From experience, poison ivy is no laughing matter. Every part of this plant is poisonous and the oil called urushiol causes severe allergic reactions.

If ingested, can be fatal. Below are pictures of the allergic reaction I was subject to a few weeks ago. I never touched the poison ivy plant. I handled a shrub that was removed from area infested with the ivy. There was no foliage on the poison ivy, the urushiol oil is present even on the roots.

The oil is very concentrated and will last for up to a year.

• Notice areas the poison ivy is growing
• Use a store-bought poison ivy killer
• Do not burn the plant-fumes can cause severe internal damage
• Do not burn firewood that came into contact with poison ivy
• Do not handle animals that came into contact with poison ivy
• Wash toys in clothing detergent if exposed to poison ivy
• If a poison ivy plant drops foliage into a stream, the oil will float on the surface
• If a weed trimmer or lawn mower cuts the poison ivy foliage and is later touched, may cause an allergic reaction

The allergic reaction is very itchy and will cause scarring if not treated early. Apparently, one does not build up an immunity to the poison and each exposure to urushiol will be greater in severity.

Steroids are the best solution administered by your doctor. In the meantime a medication containing antihistamine can be taken to alleviate some discomfort. Oatmeal baths, calamine lotion and aloe vera gel applied to prevent scratching.

Do not:

• Take hot showers or baths
• Touch anything else until a shower or bath can remove the oil
• Touch any tools that came in contact with the urushiol until washed in clothing detergent
• Touch door or sink handles

Teach your children now that Leaves of 3 Let Them Be. 

Poison ivy plants are very noticeable in the autumn because of their bright red, orange or yellow color. It is a very beautiful display, but beware!! This plant will grow within your landscape too, but is more prevalent in woodland areas.

Peace Love and Hugs

Diana

by Carl Strang

I have mentioned black-capped chickadees from time to time in this blog, most notably when introducing the topic of mixed flocks. Today I want to share my dossier on this species. In my dossiers I try to summarize what I know of a species from my own observations, as opposed to information from the literature or other outside sources. I began writing the dossier in the mid-1980’s. Observations begin with my date codes.

Chickadee, Black-capped

Ca. 1979. I remember sitting on the hawk watch at Reineman Sanctuary in PA in fall and watching as a sharp-shinned hawk zipping along the ridge suddenly turned its course so as to enter the tree canopy and caught a chickadee.

Boiling Springs, PA, 1980. A pair nested in hollow Ailanthus branch. One bird was electrocuted by a nearby electric fence. The other completed incubation and at least began to rear the brood alone. “Cheeseburger” call (more formally known as the fee-bee call) used early as apparent territorial signal.

Lombard, IL, 1981. A pair nested in a wren house, raised a brood, then returned and raised a second brood in the same house. In both cases, the pair traveled the neighborhood with their groups of fledglings.

Maple Grove Forest Preserve (F.P.), 1986. A pair was cleaning out an old cavity in a 10 foot snag in the maple forest. The excavating bird periodically removed beaks full of sawdust. Other bird remained nearby, giving occasional “chickadee” contact call.

Meacham Grove F.P., 24MY86. For the first time, I saw a chickadee taking advantage of tortricids hidden in folded leaves. One individual moved from one folded leaf to the next, vigorously tearing them open. I expected to see it more frequently than I have, given the lack of other birds with the appropriate foraging behavior in their repertoire, and the abundance of this food resource.

Willowbrook F.P., 1984-86. Chickadees have broods in the wooded riparian strip each spring. One pair appears to control the entire 1/4 mi. X 100-foot strip. Groups of more than 2 chickadees stay together through the winter. “Chickittaperk” vocalization appears to be an interspecific agonistic (dispute) display.

Chickadees weren’t common in Culver, Indiana when I was growing up. I remember being pleasantly surprised that a pair was present, nesting, at Miracles’ house in summer. This implies they were more easily seen in winter, at the feeder. Old trees and branches were scarce in our neighborhood.

Alarm call: one used a sharp “chiburr,” another answered with the same call.

11FE87. Willowbrook. Widely scattered chickadees in the Back 40 old field are maintaining contact mainly via the feebee call.

28FE87. A group of a half-dozen chickadees in trees: much sneeze-calling and chick-chick-chick-chick, but few chickadee calls, with much chasing and displacement. Later, many individuals made chickadee calls from widely separated perches. Then a period of silence followed.

14MR87. Maple Grove F.P. Seven chickadees moved together with a mix of chickadee and sneeze calls, occasionally briefly chasing one another. The group spread out widely, then used very high-pitched brief “cheeks” for contact.

29AP87. Chickadee caught adult noctuid moth, pecked body (scales puffed into the air), removed wings one at a time and they drifted to the ground, landing at least 3 feet apart.

1JL87. Willowbrook F.P. Chickadee pecking at mulberries.

10SE87. 0.5-3 seconds per perch in foraging, flying or hopping a few inches to 6 feet or occasionally 10 feet between perches, acrobatic hanging or hover-gleaning, pecking at dried leaves, turning and lowering body almost to upside down position to peer different ways.

13SE87. At West DuPage Woods F.P., several chickadees in a mixed flock with a redstart and a bay-breasted warbler.

17JE89. A broad-winged hawk callied repeatedly, in north end of Maple Grove F.P. Jays, flickers and grackles were highly agitated, flickers the most continuously vocal with “keels” every 2 seconds (2 birds). Grackles gacking frequently, too. A great crested flycatcher near, also vocal, but not clearly in response to the hawk; same with chickadees. Robins definitely disturbed, with nervous dee-dee-dee’s every 20 seconds or so. Jays in bursts, with several birds mobbing.

10JE90. Warrenville Grove. Chickadee saw me at sit near edge of woods. Alarm call “chicka-chicka-…(rapid)-dee-dee-dee”

3JL90. Chickadee plucked 2 unripe (white) mulberries from the branches. Dropped the first, then went for the second. Worked on it several seconds, holding it against a twig with its toes. I couldn’t tell if it ate the whole berry or just extracted seeds. Suspect latter.

7SE90. 2 chickadees eating dried crabapples, eating, pulling out and eating little bites.

30SE90. Chickadee and downy woodpecker eating poison ivy berries at Ann’s business property near Lafayette.

8FE00. Chickadees heard singing for the first time of the year at Willowbrook, and continuing in the following days. Also vigorously chasing each other this day, with agonistic vocalizations.

10FE00. Chickadees singing (feebee song) at Willowbrook.

1AP00. Morton Arboretum, Heritage Trail. A mixed flock with at least 1 brown creeper, 2-3 chickadees; juncos and robin in area. Chickadees longer on each perch than golden-crowned kinglets observed yesterday. A lot of looking around, not so constantly moving between perches, and making larger jumps between perches, 3′ common. Later, another association of chickadees, golden-crowned kinglets and a white-breasted nuthatch. These mixed flocks stand out because after going through a long segment of forest path where there are essentially no birds, suddenly there are many at once of several species. Again, chickadees sitting longer in one place and moving farther between perches. All moving together in same direction through forest, and moved away from me as I observed them. Later still, a couple of chickadees without associates. Perhaps this is the kind of observation that led to the local core species idea.

25JE00. This spring I have observed 3 chickadee groups with parents and fledglings, one at the Arboretum on 1JE, one yesterday at Willowbrook, and a third in another part of the Arboretum today. Instead of being spread out, in each case the groups were clustered in a small area no more than 20 feet in diameter, and they moved only very slowly. Feedings were frequent, so apparently the parents directed or led their young to food-rich locations.

11MR01. A chickadee at Timber Ridge Forest Preserve with a variation on the fee-bee song: the “bee” syllable is repeated, and each syllable has the usual hinged quality, i.e., “fee-bee-ee-bee-ee.”

More recent observations have focused on the role of black-capped chickadees in mixed flocks.

29AU01. Algonquin Park, Ontario, Mizzy Lake Trail. Flock 1: Golden-crowned kinglets, a young-of-the-year black-throated green warbler, black-and-white warbler, black-capped chickadees. Flock 2: At an edge between mixed forest and a lake. Black-capped chickadees, several black-throated green warblers (appear to be sticking together to form their own group within the flock), at least 1 blue-headed vireo, 1 female or young blackburnian warbler, 1 chestnut-sided warbler, and 1 Tennessee warbler. The black-capped chickadees are very abundant here, the most apparently numerous birds in the forest (because of their frequent calling and frequent presence). It is easy to see how migrant birds accustomed to forming mixed flocks with them here in the north could attach to resident birds they encounter on the trip south. Flock 3: Black-capped chickadees, Swainson’s thrush.

30AU01. Algonquin Park, Bat Lake Trail. Flock 1: Black-capped chickadees, a black-and-white warbler, the latter singing. Flock 2: Black-capped chickadees, red-breasted nuthatches, golden-crowned kinglets, 1 or 2 black-throated blue warblers, at least 1 Tennessee warbler, yellow-rumped warbler. The first three species are the vocal ones. These flocks are distinctive: you go for hundreds of yards seeing or hearing no small birds, then suddenly there is one of these diverse groups in a small area.

