Musical Monday with Cher

Next month, it's 26 years since Cher released her version of Marc Cohn's immortal "Walking in Memphis". While I personally prefer Cohn's version, Cher's cover has a lot to recommend it. Depending on your tastes, the hints of Elvis Presley's vocal styles that creeps into her performance here are one of those positive things.

Elvis impersonations are also what makes the video for this song interesting to watch. From Cher's Elvis-like facial expressions and lip-curling while sitting and singing on the steps of bus, to her straight-up cross-dressing as Elvis in other sections, it's something to see!

Walking in Memphis (1995)

Starring: Cher 

Director: Marcus Nispel

Rating: Seven of Ten Stars

Bones Coffee Double Feature!

Today, I'm reviewing two different flavored blends from Florida-based Bones Coffee Company. Each was made from Arabica beans, and each is a medium-roast. The coffee consumed for these reviews was brewed from pre-ground, 4-oz. sample packs.

Danny Kaye and Grace Kelly. One for two, just like this post.

BONES COFFEE COMPANY: COOKIES AND DREAMS
The coffee in the open package smelled of something sweet, maybe cookies? Some sort of baked good came to mind. While the coffee brewed, the smell was not as intense as it's been with some other blends, but the aroma of something sweet it eventually make its way down to my office after having filled the kitchen.

Since this blend was inspired by the ice cream flavor Cookies and Cream, I was expecting it to be very sweet with a bit of chocolate in the mix. It did not meet my expectations.

The initial sips of blend with without any almond milk added has the taste of coffee front and center, with a leading bitterness with a little of the edge taken off by the medium-roast. There is, however, a hint of chocolate and vanilla that might be enough to satisfy those who drink their coffee black with perhaps just dash of sugar or creamer added. For me, who's known to have half a cup of coffee to half a cup of unsweetened vanilla almond milk, it needed to be cut with a little something else.

When I drank a cup with unsweetened almond milk added, all flavors seemed to retreat. The coffee taste remained dominant while only a hint of chocolate remained and there was not even a hint of vanilla. When I had a cup mixed with vanilla-flavored unsweetened almond milk, the result was the same, except that the vanilla flavor was a little stronger than expected.

Drinking this blend cold and over ice, whether with or without the two varieties of almond milk used above, yielded similar results. The taste of coffee remains strong and the other flavors added  a bit of sweetness but it was never in doubt that you are drinking coffee and not some soft drink with this blend.

Whether you like your coffee hot or over ice, if you want the coffee flavor strong but smooth with just a touch of sweetness, I think you'll like Bones' Cookies and Dreams.

BONES COFFEE COMPANY: PEACHES AND SCREAM

Where the Cookies and Dreams blend kept the coffee flavor front and center, the Peaches and Scream blend is the opposite. In fact, it captured the flavor of the dessert it was inspired by--peaches and cream--more effectively than any other Bones Coffee blend I've tried. In fact, it may have captured the flavor it's inspired by better than ANY coffee blend I've tried.

In fact--and I never thought I'd say this-- the flavor of caramelized peaches may actually be TOO strong. The peach flavor is so sweet and overwhelming that this almost didn't taste like coffee. In fact, you can't taste the coffee at all for the first few sips while drinking it hot and fresh from the pot. Interestingly, the coffee flavor seemed to creep back in as I kept drinking and/or the coffee in my mug cooled, but the peach flavor never wavered.

The flavor of peaches was barely diminished when I added unsweetened almond milk, but the flavor of cream and coffee seemed to emerge a bit more clearly. I didn't try it with the sugar-free Italian Sweet Cream creamer or the unsweetened vanilla almond milk, because I really don't think adding more flavors would do anything but harm the experience of drinking this.

So how does this blend fare when you drink it iced? This is where it really excels. Hot, the dominant peach flavor is almost too sweet and too overwhelming, but iced it seems just right. In fact, cold, the flavors of peach and cream flavors both seem evident and it tastes even more like the dessert the blend draws its inspiration. For the same of consistency, I did try it with unsweetened almond milk, and I thought that the addition detracted more than it added.

Bottom line: The Peaches Cream blend needs to be enjoyed over ice, and if you like your flavored coffees sweet and barely tasting of coffee, enjoy it you will.

Saturday Comics by Sala

Here's a brief Peculia story that's among those that have not been collected in anthologies.

The majority of Sala's "Peculia" short stories were collected in this book, and her novel-length encounter with vampires can be read in this one. Peculia has wandered into some of Ricard Sala's other titles, including his final anthology "Poison Flowers & Pandemonium". I hope to post a review of it in October or November over at the Terror Titans blog.

The Avengers Dossier, Page Nineteen

Many British actors and actresses familiar to lovers of classic spy- and action-movies appeared on "The Avengers". Here's a brief look at one of them.

EUNICE GAYSON

In "Quick Quick, Slow Death", Eunice Gayson is one of several eccentric individuals operating a dance school that doubles as a matchmaking service... and possibly more sinister activities.

Eunice Gayson was born in Surrey in 1928 where she also grew up. She initially trained as an opera singer, but by the late 1940s, she mostly left music and the stage behind for an acting career in movies and British television.

Throughout the 1950s, Gayson was busy with roles in dramas, thrillers, and comedies, including being a recurring cast member in anthology series "Rheingold Theatre" and "BBC Sunday Night Theatre".  On the big screen, she even made a foray into horror with a key role in the very excellent "The Revenge of Frankenstein" (1957).

