Scary Hotels

I've watched about a zillion videos like this, but this one is pretty great - and included a bunch of places I hadn't heard of before. Fun watch on a Friday night.

Flashback Friday

Me, sometime in the early 90s, standing outside at the high school dance that me & some other of the metalhead kids crashed, I was wearing my favorite Slayer "Root of All Evil" tee that I got from a poster-and-memoribilia shop in York, ME (which is sadly no longer there), much to the disappointment of my parents (who later made me get rid of the shirt, worrying that heavy metal music would corrupt my soul.**

**[Spoiler alert: it did.]

The photo was damaged in a flooded basement a long time ago, but if anything, the weird water marks enhanced it.

I still miss that shirt.

 

Film aesthetic appreciation post: Mill of the Stone Women

If you liked House of Wax (1953) and Giallo horror films, see Mill of the Stone Women (1960), famed for being the first Italian movie that was filmed in color. 

And boy, did they know how to use color in this one, with rich, painting-like image composition, beautiful costume design, luxuriant textures, and dramatic lighting. Aesthetic is king.

(image spoilers ahead)

The pacing on this one is a bit slow at times, but its imagery is so moodily evocative that you won't care. See this.

 

 

My rating: 6/10 jackos [ 🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃_ _ _ _ ]

Holiday Communi-tea

I love tea. I have more tea than I could probably ever drink in my cabinet, but somehow keep acquiring more. So I was pleasantly surprised to find this freebie in a recent order I placed to Adagio Tea. It's a week's worth of single-serving samples of holiday themed teas. I tried 'em all and here's what I got.

(*This is not a sponsored post of any kind, I just love tea a lot.)

 

Gingerbread (black tea)
"Blended with black tea, natural gingerbread flavor, cinnamon, orange & ginger."

Sweet Rococoa (rooibos)
"An embellished, cocoa-inspired blend of creamy honeybush chocolate, toasted honeybush hazelnut, and sweet wild strawberry, curled up with accent-scoops of cinnamon, chocolate chips, and strawberry pieces."

Cocomint (green tea)
"Fresh and cool, with a smooth, sweet minty flavor and whisps of chocolate."

Raja Oolong Chai (oolong tea)
"The rich complexity of oolong tea lays a smooth foundation for a majestic cup, packed with savory spice notes and hypnotic aroma. Elements of cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, chicory and cocoa nibs harmoniously blend together."

A Festivus for the Rest of Us (black tea)
"Black tea, orange, natural chocolate flavor, dark chocolate chips, cocoa nibs, natural orange flavor & natural creme flavor."

Yuletide Toddy (herbal blend)
"This herbal blend is a lovely duet of classic holiday flavors (cranberry and orange) with the added sparkle of cinnamon spice."

Christmas (black tea)
"This blend of bright, tangy Ceylon black tea flavored with warm cinnamon, pungent cloves, and orange peels is a Christmas delight."

 

Summary: The Adagio site has a "communi-tea" page for customers to upload pics, share their reviews, and participate in a chatroom discussion, which is sort of a fun idea. The tea-a-day sample experience is available as a month-by-month subscription box, a good way to sample a wide range of their offerings (and there are a LOT). I enjoyed all the teas for the most part, but I would have liked them to be a bit stronger. I would have used more tea leaves per cup than I was given in the sample -- I like a bold cup. All were pleasant, though. I added cream & sweetener to Gingerbread, Sweet Rococoa, Raja Chai, Festivus, and Christmas. Added only sweetener to Yuletide. Didn't add anything to Cocomint & drank it straight up (this particular blend was good for a couple of steepings). I had tried Cocomint in the past, and initially didn't care for it much but liked it more this time around. In general, I prefer teas that don't require cream & sweetener, but most of these were dessert-type teas. 

 

Overall, I'd give the sampler pack a 7/10 for the experience & the tea variety.   

 

[ 🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃_ _ _ ]