Krampus ate my clothes!

Silly story...

I had noticed I was missing some work shirts... I tend to wear polo shirts to work and I could only find a couple of shirts. Now this went on for about two weeks... I couldn't figure it out... I asked my room mate if she had any of my clothes, you know as if I had left them in they dryer and she had taken them out. Nope... So I went a couple days and then I went to the Waffle and asked if he was throwing my clothes away out of spite for something, not that he would do something like that but I was getting desperate. I even started to suspect that my OTHER room mate got all psycho and was stealing my clothes for some weird reason.

So as I was walking into the dining room, it occurred to me that I had stuffed my clothes into the pants of my Krampus costume and had set it out side as a Halloween prop. When Halloween was over I had set it aside that evening saying I'd get to it the next day... then forgot about it! Yay! found my clothes!

Are you a witch or are you a fairy? Are you the wife of Michael Cleary?

I'm only posting this here for future reference... 'cuz I've spend hours pouring over the Internet to find it and couldn't because I thought it was a case from the 1950's. I also thought it was a child that was killed not a woman...

"Bridget Cleary was a seamstress married to a cooper nine years her senior named Michael Cleary. Around the village she was known to be a polite, friendly, independent woman, well respected but little understood by her neighbors. The couple had no children after eight years of marriage, which was unusual in those days, and they lived in one of the finer cottages in town. The well-dressed Bridget was known to take long walks by herself to deliver eggs to her customers and often stopped by the old “Fairy Forts”, medieval ring forts outside of Clonmel.

One day in March of 1895 during the hardest winter so far on record, the 26-year-old Bridget fell ill, and the events that followed are still shrouded in mystery and folklore. The doctor was summoned, but he took almost a week to show up, so Michael grew impatient and visited a “fairy doctor” who prescribed herbs for Bridget. By this ime, Michael had become convinced that the fairies had replaced his wife with a sickly changeling. Most likely the idea was planted in his mind by a relative who visited Bridget and thought her “much changed and not herself"."

http://www.burningbridgetcleary.com/bridgets_story/

My Descent into Goth

As I was laying in bed this morning trying to get back to sleep, I was considering the recently debated topic among some of my favorite YouTubers.

Can you be goth if you don’t listen to goth music?

I have to say that I leaned more towards yes-ish than a no, most likely due to my goth origin. I’ll get to why I’m a NO on this in a few.

I was “darkly inclined” before I ever heard goth music, at 12 I was reading Poe. I loved Vincent Price, and the Poe based movies he featured in, including The Pit and the Pendulum, Masque of the Red Death and my favorite The Comedy of Terrors (although I don’t think that is Poe based).

Just as an aside, perhaps my first goth album was the Alan Parson’s Project: Tales of Mystery and Imagination. All the songs were based on Poe’s works.

I wasn’t allowed to watch Freddy or Jason, but I was allowed to watch all the old black and white horror movies I wanted. So Frankenstein, the Wolfman and Dracula were top favorites. Of course I loved Vampires… and Werewolves… I think I might have loved Werewolves first…

Growing up in a small town in Arizona, back in the early 80’s we were pretty isolated, cable didn’t come all the way out to my house, so we had three network channels. Radio reception wasn’t that great either.

My folks listened to an array of music, but they mostly listened to country. Of course, all my peers listened to country, thus I listened to it as well. I always gravitated towards what I think now were darker or more supernatural songs. Such as Big Bad John by Jimmy Dean… yes, the sausage guy.

First, what I still love about country is that it tells a story. Big Bad John is about a man that may or may not have killed a man over his “Cajun Queen”. So, this man with a questionable past takes up working for a mine, of course he’s a big strong strapping lad. One day a beam gives way in the mine and John steps over and holds it while the rest of the miners evacuate. Unfortunately, John can’t escape the cave in, in time.

The second song “The Cajun Queen” is about how his lady love comes to find him. When she does she simply resurrects him and leaves town. I can totally see this as a goth song, revised as New Wave… Well maybe… If big goth dudes were miners…

I liked other songs like “Phantom 309” by Red Sovine. Phantom 309 is about a ghost semi. The driver, Big Joe,  dumped his rig and died to save a bus load of children, but his ghost picks up the occasional hitch hiker and delivers them safely to a truck stop.

In a small town with no radio and no cable, you have to find out about new music somehow… So I would buy the sound tracks to movies I liked. You also had to rely on friends who might be interested in other types of music to open your eyes to new bands.

Now I always maintained that Type O Negative was the start of goth music for me. I came to a startling realization this morning as I was laying there in bed… I was listening to the Cure a year before TON, and I was listening to Depeche Mode a couple years before the Cure. My friend Jenny was always listening to something different. She was playing Depeche Mode in her car one day, and I fell in love with it and…

Thus my first official goth album ever was “Songs of Faith and Devotion” by Depeche Mode! Okay, I concede that lots of goths think Depeche Mode is a throw away, but I’m not so sure about that. Then again, I like Depeche Mode more than the Cure. I know, take my black lipstick away.

