Gospel of Matthew is anonymous: the author is not named within the text, and the superscription “according to Matthew” was added some time in the second century.

•  

Hello and yes I’m back again.  all my pictures are from Little Venice in London and all the quotes are from Freud.

Today I’m looking at some odd psychiatric —against not about that I’ve seen lately.

Oh and keep your fingers crossed as the worst Hurricane  to come up against Florida in many years…so please send us positive energy or say a prayer or what ever your beliefs will allow and maybe we can push Matthew further into the Atlantic.

Being entirely honest with oneself is a good exercise.    Sigmund Freud

and after you’re thru re-watching at least one show a  day–check out the new additions (more) to the cast:  https://www.cinemablend.com/television/1563002/outlander-just-cast-marsali-check-her-out

Start counting the day–check this out:  http://www.hngn.com/articles/209181/20160930/outlander-season-3-airs-april-2017-showrunner-changes-scenes.htm

And understand the process http://www.cinemablend.com/television/1556242/why-outlander-is-so-difficult-to-shoot-according-to-ronald-d-moore

Children are completely egoistic; they feel their needs intensely and strive ruthlessly to satisfy them. Sigmund Freud

VINTAGE Hair combs with Gold-toned Trim

I most recently have been seeing anti-psychiatrists on TV, so I decided to look into who was doing it.  I mean psychiatrists aren’t always the most down-to-earth profession in the world, but running ads against them.

What are their motivation or is it just some ad for some strange new show?  I only saw the ads for a couple of days and most recently none.  They dealt with the fact that psychiatrist killed people and that shock therapy electrocuted millions….and I only caught a glimpse of them…has anybody but me seen them?  Or is it just my weird imagination and they weren’t there at all?

I did some research but the article that dealt with Shock Therapy and how they were trying to bring it back and the significance of it etc was a 2001 article in THE ATLANTIC   http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2001/02/shock-and-disbelief/302114/

Civilization began the first time an angry person cast a word instead of a rock. Sigmund Freud

As a former nurse I have taken courses and did training in various psychiatric hospitals and while we were in the psychiatric part of our training we had weekly group therapy sessions to help us cope with any psych or other issues we were having.  It was with fellow class members which were conducted by two (varied from session to session) staff psychiatrists).

All in all what I saw there left me with intense reminders of the fragility of the human mind-I worked with patient with severe psychiatric disorders  with delusions and acting out…to simple depression which while stifling wasn’t nearly as scary.   After all that I feel that any body who isn’t impressed with the ways the human mind can disconnect, shatter or convolute hasn’t had to deal with any persons with serious mental condition on a regular basis.

Now I’m the first to agree that our true understanding of the human mind both physical as well as intellectual, and behavior not to mention spiritual is not always very adequate.  For while we can tell you the physical and chemical make up, we can not explain why we can talk and walk in an intellectual (well some of the time) manner.

Every normal person, in fact, is only normal on the average. His ego approximates to that of the psychotic in some part or other and to a greater or lesser extent. Sigmund Freud

As for the medication we have developed for psychiatric conditions are often unpleasant for many of its receivers and often they prefer to be “crazy” rather than take it.

Psychiatric therapies—the talking thru of situations, feeling and more is an excellent in some case and almost useless in others.  When we I was mourning for my lost husband it was wonderful to just have someone to talk to about it–someone who wasn’t involved or someone I didn’t want to bother….we worked through it and help relieve my depression and adjust my mourning to a more functional and progressive moving to normality.

The act of birth is the first experience of anxiety, and thus the source and prototype of the affect of anxiety. Sigmund Freud

I found this:  Posing as “authorities,” their pseudoscience now woven through our educational systems and medical institutions, psychiatrists wreak havoc across the entire social fabric, by prescribing a smorgasbord of mind-altering drugs to adults and children.”  And includes a video on psychotropic drugs. http://www.cchr.org/videos/cchr-ads.html

This is provided by The Citizens Commission on Human Rights International (CCHR) i which according to Wikipedia s a nonprofit organization established in 1969 by the Church of Scientology and psychiatrist Thomas Szasz, headquartered in Los Angeles, California. Its stated mission is to “eradicate abuses committed under the guise of mental health and enact patient and consumer protections.” Many critics regard it as a Scientology front group whose purpose is to push the religion’s anti-psychiatric agenda,

They have sued Ritalin’s manufacturer and many other psychiatric issues….(to read them all check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizens_Commission_on_Human_Rights)  But my favorite is the 9/11  conspiracy theory.  In the immediate aftermath of the September 11 attacks, CCHR promulgated a conspiracy theory assigning responsibility for the attacks to Ayman al-Zawahiri, alleging that, as Osama bin Laden‘s personal psychiatrist, he was the principal mastermind behind the attacks and had brainwashed bin Laden using pain, drugs and hypnosis.

