I've been sitting home today with a migraine, that hurts so much I can't sleep, so I thought I'd catch up with a movie I've been meaning to watch for a while...Raw. It kept popping up in top horror movie lists and it's no wonder. I found myself asking wtf throughout...that's a good thing! It has believable characters, a good storyline, and is very gory. I should also mention it's subtitled.

***Warning Spoilers Ahead****

The premise is easy. There's a vegetarian family with two daughters. One, Alex, is already in veterinarian college, the younger daughter, Justine, is being dropped off for her first week there. Coming of age story right?

The school has CRAZY extreme hazing. The newbies are kidnapped and forced to go to an underground party, the next day they have blood thrown on them a la Carrie style and walk around covered in dried on blood, they are encouraged to eat raw animal parts, if not dressed right they have to diaper on the outside of their clothes, and have paint thrown at them. wtf. Um, not my idea of a fun time. I would prob avoid that school if I knew about any of this.

College can be bloody hell.

The important thing to note is that Justine DID eat a raw rabbit's kidney, after watching her sister eat one. It causes her to breakout all over in a red itchy rash. Justine goes to the doctor and she gets cream for it. The doctor then pulls out a cigarette and starts smoking in the hospital room. wtf.

The rash goes away, but she notices she's ravenous for meat and starts eating meat, and raw meat, and her hair. The most disturbing part of the movie for me was when she begins to hack up a hairball. Give me blood and guts any day, but clumped hair in my mouth. That's a nope.

Get this girl some hairball meds.

Justine wants to bond with her sister because she knows there's something different about her especially with her cravings. Alex is mostly annoyed by her, but tries to help her by making her look more sexy. Justine agrees to let Alex wax her lady area. Um, I'm not close with my sister, but is this what close sisters do? wtf. In the process Alex's finger ends up getting lopped off. Justine eats the finger. You read that right. SHE EATS HER SISTERS FINGER!

Finger licking good.

Alex goes to the hospital with Justine where their parents meet them. The parents are strict vegetarians, but the dad smokes. I guess I'm just not used to seeing people smoke in movies like they used to. They of course, can't sew the finger back on because it's gone and they blame their dog.

Alex shows Justine, that she's a cannibal too by running in front of moving cars. wtf. The cars then swerve and hit a tree, and she eats the passengers. Justine doesn't seem that surprised, but she also doesn't want to start eating people. She's trying to control her urges, but ends up self medicating with booze at a party. Her sister finds her at the party and makes a fool of her by taunting her with corpses. Unbeknownst to her the whole thing was filmed. Justine finds out about the public humiliation and fights Alex in the school quad. They end up biting each other.

This is a movie with bite.

The next morning Justine's room mate that she has a crush on is dead. Alex stabbed and ate him. She goes to jail. Once home, mom, dad, and Justine are sitting around the kitchen table. Then wtf plot twist. I won't tell you what it is.

I give this movie 4.5 rabbit kidneys out of 5. Almost every scene has blood or blood stains somewhere, and it's a refreshing visceral take on cannibalism.

Here's the trailer...

About a year ago some scientists in South Australia and New Zealand conducted a study on the temperament of cats and called it the Feline Five. A similar model to finding out personality traits in people, they asked over 2500 cat owners to observe their cats and fill out a survey. It's the first study of it's kind done on such a large scale! Relatively little is known about domestic cats, since most researchers gather information from cat colonies or in labs. Captive animals have been monitored for a long time, i.e. animals in zoos, but this is a whole different ball-of-yarn-game since a cats typical environment is in a household. From the results we can ensure our domestic animals are happy, healthy, and basically improve their overall welfare!

This study groups cat behavior into five categories to be graded: Skittishness, Outgoingness, Dominance, Spontaneity, and Friendliness. There is a gray area typical of most cats, but a certain combination of traits are unique to your cat.

Just like a human's personality over a lifetime, a cat's may change over time. As cats get older they are more skiddish, but more dominant than younger cats. They are also more set in their ways. They didn't include any cats under a year old because their personalities are still in flux. This is why I could never adopt a kitten, don't get me wrong they are adorbs, but I want to know what they are like before I bring them into my house. (You can read more about kittens here.)

