Halloween Special : Boris Karloff's "Frankenstein"

For Halloween we continue our look back at some frightful
but classic Halloween movies of the past. Yesterday it was Lon Chaney and "Phantom of the Opera".  Today it is another classic: Boris Karloff' and "Frankenstein"!

In 1931, British stage producer and one-time cartoonist James Whale was engaged by Universal Studios in Hollywood to produce a movie about a monster, loosely based on Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley's novel "Frankenstein". As he ate his lunch in the studio commissary one afternoon, Whale considered the question of whom to cast for the role of the monster. He looked around himself at the crowds of actors eating their lunch. One man's face stood out to him among all the others, with a lean and hungry look even after he finished his meal - that of a then unknown character actor named Boris Karloff.

"Boris Karloff's face fascinated me. I made drawings of his head, added sharp bony ridges where I imagined the skull might have joined. His physique was weaker than I could wish, but that queer, penetrating personality of his, I felt, was more important than his shape, which easily could be altered."

Karloff was brought on board for the project, and for two weeks sat in the make-up chair of Universal's artist Jack P. Pierce (pictured below, with a friend), who later described how he arrived at the now famous look of the Frankenstein monster:

"I did some research in anatomy, surgery, criminology, ancient and modern burial customs, and electrody- namics. I discovered there are six ways a surgeon can cut the skull, and I figured Dr. Frankenstein, who was not a practicing surgeon would take the easiest. That is, he would cut the top of the skull off, straight across like a pot lid, hinge it, pop the brain in, and clamp it tight. That's the reason I decided to make the monster's head square and flat like a box, and dig that big scar across his forehead, and have metal clamps hold it together. The two metal studs that stick out the sides of his neck are inlets for electricity-plugs. The monster is an electrical gadget and lightning is his life force."

The final version make-up took three-and-a-half hours to put on in the morning, and an hour-and-a-half to remove at night. With a steel spine, and boots designed for use by asphalt spreaders, the total weight was forty-eight pounds Add that the entire movie was shot in an enclosed studio under lights in the heat of the summer, Universal Studio executive Carl Laemmle said "Karloff's eyes mirrored the suffering we needed."

It is a remarkable fact of Hollywood history that this essentially sweet, self-effacing man, who started off his career by frightening everyone would in 1966 finish it by warming the hearts of children and grownups everywhere by becoming the voice of  "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas"! BUT..... that is a special posting that will come at Christmas Time....


READERS!! If you would like to comment on this, or any "Today in History" posting, I would love to hear from you!! You can either sign up to be a member of this blog and post a comment in the space provided below, or you can simply e-mail me directly at: krustybassist@gmail.com.   I seem to be getting hits on this site all over the world, so please do write and let me know how you like what I'm writing (or not!)!!


Sources:

 by Dennis Gifford, Hamlyn Publ. Group Ltd. London, 1973


"Frankenstein" Universal Pictures, 1931, directed by James Whale













Image of J.P. Pierce: http://whatculture.com/film/history-of-the-universal-monsters.php

+ 203.
+ 111.

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Tasty Tuesday! Spaghetti Squash with Ricotta and Gremolata!

Spaghetti Squash with Ricotta and Gremolata

Prep: 15 minutes

Cook: 1 hour

Serves: 4

1 Medium spaghetti squash (about 2 lb.)

1 Tbsp. olive oil

    Salt and freshly ground black pepper

4 strips lemon zest

3 Tbsp. coarsely chopped parsley

1 small clove garlic, finely chopped

1 cup whole-milk ricotta

1.      Preheat oven to 350*F. Cut squash in half lengthwise and scoop out seeds. Place squash cut side up in large baking dish, drizzle with olive oil and season with ¼ tsp. each salt and pepper. Cover dish with foil. Bake for 45 to 60 minutes or until flesh is tender when pierced with a knife. Set aside to cool slightly, about 10 minutes.

2.      Make gremolata: slice lemon zest lengthwise into thin matchsticks, and then chop. Add zest to bowl with parsley, garlic and ¼ tsp. each salt and pepper.

3.      Using fork, scrape flesh from squash in long strands. Season with salt and pepper. (you should have about 3 ½ cups.) Divide squash among 4 bowls; top each with ¼ cup ricotta and about 1 Tbsp. gremolata. Drizzle with additional olive oil, if desired.

