Posts

Showing posts from November, 2020

Final Friday Top Five!

Image
Who fast forwarded November? Go on, own up! Has November whizzed by for anyone else? Well, never mind. As we are within 30 days before Christmas, I am going to resist the temptation to Grinch it up and just go with it. So have my top five Christmas films which I shall be indulging in over the coming weeks. 5. Edward Scissorhands This movie is beautiful and such a lovely origin for why it snows. It's not specifically a Christmas film, but I feel it qualifies because the climax of the story happens at Christmas. Plus, the whole "this is why it snows" thing. I am a big fan of Tim Burton, if that hadn't come across already. His wacky view of the world and strong stylised imagery has always delighted me. Even before I knew about auteurship, mise-en-scene, and all those other film student phrases. I remember watching Edward Scissorhands at Christmas every year when growing up and I do believe it has led to a lifelong appreciation of Tim Burton and Vincent Price. (He plays ...

Considering Christmas

Image
Once again, December is barrelling towards us at great speed. It seemed like only yesterday we were lamenting the end of summer and now the end of the year is nearly here. I doubt many people will be lamenting the end of 2020 though! (Personally, I believe it is naive to think 2021 is going to miraculously fix everything and it could be even harder, but that's the pessimist in me.) With the days getting much shorter and the heating finally on, I guess it's time to start thinking about Christmas. I had planned to get a head start on my gifts this year as I plan on making them all. However, between falling out with my sewing machine every time I use it and helping my brother in law-ish, all that time I gave myself in September has shrunk considerably.  Having not decorated at all for Hallowe'en it feels weird that I will be getting the Christmas decs out soon. There were a few contributing factors to the lack of Hallowe'en decorating, not all covid related, which make me...

Marine Creature of the Month Nov '20

Image
Name: Vampire Squid aka Vampyroteuthis infernalis aka Vampire Squid from Hell Kingdom: Animalia Class: Cephalopoda Conservation Status: Not Evaluated Location: Deep sea, from 600 to 900m (2-3,00ft), in the OMZ (oxygen minimum zone). Temperate and tropical oceans. Size: Vampire squid grow to be about 30cm in length, roughly 1 foot. Half of this is made of its gelatinous body, the other half its tentacles. Appearance: The vampire squid is dark and velvety in colour. Something that separates it from other cephalopods, the exception here being the Blanket Octopus, is the webbing between its tentacle. This gives our cute little MCotM a caped look! Each tentacle is lined with fleshy spines, known as cirri, and they only have suckers on the halves of their tentacles furthest from their bodies.  The vampire squid have large eyes which are blue or red in colour, depending on how the light catches them. These eyes are the largest eyes, proportionally, in the animal kingdom. Upon their m...

Hallowe'en Spookfest

Image
In case you missed any during the week, here are all the pictures shared for my virtual spookfest. All the posts are still live on my Facebook and Instagram so feel free to comment there or down below if you have any burning thoughts. Happy Hallowe'en folks!   26th 27th       28th           29th   30th   31st Listening to: Ultimate Halloween