31AU01. Algonquin Park, Spruce Bog Trail. Flock 1: Yellow-rumped warblers, black-capped chickadees, red-breasted nuthatches, golden-crowned kinglets. Do more northern birds, living in more open forests, either not have chickadees to associate with, or perhaps the scattered trees (if they are) remove the advantages of mixed flocks? See if it’s true that the non-mixed-flock species tend to be more northern.

12SE01. Willowbrook. Flock 1 around west end of cross trail. 2 chickadees and 1@ of black-throated green, magnolia, Tennessee (sang a couple times), and 1 unidentified species. Flock 2 near the NW corner of nature trail, a magnolia warbler apparently alone.

13SE01. Willowbrook. A large but difficult to view mixed flock near office building: 3 chickadees, 2 redstarts, a blackpoll warbler, a red-breasted nuthatch, and many others.

14SE01. Willowbrook. Flock 1 around NW corner of nature trail: redstart, chickadee, downy woodpecker, Tennessee warbler, black-throated green warbler, magnolia warbler, red-eyed vireo. Flock 2 between eastern part of animal exhibit and bridge. Chickadee, 3 redstarts, downy woodpecker, blackpoll warbler (it is possible that the one seen earlier joined this flock; it was near this location).

17SE01. Willowbrook. Flock 1: 3 chickadees, 1 redstart, others perhaps; near west end cross trail. Flock 2, base of savanna, 2 palm warblers only. Flock 3, brush area east of Nature Trail, 2 chickadees only. Flock 4, another part of same brush area, 2 chickadees, a magnolia warbler, 1 other unidentified.

19SE01. Willowbrook. Flock 1, east exhibit area to bridge: 2 chickadees, 1 black-throated blue warbler, 1 redstart, possibly others. Flock 2, west end cross trail: staying around berry-feeding robins, waxwings and catbird, with no chickadees around: a black-and-white warbler, 2 downy woodpeckers, a redstart, a blackpoll warbler, possibly others.

25SE01. Elsen’s Hill, plateau above river. Flock 1: at least 8 vocal, active yellow-rumped warblers, and a ruby-crowned kinglet. Flock 2, very large and diverse, only some individuals identified: 2 chickadees, black-throated green warbler, blackpoll warbler, 2 Nashville warblers (1 low in an aster thicket another in low tree branches), downy woodpeckers, a parula behaving like the Nashville, 2 redstarts, a chestnut-sided warbler.

26SE01. Willowbrook, between bridge and animal exhibit. 2 chickadees, and at least one @ of vireos (Philadelphia, red-eyed, yellow-throated), warblers (Tennessee, magnolia, parula, black-throated green), scarlet tanager, red-breasted nuthatch.

27SE01. Willowbrook. Flock between bridge and exhibit fence. 2 chickadees, 1 Tennessee and 1 magnolia warbler.

30SE01. Fox River and Island Park, Batavia. Many yellow-rumped warblers spread out all over, some hover-gleaning, some flycatching, others reaching for poison ivy berries. With them, a chickadee, a male Cape May warbler in the top of a silver maple, very active in the short time I saw it.

14SE02. Elsen’s Hill. I walked for several minutes, seeing apparently independent Tennessee warblers (2 together) and a Nashville warbler before encountering a large flock. This flock seemed to be changing composition over time, i.e., after my initial observations I walked a short distance away, then returned, and when I came back, some birds were the same but there were several new ones, as well. Later, after following the flock for 50 minutes or so and losing them in a direction I did not want to pursue in the brush, I returned to the starting point and a small mixed flock was there, with some of the birds I saw initially (apparently, none were marked of course) and a couple added ones. Initial group: a blackpoll warbler, 2 red-eyed vireos, 2 redstarts, an essentially silent chickadee, a black and white warbler, a Tennessee warbler, a Swainson’s thrush, a female or young black-throated blue warbler that was the only flock member calling consistently, all foraging in brush understory within 15 feet of the ground (the redstarts were the only ones consistently going above 10 feet; this was after 9 a.m.). Flock after my return: golden-winged warbler (like the redstarts, up higher, and very active, including flush and pursuit), a male and 2 female or young black-throated blue warblers, 2 Tennessee warblers, a black-throated green warbler, 3 redstarts, 2 blackpoll warblers, a black and white warbler, a blackburnian warbler. After it had warmed up some, later, a magnolia warbler foraging 20-25 feet up and the other birds also have gone higher. Doing a lot of reaching, and spending much time looking from each perch. At 10:45 I returned to the starting point: 4 noisier chickadees, 2 red-eyed vireos, a blackpoll warbler, a male redstart, a magnolia warbler, all except the chickadees foraging higher, throughout the tree canopies. Also a downy woodpecker, black-throated green warbler, Swainson’s thrush.

25AU08. Fullersburg Woods. First mixed flock of the fall migration has 2 chickadees, a downy woodpecker, a Tennessee warbler and a Canada warbler.

28AU08. Fullersburg Woods. Mixed flock just S of Willow Island bridge: 2 chickadees, 2 Tennessee warblers, 2 magnolia warblers, a gnatcatcher.

29AU08. Fullersburg Woods. Mixed flocks: One with four chickadees, two Tennessee warblers, a magnolia warbler and a black-and-white warbler. Also, 2 Tennessee warblers together apart from mixed flock. At mid-day a mixed flock near the junction of trails with 3 chickadees, 3 Tennessee warblers, a white-breasted nuthatch, a magnolia warbler, a parula. Chickadees were doing a lot of hanging upside down, Tennessees less acrobatic running along tops of branches and reaching, magnolia and parula more rapid movements, hopping between branches, nuthatch on bark, all in top half of canopy.

13SE08. Kettle Lakes Provincial Park, Ontario. Large, mixed flock in an area around 75 yards in diameter: at least 2 black-capped chickadees, 5 golden-crowned and 4 ruby-crowned kinglets, 4 yellow-rumped warblers, 2 red-eyed vireos, downy woodpecker, black-and-white warbler, black-throated green warbler, redstart, red-breasted nuthatch. I’m hearing white-throated sparrows, but they seem all near the ground rather than up in the trees with the others. Weak songs from ruby-crowneds, the black-throated green and the black-and-white. This is mainly an area of aspens with some jack pines. Mixed flock: at least 2 chickadees, at least 2 golden-crowned kinglets, 2 ruby-crowned, and a yellow-rump. Aspen grove again with some jack pines and a couple white pines.

15SE08. Nagagamisis Provincial Park. On trails, encountered a little flock of at least 7 ruby-crowned kinglets. Nothing up with them first time through, but white-throated sparrows lower down in that area (on the way back a chickadee, a brown creeper, 3 golden-crowned kinglets and a Swainson’s thrush added). Birds have been few, and I cannot discount the possibility of an association of the white-throated sparrows with this group. On the Time Trail, balsam fir the dominant tree with plenty of white spruces, some black spruces, white cedars, paper birches. Another mixed flock with at least one chickadee, 2 ruby-crowns, 3 golden-crowns.

21SE. Mayslake. A mixed flock at edge of Area 9 and grounds containing a black-throated blue warbler (new preserve species), black-throated green, 2 redstarts, 2 blackpolls, chestnut-sided, Nashville, black-and-white, magnolia, and a chickadee.

There was once a princess stonger then the knight….

My beauty in shadow fails

Upon each tear I fear the tail

Will never end…..

How about these apples….

Visit the MAIN Cramps archive at:

http://suchbeautifulgardens.blogspot.com/

Bryan Gregory (Gregory Beckerleg, February 20, 1954 – January 10, 2001) was an American rock musician, and founding member of and guitarist for The Cramps. Gregory met Cramps member Lux Interior at a mutual job they shared at a record store in NYC. He shared his birthday with fellow member Poison Ivy. Bryan took up second guitar in April 1976 and was a distinctive sight in the early incarnation of the Cramps, along with his sister Pam Balaam (Pam Beckerleg) on drums. He was known for his oozing guitar sound, wild stage antics, long hair with a skunk stripe over his eye, and acne scarred face. He appeared on The Cramps first two albums Gravest Hits and Songs The Lord Taught Us. He left the band in 1980 with most of the equipment and was later replaced by Kid Congo Powers from the Gun Club. After the Cramps, Gregory went on to play in Beast from 1980-1984, moving to Cleveland, Ohio and marrying Robin Hunt. After moving to Florida, Gregory moved to Los Angeles, forming the The Dials from 1992-1995 and a band called Shiver.

After years of playing in bands, and influencing hordes of Japanese rockabillies, Gregory was rushed to at Anaheim Memorial Medical Center, Anaheim, California, suddenly and unexpectedly felled from multiple organ failure.

