Behind The Blogger Tag

I sort of stole this from McKayla's blog (thanks btw!) and it looked like fun. I've tried making several posts this month but I'd end up not liking them so I just didn't finish them, so I thought this could be a quick (but fun) one to ease myself back into doing other posts.

The Rules

Thank the person who nominated you 

Answer the questions

Ping back to the creator Ellyn

Nominate 5+ bloggers to do the tags 

(I'm bad at tagging so whoever wants to can do it)

What's your favorite primary color?

Depends what it's for I guess. If we're talking about clothes deep red maybe? Blue is a common one for me though and Emma really started me on a yellow thing at one point, although sadly I can't seem to pull of wearing it.

Stunning.

Clothes aside, the possibilities are endless.

Favorite card/board game?

Favourite board game would be Clue and possibly Othello 

I played Dutch Blitz with some of Skye's family for my birthday and it's amazing. They get very invested and it's incredibly entertaining. 

What's your Patronus?

Currently I haven't read/watched Harry Potter (with the exception of one movie I don't remember very well, but I've been meaning to read/watch both things for quite a long time now.) Long story short I took a Buzzfeed Quiz and I answered the best I could. Sadly, I'm not quite sure what most of the things are. 

According to Buzzfeed my Patronus is a cat

Who's your favorite actor or actress who was most famous in another era? Why do you like him/her?

Ooh...this is a tough one. For older Hollywood possibly Ray Milland (I don't know anything about him so I'm hesitant to choose him). It's been a long time since I've seen a movie he's in, I just remember being excited because he seemed so different from what I'd been used to at the time. Up until then I'd pretty much only seen the 'John Wayne' type of guys in the (admittedly few) older ones I'd seen at the time and I was bored with them. One movie of his I like is Doctor Takes a Wife (1940).  

I haven't seen anything she's in but Thelma Todd sounded like an interesting character and I would have liked to meet her. It's sad how she died and we don't even know for sure who killed her.

If you have siblings, which of them annoys you the most [or has been successful in annoying you the most in the past]?

Depends on the thing. 

One of my siblings is two so you can imagine the kind of stress I'm under

What's one talent that you'd like to have?

I wish I could do art. I know that's something that comes with practice but I don't take the time to work on it.

Also be able to sing like Eva Noblezada 

(on the related note that brings me to an unrelated Hadestown side-bar, I found out that Orpheus (in mythology) was on a ship next to some sirens that started singing. The crew started falling under the siren's spell but Orpheus started singing and flipping beat out sirens (plural might I add) and got everyone out safely. That's quite the singing competition)

Thoughts on WandaVision?

I love it! I love the old 50s sitcom style, the different eras, the edge it has to it because something will go just slightly wrong... In the words of Skye, 'just let Wanda live happily with her toaster, that's all we ask. She might not be coping well, but she's happy.' Obviously it can't last but I'm enjoying it while it does. I also appreciate that this show feels like the people are just having fun with it.

Also Darcy is back!! Love her, I don't know why they stopped using her for so long.

What color is your phone case?

I don't currently have a phone.

If given the opportunity, would you be up for some time traveling?

100% Yes!! So many things I'd like to do. Nothing super historically important exactly, there's just some people I would love to meet, some places I'd like to see. Diana Wynne Jones and Dodie Smith are two authors I would love to meet in person so in case anyone has a time machine stuffed in the back of their closet, I have a list.

What's your ultimate comfort show?

There's a lot...Derry Girls. It makes me happy.

Also Gilmore Girls and one comfort movie is Penelope (2006) 

Are there any covers of songs that you prefer to the original [Gleeks, you have your work cut out for you]?

I have a very surface level knowledge of music. If it comes up on my side suggestions on Youtube I might play it to see if I like it, I'll hear a song somewhere else, etc. Currently I can't think of anything but I know I do have some 

Old Hollywood/Film In General

The 'Old Hollywood' era as been a recurring thing I've been curious about but now I might finally go down that rabbit hole. I've seen some things over the years with my mom but that was years ago and our tastes are usually a bit different, so I've been sort of at a loss for where to start. Blame the Queen's Gambit for my re-emerging fascination with the 60's style. Anya Taylor-Joy carries herself in a very Audrey Hepburn/old Hollywood starlet sort of way (most likely because she's a trained dancer) and there's just something about the style of the different eras that's really interesting. I've seen a few videos where people will reference Old Hollywood movies, actors/actresses, their continued relevance, etc. I just don't usually know who any of them are, or if I do, I don't know anything about them.