So back to the soundtracks… I know that I was listening to the Cure before TON because I learned of the Cure from the Crow soundtrack. The movie came out in 1994. The following year Mortal Kombat came out and TON’s re-mastered version of Blood and Fire was on that album.

I had bought the sound track to Mortal Kombat and we were listening to it in my friend Jenny’s car. Funny thing as the first notes of Blood and Fire played we skipped the song because it sounded, “to 70’s”. Then when I listened to the full album at home, I fell hopelessly in love with Peter Steel’s voice. 22 years later, I listen to TON almost every day. I light a cigarette for Peter every Samhain.

Now back to “Can you be goth if you don’t listen to goth music?” and my now resounding NO.

You know what a metal head looks like, usually long hair, metal band t-shirt, battle vest, spikey cuffs, jeans, wallet on a chain and boots? Wouldn’t you be shocked as shit if you asked them about their patches and they said they didn’t listen to any of those bands, the patches were just “cool looking” and they only liked rap?

The goth appearance is about the music, it’s our “battle vest” if you will.

The only problem I can see here and it’s a big one… metal has a huge body of work to pull from. There’s death metal, power metal, speed metal, death core, folk metal, baby metal (if you count it) and the list goes on and on. New metal bands are coming out every day it seems, while yes it’s a specific type of music it’s still a fire hose of new music.

Goth has only post-punk, darkwave, ethereal wave and neoclassical. When you start diverging into death rock, gothic rock, industrial and goth metal you get more and more goths saying NO, that’s not goth. From what I can see the well of music, in comparison to metal, dwindles down to a drip.

You can’t expect kids getting into the scene now to go back and listen to Joy Division, Siouxie, Bauhaus and Sisters of Mercy. They just aren’t going start off doing it, they will never have heard of those band, much like myself at the start. We as a community (if there is one) need to make sure we embrace the new bands and new versions of the music or goth will die when our elder goths die out. For fucks sake most goths are artists? We need to make the music for our future.

Alan Parsons Project - Tales of Mystery and Imagination (full album)

https://youtu.be/HrFeBavjPL4

Depeche Mode songs of Faith and Devotion full album

https://youtu.be/gsh08PgYNAM

The Cure - Burn

https://youtu.be/lzbRSD_rM1A

Type O Negative - Blood and Fire (out of the ashes remix)... I can't find the other version, but it's on the Bloody Kisses Album

https://youtu.be/oOz8Q22hCnQ

Here is a quick Krampuslauf survival guide:

1. Try on your costume before you get on site (Like TODAY) make sure you can see make, sure your pieces fit and aren’t terribly uncomfortable. If you wear glasses make sure they work with you’re your mask or wear contacts. There will always be parts of a costume that are more delicate or require adjustments more frequently than others. If you know these areas ahead of time, you can better plan out how your Krampuslauf will go and be prepared to deal with any problems that arise.

2. You should also be aware of any areas of the costume that may injure you during wear. Moleskin (which can be found at places like Walgreens) is an amazing product that helps prevent rubs and sores… especially with regards to SHOES for instance.

3. Do you need a handler or helper? A handler is basically someone who helps a Krampus in a complex costume. Figure out if you’ll need help getting into your costume, or if you’ll need someone to help guide you during the walk. (Consider dressing someone up as a victim to guide you)

4. Please eat before you come, no fainting Krampus’ allowed

5. Please bring your own water, last year I bought two cases and only two bottles were used… While our Brethren in Canada and Germany worry about cold, we have worry about over heating. Try to just add the "hint" of fur, on the shoulders, arms and waist. Think Krampus on summer vacation.

6. Stay in the group and let the leader know if we need to slow down

7. Know your limits, don’t push yourself. Consider parking at the end of the walk at the Bliss ReBar so you don’t have to walk the route twice.

8. Be aware of where you are, we will be crossing streets and we don’t want anyone to get hit by a car.

9. Be prepared to have pictures taken of you, we will be moving slow in some places so that folks can snap some photos

10. Have Fun!

The Waffle Analogy

I know that I'm committing Social Justice heresy, and I'm going to be unfriended by people... But think about it, we are all struggling in our own boxes. Think of it like a waffle, we are in our own square. We have Black Lives Matter, gay people, trans people, feminists and other's that I'm missing. We are all fighting for our little box, trying to promote our ideas. We are divided, and a divided people can be conquered. Who's trying to conquer us? The very people that are supposed to be supporting Social Justice, the government.

The government does not have our best interest at heart. They are here to rape us, actually they've been raping us for a long time. I don't understand why no one can see we are being manipulated and turned against each other. What is the government going to do when cops continue to be gunned down? Marshal law? Curfews? We are being enslaved and we can't even see it. That's why I keep posting that quote from "A Brave New World."

As political and economic freedom diminishes, sexual freedom tends compensatingly to increase. And the dictator will do well to encourage that freedom. In conjunction with the freedom to daydream under the influence of dope and movies and the radio, it will help to reconcile his subjects to the servitude which is their fate. -Aldous Huxley

Why is this happening? Switching gears here, didja ever ride a bike, skateboard or go cart down a hill? You may remember that right before the crash you got the "speed wobbles". You knew when this happened a crash was imminent. That's our economy now. The government is turning us against each other because when the economy tanks (taking peoples financial support with it) there will be anarchy and chaos. The government will need control and that's what it's doing it's positioning itself to seize control of US.

