All Lights, Camera, Murder! All The Time?

Posted on October 26, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

Full disclosure:  I would not have made a blog post this morning, but my attempt to walk was foiled by rain.  Yes, I know, some people like to walk in the rain.  I personally do not mind it but did not want to either change my clothes or show up for work in a sodden state, although in a general sense I am not especially fastidious (I just wanted to use the word “fastidious” in a sentence. How often to you get to do that?).

Where was I?  Ah yes, making a blog post.  I think I will begin with a plug of our latest murder mystery, Lights, Camera, Murder! to be presented Saturday, Nov. 11 at the Herkimer Elks Lodge for the benefit for the Herkimer County Historical Society.

May be an image of text that says 'HERKIMER COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY AND CYNTHIA QUACKENBUSH PRESENTS LIGHTS.... CAMERA... MURDER!! CAN YOU SOLVE THE MURDER BEFORE MURDERER IS REVEALED? SATURDAY NOVEMBER 11th Elks Club 112 Mary St. Herkimer, NY Doors Open at 5:30pm Dinner at 6pm Basket Raffles & 50/50 Raffle Dinner catered by PK Pubs Tickets $40.00 per person Tickets are available at The Herkimer County Historical Society 406 North Main St, Herkimer 315-866-6413'

Wow, that turned out big!

I am a little embarrassed they put my name up there in big letters.  I think I should give my little murder group a name like “Q Mysteries” or “Murder for Non-Profit” for such situations.  We have rehearsal tonight.  Perhaps I can get a few pictures for blogging purposes.  In the meantime, why don’t I finish out this post as a Throwback Thursday (or late Way-Back Wednesday) and share a few shots from previous mysteries.

She is always fabulous.

Here is my friend Kim in Fabulous and Fatal in 2019.  She is in the new one, and I expect she will be equally as fabulous.  It is always good to have a tall, gorgeous blonde in the cast.

He is fine, too.   I need to get the other one in a murder mystery sometime!

This is not from a murder mystery but from Love’s Labour’s Lost presented by LiFT, Little Falls Theatre Company in 2022.  That is local author C.T. Avis, who is cast as Jarod, the screenwriter of the movie in Lights, Camera, Murder!  He asked if he was being typecast as a writer.  I said that actually I gave him the role on the strength of his portrayal of the lovelorn Don Armado (he was in love with Jacquenetta, played by me, I add modestly.  It was so flattering!)

I will try to show a couple more cast members after tonight’s rehearsal.  I don’t promise any hints about the plot, though.  I want any local readers who decide to attend to be surprised.

 

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A Long(ish) Post for a Blogger’s Sick Day

Posted on October 25, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

So it has been a couple more Blogger’s Sick Days for me. Today will likely be another one,  because I am on my Tablet, which continues to play funky computer games with me, like not letting me add a title.  Could it be, once again, that bane of my existence, operator error?  Sometimes I am my own worst enemy, which is good news for anybody who wants to do me dirt but is too lazy: I got you covered.

Well, that was a longish paragraph of nonsense.  I wonder if I can throw in a picture to pep things up.

Apparently not.

I usually enter, as readers of my Running Commentary posts know.

My Tablet allowed me to put in a picture, but when I tried to add a caption, the picture disappeared to be replaced by a link!  I do not want my dear readers to have to click on a link to see my pictures.  That is way too much trouble.  Anyways, I am sitting up now at my dining-room-table-top, on my second cup of coffee, and determined to finish this blog post.  Or at least hopeful of that end.

That is not the picture I tried to add last night, but I feel it is symbolic of my Tablet’s efforts to stop me from blogging.  It lets me enter, but not title or illustrate.  However, there are few road signs that read “Do Not Title” or “Do Not Illustrate,” as you probably know or at least suspect.

Aaaahhh! Coffee!

This happens to be the cup I am using.  I really ought to get a clearer picture of it.

Last night we had another rehearsal for Lights, Camera, Murder!  the murder mystery we are presenting for the Herkimer County Historical Society.  I was feeling discouraged as two of my actresses were down will illness (Actor’s Sick Day).  We have limited days when everybody is free to rehearse.  However, I felt better as soon as I walked into Herkimer Elks Lodge.  A members said, “It’s one of the actors!” Of course I told them a few things about the mystery, hoping they will decide to attend.

