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Dahlia DeWinters - Author

Quirky Heroines, Happy Endings

Blogtoberfest- Five Halloween Movies that Creeped Me Out

 

magic-1978-movie-poster
HOW FREAKISH IS THIS POSTER?

Magic (not the Mike kind)

This is a movie that scared the mess out of me when I was a teenager.  First of all, I am no fan of ventriloquist dummies.  I can’t stand them, they scare the heck out of me.  Give me a movie with a dummy and you’ve got me scared.

A looooooong time ago, back in 1978, there was this movie trailer that ran on television.  Mind you, this was back in the fun 70s where the cars waiting in line for gas would queue in front of my parents’ house.   This trailer wasn’t anything NEAR Silent Hill 3d (which by the way also frightens me with its grotesqueness) but was creepy just in the fact that it featured a dummy.

The movie was directed by Richard Attenborough, the kindly old John Hammond in Jurassic Park. You’ll also find Burgess Meredith, Ann-Margaret, and

Here’s the creepy trailer.

 

According to Wikipedia (that bastion of totally true facts) : “The trailer for this film was pulled from TV due to calls from parents who claimed that it gave their children nightmares.”  Oh, most certainly.

Seriously, it may not scare you now, but imagine a 10 year old watching this on the late night movie or Chiller Theatre (remember channel 9 Chiller with the six-fingered hand?)

This was Anthony Hopkins before he was Hannibal Lector, a failed magician who is basically going off the deep end.  Yikes!

The movie is on YouTube if you want to watch it.  Warning, it’s 70s cheesy, but the story itself is disturbing.

The Shining

I’ll be honest, I saw the movie “The Shining” before I read the book.  Saw it on channel seven, ABC’s channel here in the New York area.  I’m not sure how old I was, but I must have been in high school because the movie was in the theatre in 1980.

That movie frightens me to this day, even when they show it on the Arts and Entertainment channel.  I’m not sure if

The Overlook Hotel (Timberline Lodge).
The Overlook Hotel (Timberline Lodge).

I’ve never seen the theatrical version and I’m not sure I want to.

The whole idea of being snowbound and trapped while the “strongest” of your party goes slowly mad and there’s nothing you can do about it is frightening enough.  The fact that the HOTEL itself is making it impossible for you to escape from him is even scarier.

The scene that scared me the most was not the famous and too-often-quoted “Here’s Johnny!” scene, but it’s the scene where Jack is menacing Wendy on the stairs and says:

Wendy Torrance: Please! Don’t hurt me!
Jack Torrance: I’m not gonna hurt you.
Wendy Torrance: Stay away from me!
Jack Torrance: Wendy? Darling? Light, of my life. I’m not gonna hurt ya. You didn’t let me finish my sentence. I said, I’m not gonna hurt ya. I’m just going to bash your brains in.
[Wendy gasps]
Jack Torrance: Gonna bash ’em right the fuck in! ha ha ha

The miniseries remake with Steven Weber (from the show WINGS of all places) didn’t half faze me.  I mean, this is the dude from Wings against Jack Nicholson for heaven’s sake.  It’s a no brainer.

The movie was made in 1980, but I’ll say SPOILER ALERT anyway.

The Shining is an example of chillingly great horror movie.  The final shot of Jack Nicholson frozen in the hedge maze…that haunted me for quite a few nights after that!

 

Blacula

Laugh if you want at the 70s clothes and kinda bad acting, but this was one of my first scary movies.  Again, I ask, how were they showing this stuff on network TV in the 1970s?  Viewing it now, it’s not as scary as it was (of course).  However, I loved the relationship between the police officer and his wife, especially the conversations they had about “moving out of the city”.  I’ve posted the trailer, and I realize that it ruins one of the scariest moments in the movie, but since the movie is over thirty years old…oh well.

 

 

 

 

28 Days Later

 

I had to watch this one at noon.  I simply cannot watch scary movies at night (when you’re supposed to, I know).  It’s just TOO scary for me! Gah, even the trailer scares me now, LOL.

