Thursday, May 31, 2007

Healing Comes Through Many Avenues

Been getting ready for this Saturday's Day of Tarot Readings. Spiffing up the shop a little, running business cards, you know, the usual kind of stuff.

Have also checked up on whether or not flyers were still up around town, continued to post info on the web and followed up with other folks who are helping promote this event.

In the process, it's been interesting to learn that a lot of folks are surprised I do readings. I explained that I tend to focus on assisting people with herbal consultations, hypnotherapy for behavior modification as well as past life regression and Reiki energy healing, but that tarot and intuitive guidance is also another avenue for healing.

Just like hypnotherapy can help someone overcome fears, blocks and obstacles in their life's path, tarot and intuitive guidance can aid someone in more clearly viewing where they are and where they are headed.

While a reading can indicate where one's path may lead, I truly believe that each of us can make changes to that path. Therefore, a reading is usually not a prediction of exactitude, but more an indication of where we may be headed.

One example of this in action happened last Winter. A young woman was considering a job change, but wasn't sure about a new position that she was offered.

The reading helped her to step forward with confidence and leave a job that had deadended for her. She had the confidence to ask for more money (and got it!) even though the recruiter discouraged her from doing so. She's now more confident, self-possessed and feeling more competent than she had felt in the last several years.

This woman could have ignored the reading and stayed in a dead-end situation. Instead, she used the reading to guide her and overcome her fears about dealing with a new situation.

That's what I mean about tarot and intuitive guidance being another avenue for healing.

Anything that helps us in a positive way can be a healing and transformative force in our lives.

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

More on Essential Oils for Honey Bee Mite Control

Here's a bit more about research into using essential oils to help bees.

Apparently the idea has been around for awhile as this article was last
updated in 1996. This particular article talks about wintergreen and
spearmint essential oils.

Read more at

Results of Research: Using Essential Oils for Honey Bee Mite Control

Sunday, May 27, 2007

New OLD review for "The Fog" (1980) is now up at the Vault!


My review for John Carpenter's classic horror tale of ghostly revenge is now looking a lot better and is officially uploaded at the Vault! Please take the time to give THE FOG (1980) some lovin'!

And don't be afraid to sign up in the B-Movie Film Vault Forums and give your own thoughts about this awesome supernatural thriller and/or my review for the film!

Expect a new review for "The Host" to pop up at the Vault next week b-movie fans! Blog ya later!

Saturday, May 26, 2007

The Fog (1980) review to make triumphant return to the Vault archives tomorrow; Unkown Movies joins in on the B-Movie Beach Party!

I decided to start refurbishing an older review tonight/this morning and chose John Carpenter's "The Fog." The review is nearly (re)done and should be uploaded after I get home from work tomorrow night! I may tackle one more old review before I begin a new review for "The Host."

In roundtable news, The Unknown Movies Page has joined the "B-Movie Beach Party" participant list, bringing us to NINETEEN sites! As more sites continue to join, I'll keep you all posted.

But right now, I'm very tired and need some rest. I have a loo-oong work day ahead of me tomorrow and I'll need my strength.

G'night b-movie fans; keep fighting the good fight!

Thursday, May 24, 2007

Essential Oils Used to Protect Bees

Thought this was a neat article. It seems essential oils can be used for almost anything nowadays!

Using Spearmint And Lemongrass To Protect Bees From Mites That Threaten Hives Bees swarm through the smoke as Professor James Amrine attempts to hook a pollen trap to one of the 20 beehives used for research.

Read more at

Using Spearmint And Lemongrass To Protect Bees From Mites

To purchase lemongrass essential oil go here:

Lemongrass Grass Essential Oil

To purchase spearmint essential oil:
Spearmint Grass Essential Oil

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

More Roundtable details!

This thing is getting HUGE! No, not that! I'm talking about the B-Movie Beach Party roundtable! The event is scheduled for July 21st and currently we are at EIGHTEEN sites! The latest reviewers to join our ranks include Kevin P. from wtf-Film, and Scott Hamilton and Chris Holland from Stomp Tokyo! Wow! And even better, the current number of reviews is close to TWO DOZEN, since several of us decided to review multiple films for this event! Stay tuned for more updates concerning this online mega-event!

Tarot Readings

Beads N Botanicals presents

A day to share the knowledge and insights of


an experienced and certified


Medicinal herbalist,

Hypnotherapist

and

Reiki practitioner

Catherine Novak


Bring your curiosity and questions and enjoy light refreshments

While being entertained with Tarot Readings

On Saturday, June 2, 2007

10 a.m. to 6 p.m.


Readings will be available for walk-ins

Or

For an appointment, call

Beads N Botanicals

217-283-6380

located at:

227 S. Market St. (next to the Harris Agency)

Hoopeston, Il 60942


E-mail: BeadsNBotanicals@gmail.com

http://www.wiseweeds.net

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

The Dino Western Double Feature is finally completed and uploaded!