I don’t know if they paid for the ads but I do know that they certainly have the funds and inclination.  What do you think?

The great question that has never been answered, and which I have not yet been able to answer, despite my thirty years of research into the feminine soul, is ‘What does a woman want?’ Sigmund Freud

ORVIS LARGE SHORT SLEEVED BEIGE POLYESTER BLOUSE   $10.00

We have long observed that every neurosis has the result, and therefore probably the purpose, of forcing the patient out of real life, of alienating him from actuality. Sigmund Freud

]

PURTIAN MEN’S MEDIUM UNOPENED BURGANDY PAJAMAS (262660018927 ) $20.00

)

Hey there now I’m really getting into the Halloween Swing   BOO TO YOU

All MY pictures today are from out and about in Sanford.

We’re looking into Zombies today.

But first someone who isn’t falling apart or trying eat your brains.

oh and all quotes are from grave stones including the title.

“Here lies the body of Jonathen Blake,, stepped on the gas instead of the brake.  Uniontown, PA.

PLATE HOLDERS 2–ONE PLASTIC ONE WOOD   $10.50

Making it thru Droughtlander by

wallowing in the obvious::  http://www.cbsnews.com/news/outlander-a-love-story-beyond-time/

Getting  your I really hate that girl attitude on:  http://outlander.wikia.com/wiki/Laoghaire_MacKenzie

Relishing the revenge:  http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/outlander-dukes-death-marys-revenge-903831

“The defense rests

Counselor John E. Goembel

Willwood Cemetery, Rockford, Ill.

MOTHER and Baby Small Limogue (France) Plate 3 1/2″ Square Wall Hanging    $16.00

https://www.etsy.com/your/shops/DragonLaire/tools/listings/view:table,stats:true

So Zombies–well let me be perfectly honest–I never got into the whole attraction.  I mean when Vampires were popular I got that–often charming, hypnotic, grief even Tom Cruise…and better yet Brad Pitt played one…but Zombies???

I mean all you can do is fight against them.  Even if they weren’t trying to eat your brain and contaminate you so you’ll take up the same eating habits (see vampires have these neat teeth and only make small punctures and don’t necessarily have to kill you if they’re only in for a pint or so–but try to function with a few bites out of your brain—well there are a few people I know but…and depending on the novel or movie they don’t immediately become vampires.). I mean would you want to have that decaying mess setting on your furniture or dropping bits and pieces (of themselves) about you dining area and kitchen.

And sex with Vampire has been the topic of books with no end…but sex with a zombie…I mean even the blind girl who befriend Frankenstein couldn’t deal with the smell…enough to gag anyone…can you visualize having sex with one…I mean talk about loosing parts….gross….and certainly not something I want to go into…since this is a very well behaved blog.

“I made an ash of myself.”

Julian Skaggs, SOMEWHERE IN WEST VIRGINIA

So basically all you do is fiht them–they replace Nazis (or in above case are), Indians, space aliens as the evil monster, so its the same old story, different chapter–sorry Misty but I just can’t get it…But I’ll still look it over in honor of the Hallowday

First there really are Zombies–well atleast kinda..but they’re rats…The parasite Toxoplasna gondii infects rates and they actually take them over and the good news is that these same parasites can infect humans to and when they do there have been evidence of personality changes and with a scary tendency toward insanity and while they’re not really zombies as they’re still alive it’s still a bit scary.

The first I ever heard of zombies was in movies about voodoo and the like from mostly Hatti, but they tended to wander to other plaes.  Creatues usually dead that were controlled by some type of priest or adherent of the darker religions of the tropical climes specifically voodoo.

‘

“Strange is my name,

and I’m on strange ground

And strange it is

I can’t be found

William Strange–also somewhere in W.Va.

Zombies in the earlier stories were bodies–usually whole–not the decaying creatures you see today..they moved about with blank, lifeless eyes and often moved with their arms extended and all movements were stiff and unnatural.

The first Zombie movie I found was King of the Zombies (1941) was was a comedy.—if you look at the zombies with outstretched arms and shuffling steps it does look pretty silly.