 

Jeepers Creepers

Before the sequel ruined the Creeper, this….just wow.  I actually watched this at night, like a fool, and was up half the night staring at the closet door that I forgot to close.  I just KNEW the Creeper was in there waiting for me and I was too creeped out to get up and open the door.  Mind you, my husband slept peacefully next to me, oblivious to the fact there was dangers right under his suit jackets.

 

So what’s YOUR favorite scary movie????

 

 

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Filed Under: Blogtoberfest, Uncategorized Tagged: 28 days later, black geek girls, black girl nerds, dahlia dewinters, female geek bloggers, geek girls, halloween, halloween movies, Magic, scary movies, the shining

5 Things I Love about Winter

Winter (1)Winter is the time of year where it gets dark early, which means cocktail hour starts so much earlier than in the summer.  The children are in school, the weather is blustery turning to cold and there’s a lot of baking to be done.  The brisk wind wakes you up when you go outside, making you that much more grateful to hurry back into the house or to a warm car.

At least that’s the way it is here in New Jersey, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

The leaves did their final drop in the last week or so, and gray skies have presided for the last three days.  I have no complaints about this, because I love winter.  How much do I love winter?  Why, let me count the ways.

 

 

Love this Snuggie!!
Love this Snuggie!!

1.  My Leopard Snuggie – Depending on my mood, I wear it as a dragging, regal robe and my children call me the leopard queen.  I love it.  It’s warm, it’s fleecy and it’s an excellent emergency blanket for a child who needs a snuggle.

 

 

Coffee cup and beans on a white background. File contains the path to cut.

2.  Hot Coffee – I love coffee anytime, anywhere and will only drink it hot, no matter what the temperature outside.  But you’ve gotta admit, there’ something special about that first cup of coffee when I’ve dropped off the little ones and hurried into a warm house from the freezing temperatures outside.  The house is totally quiet.  After the gurgle of the Keurig, it’s just me and that Black Silk, with a little creamer to lighten the load.  Bonus points for those donuts from the 7-eleven.

 

Yes.  I am wearing these right now.
Yes. I am wearing these right now.

 

3.  Slippers – I’ve got slippers, heavy socks, fur lined leopard sequined slippers, you name it, I’ve got it.  Again, it’s about the warmth and the snuggles.

 

 

Christmas cookies

 

4.  Baking – I am not a cook.  Dinner is a task.  But baking?  Why I love baking!  Cookies, biscuits, cakes, loaves…it is on during the winter season. Plus, the heat doesn’t kick on as much and the house smells soooooo durn good. In addition, I get to play June Cleaver with the kids and feed them hot chocolate with homemade sugar cookies!

 

I'm the one on the right.
I’m the one on the right.

5.  Comforters – There’s nothing better after a long day of cooking, kids, dog and writing than to snuggle up with the hubs under our heavy comforter.  Sure, it’s as old as our marriage, has some holes and is a little ragged around the edges, but it is warm and reminds me of how much I love winter.  Plus, with the nights being so long, I don’t feel like an old person getting into bed at 8:30.

So, dear readers, what are some of your favorite things about winter?


Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged: black geek girls, black girl nerds, cold weather, dahlia dewinters, female geek bloggers, geek girls, hot coffee, interracial romance, romance, winter

5 Fandom Friday – My Super Fave Apps

Five Favorite AppsI am a recent convert from an Apple iPhone 4s to a Samsung Galaxy s5 and I’m not sorry.   I’ve found that my functionality has increased with the Android operating system.  Plus who can resist an OS named “Kit Kat”?

Shout out to The Nerdy Girlie and SuperSpaceChick for organizing this!

Here are the apps that I use and love:

Instagram:  I don’t post as often as I’d like, but I love looking at the snippets of what other people are up to.  Whether it be beautiful fall trees are cute pets, Instagram is so much fun.

FitBit:  As a stay at home mom, I don’t do as much walking around as I’d like unless I put my mind to it.  Luckily there’s the FitBit, a little device that clips onto your body that tracks your steps.  Everytime I look at my phone to see a cute pet pic on Instagram, the FitBit reminds me to keep moving.

 

Relax Melodies:  Sometimes you need to tune the world out and activate relaxation right away.  This app helps you do that.  This was one of the first apps I purchased for my new phone.

