Tag Archives: The Birds

Naturally I Blog About Monsters

Posted on January 9, 2025 by mohawkvalleygirl

Once again I suffer from the type-it-in-backspace-it-out disease.  I thought I could make at least a Mid-Week Monsters post.  I am kind of sort of watching Dateline on Roku TV as I type this.  It is an episode I have seen several times, about a case I have seen covered on other true crime shows.  Murderers are real-life monsters, I think, although that is some half-baked philosophy more suited to Lame Post Friday.

A murder not covered on Dateline.

Here is one of those real-life monsters, a famous local case, Chester Gillette’s murder of his pregnant girlfriend Grace Brown.  He looks awfully handsome for a monster, but murders often do.

Here’s a scarier looking killer!

Here is another real-life monster, a man-eating shark!  One could argue that the shark is merely following its nature; it is unfair to blame it.  Regular readers know, I am no hand at argument.  By the way,  this may not be a real shark but Bruce, the mechanical star of JAWS, I add in the interests of accuracy.  One could then argue that this is not a real-life monster after all, but one of the movie variety.  I feel this is merely quibbling, because there are in fact sharks that actually kill people.  Or at least bite their legs off, which I consider pretty monstrous behavior.

You can’t even see the killers in this shot. Sorry about that.

As long as we’re into killers in nature, I conclude with this picture from Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds.  Of course the birds in this movie do not behave the way most birds do in nature.  I think this is pretty good news for most of us.

I see I am approaching 300 words, which is also good news to me.  I hope this post has not been too monstrous.  Perhaps I should have gone for a Wuss-out Wednesday post instead.

 

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Like the Plague

Posted on January 12, 2024 by mohawkvalleygirl

So I did not make my Thursday blog post on Thursday.  Never mind why; explanations are tiresome.  I had meant to write it “about” something, you know, a Mohawk Valley Adventure or some such, but you know what they say about good intentions.  Something about some road to somewhere being paved with them.  I really should avoid cliches, but sometimes they are oh so tempting (as Oscar Wilde once had a character in a play say, I can resist anything except temptation!).

Where was I?  Nowhere I guess, except perhaps leading into a Throwback Thursday post, and another opportunity to work with my Media Library on this new computer (scrolling issues aside, I do love to ten finger type while lounged on the couch).

I don’ think they have taken the lights down yet this year. Must check.

I first throw back only a year to Janurary 2023 and a shot of the pavilion in Meyers Park in Herkimer, NY.  I walk by or through this park many times and enjoy how the seasons change its appearance.  I believe there is a similar amount of snow there now, as we have had snow then rain.  The rain is dreary, but it clears away some snow so I don’t have to shovel, so I count my blessings.

Look how cute he is!

Now I go back to January 2017 (my Media Library began in November 2016) and a shot of Spunky.  That basket was given to me by my sister Cheryl to put yarn in, but Spunky took one look and claimed it for his bed.  I naturally gave him his way.  One side is still caved down where he used to climb into it.  I think I still have the crumby sneaker I forgot to remove before taking the picture.  This is one reason why I am not a professional photographer.

Scary!

Here is a throw back a bit further, 1963’s The Bird, directed by the late, great Alfred Hitchcock.  The picture was in my Media Library in January 2018.  I mentioned the movie in a Facebook On This Day post, mentioning that Steven (my late, great husband) and I were watching it.  I always thought it strange that there seemed to be no cats in Bodega Bay, where the movie takes place (I add for the benefit of those who have not seen the movie), especially since Annie Hayward clearly should have had a few.  Annie (I also add for the benefit of etc) moved to some dumb little burg with nothing going on just to be near a guy who didn’t want to date her any more.  “That friendship means a hell of a lot to me.”  Yeah, right!  You were hoping he’d change his mind!  But I digress.  Before I finish digressing, though, in the interests of Judge Not, I will confess that I may have done something similar, probably based on mixed signals which I would have interpreted in the best possible light for me.  Many years ago when I was young and stupid(er).  There I go, continuing to digress.

Holy cow, my digressions have gotten me over 500 words!  My blogs never run that long!  Oh well, I guess sometimes.  Is exaggeration (which you have told me 1,000 times not to do) as bad as cliches? Points to ponder.