Yup, you read that right, I've finally gotten my review for "The Valley of Gwangi" completed and it must be the longest review that I've ever done. (Plus, I included a fun little drinking game in the "Extras" portion of the review.) With "Gwangi" finished, my "Dino-Western Double Feature" is finally ready to be seen by the world!

Please, read (and enjoy) my reviews for:
The Beast of Hollow Mountain (1956) and
The Valley of Gwangi (1969)

-------------------------------------------------

Up next on my review slate is the 2006 South Korean blockbuster, "The Host" which should be showing up on my site at or around June 6th, which happens to be the B-Movie Film Vault's SEVENTH ANNIVERSARY!

In other news.....
The B-Movie Beach Party Roundtable is progressing nicely and currently all sixteen webmasters are deciding on what to review. Once the list is compiled, I'll post it here and in my Forums. (With Andrew Borntreger's permission of course.) My final picks for the roundtable are "Island Claws" and "Space Amoeba." I was going to do "Tintorero," but "Space Amoeba" is more my style and easily fits the Beach Party theme!

That's it for now so have a great night b-movie fans!

Sunday, May 20, 2007

Update on "Gwangi" review and upcoming roundtable events!

My review for "The Valley of Gwangi" is nearing completion! All I have left to do is type up the Plot, Film Review, and DVD Review sections and I'm finished! My goal is to have the review 100% completed and proofread by tomorrow night! Then the Vault will see it's first REAL update of 2007! The last time I added anything "new" to the archives was when I uploaded my retooled review of "The Ape" (1940).

In roundtable news:
The Mega-Roundtable is set tentatively for July 21st. We have (currently) 16 sites participating and the theme we voted on was a "B-Movie Beach Party." I've already picked "Island Claws" AND "Tinterero" for this mega-roundtable. (The former contains a giant killer crab at the finale. The latter is an Italian "Jaws" rip-off featuring a killer Tiger Shark that is hunted by two horny shark hunters.) Stay tuned for more updates on this awesome event!

In other news, Andrew Borntreger of Badmovies.Org fame and myself will be teaming up late next month to celebrate the July 4th release of "TRANSFORMERS." We're both going to review the animated "Transformers: The Movie" so stay tuned for our "Reviewers in Disguise" team up on (tentatively) June 25th!

Also, during the voting process for the mega-roundtable, Roger Corman came in second place, so perhaps you'll see a Roger Corman roundtable later this year as well!

Well that about does it, so have a great night b-movie fans! Keep fighting the good fight!

Friday, May 18, 2007

Dreamcatcher workshop in JULY?

Hopefully we will be scheduling the dream catcher workshop in July (or August). Need to pin down the instructor as to her availability in July, PLUS my travel schedule. If you are interested, email us and we'll put you on a list to be notified when the date is set.

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Dino-Western Double Feature on the horizon!

Well my review for "The Beast of Hollow Mountain" has been complete for some time now, and soon it will have some company. Yes folks, I've made some progress and am now a tiny bit closer to posting a completed review for "The Valley of Gwangi!" I watched the movie mere minutes ago to refresh my memory and take a few additional notes, and over the next few days I'll be working on completing my review for the film. I'm very excited about this, and I hope that my review will do the film (and Ray Harryhausen's work) some justice.

Oh, and just to keep ya'll in the loop:
I updated my review for "The Monster Squad" so you can now purchase the new 2-disc special edition from the Amazon and Movies Unlimited links at the top of the page. I also updated the DVD Review section with info about said dvd set!

In regards to the upcoming MEGA ROUNDTABLE in July, we're only waiting on 3 more votes, but it seems like the majority of us have our hearts set on a "B-Movie Beach Party" roundtable. (Though a Roger Corman theme has taken up a strong second place position in the poll.) I'm thinking that the Beach party idea will win out in the long run, so I'm trying to come up with a movie (or two) to review. I've already done "Blood Beach" and "Jack Frost 2" (which takes place on a tropical isle) as well as various films involving underwater terrors. (Including "Octopus," "Shark Attack," and "Jaws: The Revenge.") The theme is pretty broad and almost anything can (and will) be included (apparently "Sleepstalker: The Sandman's Last Rites" is appropriate because the antagonist is made of sand... and sand is found on beaches.... see the connection?!), but I'm stumped as to what I want to review. Hmmm........
............
..........
.......

I GOT IT! If we end up doing the "B-Movie Beach Party" theme, then "ISLAND CLAWS" will be my film of choice!

Well, with that settled, I'm going to get some shut-eye.
G'night fellow cult movie-philes! :-D

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

B-Movie Vault DVD Shop updated; fellow cult movie lover "Dumpster Diver" now has his own site!