 

 

Netflix:  I love The Office.  Can’t watch enough of it.  This app keeps The Office in my pocket.

 

Picture Life:  Every single picture I take is upload to a cloud service right away.  And it’s only pictures.  I don’t have to sort through documents, music etc.  And as an added bonus, they send you pictures from dates past.

 

So don’t keep us in suspense!  What are some of your favorite apps?

 

D

 

 

 

 

 

 


Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged: android, black geek girls, black girl nerds, dahlia dewinters, female geek bloggers, five fandom Friday

Gotham Recap – The Mask

Fish, to her Friends
Fish, to her Friends

 

Note:  This is a quick slapdash, done on the fly.  It most definitely contains errors, which will be fixed in the future.  Thanks, though, for reading!

The episode opens with some men in Wall Street clothes, fighting in an office where the lights are flickering. It’s pretty brutal and they are beating the crap out of each other using office supplies. The w

inner hacks the loser with the blade from a paper cutter, the likes of which I haven’t seen in ages.

Body on the docks. Nygma has all the answers and pulls a thumb out of the dead man’s mouth. Eck.

Penguin stops some rich broad on the street and says she has a very nice brooch, and asks for it. Yeah. Next scene he’s giving the brooch to Fish and they seem to be playing nice with each other, but we know that’s a sham.

Fish uses the pin from the brooch to stab Penguin in the hand and licks the blood off the end. Go, FISH! She also tells Penguin that he’d

Penguin blood is sweeeeeet
Penguin blood is sweeeeeet

better hope that Falcone keeps in good health.

Finally, Bruce going to school. He couldn’t stay in that house forever. I can’t see Alfred being a huge advocate of hiding away and homeschooling.

At a loss to do with the brooch, Penguin gives it to his mother. She opens her arms and pushes her chest out, saying “Pin in on!” We are saved from another creepy moment when she exclaims over his injury. After hearing the story, she says she, too was bullied by a girl in school and ended up reporting her and her family to the Secret Police. Mama Penguin is gangsta!

Gordon and Bullock at a black market doctor who has apparently treated these Gordon Gekko Fight Club folks. Gordon arrests him because of the link between the doctor and the dead body. Cops don’t like that, but Gordon is playing hardball.

Sigh. Gordon goes home. Drunk Barbara waiting for him with gun drawn. She’s still scared of Zsasz, blah blah. Guess she’s not scared of a little vodka tho. Eh, I have tried with Barbara. I don’t like her character.

At least we have cheese with her whine....
At least we have cheese with her whine….

character. She’s wishy washy and kinda dull. “Go, stay, go, stay….” I know it’s all plot device, but give the character something to do, please.

So Ed Nygma is also the Medical Examiner, like Quincy, and he also likes cranberry muffins. And he tells himself jokes. This is the most ill-lit forensic examining lab that I’ve ever seen. Dr. G would be so put out. Whoops NOPE! He gets chased away by the real medical examiner. Pretty funny.

Back to Bruce at school. Two boys sit down with him. As a teacher, I smell a bullying scene coming up. Yep. And the main bully’s haircut is terrible.

Fish and that girl who is dating Falcone is reporting to Fish in a confessional. This girl, who’s name I can’t even remember, is rather boring. Oh, thanks Fish, it’s Liza. Liza is supposed to copy something from Falcone’s journal. Liza asks what would happen if one of his men catches her, and Fish is like…well, then you’re dead. Ha!

Bullock and Gordon show up at a busy office where the employees are looking kinda beat up. The man who is the head of the firm seems to be familiar to me, I recognize the voice. Gordon and Bullock go into the good cop/bad cop act (with Gordon as the bad cop, lol)

and main dude is acting pretty shady. They talk about mask. “A mask speaks truth.” And he is become weirder and weirder by the second.

Nygma gets a clue
Nygma gets a clue

They leave the office and there is blood on the floor leading to the restroom. Oh, look, it’s a man with a bloody nose. Whoops. But wait! A dude comes out of the restroom with a bloody bandage on a hand. He hits Gordon and leaves. Bullock comes in and tells him “You should have waited for me.”