Take the Cat Personality Test! By taking the test, you can use the findings to personally manage their quality of life. Your cat really skiddish? Make more hiding places or add boxes. Is your cat super dominant? Don't add another cat to the household. Cats that are extroverted can get bored easily, so add some new toys to their life and play with them often. If your cat is very friendly and agreeable, they are probably happy. Basically do what's right for your kitty and they will reward you in love!

I took the survey for both Ginger Rogers and Vicktor Frankenstein. Ginger scored High in Skittishness, which I already knew. She's a nervous cat and was a stray when we adopted her, so I think she had some trauma when she was kitten. She scored very High on Friendliness too, which means she can adjust well to other people and pets in the home. Vicktor scored mostly average, but in Skittishness he scored low, which means he's very well adjusted to his environment. (Also set in his stodgy old man ways.) I wouldn't have them any other way!

My lazy cats on a meow-tain of blankets.

You can read the full summary of the study here.

Let me, brooch...er I mean broach the subject of enamel pins. I never thought I'd be a pin person, but it started with the Pale Muppet Kermit Enamel Pin from Creepy Co. I couldn't resist, plus with my horror box subscriptions there's often a really cool pin included in the box, so there you have it, I wear enamel pins now!

Recently I discovered The Pickety Witch Shop. I think it popped up as an ad on my facebook page or something similarly creepy. (I swear social media sites are inside our heads.) Anyway, I went to her etsy and saw The Poison Tea two piece enamel pin and fell in LOVE.

I'm a tea junkie. I had a tea party themed 40th bday, a tea tasting party a few months ago, went to a tea blending class, I read books on witches and tea, and I'm trying to learn how to read tea leaves. I haven't found anyone locally that reads tea leaves, so I'm trying to read as many books as I can on the subject and teach myself. I really need to practice more, and I wish I had more time to focus on it. Who knows?! Maybe I'll have a tea leaf reading party in the future!

Needless to say I ordered this pin along with a "seconds sale" cat pin. They shipped pretty quick and came in a little jewelry pouch with dried lavender!!! I'm also a lavender junkie and attend the Niagara Lavender Festival every year. This shop gets me. I highly recommend them.

Lavender Festival 2018.

Side note: I finally figured out what to do with all the pins when they aren't on my jean jacket...I bought a hanging banner pin holder from Krampus Cuties! She makes super fun hair ties, and I model for her, but I'm sure if you ask nicely she can make a hanging banner pin holder for you too!

Thanks for reading, until next time!

Last April you may remember our special guest Jodee Bowie and her unboxing of the Curry Creeper Crate that she won. This time she ordered a Labyrinth Glamour Ghoul Box and asked if I wanted to film an unboxing video and come over for dinner. I can't say no to good food. You can watch my rambling, find out what our fav movie scenes are, and watch us sniff things.

Here's the packing slip for the box. Half the stuff was unlabeled, so we refer to this a lot in the video.

1. Bath Bomb from PopNatural. They even have skull shaped ones on their etsy page! It doesn't really look like much.

2. Goblin Fruit Soap from Rebel Rouge Labs. It looks like tie dye and smells great! You can find this on their website along with makeup and skin care products too.

3. Goblin King Perfume from Unofficial Natural Fandom Fragrances. It smells like holiday time. Fall is just around the corner! Doesn't look like much. It looks like this is exclusive to Glamour Ghoul.

4. Adorable sticker from Bright Bat Design. They sells things that are cute and creepy. This is available on their website.

5. Goblin King Decal from Build Your Empire. You can find it in black on their website.

6. Finally there is a mystery magnet.

I'm no stranger to the movie Labyrinth. The first time I saw it, I was babysitting and the little girl asked to watch it. I thought it was ok. My husband ~ on the other hand ~ when he first saw it, was introduced to Jennifer Connelly and found his crush. Needless to say, the year he picked Halloween costumes, this happened...

Both of these were the same year. We had this costume picked but then were invited to a Halloween wedding. I couldn't wear a big puffy white dress to someone else's wedding! That's a faux pas, so I ended up doing the other look. 

Keep an eye on my blog. We have a lot of unboxings coming up and thanks for reading!