Serving Size: About ¾ cup squash, plus toppings

212 calories, 13g Fat (6g Sat.), 32mg Chol.,

4g Fiber, 9g Pro., 18g Carb., 456mg Sod., 7g Sugar,

1mg Iron, 190mg Calcium

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One Year Ago Today...............

It has been a year since I bought my little house! Can you believe it?! It has been quite the adventure. Who knew buying a house would change our lives so much?

 

Don't you love looking back on birthdays, anniversaries and other such occasions on how much has changed in the past year? In honor of this occasion I thought we could take a visual look back on all that has changed at my house in one year! (I also realized I really haven't shared all of the before/after pictures.) Of course some of the pictures are not "after" pictures, just "Progress" pictures.
 

 Entry

Before

After

 

Living Room

Before

After

 

 

Dining Room


Before

After

 

First Bedroom

Before

After

 

 

Second Bedroom

Before

After

 

Bathroom

Before

After

 

Kitchen

Before

 

Progress

 

Stairs

Before

After

 

Landing

Before

After

 

Upstairs Bedroom

Before

After

 

Sewing Room

Before

After

Porch

Before

After



Exterior

Before

After

 

It really is amazing looking back, isn't it?

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Anti Naturalist Yiyecekler

Kız
çocuklarından mutfağa girmeden büyüyenlerin en çok dertli olduğu
konudur yemek yapma işi, mutfakta büyüyüpte günün temposundan vakit
bulamayıp yemek yapma işinden dertli olanlar kategorisine girenlerin
sayısı da az değil.Günümüzde kadınların da yoğun olarak çalışması  ve iş
hayatına atılaması ile birlikte evin reisinin eve geldiği zaman,
şatafatlı sofraların kurulup dolmaların

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How To Dehydrate Kale Step by Step

Kale is a nutritious vegetable and is considered to be a form of cabbage. It can be

green or purple and is a rich source of calcium, beta-carotene and vitamins.

Like broccoli kale contains sulforaphane, which is believed to have anti-cancer properties.

Kale chips are a popular and very nutritional snack and if you happen to have kale sitting in your garden, fridge or freezer and you are not sure what to do with all of it you can always dehydrate your kale. Dehydrating kale or any other collard greens is a relatively easy process and can be done in your very own kitchen using a dehydrator or the oven.

How To Dehydrate Kale Step by Step

Step 1: Get some kale from your garden, fridge or freezer and using a knife, trim the stems. Now separate the leaves from the thick parts of the stems by cutting or tearing the leaves away.

Step 2: Keep the stems, which can be used in soups or eaten as is. Wash the leaves in cold water and allow to drain for a bit.

Step 3: If you are using a dehydrator, take the drained leaves and spread them out in a single layer on the trays. To remove any excess moisture wipe the bottom of the trays with a cloth.

Step 4: Set the dehydrator to 105 degrees and dry the leaves until they become crispy. The drying process with a dehydrator will take approximately 6 hours.

Step 5: Once dry, store your dried kale leaves in an airtight container or crumble the leaves and store them in airtight plastic bags to be used later insoups.

If you do not have a dehydrator, don’t worry because dehydrated kale chips can just as easily be made in the oven. Here is how: Follow the first 2 steps, but instead of using a dehydrator, preheat your oven to 105 degrees. It is said that food dried at lower temperatures will retain more of its vitamins and enzymes.

Spread your kale leaves out on a baking or cookie plate, place in the oven and leave them there for about 4–6 hours until they are crispy. You can make great tasting kale chips when you dehydrate them with lemon juice or even honey by simply massaging the honey or lemon juice into the kale leaves and sprinkling a little bit of salt over them prior to dehydrating. The great thing about dehydrating kale and making kale chips is that not only do they taste great but it is also a certain way to up your kids’ vegetable intake without them even noticing!

If you are trying to improve your health, you may find that healthy eating habits are important but they are hard to implement long term! Visit my website for more detailed information about how you can create small, easy habits on a daily basis

02 fitness 02 fitness 02 fitness  02 fitness By Becki Andrus

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Halloween Special = Lon Chaney's "Phantom of the Opera"

"He was great, not only because of his God-given talent, but because he used that talent to illuminate certain dark corners of the human spirit.  He showed the world the souls of people born different from the rest, because he himself was born of parents who were different."

- Irving Thalberg on Lon Chaney.

