Dahlia DeWinters - Author

Quirky Heroines, Happy Endings

Blogtoberfest – Zombie Awareness Month

will-you-be-safe-or-will-you-be-sorryWelcome to October, or as I like to call it, thirty days of Halloween Eve!

This is one of the first posts of “Blogtoberfest” and it’s also Zombie Awareness Month!

So…..are you aware?  More importantly, are you prepared?

Many people are caught unprepared, no matter what the emergency, whether it be a hurricane, snow storm or zombie apocalypse.  This is according to the CDC, which has a page on how to prepare for any emergency event, up to and including a zombie apocalypse.  If you don’t believe me, click here.

Again, are you prepared to “bug-out” at a moment’s notice?  Your Kindle, table or extra-smart phone won’t be of much help when the ravenous, bloody-mouthed hordes of the un-dead start beating at your door.  Well, maybe you can throw your device at them, but at the most it’ll only take out one or two.

Okay, now you’re all asking, Dahlia, what can I do to prepare for the zombie apocalypse or any other emergency that might occur?

Well, I’m glad you asked that.  Here’s a list of items that are essential to surviving those first few days of utter confusion when there is no more room in Hell and the dead begin to walk the earth.

From the CDC Page:

  • Water (1 gallon per person per day)
  • Food (stock up on non-perishable items that you eat regularly)
  • Medications (this includes prescription and non-prescription meds)
  • Tools and Supplies (utility knife, duct tape, battery powered radio, etc.)
  • Sanitation and Hygiene (household bleach, soap, towels, etc.)
  • Clothing and Bedding (a change of clothes for each family member and blankets)
  • Important documents (copies of your driver’s license, passport, and birth certificate to name a few)
  • First Aid supplies (although you’re a goner if a zombie bites you, you can use these supplies to treat basic cuts and lacerations that you might get during a tornado or hurricane)

In addition to having this emergency kit, you should also have an emergency plan for your family.  Zombies wait for no one, so mapping the quickest route out of the infected area (and alternate routes) should be of utmost importance.  Does your family have a meeting place just in case you are separated?  How about an out of state contact that you can either run to or touch base with to ensure members of a family are safe?

Remember, the farther away you can get from a hungry zombie, the better.  And the more prepared you are for any emergency, the better off you and your family will be.  Take the time today because……..

They’re coming to get you, Barbara…

 

 

Blogtoberfest – Mulled Hard Cider

mulled ciderYou can always count on me to be the liquor to your parties.  That was me with the Long Island Iced Tea  and the Vampire Sangria.  So, I’m back with hard mulled cider.  Plain cider is nice, but adding a kick is even nicer.  Prepare to enjoy.

Ingredients

2 quarts apple cider
Dried apple slices
Thinly sliced orange
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg (pinch)
1 cup dark rum
cinnamon sticks for stirrin’

In a large pot, combine all ingredients except the rum and bring to a simmer over low heat.  Allow mixture to remain for about ten minutes. Remove from the heat, add the rum. Serve in mugs with a cinnamon stick and enjoy.

If you want to make ahead, put the mixture in a slow-cooker on “keep warm” and add the rum just before serving.

More than 28 Days

Emmett Chappelle, inductee for 2007 into the National Inventors Hall of Fame Photo Courtesy of NASA.gov
Emmett Chappelle, inductee for 2007 into the National Inventors Hall of Fame
Photo Courtesy of NASA.gov

 

More than 28 days is a hashtag that caught my attention on Google+ during the month of February. The poster, Kymberlyn Reed, took a unique approach to Black History Month. Instead of using the #blackhistorymonth tag, she used her tag to hammer home the fact that Black History Month should certainly be “observed” longer than twenty eight days.

Ms. Reed has the right idea. While Black History Month,(just like Women’s History Month, Hispanic Heritage Month and other months/observances I’m sure I’m missing), serves to highlight some the achievements of Black people, it shouldn’t stand out like a sore thumb. Black people helped build the United States, and often their achievements were either swept under the rug or stolen by whites.

When I had a classroom of eager to learn fourth and fifth graders, I certainly didn’t wait until February to tell them about what is basically the history of the United States. In addition, I made a distinct effort not go for the “easy” ones – Dr. King, Harriet Tubman and good old Garret Morgan and his traffic light.

 

 

Katherine Johnson Collage

 

Even if the history books don’t fully acknowledge it, Black people were and still are an integral part of our heritage here in the U.S. Without them, there would be no dustpans, ironing boards, printing presses, typewriters, automatic elevator doors, mops, clothes dryers, pencil sharpeners or gasp! fountain pens!! Not to mention, the various colleges and universities dotting our great country.

People ask – Why is there a Black History Month? Well, there shouldn’t be. However, if the contributions of all Americans were acknowledged fairly in American history books, there wouldn’t HAVE to be a Black History Month.

So if you’re on Google+, or even if you’re not, stop by and check out the #morethan28days tag. You might learn something. I know I did.