Well, after a little over two hours of clicking through various pages and changing, adding, and deleting movie titles, The B-Movie Film Vault DVD Shop is now WAY up to par! I went through every section of the store and really did a thorough job, plus I started an all new ULTRAMAN section (which is fairly small, due to the insane lack of Ultraman dvds here in the States)!

And for those of you that are looking to blow some cash on some flicks this week (or next week... or the week after...) be sure to check out THIS WEEK'S DVD RELEASES! (And don't forget to check out the UPCOMING CULT DVD RELEASES section in order to stay up to date on what mouth-watering flicks are coming to DVD!)

Anyway, in other b-movie news, my good friend "Dumpster Diver," a regular in the B-Movie Film Vault's Forums, has started his own website! Though it is pretty empty right now (he literally JUST started it), you can view it at: http://theb-moviedumpster.blogspot.com/
That's right, his site is safely nestled on Blogspot.com, as is this very blog you are currently reading. ;-)

Also, before I forget, my main man Kevin P, the webmaster of WTF-Film.com is no longer peddling his cool cult DVDs. (Sad because he put so much quality work into them.) Kevin has instead become an online reviewer and his review archives are filling up fast! If you have some time, check out Kev's excellent site!

That's all I've got for you now, but stay tuned because I'm gearing up to do a bit of writing this week. My copy of "Valley of Gwangi" has been staring at me accusingly every time I go into my movie room to watch a flick, so I'm just about ready to finish off my review for "Gwangi" and move on to writing about other films. (Next up will be "The Host," which hits DVD on July 24th!) Also, stay tuned for an announcement concerning the Mega-Roundtable mentioned in the previous blog post last week. Fifteen site are participating and we're a few votes shy of choosing our theme. (Thus far it seems that a "B-Movie Beach Party" is definitely a possibility!) G'night b-movie fans, and remember to keep fighting the good fight!

Wednesday, May 9, 2007

Beads N Botanicals Newsletter May/June/July 2007


Beads N Botanicals Newsletter
May/June 2007
227 South Market St. (Next to the Harris Agency) Hoopeston, IL 60942 217-283-6380
STORE HOURS: Tuesday-Friday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturdays 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

UNIQUE GIFTS
Don’t have time for a class but want a unique piece of jewelry made
according to your specifications?
Come in, pick out your beads, and we’ll put your earrings, bracelet,
necklace or other design together for you.

Our store features books, handmade jewelry, handcrafted oil blends, incense, soaps, bath salts, candles, herbs for tea, medicinal and culinary use; beading and wire wrapping supplies: including sterling silver wire, seed beads, semi-precious stones, sterling silver beads, milfoil, seed beads, Swarovski ™ crystals and more.

Herbal Medicine Chest
on Tuesdays in June
Making a Dream Catcher
on Saturday in June
for more information, look below


Refreshing Herbal Teas for Summer
By Catherine Novak

Summertime with its mild temperatures and blooming flowers draws us to the outdoors.
Although it’s a great time for strolls down the street, it’s important to remain hydrated to avoid fatigue or even heat stroke.

Using homemade herbal teas can be a great way to encourage yourself, family and friends to drink enough healthy liquids. (Pop and ice cream floats don’t count!)
Simple herb teas can be made ahead of time, chilled in the refrigerator and drunk when
(continued on p. 2)

Early Summer Classes 2007

More Classes May Be Added to the Schedule.
Check at the Shop for Updates. Please note our earlier class start times.


Jewelry Making & Decorative Beadwork
Herbal & Aromatherapy Classes
Gardening & Origami Classes

Beading & Jewelry Making Workshops:
Tools for Wire Working classes are available for purchase at the shop. A limited amount of tools will be available for use at the classes. Bring round-nose pliers and flat nose pliers if you have them.

Basic Wire Working: How to Make Earrings:
This is a great starter class! You’ll learn the basic techniques involved in creating earrings with head pins, eye pins and ear wires. You’ll make two pairs of earrings, one with a dangle. A few other earring styles will be demonstrated as well. $20, 1 hour, materials included.
May 3, 6:30 p.m.-8:00 p.m. Thursday
June 7, 6:30 p.m.-8:00 p.m. Thursday

Basic Stringing: Bracelet Design:
Want to learn how to put together a bracelet, but not sure how to begin? Or, how to end it? In this class you’ll learn how to work with specialty beading threads, what a crimp bead is, and how to use it, jump rings, and clasps to finish off your bracelet. $15, 1 hour, materials included.
May 17, 6:30 p.m.-8:00 p.m. Thursday

Basic Stringing: Necklace Design:
Want to learn how to put together a necklace, but not sure how to begin? Or, how to end it? In this class you’ll learn how to work with specialty beading threads, what a crimp bead is, and how to use it, jump rings, and clasps to finish off your necklace. Learn about the differences between choker and other-sized necklaces. $18, 1 ½ hours, materials included.
June 28, 6:30 p.m.-8:00 p.m. Thursday