1943 brought us I Walked With a Zombie:  “Filled with eerie atmosphere and chilling sets, the film follows a young Canadian nurse named Betsy (Frances Dee) as she travels to a Caribbean Island to treat a plantation manager’s sick wife. The nurse finds the island to be inhabited by strange creatures and all kinds of eerie voodoo legends. As she develops feelings for her boss, Betsy makes it her goal to heal his wife Jessica even if it requires resorting to voodoo.”  http://www.listal.com/movie/walked-zombie

My particular favorite of this  period was the 1945 Zombies on Broaddway with stars which included Bela Lugosi.  Two bumbling press agents must search for a zombie to fulfill a commitment to their ex-gangster boss’s new nightclub or face the consequences.   http://www.listal.com/movie/zombies-on-broadway

“Here lies Bessy Bell

But whereabouts I cannot tell

Anonymous, somewhere in a Necropolis in Scotland”

There is a real virus that resembles some of the Zombie ideas

Mad Cow Disease causes cows to become “mindless attack cows”.  When human’s contract the disease (usually eating contaminated meat..not necessarily brains) it’s called Creutzfeldt-Jakob.

Symptoms include

Change in gait

Lack of coordination

Twitching

Jerks and seizures

Delirium and/or dementia

and these Zombies would be faster than the average mass media ones.

“He thought of course his holding must

Admit him to the heavenly trust–

But when handed in his proxy

He found they wanted Orthodoxy”

Anonymous

Modern day zombies are generally infected by a plague, contaminated by atomic accidents or chemical mishaps either accidental or intentional acts of war or just plain old basically evil baddies.

The modern condition is often similar to our aforemention parasites and viruses only the person is animated after death and it is often passed on by the bite of the creature (which seems to be borrowed from the old time vampire),  They are basically moronic eating and attacking beings who often eat brains….I am not sure if that is in an attempt to replace what they like or just a species preferred thing.  Otherwise they basically resemble their early cinema fore-bearers with their motions being jerky and their communications limited to grunts and drools and in some instance they may even have alien controllers

My originator of modern era and monster décor would be

Night of the Living Dead 1968 by George Romero and I remember the starkness of this new genre…it was never one of my favorites but it is unbelievably the birth of a lot in the horror industry

Dawn of the Living Dead introduced a series to Zombie land

and I actually saw Shaun of the Living Dead and actually watched about half before I was too bored to continue.

One mention of the worst (this is maybe the worst movie of anykind ever) movie with Zombies and Bela Lugosi again was directed by Ed Wood in 1959 was Plan 9 From Outer Space:  has a questionable premise at its very core: an extra-terrestrial assault that uses the Zombie as its primary weapon. But it doesn€™t improve from there; it only gets worse, much worse. It€™s all wrong, from the incoherent plot, to the bogus production design all the way down to the mirth-inducing performances, which are as wooden as the sets. There are schools of thought that state that Plan 9 from Outer Space is the greatest bad movie ever made, but always pay close attention to the emphasis on the word €˜bad€™.    http://whatculture.com

“I came I know not where

I go I know not whither.”

Charles A. Miller

Siloam Cemetery, Vineland, N.J. 1965

EAST LANSING (Michigan) Heritage Cookbook 1976 Paperback  $18.00

“Here lies the carcass of a cursed sinner

Destined to be roasted

For the Devil’s dinner”

Anonymous

HAND PAINTED 8″ Bavarian German China Probably 20’s

$10.00

All my pictures today–including this one– were taken out and about that Central Florida town:  Sanford.

WELCOME GO OCTOBER

With its promises of cooler days and winding down into a time between times, a place between places.  The Celtic Halloween–All Hallows to their Christian Ancestor  ..when their Otherworld–not Hell like the Christian concept, neither Heaven either…nothing was ever that simple with my ancestors-and that’s why I blame them for how I turned out today–but off topic.  Halloween is a period when the boundaries between the worlds—the one we stand in now and the one we have and will inhabit again (Celts believed in re-incarnation)—boundaries  are thin and all manner of things and spirits pass through.

Today we’ll look at my first Halloween experience and some of the fun to be found in just one Central Florida town.