Gregory’s ashes are buried at Rose Hills Memorial Park in Whittier, CA. (Wikipedia)
Bryan Gregory obituary
By Pierre Perrone
Thursday, 25 January 2001
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/bryan-gregory-728741.html

Bryan Gregory, guitarist and songwriter: born Detroit 1954; married Robyn Hunt (one daughter; marriage dissolved); died Anaheim, California 10 January 2001.

With his ghoulish physique – emaciated torso, pale, gaunt face, black hair with a lock of white hanging over his right eye, bones dangling from his neck, voodoo-style – and fuzzy guitar sound, Bryan Gregory was an integral part of the original line-up of the American psychobilly group the Cramps. A founder member of the group, he played on all their early releases from the EP Gravest Hits to the single “Drug Train” via their debut album Songs the Lord Taught Us (1980). In the five years Gregory spent with the band, they went from playing New York dives to headlining major venues all over Europe.

Born in Detroit in 1955, Bryan Gregory drifted to New York in his late teens. By February 1976, he was working in a record shop where Erick Lee Purkhiser (a.k.a. Lux Interior) got a job. When Gregory came in carrying an electric guitar with “The Cramps” stencilled on the body, Lux Interior, who had already met kindred spirit “Poison Ivy” Rorschach (nee Kristy Wallace) four years beforehand, decided to form a group with his co-worker.

Ivy also played guitar and Gregory should have switched to bass but neither Lux Interior nor his companion dared to force his hand, especially as Bryan’s sister Pam “Balam” had joined on drums. Indeed, the two guitars, by turn twangy and swampy, contributed greatly to the group’s minimalist, yet distinctive, psychotic style.

After a few rehearsals in the basement of the record store, Pam returned to Detroit and was replaced by Miriam Linna. In November, this line-up supported Suicide at CBGB’s, the legendary New York venue where the Ramones, Television and Talking Heads had made their name. The director Amos Poe subsequently hired the Cramps to play a bunch of thugs who assault the hero in his film The Foreigner (released in 1978).

In 1977, they demoed several tracks and headlined at CBGB’s in July but things really began to gel when Nick Knox (Nick Stephanoff) joined on drums the following month. The Cramps met Alex Chilton, formerly of the Boxtops and Big Star, who pronounced them “the greatest rock’n'roll group in the world”.

In October, they were down at Ardent Studios in Memphis with Chilton, producing deranged covers of Jack Scott’s “The Way I Walk”, Roy Orbison’s “Domino” and the Trashmen’s “Surfin‘ Bird” alongside their own composition “Human Fly”. Ork Records, which had released singles by Television and Richard Hell, couldn’t quite get the financing right and the Cramps eventually issued these four tracks on two separate singles on their own label, Vengeance, in 1978. The Cramps’ logo, inspired by the Tales from the Crypt comic, helped them gain further attention.

Touring as far afield as Canada and the West Coast of America, the group’s live show created quite a buzz and the Police manager Miles Copeland snapped up the rights to the singles for European release as the EP Gravest Hits on his Illegal label in July 1979. He also brought the band over to Europe to support the Police on tour.

After an unsuccessful attempt at recording an album in New York, with the British guitarist Chris Spedding producing, the Cramps went back to Memphis and Alex Chilton, this time also using Sam Phillips Recording Studio (formerly Sun) as well as Ardent. The resulting sessions became Songs the Lord Taught Us, one of the best debut albums of all time. Once again combining their own compositions, drawing on trash culture in general and B-movies in particular (“Zombie Dance”, “I Was a Teenage Werewolf”) and inspired versions of Johnny Burnette’s “Tear It Up”, Link Wray’s “Sunglasses After Dark” and Little Willie John’s “Fever”, The Cramps caught the post-punk mood brilliantly when the album was released alongside the single “Garbageman” in March 1980. Britain’s own psychobilly scene of the early Eighties, with groups like the Meteors, King Kurt and Demented Are Go!, drew its inspiration wholesale from the Cramps.

However, after cutting the equally impressive EP Drug Train that July, Bryan Gregory left the group, who replaced him with Kid Congo Powers from Gun Club. Lux Interior and Poison Ivy carry on with the Cramps to this day, having scored unlikely hit singles with the sleazy “Can Your Pussy Do the Dog?” (1985) and “Bikini Girls With Machine Guns” (1990) and having eventually signed to Creation Records, but they have never quite recaptured the magic of the line-up which featured Gregory.

Gregory soldiered on with various bands, called Beast (which released three singles between 1980 and 1984), the Dials (1992-95) and, more recently, Shiver. In between, he dabbled in the occult, worked as a tattoo artist in Florida, tried to become an actor and ran a sex-shop in California. “He is pretty burnt,” Ivy would tell journalists who enquired about the former Cramps guitarist.

Indeed, ill-health had forced Bryan Gregory to curtail his musical activities, and he suffered a heart attack at the end of last year.

Art by Dustin Nguyen

Review by A.P. Fuchs

2 out of 5

A freeze is coming.

Gotham is under siege, this time by not one but THREE supervillains: Mr. Freeze, Poison Ivy and Bane.

The dynamic duo is called to the rescue despite the tension growing between them. Complicating things, Barbara Pennyworth, Alfred’s niece, has come to Wayne manor to liberate her ailing uncle from a life of servitude. She also has a secret: a wild side that needs to be tamed.

When an all-out assault is declared on Gotham by Mr. Freeze and Poison Ivy, the caped crusaders rise to the occasion, and this time they have a little help.

If you took the cheesy, camp-filled ’60’s Batman series and shot it with a huge budget, tons of effects and modern day equipment, Batman & Robin is what you’d get (and is what we got).

Clearly this was the film that killed the Batman franchise. It took eight years for Warner Brothers to recover from the disaster that was this movie.

The story—the “what it’s about”—though farfetched, is bearable. It’s the dialogue and stupid jokes that catapult this Bat flick a zillion miles into the campy canyon.

On the plus side, if you watch this movie solely for the bright colors, glitter and action, you’ll have a good time.

If you’re looking for substance, go back to the beginning, namely Burton’s ’89 triumph.

On Saturday Nov 30th I first noticed that same familiar itchy feeling from the dreaded Uroshiol oil.  I had been running and biking along the trails on the North side of Lake Natomas in Orangevale CA for months and escaped the dreaded rash, but Fall colors must have disguised the dreaded plants.  Sure enough by Sunday afternoon blisters were forming all over my body.  Arrgghh. The worst was my right knee.  In addition to blisters it also became swollen, stiff, sore and it was hot to the touch.  In my suffering I sympathized with JOB from the Old testament.  I took several photos of the progress of development and then healing of the rash.  Gross yet amazing at the same time what the human body can endure and how it can heal.  I used several products to help the healing process and will be giving a synopsis on how well they worked.  There was one product that amazed me with how well it worked.  More to come.

Like a lot of people I know, I took the death of Lux Interior pretty hard. The thing about Lux is, you either GET him or you don’t. In order to really GET him, you have to be a certain kind of person, and there just ain’t that many of us. If you’re reading this at all, chances are you know exactly what I’m talking about. To say that Lux was my favorite singer would be like a Christian saying Jesus was their favorite guy that got nailed up on a cross. Technically true, but missing almost all of the emotional subtext.

We mourn his passing, and rightly so, for he was a rare bird whose like will never be seen again.

But leave us always remember and never forget: What Lux was to a set of vocal chords, Ivy was/is to an electric guitar.

The Cramps without Lux Interior would be like Elvis Presley without Elvis Presley. However, as Lux himself knew full well, there is no “I” in Cramps but if there were, it would stand for “Ivy.” That doesn’t make much sense, but sense is not what I’m shooting for. I’m trying, in the most roundabout way possible, to say that the Cramps were, essentially, a duo. Drummers and bassists and second guitarists could come and go– and there were some great ones– but in order to have the Cramps, you hve to have Lux AND Ivy.

Now, we only have Ivy. And we must continue to cherish her. The Cramps are no more and will never be again. But we still have a kick-ass nasty red-headed guitar heroine by the name of Poison Ivy Rorschach.

Back in about 1990, I had the very great good fortune to interview Poison Ivy for a little entertainment paper I worked for at the time. When I say “little,” I mean just that. It was extremely local, given away for free at libraries, laundromats, college campuses, etc., in Mobile Alabama. Not exactly Vanity Fair, it was almost as prestigious as the Thrifty Nickel. Most of the writing was as boring and crappy as the small, parochial “music scene” it covered. (I also played guitar in a band called the Church of the Chainsaw, which might just as well have been a Cramps tribute band.)

So, I had a grandiose idea. I was going to try and get an interview with someone who was actually famous. I selected a few artists I really liked and wrote to their record companies or publicists. The Cramps, of course, were on the list. The very top, in fact. Some time went by and I heard nothing from anyone, which I had more or less expected. I had almost forgotten the whole business when one day, while I was at work, the phone rang. I answered, a female voice asked to speak to Chuck Miller, I admitted I was him. The caller said, “This is Poison Ivy of the Cramps.”

