Food is always a universal key item in any occasion and especially at funerals. Every culture has there own particular kind of comfort food that is made during the grieving process. Here are five recipes from five different cultures and feel free to try to make them and see what you think!:

Funeral Potatoes (Idaho and Utah):

This recipe is well known in Idaho and Utah among the Mormon community. This super decadent food is filled with butter, cheese, hash browns and corn flakes in a pan and cooked in the oven.  This is usually served as a side dish for not just funerals but for other holidays. I will most likely try to make this side dish in the near future.

Irish Wake Cake (Ireland):

This is serve usually during the wake in Irish cultures. It is like a mixture of a pound cake and a fruit cake because sometimes fruit is added depending on your preference. Link to recipe is below:

Irish Wake Cake

Pan de Muertos (Mexico):

This sweet bread is usually made in Mexico for the Day of the Dead (November 1-2nd). The shape of the bread various because it really depends on who makes it. Sometimes it comes in the shape of regular buns with a criss cross bone shaped pattern on top of the bun and sometimes in comes in shapes of people and animals:

This food is typically eaten  at the gravestone of the departed with that particular love ones favorite food.

Funeral Pie (Pennsylvania):

This recipe is well known in the Amish Community and is also known as Rosina Pie in German. The ingredients are usually items that are usually found in a typical household and are not that expensive. The pie was usually made a day or two before the actual meal for the funeral that day due to the ingredients shelf life. This desert was a good desert to bring to someone who family member who passed away.

Link for the recipe is below:

Funeral Pie

Kyuri uma and nasu ushi (Japan):

During the Obon (Buddist memorial service)- it is believe that the love ones who pasted away return to the Obon as spirits. Families of the deceased place offerings at their Buddhist alters in their homes. One kind of offering is made out of a carved cucumber that is in the shape of a horse and then it is left at the recently deceased’s gravestone so they are able to return to the afterlife.

Until Next time!

Source:

https://www.funeralguide.co.uk/blog/traditional-funeral-food

Grease like many other movies has always had a special place in my heart. The first time I watched it I was four years old and at my babysitter house. It caught my eye while I was flipping the channels because of the intro segment.

I thought that I was about to watch a cartoon but after a couple of minutes the cartoon disappeared and the movie begins at a beach. Although the singing of the catchy songs and fun plot line kept me watching until the end!

However there was a hot minute decision that the whole entire movie was going to be a cartoon instead. When the adaptation from the hit broadway show was available as film rights. The first person that was interested in turning it into a movie was Ralph Bakshi. He made some of my favorite movies such as Fritz the Cat, Wizards and Cool World!

His version was a little different than the live version. Bakshi wanted do something like “Fritz the Cat.” And the ending would be Danny Zuko kills myself at the end of the movie. However Bakshi could not obtain the rights of the film but he did ended up making a movie in 1982 called “Hey Good Lookin’. With the same 1950’s vibe with a similar Danny Zuko character background.

However after watching Grease many many……many times. I always wondered who made the cartoon opening segment to the movie?

It was done by a man named John D. Wilson and his studio Fine Arts Film. He also worked on some Disney movies such as Peter Pan and Lady and the Tramp. He also did the cartoon version of Cher’s Dark Lady music video:

I always felt like the first three minutes of Grease can be a music video because it really stands out and alone:

And it doesn’t hurt the imagery at all with the song that is playing with it. “Grease” was composed by Barry Gibb (Of Bee Gees Fame) and sung by Frankie Valli. 

This song along with four other songs was not part of the original Broadway soundtrack. However “Grease’s” film director Randal Klesier did not like the added songs to the score because he felt like it did not fit the 1950’s music to the film however it did fit the music scene of the year the movie was released. Although John D. Wilson and his studio has tons of references of the 1950’s within the tiny three minute cartoon segment: 

Here is a youtube of one of my favorite openings in a movie ever. Play and see how many 1950’s references you can catch while watching it!

Until next time!

Hello everyone! This week I had the pleasure of interviewing fellow Instagram account:

@poppopandily

1. Tell me a little about yourself:

“If 50 is the “new 30”, Then I am pushing the “new 40 “.A sin that dare not speak its number .I have been self -isolated by choice since January of  2016 in a haunted house that was left to me by my Maternal Grandmother.”

