David Lynch Wants Your Help With His New Music Video

Here's one of the songs, "Good Day Today":

And the other, "I Know.":

Halloween Redux: Because One a Year Isn't Enough

No, we aren't crazy. Here in the Black Mansion it's kind of Halloween every day of the year. We live with a herd of Chupacabras and battle a Wicked Witch after all. So, in that spirit we're going to post-empt Thanksgiving with Halloween 2010 part deux, and what could be better than Tim Curry on Worst Witch?

Witch's Brew

A cute short about one of our favorite(?) subjects.

Cool Action Flick: Crow vs. Cat

The research department here in the Black Mansion tells us these are hooded crows. Wikipedia tells us this about the hooded crow:

The Hooded Crow (Corvus cornix) (sometimes called Hoodiecrow) is a Eurasian bird species in the crow genus. Widely distributed, it is also known locally as Scotch Crow, Danish Crow, and Corbie or Grey Crow in Ireland, which is what its Welsh name, Brân Lwyd, translates as. Found across northern, eastern and southeastern Europe, and the Middle East, it is an ashy grey bird with black head, throat, wings, tail and thigh feathers, as well as a black bill, eyes and feet. Like other corvids it is an omnivorous and opportunistic forager and feeder.

And more interestingly:

In celtic folklore, the bird appears on the shoulder of the dying Cú Chulainn,[19] and could also be a manifestation of the Morrígan, the wife of Tethra, or the Cailleach.[20] This idea has persisted, and the Hooded Crow is associated with fairies in the Scottish highlands and Ireland; in the 18th century, Scottish shepherds would make offerings to them to keep them from attacking sheep.[21] In Faroese folklore, a maiden would go out on Candlemas morn and throw a stone, then a bone, then a clump of turf at a Hooded Crow – if it flew over the sea, her husband would be a foreigner; if it landed on a farm or house, she would marry a man from there; but if it stayed put, she would remain unmarried.[22]

Thanksgiving In West Texas Was Perfectly Weird

The Black Mansion was festooned with all of our creepiest Thanksgiving decorations, which is to say, the same as for Halloween. We basically just do the Halloween feast all over again because one Halloween per year is really not enough. We do another one in December. Everyone was all gussied up in their most horrific garb and the feasting lasted well into the night, after which the Wicked Witch sat abroom and took flight for some threatening sky writing. Morning found the skies still scrawled with her purple smoke proclamations, including a threat to hex all area residents with the worlds worst cankles. This, after someone had the audacity to question her claim that she was the originator of that portmanteau. She spooked the chupacabras and stirred up the jackalopes, but nobody was seriously hurt. So, in that vein we bring you a little ditty from Danger Mouse and Sparkle Horse called "Star Eyes (I Can't Catch It)."

Lexi Gargling Eggnog

Lexi is bratty kid that I know. She called me on the phone for Thanksgiving and gargled eggnog in my ear. I told her she had better watch it because she's in danger of being kidnapped to West Texas, as she is showing some potential. She would definitely thrive in the Black Mansion.

Book: The Seventh Wish

From a reader:
The Seventh Wish A new book for Kids by Toby O'Day! Available on Amazon's Kindle and Barnes & Noble's Nook Most Helpful Customer Reviews 4.0 out of 5 stars This is quite an interesting fantasy, November 23, 2010 By Readers Favorite "Readers Favorite" (Hawesville, KY USA) - See all my reviews (VINE VOICE) This review is from: The Seventh Wish (Kindle Edition) Do you believe in Leprechaun and Trolls, magic and wishes that come true. In The 7th Wish Julian has worked with his grandfather at the Clover Track Stables and helped raise Winnie's Wish. He was at the race track when she won the race and threw a shoe. Running to grab the shoe another hand grabbed at it also. Only the hand belonged to a Leprechaun. Both claimed the horseshoe and were transported to the Leprechaun council. The sentence: Julian and Lawrence had to travel the country and grant six selfish wishes to complete strangers. There is one problem in all of this. The Trolls managed to capture the platinum horse shoe and were trying to get their hands on the golden shoe. Can Julian and Lawrence travel the country and get the wishes granted in a week and still manage to elude the elusive Trolls or will they be deceived and lose the golden horse shoe. This is quite an interesting fantasy; it has a bit of humor woven into the story. Middle school and high school students will enjoy the plot. There is a message of good versus evil in the plot. The characters were humorous and delightful. I enjoyed this story.

