Another film where they got it right was The Mists of Avalon. Juliana Margolies’ portrayal of Morgaine was superb, even if she was a little long in the tooth for the early scenes of Morgaine. Hollywood got it right again with Practical Magic[sic].
We had positive if a little over dramatized portrayals of Wicca in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Charmed. Another series that treated Paganism in a positive light was Roar, about Ireland (Hibernia) towards the end of the Western Roman Empire. But more often than not they get it wrong. An example of this is the movie The Craft. Stephen calls it “The Crap.” It doesn’t acknowledge the Goddess. Sure there’s the Horned God but there is also the Goddess. Without Her, there is no Craft. The only part I liked was the soundtrack. Doc used to play just the song “How Soon is Now?” by the Smiths. The only character, adult or teen, who had any sense at all was the proprietress of the magick shop. They completely ignored the Wiccan Rede. The Wiccan community would have censured them for ignoring the Rede. In most cases we are either completely ignored or maligned. Another positive example was Battlestar Galactica, and Caprica, where most people were Pagans, and the monotheists were seen as terrorists, which they are. In Xena Warrior Princess, R.J. Stewart was the consultant. He was also the creator of The Merlin Tarot.
Not all monsters were evil. Some were just monsters because they were born that way. “I’m not bad, I’m just drawn that way.” Jessica Rabbit in “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?” Lon Chaney Jr.’s Wolfman is tortured by his transformation into the Wolfman. His conditiob forces him to rip people’s throats out when he is a werewolf, but he doesn’t enjoy it when he goes back to being human. In the modern version of The Wolfman, the Wolfman, played so skillfully by Benicio del Toro, the condition is inherited from his father (played by Anthony Hopkins). When Larry Talbot was human, which was most of the month, he lived with deep remorse for the mayhem he wreaked during the full Moon. To make a long story short, he was basically a nice meek guy when it wasn’t the full Moon. I hadn’t seen much of Benicio del Toro until he was interviewed on my favorite reality show, Inside the Actor’s Studio. James Lipton did a very able job of interviewing him. Afterwards, I started seeing him in everything. Then he starred in the Wolfman in 2008. The entire cast was stellar. Stephen thought it deserved more than 2 stars.
The Swamp Thing was a monster whose chief concern was how the environment was being despoiled. He found much of value in the bayou, and hated the way the swamp was being exploited. His friends were a small group of humans who felt the same way he did. His main enemy was a representative of a large corporation who wanted higher profits through exploiting the swamp.
To sum up, Hammer Films played a major role in the horror genre of film. From its inception as a low budget thriller and horror film studio in the mid-30s, through its height in the 60s to its demise in the late 70s and early 80s, Hammer Films supplied films for a generation that grew up in the automobile, and cultivated a taste for the drive in movie theatre. But in the late 70s to 80s, tastes had changed, and the drive-in theatre declined. But Hollywood has continued to churn out monsters. Our favorite monsters are vampires; Stephen’s favorites are the supervamps of the Underworld trilogy, and mine is Count Dracula, as played by Gary Oldman.
After an 8 year separation, Stephen’s old friend Lizet Freeman has surfaced again, and has started working with us to make Abbott’s Inn International School of Magick more marketable. It’s kind of funny how this happened. We had gone to our bank, Chase Bank, to get cash, and ran into her there. Unfortunately, Debbie was also there, and I wondered if the two would get into a cat fight right then and there. But they behaved. Later we did a kick ass reading for Lizet, and as payment, she came over the next day, and on my new computer, and designed a third website for us. It’s http://abbottsinn.wordpress.com don’t forget our other two websites http://abbottsinninternational.com/ and http://abbottsinn.com/ . Also call our toll free number 1-888-611-7982 for a reading, class, or research.
Friday, July 8, 2011
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Forever Knight & Blood Ties for Pagans
We decided to combine the two into one group, because Blood Ties is also Canadian, also took place in Toronto, and didn’t run for very long. Supposedly Blood Ties had 2 seasons, but they both took place within one calendar year, March 11th 2007 to May 20th 2007, and October 12th 2007 to December 2007. Forever Knight was created by James Parriott, while Blood Ties was based upon the novels by Canadian author Tanya Huff. Tegwedd has looked for those novels on the library computer, but they’re not there. There are other novels by her, though. Tegwedd is thinking about taking them out, and reading them, while she waits for the George R. R. Martin novels. This is our 6th vampire group. After Kindred the Embraced, Forever Knight is her favorite vampire show. This is chiefly because of the star, Geraint Wyn Davies, whom she regards as eye candy. It also doesn’t hurt that he is Welsh-Canadian. She’s partial to Welshmen. She really likes the way the show portrays the vampire community’s culture. Stephen also considers this his favorite vampire series. Although the series primarily takes place in Toronto, there are many flashbacks to France and other European locales. In his long and varied past, Knight also spent time in Chicago and New York.
His sire was portrayed so wonderfully and sinisterly by Nigel Bennett, who was also in the French-Canadian space series Lexx. He was also seen in a series put together by Dan Akroyd about psychic research. Just about every Canadian actor was on Forever Knight at one time or another as a guest star. It was recently shown during the day on the SyFy channel. They may bring it back this summer on Chiller or SyFy. Some episodes took place in Montreal. There is a French version, which is much more risque than the regular series was. If you know how we can obtain the French version, please tell us. Tegwedd is mildly curious, but Stephen is wild to get his hands on them. He may even give you a free reading and/or class in exchange for those episodes. Like in the series Moonlight, the main character of Forever Knight lives in a loft with controlled lighting. Both of them drank animal blood, or human blood in those plastic blood donor pints. Both of them regretted ever having turned vampire. One was a cop, the other a private investigator. Vicki Nelson was also a private investigator, after having been a police detective. Neither Nick nor Mick killed to eat anymore. Stephen thinks that the writers of Moonlight might have taken some ideas from Forever Knight. Both main characters had strong relationships with the other vampire characters. Both main characters were also musicians. Both shows had flashbacks back to their early lives. In one of the episodes of Forever Knight, we see how Le Croix became a vampire in ancient Pompeii.