This summer has been fun and hot so far. Ginger went back to the vet for blood work and she's still on steroids. They prescribed an appetite stimulant again. Good news is that she's back up to five pounds, so we're just keeping an eye on her eating habits.

Here she is just hanging out on my lap watching Supernatural. She's in love with Sam.

This past weekend was pretty busy. On Friday, I worked at Cats Like Us during the day, and  volunteered at the Burchfield-Penny Art Center in the evening. They have free admission second Fridays every month, so I knew it would be busy. I used to work at the BPAC over ten years ago, and it was nice to see old co-workers and friends. I hope they ask me back every month! And in theme with my "Everyday is Halloween" Fashion, I wore a Black Cat Dress for Friday the 13th. I didn't get a full outfit picture, but this is the print.

Saturday night Andrew ~ my hubs ~ and I were invited to a Taco and Tiki party. So of course we donned our tiki finest ~ one of our matching vintage barkcloth "honeymoon sets". (Yes, we have more than one matching set.) They are helpful when you're drunk and can't find your partner. 😉

I suggested he wear his taco print socks, but he said that would be "too extra".

Tiki earrings by Coffin Kitsch.

My Sunday was jam packed. I started by attending the inaugural Retro Day at the Buffalo Zoo. (By the way, it's the third oldest zoo!) It was hosted by the Nickel City Dolls. They gave out retro swag bags and organized a group photo with all the attendees. It was hot and humid, so I opted for something easy to wear. A vintage 1970s wrap skirt that I made to look 1940s with a puff sleeve blouse, 1940s inspired sandals, and my hair up Rosie the Riveter style.

Me & the live Buffaloes.

I really love the giraffe family they have at the zoo. Here's the baby opting for tree leaves instead of the food from his bucket.

Sunday afternoon we caught up with friends at the 6Ft B-lo Hearse Car Show. You heard that right, a hearse car show! It was still very humid, but we enjoyed shopping with vendors and seeing the hearses. I never really thought about it, but I've never seen a hearse up close. They are really big cars and the ones on display were beautifully maintained.

I wore a hearse dress because I'm not afraid to dress in theme.

Lots of the vendors were people that I have worked with before. I mentioned Coffin Kitsch above, she's now dipping her toes in resin jewelry, eyeglass cases, and kitsch-tacular hair flowers, in addition to vintage clothing! Across Lots was vending, I blogged about her vintage inspired, but very wearable handmade hair adornments before on Fluffy.  Sweetheart Pinup Photography Studio, my neighbor from down the street, was booking sessions and selling merch. The local artisan Warning that was interviewed a few years ago for Cats Like Us was debuting new products that we just had to have. We bought these cat glasses and a plate. 

Summer is limited in Buffalo, NY to about four months, so residents jam pack as much outdoor stuff as they can into the long hots days. I'm no exception. Thanks for reading and who knows what my next weekend adventure will bring!

So a funny thing happened this year for my birthday ~ four of my friends gave me the same gift unbeknownst to them ~ I received four necklaces! I love jewelry and try to wear all the things I have, so it makes sense that my friends know I like necklaces. Granted, they are all different in their own way, but perfect too.

Andrew my husband gave me a pink elephant necklace complete with martini glass because I like cocktails (and a subscription to Fangoria. Yep, Fangoria is publishing a paper copy of their magazine again! Whoot! You can read about my history with them here.)

This necklace is from Atomic Crush Design. If you're into memorializing your cat on the epitome of Mid Century Modern kitsch in a mosaic gravel wall panel, this is the place for you! They do custom work and have some pieces pre-made for immediate sale. Their works are expertly detailed to look like vintage pieces. I may have one made of my Ginger someday, but for now I'll settle for a whimsical necklace.

Samples of what they offer...

"Hey babe, what's your sign?"  "I'm a crab and a cancer to everyone that knows me, so stay away!" Check out this vintage crab necklace. It represents my personality quite nicely.

My dear friend Coffin Kitsch gave me this fun Freddy Krueger pin and necklace from Zanti (aka Chris Orlando) you can find him at horror conventions and comic cons. The pieces are original designs cast in pewter. So cool. The pin immediately found a home on my jean jacket.