Since reaching adulthood, I have never once shit in my pants. But if I had, that would have been it. I knew It was not a joke because any of my friends would know that they’d be signing their own death warrant with such a stunt. I got my shit together, got a tape recorder, and we talked for more than an hour. It was the highlight of my journalistic career, if not my whole fucking life. I wish I still had that tape.

Another thing I’ve never done is have a religious experience, but, again, that came very close.

I have interviewed a few more celebrities since then, but that was the only time I ever came away from it feeling that I had just talked with someone who genuinely appreciated my interest and who thought I was just as important as she was.

Years later, I got to meet both Lux and Ivy face-to-face, for all of about 15 seconds, at a club in New Orleans while they were making their way to the stage. I seriously doubt she actually remembered me, but she very sweetly pretended that she did.

I always had the impression that Ivy was the brains of the outfit. But not in a creepy Colonel Tom kind of way. More like an “I know that what we are doing is some incredibly great and unique shit, and I intend to take good care of it” way. She built and maintained the framework that allowed Lux to be the magnificent beast that he was. She was his foundation. Had there not been an Ivy, right now there might be only a handful of people mourning the death of that weird old Mister Purkhiser who ran that used record store out by the airport. Would young Eric ever have found the freedom to gleefully bounce around nearly naked on a stage in a pair of high heels? Maybe, maybe not. And had he not, how much poorer our lives would have been.

Now, I am not seriously suggesting that anyone here is likely to forget or even discount her. But with everything that has been written about Lux, a lot of it by me, I want to take the opportunity, now that some time has passed, to express my gratitude, admiration and appreciation to the Cramps’ other half.

I have a friend in California with three daughters, all under the age of 15. They are lucky kids indeed because they all got to see the Cramps in 2006. The youngest was less than a year old. The two older girls were enthralled with Ivy. She touched something deep inside them. There is still a lot more sexism in the music world than anyone wants to admit. There are a few basic molds into which most female performers squeeze themselves. There are way more Pussycat Dolls than there are Girlschools or Runaways. Where can a young girl look to find a guitar heroine of her own? Not many places. But one of those places was the stage before which those girls stood on that day. And they will carry that with them for the rest of their lives.

IVY on MEETING LUX:

“We met in 1974 in college in Sacramento, California. Under the guise of the Art Department there were classes like “Art and Shamanism,” which was really a study of amanita muscaria; the textbook was The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross. The class was real loose; the teacher would ask you, “What grade do you want, an A?” He would gravitate toward certain students and invite them to “heavier” classes at his home–he had this fabulous spread. Lux and I met in his class, although actually we met hitchhiking. We talked and discovered we were going to see each other again in this teacher’s class. Actually, the first kiss was in this instructor’s house–we’d taken mushrooms, I think.”
(From Incredibly Strange Music Vol. I)

Poison Ivy- Kristy Wallace (born Kristy Marlana Wallace February 20, 1953, San Bernardino, California), better known as Poison Ivy (or Poison Ivy Rorschach), is a founding member of the American garage punk band The Cramps. Wallace was married to Cramps’ singer Lux Interior (Eric Purkhiser), with whom she had been for 37 years, until his death on February 4, 2009. Instruments played: guitars, echo-theremin. The band was formed when Lux Interior and Poison Ivy met during a college course on art and shamanism. The name originated in a dream and was initially “Poison Ivy Rorschach”, the Rorschach referring to the Rorschach ink-blot test, however over the years it has been contracted to plain and simple “Poison Ivy”. Her stage persona is best defined by as being the bad-girl vixen from next door; this is underlined by the sexually explicit cover-art which she has frequently posed for the band’s albums. (Wikipedia)

From the KILLER KITTENS FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE Blog:
http://killer–kittens.blogspot.com/2009/02/happy-birthday-poison-ivy-rorschach.html
February 20, 2009– A very special baby girl was delivered unto this Earth in Sacramento, California on this day in 1953. The babe’s parents named her Kristina Marlana Wallace, but you can call her Poison Ivy.

Poison Ivy Rorschach is easily one of the hottest women in music. For the last 3 decades, she has been rockin’ n’ shockin’ onstage with psychobilly pioneers The Cramps, alongside her larger than life husband, Lux Interior. Sadly, when Lux departed this mortal coil on February 4, 2009, he took the future of The Cramps with him. Now that the irreplaceable frontman is gone (but never forgotten), the amplifiers have fallen silent, the drum beat no longer keeps time, and the adoring fans stand perfectly still before the stage.

Thank gods for the 15 album legacy The Cramps were thoughtful enough to leave behind.

Bonne fête, Poison Ivy… Rock n’ Roll Goddess.

AN INTERVIEW WITH IVY FROM

http://www.geocities.com/jackyardbackoff/ivyguitarinterview.html

Stay Sick!, the first Cramps album to come near the mainstream, positively slithers with the procreante urge. Poison Ivy’s distorted rockabilly riffs cover Lux Interior’s monstrous, monotone vocals like cool Calamine, maximum reverb and tremolo, please. While Lux lampoons images of smoking poodles, drag racers on acid, and women swimmin’ in chilli, Poison Ivy plays the straightwoman, creating 50s-approved guitar parts that pay tribute to the likes of Link Wray, Paul Burlison, and friends. Seldom has psychobilly been so appealingly packaged.

The Cramps finally seem to be crossing over into the mainstream.

Or are they crossing over to us? Has your image or over-the-top performances style caused you trouble?
Not too much. Not anymore than most bands. In fact, lately not too much at all. We used to get in fights and stuff; people tried to pick fights with us. We haven�t been arrested . I think we’ve been pretty fortunate. It’s great that this band has been a success for us on whatever level its been at. I don’t think Lux and I can do anything else (laughs). I’m not sure we’re even employable doing something else, so it’s good we’re allowed to do it.

Has your audience evolved?

Every time we play there are newer, younger people. When we started out in New York at CBGB’s and Max’s Kansas City, fixtures would always be at the show, but since then its changed. I actually see more variety at our shows than I do at other people’s shows. I think there’s these facets that reach different kinds of people. Some people like us for the instrumental aspects and someone else will like us because we’re dangerous or scary.

How do your shows compare to the records?They’re different. Some people think that we don’t get that thing we have live onto our records, and I don’t agree. They’d feel different if they heasrd a tape of a show which I do a lot of times, because we tape all our shows. They don’t always sound that great, and I think people get confused by the visual things that are going on. You have to be there. But when they talk about the wild aspect not being on the record, I think they’re just wrong. They’re just remembering how they felt, or maybe they were loaded at the show when all that stuff was going on. It’s different. It’s not sloppier live, but even if we play the same songs every night, they’re never the same way twice. I suppose with recording, we do try to concentrate on the ultimate arrangement, the ultimate impact.

Do you record live?
Some songs on the new album had to be recorded live – Muleskinner Blues, Shortnin Bread and Her Love Rubbed Off couldnt be recorded any other way because of the way we have to interact with each other and Lux singing. Other ones, though, were tracked with drums and bass first, although we do that together. We try to track the rythym together; it makes it easier to record songs.

Where did your idea of the marrige of rockabilly and punk originate?

Well we didn’t think of it as that; others call it that. What happened was that Lux and I were living in Ohio, just finding wild records. At the time, the only way you could find rockabilly was on the original 45s; there weren’t any reissues of it. We were finding some incredible records around the Akron area because a lot of people from the South had moved up North to work in the factories and dumped their records. So we were hearing all this stuff, and at the same time there were contemporary bands we liked. We loved the New York Dolls and the Stooges, so we were excited by that. We had boring jobs, we were taking speed, and with the combination of those things, we ended up going to New York. There was no place in Ohio where you could have an original band, and we knew that CBGBs was starting to happen. We even bought a P.A. — we thought you needed to own your own P.A. in New York. I mean we didn’t know anything about having a band. We’d written songs, so we got together with several various configurations before we actually played CBGBs. When we moved to New York, we saw the Ramones several times and it was all a combination of our excitement. We knew that rockabilly and the kind of music we were listening to was what everybody in the world wanted to hear! At the same time we were really moved and inspired by punk-rock bands that were happening in New York at the time. We didn’t have any concept about putting it together; it just happened kind of naturally. Who we were was more out of control than some of the music we were listening to, and we were just shoved on in there.

What are the essential elements of the Poison Ivy sound?

Live it’s always pretty much the same. My main live guitar is a 1958 Gretsch 6120 with the pre-patent Filter-Tron pickups. I play it through a Fender Pro Reverb with a blackface that’s kind of unique – it has one 15� JBL that appears to have been done at the factory. I don�t know if someone had it custom ordered or what. I found it that way as a used amp. The big speaker sounds really great with that hollowbody guitar. I’ve started using a modern pedal, an Ibanez delay computer. It’s pretty cool. And then I use two distortion units, A Univox Super Fuzz, that’s the fuzz sound of the Cramps, and a pedal called (Tube Works) Real tube, whuich supposedly simulates overdrive, but it doesn’t really. I don’t use it on many songs.

