P. S. The Wizard of Oz

The great American classic and some delightful behind the scenes footage:

The Wonerful Wizard of Oz

We have to take a left turn and follow the yellow brick road to the Wizard of Oz because I saw it on the big screen in 3D today and it was fabulous.  (We shall return to the Mermaid Series tomorrow).

Brings back memories doesn’t it? I watched it every year growing up and I always loved it!  Some kids were scared of the witch scenes but I loved them!

Let’s begin with some fun facts and trivia that you may not know about:

• The song Over the Rainbow was almost cut from the film and it ended up winning the Academy Award for Best Song
• Judy Garland won the “Best Juvenile Miniature Academy Award in 1939
• The oil can for the Tin Man was filled with chocolate syrup (just like it was used as blood in Psycho)
• The horses in Emerald City were colored with Jell-0 crystals
• Hamilton, who played the Wicked Witch, was a Kindergarten teacher trying to become an actress
• She was burned in a scene where she disappeared so she insisted on a stunt woman to do the rest of her “difficult” scenes
• Dorothy, Judy Garland, was in her teens during filming and in order to make her look like an 11 year old as in the book, she wore a corset to cover her “womanly curves” and was put on a chicken soup diet and was given appetite suppressants
• Judy Garland was paid $500 per week, Toto the dog was paid $125 a week, and the Munchkins were paid $50 per week
• The tornado was actually a 35 foot piece of muslin stocking photographed with a miniature farm and fields
• The sneak peek preview was first shown in San Bernardino, CA where I live!

I also loved the winged monkeys that the Wicked Witch sent out to pick up Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tin Man, and the Lion:

And of course when they finally reached the Wizard of Oz:

We finally knew she had the power to go back home to Kansas all along.  The ruby red slippers would take her there.  She realized that you don’t need to go any further than your own backyard to find what you need because you have everything you need inside of yourself:

“There’s no place like home…”

And there she was, in her bed, in her home, with all of her loved ones and everything that she needed, right there:

The movie came from the book called The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum published in 1900.  He sold the book rights for $75,000.00.  If he only knew…

Some of the differences from the movie were that the Tin Man beheaded wildcats and wolves with his ax in the book!  In the movie the story was a dream but in the book, the Emerald City was a real place.  The shoes were silver instead of ruby red.  There are many more differences but these are just a few.

Just remember, whenever you feel that there is more OUT THERE, just follow your own yellow brick road because there’s no place like home…

What are your favorite parts of the movie?

 

Mermaids You Say? Some DO Say!

So let’s continue with this idea and the program about proof of mermaids.  Are they real? Were they at one time?

In 2003  there was a coastguard video from the United Kingdom that was supposedly leaked to the press.  The unit was conducting a “man overboard” test exercise when they saw something.  A seal they thought at first? No, some sort of animal?  Then very quickly they saw an animal of some sort with a “skull ridge” on the facial part of the body.  Let’s try to find the footage:

Next comes the most convincing footage!  In 2010 there was a submarine mapping the ocean floor 3,000 feet below the surface.  They were men just doing their job, searching for oil reserves, not looking for mermaids or anything of that sort.  It was very quiet and then the 2 men heard a strange sound.  It made a “bloop” sound.  There were 2 cameras recording and they heard the sound again.  Then all of a sudden a webbed hand appeared on their window!  It touched the window and swam off.  It’s very convincing.  If this was a mermaid, it certainly isn’t the way we portray them, so beautiful and perfect.  Maybe that has been “our” interpretation of mermaids.  Interestingly enough, when they reported and showed this recording to their superiors, the government put a ban on oil drilling in the Greenland Sea.  They felt it was a government cover up.  It makes you wonder doesn’t it?!  Let’s look:

How does it leave you feeling?  With wonder and questions maybe…what do you think?

I’m including some footage that I have found.  Ready to swim with the mermaids?  See what you make of it:

Well, real or not they’re very interesting and captivating as you will see in the next installment.  It is pure fiction, fun and very funny.  It’s mermaid Miranda and I was surprised at how delightful it was.  Check it out with me next time…

P.S.  You have seen pictures of my mermaid collection in this post.  My front living room is filled with mermaids of all kinds.  I’ve many more to share with you so swim along with me as we splash into mermaids.

Mermaids? Really?

 

P.T. Barnum supposedly bought a real mermaid in 1865.  He was going to unveil it on July 13th of that year but unfortunately, there was a fire and it burned before the show even started.  This is reminiscent of She Creature, the movie we reviewed yesterday.  In 1842 P.T. Barnum had an exhibit of a Figi mermaid.  It was a hoax as it turned about to be a monkey torso sewn onto a fishtail.  A bit lame don’t ya think?