The cast of Forever Knight: Geraint Wyn Davies--Nick Knight Nigel Bennett--Le Croix Deborah Duchene--Janette Catherine Disher--Natalie Lambert John Kapelos--Det. Donald Schanke Gary Farmer--Capt. Stonetree Natsuko Ohama--Capt. Amanda Cohen Ben Bass--Javier Vachon Lisa Ryder--Det. Tracy Vetter Greg Kramer--Screed Blu Mankuma--Capt Joe Reese
Kristin Lehman--Urs
As we have already mentioned, Tegwedd considers Geraint Wyn Davies to be eye candy. Alex O’Loughlin isn’t exactly hard on the eyes either. He’s an Aussie. The soundtrack for Forever Knight is now available; you can probably get it from Amazon. Stephen likes that both shows featured rock ‘n’ roll. There’s rock associated with both shows. There’s also rock associated with the Anne Rice vampire movies. Both vampires could fly. Very rarely did Nick have to deal with supernatural opponents; mostly they were mundane criminals. The love interest in Forever Knight never materializes. Natalie Lambert ME languished with her unrequited love for Knight all three seasons. But in Moonlight the love between Mick and Beth is requited. There was another love interest in Nick’s life, one he’d known for centuries, Janette. But he associates her with his old life of brutality and death dealing.
Janette controlled the bloodletting in her goth club. Part was paranoia, fear of having her vampire nature exposed if the bloodletting became too public. Le Croix just let it all hang out. We’ve told you a great deal about the series. Can you think of anything we’ve missed? We want to hear from you We want to know if any of you knows if how to get hold of the cast members, and whether any of them were Pagans or Pagan symps. We’re having an argument here about Nick’s spiritual beliefs. Tegwedd maintains he was a Catholic, but Stephen says he was an agnostic. What do you think?Whatever he might have been, he was a vampire first and foremost. And we’re vampire freaks.
Tegwedd didn’t get to see Blood Ties until she put it on the top of her Netflix queue. Netflix is also a good way to watch Forever Knight. For those who aren’t familiar with Blood Ties, it’s about a former police detective who is slowly going blind from retinitis pigmentosa starts an unusual private investigative agency to investigate unusual cases. She is befriended by a vampire, who is Henry Fitzroy, Duke of Richmond, illegitimate son of Henry VIII. He has a very dry, droll, dark sense of humor. He’s both a rocker and an artist of graphic novels. There’s sexual tension between Vicki and Henry which never really manifests. Like many of our favorite shows, it had a short run. Some of the antagonists are really nasty. We wondered what the name of the assistant was. We thought it was Cassandra, but as it turns out, it was Coreen. As we watched this series, it held our interest throughout. Unfortunately it suffered from the curse so many series we liked suffer from: the Abbott’s Inn Kiss of Death curse. Like Moonlight, Kindred the Embraced, Roar, and the 2nd Dark Shadows, Blood Ties lasted barely 2 seasons. There are many other series that we killed by liking. Another unrelated series that got axed was Law & Order:LA.
This morning Tegwedd looked up Blood Ties and hit the mother lode. Not only did she get the name of the mysterious elusive assistant, but the names of the other three major characters as well, and the actors who played them. To begin with, we were both wrong about the dates of the series. We thought it was in the 90s. It was in 2007; March 11th to May 20th, and October 12th to December 7th. Vicki Nelson was played by Christina Cox, Coreen Fennel by Gina Holden, Henry Fitzroy Duke of Richmond was played by Kyle Schmid, and Det. Mike Celluci was capably played by Dylan Neal, a good Celtic name.
To sum up, we’ve decided to expand this group to include Blood Ties. They’re both Canadian, and took place in Toronto. There are many parallels between Forever Knight and a 3rd abortive series, Moonlight. There was a big parallels in the cars preferred by both vampires, big vintage convertibles. Music was important. Rock figured big in both series. Go to http://abbottsinninternational.com/ , http://abbottsinn.com/ , call 888-611-7982, and go to our network at http://abbottsinn.ning.com/ .
His sire was portrayed so wonderfully and sinisterly by Nigel Bennett, who was also in the French-Canadian space series Lexx. He was also seen in a series put together by Dan Akroyd about psychic research. Just about every Canadian actor was on Forever Knight at one time or another as a guest star. It was recently shown during the day on the SyFy channel. They may bring it back this summer on Chiller or SyFy. Some episodes took place in Montreal. There is a French version, which is much more risque than the regular series was. If you know how we can obtain the French version, please tell us. Tegwedd is mildly curious, but Stephen is wild to get his hands on them. He may even give you a free reading and/or class in exchange for those episodes. Like in the series Moonlight, the main character of Forever Knight lives in a loft with controlled lighting. Both of them drank animal blood, or human blood in those plastic blood donor pints. Both of them regretted ever having turned vampire. One was a cop, the other a private investigator. Vicki Nelson was also a private investigator, after having been a police detective. Neither Nick nor Mick killed to eat anymore. Stephen thinks that the writers of Moonlight might have taken some ideas from Forever Knight. Both main characters had strong relationships with the other vampire characters. Both main characters were also musicians. Both shows had flashbacks back to their early lives. In one of the episodes of Forever Knight, we see how Le Croix became a vampire in ancient Pompeii.
