Where's Thor?

Hey, I recently saw Captain America: Civil War and I couldn't help noticing that not every Avenger is present in the #TeamCap and #TeamIronMan lineups --

Thor's not there, for instance. He didn't pick a side in the Civil War.

He said he had an important appointment to keep back home in Asgard.

Well, at least that's Thor's version. But here's the real reason why he wasn't invited to join anyone's team --

Thor's getting to be a bit of a butterfingers. Oh well, happens to the best of us as we get older!

Here Comes the Bride!

Today's the day to celebrate our favourite monster! So may I present -- the Bride of Frankenstein!

The 1935 movie Bride of Frankenstein was British actress Elsa Lanchester's greatest movie role!

She brought undeniably ghoulish glamour to the screen -- oh, that hair!

And it's a style that looks good on everybody --

The Bride's enduring appeal continues today. She is a pop culture icon -- immediately recognizable in whatever setting in which she is presented and in whatever modern trappings of style!

And you know what? It looks like she got over her aversion to Frankie! Hey, a girl has needs.

And finally, many thanks to Leeanna of Can We Have a New Witch, Ours Melted for sending me this marvelous gif of the incomparable Madeline Kahn's Bride in Young Frankenstein!

She Wasn't Called "Her Royal Highness" For Nothing

Writing those cat posts a couple of weeks ago made me miss my late cat, Her Royal Highness, all over again. Oh, the fun times we had together!

HRH particularly loved meal time. She wasn't a picky eater but she always insisted on the very best.

For a cat, she was quite intellectual.

HRH loved to discuss all the issues of the day with me!

And she always respected my opinion!

At night, HRH loved to curl up with me in bed. Well, perhaps "with me" is a bit of an overstatement.

We had our own special rapport!

No, no, she assured me we were equals!

Tattoo Roundup

Every tattoo has a story, a meaning, a significance to the person who gets inked. Now you'll never look at Care Bears quite the same way again, will you?

For the most part, fortunately, we get to choose whether or not to be tattooed, unless we're caught in some horrible historical nightmare like being a Jew in Nazi Germany. But even those tattoos carry a story, a meaning, a significance, albeit an appalling one.

Here's a couple of clever tattoos that I've seen recently on the internet --

And wheeeee! Just like sliding down the living room drapes!

Don't listen to all the naysayers --

But always do your research before the fact, not after!

And if things do go awry, use some wit in dealing with the situation!

Hey, wouldn't this tat be perfect for an English teacher or editor?

Rise Again!

All this week I've been listening to the greatest hits of Stan Rogers, one of Canada's best singer-songwriters in the traditional/maritime/folk music genre. He died tragically young in a 1983 airplane fire and is still mourned in this country. But thankfully, he left us a treasure trove of classic songs!

One of his most beloved works is "The Mary Ellen Carter." Every year at the Winnipeg Folk Festival, it is sung as the final song of the final concert, both as a tribute to Stan Rogers and because its conclusion is a rousing, enheartening clarion call to all who struggle against the unfairness and misfortunes of life:

And you to whom adversity has dealt the final blow

With smiling bastards lying to you everywhere you go

Turn to and put out all your strength of arm and heart and brain

And like the Mary Ellen Carter, rise again.

Rise again! Rise again!

Though your heart it be broken or life about to end

No matter what you've lost, be it a home, a love, a friend

Like the Mary Ellen Carter, rise again.

I'm dedicating this video to all the forest fire evacuees of Fort McMurray and elsewhere who are waiting to return to their communities and rebuild their lives. And to any of you out there in the blogosphere who are currently waging your own personal battles.

Tiger-Tiger Is My Favourite

Actually, summer is ALREADY HERE, YAY! It's early this year because of El Nino or global warming or a reverse Game of Thrones effect or something. But the important thing is to celebrate and get in the SPIRIT of the season, like our old pal Bucky --

One of the BEST ways to enjoy summer is to eat lots of ICE CREAM!

I know you'll all agree with me because who DOESN'T love ice cream?

And TO HELL with calories, amiright?

That's not to say, however, that sometimes ice cream can't DISAPPOINT us a little.

And occasionally, of course, ice cream can just BREAK OUR HEARTS --

Well, I'd write some more but I'm off to DAIRY QUEEN now!

And Of Course She Made Him Sammiches

Forty years ago when I was in university, I lived in a furnished suite on the second floor of a house. The landlord and his family lived downstairs. They were good people, immigrants from Europe who had been DPs after the war (remember that term?), and had worked hard in Canada to build a decent and secure life for themselves. However, patriarchy reigned supreme and unchallenged in that household. Every night after dinner, the father would sit in his big recliner to watch TV. If he wanted to watch a different station, he wouldn't get up and switch it himself, oh no. He would simply yell at the top of his lungs, "Mama! Come and change the channel!" and his wife would obediently drop everything, run in from wherever she was in the house, switch the station and then return to whatever she had been doing.

What Would YOU Do With Nine Lives?

Being possessed of nine lives, cats inevitably reincarnate over and over again. But they don't always come back as ordinary felines, oh no. Some cats are MUCH more ambitious than that. Based on my extensive research into this area, I present for your edification a cross-section of some popular kitty cat choices for reincarnation.

Certain BAD-ASS cats always try to come back as ruthless and infamous Dictators. It's as if they WANT to run our lives and make us obey their every command. Like the Little Corporal of France --Napoleon Bonapurr!

And here's one who enslaved millions and millions of humans -- Chairman Meow!

But here's the WORST one of the whole bunch -- Adolf Kitler!

Some more INSIGHTFUL cats prefer to return to this world as beloved characters of literature and the silver screen. Like this certain hard-boiled private detective --

Or this enigmatic pursuer of the American Dream --

How PURRFECT it must be to come back as the righteous upholder of Truth and Justice from To Kill a Mockingbird!

But then again, SOME cats just want to make you an offer you can't refuse.

The most literary-minded cats of all prefer to come back as GREAT POETS! Like this feline who toiled his entire life to write a single book of poetry, Leaves of Cat Grass --

And finally, here's a cat who chose to reappear as one of my FAVOURITE female poets! One of her most famous poems was about that classic feline activity of catching and eating birds. It contains the immortal line: "hope is the thing with feathers."