I was further encouraged by the actors who were able to attend.  They are doing very well with their parts.  Additionally, they complimented me on my script.  One actor, who has worked with me several times before, said that my scripts were always good.  Maybe he was just buttering me up, but I always enjoy a compliment.  Then again, why should I insult his intentions by saying he had an ulterior motive for giving me a compliment? I was about to speculate that he may have been just being nice, but why am I looking so deeply into these thigs?  Just take the compliment, Cindy!

Well, that veers into half-baked philosophy, the prerogative of Lame Post Friday.  With that minor faux pas, I sign off, perhaps just adding one more picture for good measure.

I remember taking this picture in 2020.

I am enjoying the fall colors!

 

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Murder Makes Me Feel Less Lame

Posted on October 21, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

I begin my Lame Post Friday post on Friday but fear I will not finish it till Saturday.  I am on my Tablet,  pecking in one letter at a time with the stylus.  Once again I am unable to add a headline.  That will be my excuse.

My real excuse, unfortunately, is that I have waited till too late and am too tired to make a decent blog post.  I guess that is not much of an excuse but is in fact the reason.

A picture from a long ago walk.

Once again I put in a picture to show the passage of time.  In the first paragraph I mentioned pecking in one letter at a time with the stylus, but I’m afraid I was letting predictive text do the talking, I mean typing.  I keep losing my stylus and have to use my fat finger.  It feels fatter on my phone than on my Tablet, but still.  My fingers are a lot more clever when they work together, as right now as I ten-finger type (I love typing; it is so much fun!).  There’s a metaphor for life:  everything is better when we work together!

And that, if you like, was a bit of half-baked philosophy suitable for Lame Post Friday.  Only I don’t think it was half-baked; I thing it is the truth.  For example, I felt much better about Lights, Camera, Murder!  after the cast had met and started working together.  It is going to be great!  My actors will make it great!

They ponder the clues.

Here is a shot of my last cast making Shooting at the Grange great.  I like working with a movie theme; it give us all a chance to be real hams.  Oh, who am I kidding?  We can ham it up in all my murder mysteries.

Who, her? Be a ham?

One more shot of a great actress.  I knew some of the lines I wrote were funny, but I didn’t know how funny till Mary Jane put her special spin on them.  I love theatre!

So I have gone from a late, lame post to raving about theatre, my own murder mysteries, and the casts that make them wonderful.  I think that is work enough for a Saturday morning, and I adjourn for another cup of coffee.  Once again, thank you for tuning in.

 

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It’s Been Murder on my Blog!

Posted on October 20, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

I guess this has been a Blogger’s Sick Week.  I have been plagued by terrible headaches.  I try so hard not to whine but sometimes find embarrassing little whimpery noises coming out of my mouth.  Luckily nobody else has heard them.  Even more fortunately, my bosses at work believe me when I tell them I have a migraine and need to go home.

Oh dear, what a boring post this is turning out to be!  I don’t suppose it matters, though.  I am on my Tablet which still won’t let me put in a headline.  I will try to finish this in the morning, when I will feel more like sitting up at the dining-room-table-top.

This was taken at the Inspire Moore Winery.

I put in a picture to represent the passage of time.  It is now early Friday morning and I am at my dining-room-table-top, ten-finger typing and waiting for the coffee to perk.  I think it finished perking while I searched for an appropriate picture.

Ah yes, coffee always helps.  When I write letters to my sister Diane, she likes it if I give her a blow by blow of where I am and what I am doing while I write.  I tend to use the same technique with my blog.  Is a blog like a letter to anybody who chances to click on it?  Discuss amongst yourselves.

I may wear the same dress in our upcoming production.

I was going to share the posed picture of the cast of Fabulous and Fatal, which I have shared many times, but opted for an action shot instead.  This was the murder mystery we presented to benefit the Herkimer County Historical Society in 2019.  I use the picture because last night I was at the first rehearsal for Lights, Camera, Murder!  the murder mystery which will benefit the Historical Society on Saturday, Nov. 11.  Yes, it is close.  We put these things together quickly.

So there you have it:  an apology for my absence and a Preview of Coming Attractions.  Am I back to daily blogging?  I hope so.  And I hope people will continue to tune in.

 

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What to Wear, What to Wear, What to Wear?

Posted on October 15, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

Yes, hello, I am making my late Saturday post on Sunday morning.  I woke feeling down but with less of a headache than I had yesterday, so I have that going for me.  I spent part of yesterday walking around Herkimer, trying to assuage my loneliness, with some success.  I will write a blog post about that later, I hope.  This is in the nature of a place holder, so I can continue to pretend I am a daily blogger.

A great place to go!