 

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Post Mummers Post

Posted on July 29, 2019 by mohawkvalleygirl

I knew early on today that it was going to be Wrist to Forehead Sunday.   I felt it in my tired body and dull head.  But I had to revive myself somehow, at least temporarily,  because I had one more performance with Mummers Along the Mohawk.

By the way, we were awesome.  I do not feel egotistical saying it, because I speak as part of a group.  Anyways, as I often observe, there are worse things than having an ego the size of Manhattan (not that I have ever actually measured an ego, mine or otherwise).  But I digress. I hope to make a real post about the Great American Irish Festival and about the Mummers, but now is not the time.

Now is the time to make a fast post, so I do not fall further behind; then I can return to the wine drinking, movie watching portion of the evening.

Oh no! It’s Wrist to Forehead Sunday!

 

The movie we are currently viewing is The Birds, a good Sunday night flick.  Before that we saw Creature from the Haunted Sea, but I do not have any pictures of that in my Media Library and it is not so easy to get pictures when I am on my Tablet.  At least for me.  I suppose others can do it with ease, and there is another reason for me to pose dramatically with the back of one wrist on my forehead.

No, I am not telling you to get out of here! Sheesh!

I wanted to include another picture, so here is one from I Saw What You Did, our selection from two days ago.  I loves me some William Castle!

So I hope this is a sufficient blog post.  My theatrical commitments are done for the time being.  Perhaps I can manage to make some better blog posts.  As always, I hope you’ll stay tuned.

 

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Psycho to Snapped on Wrist to Forehead Sunday

Posted on March 25, 2019 by mohawkvalleygirl

I have not watched enough movies for a proper Cinema Sunday, yet I am having too good a time for a real Wrist to Forehead Sunday.  Not an unmitigatedly wonderful time, mind you.  But let us not dwell on the negative.

Isn’t she pretty?

We just watched Psycho (1960). For being so popular, I must say it is one of my least favorite Hitchcock movies.  It is so ponderous.

It is a pretty creepy stare, no?

However, it is an entertaining enough flick.  We enjoy it once in a while.  I wanted to watch The Birds (1963), because this morning, a veritable horde of birds was making a lot of noise in our back yard.  A few were flying around, but most were perched in the tree just behind our deck.  They were luckily quiet when I left for the grocery store later on.

The birds I saw this morning were not so large.

But rather than watching another movie, I want to watch the new episode of Snapped, which I am in fact missing as I type this.

Who doesn’t love Snapped?

I couldn’t find my Snapped logo in my Media Library, so I just went to their Facebook page and looked for a Snapped picture.  This was the first one I saw.

And now I see I am over 200 words.  Score!  And I am making Sunday’s post ON Sunday (Freudian typo:  I first put “Sinday”).  Can I have broken the habit of late posts?  Time will tell (time is certainly a blabbermouth).

 

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Wrist to Forehead Cinema?

Posted on January 7, 2019 by mohawkvalleygirl

Full disclosure:  I had some Mohawk Valley adventures on Saturday that I could have written about.  But I wanted to to a Sunday Cinema post so we started watching movies.  Unfortunately, we are only on the second movie of the day and I want to make my post before it gets any later (when one gets up for work at 3 a.m., it gets late early).

Tippi, watch out!

We started out with Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds, one of our favorites.  I won’t say it is a cinematographic masterpiece, but it is highly entertaining with excellent effects, especially for the time.  I’ve named a character Annie in my next murder mystery, after Annie Hayworth, the school teacher, because she is such a door mat.

That awkward moment…

We debated quite a bit during The Birds as to what we would watch next. I always like to have a connection between movies.  I thought of going from The Birds to Birdcage, but I wanted something darker. I thought of The Postman Always Rings Twice, which kind of has a connection because it features Hume Cronyn, who was married to Jessica Tandy, who is in The Birds.  Come to think of it, on that basis, we could have gone to Rope, which in addition to being written by Cronyn, is another Hitchcock movie.  But we have seen Postman and Rope recently.  Moreover, I like to drink champagne when I watch Rope, and I was drinking Barefoot Pinot Noir.  At last we settled on Sudden Fear.  It does not connect with The Birds, but it is film noir, which goes nicely with pinot noir.  Joan Crawford, there could be no possible objection.