2. Can you talk a little your experience being a teenage Drag Queen?

“I was a Teen-Age Drag Queen from 1977-1980.This fact was necessitated by the extreme bullying I received for the unforgivable act of being “Too Pretty”.

My response was to be even prettier at the Drag Bar on the Weekends which awarded me with minor Celebrity status as Miss Ashley or “Angel” as I was dubbed by the Gay community of Atlanta Ga.Fun facts about Miss Ashley -Ate Monday and Tuesday only ,Had one Bi-Sexual Construction Worker Boyfriend the whole 3 years.”

3. If you were to make a top 5 movie list to watch while staying indoors. What would you pick and why?

“Top 5 Movies to suggest -5) “A Stolen Life “ with Miss Bette Davis -Master Acting Class.

4)”Logan’s Run” -Sci-Fi about eliminating the Old -Could it be more pertinent ?

3)”Female on the Beach “ Joan Crawford at her post apocalyptic best.

2) “Glass Menagerie “ -Shirley Booth 1966 version .I have been every one of these Characters in my life .Had to include Tennessee Williams.

1)”About Mrs .Leslie “ -Shirley Booth again .Plot involves My ideal relationship -6weeks of undivided perfect attention per year -the remaining Year spent alone with my Dog!”

4. Who are your top 3 current inspirational people and why?

“Top 3 Inspiring People -1)Meryl Streep -who I aspired to be like as a Woman

2)Justin Vivian Bond -mxviv on Insta ,Who is living our best life.

3)Mr.Brad Pitt – Who I would want to be like as a Man .So admire his body of work. Especially “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood “sobbed for hours at relief for the ending!”

5. What was your craziest experience you had this year and why?

“Craziest experience this Year :Double Hernia operation -First Surgery of my life -2 Foot scar from “there “ to my Rib cage .Still recovering .”

If you like to know more information about Morgan this is his Instagram account:

@poppopandlily

Thank you so much for the interview!!!

During the summer of 3rd grade I had an Gothic soap opera romance with the TV series “Dark Shadows.” They would show reruns of the show on the sci-fi channel. I would be glued to my TV every morning at 11 and watched it so intensely that nothing could tear me from it.

I was so devoted to my vampire obsession I wrote in my journal a fantasy story about a vampire, a set of woods and a mystical creature who was a close talker.  I talked nonstop to my parents and my siblings about Dark Shadows  that one day my brother brought home a shopping bag from Suncoast Motion Picture Company and had this VHS inside:

I got so excited that I immediately dropped whatever I was doing and started watching one of my favorite vampire movies ever.

House of Dark Shadows came out in 1970 and directed by Dan Curtis. It starred Jonathan Frid, Kathryn Leigh Scott, and Grayson Hall.

Barnabas Collins (who is played by Jonathan Frid) who was entombed in this coffin was awaken by groundskeeper Willie Loomis (who is played by John Karlen) in the “1970’s future.” He comes in contact with the modern day version of his long lost love who he was suppose to marry before he became a vampire.

Determined to become a regular person he is convinced by Dr. Julia Hoffman (who is played by Grayson Hall) that she is able to turn him back into the person he was before he turned into a vampire. However everything does not go to plan!!!

I won’t lie and say I only watched this movie once over that summer. I want to guess I watched it at least twenty times instead.

Here are some facts about the movie:

The filming location took place in Lyndhurst Estate located in Terrytown, New York and the cemetery scenes were shot at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery :

Dick Smith worked on the makeup special effects on the film. In order to cut some cuts on the movie he actually reused some appliances he used for another movie he worked on: Little Big Man.

Quentin Collins theme songs is played during the costume party.

This was the first movie that was based off a soap opera.

Until Next time!

Source: Wikipedia, Imdb,

In Fall River, Massachusetts there is a very famous house where a very unfortunate scene happen in the late 1800s.