Herbal & Aromatherapy Workshops

Making Solid Perfumes:
Solid perfumes are spill proof and make great gifts, especially when they are made in nifty little containers. Learn how easy basic solid perfumes can be made, for personal use and for gift giving..
$20, 1 ½ hours, materials included.
May 15, 6:30 p.m.-8 p.m. Tuesday

Pain Management
Alternative approaches to dealing with pain without overusing pharmaceutical or over-the-counter drugs. $10, 1 ½ hours
June 12, 6:30 p.m.- 7:30 p.m. Tuesday

Healing Circle:
Take a break for yourself. No prior experience necessary. $5, 1 hour, Wednesday
June 27: 6:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m.

Herbal Medicine Chest: This four-part series offers an introduction to concepts of herbal medicine, herbal terms, a materia medica of healing herbs, identification of wild plants, uses of herbal teas and tinctures and more. $25 per class, $85 prepaid.
August 7, 14, 21, 28, 6 p.m.-8:30 p.m Tuesdays

Meditation For Relaxation:
Take a break for yourself. Learn how to quiet your mind, relax and release stress from your life. No prior experience necessary. $5, 1 hour, Wednesday
June 6: 6:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m.


Summer Teas: (continued from p. 1)
needed.
Zinger Delight
1 tablespoon Raspberry leaf
1 teaspoon Hibiscus flowers
1 teaspoon Peppermint Leaves
1 tablespoon German Chamomile flowers

Pour four cups of hot boiling water over the herbs in a teapot or fill a quart mason jar. Cover and steep for an hour. Stain off the tea into a pitcher. Add lemon slices or lemon juice (if you have lemon). Serve chilled and/or over ice.

—C.N.

Catherine Novak has served as an adjunct faculty member for Northampton Community College, Bethlehem, Pa., been a featured speaker at Barnes & Noble; and spoken about medicinal herbs on the Health Nuts NJ radio show. She appeared on the Judy Lewis show: Psychic World. Most recently she and her son appeared on ABC's Sunrise This Morning out of Champaign, IL.

Catherine is available for individual herbal and health consultations, hypnotherapy for behavior modification, relaxation and pain management, past life regression, Reiki energy balancing and classes at her office at Beads N Botanicals, and can be reached at at 217-283-6380 or beadsnbotanicals@gmail.com


Tuesday, May 8, 2007

You may never see such an alliance as this for quite some time....

Tonight, as I sat here pondering numerous things (such as, what movie will I watch before I go to bed), I got an e-mail from Andrew Borntreger of Badmovies.Org asking me (and about a dozen or so other online reviewers) if I (we) would be interested in doing a big, ole-fashioned roundtable. I signed up immediately as it sounds like fun and I'll have plenty o' time to write up a review as well, so there's no rush. The only foreseeable problem is my complete lack of interest in writing during these past few weeks. Seriously, I don't have the urge to sit here and type up reviews, articles, or anything, and my site has been crying itself to sleep every night because I haven't changed anything (except my DVD collection page) or added new content to it in what, a month? Plus my forums are stagnating and starting to smell up the place (my regulars suddenly and mysteriously vanished), so things aren't looking good for the Vault right now. I haven't really been spending much time on the computer lately, and once summer arrives, my presence on the WWW will be non-existant. Sigh.....what to do... what to do.....

Wednesday, May 2, 2007

Happy Birthday to B-Movie Central and Monster Squad coming to DVD in July!

First off, congrats to my good buddy Duaner. His site, B-Movie Central is now five years (and one day) old! His site is a wonderful place to spend time in if you enjoy classic b-flicks, so give it a visit. Also, expect a review for "The Black Scorpion" to be popping up over there in a few days.

In other news... MONSTER SQUAD HITS DVD ON JULY 24! WOOOHOO!
The disc has new artwork (that I'm having a hard time warming up to) and contains these wonderful extra features:

- Audio commentary by writer/director Dekker and cinematographer Bradford May
- Audio commentary by Dekker and actors Andre Gower, Ashley Bank and Ryan Lambert
- Wolf Man’s Got Nards! The Making of THE MONSTER SQUAD documentary
- Deleted and extended scenes
- Monster Mania reunion featurette
- Vintage interview with Tom Noonan
- Poster and still gallery
- Theatrical trailer
- TV spot

I'm so excited, and I just can't hide it, I'm gonna buy Monster Squad because I really like it! Also, don't forget kids that Korea's "THE HOST" hits DVD on the same day, also in a 2-disc special edition! YAY! July is gonna be an expensive month so save up those dimes, pennies, nickels, and quarters DVD fanatics! YEEHAW!