I know that monster movies, Alfred Hitchcock movies, Audrey Hepburn (and all the rest of the different actors/actresses. Although I have seen a couple Audrey Hepburn movies), exist I just wouldn't know where to start. Vincent Price's name has come up several times in different videos but the only I think I've seen him in was Edward Scissorhands. Sometimes I will watch a movie from the era, but I won't understand why the movie is such a big deal. I find it interesting why some things like Clueless become classics and, for the most part, stand the test of time and why it's different to the ones that didn't hold up well. Alfred Hitchcock for example, I've heard his name everywhere and I'm pretty sure I've seen at least one of his movies but I don't actually know anything about him really.

There's old movies/shows that impacted so much and either I don't know anything about them, or I haven't seen them. I usually don't know they had an impact when I do see them. Lindsay Ellis mentions different tropes a lot and I'm always interested to see where things came from. For example (not from Lindsay Ellis) Scream is a satire on the Horror movie genre and the 'Final Girls Trope' (I adore the final girl trope, you have no idea. From the few horror movies I've seen anyways. I'm not generally a horror movie fan but there's been some exceptions) being a flip on the old trope of damsels in distress.

There's weird details about actresses like Audrey Hepburn who literally starved at one point which is why she ended up having the very slight build that everyone was obsessed with, she danced to raise money for the Resistance during WW2 even though her parents were Nazi sympathizers, etc.

I really don't know much but the way Marilyn Monroe was treated and portrayed to people was terrible. I know that she was badly treated and was forced to play up the dumb blonde stereotype but I don't actually know what happened. All my knowledge is incredibly surface level. And sadly it's not like we don't still do it to actors/actresses today.

I'm curious as to why different style changes happened whether that be in cinema or clothing. Why were the 'The Old West-type' movies essentially the 'super-hero genre' of the time? Why did the superhero genre take off when it did? Weird details like everyone's clothing being practical while on rations during the war. How there was a fashion boom after the war when everyone wanted to look feminine again without the constraint of the lack of resources they'd had during the war. 

 For someone that loves film (or at least watching lots of videos of other people talking about it and then not retaining much because my memory is crap), I really don't know anything. I'm just hoping that someone else knows something. 

If you do have recommendations, it doesn't have to strictly be Old Hollywood movies, it could be a Youtube video that talks about the importance of something, weird trivia you have, talking about a actor/actress you like, it could be anything really. I really like the concept of Film Studies but it's a big concept that covers a lot of things. It's too big off a concept to tackle all at once, so I'm hoping to take it one movie, person, whatever at a time and sort of vaguely understand who they were and why it was such a big deal. What made 'Old Hollywood'? There's also the dark underbelly of it.

Anyways, enormous (but casual in my own slightly obsessive way) research projects aside, I promise I have a more fun post coming soon. Sorry this post is kind of all over the place. To sum up, I don't know anything and if anyone has 'Old Hollywood' recommendations that stand out to you/ random information you know I'd be grateful.

A Random and Small Collection of Weird Things I've Become Mildly Obsessed With

Since entering the prompt writing contest, I've been meaning to get back to my own writing. Different entries I did sparked ideas for other things and it's been a whole rabbit hole in itself. 

I've become fascinated by Giulia Tofana a 17th century woman who famously sold Aqua Tofana (a poison made of arsenic, belladonna and lead. It's tasteless, colourless, very lethal with the right dosage and honestly sounds like something out of The Princess Bride) usually to woman married to abusive husbands. The whole story is fascinating, at least from the one video I saw on her. What she actually did is kind of up to debate but after all this time there's really no way to know for sure. (Link to the Giulia Tofana Video I watched) 

There's a YouTube video about an English Poison Garden Poisonous Garden Video

Rachel Maksy did a painted Victorian inspired wall mural and I've been slightly obsessed. I always thought painted walls like that were cool but she re-reminded me of it being a thing that exists. (Rachel Maksy's Victorian Wall Mural Video)

I watched Pacific Rim and I have a lot of thoughts. It's a cinematic masterpiece in my opinion and I have a powerpoint in my head explaining my thoughts. It's so good.

I watched Ophelia (2018) with Skye. I really liked it and it's also such a pretty movie.  I loved the twists they did with it. Although Horatio deserved so much better.