Do you play any styles that might surprise your fans?

Not anything unusual, like, you know, classical.

You’re not a closet bluegrasser?

Well, actually maybe some of the more country styles – you know some fingerpicking country that’s not quite bluegrass. It’s a simple, pure country style just when I’m foolin’ around. I do straighter blues stuff too.

Do you practice?

I should. Not as much as I like. Most of the practice I get is onstage. Seems like I get spread thin doing other things. I’d be happy if all I did was play guitar, but I don’t get an opportunity to. I’m not working on improving anything specific about my playing. I’m always listening to records and watching people. As I go along, things kind of become unveiled or revealed to me. After years of wondering what was gong on, things that seemed unfathomable sometimes become clear. It’s kind of fun, and I guess that happens with any guitar player. That’s going to happen for the rest of my life.

Do you always have a guitar around at home?

Oh yeah. The one I have at home– I never play it live– is a 1952 Gibson ES295. It’s gold guitar and even has ivy on the pickguard. It’s that famous Ersel Hickey guitar that everyone copies for the classic rock profile. It’s a really great guitar. The neck is hard for me to play; it’s really big and bulky, but it’s a great-sounding guitar.

What’s the best way to get a visceral tone in the studio?
Mainly just try to get the recorded sound as close to what you’re gonna want it to be before you mix, just through miking it. I play loudly on really small amps; almost the whole Stay Sick album was recorded on a Valco amp from 1959 or ‘60. This one has a tiny 10′ speaker. The less processing the better.

You seem to have a tougher sound this time.

Yeah, well it worked (laughs).

Where did rockabilly guitar come from?
Oh, God, I don’t know. I don�t know why rock and roll even happened. I mean, it was a product of the ’50s, even though people will argue it was invented in the ’20s and ’30s. Well, it wasn’t. It was a phenomenom of the ’50s. I don’t know if it had something to do with the atom bomb or Sputnik or what. I just think people were thinking really big. Electric guitar came to life in the ’50s. It was just like dynamite in the hands of these players who were mainly teenagers. They were capturing electricity, making this music out of it. Have you ever seen this movie, Carnival Rock? James Burton is backing up both David Houston and Bob Luman, who were both Louisiana acts. Burton is just a kid, but oh, man, he’s incredible.

Besides Cliff Gallup, James Burton, and Scotty Moore, who are some of the must-hear 50s cats?
Link Wray. Even though he’s known, he’s not credited well enough. He had the most apocalyptic, monumental sound I ever heard– real emotional and so simple and so violent. That stands for rock and roll, which is supposed to be violent and dangerous, and have this dangerous sound. Ike Turner isn’t that well-known for his guitar playing — he’s more known for his associations with Tina, I guess. But he had an incredibly wild, unique guitar style, and he was also responsible for being a producer and an A&R man in the ’50s.

Have you encountered much sexism in the business?

Anything negative has been pretty much trivial, like, I go into a guitar store and they call me sweetheart and tell me how to hold the guitar. I actually haven’t had any obstacles. The main thing that’s been sexist, I guess, is that if I am recognized or credited, people will say I play as tough as a guy. In a way that’s insulting, because for one thing, I play different. It’s got nothing to do with guys. No guy taught me how to play. I taught myself. And you,d be surprised how much you can learn yourself, just listening to a lot of records and watching people play and hanging out with a lot of players, rather than having someone show you his cliched way of playing. Try something original. And I’m sure there’s even something about being a girl that has an original flair to it, and women should try to allow that to come out in their playing. And that can be something pretty scary, too. People expect us to be timid, and it can be the other way around.

Do you do anything special to keep your sanity on the road?
No, I’m hopelessly insane. It’s too late now.

Any special messages for guitarists?

Just stay sick and turn blue! //

Gotham City Sirens #6
Written by Paul Dini
Art by Guillem March

This was an AWESOME issue of this book. The story of Gaggy – one-time Joker sidekick is recounted to Harley Quinn and the sirens finally take on this little dwarf man. Every moment of this book shined, the art was fabulous and fit the tone of the story, Dini shows that he writes Harley and the Bat villains like no other once again in this issue. I love Harley’s final lines about Gaggy – and that Gaggy is shown to still be around after all. I can’t wait for more Gaggy!

l to r: Harley Quinn, Catwoman, and Poison Ivy.

Cover art from Batman Reborn, “Gotham City: Sirens” Issue No. 4, November 2009. (actual release date: 30 Sept 09) Written by Paul Dini, art and cover by Guillem March. (go buy it go buy it go buy it — I know I am hopefully going to just as soon as I submit and am paid for the project on The Godfather I’ve been working on.) I guess the Joker shows up in this one (he’s been MIA since Batman RIP, according to the divine comicvine), and I somehow only just heard about this after Halloween!

From the look of things, he is none too pleased that his shrink and erstwhile girlfriend Dr. Harleen Quinzel has been palling around with that guy Hush. (You always knew he’d kill her.) So last week, finally having some free time, I hit up Bonanza Books and Comics looking for this and they said they had sold whatever copies they had to begin with, but assured me they’d get some more. Booyakasha: air heel click!

by Carl Strang

This is another of my dossiers, a collection of observations that represents what I know about a particular species from my own experience. Following an initial description that summarizes what I remembered when I set up the dossier in the mid-1980’s, each individual entry begins with my date code.

Downy Woodpecker

This is an abundant, year-round resident of forested areas and savannas. They nest in small tree cavities. Feed by searching on small twigs up to the size of tree trunks, on shrubs, sturdier weed stems, occasionally on the ground. They crawl rather than hitch along. Voice a rapid whinny, individual tones mores musical than hairy woodpecker’s and lower in pitch; reminds me of a movie witch’s cackle. When feeding, they pick at twigs or flake bark. They do much pecking under bark edges, when foraging on a tree trunk. Nest in hollow branches or main tree stems.

30MR86. 2 male downy woodpeckers in an aggressive encounter. Frequent flicking of wings and spreading of tail. Assumption of posture in which body is upright and neck arched back so bill points straight up. Appeared to be trying to get above one another. Generally faced one another when in bill-up posture, and both did it at once. Red feathers conspicuous.

Late summer 1986. As a flock of ground-feeding grackles flushed at the approach of people, downies and jays at Meacham Grove Forest Preserve emitted contact calls, apparently as a final check of location and status before possible flight.

8MR87. Waterfall Glen Forest Preserve. Male appears to be exploring the acoustic properties of a white oak limb. Spiralling up it, drumming frequently. Full drum about 1 second, poor spots drummed 0.5-0.75 seconds. Repeatedly drummed fully the spots that gave the greatest volume and lowest pitch. As I wrote the above, I heard vocalizations. Three downies now in that tree. The drummer and a second, presumably its mate, chased a third which gave fragments of the whinny call. They held themselves flat against branches, tails fanned, and gave whinny fragments and a more chattering, flatter sort of vocalization. The third bird left, but a few seconds later I heard a brief drumming about 50m in the direction it had gone. The other two immediately flew in pursuit, and after a few brief whinnies all was quiet.

7MY88. Indian Trails area, Culver. One systematically probing and pecking bases of hickory buds, open with leaves about 1/4 expanded.

18OC88. Hartz Lake area, Indiana. A vigorous, repeated displacement of one individual by another, though they stick together.

7MR89. Extended confrontation between 2 male downies. Mostly jerkily hopped up small tree stems within 3 feet of one another, flicking wings almost constantly, approaching, withdrawing, occasionally expanding and flashing the red patches, changing trees together, occasionally getting out of sight of one another momentarily, overall appearance of jerky movement. After more than 5 minutes of this, one displaced the other several times in rapid succession, but then they returned to the jerky maneuvering, with occasional rests on opposite sides of the trunk, out of sight of one another. Before all this, one of them called repeatedly, loud single-note reps. Another bird (female? Not seen) called or drummed a couple times during this from at least 50 feet away.

26-31MY90. Hartz Lake area. A nest in a river birch, entrance 12 feet up. Both parents fed, about 10 minutes between arrivals for each parent. Young still small, faint cheeping voices. When screech owl family passed by early one morning, one adult mobbed at a distance with alarm notes.

30SE90. Downy woodpecker eating poison ivy berries near Lafayette, IN.

10FE99. Two pairs of downy woodpeckers are actively engaged in drumming, calling, displaying and chasing in an area that centers on the Willowbrook bridge but extends most of the way to the marsh in one direction, and up to the big willow near the marsh’s water intake pipe in the other.

23MR99. The situation has become very complex at Willowbrook and difficult to follow, with displaying and chases, drumming and calls going on all day. It appears that at least 3 pairs are involved, with the center of the activity between the creek and the center of the outdoor animal exhibit. A downy woodpecker also was drumming in the big cottonwoods in the center of the Nature Trail circle, the first I’ve noticed there this year.

29MY99. Maple Grove Forest Preserve. Young audible in nest.

5OC99. Willowbrook. Downy eating poison ivy berries.