Finally a cat necklace and earring set. Let me tell you it's really hard to find tiki cat things, but this Bosco designed cat is the perfect combo. The glass beads are so sparkly it looks like there's lights behind them!

Oh and if anyone was wondering in the Chinese Zodiac I was born in the Year of the Dragon. One of the traits of Dragons is that we attract people who are elegant, intelligent, and understanding. It's true my friends are awesome. Cheers to another year!

You thought I forgot, but yes I feel like I'm in the home stretch of Supernatural. This blog is about seasons 11 and 12, but you can read my thoughts on 1&2, 3&4, 5&6, 7&8, and 9&10. It's been a long haul and now season 13 is on Netflix and I feel like I'll never get caught up! Until then, you can follow my other ramblings, who knows maybe I'll take up a new series to blog about. (One that's not 13 seasons long!)

I felt season 11 was the weakest of all the seasons, until the very end, that's why it took me so long to get through. (Sorry for the delay in reviewing.) In this season we find "The Darkness" takes over and sweeps Dean away from Sam. We find out The Darkness is a woman that has the Mark Of Cain, therefore has a connection to Dean, but first she turns into a baby named "Amara", then a young girl and Crowley takes her as his own daughter, feeding her souls. Each time she feeds she gets older and is growing at a rapid pace making Crowley uneasy until she becomes a woman again. (Side note: Why did we have to go through her baby phase?) The Darkness is the biggest oldest thing they've ever had to fight and we find out she is the sister to the big G-O-D. Who just happens to be in the form of Chuck the "prophet of God" that we were introduced to a couple years ago.

Chuck aka God and Amara aka The Darkness are brother and sister.

Cas finds Metatron who is living as a human because his grace is gone. Metatron is the one that reveals that The Darkness is God's sister. God aka Chuck recruits Metatron to help edit his Autobiography, and Metatron finds out that he is going to let The Darkness take over his "experiment" aka the earth and everything surrounding it. Metatron ends up getting killed by Amara.

The gang: Dean, Sam, Cas with Lucifer in him, Crowley, and Rowena take the Darkness on a couple of times before they decide to blow her up with a soul bomb that's housed in Dean. God intervenes and both him and The Darkness make up and live happily ever after, but first they remove the bomb from Dean and grant him his deepest wish. The Darkness brings back his mom, Mary Winchester!!!

Yep, that's how the Season 11 ends ~ with Mary back! 

(I love that the same actress plays her.)

Meanwhile, Sam keeps having visions of the cage in hell. It has that Hellraiser feel again. Like when Dean was in hell back in Season 3. Sam ends up confronting Lucifer in his trapped cage, accidentally releasing him and Lucifer takes over Cas' body. Misha Collins that plays Cas is great because he's had a chance to play so many different characters. You can tell when he is someone else even though he looks the same. He takes over different mannerisms really really well. It's fun to watch.

Rowena is still in the picture because she's powerful and still has the Book of the Damned, but it can't help against The Darkness. Oh and her dresses are still stunning.

Just look at that blue dress Rowena is sporting! Sequins and all!

By the end of Season 11, the sun is fading and everyone thinks it's being caused by The Darkness, but she's not doing anything. We find out the Men of Letters London Chapter blames Sam and Dean for the sun fading, and the representative Toni Bevell from London office comes and possibly shoots Sam in the last episode of Season 11. We are left hanging until the next season. Sam could die without knowing that Dean is still alive and his mom is back!

Toni Bevell is a bitch. Here she is shooting Sam.

Season 12 is all about the Men of Letters as per the opening sequence. We find out there is a Men of Letters London Chapterhouse, and Toni feels that Sam and Dean are just as bad as the monsters they hunt. She would be content to kill them. We also meet Mick and Ketch from London. Mick is trying to recruit American hunters to kills monsters their way because they have better technology, but he's having a hard time. Ketch is the guy that kills to clean up loose ends. Mary Winchester starts working for the Men of Letters behind her boys backs, but eventually Sam and Dean agree to work with them. Little do the Winchesters know that the Men of Letters have bugged the bunker. We also find out that since recruitment didn't go as planned, the London Chapter wants to kill ALL the American hunters including Sam and Dean, but not Mary because she is such a skilled fighter. They brainwash Mary into killing the American hunters for them. Eventually she snaps out of it and what's left of the American hunters go in and attack the Men of Letters killing all of them in their hideout.