Lizzie Borden was the central figure surrounding  this house. If you ever heard of the nursery rhyme of her it goes like this:

She was accused of murdering her stepmother Abby and her father Andrew Borden in the house with an ax. She was later acquitted by a jury although the killer was never caught. It still remains a mystery of who killed them although there are many theories. (Perhaps I’ll do a separate blog post on those at another time!)

Which  made the house that the sad incident happen at  grew mystery lore and creepy vibes. Many ghost hunters have past through this to record haunting incidents and also weird things have happen to people that have stay here the night.

The current owner named Martha McGinn actually inherited the house because her parents brought it in 1948 and kept it in the family every since. In 1996 Martha decided instead of using the house as a private residence she instead turned the abode into a cozy bed and breakfast. She kept the inside of the house with the same kind of furniture during that time frame.

Naturally she named the house Lizzie Borden Bed and Breakfast and it has a good rating in terms of service and stay on many travel sites such as trip advisor. The house also doubles as a museum and has it’s own gift shop:

Even the Fall River Historical Society promotes this bed and breakfast as a great tourist attraction in the city.

On certain nights the Bed and Breakfast even hosts a “Paranormal Night” that are usually held during the evening hours and the link is below if you like to know more information about it:

https://lizzie-borden.com/

According to Wikipedia Martha McGinn said that the most booked room in the residence is the room where Abby Borden was found murdered:

The price to stay in the rooms ranges per night but I believe that the starting rate is $250 dollars and it is an additional cost for extra people as well. You also have the option of renting out the whole floor and also picking out the room (if available during the time you book) by the name of the family member that actually resided in it. Although they do book quickly. However for the time being they the Bed and Breakfast is currently closed.

If you like to learn more information about this quaint Bed & Breakfast they do have their own website:

https://lizzie-borden.com/

Would you like to spend a night here? Comment below!

Until next time!

Source: Wikipedia,

https://lizzie-borden.com/

Growing up I immensely enjoyed the bright colors and action pack cartoon that is  known as the  Powerpuff Girls.

What was more interesting then the heroes on the show were the villains! So here our some of my favorite Powerpuff Villians.

HIM:

Him was always the most fashionable villain on the cartoon series and a close talker. With his thigh high black heels boot and fantastic red trim jacket he was my prefer villain fashionista.  He is the kind of villain that played with the Powerpuff girl’s mind and usually it was effective enough because they would quickly turned against each other. With his unique high pitch but echo sounding voice and claw hands. He truly carried the villain persona a 100% throughout the series.

The Amoeba Boys:

They are the kind of villains that fall into the category dumb but endearing villains. The head of the gang is Bossman who is the most talkative of the three and he wears the gray hat. Then there is Junior who is the smallest of the three and wears the black hat. He doesn’t really talk as much as the other two and when he does he usually just repeats what Bossman is saying. Finally their is Silm he wears the tan hat and is little slower than the other two.

The Gangreen Gang:

This is one my favorite gang of villains on the show. They reminded of a group of high seniors who skip class to go to parking lot and smoke and talk about how much life sucks!

Ace is the guy with the orange blue vest and always wears sunglasses even at night! He is a big of a charmer and uses it to his advantage. He is the front man for the group.

Lil Arturo ( Real name is Arturo de la Guerra). He is the smallest one of the group which the gang uses his tiny size to their advantage when needing someone to get through small spaces. He seems to be the one who enjoy creating the most trouble as well.

Snake. His name came from his tongue having a split in the front and physical cartoon appearance.  He is the second person in charge of the group and always wears a brown cap.

Big Billy is the big guy with a child like imagination. Always wearing smaller clothing and is very dedicated to the gang and their evil ways. A fact about Big Billy is the he only have one eye!

Grubber’s full name is Grubber J. Gribberish and has eyes that always stay in that shooting eye like appearance.  He doesn’t talk just shoots out the random raspberry to communicate. His hidden talent is playing the violin.

Fuzzy Lumpkins is my favorite name for a villain EVER!!! He is often compared to a pink version of Bigfoot. He usual attire include overalls with only one side buttoned up and no shirt. He often carries around a banjo that he named Jo which he plays most of the time during the series. He also carries the honor of being the first villain that was on the series.