But First Jamie & Company being scary

If human beings had genuine courage, they’d wear their costumes every day of the year, not just on Halloween.  Douglas Copland

            TALBOTS FALL COLORED 16P BLOUSE     $14.50

Ok you can always wear Outlander Costume for any party you’re going to—mine has a morgue/zombie theme so if you were going to that you could do a zombie Frank or a zombie Clair bride…or so on

Check Out ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY for a hot cover and updates on you know what….that should calm your scare and advance you thru the Droughtlander beware.  http://www.ew.com/article/2016/09/29/outlander-season-3-sam-heughan-cover

spend some time catching up on deleted scenes:  http://www.ibtimes.com.au/outlander-season-2-deleted-scene-get-ready-dvd-blu-ray-release-1528324

and don’t forget the sound track:  http://culturess.com/2016/10/03/faith-outlander-season-2-soundtrack-preview/

Sanford, Florida has been mentioned more than once on my blog–it was founded by a former Embassador (For President Lincoln) and was considered by the locals on the basis of his place of birth (the North) unfavorably by the locals.  But Sanford was persistent and brought Sweds over  as settlers to help him build his town.

IVY COLE AND THE MOON A NOVEL OF UNNATURAL HUNGERS/GINA FARAGO  $4.12

http://www.ebay.com/itm/262656663177?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

OH AND BEFORE I FORGET A DOGGIE THAT WAS VISITING HALLOWEEN…HE’S ALL WHITE…BUT Notice the nose–he’s an albino.

Belt, Simulated Lizard Skin with Top Grain Leather Backing Medium $17.50 http://www.ebay.com/itm/262646016322?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

The thing under my bed waiting to grab my ankle isn’t real. I know that, and I also know that if I’m careful to keep my foot under the covers, it will never be able to grab my ankle.

Stephen King

 

Ok I’m back after skipping Wed. just to get some of me stuff done…I can actually see the furniture in the living room…hurray.

I’m changing the line up now—and am gonna put the Outlander last today to just see how that adjusts

Today we’re looking at the bad and ugly of detectives.

“But I have heard, Mr. Holmes, that you can see deeply into the manifold wickedness of the human heart. You may advise me how to walk amid the dangers which encompass me.”

“The Adventure of Speckled Band

Oulm Dual View Men’s Watch Japan Movt #1220  $16.00

http://www.ebay.com/itm/262649388996?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

The cast for Murder on the Orient Express is fantastic…but the detective Hercule Poirot is one that gets on my last best nerve—he is bad verging on ugly—he is foppish, boorish and totally unwatchable to me…it was like watch it at home and watch the good parts and grit your teeth, go get food or to the bathroom when Finney who did a great job which made it all the more worse for me….if I’d have been on that train they would have been trying to solve his murder and I would have been hiding my part in the crime….grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Another figure I found as a very irritating detective is Columbo, Peter Faulk did a great job on that but this character was slobbish and casual about everything but muder…so different from the last detective and yet every bit as irritating to me…I guess I was lost somewhere in the middle.

Finally on bad any of the Inspector Clouseau–this Peter Sellers, silliness for silliness sake was to me pointless….I like funny but not this babble which supersedes the parts of the script that pass for a plot….It’s not anything that I ever enjoy and Sellers is just one of the many that plays on this, though he probably is one of the better known.

“A large face, seared with a thousand wrinkles, burned yellow with the sun, and marked with every evil passion, was turned from one to the other of us, while his deep-set, bile-shot eyes, and his high thin fleshless nose, gave him somewhat the resemblance to a fierce old bird of prey.” – “The Adventure of Speckled Band,”

Don’t get me wrong I am not completely w/o humor—I guess my humor goes more toward the black..like Kiss Kiss Bang Bang with Val Kilmer and Martin Downey Jr. (who’s Sherlock Holmes series I adore) with the detective Kilmer and the victim—Downey gets a finger cut off among other forms of abuse through out that gritty movie that at times borders on ugly (well cutting off someone’s finger most certainly is a bit more than borders—maybe walks all over ugly would be more like it.)

Another Detective story I enjoyed that deals with (what could be uglier) finding a bizarre killer who murders people all about the city in a effort to make his point and get his goal met is Denzel Washington in The Bone Collector as a quadriplegic Forensic expert who is working on finding a doctor to end his life….in the discovery of the first victim Angelia Jolie is the cop involved (she has commitment and other psychological problems as well) and when Denzel is involved from his hospital bed she becomes his presence at the crime (in one scene he instructs her to cut off the victim’s hands which she reacts to in a way most of us would).  While I loved this movie and in fact reads some of the series it was based on, the murders were bizarre and down right ugly and I found it described as a bad movie and mystery.   While I enjoyed  it a lot.  But beauty or good if bizarre movie I guess is in the eye of the beholder.