 

Learn More:

http://www.blackpast.org/

http://www.blackpast.org/aah/101-african-american-firsts

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/projects/cp/national/unpublished-black-history

http://blackinhistory.tumblr.com/

Music Monday – Vocalese – Moody's Mood for Love

Dance Couple with LyricsI dug back into the archives of my music collection for my first post of the New Year.  I’ve always loved this song, not only because of the fine vocal stylings of King Pleasure and Blossom Dearie, but also for the history behind the song itself.  Moody’s Mood for Love is a swoon-worthy slow dance song, full of references to magic, stars, enduring love and all the stuff that romance is made of.  If you want to get starry-eyed, this is one of the best songs to listen to.

That being said, here’s the story of the song.

The “original” song was “I’m in the Mood for Love” written by Jimmy McHugh and Dorothy Fields.  It may be famliar to many because of the line “I’m in the mood for love/Simply because you’re near me…”.  Here is Sarah Vaughn’s cover of the song.

 

While playing in Sweden, saxophonist James Moody improvised a solo while in concert in Sweden.

 

Eddie Jefferson penned words to Moody’s saxophone solo as well as , which then was made famous by King Pleasure and Blossom Dearie.  And we have…

 

Amy WInehouse did a version of the song, and while I do love Amy, I don’t feel she captured the true contours of Moody’s sax solo.  She simply put the words and melody over a reggae beat.  Which is okay, I suppose, but she just made it another song, rather than a call back to the vocalese tradition.

Queen Latifah also does a version.  It’s…okay, but again, is simply another interpretation of the words and melody.

 

EDDIE JEFFERSON MOODY´S MOOD FOR LOVE LYRICS

As sung by King Pleasure and Blossom Dearie

There I go, there I go, there I go, there I go
Pretty baby you are the soul, who snaps my control
Such a funny thing but every time you’re near me
I never can behave
You give me a smile and  then I’m wrapped up in your magic
There’s music all around me
Crazy music, music that keeps calling me so
Very close to you, turns me your slave
Come on and do with me any little thing that you want to
Anything, baby just let me get next to you

Am I insane or do I really see heaven in your eyes?
Bright as stars that shine up above you
In the clear blue skies, how I worry ’bout you
Just can’t live my life without you
Baby come here, and don’t have no fear
Oh, is there wonder why
I’m really feeling in the mood for love

So tell me why, stop to think about this weather, my dear
This little dream might fade away
There I go talking out of my head again

Oh baby won’t you
come and put our two hearts together
That would make me strong and brave
Oooo, when we are one, I’m not afraid, I’m not afraid
If there’s a cloud up above us
Go on and let it rain
I’m sure our love together will endure a hurricane
Oh my baby won’t you please let me love you
and give me relief from this awful misery.What is all this talk about loving me, my sweet
I am not afraid, not anymore, not like before
Don’t you understand me, now baby please
Pull yourself together, do it soon
My soul’s on fire, come on and take me
I’ll be what you make me, my darling, my dearOh baby, you make me feel so good
Let me take you by the hand
Come let us visit out there
In that new promised landMaybe there we can find
A good place to use a lovin’ state of mind
I’m so tired of being without
And never knew what love’s about
James Moody you can come over man
you can blow now if you want to, we’re through

Resources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moody%27s_Mood_for_Love

Movie Review – Flashback – Stir of Echoes

Title: Stir of Echoes
Genre: Thriller/Supernatural Horror
Director: Davis Koepp
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0164181

Hey there lovelies!

I’m taking a little vacation for the month of the December, which means I’m cleaning house (literally and figuratively) and sussing out my goals for 2016. Which in turns means movies and music galore! It’s a relief sometimes to take a step away from the pen and paper….but that doesn’t stop the ideas from bubbling over.

0509008_BRWrapv4Back to the movies. I took a little step back in time to screen Stir of Echoes. I remember watching this back in the day when it first came out on DVD. It’s based on a novel by Richard Matheson, who, as you must well know, wrote Nightmare at 20,000 Feet, I Am Legend and a few other horror/thriller stories. (I use the word “few” as being funny. Matheson was pretty prolific.)

I must say, for a film from the 90s, it holds up pretty well. I enjoyed Kevin Bacon’s younger incarnation – he’s got the loveliest clear blue eyes. I could have done without the “magical negro” trope and the only non-white people in the film were located in a crappy part of town, but other than that, the narrative surrounding Kevin Bacon’s hypnosis by his sister in law (played by a cool Ileana Douglas) and the resulting plot madness is pretty good.

I’ve read the original Matheson story, and because of the dated plot, the screenwriter took some liberty in changing the plot that I don’t really think affected the overall tension and theme.

Also, a slightly tattooed (on his back)  Kevin Bacon, sweaty and shirtless. He’s kind of thin in this movie, but it’s still kinda hot in a trailer park kind of way.

stir-of-echoes-kevin-bacon-digging-yard-shirtless

Watch or not to watch?:

If you like supernatural thrillers and messages from the other side visited upon a common group of folks, I’d recommend this movie. Screen it for the story and remember it takes place in the 90s when cell phones were NOT commonplace. If you put yourself back in time and watch the movie for what it is, you’ll enjoy it. I know I did.

Grade: A minus