As we watched Sudden Fear, we realized our television was getting quieter and quieter.  Sometimes it does that and we do not know why.  It goes back to a normal volume when we look at regular TV, so now we are looking at Snapped, my usual Sunday treat.  If you are wondering about my headline, well, it is Wrist to Forehead Sunday for a number of reasons.  As you have seen, I had some heartburnings selecting our second feature.  Additionally, I am somewhat mortified in trying to have a Sunday Cinema post on only two features.  Well, you’ll have these things when you read a silly blog like mine.  I hope to write about my Mohawk Valley adventures in coming days.  As always, I hope you’ll stay tuned.

I do loves me some Snapped.

 

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Alien Invasion on Wrist to Forehead Sunday?

Posted on October 22, 2018 by mohawkvalleygirl

I am in the midst of  perfectly enjoyable Sunday afternoon of my anniversary weekend, and I pause to make a Sunday Cinema post, just so I don’t have to make two posts tomorrow.

I don’t remember this scene in the movie.

We began the movie watching portion of the day with Day of the Triffids (1962), which I just purchased on VHS at a rummage sale yesterday (Saturday).  I saw the tail end of this movie many years ago and thought it was STUPID, laughed my head off at it, thought it was a cheesy movie and that was before I was particularly into cheesy movies.  As it happens, the stuff leading up to the end is less than cheesy and pretty entertaining, although as with many movies of this era, it takes a while to get to the good stuff.

Check out Carolyn Jones, in the back with the blonde hair!

After Triffids, we went to Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), a different kind of alien invasion story.  It is a bit serious, with the interesting philosophical question of whether it is better to feel and to love than otherwise.  I don’t pay too much attention to such things during Sunday afternoon movie viewing.

“Wait a minute! This scene was never in the movie!”

After Body Snatchers, Steven suggested The Birds (1963).  The above was perhaps a publicity shot, although it may have been part of the party scene (don’t get your hopes up; it wasn’t that racy) (you know who you are).  What Halloween movie will we pick next? A little suspense adds interest to my afternoon.

In the meantime, I hope you are all having a lovely Sunday.

 

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Ghosts, Birds, Heat, and Bette Davis on Non-Sequitur Thursday

Posted on July 6, 2018 by mohawkvalleygirl

I am so tired of this heat!!!  There, I complained. I have been all day on and off Facebook and have not, but now I did.  And I have more blog followers than I have Facebook friends, which gives me no virtue for refraining to complain there only to complain here.  So judge me if you are so inclined. Never mind that, I want to make a blog post, even if I feel too wrung out and mildewy to do so. Pretty much all I have done today is to  watch movies, so how about a Non-Sequitur Thursday movie post?  I’ll even include pictures.

Up the stairway, into the unknown…

We began our movie watching with The Haunting, the 1963 original, not the pathetic remake.  It is an excellent movie I have written about before, extremely scary using only sound effects, lighting, and acting.

I’m thinking they don’t want chicken for dinner.

We continued our movie watching with another movie from 1963, The Birds.  It is a perennial favorite of ours.

All that beauty, all that talent!

Next I suggested Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958), because it takes place where it is very very hot, so we could totally identify.  Steven agreed that he could not object if I left him for Paul Newman.  I feel the same way about him and Elizabeth Taylor, although we did not discuss that.

There’s a Rogue’s Gallery, if you like.

My next suggestion was Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964), because it was another southern movie.  Bette Davis, Cecil Kellaway, Agnes Moorehead, just to name our favorites!  In fact, I think I will close with Bette Davis, in a shot I have used for my Facebook profile picture.  I loves me some Bette Davis.

“I could spit right in your eye!”

 

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Blogging is for The Birds

Posted on January 26, 2018 by mohawkvalleygirl

“To think that I’ve been feeding these little S.O.B.s!”