Sedusa-  she is half lady half gorgon. She often uses her latter half to make men do her bidding and uses her hair as a weapon when she is fighting. Her mood are often known by her eye color. When her eyes are green she is a nice normal self but when they turn red that is when she is mad and turns into a villain.

Which villain is your favorite in the series? Comment below!

Until next time!

Source: Wikipedia

I always admired clowns ever since I was little. I used to watch a lot of Bozo the clown growing up:

So it was no surprised that when I heard that this clown Motel in Tonopah, Nevada  I added it to one of my wish list destinations. The location of this motel  is a town that is in the middle of the desert and the closest town is about 200 miles away.

Some interesting facts about this unique destination:

This motel has been deemed as “American’s Scariest Motel:”

The motel is right next door to Old Tonopah Cemetery. It was an active cemetery from  1901 until 1911. Many of the “residents” of the cemetery were from a unknown illness that was termed as “Tonopah Plague” that hit that town during that time frame.  This cemetery had a short shelf life because of the tiny space of land it kept and the number of people who was passing during that time outgrew it. A lot of towns people believe that this cemetery along with some other key places in town are actively haunted.

Back in the summer of 2017 former owner Bob Perchetti wanted to retire after running the hotel for over 22 years. So he put the hotel up for sale for a staggering 900,000 dollars.

However there were some stipulations in the sale: Any and all of the clown motifs would stay and any kind of future renovations would need his approval. Also random visits for him to see how the motel was progressing after his retirement was a must. And yes it was sold under those stipulations sometime later in the following year.

Everywhere in the motel has a clown in it. From the main lobby which has over 500 clowns alone:

Even the doors to the rooms had pictures of clowns with the door number appearing above it:

Yes even the rooms has a little bit of the clown motif:

Every room has a unique and special clown touch to it:

In 2019 there was a horror movie shot at the motel about well the clown motel:

The title of the movie was called…..CLOWN MOTEL:

Atlas Obscura made this motel part of the 100 wonders list:

So what are your thoughts about this motel?

Would you stay here? Is the theme of the motel scary or cute? Comment below!:

Until Next time!

Source: Atlas Obscura, and Trip Advisor.

Hamburglar was first on the McDonald’s scene in March of 1971. He was cast as the villain of the group even though he was friends with Ronald McDonald, Grimace and Birdie he lost all control when it came to them eating hamburgers and sometimes cheeseburgers. He was often try to steal those delicious burgers away from them and often in quantities then he would run as fast as he can.   That is how he developed his beloved name of Hamburglar.

He first appeared as an shaggy grey hair older man with a sharp nose.

In some of the ads for McDonald’s he wore a shirt that said “Lone Jogger and spoke in a language that only Captain Crook (an often lost and not very well known Mcdonald’s character) understood and was able to translate it to the rest of the McDonald’s gang. When Captain Crook appeared he often had Hamburglar with him as part of a team.

Hamburglar got a makeover in 1985 due to the creepiness factor of the original version. There was complaints that he was consider to scary for children and his new appearance became more of a young, scary cute version. He still kept the staples from his original outfit like the cap and hamburger tie.

However they made some adjustments such as the direction of the stripes in his jumpsuit, add red gloves and shoes and made the hat wider.

He also started to appear more regularly in the commercials after the make over:

This is the version of Hamburglar I remember more when I was growing up. I really enjoyed watching a lot of the commercials that had the Hamburglar in it. Such as the one where the Hamburglar turned himself into a cheeseburger:

There was even a commercial explaining how the Hamburglar got his famous stripes:

You will also notice in the commerical he has a catch phase “robble, robble” and he is a little more coherent  in his speech although he only says things in short phrases.

The Hamburglar became a standard character until 2002 and then he retired. He did come out of retirement in 2015 as this new version:

Which is probably my least favorite version of this character to be honest. The character was brought out of retirement to promote a sandwich but I felt like they should of gone back to the 1985 version of him instead:

Who is your favorite McDonald’s character? Comment below!