This was the reaction of  MGM's brilliant young Executive to the death on August 26, of 1930 of Lon Chaney, "The Man of A Thousand Faces" as he was dubbed by that time. Mr. Thalberg was certainly right - Chaney did indeed come from people who were different. For that reason he was able to imbue his characters with life and a certain sympathetic pathos which always enabled audiences to see the sadness beneath the monstrous exterior.  And thus their fate was not just the killing of a monster, but a tragedy which at once pulled at his audience's heart strings, while relieving their tension.  And he managed to accomplish this to a very high degree with his masterful performance in "The Phantom of the Opera" (1925, pictured above).

"They'll take notice of you.."

Lon Chaney was born on April Fools Day (the 1st) in 1883 in Colorado.  His father, Frank H. Chaney, and his mother, Emma Alice were both deaf/mutes.  As the child of deaf/mute parents, Chaney became skilled in the use of pantomime at an early age.  He would use this ability to amuse his mother who was frequently bed-ridden.  He worked at Universal Pictures from 1912 - 1917, playing small bit parts and character roles. He got very good at applying make-up - disguising his appearance to get parts which he wouldn't otherwise have gotten.  As he would years later advise a young Boris Karloff, this had been the secret of his success: "Find something no one else can or will do and they'll begin to take notice of you."

Chaney Makes Them Scream with "The Phantom of the Opera" 

By 1925, Chaney had long since found that "something", establishing himself as a man who would endure any physical hardship in search of his character, regardless of the demands of the makeup.  He had shown in "The Hunchback of Notre Dame"(1923 - right) that he could wear pounds of make up and physically disfiguring shoulder pads to completely assume his character's appearance. And as his Producer for that venture, Carl Laemmle was very happy with the critical and financial success of that venture, he was anxious to repeat it with another story set in Paris, featuring a monstrous antagonist.

Laemmle found what he was looking for in Gaston Leroux's eerie 1910 mystery - "Le Fantome de l'Opera", about a disfigured man lurking beneath the Paris Opera House.  For this role and this man, this tortured soul living in the catacombs beneath the Opera House, Chaney wanted the man beneath the mask to resemble a human skull.

He came up with a device which drew his mouth back at its corners, which also had prongs attached to a very unsightly set of jagged teeth (pictured above, Chaney tries them on for size).  Added to that, he had another implement which pushed up the tip of his nose, and inserted into his nostrils to pull them apart.  He had circles of celluloid in his mouth to emphasize high cheek bones.  And to top this all off, Chaney placed a domed wig of skin with stringy black hair parted n the middle and hanging lifelessly down each side of his face.  The resulting scene, which comes late in the film wherein the Phantom's would-be protege', Christine, played by Mary Philbin,  pulls back his mask, thus revealing his hideous visage caused women to scream, and men to faint.  It also caused a huge sensation and must certainly rank along with the shower scene in Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho" (1960) as one of the two most classic moments in all of horror movie history. It can be seen on a YouTube video clip by clicking on the highlighted words "The resulting scene" above. You have almost certainly seen it yourself. If not, you should certainly rent it, watch it and.... SCREEEEEEAM!!  Not a bad way to spend Halloween night, eh??

Images :

Chaney as "The Phantom of the Opera" =
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:ChaneyPhantomoftheOpera.jpg

Chaney =  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Lon_Chaney,_Sr._The_Miracle_Man.jpg

Chaney as "the Hunchback of Notre Dame" =
http://www.goldensilents.com/stars/lonchaney.html

Chaney applying makeup =
http://bloody-disgusting.com/editorials/22550/100-years-in-horror-the-greatest-special-effects-makeup-artists-ever/

The Unmasking =
http://cinemagumbo.squarespace.com/journal/2013/8/1/50-unforgettable-movie-images-part-one.html

Sources:

"A Pictorial History of Horror Movies" by Denis Gifford, Hamlyn Publ. Group Ltd., London, 1973

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lon_Chaney_(Sr.)

http://universalmonstersblog.tumblr.com/post/18991374185/fact-99-lon-chaney-knew-boris-karloff-when-he-was

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaston_Leroux

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Atonement: Remembering Japan's Comfort Women

Yesterday, the boys at Stuff You Should Know released a podcast covering revisionist history. A basic definition of historical revisionism is: the reconsidering of traditional historical narratives in light of new material, the rejection of false or subjective information, or the inclusion of forgotten/ marginalized perspectives. Listening to Josh and Chuck, I wondered how this subject affected women’s history. During a quick Google search, one issue that popped-up again and again was comfort women. I had a nebulous comprehension of the problem, and remembered glimpsing the occasional pertinent news story, but that was it. Researching the matter and its connection to revisionist history, I came to understand how it mutually exemplifies the contentious and imperative nature of reinterpreting conventional history.