My bad blogging but good movie-watching week continues with a fast Non-Sequitur Thursday post.  I am into Alfred Hitchcock today.  I offered Steven a choice of The Birds or Psycho, and he chose The Birds. Murder and mayhem without being too disturbing.  And we get to make fun of Annie the doormat.  It is rather unbecoming of me, come to think about it, because I have sometimes acted the doormat myself, in my sordid, low-self-esteemed past.  I try to avoid such behavior these days, but you just never now what you might do given the right (or wrong) circumstances.

Not the party they were hoping for.

This was the only photo I could find quickly featuring Annie the doormat.  I can’t think of anything witty to say about Rod Taylor or Veronica Cartwright, so I will merely note their presence.

I’d scream, too!

Maybe I can talk Steven into watching Psycho next.  It starts slow then picks up and become quite satisfyingly creepy.  In the meantime, I am missing The Birds while I type in this blog post.  Full disclosure:  I think I am coming down with a stupid cold.  I hope I am feeling better tomorrow.  Perhaps I could forgo Lame Post Friday and write a good post, to make up for my bad blogging week.  No promises.  Happy Thursday, though.

 

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Halloween Movies on Wrist to Forehead Sunday

Posted on September 11, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

I interrupt the movie-watching portion of the evening to make my Wrist to Forehead Sunday post. When I point out that it is also the bra off, sweats on, wine drinking portion of the day, I’m sure many will appreciate my dedication to making my blog post.  Or perhaps you will merely snort and say, “Huh. Should have done that sooner.”  I can’t worry about such negative people.  I have a blog post to make.

These are not the scariest stairs in the house, but they are the ones that include the most cast members.

The first movie we watched today was The Haunting (1963), starring Julie Harris. It was directed by Robert Wise, whose birthday it is today, according to what I read on Facebook.  I was happy to watch it in honor of the birthday, but in fact I have had it in mind to watch the classic for some time now.  For one reason, it has popped up in a couple of my monster movie groups.  For another reason, it is the Halloween season, and this is a classic ghost movie.  Of course I am more apt to write about movies of the cheesy variety, but my tastes are not so vitiated that I scorn a true classic.

I did not have the best time at my own prom, but at least I had it better than this chick.

Steven suggested we watch Carrie (1976) next.  That is another classic scary movie, but I am not sure I am in the proper mood for it. However, I remembered I had used this picture in a previous post, so thought I could recycle same.  The movie I had in mind was The Birds (1963), because it is also Angela Cartwright’s birthday today. She is the rather pathetic younger sister of the love interest, Rod Taylor.  I get her mixed up with her sister, Veronica, but Steven is usually able to set me straight.

If they filmed in sequence, the cast must have been thinking, “Thank God it’s almost over!”

While I just spent an inordinate amount of time searching for a picture of Angela Cartwright in the The Birds that I could download, Steven popped in Carrie.  Like I said, I don’t mind watching Carrie.  I don’t mind watching almost any movie on Wrist to Forehead Sunday.  But I sure would like another glass of wine.

 

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Wrist to Hitchcock

Posted on August 14, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

It is Alfred Hitchcock’s birthday, August 13.  Steven and I had hoped to watch an Alfred Hitchcock movie when we got home tonight, but it seems that will not work out.  Is it a Wrist to Forehead Sunday?  I fear so.  Never mind why; explanations are tiresome.  We won’t worry about that but concentrate on the famous director’s birthday.

I’m thinking this is only true in a sense.

I picked this picture of him to share, because I liked the saying on it.  This is not a rule I follow when I am directing or acting on a stage, by the way.

Nevermore, you say?

The Birds is one of our go-to movies, especially on a Sunday night.

Love the poster art.

Rear Window, however, is arguably our favorite Hitchcock movie.  The casting, the acting, the script, everything combines to make an entertaining whole.  I say “arguably,” because there is also my beloved Rope.  However,  I cannot find any photos of Rope, so we won’t talk about that movie right now.

We won’t talk about anything much, as it turns out.  It is SO Wrist to Forehead Sunday.  Happy Birthday, Alfred Hitchcock.  Blog readers, please bear with me.  I will try to come up with something better on Middle-aged Musings Monday.

 

 

 

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