Source: McDonald’s Wiki

For this installment of artist’s spotlight I interviewed: @sucklord

1. How did the name “Sucklord” come about?

“It wasn’t to get matches on dating apps, I’ll tell you that. It attracts and repels equally, so It’s very much an extension of my personality. The name SUCKADELIC came first, which is what I called my “Company” when I first started producing works. First thing I ever dropped with that name was a Bootleg Mixtape cassette in 1996 called STAR WARS BREAKBEATS. I had what I thought was a clever idea mixing hip hop breaks with Star Wars Samples and dialog, but it was impossible to license. (I actually tried). I wasn’t willing to let it go when Lucasfilm rejected it, so I put it out DIY style. I didn’t really know shit about making records and I didn’t have great equipment, so it was clear from the onset that the quality of the product was gonna suffer. Instead of killing myself trying to cover that up or striving for an unattainable level of perfection, I just leaned into it. By lowering the bar and building the shittyness into the aesthetic, I gave myself permission to release imperfect products. I’ll called it SUCKADELIC just because my LSD riddled brain thought that would be funny.  It was like, More than Sucking; Transformational sucking.

I had taken to going out in public to promote the album in a Hip Hopified Boba Fett outfit with a boombox to blast the beats. I went to Star Wars Conventions and Comicon in this gear, and that look became sort of the Mascot of Suckadelic. Over time it would evolve from just a gimmick to a repository for my alter ego as it got further away from Boba Fett and started to become it’s own thing. I did this little schtick over the whole release time of the Star Wars Special editions and Prequels. (about 8 years) There was a nascent Toymaking practice going on in addition to the music I was selling, and I was very eager to develop that. I was working as a contractor for Hasbro at the time, and making the rounds in the burgeoning Designer Toy scene that was coming up in NEW YORK. I was hanging out at 360 Toy Group and Recon and rubbing elbows with Bathing Ape, Toy Tokyo, and much later on Kidrobot. I was working every angle to get a foot in the door with any of these companies and kept coming up empty. I started getting a little bitter about it and started looking to Supervillainy as an alternative to getting toys made. It became clear that no one was going to give me a deal so I just made something myself. I was just as bad at making toys as I was at making records, and I was still broke, so the result was just as shitty. My first figure was just a Count Dooku figure with a Jango Fett helmet on it. I made a crappy mold out of stolen materials from Hasbro and ran a bunch of resin casts out of it til it fell apart. Then I painted them silver but the can of paint ran out before I could finish them. So only one side had paint on it. I did the package on a xerox machine and spilled paint all over them, just to emphasize how fly-By-Night the process was. It was a truly Suckadelic exercise which was infused with all my jealousy and bitterness at having to resort to such desperate tactics to make my figure.  Therefore I named it THE SUCKLORD 66, which to me described a person whose own lack of ability and influence doesn’t match with his over inflated sense of high self regard. I then changed the Hip Hop Boba Fett mascot costume to look more like the toy. That’s when Real Life Sucklord was born. He proved to be so much more interesting that my actual self, so I submerged my real identity into him and found great success in life as a result, so much so that I get resentful when people call me by my original name. ”

2. What made you want to make bootleg toys as your chosen art form?

“I believe I might have accidentally answered that in the previous long winded diatribe. But as stated, it was forced on me by an unjust system that failed to support my mediocre talents and unjustified megalomania. If I wanted to make toys, it was to do it with whatever limited resources I had or not do it at all, so I went with what I had. I was also ripping off other toys, mostly Star Wars, because I didn’t have any original ideas of my own.

Also I was pissed off and wanted to shit all over everything and everyone. Calling this practice “Bootlegging” just added an extra veneer of illegitimacy to a product that was already dubious. I wanted people buying this work to feel like they were doing something wrong and breaking the law.  I also wanted to flaunt how shamelessly I was getting away with doing crime. Finally, by selling something as a bootleg, I didn’t have to guarantee quality, which had worked for me in the past. To further drive the point home, I adopted the slogan “YOU’RE AN ASSHOLE FOR BUYING THIS” to affix to all my packaging. It was the first time I actually mad any money and I could finally move out of my Mother’s house. Maybe there is Justice in the Universe after all…”

3. Can you talk a little  about the process of how you create your art?

“No, I’m gonna talk a lot because I’m in quarantine and I have a plenty of time. (Plus it’s not Art. I asked) So here’s how it works. My landlord will call and ask where the last three months of rent are. I will then arouse myself from my drunken stupor and reach deep up my ass for some moronic idea that gave me a chuckle when I was in a weed fueled delirium, and I go with that.