Back at Bruce’s school. Here it comes, the bullying escalates. Bruce isn’t intimidated, but when it’s three against one, those are tough odds. Bully starts to talk about his mother and Bruce bats him across the face. Good for him.

Back to Penguin. Uh oh, he’s eating an apple and a knife. This isn’t looking good. Timothy, one of Fish Mooney’s men, is brought in and Penguin has him beat up.

Gordon and Bullock interrogate no-thumb guy. Bullock reports out that the three top candidates for some job had to fight it out, but not to the death. Blah Blah. Here comes Nygma, thank god, to offer some color to the scene. Apparently, it wasn’t black in, it was printer toner. Turns out four bodies were found having been killed with office supplies. What? No thumb dude has lawyered up before he could sign a confession.

They briefly discuss how the death of the Waynes sparked the evil that is coming up from the bowels of Gotham.

And Bruce comes out all beat up and Alfred is like what’s going on. Bruce says “Don’t tell the school.” Alfred is like “Not bloody likely.” Which means those bullies better watch out!

Bullock and Gordon have a bit of a falling out and guess who’s on the phone. Barbara, wanting to check it. Gordon is like “I’m busy” and hangs up.

Liza, spills some of the knock out syrup she is supposed to pour in Falcone’s tea.

Gordon, along in the crazy office place from the opening, finds men in cages, but he’s tasered from behind by Crazy Head Office guy.

A peek at Cat-tween, coming out of the basement of some shop that she stole from.

Alfred gives Bruce his father’s watch. Bruce goes to the home of the bully and punches him in the face right on the sidewalk. Ha! Alfred says “Point well made”. Then Alfred does the clean up.

Back to where Gordon is knocked out. Wake up Gordon, it’s time to fight to the death. It’s like Wall Street meets Fight Club with a well-heeled audience.

Bullock is asking for help in the police station, no one wants to help. Bullock is like “eff this, Gordon is a cop, you better help him, he might be in trouble.” Cops start to step up.

Back to the fight. Gordon kicks the people’s butts, of course. Mask guy taunts Gordon “Where are your policeman friends? Did they abandon you?” Gordon says “I don’t need them.” Mask guy fights Gordon with his sword, but Gordon gets the better of him. Long pause with Gordon holding the sword over Crazy Office Guy. We all know he’s not gonna stab him. Just then the DA comes in and wraps up.

Fierceness Squared
Fierceness Squared

Fish listening to another singer, an old woman. Liza wants out. She asks Fish Mooney if it’s worth it, what’s she’s doing. Fish gives her a little back story. She grew up in poverty and her mother was a prostitute. She used to sleep behind a curtain when her mother entertained men. One of Falcone’s men killed her mother because he “didin’t like th eservise” and she was there. It’s not about revenge, it’s about power. Fish promises Liza that she won’t let anything happen to her.

Poor Timothy. Hung upside down. He finally gives up that Fish has someone close to Falcone to Oswald.

Bullock and Gordon make up. Gordon gives another rally the troops speech about how he’s not going to give up until the city is clean.

Say what? Fish’s mother isn’t dead? Ha! Gotta love Fish.

Oh, look Barbara has left again. Honestly? Who cares.

Cat-tween asks to see Gordon. I hope this goes somewhere.

Bruce admits he enjoyed punching the crap out of the bully. He also admits that he’s angry all the time. Is this teen Hulk? He asks Alfred to teach him how to fight.

And


Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged: black geek girls, black girl geeks, black girl nerd, black girl nerds, blerd, dahlia dewinters, erotic romance, fish mooney, gotham, gotham recaps, multicultural romance, oswald cobblepot, quirky romance

5 Fandom Friday – Five of My Favorite Halloween Movies

 

magic-1978-movie-poster
HOW FREAKISH IS THIS POSTER?

Magic (not the Mike kind)

This is a movie that scared the mess out of me when I was a teenager.  First of all, I am no fan of ventriloquist dummies.  I can’t stand them, they scare the heck out of me.  Give me a movie with a dummy and you’ve got me scared.