“I could not sleep that night. A vague feeling of impending misfortune impressed me. My sister and I, you will recollect, were twins, and you know how subtle are the links which bind two souls which are so closely allied.” – “The Adventure of Speckled Band,”

Then there are the remakes:  One that has been done over many times and  I particularly liked has  bit ugly in it’s name which was used in Britian ….which if you read this from Wikipedia.  And Then There Were None is a mystery novel by English writer Agatha Christie, widely considered her masterpiece and described by her as the most difficult of her books to write.      was first published in the United Kingdom by the Collins Crime Club on 6 November 1939, as Ten Little N—-,after the British blackface song, which serves as a major plot point.  The US edition was not released until December 1939; its American reprints and adaptations were all retitled And Then There Were None, the last five words in the original American version of the nursery rhyme (“Ten Little Indians“).  In the 1978 remake I saw they used the disappearing Indians to denote the next murder and so on.

Did you know that Edgar Allen Poe is given credit with writing the mystery formula that survives to this day with his ugly murderer in Murders in the Rue Morgue in  1841 and the first mystery series when he continued on with Auguste Dupin , the detective in his first novel which appeared in in two more stories.

  While DIckens in England included a mystery subplot in his Bleak House…..and they’ve (mysteries and sub plots both)  been around and amazingly popular ever since.

Goodbye, and be brave, for if you will do what I have told you, you may rest assured that we shall soon drive away the dangers that threaten you.” –  “The Adventure of Speckled Band,”

UA IGNITE CREW IN PACKAGE LARGE Dark Blue & White  $10.00

http://www.ebay.com/itm/262649349200?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

Spend some time checking out Roger that boy is hot ….that’ll help relieve your Droughtlander but could give you Rogerwant instead…ah well…..

Try to convert new watchers to the show–get them to binge watch—here’s some talking points  http://www.hypable.com/outlander-is-must-watch-tv-for-men-and-women/

Pick out a walking tour for your next trip to Edinburgh  https://www.viator.com/Edinburgh-tours/Walking-Tours/d739-g16-c56?pref=02

https://www.list.co.uk/article/69860-take-the-edinburgh-outlander-walking-tour/

And start researching Sam–here’s his mum’s gallery  https://www.list.co.uk/article/76678-interview-chrissie-heughan-on-unabridged-outlander-and-its-star-her-son-sam-heughan/

“I had … come to an entirely erroneous conclusion, which shows, my dear Watson, how dangerous it always is to reason from insufficient data.” -“The Adventure of Speckled Band,”

2 Packages of Polaroid Premium Paper 6×4 100 sheets each $20.00

http://www.ebay.com/itm/262649335719?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

Pictures are still from London’s Little Venice main canal.

yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

He [Moriarty] sits motionless, like a spider in the centre of its web, but that web has a thousand radiations, and he knows well every quiver of each of them. He does little himself. He only plans. But his agents are numerous and splendidly organised. Is there a crime to be done, a paper to be abstracted, we will say, a house to be rifled, a man to be removed – the word is passed to the Professor, the matter is organised and carried out. The agent may be caught. In that case money is found for his bail or his defence. But the central power which uses the agent is never caught – never so much as suspected. This was the organization which I deduced, Watson, and which I devoted my whole energy to exposing and breaking up.’

Sherlock Holmes

http://www.ebay.com/itm/262649323883?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

Hello I see you’re back—today my pictures are from Little Venice….a great place in London…lots of people don’t know what or where it is…but it’s another one of those unexpected places that makes London great.

Today we’re still looking at detectives and murder mysteries again–still on the good….and some things I’m interested in.

and of course Support for my fellow Droughtlander sufferers.

“‘To that Providence, my sons, I hereby commend you, and I counsel you by way of caution to forbear from crossing the moor in those dark hours when the powers of evil are exalted.’   Dr. Mortimer

“‘Snap goes our third thread, and we end where we began….I tell you, Watson, this time we have got a foeman who is worthy of our steel.’” Holmes to Watson

PRECIOUS MOMENTS “Loving is Sharing” Figurine Boy & Puppy $5.99               https://www.etsy.com/listing/467969836/precious-moments-loving-is-sharing?ref=shop_home_active_6

One of the things that I have found interesting is the number of historical murder mysteries that are popular now.  You know that I am a big history buff and mysteries set in a history setting of course has gotten my attention and I’m even (surprise) reading one.