If I muster enough energy, I may go to the last session of Brookwood Market.  It is handy walking distance from my house, so I can get some needed exercise. Additionally, they are doing some Halloweeny stuff.  I can put on a costume.  I think I have a few laying around here somewhere.

I thought I looked good. But perhaps I flattered myself.

Here is me in a costume I threw together for the Ilion Days Doodah Parade in July 2019, just to show you what I can do off the top of my head.  My goal at the time was to keep cool in the heat, so I threw some light shawls over a camisole and bicycle shorts, topping it off with my beloved tiara (I only had one back then).

I put a spell on you!

Here is a costume I took a little more trouble with, even going to far as to make myself a wand out of a knitting needle, although it is not shown in the picture.  I was a Silly Wizard for a March of Dimes event.  The kids there were not impressed, but I had fun.

I guess for a place holder, this turned out to be a blog about me in costume.  We’ll see if I actually get into one today.  I will try to get a picture for the blog, but I am no had at selfies.

 

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I Hope It’s Not Too Lame

Posted on October 14, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

Hello, and welcome to yet another Late Lame Post Friday Post.  Part of my problem is that my Tablet has not been cooperating, so I must sit up at the dining-room-table-top.  At a certain point of the evening, which seems to come distressingly early these days, I am far too tired and lazy to do so.  Well, one must press on, especially if one is me.

So here I sit, ten-finger typing, which seems kind of weird after I had gotten used to pecking in one letter at a time with the stylus.  I still mostly write in cursive, by the way, speaking of things feeling comfortable.  Where was I?  Ah yes, nowhere in particular.  I’d better throw in a picture to pep things up.

The nicest people!

I go for sentiment, with a beautiful picture of my parents and my niece Jenna.  It was the first one to catch my eye as I scrolled down my Media Library.

Schmuck couldn’t have held out one hand to save her!

This was the second picture to catch my eye, a publicity still from Tormented, one of my beloved cheesy horror movies.  I hesitated for a moment between the two pictures before deciding to use both of them.  What does that say about me?  Ah, now we are veering into half-baked philosophy, a staple of the Friday Lame Post.  Two of my great loves:  my family and cheesy horror movies.  If only my family shared my taste in movies, we could have a great cheesy film festival. I would of course serve lots of delicious cheese.  And popcorn, gotta have popcorn.  Maybe a little wine…

Now I am off and planning a party.  This may provide motivation to clean my house, which is beginning to resemble something out of Hoarders.  I’d better have at it, and hope to pause at some point for an on time Saturday blog post.  I do hope you will continue to tune in.

 

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Late for Throwback Thursday or Wayback Wednesday

Posted on October 13, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

Wednesday was a real Blogger’s Sick Day.  I had one of those migraines where the only thing I could do was lie around and have a headache.  For Thursday I have no excuse, unless it was my ongoing struggles with depression.  You would think I would be used to it by  now, and being a fairly high-functioning depressant (or do I flatter myself?) still be able to get things done.  At least more things.  I did do a couple of things but hesitate to list them because (1) there weren’t that many and (2) they were late.

Never mind all that, it is early Friday morning, and I need coffee.

A little blurry, but cool mug, yes?

I paused before getting coffee to take a picture of the mug I am using.  It was Steven’s mug (my late dearly missed husband, I add for anybody just tuning in), so I celebrate a memory as I sip.  I am, of course, using Halloween mugs this month.  I have too many coffee mugs in general, but NOT too many Halloween mugs!

They were a delightful couple.

I share the picture of Bridezilla and her consort, because I dreamed about her last night.  In my dream, I was telling somebody about the costume, and, as happens sometimes in dreams, we were watching it as I was telling it.  Only then she looked all different and was in a different costume, as also happens in dreams.  Don’t tell Dr. Freud on me!

He was looking good!

Bridezilla and the above picture were at a Halloween party at the Herkimer VFW in 2021.  We had a great time.  Another attendee told us me and Steve were the best couple.  How sweet!

She was the Woman of Many Hats.

Our friend Tracy was visiting at the time.  She dressed as herself:  a Woman Who Wears Many Hats, because she does, if you see what I mean.  Nobody took a picture of me.  I was just a common or garden ghoul.

One more scary picture couldn’t hurt, might help.

So I guess this is a Wayback Wednesday or a Throwback Thursday post.  We’ll see if I can be on time for Lame Post Friday, but no promises.

