Red, White, and Tuna

G and I caught "Red, White, and Tuna" at the Paramount Theater last night. It was hysterical. Spooky characters included R.R. Snavely, the alien abductee, and Didi Snavely, owner of the used gun shop. We also saw "A Tuna Christmas" last December and recommend that as well.

Transylvania 6-5000

Perhaps only .01% of the population should have to watch "Transylvania 6-5000" sober, and I have already done so for everyone with any connection to this blog. It's supposed to be a comedy where--in "Scooby Doo" fashion but without the charm--the horror creatures all have rational explanations.

Jeff Goldblum is cast as Jack Harrison, a role mercifully less annoying than his Dr. Ian Malcom from "Jurassic Park," and Ed Begley Jr. plays his co-tabloid-journalist partner, Gil Turner. Bright spots are Carol Kane as Lupi and Geena Davis as Odette, though I have no idea how either of them ended up in this movie.

Spooky Link

Thanks to DMF for letting me know about Steady Beat, an upcoming manga comic set here in glorious Austin.

Darth Tater

As part of the tie-in merchandizing associated with "Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith," Hasbro is offering a Mr. Potato Head a' la Darth Vader, which will include a removable cape, helmet, shoes, nose, eyes, teeth, and of course lightsaber. It runs $7.99.

No, I'm not kidding. Click the link if you don't believe me.

Nightmare Factory

An online pal who took pity on me after my cynsations post about Pecan Street Emporium closing (thus ending my supply of fiberoptic Dracula heads) wrote suggesting Nightmare Factory as a shopping alternative.

I'd also like to mention that there's an interesting interview: "Anne McCaffrey: Heirs to Pern" in the November 2004 Locus, which everybody but me probably already read, but just in case...

Tie this week for best comic: Batgirl #63 and Superman/Batman #19.

Do I Need Therapy?

I'm from the heartland, so I don't really believe in therapy.

But I had a dream last night that I was in my oldest childhood friend's industrial loft and found a broken chocolate bar on the floor. (She doesn't and has never lived in a loft).

I walked into her bedroom to read, and her ex husband came in with her best friend (the friend just got married and her ex was his best man, so that's probably why I thought of them) to say "hi." They both had "Asian god" faces painted on their chins and chests.

I left to go into the main room and a window frame was slamming against the building. I couldn't get it closed. G appeared behind me, pulled it shut, and fastened the latch.

But then the actual glass began to buckle inward and the building started to fall.

I had a vivid physical sensation of being pressed against the wall and then turned upside down. I remember thinking I was going to die, and I tried to say something but couldn't talk. Woke up shaking. Hell of a way to start the day.

Author Interview: Holly Black on Tithe: A Modern Faeire Tale

Surf over to cynsations for an interview with Holly Black, author of Tithe: A Modern Faeire Tale (Simon & Schuster, 2002).

Spooky Link

Author Profile: Holly Black from Teenreads.com. A May 11, 2004 author interview.

Knight on the Town

Dinner last night with F and B at Chez Nous downtown, followed by drinks at the Driskill (water for me; still on antibios). Pondering some bat hairclips I saw in a shop window... Tried another ep of "Forever Knight" and considering ordering more. G is appalled.

Forever Knight

G was kind enough to watch the two-part pilot to "Forever Knight" with me last night, even though he thought it was slow and boring.

The premise is a lot like "Angel" (and a number of novels), which it of course predates: vampire detective seeks redemption and his humanity. "Angel" is much smarter, slicker, sexier, wittier, and all things better. But I was still (unlike G) interested, if only academically.

The one FK mythology aspect that really bothered me was that if you were bitten by a vampire you (a) might become one or (b) you might die. It seemed a little too much of a wild card. Maybe it had to do with how much blood was taken, but that wasn't clear either. It should take more of a ritual than that.

Werewolves, sure. If a werewolf bites someone, that's one valid mythology tact for turning someone. But werewolves don't exist by biting people.

Vampires do. There would be way too many vampire running/flying (they flew!) around.

Also, the vampires-can't-fall-in-love thing seemed like a gratuitous conflict tossed in to generate UST. I felt the same way I did about it in Superman II. Why not?

In other news, yesterday, I bought devastatingly goddess-like, dangling pink earrings from Emeralds and had a lovely lunch with A on the breezeway at ZTejas.

Twice Bitten

This week I picked up a copy of Twice Bitten: Love In Vein II edited by Poppy Z. Brite at BookPeople. You know me when it comes to fangs and fur. So far, I've read only the first story, "Snow, Glass, Apples," a retelling by Neil Gaiman, and it alone is worth the price of the book.

Comic of the week is Teen Titans #23.

Spooky Link

An Interview With Poppy Z. Brite from Bookslut.

Green Meteor Rocks

Am I the only person who wants them to just go ahead already and say "kryptonite" on "Smallville?"

By comparison, did you ever notice how, as a mythological context, The Hellmouth never seemed to become tired?

And what is this I hear about Joss and Wonder Woman anyway? Color me a happy girl.

Crustaceans

Something about ripping crustaceans asunder and eating out the meat makes me feel powerful and also full of very tasty seafood. I realize this will upset certain animal rights folks, who should take comfort in the fact that I no longer eat mammals due to Freddie.