Where am I coming up with this? I watched Mermaids:  The New Evidence on the Animal Planet.  You may have seen it.  It explores the question, are they real?  Let’s look into what they found.  Some of it is somewhat convincing.  See what you think…

Scientist Dr. Paul Robertson gave an exclusive interview on this show.  He believes the U.S. Navy and the government is covering up the evidence.  There are 33 million marine animals and there was an examination of the remains of a creature that may be mermaid-ish.  They did an MRI scan of a mermaid-like aquatic creature.  They saw a “skull ridge” above the eyes and he explains that no other sea creatures have this.  He is very interested in the Aquatic Ape Theory:

Dr. Robertson talks about the webbing between our fingers and that humans can hold their breath under water longer than marine animals.  He thinks it’s possible that many ages ago, land animals took to the ocean looking for food and later it is possible that mermaids evolved from this.

In Israel there is an idea and maybe some proof on video that a mermaid appeared on a rock and it was caught on film.  One million dollars will be awarded to the person that can show proof of this, absolute proof.  This mermaid comes out at sunset and perches on a rock.  Take a look:

What do you think?  Do mermaids exist?  Well there’s a lot more to look at from this program and that’s what we’ll see tomorrow.  There is some real convincing evidence coming up, more so than we saw today.  Stay tuned…

 

Mermaid Series–She Creature Conclusion

When we left off yesterday, the she creature/mermaid was loose on the ship!  Nothing can prepare them for what is to come as their ship drifts into the uncharted island.

Of course there is a full moon and things take a turn for the worst.  The mermaid takes a sudden surprise turn and becomes a monster!

This is the mermaid’s new look! Pretty, oh so pretty!

She goes through a complete transformation and starts killing everyone.  Angus shoots her but he ends up being killed.  The gun poses no threat to her.  Lily looks at her, eye to eye, and the monster mermaid looks over the ship and what do you think she sees?  Pretty mermaids bouncing in the water.

Cut to 2 weeks later and we see that everyone but one, has died on the ship.  You know who is still alive! Yes, it’s Lily.  She has a healthy baby.  She does not speak.  She will keep the secret of what happened forever.

So we can see why the sailor’s never return home right?  No, I don’t think so.  Mermaids don’t turn into monsters.  I don’t believe it but it was a horror movie and it needed to go there.

My rating is ** two stars out of 5.  I was excited to see the movie but for me, it was ruined when she became a monster.  It could have gone elsewhere easily.

We are leaving the horror genre and going with regular mermaid movies and books from here on out.  Next up?  Well, you’ll see…

The Mermaid Series Begins: She Creature (2001)

Our first in the mermaid series is She Creature.  It is a creature feature mermaid based horror movie (a perfect transition from the Psycho series).  Do you believe in mermaids?  Could all those stories about them be true?

(I bought the dvd from Amazon real cheap!)

There is a traveling circus in the early 1900’s in Ireland.  They have a jeweled woman posing as a fake mermaid is a waterless tank.  An old man, Mr. Voolrich, tells Angus (who runs the traveling show) and Lily (the fake mermaid) of a forbidden island in Greek mythology.  He invites them to his house/castle and leads them into a room where they find a real mermaid in a glass case filled with water.  She is in chains because she murdered his wife!  “She’s the real McCoy!”

Later, they return to the castle, accidently kill Mr. Voolrich (oops) and shoot the mermaid with a tranquilizing dart.

Notice her webbed hand.  It will be handy knowledge later on.

They set sail on a ship and hide her in the cargo area.  The mermaid mesmerizes Lily many times with her eyes and Lily begins to have horrible dreams!

We find out that the mermaid kills/eats a sailor on board and spits out his ring as proof!

Lily unchains her and they stare into each other’s eyes, she is getting into her head.  Lily leaves for a moment and when she returns, the mermaid is eating a sailor’s chest!  She is shot with a dart again and returned to her tank.

The myth about mermaids has always been that they lure sailors away and they are never heard from again.  Sailors for lunch anyone?

Lily is locked in a cabin because she can’t be trusted and she is going to crazy town.  She is reading the old man’s journal during this time.  Lily breaks out of her cabin with a knife and lantern in hand.  She notices water on the floor and finds the mermaid huddled in a corner with LEGS!  The men bust in with rifles, Lily faints and we find out that she is pregnant but not from any of the men on the ship…hmmmm

The sailors force liquor into the mermaid and, “Smack the whore!”  The captain of the ship is in a trance, then shoots himself!  There is a bad storm and the ship literally runs into an uncharted island.  Remember the myth? Sailors are lured out to the sea, to an island and are never seen again.  Everything is wrong, nothing is like it used to be.  Something very unusual is going on upon this ship.

You won’t believe what happens next!   More mayhem ensues.  Stay tuned…