My Story Series

The UK has their own Dear America series! It's called My Story and like DA, they span through time (Ancient Egypt to the 20th Century) in diary form. Here are the ones set in the 17 and 1800s...happy reading! 🙂

1789

1792

1800

1888

Film Review: The Raven

A whodunit with the legendary Edgar Allen Poe? Count me in! Starring John Cusack as Poe, we begin with the famously morose poet/author sitting on a park bench looking up at the sky, snow beginning to fall. It then goes back a few months, and after hearing a scream in the night from a tenement house, the police arrive to find two women (one of them brutally) murdered. This is only the beginning...as more bodies are found, one thing becomes clear: someone is using Poe's works as the inspirations, and the police have no choice but to enlist his help in order to help find the killer. Things go up a notch when Poe's lady love is kidnapped by the madman and Edgar quickly finds his life going from fiction to reality in a most horrible way. I found the film quite entertaining, and enjoyed the premise. There are some pretty gruesome scenes, so bear that in mind if you have a sensitivity to that sort of thing. I also found the ending to be quite fulfilling. Overall, a good pick for those that love Poe and/or suspense. Did I mention I love how close John Cusack looks to EAP? Lol. I give The Raven 4 out 5 stars.

A History of Britain: 18th and 19th Centuries

I recently found out about a series called A History of Britain hosted by Simon Schama which aired early last decade and had 15 episodes. Here are the ones covering 1690-1910 for your enjoyment...each clip is about 10 minutes long:

Episode 11-The Wrong Empire: 1750-1800

Episode 12-Forces of Nature: 1780-1832

Watch here

Episode 13-Victoria and Her Sisters: 1830-1910
Watch here

Episode 14-Empire of Good Intentions

Prada's Fall 2012 Menswear Collection

Browsing the Goth.net forums as I do, I saw a post with a link to the new fall line by the folks over at Prada which you can see here...those famous faces can also be seen in this video of the runway show:

Sigh...can I have one of those models for my very own lol? :-p

New Series: A Girl For All Time

I recently covered this intriguing new series here, but also wanted to spread the word here should folks who may not follow that particular blog. As stated, the series follows a family of Marchmont women, each of who live during an "exciting time in English history"...I like to think of it as a kind of American Girl: British edition lol. Anyway, upcoming ladies of particular interest to this site are Sophia: Your Georgian Girl and Amelia: Your Victorian Girl:

Check out the site for all the info and order from their US store.

The Absinthe Post

Probably one of if not the drink of choice and symbol of the literary elite at the end of the 19th century, that controversial elixir known as the green fairy has been legal in the US about five years now, and once again is making the rounds in the "hip" and alternative circles. Since then, quite a few brands as well books and other media have come out all waxing poetic about the infamous, legendary, and misunderstood beverage with the mystique that seems like it will never die...salute, and don't forget to share any links, thoughts, and reviews you may have on absinthe below!

BevMo listings

Hi-Time Wine Cellars listings (this is a store local to me)

Books:

Absinthe: History in a Bottle

Absinthe Cocktails

The Little Green Book of Absinthe

A Taste for Absinthe

The Book of Absinthe

Hideous Absinthe

Absinthe, Sip of Seduction

Distilling Your Own Absinthe

How to Make Absinthe at Home

Dedalus Book of Absinthe

The Absinthe Encyclopedia

The Wormwood Society

Slow Death in the Afternoon Podcast

Film Review: The Woman in Black

Aka: Harry takes a train totally NOT the Hogwarts Express to a mansion totally NOT Hogwarts and some seriously creepy stuff happens lol. In all seriousness though, I thought doing this movie was a great way to help Daniel Radcliffe move beyond the what must be suffocating HP bonds and show both his width as an actor as well as how far he's come in the 11 years since the first Potter film. He stars here as a young lawyer named Arthur Kipps who's grief over the loss of his wife in childbirth has made his work slip. As a way to save his job, he heads out to an isolated and abandoned mansion to settle the affairs of a recently dead widow. The people of the nearby village try to get him to turn back as it turns out they have a pretty bad secret: a ghostly woman in black is seen just before a child dies. Not believing, he carries on...until he too sees the woman and two girls die, causing him to delve further into finding out why this is happening and how to stop it. Though I was startled at times, as this a make you jump kind of film, I found it to be more creepy than scary which, I suppose, makes for a better viewing experience for me...rather than waiting for the next scare, I can actually focus on what's going on better. Not only that, but I love that sort of ambiance lol. As I said before, as this a jumpy type of film, do expect to do a fair bit of it. I thought Arthur's determination to try his best to help the village despite their seemingly unwillingness to believe he is was admirable, and the ending made me truly flustered, and made me exclaim "that was horrible!" but in the end I guess that makes for a pretty good film...which it is indeed. I recommend it if you like old school type atmospheric horror films, especially since this one was done by the home of that type of thing, Hammer. I give The Woman in Black 3 1/2 out of 5 stars.