The cast of Forever Knight: Geraint Wyn Davies--Nick Knight Nigel Bennett--Le Croix Deborah Duchene--Janette Catherine Disher--Natalie Lambert John Kapelos--Det. Donald Schanke Gary Farmer--Capt. Stonetree Natsuko Ohama--Capt. Amanda Cohen Ben Bass--Javier Vachon Lisa Ryder--Det. Tracy Vetter Greg Kramer--Screed Blu Mankuma--Capt Joe Reese
Kristin Lehman--Urs
As we have already mentioned, Tegwedd considers Geraint Wyn Davies to be eye candy. Alex O’Loughlin isn’t exactly hard on the eyes either. He’s an Aussie. The soundtrack for Forever Knight is now available; you can probably get it from Amazon. Stephen likes that both shows featured rock ‘n’ roll. There’s rock associated with both shows. There’s also rock associated with the Anne Rice vampire movies. Both vampires could fly. Very rarely did Nick have to deal with supernatural opponents; mostly they were mundane criminals. The love interest in Forever Knight never materializes. Natalie Lambert ME languished with her unrequited love for Knight all three seasons. But in Moonlight the love between Mick and Beth is requited. There was another love interest in Nick’s life, one he’d known for centuries, Janette. But he associates her with his old life of brutality and death dealing.
Janette controlled the bloodletting in her goth club. Part was paranoia, fear of having her vampire nature exposed if the bloodletting became too public. Le Croix just let it all hang out. We’ve told you a great deal about the series. Can you think of anything we’ve missed? We want to hear from you We want to know if any of you knows if how to get hold of the cast members, and whether any of them were Pagans or Pagan symps. We’re having an argument here about Nick’s spiritual beliefs. Tegwedd maintains he was a Catholic, but Stephen says he was an agnostic. What do you think?Whatever he might have been, he was a vampire first and foremost. And we’re vampire freaks.
Tegwedd didn’t get to see Blood Ties until she put it on the top of her Netflix queue. Netflix is also a good way to watch Forever Knight. For those who aren’t familiar with Blood Ties, it’s about a former police detective who is slowly going blind from retinitis pigmentosa starts an unusual private investigative agency to investigate unusual cases. She is befriended by a vampire, who is Henry Fitzroy, Duke of Richmond, illegitimate son of Henry VIII. He has a very dry, droll, dark sense of humor. He’s both a rocker and an artist of graphic novels. There’s sexual tension between Vicki and Henry which never really manifests. Like many of our favorite shows, it had a short run. Some of the antagonists are really nasty. We wondered what the name of the assistant was. We thought it was Cassandra, but as it turns out, it was Coreen. As we watched this series, it held our interest throughout. Unfortunately it suffered from the curse so many series we liked suffer from: the Abbott’s Inn Kiss of Death curse. Like Moonlight, Kindred the Embraced, Roar, and the 2nd Dark Shadows, Blood Ties lasted barely 2 seasons. There are many other series that we killed by liking. Another unrelated series that got axed was Law & Order:LA.
This morning Tegwedd looked up Blood Ties and hit the mother lode. Not only did she get the name of the mysterious elusive assistant, but the names of the other three major characters as well, and the actors who played them. To begin with, we were both wrong about the dates of the series. We thought it was in the 90s. It was in 2007; March 11th to May 20th, and October 12th to December 7th. Vicki Nelson was played by Christina Cox, Coreen Fennel by Gina Holden, Henry Fitzroy Duke of Richmond was played by Kyle Schmid, and Det. Mike Celluci was capably played by Dylan Neal, a good Celtic name.
To sum up, we’ve decided to expand this group to include Blood Ties. They’re both Canadian, and took place in Toronto. There are many parallels between Forever Knight and a 3rd abortive series, Moonlight. There was a big parallels in the cars preferred by both vampires, big vintage convertibles. Music was important. Rock figured big in both series. Go to http://abbottsinninternational.com/ , http://abbottsinn.com/ , call 888-611-7982, and go to our network at http://abbottsinn.ning.com/ .
Friday, May 27, 2011
Dark Shadows for Pagans
Welcome to Dark Shadows for Pagans! We’re glad you could make it! This is a new group, so there are no clones to check out YET. But watch out, because a clone could come to your favorite network very soon. Stephen calls this “Dark Shadnoses for Pagans”. You know how he is about noses. In fact, for years, I thought “Lord Nose,” a regular columnist for “High Times” magazine, was Stephen gone incognito. After we do “Lycanthropes for Pagans,” and “Monsters of the Big and Little Screen for Pagans,” we’re going to lighten things up a bit with “Nose-tick Philosophy for Pagans.” This group is very close to Stephen’s undead heart. Stephen really grew up with this series since it started in the fall of 1967. When he was serving time in jail for participating in the Days of Rage SDS National Action, it was the only show everyone wanted to watch in the day room. Stephen got to watch the episodes he’d missed.
Tegwedd was in college when she started to watch “Dark Shadows.” At that time, it was a ½ hour black & white daily daytime serial or soap opera. She would watch it in the dorm with her dorm mates. Her sister, who was not in college, had a fierce crush on Jonathan Frid, who portrayed the vampire Barnabas Collins. She collected pictures of him from movie star magazines, and arranged them arranged the edge of her bed, so that she could sleep surrounded by him. Then she developed a crush on David Selby, who portrayed Quentin Collins, either a lycanthrope, or another vampire, Tegwedd forgets which. But always she returned to Jonathan Frid, who is now in his 90s. David Selby is still acting. The actor who played Willie Loomis is still acting.