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[28.10.2013] Suga Blog Güncellmesi

 싸이하누월 (상관없어)



싸이하누월 (상관없어) inst.

Yapımcı SUGA
Sözler SUGA
Org SUGA
Sentezör SUGA
Mixed by Pdogg @Dogg Bounce
Kaynak şarkı Ahn Sook Son - 단가 적벽가


Son mixtape*imin üzerinden uzun zaman geçmişti!!
Log'da da söylediğim gibi, ilk kez üzerine rap yaptığım bir beat*i (ritmi) yayınlıyorum.
Aslında '2 Cool 4 Skool' aktivitelerimiz boyunca bu beat ve 1. kısımın sözleri üzerinde çalışıyordum bu yüzden bunu yakın bir zamanda yayınlamayı planlamıştım.
Beat üzerine rap yaptığımda 2 kısmı olmasını düşündüm.
İşte böyle bir nakarat da yazmak istedim ve bir tane yazdım...
Ve (mixtape) adım adım yayınlanma gününe yaklaştı...

...

Çıkış yaptığımızda gerçekten bu beat üzerinde çalışmak istiyordum ancak zar zor çalışma vakti buluyordum bu yüzden günde 1-2 saatliğine aceleyle çalıştım.
Intro*daki(Girişteki) ‘풍월 싸이하누월’ kısmını söyleyen ses Kore Geleneksel Şarkı hocamıza ait.
Orijinal şarkı ve benim deneme kısmım dinlendiğinde bunun eğlenceli olacağını düşündüm (bulmak zor olacak... keke çünkü denemem üzerinde çok fazla oynadım... haha)

Şimdiden itibaren mixtape*ler yapacağım ve eğer çok fazla olmazsa beat*ler üzerinde de çalışacağım bu yüzden bunları dört gözle bekleyin lütfen.

Not: Üzerinde çalıştığım beat*i de yayınladım. İsterseniz alabilirsiniz ya da ihtiyacı olan kişiler kullanabilir. Problem değil.

Kaynak; BTS Blog

Eng Trans: BangtanTrans

Tr Trans: S-Nuna @BTSTurkey

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Mushrooms

Mushrooms are the edible fruit parts of a fungus. They are not considered a vegetable because they lack chlorophyll and the ability to make nutrients from the sun .

 

There are upwards of 38,000 varieties of mush­rooms in North America. They are available in Michigan year round.

How to select and store:
Choose firm, evenly colored mushrooms with tightly closed caps—visible gills are indicative of age. Avoid those that are broken or damaged with soft spots. Shiny and slimy skins are signs of spoilage. Store fresh mushrooms partially covered in the refrigerator to keep them from drying out but still allowing
some air venting—a brown paper lunch bag is a good option. Most fresh mushrooms should be used within 5-7 days.

Important!

Be sure to thoroughly research mush­rooms before picking and eating them. There are many varieties that are poisonous, or called ‘toadstools.’ Do not take any chances if you are unsure.

What’s in it for you: 
 Mushrooms are a fat free, low sodium food high in riboflavin and niacin. They are rich in phytochemi­cals, potentially helping reduce the risk of cancers and are a healthy substitution for meats in almost any dish. Mushrooms differ from many forms of produce because they lose little to none of their nutrients when cooked.

How to prepare and cook:

Because they are grown either underground or on the surface, it’s important to clean them before use. Use as little water as possible as mushrooms absorb moisture and can become tough. Try using a paper towel or slightly damp cloth to thoroughly wipe them to remove the dirt. Do not soak mushrooms unless you are using a dried variety - in which case, let them sit for 1 hour to rejuvenate them. If you are cooking mushrooms whole, choose those uniform in size to help with even cooking. When using in a recipe with salt, add the salt towards the end of cooking to avoid it from drawing too much moisture out of the mushrooms and making them soft.

Try it!

Marinated Mushrooms

4 pounds whole, fresh mushrooms

1 cup dry red wine

2 cups hot water

1 pound butter or margarine

1 teaspoon dill weed

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon garlic powder

4 chicken bouillon cubes

4 beef bouillon cubes

Combine all ingredients in a crockpot.

Cook on low for 12 hours.

02 fitnees 02 fitnee s02 fitnees 02 fitnees By Gina Keilen.  

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