Then I get a used action figure in the 3 and 3/4” inch scale and cut a few pieces off of it. Then I find several other figures and chop some stuff off of them. Then I add some pegs to the arms and head so I can glue them onto the body later in the process. After that I get some Magic Sculpt and make the dick bigger; Set it aside.

Next I make a few boxes out of lego that the pieces will fit in with enough space around them. This will serve as the container silicone that becomes a mold. I add little stems to the top of all the parts; head, arms, body and the glue the other end of the peg to the side of the lego box so they “float” in the center. After that I mix some expensive liquid silicone with a catalyst and pour it in the boxes over the parts. These then go in an air compressor for 6 hours to squeeze out any air bubbles. After the six hours the silicone hardens into a solid. The lego boxes get broken down and an exacto knife is used to carefully cut a seam in the resulting block of silicone to remove the model inside. This is the mold. Then colors are selected and mixed into 2 part liquid casting resin which is blended and poured into the molds, which also go in the air compressor to crush bubbles. One hour later they come out, and it happens again and again until I want to kill myself or the mold wears out. (about 50 shots). After all of this there is a big basket of pieces that get cleaned with and edge scraper to get rid of the excess resin (called “flashing” in the biz.) Then they are further cleaned with 2 passes of coarse and fine sandpaper. Next holes are drilled into the places where the head and arms peg in. Then everything gets washed in the sink and left to dry. Finally they all get glued together and painted. For the package I go online and steal images from google to make into an elaborate photoshop collage. 2 files are eventually created for the front and back of the package which go to the printer. The front gets spray glued to a big sheet of chipboard and the each one is hand cut with a box cutter into individual pieces. Then the back image gets glued to it and the excess is trimmed off. Lastly the figure is put under a blister bubble which is taped to the backing card. Then the items are ready to SELL.

At least that’s how I used to do it until I realized that I could just take a regular toy, do nothing to it, slap it on a one-sided card and call it done, and people will spend the same amount on it that they would on one of the ones I killed myself to make. What the two processes have in common is the repurposed action figure. Sometimes the figure inspires me and needs an idea. Other times I have an idea that is in need of a figure. On occasion it happens simultaneously.”

4.  What are your top five bootleg toys you created and why?

1) “The SUCKLORD 66 because it was the first one I made and it gave me my whole life.”

2) “GAY EMPIRE cuz it put me on the map in the “Designer Toy World” and still pays my bills 15 years later”

3) IMPORTANT ART CRITIC Jerry Saltz Figure cuz it got me attention in the “Real Art World” while at the same time insulting it.

4) APRIL O’NEIL 10 INCH MUTANT NINJA TURTLES figure cuz it got me in the door of the Porno Industry

5) JERK of ART THE WORLD WORST ARTIST cuz it succinctly depicts what an abject fraud I am ”

5. What where you favorite toys growing up and why?

STAR WARS, MICRONAUTS, PLAYMOBIL, ADVENTURE PEOPLE, LITTLE PEOPLE, GI JOE, HE-MAN, LEGO. These are all still my favorite toys. I love the color, quality, simplicity, economy, design. I go back to them now because they can be applied to my adult ideas. These things can be infused with whatever meaning you ascribe to them.

6. Do you have any exciting news or events that you would like to share?

“Nothing live cuz I’m holed up hiding from the Pandemic.

I’m using the time to edit TOY LORDS of CHINATOWN Episode 5. This is a series of Low Rent Sci-Fi movies that depict a “Slightly Fictionalized” version of my life as a New York Toymaking Supervillain. The last one came out in 2015, so it’s been cooking for a long time. When the world starts again I will be also making much bigger versions of my best shit. I want to put out music again too. And make porno.”

If you like to know more information or on purchasing these amazing bootleg toys. The following contact information is below:

Website:

https://www.suckadelic.com/

Instagram:

@sucklord

Until next time!!