Stephen especially loved the music which was wonderfully haunting. We both like that both series used the same music. We also liked both houses at Collinswood, and the way they used the sounds of the winds and the waves, the tide crashing on the rocks far below. The series was set to have a long run because it was a daytime soap, and something interesting to watch in the daytime. It was a live show with mistakes made in the lines, and mispronunciation. But things moved on in technology as the show progressed. Back then the only way you could record a show was on the very primitive kinescope. But videotape came in in the early 1970s. The show was still going strong in 1973, and only petered out in the mid-70s. The The funny part was the flubbing of the lines, and the worst was Jonathan Frid. Second worst was Jean Simmons, who played Mrs. Elizabeth Stoddard. It would be fun to compare the casts of the 2 series. The 2nd series came in in 1990, the same year as “Twin Peaks.” For the most part, both series followed the same plot line, with cousin Barnabas Collins claiming to have come from England, when in reality he had been awakened by Willie Loomis, the foolish and greedy nephew of the Collins cook. There is some evidence of modernism, considering the demise of the original series. Fans flocked to the new series like lemmings. There were Dark Shadows conventions where fans dressed in the costumes evocative of both series. And when they were going to cancel the 2nd series, there was a protest demonstration in San Francisco. Stephen was on the steering committee of this demonstration. Later at a Dark Shadows convention, he met Ben Cross, who portrayed the Barnabas Collins of the 2nd series, who was very gratified by the attempt made to save the series. The protest had failed. The network cancelled the series anyway, thus making the series succumb to the Kiss of Death curse. If we like a product, it is no longer produced and sold. Chocolate Altoids is an example. If it’s a movie, it leaves the theatres early. If it’s a TV series, it gets cancelled. Besides the physical demonstration, they flooded the network phone lines with calls. Stephen wouldn’t be surprised if they did a 3rd series, with a whole new cast, except for one or two stars from the old series. What Stephen doesn’t get is it was cancelled although it was a very popular series. Tegwedd’s theory is that they don’t care about what real people want. All they care about are their handpicked Nielsen families, who are carefully selected to be the lowest common denominator, be church going, bible thumping jesoids with no taste or intelligence. Tegwedd was considered once to be a Nielsen rator, but she was too educated and intelligent. They want the types who voted for Shrubya both times. They’re the ones who declared this glut of “reality” shows. If indeed they do a 3rd Dark Shadows series, should they start again from the beginning, or from where they left off? Tegwedd thinks they should start from where they left off in the 2nd series, when Victoria Winters returns from the late 18th century because she knows the fans are very familiar with the plot lines of both series. Stephen agrees, but we both know they’ll start again from the beginning yet again, because they assume their viewers are both stupid and ignorant.
What do you think, dear readers and fellow members of this group? Give us your opinions. Anyone can post here who is a member.
Angelique was trained in either Vodoun or Santeria in Montserrat in the Caribbean. Thus there’s a tie-in with our Pirates for Pagans groups. If you have the game “Sid Meyer’s Pirates:Live the Life,” you’ll see that Montserrat plays an active role in the game. The game is not only educational, but very educational. Angelique came from Montserrat just a little after it had been taken over by France again. It passed from colonial power to colonial power all through that period. All of the Caribbean was originally Spanish, after all that’s why it was called the Spanish Main, but the other 3 powers, Britain, France, and the Netherlands, carved out pieces of it for themselves. Angelique also came from Martinique. Stephen believes she came from Montserrat in the 1st series (the daytime serial) and from Martinique in the 2nd. Tegwedd believes that there was some class warfare going on on Angelique’s part, because Josette came from a wealthy aristocratic family (her mother was a Countess), while Angelique was a servant from the lower class. Angelique learned either Vodoun or Santeria. Stephen says Santeria because the islands were originally Spanish, but Tegwedd says Vodoun because the islands were French, and also because people are more familiar with “Voodoo” than they are with Santeria. If Santeria, then she studied rouge or rojo, red Santeria, the dark branch. If Vodoun, then petro, the dark form of Vodoun. She used poppetsand fire magick. After she died, her power increased, becoming very elemental, mostly fire and wind (air).
One group we have to have is Buffy & Angel for Pagans. To sum up, Dark Shadows for Pagans is about both series. The original series started in 1967 as a b&w ½ hour daytime serial (soap opera) that progressed to a full hour color show. The 2nd series was a full hour evening color series that was broadcast weekly. Jonathan Frid, who portrayed the original Barnabas Collins, is now in his 90s. David Selby, now in his 70s, is still acting. Ben Cross, who portrayed the elegant vampire in the 2nd series is still acting. Stephen met Mr. Cross at a convention after a demonstration to protest the cancellation of the 2nd series. There is a tie in with the Pirates for Pagans groups because Josette and Angelique came from Montserrat and Martinique. Go to http://abbottsinninternational.com/ , http://abbottsinn.com/ , http://abbottsinn.ning.com/ and call 1-888-611-7982 for a reading, class or research.
Tegwedd was in college when she started to watch “Dark Shadows.” At that time, it was a ½ hour black & white daily daytime serial or soap opera. She would watch it in the dorm with her dorm mates. Her sister, who was not in college, had a fierce crush on Jonathan Frid, who portrayed the vampire Barnabas Collins. She collected pictures of him from movie star magazines, and arranged them arranged the edge of her bed, so that she could sleep surrounded by him. Then she developed a crush on David Selby, who portrayed Quentin Collins, either a lycanthrope, or another vampire, Tegwedd forgets which. But always she returned to Jonathan Frid, who is now in his 90s. David Selby is still acting. The actor who played Willie Loomis is still acting.
