The Lunar Eclipse-Blood Wolf Moon

Photo by my husband, Dino Milani.  He captured the essence of this lunar eclipse.  For more photos and information , see the Popular Astronomy Club of the Quad Cities Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/QCPAC/

Blood Moon of the Week of January 21, 2019, by Dino Milani.

The Murder Room

An interesting point of where literature and criminology intersect:  From The Murder Room:  “But it was Vidocq’s remarkable story of redemption and his belief in the redemption of others that touched Fleischer most deeply. The chief cop of Paris was a great friend of the poor and said he would never arrest a man for stealing bread to feed his family.   Vidocq was Hugo’s model for Javert, the relentless detective in Les Miserables, as well as for Valjean, the excon who reforms and seeks redemption for  his deeds” (Capuzzo 135).  Vidocq was a criminal who became a detective, and who formed an agency even before Pinkerton.  He is considered a father of modern criminology.  This well researched book by Michael Capuzzo tells the story of The Vidocq Society, named in his honor, and of three remarkable criminologists who lead the pack of those who would solve the most unsolvable of crimes.

News from Hever Castle, Anne Boleyn's Home

Follow this link for info on the snow drop walk, when Hever repopens for the season Feb. 9th.  Here is a little breath of spring from the cold heart of winter.


https://www.hevercastle.co.uk/whats-on/snowdrop-walk/?utm_source=Snowdrop%20Walk%202019&utm_medium=Bulletin&utm_campaign=Snowdrop%20Walk%202019&utm_content=Snowdrop%20Walk%202019

An Oldie but Goodie, and a Shorty

Bewitched and Bathory

 

 

Another reference on Erzebet on Elizabeth Montgomery’s show; the Crone of Cawdor arrives to steal others’ youth to retain her own.  Aside from the obvious allusion to Macbeth and the Hag or Crone myth, the story as told by Samantha has the Cone start out as a young woman cursed to be a hag and locked up in a tower on a mountain peak in Carpathia for eternity.  Sounds familiar, doesn’t it.  Also, note the similarities to Rapunzel

Ten Iconoclastic Rules for Collecting Dolls; Thinking outside the Doll Box

Ten Iconoclastic Rules for Collecting Dolls; Thinking outside the Doll Box

 

Let me begin by paraphrasing George Orwell, author if 1984 and other works, from his essay “Politics and the English Language.”  He outlines his ten rules for good writing, no doubt formed from his own school of hard knocks, learned during his days of writing communist propaganda.  Basically, he said in about the tenth rule that writers should break the other 9 before they wrote anything “barbarous.”

 

I’m a big fan of Orwell and literary freedom; I don’t like collector fascists either, or collector totalitarians.  To each her own, or in the immortal words of Sly Stone, “different strokes for different folks.”

 

So, here are my ten unorthodox rules for collecting dolls.

 

1. Buy what you like.  This is the most sacred rule for any collector to follow.  Buy what you like, and opportunity and investment will come.  As you buy what you like, your taste may change or not.  You will learn about all kinds of dolls and related items, you will study, read, and improve your critical thinking skills and even your communication skills as you explore what you love.
2. Read freely of other collectors’ advice; take that advice sparingly.  Don’t let a doll snob, or even a well meaning collector, talk you out of a doll you love.  If you can afford it, you like it, have plans for it, are inspired by it, made happy by it, go for it.   Your collection is a kind of autobiography; it says things about you, and those things are good.
3. To paraphrase Mary Randolph Carter, author of The American Junk Series of books, magazine contributor, Internet entrepreneur, and executive at Ralph Lauren, never ask where am I going to put it?
4. Condition is not everything; if you have a chance to be gifted, or to buy,  a fabulous doll that is damaged but very reasonably priced, don’t turn it down.  What if that bargain baby that needs TLC is a Bru, or a Marque?  Stranger things have happened.
5. Don’t buy just for investment.  If you want to speculate on investments, become a day trader, buy bitcoin, trade in stocks, etc.   Like art, dolls and collectibles should be lived with first.  A good collection ages like fine wine.
6. More is more.  I’m sorry; it just is.  Collectors don’t like the “H” word.    Simplifying and downsizing what you like to please others merely causes you more stress.  Collecting what you like in any number you are comfortable with brings joy. 
7. All Dolls are Collectible.  CF Genevieve Angione’s wonderful book of that title.
8. Donate dolls to charity, or contribute to Toys for Tots.  Spread the word that dolls are good, and that they teach children many valuable skills.  Dolls are probably the oldest toy, and perhaps the oldest human cultural artifact. 
9. Stay away from haunted object and creepy doll crap.  Don’t let these naysayers talk you out of your dolls.  I love monster and Halloween dolls all in good fun; I feel happy and safe when I’m surrounded by my collection, writing about it and caring for it.
10. As Mr. Orwell wrote, break any of these rules before you do something barbarous, like throw away a doll.  Never, ever do that!! The Doll is always Greater than the Sum of its dolly Parts.

 

Dr. E's Doll Museum Blog: Syward 2019; A Very Special Post by David Levy

Dr. E's Doll Museum Blog: Syward 2019; A Very Special Post by David Levy: Skyward January 2019           For those of us who were alive back then, where were you on Christmas Eve, in the year 1968?    I rem...