Lucifer after leaving Cas is now in Vince Vincente, an ageing hair metal rock star, played by Rick Springfield. I was impressed with his acting. (Side note: Rick Springfield was in the pilot of my fav vampire TV show Nick Knight, which turned into Forever Knight.) Then Lucifer enters a priest, then the President of the US. While in the President he has relations with a gal named Kelly and she becomes pregnant with his baby, making the baby a nephilim. She wants to keep the baby. She goes missing and Dagon one of the Princes of Hell, starts taking care of her and hides her from the Winchesters. Kelly tried to kill herself but the baby saves her. (Kinda predictable.)

Cas is also recruited by heaven to kill Kelly's baby, but he can't do it. He knows there can be a better way. At first he wants to take her to heaven killing both of them. Then He has a vision of the future from the baby and hides her away in a remote cottage. Sam and Dean want to cast a spell making her baby normal instead of a nephilim. But everything happens too late.

The last episode of Season 12 is action packed. Sam, Dean, Crowley, and Mary find Cas and pregnant Kelly. Even before her baby is born it opens a rift in space and time that looks like a light up rip. Cas touches it and gets transported to a parallel earth dimension where Bobby is still alive!!!! BUT Sam and Dean were never born.

Gotta love Bobby being back.

In the meantime, Lucifer finds Kelly and Cas too. The team lures Lucifer into the other world hoping to trap him by closing the door to the other dimension. In order to do that, a life must be given and Crowley sacrifices himself! The rift ends up closing but not before Lucifer kills Cas and drags Mary back into the bizarro  dimension. Oh and Kelly has her baby and dies, only it's not a baby but a young man. There's a lot to take in in this episode.

With Mary Winchester back, she's finally the string female character they need. It only took 12 seasons to figure that out! Grrrr argggg.

PLUS- "Baby" Season 11, episode 4 is completely shot from the perspective of the Impala. She actually gets a lot of information and sees s lot. It's just an interesting vantage point.

PLUS- "Plush" Season 11, episode 7. Sheriff Donna returns aka "fat sucking Donna" from a couple season ago. She's great, and a strong female character. She's perfect. This episode is about a vengeful spirit that is attached in old plush costumes. This is totally an episode I would have written. I do a lot of thrift shopping and I can't even imagine what other lives some things may have. The giant furry heads get stuck on the wearer until they kill. The costumes include a bunny, jester, clown, and deer. So many terrifying bunnies. Anya in Buffy (reference) was terrified of bunnies, and all I could think of was the movie Summer School with bunnies or Monty Python with bunnies. I feel like this episode is a legit fear.

PLUS- "Just My Imagination" Season 11, episode 8. We get to see Sam's childhood imaginary friend Sully. I'm a sucker for flashback episodes. I think they round out the characters and you can see how alone Sam is as a child.

PLUS- "The Devil is in the Details" Season 11, episode 10. Lucifer shows more of Sam's life since the beginning of the Supernatural TV show. He's like the ghost of Christmas past. Great recap and flashback.

PLUS- "Into the Mystic" Season 11, episode 11. Dee Wallace Stone guest stars!

PLUS- "Don't You Forget About Me" Season 11, episode 11. Claire, Alex, and Sheriff Mills are back.

PLUS-"Safe House" Season 11, episode 16. Bobby and Rufus are back in a flashback with a parallel story with Sam and Dean.

PLUS- "All in the Family" Season 11, episode 21. Dean and Sam find out Chuck is God and they see Kevin Tran for the last time. (Remember him?) He gets set to heaven, making a new prophet of God Donatello ~ the atheist.

PLUS- "Alpha and Omega" Season 11, episode 23. Billie the reaper gathers enough souls to make a powerful bomb against Amara. They think Amara is killing the sun but the sun is connected to God and God is dying. The perfect song is playing "Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying" by Gerry and the Pacemakers.

PLUS- "American Nightmare" Season 12, episode 4. A creepy religious cult family keeps their psychic daughter locked away in the basement and I think this is the first time "stigmata" is mentioned. I find that strange for a supernatural show to finally hit on that.