Publishers Weekly noted in 2010 of the genre, “The past decade has seen an explosion in both quantity and quality. Never before have so many historical mysteries been published, by so many gifted writers, and covering such a wide range of times and places Wikipedia.

and this West Virginia Girl is true to her roots:  Perhaps the first modern English work that can be classified as both historical fiction and a mystery however is the 1911 Melville Davisson Post story “The Angel of the Lord,” which features amateur detective Uncle Abner in pre-American Civil War West Virginia.  Cool.

“‘The devil’s agents may be of flesh and blood, may they not?’” Holmes to Watson

Sansom started out as a  historian and in fact got a PhD in the subject prior to deciding to redo his life and become a barrister.   While working for disadvantaged client he began writing and Matthew Shardlake was born.  Shardlake is an attorney in London during the Reign of Henry VIII.  Our hero was born less than privileged and came up through his education and this was made even harder due to the fact that he is physically deformed with a hunch back–a condition in an age with many believed that the disability is a comment on his being bad even evil.

He is joined by Barak who has a history of working for Thomas Cromwell one of Henry’s men that fell from grace.   Shardlake has has various assistants I think Barak (whom I like best) being the one who has lasted the longest–and he thru 6 novels (he wrote the last book in 2014—Lamentation which I’m reading now–but he has taken an average or 2 years between books —though he did go 4 years with one so I have high hopes he’s writing another one.) has gone thru the reign of Henry and all the back stabbing and manipulation to make the King happy which usually either involved ridding him of one wife or another or dealing with various religious issues.    There is also issues of the King’s progress to York—who was notorious for being on the edge of rebellion in one form or another through many reigns including Henry’s.  And in addition to all the turmoil of Henry—who Shardlake always manages to be on the edge of, if not really in the court though the book I’m reading now has him working directly for Henry’s 6th (and last) wife and of course a murder that may or may not be related to her issues.

“I can still remember your complete indifference as to whether the sun moved round the earth or the earth round the sun.”  Watson

Now let me tell you the good about these books—warning only read the first 3—I’ll explain why….Ariana Franklin was a very mature lady when she started these novels about a young lady who is brought to England by Henry II–Henry’s money came from financers and only Jewish did finance (usury being considered a sin by the church–there was only one then)….when several small children are murdered, the people’s prejudice place the blame on the Jews—so Henry sends to Italy for a Master of the Art of Death (basically the original European coroners) What he gets is a lady doctor–something unheard of in England.  On her way to London her group of travelers join with a group of Crusaders returning to England and so she meets her love interest.

The story is a great read, the history good and the mysteries baffling –all four books are great and include famous people and the love interest being made a bishop–when she refuses to get married….they would be my favorite as the characters are good and the writing as well….but….

While the first 3 books were a continuing story there were no cliff hangers and if she had stopped there I would have missed the series but not felt left down, however she leaves one of the characters clinging on with their lives and leaving a possible replacement in the wings…..and that was it.  She started one other book that is a historical mystery but many years earlier than these stories–her daughter finished her manuscript but nothing more was done to round of the story in this one so if you really like the first 3 just leave it at that and you won’t feel like the bottom was dropped out of your literary life—hey I know I should get a life.

“‘They say it is the cry of the Hound of the Baskervilles.’” Holmes, to Sir Henry

Elizabeth Peters series:  Crocodile on the Sandbank (Elizabeth Peters) (Amelia Peabody, Book 1) into the hot and exotic sand dunes of Victorian era Egypt. It is here, in the early 20th century that we meet Amelia Peabody, an Egyptologist with an attitude. Armed with her wit, sharp sarcasm and fierce curiosity for all things historical, she embarks on a journey to Egypt, through it’s deserts and cities steeped in ancient culture to an archaeological dig site, and ends up with more than she bargained for. What makes…even better is that its author was herself an Egyptologist, and so her knowledge and details regarding ancient Egypt are spot on.  Overall, it’s an alluring and heady mix of mystery, history, romance and comedy that is extremely hard not to to enjoy. – See more at: http://bestmysterybooks.com/best-historical-mystery-books.html#sthash.gBXXokqj.dpu

The Beekeeper’s Apprentice (Edwardian England)

by Laurie R. King

“I swear that another day shall not have passed before I have done all that man can do to reach the heart of the mystery.” Watson