23FE00. Willowbrook. Male downy woodpecker displaying toward female, body in a stiff posture, tail fanned, unusual chattering vocalization, following or chasing her, matches Stokes’ description of Bill Waving.

1-2JL00. Juvenile downies have large red patches on top of head.

27MR06. Downy woodpecker drumming is so rapid that individual strikes cannot be followed. Hairy woodpecker drumming very rapid, individual strikes can be distinguished. Red-bellied rapid but slightly less so.

2009. Mayslake. One successful nest was in a large weeping willow branch in the SE corner of the mansion grounds. Young were vocal for several days before fledging. There was at least one other successful nest on the preserve.

i recently came across the website and facebook page of someone calling herself “xxxlicious”… i presume she means to suggest that she is somehow of the ‘delicious’ or ‘delectable’ ilk?… ah, how cutesy… a budding young ‘artist/designer’ who claims in her website to hv won a plethora of prizes but mysteriously enough none of those prizes were named… well, i say ‘young’ but really i hv no idea exactly HOW young / old, as she won’t tell… it’s all so hush hush…(i hv always viewed with suspicion women – or men – who are coy about their real ages… there must be something very pathetic and lacking deep down inside, beneath the patent veneer of confidence)…

but, back to miss “xxxlicious”… she recently held a solo exhibition in downtown soho… and my favourite among the many photos (posted all over facebook), showing this delightful creature prancing around like a baboon on heat in various stages of drugged drunkenness, is a close shot of her bent over in a tawdry pornographic pose, showing off a rather huge bottom wrapped in a pair of cheap bright red tights, head turned back, flashing a wide skanky grin… and… glaringly clear beneath the tarty material of her bright red tights were the white tag (from the cheap tights) and an ugly unglamorous pantyline for all to gawk at… (yes and she is in all appearances very proud of this photograph mind!)

for goodness’ sake, honey, didn’t mama tell u never to show off ur pantyline, especially if it is a cheap pair of knickers? (take a lesson from the edison chen saga – girls, never ever be caught in compromising positions in ugly cheap underwear PUHLEEESE!!)

not surprisingly, miss xxxlicious’ paintings on show are all brightly coloured renditions of flowers infused with human sexual organs and various re-interpretations of human copulation… one piece even features a detail of a couple of bees in the act… ok, but nobody really expects gustav klimt or even georgia o’keefe here… and hey, some ppl may hv been happy to pay the listed price tag of $7,000 for these works of high art… who knows?…
but she is not to blame… a hotch potch of tragic comedies all mixed into one huge rancid cauldron of sex, lies, and cheap games… and voila! she is led to think that she is good enough to eat?… mais oui!… hence the extension of her name ‘xxxlicious‘… well, beauty must be in the eye of the beholder… for this delectable young (or wanna be young) creature is (has been already? i hv been outa touch, thank goodness for that!) highly favoured by a rather respected and truly talented middle aged musician… valued enough to be his prized dog let loose for over a year in his own neighbourhood barking her head off, chatting up the neighbours, inviting people to his place for tea anyway (with his longsuffering wife and child living just two apartment blocks away, very very reckless i daresay)… and here we hv it in his own words: “i don’t care what she is or who she is, she’s a DAMN GOOD FUCK!” …

there in a nutshell thus we hv it dont we? yep… enough said!

overwhelmed by the move… suddenly stopped in my tracks while putting things away, realised that i wld be leaving this place probably for good… and then felt a sense of relief and release… i reminded myself to be thankful that since he left the neighbourhood, left my block, i need not be afraid of coming and going anymore, never wld his skank bother me again in the vicinity of my own home… funny how i’d paid such a high price to be in this place and in the end i never enjoyed it at all, always locked in fear… my hair still stands in horror at the memory of that skank turning up at my door, high on drugs and alcohol, giggling loudly and boasting how good in bed she is and how she had him eating out of her hand… well she did indeed, for a time anyway… a long enough time to cause me irreparable damage… sometimes i wonder hv i gone completely starkers after this experience?… i dont kw… i m hanging in there… but grateful that this monster is out of my life… a great relief indeed… good riddance poison ivy! (in any case, he now has a rather chubby bimbo called celine or cecilia or some such name – or perhaps that is only one of many of his bimbos… poor veronica, how horrible her nightmare must be, still playing out after 2 decades, and perhaps continue to play until their child grows up? another relief – i need never be locked into such hopelessness… i m free… or am i?…)

Watch Gossip Girl Season 1 Episode 3: Poison Ivy

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Gotham girls by Brainy Brimstone on flickr.

Zatanna




Poison Ivy




Harley Quinn




Black Canary



Finally, last and least…




Batgirl



If I ever stop making fun of Batgirl, take me out back and shoot me because I’m not me anymore, I’m some kind of alien posing as me. (I told you, it happens all the time.)

This morning, the sisters Szyndel and I decided to try and explore some more of Savannah before we hit the road north to Charleston.  It was raining so hard, but our first mission was to get to CVS Pharmacy to get Kasia some Cortizone because she got poison ivy all over her legs.  We think Little Gracie gave it to her at Bonaventure Cemetery.  No, but seriously, there’s nowhere else she could have gotten it from.

Today's travel lesson: If you plan on going traipsing around in the swamps of Georgia, make sure you stay away from all foliage. Kasia is a good sport! Hey, at least it's not typhoid!

After our mission, the rain stopped for a bit so we parked  and walked to Calhoun Square, and found The Book Store.  “The Book” is of course Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, which basically put Savannah on the map.  Kasia got a copy of Midnight to read on the plane back to Poland, and I got a copy of Hiding My Candy by The Lady Chablis, who was the drag queen featured in Midnight.  I’m only on page 3 and it’s HILARIOUS!  The first chapter is called “The Negro Scarlett O’Hara” and it has a picture of Chablis dressed in Scarlett’s bar-b-que dress, HAHAHA!  I’m loving it.  What a character (who happens to be totally real)!

Anyway, Savannah is so gorgeous.  And old.  And fabulous.  And very GWTW and “southern”.  It pretty much blows Atlanta out of the water as far as beauty. Sorry, Atlanta, you’re too modern for me.  I tend to like cities that have a lot of history that is still apparent in the buildings.  Savannah’s historic district has such a quaint charm and gorgeous buildings and houses.  The ghost tour we went on by trolley last night took us to the Sorrel-Weed House and a really neat cemetery in the middle of town.

The third story balcony of the Sorrel-Weed House

The Sorrel-Weed House is supposedly haunted by two spirits: Mrs. Sorrel and their slave housekeeper, Molly.  Mrs. Sorrel commeted suicide by throwing herself off the third floor balcony (pictured above) when she discovered her husband sleeping with Molly the housekeeper.  Molly was hanged two weeks later.  It was featured on the Sci-Fi show Ghost Hunters and they certified it “haunted”.  It was a bit creepy but also pretty awesome, and the period furniture in the upstairs was gorgeous!

The cemetery we saw had these weird mausoleums that are dome shaped and lie close to the ground.  The tour guide said that Savannah and Charleston are unique in that their crypts lie underground instead of above ground like most cemeteries.  When Sherman came and invaded the city during the Civil War, his soldiers were there during a cold winter, and dug up the underground graves and then crawled in to keep themselves warm.

Underground mosoleum

We totally forgot today was Veteran’s Day here in the US, so it was a pleasant surprise to see a parade going through town.  All the old vets waved at us and someone gave us little American flags.  But then the nice parade became a huge hassle when we tried to make our way out of town because all the streets were blocked off!  Waaah!  I’d love to go back to Savannah when it’s sunny outside, I bet it’s amazing!

House on Calhoun Square, Savannah

Then we drove 2.5 hours to Charleston.  It was pouring when we got here and the hotel is a bit of a dump.  Okay, it’s not that bad, but it’s not as awesome as the past 2 hotels (even though I think it was a bit more expensive).  Kasia was worried about her legs, so we asked the lady at the desk if there was a hospital or walk-in clinic close by.  She gave us directions to a place about 15 miles away–during rush hour traffic and it took us about an hour to get there :S  It was really annoying.  We got lost on the way back.  Another travel tip:  when you’re in a city that you’ve never visited before, and you’re driving a car, remember to bring a map, otherwise you might end up on the wrong side of the river.  Literally.

So, since the weather has been so awful, we didn’t get to see much of Charleston today.  We did, however, drive through a flooded street, sit in traffic, and eat Taco Bell for dinner.  But we have a sight-seeing tour booked for tomorrow morning and we plan on stopping by Drayton Hall on the way back to Marietta. It’s going to be a looong drive.

I’m looking forward to the event on Friday, though, and we hope to meet some interesting people!

