Muriel Dreams of a Better Life and Waits for it to Happen

Muriel dreams of a wonderful life with a fantastic wedding and a Prince Charming. She thinks having this will change her life for her. Muriel gets the wedding and the Prince but discovers those things were just dreams and her reality can be so much better when she stops waiting for her dreams to happen and goes after life herself.

Muriel is a modern Cinderella who makes it all come out right, for herself. You can be proud of Muriel because she starts on the bottom and pulls herself up again, twice. The second time even better than the first.

Muriel is a nobody girl living in Porpoise Spit, Australia. She doesn’t have a job, and spends most of her time listening to ABBA music in her room, dreaming of the life she wants. Her life has no direction, her Father makes her feel like nothing. All Muriel wants is a wedding. Her wedding.

She steals money from her Father and takes a tropical vacation, befriends Rhonda and returns home. But she doesn’t stay there. Rather than face her Father about the missing money Muriel strikes out on her own. She works in a video store and meets Tim. Rhonda is there too. You would think it would all just go along from there – but Muriel marries rich!

Muriel Gets her Dream Wedding

When Muriel does get her wedding and changes her life she discovers the life she thought she wanted so much is nothing like the life she could have on her own. She leaves her husband, an arranged marriage with a South African soccer player, finds her friend Rhonda (who is now wheel chair bound and living with her Mother back in Porpoise Spit) and together they leave for parts unknown – somewhere not Porpoise Spit, Australia.

One of the great things about this movie are the stories of the secondary characters. Muriel’s Mother (Betty) has the saddest story. Muriel’s Mother mistakenly wears shoes she did not pay for out of the shopping mall. She is arrested. The family attacks her, especially Muriel’s Father who is verbally abusive to everyone in the family and has a mistress on the side (which Betty chooses not to know). Betty, abused by all and even snubbed by Muriel at a time when she tried to connect with her, has an emotional breakdown and commits suicide.

The scene where the laundry is in rags and still left hanging on the drying rack outside – after Betty has died is one which sticks in my mind. This is Muriel’s visit home after the funeral. She realizes the life her Mother led, a quiet desperate and sad life. This is where Muriel changes her own life, again, and frees herself from her past and all those old dreams.

Muriel Doesn’t Make Changing your Life Look Easy but She Shows it can be Done

It is a wonderful movie. Without seeing it for yourself you can’t know how great it is and have that awesome feeling at the end as Muriel takes the taxi out of Porpoise Spit, Australia finally leaving her old sad life behind.

I like seeing “Muriel” in movies since 1994 when Muriel’s Wedding was made.. Of course, the actress (Toni Collette) went on to make more movies but she will always be Muriel in my mind. Muriel is too wonderful to ever be forgotten. Snort (you just have to watch the movie).

I've never understood the draw of scary movies. I can read about scary things, frightening and horror books are interesting when they have a real story behind them. There are very awful, frightening and horrifying things in the world. I guess having experienced my own personal, real horror, I don't want to see it illustrated with extra violence, blood and aggression in moving pictures. Besides, the books rely on your own imagination so you can use your own inner censor (or just skip a few paragraphs, pages or chapters even). When you watch a horror movie the best you can do is close your eyes and hum while you view someone's nightmare.

Is Horror like Culture Shock for you?

So, I don't enjoy horror on the screen. I did watch Fearless Vampire Killers on television last year, however. I liked the campy 70's feel to it. I liked the cleverly stupid humour. I liked that it was intended as a satire. So, even though there were some awful moments which I did cringe through, it was easier to consider them as part of the satire than to think of them as something more.

One odd thing about the movie was the sexuality. In these days, about 40 years later so much has changed. Yet this movie is pretty open about sexual relationships, specifically homosexuality. Watching it, I wondered if this is more open and somewhat perverted than would be accepted in our media/ movies now.

I loved the historical costumes and the costumes in general from Fearless Vampire Killers. One thing I do enjoy about vampire movies and TV shows are the costumes, the clothes and even the home style too when it's more than just bland background. Especially nice is the scene where they dance in their old fashioned ball gowns, suits, wigs and all. The castle is shown well too in several scenes. The rooftop still stand out in my memories of the movie.

Also, the surprise ending was pulled off well, even though I was expecting it. I was still surprised.

What do you think of horror movies? Do you watch the satires or must it be all out gore and dripping blood (no funny stuff) to please you?

Would rather read a book than see the movie... try one of these paranormal writers - my personal picks and among my favourites.

Betsy, Queen of the Vampires is the main character. MaryJanice Davidson is credited as the first to write paranormal fiction with humour. She is very prolific as a writer. It is easy to wind up spending the night reading in bed and realizing you have read through the night just because you could not find a place you wanted to stop reading and put down the book.

Gerry Bartlett writes about a plus sized vampire babe, Glory. I started reading the series just for that reason. But, the story drew me in and I have read all but the latest two. It is a shame the books don't come out in standard paperback here. I end up waiting to find them in secondhand bookstores. Which suits me fine but does mean there is a lot of waiting involved.