This is why it seems like small groups are screaming loudest. Trans people make up 0.03% of the population, black people are 13% of the population and there are recent studies that say only 3.8% of the US population is gay/lesbian/bi but it's commonly believed to be a much as 25%.

These voices scream loudest, and begin to break down the social structure. MGTOW vs feminism, either way neither camp wants to date or be married, no babies being born if men and women despise each other. Gay people will be married but not able to procreate. Black Lives Matter and pretty much all the Social Justice groups will stomp whitey into oblivion (YAY, the racist shit lords DIE!). Whoever is left will be slaves to the state. It's happened before... But we can't remember... but we can peak at what happened to Greece

"At root, Greece’s fiscal problems stem from a lack of revenue. As a percentage of GDP, Greece’s social spending expenditures were 10.3% in 1980, 19.3% in 2000 and 23.5% in 2011, whereas Germany’s social expenditures during these same times were 22.1%, 26.6% and 26.2%, respectively. In 2011, Greece was below the EU average of 24.9% in social expenditure. The real problem for Greece is that revenues are much less than expenditures"

(In 2014 US social spending expenditures were at 19.2% some what more than the 2.5% income.)

In 2010, U.S. financial rating agencies stamped Greek bonds with a 'junk' grade. As capital began drying up Greece was facing a liquidity crisis, forcing the government to begin seeking bailout funding. These bailouts, however, would come at a severe cost: austerity.

Read more: Understanding the Downfall of Greece's Economy | Investopedia 

Seven years in the US of zero interest rates, $3.7 trillion worth of Fed money printing and more than $6 trillion piled onto the public debt resulted in an economy still struggling to break 2.5 percent full-year growth
Why 2016 keeps getting uglier for the economy

Hey, but you might not believe me, 'cuz I'm just throwing numbers around. Here is some anecdotal evidence that might completely be out of place. Hollywood (the movie industry) is one of the most lucrative businesses in the USA, it makes lots of money on movies right? Why are they re-making/re-booting so many movies? Ghostbusters? Star Wars? Star Trek? They know we will spend $$$ to see them, even if it is to complain how bad they are. If there was money to risk they would be making more original movies.

Midsummer un Dingsege

Happy Midsummer... it's 114 degrees outside currently... Summer is beyond here!

This rite is a time to honor Sunna, Ziu(Tyr), Volla, Voll (Twin siblings to Frigg), Vorsetzer (Forseti) {son of Balder}.

Oddly the fact today is the time of the Thing, really fits into what is going on in my life right now. I have no intention of elaborating on that just now.

I'll have to get back to you on what I do for this particular holiday, Unfortunately as along with the last one, I'm a little behind the 8 ball...

We've lost four folks to excessive heat in the past few days, it's a little challenging to think of the "life giving properties" of the sun right now. Most people in the Southwest would just like to escape the sun right now.

However I'll leave you with a pretty picture of a Distelfink pendant that I purchased a few days ago:

A Distelfink is a stylized goldfinch, that frequently appears in Pennsylvania Dutch folk art. It represents happiness and good fortune.

Tales from the Hearse

So I own a hearse, and what follows are some tales of hearse adventure.

This passed weekend while driving the hearse on the way to N. Mountain park some guy held his fingers up making the sign of the cross (with a big grin on his face). Then on the way back I decided to take the Peck (roomies kid) to McDonald's. While in the drive through the cashier says to me, "oh I'm so sorry when did it happen?" Not understanding I asked, "when did what happen?" He sort of stammered and looked at the back of the hearse. Then I realized, I said, "oh, no one died, this is just my car." He seemed flustered but gave me my food and wished me a good day...

So I suppose I need another story, to make this a "some tales", right?

I drove my hearse out to HearseCon last year, which is in Denver. Thus I was on the road for some time, and I needed to take a short break from the drive. So I stopped at I guess what was once a store and restaurant. I popped the hood on the hearse to check the oil and have a look at the coolant. 

As I'm standing there with the hood popped, this church van drives by really slow. I swear that the van could have driven on two wheels as all the occupants faces were pressed up against the windows to take in the spectacle of a random hearse on parked in front of an abandoned building with the hood up.

Last year was my second year going to the Haunted Hearses Car Show at Circus Circus in Las Vegas. On the way out there I pulled over to get some snacks, and it was at night. So I sat down on the cement in front of the hearse to eat my snacks.

A car with two women pulls up and they get out and go in to the gas station to get snacks or cigarettes. When they come out they notice the car and then they see me. The ask if the car was mine, which I told them it was. They went through the list of questions, but one I think is the strangest one I've been asked thus far, "do you eat in there." Snacks in hand I tell them, "yes, it's just a car."

^^These are just a few stories, I'll try to update as time allows...