 

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Tired Ten-Fingered Typing, Not On Time

Posted on October 11, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

It was pointed out to me in a comment on yesterday’s post that even coffee cannot make everybody happy.  What a comforting thought.  I suppose I cannot even hope to make as many people happy as coffee does, but let us not argue numbers.  Let us not argue at all.  For one reason, I am no hand at argument; I usually lose and fall prey to the scourge of “I SHOULD have said…”  even years later.  Oh, the people I could annihilate verbally if only I had a time machine!

Now there is an interesting thought:  how many people, if they had a time machine, would use it, not to prevent war, famine, pestilence, etc., but to go back and use all those zingers that occur to us in the middle of the night regarding long ago arguments and insults?  I am not saying I would do so.  If I encountered a time machine (I am WAY not smart enough to invent one), I would stay the hell away from it.  You don’t know what all you would really change, if you could change anything.  Anyways, time travel stories make my head hurt, so let us change the subject.

You may have noticed by now that once again, I got nuthin’.  It is early Wednesday morning and I am on my dining-room-table-top, ten-fingered typing a late Tired Tuesday post.  I do not trust my Tablet any more for blogging purposes.  And I must say ten-fingered typing without autocorrect (talk about scourges!) is a pleasure.  When I mean “hell” I can say “hell”  not “he’ll.”  Nice.

What a selection!

I wanted to throw in a picture to pep things up and at last managed to find, download, and add one I liked.  Regular readers know how technologically inept I am.  And now I see I am over 300 words.  Not too bad for a Late Tired Tuesday post.  Are they entertaining words?  I can only hope.

 

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It Bugs Me To Make A Late Post

Posted on October 10, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

Hello and welcome to another Late Post Week here at Mohawk Valley Girl.  Last night I managed to make a couple of phone calls, get the trash out, and find a book to read since I could not find the book I was currently reading.  I’m usually reading more than once book at a time anyways.  Last night I fell asleep even while enjoying my book about Death and the Virgin Queen.  It is about the alleged murder of Amy Robsart, possibly by her husband Robert Dudley, Queen Elizabeth I’s favorite.  It is history, not historical fiction.  I usually have a problem with historical fiction, especially when I know a little about the actual history involved.

OK, is this going to be a post about books or a Monstrous Monday post?  I vote for monsters!

Yikes!

Trolling my Media Library for monster pictures I have not shared recently, I found the poster for Tarantulas.  This raises the question:  which is worse, little spiders or big ones?  In this movie, obviously the big ones are the problem.  However, it seems to me the little ones are more insidious, because they are harder to see and can find more places to hide.  In fact, how do you know that one is not crawling up your leg right now? EEEK!  Just kidding.  I do not have a problem with spiders.  They eat bugs I really hate, such as mosquitoes and flies.

Scary!

OK, I guess the big bugs can be pretty bad, too.  Here is Joan Collins in Empire of the Ants.  I would like to have that one on DVD.

Speaking of which…

I do not have another picture of an insect or arachnid to round out the post so end on a philosophical note (half-baked, as my philosophy usually is?  You decide).  Some readers may be tired of Monstrous Monday.  Some may feel I should have found more pictures for this post.  I personally have not had coffee yet and mean to correct that deficiency.  Once again, thank you for tuning in.

 

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Not Wrist, Walk

Posted on October 9, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

OK, so, yesterday’s nonsense was a late Saturday blog post, and now I am trying for a late Sunday post.  For anybody who is keeping track.  At least I will not make it a Wrist to Forehead Sunday post.  I do not have much time for swooning around in the morning.

The screen read a different temperature yesterday.

I took a walk yesterday so thought to share a previously taken picture of something I walked by.  I was actually on the same side of the street as this church yesterday.  I even had my phone with me but was not inspired to use it.  That is OK, I think; my Media Library is pretty crowded anyways.  I wonder if I could find any other pictures of anything I walked by.  Hmmm…. where DID I walk yesterday?  I am so forgetful at my age.

I am fascinated by the old gravestones.

Ah yes, once again I walked by my beloved Herkimer Historic Four Corners.  I was on the same side of the street as this church, and as usual, admired the old stones in the graveyard.

Another of my favorite places.

I was across the street from the 1834 Jail, a place near and dear to my heart.  I add the picture, because this post is a little short on substance, so I will make it long on pictures.

You can just about see all four buildings in this shot.

 

I did not walk this far down Main Street but felt it fair to include a picture of all four corners.

My dear Elliott Ghoul.

I guess this is not a very good picture, but back home I was greeted by Elliott Ghoul, who permanently resides in my dining room window.  Only us older folks get the play on words of his name.  I also have a Harold Ghoul, but do not have a picture.  I must share one sometime (preview of coming attractions).

 

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