Stephen especially loved the music which was wonderfully haunting. We both like that both series used the same music. We also liked both houses at Collinswood, and the way they used the sounds of the winds and the waves, the tide crashing on the rocks far below. The series was set to have a long run because it was a daytime soap, and something interesting to watch in the daytime. It was a live show with mistakes made in the lines, and mispronunciation. But things moved on in technology as the show progressed. Back then the only way you could record a show was on the very primitive kinescope. But videotape came in in the early 1970s. The show was still going strong in 1973, and only petered out in the mid-70s. The The funny part was the flubbing of the lines, and the worst was Jonathan Frid. Second worst was Jean Simmons, who played Mrs. Elizabeth Stoddard. It would be fun to compare the casts of the 2 series. The 2nd series came in in 1990, the same year as “Twin Peaks.” For the most part, both series followed the same plot line, with cousin Barnabas Collins claiming to have come from England, when in reality he had been awakened by Willie Loomis, the foolish and greedy nephew of the Collins cook. There is some evidence of modernism, considering the demise of the original series. Fans flocked to the new series like lemmings. There were Dark Shadows conventions where fans dressed in the costumes evocative of both series. And when they were going to cancel the 2nd series, there was a protest demonstration in San Francisco. Stephen was on the steering committee of this demonstration. Later at a Dark Shadows convention, he met Ben Cross, who portrayed the Barnabas Collins of the 2nd series, who was very gratified by the attempt made to save the series. The protest had failed. The network cancelled the series anyway, thus making the series succumb to the Kiss of Death curse. If we like a product, it is no longer produced and sold. Chocolate Altoids is an example. If it’s a movie, it leaves the theatres early. If it’s a TV series, it gets cancelled. Besides the physical demonstration, they flooded the network phone lines with calls. Stephen wouldn’t be surprised if they did a 3rd series, with a whole new cast, except for one or two stars from the old series. What Stephen doesn’t get is it was cancelled although it was a very popular series. Tegwedd’s theory is that they don’t care about what real people want. All they care about are their handpicked Nielsen families, who are carefully selected to be the lowest common denominator, be church going, bible thumping jesoids with no taste or intelligence. Tegwedd was considered once to be a Nielsen rator, but she was too educated and intelligent. They want the types who voted for Shrubya both times. They’re the ones who declared this glut of “reality” shows. If indeed they do a 3rd Dark Shadows series, should they start again from the beginning, or from where they left off? Tegwedd thinks they should start from where they left off in the 2nd series, when Victoria Winters returns from the late 18th century because she knows the fans are very familiar with the plot lines of both series. Stephen agrees, but we both know they’ll start again from the beginning yet again, because they assume their viewers are both stupid and ignorant.
What do you think, dear readers and fellow members of this group? Give us your opinions. Anyone can post here who is a member.
Angelique was trained in either Vodoun or Santeria in Montserrat in the Caribbean. Thus there’s a tie-in with our Pirates for Pagans groups. If you have the game “Sid Meyer’s Pirates:Live the Life,” you’ll see that Montserrat plays an active role in the game. The game is not only educational, but very educational. Angelique came from Montserrat just a little after it had been taken over by France again. It passed from colonial power to colonial power all through that period. All of the Caribbean was originally Spanish, after all that’s why it was called the Spanish Main, but the other 3 powers, Britain, France, and the Netherlands, carved out pieces of it for themselves. Angelique also came from Martinique. Stephen believes she came from Montserrat in the 1st series (the daytime serial) and from Martinique in the 2nd. Tegwedd believes that there was some class warfare going on on Angelique’s part, because Josette came from a wealthy aristocratic family (her mother was a Countess), while Angelique was a servant from the lower class. Angelique learned either Vodoun or Santeria. Stephen says Santeria because the islands were originally Spanish, but Tegwedd says Vodoun because the islands were French, and also because people are more familiar with “Voodoo” than they are with Santeria. If Santeria, then she studied rouge or rojo, red Santeria, the dark branch. If Vodoun, then petro, the dark form of Vodoun. She used poppetsand fire magick. After she died, her power increased, becoming very elemental, mostly fire and wind (air).
One group we have to have is Buffy & Angel for Pagans. To sum up, Dark Shadows for Pagans is about both series. The original series started in 1967 as a b&w ½ hour daytime serial (soap opera) that progressed to a full hour color show. The 2nd series was a full hour evening color series that was broadcast weekly. Jonathan Frid, who portrayed the original Barnabas Collins, is now in his 90s. David Selby, now in his 70s, is still acting. Ben Cross, who portrayed the elegant vampire in the 2nd series is still acting. Stephen met Mr. Cross at a convention after a demonstration to protest the cancellation of the 2nd series. There is a tie in with the Pirates for Pagans groups because Josette and Angelique came from Montserrat and Martinique. Go to http://abbottsinninternational.com/ , http://abbottsinn.com/ , http://abbottsinn.ning.com/ and call 1-888-611-7982 for a reading, class or research.
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Vampires in the Media
Welcome to Kindred :the Embraced 10! Actually, this should be Kindred the Embraced 11. I didn’t realize there was already a 10. We’re so glad you could make it! Be sure and check out the other Kindred: the Embraced groups on the other networks. If you ask me, Kindred: the Embraced was the best vampire series ever made. As you know, if you’re a member of the other Kindred groups, you know that the show was based upon The Masquerade, a vampire role playing game. We will also be discussing other vampire series and films, and vampires. There are vampire myths in many many cultures. The Chinese and Japanese legends of angry hungry ghosts suggest vampirism. When the proper offerings are not made at graves by the dead persons’ relatives, then the ghosts become hungry and angry, seeking to suck out the very life essence of the living. Blood is used in these legends because it is thought to be the very essence of life. But it is more than the mere coppery smelling red stuff that comes out of wounds, but also our psychic essence, our psychic energy that vampires seek.
Way back in the late 60’s there was Dark Shadows with its vampire Barnabas Collins played by Jonathon Frid.. They brought it back in the early 90s, Barnabas Collins this time played by Ben Cross. In the early 80s there was the Lost Boys. In the late 80s, we had the miniseries Salem’s Lot, based on a novel by Stephen King. Louis Jourdain portrayed the bloody count in the PBS version of the story. Then there was the movie Night Flight about a vampire pilot who flew from one airport to another, leaving exsanguinated bodies in his wake, also from a book by Stephen King. Then very recently we had the short lived Moonlight. Then there are the three Underworld movies...There is also Bloodrayne I &II, which are made for the SyFy channel movies. Now we have the Vampire Diaries, which is more or less a cross between Beverly Hills 90210 and the classic Dracula.
