Dona Nobis Pacem 2011

We are participating in November 4th's  BlogBlast for Peace 2011 - a worldwide blogging event to promote peace begun in 2006.  Like the quote says, if enough of us dream this dream of peace, it will become reality!  So dream your dream of peace with us!

Tabitha and Woody

All we are saying is give peace a chance.  ~ John Lennon

Imagine all the people living life in peace. You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one. I hope someday you'll join us, and the world will be as one. ~ John Lennon

 If everyone demanded peace instead of another television set, then there'd be peace. ~ John Lennon

Mamacita, Rosa and Joey in rear.

If someone thinks that love and peace is a cliche that must have been left behind in the Sixties, that's his problem. Love and peace are eternal.  ~ John Lennon

Snowball's Gotcha Day

Mom forgotted this until this morning!  How could she?  Pop has been away and she is taking care of all of us by herself , plus working and trying to keep up witht he blogs...yada yada yada.  MOM!  How could ya forget me?

Anyway I am happy to be inside and enjoying my life as head whitester cat (except for Al who thinks he is head cat!)  Mom thru a last minute party together so grab a plate and enjoy!

If you want to read my Gotcha story go here.  Thanks for coming and I will ponder on forgiving Mom!  Not going to be easy!

Devil Cats and Shape Shifters....

Georgie and friends

Bats, cats , spiders and pumpkins..Halloween is filled with scary things..so how about one more scary story to top off our week long Halloween celebration?

Chica here, in my She-Devil outfit trying to lure Joey into my deadly clutches.  I will do the honors of the tale today! 

You have all heard of shapeshifters - witches who were believed to be able to shift their shape into that of an animal, usually of a cat, to carry out their evil deeds.  Well...at the Tomb of Lady Ann Smith of Edmondthorpe, Leicesterhire, who died in 1652, her statue bears a strange red stain on its wrist.  Tradition says she was a witch who turned herself into a huge black cat. One night her butler struck a black cat on the paw with a cleaver. It vanished but the next day, Lady Ann displayed a wounded wrist.  The cat's bloodstains remained on the kitchen floor until 1920 when the flagstones were taken up. In her tomb, Lady Ann's wrist mysteriously bleeds under the right circumstances!

Lady Ann's tomb

Seventeenth century Scottish witch  Isabel Gowdie revealed the magic formula  she used to turn herself into a cat which was to repeat this verse:

"I shall go intill an catt,

With sorrow, and sych, and a blak shott;

And I sall goe in the Divellis nam,

Ay will I come hom againe."

Be careful out there on this night when the veils are thin between worlds!  And watch out for black cats...it could be someone you know!!!  Happy Halloween from all of us!

Cousin Itt (Aka Sweetpea)

Ivy checks out Sweetpea's costume!

Mom grew up loving the TV show The Addams' Family so when she found the wig at the thrift shop, Cousin Itt came to mind!  For those not familiar with the show, Cousin Itt is the diminutive, hairy gibberish speaking cousin of Gomez who often comes to visit the Adams family.  Sweetpea was asleep on the chair and Mom dropped the wig and sunglasses on her before she woke up.  This is the usual way to get us to wear any form of costume!  She got a couple of shots in before Sweetpea made her escape!

Sweetpea backing out from under the wig!

The TV show which ran during the 60's for a few short years was very poplar and based on the New Yorker cartoon by Charles Addams.  His work was called many things - bizarre, demonic, humorous and enchanting.  People loved his take on life and death with a very black humor.

New Yorker cartoon by Charles Addams

Addams passed away in 1988 but in a style uniquely his:
Charles Addams died on September 28, 1988 outside his home.  As a lover of cars, Charles went out and sat in his car.  After a long cruise, Charles put his head down on the steering wheel, and passed on to the other side as his heart gave out.  

He wanted to be remembered as a fun loving artist and had requested a party instead of a wake.  At the New York Public Library, a party was thrown complete with a banquet and jazz bands.  In a Boston newspaper, a cartoon was depicted in which the cartoon Addams family looked sadly down at a grave, while Charles crawled out from the other side.

The real Cousin Itt.

Happy Halloween!   We leave you now with a clip from the Addams Family with Cousin Itt.  If you can't see the clip below go here.

Camera Critters

We're Off to See the Wizard....

Help! It's me, Mamacita, trapped inside the Wicked Witch's crystal ball!  The Witch and her her Flying Monkey will keep me in here forever!

I know the Wizard of Oz is not a Halloween movie but wasn't the part at the Witch's Castle scary?  When Mom was a kid she would hide when that part came on!  For work, a couple of Halloween's ago Mom and her friend Sallie dressed up as a flying monkey and the Wicked Witch respectively.   Mom made a great flying monkey and even had wings altho they don't show up in the pics too well.  Sallie's witch was scary! Pretty cool huh?

Mom on left and Sallie on right.

Now for some Wizard of Oz trivia.....

Did you know that Margaret Hamilton's portrayal of the Wickedest Witch of the West was so frightening that most of her scenes were edited out?  We only see the softer side of her witch!!!  Yikes!!!!

Did you know that the head winged monkey was named Nikko after the Japanese town that is home to the shrine for Hear No Evil, See No Evil, Speak No Evil?

Did you know that the crystal ball in the movie was also used as a prop in the movie The Mask of Fu Manchu and Chandu the Magician.  The 25" diameter ball sold at auction in May 2011 for $126,500!

Did you know that Hamilton's green make-up was copper oxide and was poisonous?  Since it took hours to put on, Hamilton had to be very careful not to ingest it while eating.  She mainly lived on a liquid diet while in make-up.

Did you know what words the castle guards are chanting in the scene with the Scarecrow, Tin Man and Lion watching from the rocks?  Some people think they say things like "Allwe own, we owe her."  Mom thought they were saying "Or-e-o, oreo."  Actually, she was close.  They say "O-ee-ya! Eoh-ah!"

Here is the scary clip from the movie.  Sit back (or run and hide) and enjoy. (f you can't see it below, click here.)