5. Remove the Car Bomb-Transporter 2

I actually forgot why I even decided to see Transporter 2.  Never did see the first one, the second didn’t look great and I never saw the third either.  However, I did wind up seeing the film and it’s one that has disbelief written all over it.  One scene in particular, however, left me completely speechless at how bluntly unrealistic it was.  If you’ve seen the film, then you know that Statham’s car winds up having a bomb under it so what does he do?  He jumps off a ramp causing his car to spin around, the bottom of the car barely scrapes a crane hook that perfectly removes the bomb without issue and he still lands with little to no problem.  Normally I’d go into more detail, but I think watching the scene yourself should put it into perspective.

4. Refrigerator vs. Nuke-Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

The Indiana Jones films have always been a favorite of mine.  Though Temple of Doom was always my childhood favorite, the other two (of the original trilogy) have since grown on me and I actually enjoy Last Crusade the most.  So it goes without saying I was quite curious as to how good Kingdom of the Crystal Skull would be.  Unfortunately, it does not hold a flag to its predecessors and there’s one scene in particular that I whispered to myself “I do believe that this is the most unrealistic scene ever.”  Towards the beginning, Jones finds out that he’s in an area about to be nuked so what does he do?  He hides in a refrigerator.  And since this is shortly into the film with our hero’s life at stake he of course manages to survive with the fridge conveniently being the only object that gets blasted away and lands in tact.

3. Needle vs. Bullet to the Skin-Far Cry

Alright, just so everyone knows, I actually how not seen this film and I never intend to.  I shelled money out for an Uwe Boll film once before and I will never do so again.  But I saw a review for this film which went through the entire film and one part that stood out in an idiotic way was towards the beginning when the super soldiers are tested.  During this scene, we find that the mutated skin can essentially bounce bullets back like rubber but after things go out of control they manage to suppress it with a needle to the skin.  That’s right, the skin is impervious to bullets yet needles go in without an issue.  Figure that out on your own.

2. Spin Back Time-Superman

I’m going to shamelessly admit that I haven’t seen any of the original Superman films.  In fact, other than the most recent film, Superman Returns, all I’ve seen of Superman at all are gameplay videos of Superman on the N64 and him in the TV show Justice League.  So it should go without saying I know about this scene from someone who did a video on the film and the turned out to be one by Doug Walker aka the Nostalgia Critic.  The video was a Top 11 countdown of the dumbest Superman moments and at number one was when Superman turns the world back to reverse time.  Apparently causing the Earth’s rotation to reverse would be the key to spinning back time.  I guess I’d better build a really fast airplane to do this and bring me back to my high school days.

1. Every Scene-Batman & Robin

Even though this list is supposed to be for single scenes from a single film, Joel Schumacher’s hilariously bad sequel to Batman Forever (which he also directed) has so many impossible scenes packed in together that I really can’t think of any other film that hits quite as low.  I won’t state every one of the scenes but here’s just a few of them:  Schwarzenegger surviving water that’s 50 degrees below zero, his freeze gun landing on top of a curved statue perfectly like a magnet, Batgirl jumping off her motorcycle onto Robin’s…swamp-like machine for a few seconds to jump back on her bike which has managed to keep up with the Batmobile and Robin without falling over, the bathooks always managing to hit/grab surfaces strong enough to pull our heroes forward, Batman and Robin air surfing using doors as boards while casually heading back down to the ground, etc.  If a single movie can actually top the level of implausibility here, then I think we’re in trouble.

by Lety Soto CMA

I love Halloween!!! I like coming up with a costume and I LOVE coming up with my makeup whether it be a freaky zombie or a sparkly princess. This year I decided to be Poison Ivy, no not the plant. Poison Ivy is a batman character; she’s a bad guy or girl in this case. I’d also like to mention that I love the Batman movies and cartoons. When I was younger I would watch all the movies and cartoons with my younger brother and we would even make Batman puzzles together. It was loads of fun.

In 1997 Warner Brothers released Batman & Robin the 3^rd installment in their Batman series, the villains were Mr. Freeze and Poison Ivy played my Uma Thurman. I based my version of the character on a combination of the cartoon and movie looks. I think it was a success and to my surprise quite of few people knew that I was going for Poison Ivy. Kudos to them!

I only used my Dr. Dima’s Cosminology Minacles clinical mineral coverage to create this look.

I prepped my face with my CosmicRay Shield and Galactic Glove then followed with AstroThena mineral foundation.

I primed my eye with my KharmicKoncealer and then applied AstroMagic eye shadow all over my lid.

I used the eye liner AstroJade to add drama to my look by creating a large arch over my eye brow, I wet my brush removed the excess water and dipped it into my AstroJade compact I was then able to blend the color on my skin and apply as many layers as needed to create the depth that I wanted. It looked as though it was painted on my skin and I dusted just a little of the AstroMagic on top.

I defined the arch with eye liner AstroRain, and then to add a little sullenness to my eyes I applied it under my eyes.

I dusted some AstroBerry on the cheeks and applied AstroFaith to the lips.

I was now all set for a very fun and beautiful Halloween.

Oh and yes those are my Latisse lashes that you see, no j/k the only thing on face not from Cosminology was the green lashes that I found at a Halloween store.

I was very thankful that I was able to create this look with the products I already had and that they were all mineral based. I had a lot on to create the drama I was going for and knowing that they weren’t going to break me out put me at ease. I also easily removed my face with Global Debris Remover, it got me cosmically naked.

I hope you enjoy the look.

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Have You Seen Gossip Girl: Season 1 Episode 3 – Poison Ivy?

Episode Synopsis:

‘Gossip Girl’ narrates Ivy League week as the teens on the Upper East Side schools of Constance Billard for Girls, and the rival St. Jude’s for Boys, prepare for a much-anticipated visit from the Ivy League representatives. The twisted and vindictive Blair, with Chuck’s help, uncovers a scandalous secret about Serena that may not remain a secret much longer which involves Eric whom is still hold-ed up in the sanatorium. Dan has his heart and future set on the coveted usher position for the Dartmouth rep, only to be beat out by Nate who has no interest in the school despite pressure from his controlling father, The Captain. Meanwhile, Jenny bonds with Serena’s younger brother, Eric, who confides in her about his depression and recent suicide attempt, while Rufus must swallow his pride and ask Lily for a favor to help Dan with a Dartmouth referral.

So what do you think of this episode?

If you missed it, you can watch it here.

This is a great! post by GoVeg.com check out the top 10 reasons not to eat pigs.

1 – Porking You Up!

It’s a fact—ham, sausage, and bacon strips will go right to your hips. Eating pork products, which are loaded with artery-clogging cholesterol and saturated fat, is a good way to increase your waistline and increase your chances of developing deadly diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, osteoporosis, Alzheimer’s, asthma, and impotence. Research has shown that vegetarians are 50 percent less likely to develop heart disease, and they have 40 percent of the cancer rate of meat-eaters. Plus, meat-eaters are nine times more likely to be obese than pure vegetarians are. Every time you eat animal products, you’re also ingesting bacteria, antibiotics, dioxins, hormones, and a host of other toxins that can accumulate in your body and remain there for years.

2 – Pigs Have Feelings Too

Ninety-seven percent of pigs in the United States today are raised in factory farms, where they will never run across sprawling pastures, bask in the sun, breathe fresh air, or do anything else that comes naturally to them. Crowded into warehouses with nothing to do and nowhere to go, they are kept on a steady diet of drugs to keep them alive and make them grow faster, but the drugs cause many of the animals to become crippled under their own bulk.

3 – Pigs and Playstations

Think that you can outplay a pig on your Playstation? You may be surprised. According to research, pigs are much smarter than dogs, and they even do better at video games than some primates. In fact, pigs are extremely clever animals who form complex social networks and have excellent memories. Eating a pig is like eating your dog! As actor Cameron Diaz put it after hearing that pigs have the mental capacities of a 3-year-old human: “[Eating bacon is] like eating my niece!”

4 – Pigs Prefer Mud, Not Crud

Pigs are actually very clean animals. If they are given sufficient space, pigs are careful not to soil the areas where they sleep or eat. And forget the silly saying “sweating like a pig”—pigs can’t even sweat! That’s why they bathe in water or mud to cool off. But in factory farms, they’re forced to live in their own feces and vomit and even amid the corpses of other pigs. Conditions are so filthy that at any given time, more than one-quarter of pigs suffer from mange—think of your worst case of poison ivy, and imagine having to suffer from it for the rest of your life.

5 – Farming Family Values

Factory farms are pure hell for pigs and their babies. Mother pigs spend most of their lives in tiny “gestation” crates, which are so small that the animals are unable to turn around or even lie down comfortably. They are repeatedly impregnated until they are slaughtered. Piglets, who are taken away from their distraught mothers after just a few weeks, have their tails chopped off, their teeth are clipped off with pliers, and the males are castrated—all without painkillers.

6 – The Manure Is Blowing in the Wind

A pig farm with 5,000 animals produces as much fecal waste as a city of 50,000 people. In 1995, 25 million gallons of putrid hog urine and feces spilled into a North Carolina river, immediately killing between 10 and 14 million fish. To get around water pollution limits, factory farms will frequently take the tons of urine and feces that are stored in cesspools and turn them into liquid waste that they spray into the air. This manure-filled mist is carried away by the wind and inhaled by the people who live nearby.