Cat and Claw

As you may recall, I'm a Catwoman/Batman 'shipper, so yesterday I watched "Cat and Claw," a two-parter from Batman: The Animated Series (1992) on DVD.

Basically, it's a first meeting for Bruce and Selina who face off against each other and together against a terrorist. Very heavy on the gender references, ie., Batman's surprise that Gotham's new cat burgular is a woman and Red Claw's assertion that it would take a woman to beat him.

For those of you not paying attention, Catwoman has her own comic now, is newly a "good guy" (reformed but not declawed), and Batman spends many Gotham nights at her penthouse.

Lament if you will the growing-up of comics, but let's face it. Their love has been brewing longer than Charles and Camilla's, and frankly, the crime fighters seem like they'd be a lot more fun at a dinner party.

My hands-down favorite Catwoman is of course Eartha Kitt, though I acknowledge that Michelle Pfieffer* was great in Tim Burton's 1992 Batman Returns. Loved the outfit.

I refuse to discuss the 2004 Halle Berry film, except to say that it is always a mistake to outright dismiss the core fandom.

*Michelle Pfieffer has actually been in a number of spooky movies; my fave was The Witches of Eastwick (which also starred--sigh--Cher). On the fantasy front, she was in Ladyhawke, and on the kitsch front, she was in Grease 2.

Dead Pleasures

According to a generator at Necrotic Obsession, my goth name is "Dead Pleasures."

I don't so much like it.

All of my friends' goth names are more fun.

I'm envious.

Elvis

Just spent the last few days in the Kansas City suburbs, for me a place where ghosts lurk at every corner. Speaking of which, I spotted Elvis in a green Caddy on Thursday night at the QT gas station on the corner of Pflum and College Boulevard.

The Four Seasons

Divine places to be this time of year include the lobby lounge at the Four Seasons--Austin at one of the tables in front of the open french doors overlooking Town Lake.

6th and Lamar

Took a break from the world for a few minutes to eat a spicy tuna and cucumber brown rice sushi roll while reading Ms. and wearing my organic cotton "Earth Goddess" T-shirt at an outdoor table at the corporate headquarters of Whole Foods on 6th and Lamar. It occurred to me that I was every inch the central Austin cliché and that was just fine with me.

Last night, I watched "Dave," starring Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver. I particularly enjoyed the homage to Weaver's role in "Aliens."

I once read an article in TV Guide, suggesting that Sarah Michelle Gellar own Buffy the way that Sigourney Weaver did Ripley. I still think that's good advice.

Folks of interest to me of late include absynthemuse.com, "a young adult writing community."

Julia Roberts

Perhaps you're thinking, But Cyn, Julia Roberts isn't at all spooky.* And I suppose that's true. She's quite lovely really.

However, in the midst of an intense several days of all things book, I took a break tonight to watch "My Best Friend's Wedding" (1997).

I have several observations:
(1) the cell phones were enormous;
(2) the casting people at "Will and Grace" weren't kidding about role modeling;
(3) the film does a great job of showing off Chicago (thus making me home sick);
(4) weddings are as bad as funerals when it comes to drama (and in many of the same ways);
(5) nobody in their right mind would think she should've ended up with that guy in the first place, and obviously the real best friend is the one who's actually there for her when she needs him.

*maybe a bit if you factor in "Mary Reilly."

Amelia Atwater-Rhodes

Have been too busy at TLA to be spooky, but I was sad to have missed author/speaker Amelia Atwater-Rhodes.

Gossip: the buzz on Libba Bray's Rebel Angels (Delacorte, 2005) is so good that someone actually stole the ARC right off the publisher display table.

Sending out good luck wishes to SP! (The GK e is in the queue).

Nightmare

Last night I dreamed that I was in a one-story house with a floor-to-ceiling picture window, that the ground around it was on fire from lava, but the house didn't burn. Instead, it was hit by a tidal wave, which drenched and darkened everything, but only for a moment.

Then the dream shifted as grass sprang up where the lava had once been and trees magically grew to thirty-plus feet tall. But then a strong wind or invisible force swept through the outdoors.

It didn't affect anyone inside the house, but the trees uprooted and began running across the tropics-turned-savannah, along with a wildebeast. If any of you dream-interpretation folks have any ideas...

Boy Proof by Cecil Castellucci

Surf over to cynsations to check out my recommendation of Boy Proof by Cecil Castellucci. Though it's realistic contemporary fiction, the novel is of interest to spooky fans because the protagonist, Victoria, called "Egg," is a tremendous fan of speculative film and fiction. I see a lot of myself in her, and I bet you will, too.

Memories

Sometimes I think memories are like ghosts. They're waiting around a corner or lurking in the mist. You catch them or they catch you, and you're surprised by how powerful they are.

Just finished Boy Proof by (Miss) Cecil Castellucci (Candlewick, 2005) and Dancing In Red Shoes Will Kill You by Dorian Cirrone (HarperCollins, 2005) both of which would appeal to spooky fans, each for a different reason. More on that soon.

Must clean the house right now! GG arrives tommorrow for TLA (other authors also incoming; am B&B Cyn this week).

Free Comic Day; Angel; Spooky

A few quick thoughts:

Free Comic Day is May 7;

Am coveting a Wolfram & Hart T-shirt;

Refrigerator door did this weird swinging thing when I was making my sandwich (turkey with 2% American on a whole wheat tortilla).