As the 1960s dawned, Gayson settled into a successful groove as a character actress, but not before appearing in the role she is perhaps best remembered for: She played Sylvia Trent in the first two big screen Bond adventures, "Dr. No" (1962) and "From Russia With Love" (1963). The character had been originally conceived as a recurring "lady friend" for 007, but the idea was abandoned after those two films.

Among Gayson's credits during the 1960s include several appearances on espionage adventure series "The Saint", "Secret Agent, and, of course, "The Avengers." She also had small parts in a handful of comedy series, including a recurring part in the period comedy "Albert and Victoria" (1970). 

"Albert and Victoria" was one of Gayson's last appearances on screen. She essentially retired from acting  to focus on raising her daughter, Kate, who was born in 1971. Gayson did perform on stage every so often from from the late 1980s and into the1990s. 

Eunice Gayson passed away at the age of 90 in 2018.

Use the Melies Method to never again be lonely!

Over 120 years ago, French filmmaker and showman Georges Méliès discovered the perfect way to stave off loneliness and to make sure you could have companionship any time and anywhere. He used the emerging technology of film to record his methods and share them with the world for all time.

Study Méliès methods as he demonstrates them in this short video. If you master them, you will never be lonely again, no matter what! Méliès demonstrates not just one, not just two, but three methods by which you can create company from thin air, in the comfort of your own home/prison during the next Covid lockdown!

The Duplicate Illusionist and the Living Head (aka "The Triple Conjurer") (1900)
Starring: Georges Méliès and Jehanne d'Alcy
Director: Georges Méliès
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars

(In all seriousness, "The Duplicate Illusionist and the Living Head" is one of Georges Méliès best "performance" shorts. I always prefer those of his films that have a bit more plot to them instead of ones that are little more than showcases for his at-the-time cutting edge and dazzling special effects. This one, though, has effects that are so smoothly done and so alive with Méliès's creativity and exuberance that it's impossible not to love it. (I am sure you fell in love with it, too, if you spent the minute or so it lasts. Let me know! (Also, if you DO master the technique of conjuring companions from thin air by watching this film, let me know that, too.)

 

The Swank Quarterly

As Summer gives way to Autumn, Hilary sits in the open window and watches the change of seasons take place.

Of Wolves & Girls in Hoods: The Fleischer Bros

In 1931, as Fleischer's Betty Boop was soaring toward animated superstar status, she and her friend Bimbo co-starred in an adaptation of the "Little Red Riding Hood" story. It has some fun, surreal, and/or just plain crazy moments. The music isn't bad either.

It also makes you question Betty's taste in boyfriends. At the outset of the Betty comments to Bimbo that her mother doesn't approve of him... and as the cartoon unfolds, I think it's clear why. By the end, I think it's clear that Bimbo may be more dangerous than the wolf ever was... as well as a complete psycho. (Of course, if the assume that "Dizzy Red Riding-Hood" is a sequel to this one, we already know Bimbo isn't quite right in the head.)

"Dizzy Red Riding-Hood" is a zany take on a very familiar story that goes to very unexpected places. No matter what meaning you assign to the original story and the events and characters within it, this version subverts them all!

Dizzy Red Riding-Hood (1931)

Starring: Ann Little (Voice of Betty Boop) and Billy Murray (Voice of Bimbo, others)

Director: Dave Fleischer

Rating: Eight of Ten Stars

Musical Monday with All Hallow's Evil

 "Face to Face" is another one of those songs that we love dearly here at Shades of Gray, but which very few have done justice to when they attempt to cover this Danny Elfman-penned song; Souixsie and the Banshees nailed it so perfectly in the original versions that covers are mostly just copies or fumbled attempts.

This is not the case with the version that All Hallow's Evil recorded and released in 2020. His version captures the sensibilities of the song, has clear echoes of the original version, but he also makes it his own. Check it out.

(As for this writing, the YouTube version of this song only has 750 views. That's a crying shame! And it's why we aren't saving this for a perhaps more logical place in the 31 Nights of Halloween line-up coming in October.)

In observation of Talk Like a Pirate Day

 Yarr... here be pictures of pretty pirate lasses!

Bones Coffee's Coconut Rum

It's time for another of my coffee reviews. It's  Talk Like a Pirate Day so there was only one appropriate choice to write about.

BONES COFFEE COMPANY: COCONUT RUM
This is another one of the flavored medium-roast blends from this great Florida-based company; so far, I have not been disappointed by any of their flavors, including a couple I've yet gotten around to posting reviews about. Their streak continued with the Coconut Rum blend.

When I opened the package, I could smell the coconut. As the coffee brewed, the aroma wasn't strong enough to reach my office, as has been the case with some of the other Bones blends, nor did I notice any particularly strong smell when I returned to the kitchen.

Is sweet enough that I could drink it black--and, as I've said before, I hardly ever drink coffee black. The dominant flavor here is rum, but the coconut is also detectable and very nice. When I added unsweetened almond milk, the coconut flavor retreated a bit, but the taste of rum remained as strong as before, perhaps even enhanced. This is a strongly flavored blend, and as you drink it, the taste of rum remains in your mouth.

When consumed over ice, the rum taste in this blend remains strong, even if the coconut taste is virtually undetectable. Still, the blend is sweet enough that it can can be consumed without any milk or cream added; in fact, it might be best if you just drink it straight when iced.

Bones' Coconut Rum is another excellent blend. It's probably not going to make into my personal Top Ten Bones Faves, but if you like rum and you like coffee, I'm sure you'll like this!