PLUS- "Celebrating the Life of Asa Fox" Season 12, episode 6. We get a little flashback of Mary Winchester as a hunter and how she influenced a young boy to grow up and become a hunter. We find out Jody Mills had a relationship with him and at his death Mary and Jody finally meet at a gathering of hunters that pay their respects to him. Appropriately "Man in the Box" by Alice in Chains is playing in this episode. I'd say that's a right-on fit for a wake.

PLUS- "First Blood" Season 12, episode 9. Sam and Dean are arrested and in a hidden government facility for what the FBI think is attempted murder of the President. They get out by making a pact with Billie the reaper to pretend they are dead long enough to get them out in exchange for one of the Winchesters to give up their life. Cas find out and kills Billie. It's totally bad ass and his speech after he does it is great.

PLUS-"Lily Sunder Has Some Regrets" Season 12, episode 10. Now we get a Cas flashback when his vessel was a woman. He and his team completed a mission at the turn of the century killing an angel father and daughter. There's a plot twist and again Cas is totally bad ass. The writing is very good in this one.

PLUS-"Regarding Dean" Season 12, episode 11. Dean is cursed by a witch and he begins to loose his memory, the things he says are funny, but it also reminds me of people with alzheimers. Also the cowboy montage at the end of this episode is funny and weird.

PLUS-"Stuck in the Middle" Season 12, episode 12. Has a Reservoir Dogs feel. They end up tacking one of the four yellow eyed Princes of Hell and kill him, but Cas is mortally wounded. Of course he's saved, but it's by Crowley. In this episode we also find out that Lucifer is being held by Crowley back in his older vessel and Mary is working for the Men of Letters but hasn't told Sam or Dean. This was a juicy episode!

PLUS- "Ladies Drink Free" Season 12, episode 16. Claire is back! She gets bit by a werewolf, but is cured. It's nice to see her around.

PLUS- "The British Invasion" Season 12, episode 17. We get to see a flashback of Mick Davies! I love a good flashback. We find out that he had to kill his best friend in school. Just when we start liking him, he's killed by Ketch.

PLUS- "The Memory Remains" Season 12, episode 18. Sam and Dean are sent to hunt Black Philip...er I man Black Bill. (Way to be demon goat trendy guys.)

PLUS- "Who We Are" Season 12, episode 22. It's the same Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode!!!! Sam makes a speech to the American hunters before they go up against the British Men of Letters, Buffy made basically the same speech to the new slayers when they had to go up against the Hellmouth. Also in this same episode Dean goes into his mother's brainwashed mind and she's stuck in a loop, just like Buffy was stuck in a loop in her mind!

Sam's speech.

Buffy's speech. 

(Only it was better because it was inspiring to real-life women.)

Dean in his mom's mind. 

I couldn't find the exact clip, but here's the trailer. Willow goes inside of Buffy's mind and she sees her as a young girl with her mother and also placing a book on a shelf as an adult. It represents the exact moment that she gave up.

MINUS- "Red Meat" Season 11, episode 17 is really intense. Sam almost dies, Dean commits suicide to make contact with Billie, the reaper and there's werewolves. At this point is seems like  lots of filler of them fighting monsters instead of focusing on finding Cas and catching Amara.

MINUS- "The Foundry" Season 12, episode 3. Enough with kids already. If I hear a baby crying I would just call the police, not barge into a strange house to investigate.

PLUS/ MINUS- "Thin Lizzie" Season 11, episode 5 takes place at the Lizzie Borden House. ONLY IT'S NOT THE LIZZIE BORDEN HOUSE! I was there, I blogged about it. It a nice nod to her, but it looks nothing like the house. I would be offended if I worked there and saw this episode. The brochure that they show is the real deal though. You can read about the episode here. Oh and the actor Finn Wolfhard, from Stranger Things is in this episode.

PLUS/ MINUS- "The One You've Been Waiting For" Season 12, episode 5 is about Nazi necromancers. The son Christoph is born in Buffalo, NY. And at one point Dean says, "Nobody goes to Buffalo". I like that they mentioned Buffalo, but actually a lot of people come here for the art, architecture, and food! End rant.

Thanks for reading! Onward and upward to season 13! Someday I'll get caught up.