Kimberly Raye is no longer writing this series. A huge shame because I loved the characters in her books. The heroine, Lil could be a fashionable shoe diva type (which I am not) but she was so much more and she did not let her shoes keep her from adventure, even if it meant getting dirty. The male characters are not just cardboard cut outs either. I liked that Lil's men could be grumpy, could even be jerks but still feel like a guy you wanted to notice you, in a good way.

These are three paranormal writers who write about vampires with humour, fun and the occasional blood letting for those who must have some element of the traditional horror in their vampire tales. I am involved in reading each of the series of books below. However, Kimberley Raye's Dead End Dating series ran aground and it doesn't seem to be continuing.

I would be glad to have suggestions for more paranormal books with humour in the comments. There are a few others I have read but these are my favourites, so far.

I strongly recommend Kim Harrison too, especially if you love adventure more than satire or humour.

I can't think of any family event where there was not coffee and people making coffee. Sometimes there would be a full holiday dinner, sometimes there would be tea or coffee. But, always there was coffee.

The Early Days with the Drip Coffee Maker

I remember our old drip coffee makers. Back in the days of plastic coffee makers, when my Mom would only drink the coffee beans from the A & P (Atlantic and Pacific) grocery store chain. That was before the days of the coffee grinder at home so we would have to make sure to open the big, black bag and grind the beans in the store before bringing them home. I remember the smell of the freshly ground beans.

The Coffee Grinder Days Begin

Later, she got into having whole beans which she ground at home. It was a small coffee grinder but made a lot of noise. I would hear it in the morning as I got ready for school. When we had family over the grinder would be working harder with more beans to grind. You couldn't put too many beans in at one time because they grew in volume once ground and there was always a mess when you removed the lid after grinding with the machine too full.

I have a lot of memories of my Grandmother and her sisters being at our house. The sound of the coffee grinder, the smell of the beans and myself serving the coffee with cream and milk and sugar into china sets and small spoons to stir the coffee. I'd set it all up on the table where all three generations of women would be working at sewing or baking for the holidays or just for something to work on together.

My Uncle offered to make a run to the store for coffee and a few other supplies one holiday weekend. But, he didn't know about the coffee in the red bag versus the coffee in the black bag. He picked the wrong one. Mom drank it, served it to everyone too but said it just wasn't as nice as her usual coffee in the black bag. I think it was called, Eight O Clock, but I'm not sure now.

The Hot, Foamy Milk with the Milk Press

As I grew up, her coffee style changed. During a long trip to the Dominican Republic with my sister, Mom got used to having her coffee with hot milk. Not just heated up on the stove or in the microwave but heated in a pot on the stove and then made foamy with a milk press. She has a collection of these milk presses now. Of course, she only likes a certain kind and they aren't so easily found. A company located in Quebec seems to be the last place which still makes the milk press she likes.

My First Coffee Maker - The Manual Drip Pot

I adapted my Mother's coffee style, when that was what I knew as I became a coffee drinker. However, once I got my first place on my own I didn't want her style of coffee maker. Those drip pots were awful once the calcium built up. I remember the day we threw out our old faithful drip pot and the next one after that. By the time I was on my own my Mom was using a percolator pot, the type which is typically used for espresso coffee but she uses it for all her coffee. My first coffee maker was a manual drip pot, from Melitta (all in red). I still have that pot though I seldom bring it out to use now.

My Next Coffee Was Made in the French Press

I never have gotten into the hot, foamy milk as my Mother did. Most of the other relatives would enjoy it when visiting Mom but no one else goes through all that trouble at home, as far as I know. My brother is the only one who has taken up coffee making as an art the way my Mother has. I like less fuss, less mess and a simpler coffee making process. So my next coffee maker was a French press. I like not having to buy coffee filters.

In the years since that first French press I've had various pots of that type. Some were all metal, some were more plastic and some came with stands for the hot pot to sit on. Only one was ever red in colour. I've kept a few of them around. You do need at least one big coffee maker when people come to visit. I didn't (so far) buy either a coffee grinder or a milk press/ frother.

Then Came the Marvelous Percolating Pot

I was happy with the French press for years. It travels well - just need the ability to boil water in some way and then (as long as you brought your beans and coffee cream) you were all set.

However, I found a wonderful cordless percolator coffee maker at a thrift store. I would not usually buy one. I don't need more coffee makers. But, it was like new and shiny and I was curious to see how it would be as a coffee maker to take on travels. It is quite good. Of course, I still need to bring the essentials but the percolator travels well. Plus, it is sturdier than the glass pot of the French press.

Coffee and Coffee Making is a Part of my Family and our Travels Together

Everyone has their own favourite coffee makers, their favourite way of making coffee and their specialties of choosing beans, grinding them fresh or not, and then how you choose to serve your coffee (cream, milk, sugar, black, etc.). For my family coffee and coffee making has always had a part in every gathering. It has a part in deciding where we stay and what we do on holidays too. When coffee is important you have to find a place to stay that lets you make your own coffee or is at least located near a place that looks like "the coffee will be good!"