It is thought by the more scientific among us that there is a disease which may account for vampirism. The name of the disease is porphyria. It is characterized by a lack of skin pigment, and many drink animal blood in order to restore pigment to their blood and their skin. They also have photophobia and heliophobia, a fear of light and the sun. Google it, and see what you think.
Vampires have been the subject of a great many movies, as well as TV shows. There was the classic Dracula as portrayed by Bela Lugosi. He did a couple of sequels after that. Then there were the Hammer Dracula films. When I was doing research for the vampire novel I’m writing, I rented all the movies Hammer had done that Netflix had, and Doc checked the classic Dracula out from the library. Doc so loved helping me do research for my books. I had seen this movie several times so I didn’t really mark the plot. What did strike me was the newly restored soundtrack by the Kronos Quartet composed by Phillip Glass. It did such a good job of setting a dark murky mood that I checked out everything the library had by the Kronos Quartet and by Phillip Glass and burned CDs of it so I could recreate that same dark foreboding mood while I wrote. Far from making me depressed, it inspired me.
Then in 1978 came Dracula played by Frank Langella. It was based on the play based on the book by Bram Stoker. The movie Bram Stoker’s Dracula is closer to the book. Then there was the movie Van Helsing Of course then there were the two movies done of Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles: Interview with the Vampire and Queen of the Damned..
We have a question for all of you who are reading this: How many of you have had dreams of being a vampire, encountering a vampire, or any other vampire related dreams? The reason that we ask this question is from Stephen’s point of view is that he’s had dreams about being a vampire or encountering vampires since he was a small child. Far from being frightened by these experiences, Stephen was fascinated. Since childhood, he has always had a fascination with immortality. As he got older, his vampire dreams became more sexual in nature. He also took on different roles in these dreams. Sometimes he was the vampire, sometimes the vampire hunter, other times the victim of the vampire. Many times the vampire dream was a recurring theme. Sometimes he’s a prospective victim, trying to leave the space where the vampire is coming. Of late his dreams have been about being a part of a paramilitary group fighting terrorists. But he’s sure that vampires will soon return as a theme. But as far as I am concerned, the whole vampire theme is an interest I only pursue in my waking life. We want to hear about your dreams about being a vampire, vampire hunter, or vampire victim. There will be a test next period. That’s humor, folks.
As you can see, dreams are like a vast role playing game. There are so many roles you can play in your dreams. Be watching for another extension of Dreamwork for Pagans coming here soon. In fact, after consulting my Master List, it’s coming as soon as we finish posting this Welcome & Intro. This morning I woke up to a marathon of Kindred the Embraced on the SyFy channel. It just reinforced for me what a gem of a show it really was. Where were you and what were you doing when Kindred the Embraced premiered on network TV? I know what I was doing. I was wasting away in Margaritaville. Actually no. I was living with my SO Doc in Cupertino. It was just before I was to get on the Internet, and change my life completely. Let’s review the names of the 5 clans of vampires. There’s Toreador, Brujah, Nosferatu, Gangrel, and Ventrue. That was Julian Luna’s clan. According to the book I have from the game, Sabbat is the 6th clan, and the Camarilla is the 7th clan. The TV series only lists the first 5 clans I mentioned. The other two are in the book The Kindred Most Wanted. It came out in 94. Alastor is a group of archons, and the archons are the main sires.
Many Neolithic cultures had clans,. The Japanese had clans, the Scots and Irish had clans, the US had just one klan, the KuKluxKlan (that’s supposed to be humor, folks). From what Stephen understands, each clan had special abilities that made them distinctive from the other clans. For example: the Toreador clan was the sex clan. The Brujah were warrior types, the muscle. The Gangrel liked to project themselves as bad asses and ride around on motorcycles. Nosferatu were the most ancient and wisest of the clans. They also hold onto the Masquerade the most stringently.
In the short lived series Moonlight, we learned that cats and vampires are mortal enemies. In fact, any animal that we commonly think of as pets are anathema to vampires, except for wolves and possibly snakes or other reptiles. But werewolves and vampires seem to hate each other. Go figure. You can check for books about the Masquerade at Amazon.com. We don’t recommend Ebay because it’s an auction site. It’s all right if you have unlimited funds. But if you don’t, stay away from there.
It really pisses us off that at this time of year we Pagans are not at all considered by the media. The Christians have their Christmas, the Jews have their Hannukah, but are we given credit for starting the Solstice celebrations? Noooooooooooooooooo! After all if it weren’t for us celebrating the winter solstice/Saturnalia/birthday of Sol Invictus /Dionysus’ birth/Mithras, there would be no winter holidays. The Church only started “celebrating” December 25th because our Pagan forebears were out in the street getting drunk, swivving everything that moved, and generally being rowdy instead of being at mass in church. The church co-opted the holiday to get people piously in church to cut down on the Pagan rowdiness. Stephen won’t even celebrate it, but I do, reclaiming it as a Pagan holiday. It’s ours, it’s always been ours, and it’s going to stay ours, dammit, but only if we all come out of our broom closets and claim it as ours, even as Samhain has always been ours. Stephen calls it Jeazmus. But he’s missing the point.