A looooooong time ago, back in 1978, there was this movie trailer that ran on television.  Mind you, this was back in the fun 70s where the cars waiting in line for gas would queue in front of my parents’ house.   This trailer wasn’t anything NEAR Silent Hill 3d (which by the way also frightens me with its grotesqueness) but was creepy just in the fact that it featured a dummy.

The movie was directed by Richard Attenborough, the kindly old John Hammond in Jurassic Park. You’ll also find Burgess Meredith, Ann-Margaret, and

Here’s the creepy trailer.

 

According to Wikipedia (that bastion of totally true facts) : “The trailer for this film was pulled from TV due to calls from parents who claimed that it gave their children nightmares.”  Oh, most certainly.

Seriously, it may not scare you now, but imagine a 10 year old watching this on the late night movie or Chiller Theatre (remember channel 9 Chiller with the six-fingered hand?)

This was Anthony Hopkins before he was Hannibal Lector, a failed magician who is basically going off the deep end.  Yikes!

The movie is on YouTube if you want to watch it.  Warning, it’s 70s cheesy, but the story itself is disturbing.

The Shining

I’ll be honest, I saw the movie “The Shining” before I read the book.  Saw it on channel seven, ABC’s channel here in the New York area.  I’m not sure how old I was, but I must have been in high school because the movie was in the theatre in 1980.

That movie frightens me to this day, even when they show it on the Arts and Entertainment channel.  I’m not sure if

The Overlook Hotel (Timberline Lodge).
The Overlook Hotel (Timberline Lodge).

I’ve never seen the theatrical version and I’m not sure I want to.

The whole idea of being snowbound and trapped while the “strongest” of your party goes slowly mad and there’s nothing you can do about it is frightening enough.  The fact that the HOTEL itself is making it impossible for you to escape from him is even scarier.

The scene that scared me the most was not the famous and too-often-quoted “Here’s Johnny!” scene, but it’s the scene where Jack is menacing Wendy on the stairs and says:

Wendy Torrance: Please! Don’t hurt me!
Jack Torrance: I’m not gonna hurt you.
Wendy Torrance: Stay away from me!
Jack Torrance: Wendy? Darling? Light, of my life. I’m not gonna hurt ya. You didn’t let me finish my sentence. I said, I’m not gonna hurt ya. I’m just going to bash your brains in.
[Wendy gasps]
Jack Torrance: Gonna bash ’em right the fuck in! ha ha ha

The miniseries remake with Steven Weber (from the show WINGS of all places) didn’t half faze me.  I mean, this is the dude from Wings against Jack Nicholson for heaven’s sake.  It’s a no brainer.

The movie was made in 1980, but I’ll say SPOILER ALERT anyway.

The Shining is an example of chillingly great horror movie.  The final shot of Jack Nicholson frozen in the hedge maze…that haunted me for quite a few nights after that!

 

Blacula

Laugh if you want at the 70s clothes and kinda bad acting, but this was one of my first scary movies.  Again, I ask, how were they showing this stuff on network TV in the 1970s?  Viewing it now, it’s not as scary as it was (of course).  However, I loved the relationship between the police officer and his wife, especially the conversations they had about “moving out of the city”.  I’ve posted the trailer, and I realize that it ruins one of the scariest moments in the movie, but since the movie is over thirty years old…oh well.

 

 

 

 

28 Days Later

 

I had to watch this one at noon.  I simply cannot watch scary movies at night (when you’re supposed to, I know).  It’s just TOO scary for me! Gah, even the trailer scares me now, LOL.

 

Jeepers Creepers

Before the sequel ruined the Creeper, this….just wow.  I actually watched this at night, like a fool, and was up half the night staring at the closet door that I forgot to close.  I just KNEW the Creeper was in there waiting for me and I was too creeped out to get up and open the door.  Mind you, my husband slept peacefully next to me, oblivious to the fact there was dangers right under his suit jackets.

 

So what’s YOUR favorite scary movie????

 

 

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Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged: 28 days later, 5 fandom, 5 fandom friday, black geek girls, black girl nerds, dahlia dewinters, female geek bloggers, geek girls, halloween, Magic, scary movies, the shining

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