Exploring the Abandoned Planet (urban exploration after people)

We may think about life after death but it's our own death we consider. What happens to the planet, the culture, machines, and animals we leave behind when (if) there were no people left on the Earth to maintain and build them?

Whether you think about something small like a goldfish in a bowl or big, like pollution... have you ever wondered how much impact humans have on the planet and how the Earth would change once we were all gone?

Life After People is a video series based on the idea that people (all of us) have disappeared from the planet. There is no discussion about what happened to us. Once the documentary begins we become irrelevant (except for everything we have left behind and how we left it).

If you have seen the series or one of the movies, do you watch it for the science fiction, the illustrations of abandoned civilization or out of curiosity to see what happens to everything when we (who think we are so important) are not here any longer?

I must admit, as an urban explorer (one who explores abandoned, derelict and ruined places and things) I do love to soak in the illustrations. I could spend the entire length of the documentary just pouring over the details of the ruined places. I would enjoy time to look at still images and catch all the details of the abandoned cars, roads, homes, and all the rest.

However, this series is so great because they go beyond the everyday places and things you would think of. Places like abandoned amusement parks, churches, historical monuments. Things like domestic livestock, family pets and oil leaking from cars in parking lots over time. The series of movies would have to go on forever to capture every last detail but you can find out so much in just an hour, or two.

The Neverending Adventure of our Planet, Life and Everything

I'd like to live forever. Not because I'm afraid of death but because I want to see how the story goes here on our planet. How far do people evolve and what big inventions and changes come along? Can we clean up the planet, control over population and give the animals some habitat back? What happens to the planet.. does the sun die out and leave the Earth cold, barren and out of luck? Does the moon last or some day get hit by space junk we created? So many questions, all leading to the end of time, and farther. How long can the story go? We don't even know where it all began. So many questions and so few answers we can count on 100% as fact. I'd like to know!

We can read so many ideas in science fiction but no one really knows anything, it is all just ideas based on what we know or think we know so far.

If I could have my three wishes... the first would be for health and losing weight, the second would be to live forever and be able to get around exploring the world and seeing it al for myself. Actually seeing it all, rather than reading about it in paper and print. As a bonus I'd take photographs with a digital camera which never runs out of battery life or memory space.

The third wish I would keep in reserve, you just know something will come up and I'm going to need that extra wish somewhere through all time and space.

Why Did you Watch Merlin (assuming you did)?

I may have watched Merlin for the costumes alone. The colours and styles of the Medieval wardrobes were not strictly authentic but they made a good effort while having a real flare. I remember a dress Morgana wore which really caught my imagination but then I noticed she was wearing what looked exactly like modern high heels. Not quite right historically but altogether she looked like a Princess.

The Merlin and Morgana Show

Morgana is my favourite character. I really wish the show had done more with Merlin and Morgana. In the first season Gwen liked Merlin, until the second season when she switched to being love lorn for Arthur and sometimes Lancelot. Morgana seemed to like Arthur, there were expectations for them to get together but I thought she saw him more as a brother. One of my favourite scenes was Merlin poisoning Morgana. It was the first really hard decision Merlin had to make and from there on he seemed less a boy and I think he became the dragon lord soon after. Merlin and Morgana could have worked, if they had been written that way. She would have been much different if she had a real friend she could count on.

I don’t think Morgana’s motives were ever really explained or shown very well. Her character begins as a brave princess with a few bad dreams. She isn’t told who she is, that she has power and was supposed to become someone so different from the brave princess who could hold a sword. Without real cause she becomes bitter and angry even plotting to murder Arthur. She liked Arthur in season one, trusted and confided in him. She was just as honourable and kind as Arthur or Merlin in the first season. Finding out she is Uther’s daughter does not seem like enough to cause her jump in loyalties.

The Merlin and Arthur Show

I enjoyed the rapport between Arthur and Merlin as two young men. Merlin is a bit too good to be true. Steadfast and loyal just because the dragon told him his fate was to make Arthur become a great king. But he and Arthur do develop a friendship which can almost be understood in spite of the servant and royal Prince roles they actually have. Some of the best lines and humour come from the simple moments between Merlin and Arthur.

I liked the character of Uther who I have never seen given so much depth and range in any other movie or series about Arthur, Merlin and the knights of the round table. Uther becomes a real person rather than a background story. Of all the characters I think Uther is the most human, with human flaws, pride and determination. Though he is supposed to be less than Arthur as a king he actually does make very tough decisions and choices which Arthur seems unable to do. Arthur does not want to be a the bad guy but Uther understands a king (or a parent or any other type of leader) can’t always be popular or seen by all as the good guy.

Merlin is on NetFlix Too

Overall I liked the series. I’m watching it over again on NetFlix this week and will likely rewatch and catch up on missed episodes all this month. I didn’t catch a big part of the fourth season so I am looking forward to it.