If you know anyone who wants a fairly cheap housing situation with two congenial Pagan magickal housemates in an ethnically mixed neighborhood in Sacramento, contact me at tezra.reitan@gmail.com or Stephen at abbottsinn_school@yahoo.com or Stephen at his phone number 916-455-2267. Also, we desperately need donations to keep Abbott’s Inn International School of Magick afloat. You can send donations of any size to either Stephen’s Paypal account at abbottsinn@gmail.com or abbottsinn_school@yahoo.com or my Paypal account at tezra.reitan@gmail.com. If it’s for at least $32, you’ll get either a reading or a class from our vast collections of divination decks/methods/tools or for the class, pick a topic from our vast repertoire in the field of magick. For $60, you can actually have both a reading and a class. I don’t have my webcam hooked up yet, or my mic, but with Stephen you can have sound and video on Yahoo IM, Windows Msgr or Skype. With me for a short while, it’ll be just phone or typing on Yahoo IM or Windows Msgr. Thank you for using and disseminating Stephen’s Zodiac referral number 1-800-280-8496. Stephen1580. It helps ever so much when you use it instead of the regular number because you don’t pay any more, but he makes three times as much. We’re both on SSI, thanks to Arnold Schwarzenegger drastically cut both of our checks, and Keen isn’t coming up with the paying calls. I haven’t made one cent since signing on with Keen. My clients all demand free five minute readings, and refuse to go over that five minutes for a paid reading. In fact, it’s cost me money to bid so altogether, Keen has been pretty much of a total loss for me. If you need money, kids, mow lawns or babysit, don’t join a psychic reading service, because it’ll just suck in what little money you do have.
Do check out the PaganRadioNetwork.net It’s free, although they certainly do accept donations. Doesn’t everyone? Seems like everyone has his hat out nowadays, and we’re sorry to be part of that, but the situation is dirt. We almost lost our power yesterday. In these times of smaller SSI checks, a bankrupt state, and practically non-existent paying KEEN calls, the prices just seem to be rising all the time for less and less service or quality.
In order to keep his computer alive, or perhaps get a new computer, Stephen needs a new battery and Windows 7, because Vista is just too unreliable. Vista is the worst operating system since 98. But first Stephen has to pay off his rent, and so do I. Don’t buy a Dell or do business with Wells Fargo. They’re both ripoffs.
If you’re ever in Sacramento, look up Walter Rhoads and Julie Maahs. Together they own Gallery 14 at 14th St. and 60th Avenue. We’re promoting them big time. Walter Rhoads has a very interesting and different approach to art. He compares himself to the late great Jackson Pollock but there are two main differences: Rhoads is still drawing breath with a healthy 98.6 degrees temperature (except when he’s sick, in which case it’s somewhat higher) and I think Jackson Pollock was gay, and Rhoads is, like us, hopelessly hetero.
We certainly hope you’ve enjoyed this post. Sorry about my negativity up there, but I’ve been very depressed by this economy lately, and wishing I were with Doc in the Summerland.
Tegwedd ShadowDancer
Stephen Abbott
Inky my BFF (BoyFriend Forever)
Little (Big)Boy
Oreo (the Mouser)
Bailee Beasley Beastly
Frikki & Frakki
Dr. Livingston I. Presume aka Prince Henry the Navigator
Way back in the late 60’s there was Dark Shadows with its vampire Barnabas Collins played by Jonathon Frid.. They brought it back in the early 90s, Barnabas Collins this time played by Ben Cross. In the early 80s there was the Lost Boys. In the late 80s, we had the miniseries Salem’s Lot, based on a novel by Stephen King. Louis Jourdain portrayed the bloody count in the PBS version of the story. Then there was the movie Night Flight about a vampire pilot who flew from one airport to another, leaving exsanguinated bodies in his wake, also from a book by Stephen King. Then very recently we had the short lived Moonlight. Then there are the three Underworld movies...There is also Bloodrayne I &II, which are made for the SyFy channel movies. Now we have the Vampire Diaries, which is more or less a cross between Beverly Hills 90210 and the classic Dracula.
It is thought by the more scientific among us that there is a disease which may account for vampirism. The name of the disease is porphyria. It is characterized by a lack of skin pigment, and many drink animal blood in order to restore pigment to their blood and their skin. They also have photophobia and heliophobia, a fear of light and the sun. Google it, and see what you think.
Vampires have been the subject of a great many movies, as well as TV shows. There was the classic Dracula as portrayed by Bela Lugosi. He did a couple of sequels after that. Then there were the Hammer Dracula films. When I was doing research for the vampire novel I’m writing, I rented all the movies Hammer had done that Netflix had, and Doc checked the classic Dracula out from the library. Doc so loved helping me do research for my books. I had seen this movie several times so I didn’t really mark the plot. What did strike me was the newly restored soundtrack by the Kronos Quartet composed by Phillip Glass. It did such a good job of setting a dark murky mood that I checked out everything the library had by the Kronos Quartet and by Phillip Glass and burned CDs of it so I could recreate that same dark foreboding mood while I wrote. Far from making me depressed, it inspired me.
Then in 1978 came Dracula played by Frank Langella. It was based on the play based on the book by Bram Stoker. The movie Bram Stoker’s Dracula is closer to the book. Then there was the movie Van Helsing Of course then there were the two movies done of Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles: Interview with the Vampire and Queen of the Damned..
We have a question for all of you who are reading this: How many of you have had dreams of being a vampire, encountering a vampire, or any other vampire related dreams? The reason that we ask this question is from Stephen’s point of view is that he’s had dreams about being a vampire or encountering vampires since he was a small child. Far from being frightened by these experiences, Stephen was fascinated. Since childhood, he has always had a fascination with immortality. As he got older, his vampire dreams became more sexual in nature. He also took on different roles in these dreams. Sometimes he was the vampire, sometimes the vampire hunter, other times the victim of the vampire. Many times the vampire dream was a recurring theme. Sometimes he’s a prospective victim, trying to leave the space where the vampire is coming. Of late his dreams have been about being a part of a paramilitary group fighting terrorists. But he’s sure that vampires will soon return as a theme. But as far as I am concerned, the whole vampire theme is an interest I only pursue in my waking life. We want to hear about your dreams about being a vampire, vampire hunter, or vampire victim. There will be a test next period. That’s humor, folks.
