Spooky Moon

To secure the stones in the ground, two channels are cut in the back. PVC pipe is glued into the channels, then you put rebar in the ground and drop the stone over it, using the pvc channels. Usually, I cut these first, so I don’t do something stupid like CUT THE FREAKIN’ CHANNELS ON THE FRONT. Which is what I did. The Spousal Unit suggested the fix: cut the stone above the channels, and turn half of it around, then glue it together. That way I didn’t have to do the butterfly again. It was a pain. There was much weepin’ and a’wailin’. But she should be fine tomorrow. I definitely cut channels for the other stones I’m planning.

This movie was honestly great. It is set during the lockdowns, at the very beginning when we weren’t exactly sure how the Big C was spreading, and we had some weird ideas, like that children couldn’t catch it.

The Harbinger perfectly captures the dread of that time, as well as that surreal feeling that something deeper was wrong. And of course, in the movie, there is. If you haven’t watched this, I definitely recommend it.

Butterfly is carved out, and smoothed with spackle. I also did some painting on the other stones.

Forgot to blog yesterday! I have watched two movies.

This teases at the supernatural, but really its just a dark, spooky mystery. A prison auditor is sent to an isolated prison where the warden has things just the way he likes, and whenever someone leaves, they die. The more I think back on it, the more I like it. There are certainly some familiar faces like Kevin Pollak, Dennis Haysbert, and Mena Suvari. I suppose the lead, Michael Kelly, is familiar, too. I just never watched House of Cards.

I found The Morrigan pretty tiresome, though I did manage to sit through it. The first kill was pretty satisfying, but on the whole, this was completely predictable. Trigger warning: there is F on M SA, shown in shadow. It was pretty disturbing.

Tomorrow is Saturday! That means my aching back is gonna get so much more mad at me. Much to do!

The basic painting is done on the first four tombstones, so I can start more. Can you guess what I’m working on? I bet you can. Adding real people now makes me more like a crappy, Southern Davis Graveyard.

Getting everything blacked in. Not shown: the two gravestones where I forgot spray paint erodes foam. Is okay, they just have some extra texture. Heh. After lunch, it’s time for the base gray.

I also got more foam and hope to make at least two more stones. We’ll see.

Almost forgot to blog today! Now Sunday, I can excuse. Day of rest and all. But back to it!

This is my first time working with monster mud. If you’re not familiar, monster mud is 5 parts prepared joint compound and 1 part latex paint. This cloth should dry nice and stiff, then I’ll coat it with matte sealer for outdoor protection. Lots of painting and other work to do yet.

I almost forgot to blog today! I had to sneak down in the night and take this picture.

That’s yesterday’s alligator, glued to its destination.

Today’s movie was 1995’s Haunted, with Aiden Quinn as a skeptic, who visits a creepy country mansion hoping to help an old lady not see ghosts. It was made in the 90s but had special effects from the 70s. Kinda weird. Like they spent all their money on getting a few minutes out of Sir John Gielgud. It wasn’t terrible. As usual, Kate Beckinsale got her kit off as much as possible.

What could these possibly be for? If you’re guessing, you’ll probably get close on the skull. I will tell you this: they’re both for the cemetery.

How bad is my memory? Well, I’m glad I put movies in Letterboxd, or I would never have remembered yesterday’s. That’s not because it was a bad movie. The Arborist was nice and spooky, with a good backstory, and just a touch of folk-horror. Someday I’d love to see some trick-or-treaters show up in a folksy animal costume. Scarier than any ghost.

In the rest of the world, this is called The Island Between Tides. In the US, they decided to make it extra confusing and give it the same name as a 2021 film, The Lost Daughter. I prefer the original title. I was thinking there were Peter Pan-ish elements, and in the credits I saw it was based on a short story by J.M. Barrie. This movie is not for people who need clearcut answers. It is dreamy, and fairytale-like. Also, there are scary ghosts. I got it. I liked it. I thought it was lovely.

I don’t know if I’ll watch a movie every day of October, but if I do, you’re bound to hear about it.