Saved by Nada Surf-- See These Bones

I've been contemplating some horrible acts these two days. A horrible little ear worm crawled in and lodged itself ice pick-like in my cerebral cortex. It's a hideous ditty that, for some reason, would not give me any peace. I was despairing of ever recovering my sanity. I will not mention this ear worm by name for fear of even thinking of it ever again, and if I ever find the person who wrote it... Well, I will be sorely tempted to do bad things. But, anyhow, Nada Surf finally drove the thing from my brain. My sanity is restored, at least to its usual levels. Phew. That was a close one.

Hillarious or Appalling? Can't Decide

This may be the worst music video ever. Why did someone think this was a good idea? Warning: Don't watch this if your head is prone to exploding. I think the fact that I haven't actually managed to watch more than about one third of it may argue for it being more appalling than hillarious. I had gone this long in my life without being aware that David Hasselhoff actually made albums. Why, oh why did I have to find out?

More Spellbound With Dali and Hitchcock

Dali, famously, did the dream sequence in Hitchcock's "Spellbound." The whole mise en scene is very reminiscent of the Black Mansion, and no doubt inspired by one of Dali's many visits to this desolate place. Warning: After 3:18 the clip changes to something a bit more disturbing.

News Out of West Texas-- Spellbound

The air is tinged with mystery today in West Texas, along with the smoke of a thousand barbeque pits. We're rounding up the Chupas for a stampeed and dusting off the sequined sneaks, because red shoes really do make you faster and those Chupas are quick little buggers. Lulu is in hiding due to high levels of Wickidity in the forecast with possible overnight hexing. This, even as the entire state of Texas is at level three UFO alert. We're feeling a bit spellbound by it all, so a little Siouxsie and the Banshees seemed in order.

Spacecraft in 14th Century Frescoes

And other art historical places as well.

The Babtism of Christ

Everybody knows, I suppose, that UFOs have been around for a long time. However, the "space craft" in the frescoes are more likely depictions of the sun and the moon. It has also been pointed out elsewhere that there were periods when the church, for theological reasons, looked down on physical depiction of angels, God and or the holy spirit, favoring more symbolic ways of showing angelic presence. That probably accounts for the rest of the UFOs. Then again, a certain somebody has been up to some various time travel experiments of late.

The Annunciation by Carlo Crivelli

The Madonna with Saint Giovannino

How to Custom Make a Ghost From Scratch

This is a terribly interesting development that we're thinking of trying to replicate in the Black Mansion as soon as we settle on just what sort of ghostie we'd like to have. A group of people got together and decided to make up a ghost and see if that ghost would subsequently arrive. They came up with a name, a back story and even did some drawings. Then they began visualizing their ghost, eventually holding seances. It wasn't long before they were getting responses from the ghost in the form of rapping on the table and answering questions by rapping once for 'yes' and twice for 'no.'

We're thinking we'd like a nice ghost rather than one that likes to show up looking like a screaming skeleton like the one pictured here. Maybe a nun.

Dead Man's Party-- Oingo Boingo

And the Winner of the West Texas Halloween Costume Creep Off is... Lulu

Lulu as a Poisoned Princess: Perfect

The results are finally in. There was some tough competition, but truly, how can you beat this? A poisoned princess. Lulu has demonstrated both a subversive streak and a thorough knowledge of West Texas princess protocols. Let this also serve as a reminder to those of you unaccustomed to the ways of this dark locale: don't bring your princesses here, and whatever you do don't let anyone mistake you for a probable princess when you are sojourning in these parts. Obviously, Lulu gets an 'A' in West Texas Weirdness Studies class. Good work, Lulu.

Still Awesome: the Pseudoscorpion

There's even an Oregon pseudoscorpion that makes an appearance in this excellent video about a really interesting creature.

Time Travelers Everywhere

Suddenly there are time travelers apparently from right about now being discovered in lots of old films. We have only one thing to add to the current debate: The Wicked Witch of West Texas has been experimenting with time travel spells for some time, having even obtained a very special pet who is known to have traveled through time when his owner, at the urging of his buddy Albert, stuck him in a box. Yeah, she's got that cat. So, anyway here are the most recent time travel proofs.




Very interesting stuff, this. Somebody should check on that Witch.

Happy All Saints Day and Day of the Dead

The Aztec goddess Mictecacihuatl was the goddess of the underworld who, along with her husband Mictlantecuhtli, watched over the underworld and the souls of the dead. After the traditions of the Aztec were subsumed by Catholicism, she became Santa Muerte, who remains an important figure in Mexican religious practice, presiding over Dia de los Muertos, the modern revision of the Aztec feasts of the dead.