As you can see, dreams are like a vast role playing game. There are so many roles you can play in your dreams. Be watching for another extension of Dreamwork for Pagans coming here soon. In fact, after consulting my Master List, it’s coming as soon as we finish posting this Welcome & Intro. This morning I woke up to a marathon of Kindred the Embraced on the SyFy channel. It just reinforced for me what a gem of a show it really was. Where were you and what were you doing when Kindred the Embraced premiered on network TV? I know what I was doing. I was wasting away in Margaritaville. Actually no. I was living with my SO Doc in Cupertino. It was just before I was to get on the Internet, and change my life completely. Let’s review the names of the 5 clans of vampires. There’s Toreador, Brujah, Nosferatu, Gangrel, and Ventrue. That was Julian Luna’s clan. According to the book I have from the game, Sabbat is the 6th clan, and the Camarilla is the 7th clan. The TV series only lists the first 5 clans I mentioned. The other two are in the book The Kindred Most Wanted. It came out in 94. Alastor is a group of archons, and the archons are the main sires.
Many Neolithic cultures had clans,. The Japanese had clans, the Scots and Irish had clans, the US had just one klan, the KuKluxKlan (that’s supposed to be humor, folks). From what Stephen understands, each clan had special abilities that made them distinctive from the other clans. For example: the Toreador clan was the sex clan. The Brujah were warrior types, the muscle. The Gangrel liked to project themselves as bad asses and ride around on motorcycles. Nosferatu were the most ancient and wisest of the clans. They also hold onto the Masquerade the most stringently.
In the short lived series Moonlight, we learned that cats and vampires are mortal enemies. In fact, any animal that we commonly think of as pets are anathema to vampires, except for wolves and possibly snakes or other reptiles. But werewolves and vampires seem to hate each other. Go figure. You can check for books about the Masquerade at Amazon.com. We don’t recommend Ebay because it’s an auction site. It’s all right if you have unlimited funds. But if you don’t, stay away from there.
It really pisses us off that at this time of year we Pagans are not at all considered by the media. The Christians have their Christmas, the Jews have their Hannukah, but are we given credit for starting the Solstice celebrations? Noooooooooooooooooo! After all if it weren’t for us celebrating the winter solstice/Saturnalia/birthday of Sol Invictus /Dionysus’ birth/Mithras, there would be no winter holidays. The Church only started “celebrating” December 25th because our Pagan forebears were out in the street getting drunk, swivving everything that moved, and generally being rowdy instead of being at mass in church. The church co-opted the holiday to get people piously in church to cut down on the Pagan rowdiness. Stephen won’t even celebrate it, but I do, reclaiming it as a Pagan holiday. It’s ours, it’s always been ours, and it’s going to stay ours, dammit, but only if we all come out of our broom closets and claim it as ours, even as Samhain has always been ours. Stephen calls it Jeazmus. But he’s missing the point.
If you know anyone who wants a fairly cheap housing situation with two congenial Pagan magickal housemates in an ethnically mixed neighborhood in Sacramento, contact me at tezra.reitan@gmail.com or Stephen at abbottsinn_school@yahoo.com or Stephen at his phone number 916-455-2267. Also, we desperately need donations to keep Abbott’s Inn International School of Magick afloat. You can send donations of any size to either Stephen’s Paypal account at abbottsinn@gmail.com or abbottsinn_school@yahoo.com or my Paypal account at tezra.reitan@gmail.com. If it’s for at least $32, you’ll get either a reading or a class from our vast collections of divination decks/methods/tools or for the class, pick a topic from our vast repertoire in the field of magick. For $60, you can actually have both a reading and a class. I don’t have my webcam hooked up yet, or my mic, but with Stephen you can have sound and video on Yahoo IM, Windows Msgr or Skype. With me for a short while, it’ll be just phone or typing on Yahoo IM or Windows Msgr. Thank you for using and disseminating Stephen’s Zodiac referral number 1-800-280-8496. Stephen1580. It helps ever so much when you use it instead of the regular number because you don’t pay any more, but he makes three times as much. We’re both on SSI, thanks to Arnold Schwarzenegger drastically cut both of our checks, and Keen isn’t coming up with the paying calls. I haven’t made one cent since signing on with Keen. My clients all demand free five minute readings, and refuse to go over that five minutes for a paid reading. In fact, it’s cost me money to bid so altogether, Keen has been pretty much of a total loss for me. If you need money, kids, mow lawns or babysit, don’t join a psychic reading service, because it’ll just suck in what little money you do have.
Do check out the PaganRadioNetwork.net It’s free, although they certainly do accept donations. Doesn’t everyone? Seems like everyone has his hat out nowadays, and we’re sorry to be part of that, but the situation is dirt. We almost lost our power yesterday. In these times of smaller SSI checks, a bankrupt state, and practically non-existent paying KEEN calls, the prices just seem to be rising all the time for less and less service or quality.
In order to keep his computer alive, or perhaps get a new computer, Stephen needs a new battery and Windows 7, because Vista is just too unreliable. Vista is the worst operating system since 98. But first Stephen has to pay off his rent, and so do I. Don’t buy a Dell or do business with Wells Fargo. They’re both ripoffs.
If you’re ever in Sacramento, look up Walter Rhoads and Julie Maahs. Together they own Gallery 14 at 14th St. and 60th Avenue. We’re promoting them big time. Walter Rhoads has a very interesting and different approach to art. He compares himself to the late great Jackson Pollock but there are two main differences: Rhoads is still drawing breath with a healthy 98.6 degrees temperature (except when he’s sick, in which case it’s somewhat higher) and I think Jackson Pollock was gay, and Rhoads is, like us, hopelessly hetero.
We certainly hope you’ve enjoyed this post. Sorry about my negativity up there, but I’ve been very depressed by this economy lately, and wishing I were with Doc in the Summerland.
Tegwedd ShadowDancer
Stephen Abbott
Inky my BFF (BoyFriend Forever)
Little (Big)Boy
Oreo (the Mouser)
Bailee Beasley Beastly
Frikki & Frakki
Dr. Livingston I. Presume aka Prince Henry the Navigator
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