7 – Bacteria-Laden Bacon and Harmful Ham

Extremely crowded conditions, poor ventilation, and filth in factory farms cause such rampant disease in pigs that 70 percent of them have pneumonia by the time they’re sent to the slaughterhouse. In order to keep pigs alive in conditions that would otherwise kill them and to promote unnaturally fast growth, the industry keeps pigs on a steady diet of the antibiotics that we depend on to treat human illnesses. This overuse of antibiotics has led to the development of “superbacteria,” or antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains. The ham, bacon, and sausage that you’re eating may make the drugs that your doctor prescribes the next time you get sick completely ineffective.

8 – Hell on Wheels

More than 170,000 pigs die in transport each year, and more than 420,000 are crippled by the time they arrive at the slaughterhouse. Transport trucks, which carry pigs hundreds of miles through all weather extremes with no food or water, regularly flip over, throwing injured and dying animals onto the road. These terrified and injured animals are rarely offered veterinary care, and most languish in pain for hours; some even bleed to death on the side of the road. After an accident in April 2005, Smithfield spokesperson Jerry Hostetter told one reporter, “I hate to admit it, but it happens all the time.”

9 – Killing Them Without Kindness

A typical slaughterhouse kills up to 1,100 pigs every hour, which makes it impossible for them to be given humane, painless deaths. The U.S. Department of Agriculture documented 14 humane slaughter violations at one processing plant, where inspectors found hogs who “were walking and squealing after being stunned [with a stun gun] as many as four times.” Because of improper stunning methods and extremely fast line speeds, many pigs are still alive when they are dumped into scalding-hot hair-removal tanks—they literally drown in scalding-hot water.

10 – Ditch the Bacon and Get Fakin’

Save pigs from hell and yourself from bad health by feasting on faux pork products instead. Stuff a sandwich full of Yves brand veggie ham slices, or throw some Lightlife Smart Bacon into a sizzling skillet—the freezer and “health food” sections of your local grocery or health food stores are packed full of these and other tasty substitutes. Check out VegCooking.com for hundreds of recipes, product recommendations, vegan meal plans, and a shopping guide.

- Also the skin of a pig is most similar to a humans also the meat of a pig is said to be like eating human flesh… something to think about – Simranjeet

I was getting ready to go out on a date the other day, and “Garbageman” by The Cramps came on the bathroom boombox. I love The Cramps and I miss them.  They kind of hung it up when their lead singer, Lux Interior traded in his mortal coil for a halo and a new pair of skin-tight, snakeskin pants in February of 2009.  I was lucky enough to see them once at The Ogden on New Year’s  Eve in 2000.  It was a magical show.





Lux spent the entire night slowly stripping off his clothes and channeling the illegitimate swamp demon spawn of  Wanda Jackson and Frank Booth.  Ivy, Lux’s wife and The Cramps’ lead guitarist, serenaded his breakdown behind a giant, gold Gibson (295?).  At this point, both of them were in their middle 50’s and they still looked and sounded amazing. I think they could have gone for another fifteen years, at least.

Lux and Ivy were freaks.  They worshiped at the altar of low-brow, uniquely American kulture and cloaked themselves in B-sci-fi/horror and exploitation flicks, hot rods, two-fisting amphetamines and nitrous, sleazy sex, motorcycle gangs, go-go dancers, fetish magazines, hillbilly records, pulp fiction, switchblades, gender-bending, circus side shows, kinky pinups, and depravity.  In other words, The Cramps were my kind of people.

Lux Interior and Poison Ivy

The world was a far more interesting place with The Cramps in it, and they will be missed.

…yeah it’s just what you need,
when you’re down in the dumps,
one half hillbilly and one half punk,
big long legs and one big mouth,
the hottest thing from the north to come out of the south…

The Cramps-Garbageman

…well my mama had twin babies,
on one sweet summer day,
she beat one in the head,
and I’m the one the got away,
protected by my wighat,
and my Fredrick snakeskin pants
I rode my horse to Hollywood,
and did a wondrous dance…

The Cramps-Call of the Wighat

Rock’n'roll is so great that everyone in the world should think it’s the greatest thing that’s happening. If they don’t, they’re turds.

Lux Interior

I’ve never touched poison ivy in my life. And I’m not sure I’ve actually seen it anywhere before. But I’m tremendously paranoid about getting anywhere near it. I know all about the old adage: “leaves of three, leave them be.” So anything remotely 3-leafed totally freaks me out.

I started doing some research on it today, and it seems like there are a bunch of different varieties of poison ivy – some with even 5-7 leaves sometimes! Sometimes the leaves are smooth and waxy, sometimes they’re dull with jagged edges. It can grow as a climbing vine or a shrub. It almost seems like you have to touch it, wait 10 minutes and see if you get a rash to find out if it’s really poison ivy. Or just avoid anything remotely poison ivy-looking.

So, here’s my roundup on poison ivy resources:

• Texas Parks and Wildlife Young Naturalist article on Poison Ivy
• About.com Pediatrics Poison Ivy Photo Gallery
• Poison Ivy, Oak and Sumac FactSheet (from Texas Department of Insurance Division of Workers’ Compensation)

My take on dealing with Poison Ivy and its relatives? Wear long pants whenever hiking. Period. I don’t care if it’s 100 degrees with 90% humidity outside – if I’m hiking, I’m wearing jeans or pants!

So since that last time I posted (ages and ages ago, sorry) I’ve realized that… ohgod, there are only SEVEN WEEKS until Halloween.  Last year it took me three months to make my costume and I still haven’t completed some of the details.  I mean, sure, it was/IS wearable but there are bits and pieces here and there that are not quite done.  I don’t know that I’ll ever get them done, unless I find some other excuse for dressing up as Scarlett O’Hara.  Admittedly, since I do not live in the deep south and/or a place where people do regular Civil War Reenactments, this is going to be somewhat difficult to conjure.  In my neck of the woods, we tend to go more for the Ren-Faire side of things where people dress up in homemade armor and beat on each other with broadswords.  Yeah.  But I digress.

So, not enough time to do the more elaborate costume ideas I posited in the last post,* I’ve gone over to a costume that I’ve been wanting to try for a very long time.  This year I’m going to be:

OH YEAH.

After I finished my Poison Ivy costume (picture of me in costume is of me looking shitfaced undignified at a party so I will not post here),  i was casting about for other Comic Book characters to be for Halloween and this was always at the top of my list.  Now, Looking at the above drawing, she’s wearing a bodysuit.  Er…

I don’t really have the (excess of) self-confidence to wear a full spandex bodysuit and so there are going to need to be a few modifications to this along the way.

*no entirely true, as I’m currently unemployed and theoretically made of time… but man, sleeping in to One in the afternoon is a real timesuck!

Heeeerregud vilken helg! Det har varit helt suveränt! Jag har suttit och knåpat ihop hela outfits och varit helt uppstressad och glad av allt vansinne! Jag älskar verkligen Halloween. Jag gillar jättemycket att Halloween dessutom bara blir större och större i Sverige!

Hela lördagen var helt vansinnig. Eller ja, hela Fredagen också för den delen. Men Lördag började tidigt på morgonen med lite småsmink och sistafix och sen ordnade jag och karlen inför den lilla förfesten vi skulle ha. Kvällens soundtrack och min arbetsmusik var Shakira – She Wolf passande nog, eftersom jag gjorde en Varulv…

Det var mycket pyssel och tillslut blev klockan väldigt mycket, då börjar sms rulla in om att tunnelbanan har spårat ur (eller ja… inte bokstavligt, men knas var det i alla fall). Så de flesta blev sena. Men Kalle och hans två tjejkompisar kom först, så vi bjöd på bubbel och snacks, för att sedan sätta igång med hans make för kvällen. Det blev ett körrigt sår och en schyst blåtira på det.

Så kan det se ut. Sen kom Nicci, Emelie och Julia. Vi fixade en massa, jag hann knappt göra ordning mig själv för jag var rätt upptagen med Stefan som blev varulven här ovan.

Det är ju väldigt tacksamt att jobba med Nicci, vacker, duktig och väldigt långt fint hår. Det är alltid kul!

Inte så vacker kanske… Peruken heter för övrigt NATASCHA! Bara det säger ju allt, haha.

Sen bar det av till The Core’s Halloweenfest, Nocturnal Models Agency Halloween Ball. Kalle och flickorna drog lite tidigare, men Stefan tog gruppbild på oss resterande. Visst är vi fina!

Väl på festen hade i alla fall jag otroligt roligt. Stefan fick ju en hel del stående ovantioner och är med på mååånga foton från imponerande människor. Det är alltid kul med feedback. Han är ju 1.90 lång så det gjorde ju en hel del för helhetsintrycket av Varulv också.

Kvällen slutade vid 4-5 nångång. Jag skulle kalla det en väldigt stressig, lönsam och extremt kul Halloween!