Tips for a Beginning Supernatural Hunter
Tips for a Beginning Supernatural Hunter
So you want to leave your ordinary mundane life and become a hunter? Are you tired of job security, friends, and decent food? Well in that case you have chosen the right occupation to pursue. The list that follows is a comprehensive list of tips that will aide you in your quest to
becoming the best hunter that you can be.
Warning: Once you join the life you cannot leave the life
1. Always bring salt. Always
2. Keep holy water in a flask tucked in your jacket pocket, because you never know
3. If you wake up and find that your soul is missing, don’t ask death to put your soul back in your body. Just don’t.
4. Don’t lie to your brother, he has a gun
5. If you didn’t follow the last tip, bring pie
6. Bobby knows best, you’re an idjit if you think otherwise
7. Don’t begin a bromantic relationship with an angel. He will just break your heart
Movie of the Week: Shaun of the Dead
Shaun of the Dead (2004)
Director: Edgar Wright
Starring: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Kate Ashfield, Lucy Davis, Dylan Moran
Written By: Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg
In honor of Halloween the movie of the week this week is my favorite film from the Cornetto Trilogy, Shaun of the Dead. Just as a quick side note, I did adore the newest 
of the trilogy The Worlds End (2013). I saw it twice in one week (calm down kid). So if you haven’t seen it yet, go see it!.
When I was in high school this film was recommended to me by someone who I didn’t like therefore I refused to watch it (stubborn much?). Then one day months later I got a hold of Spaced (a television show Simon Pegg and Nick Frost starred in and Edgar Wright directed) and I fell in love with those silly british boys and the rest is history. I then proceeded to watch every film Simon Pegg was ever in and Shaun of the Dead is definitely my favorite.
Shaun of the Dead is basically about a man, Shaun, who wakes up one day to find apocalyptic chaos in the form of zombies roaming the streets freely eating people and doing whatever it is zombies do (disclaimer: I know nothing about zombies). While that’s all fine and good, the thing that makes this film so great is the fact that it is so relatable. Zombie film relatable? Yes, I will (hopefully) never has to face off in a zombie apocalypse, BUT Shaun goes through a lot of emotions that I think every person can connect with. He has lack of life direction and he is uncertain where he is going or what he is doing. He habitually does the same things every day (aka going to his favorite pub the Winchester) and is stuck in a dead end job with
no prospects. He is stuck with a deadbeat friend that he loves too much to throw off of his couch and a girlfriend who wants him to step out of his comfort zone. He is torn between the boring lack luster life he is leading and big scary world of possibilities. When the zombie finally take over Shaun is faced with choices and stepping up into the leader role if he wants the people he loves to survive. Pretty deep for a zombie movie eh?
And or course, this film is packed with nonstop jokes and I guarantee you won’t be disappointed. There is a British flavour to this film and the humor follows that style. It’s dry and absurd all at the same time. If you know this isn’t your type of comedy then I wouldn’t suggest watching this film (even though secretly I still want you to give it a chance!).
I was going to dress up as Shaun for Halloween this year and go to Disneyland, but I think cricket bats covered in fake blood my constitute as a weapon. Your loss Mickey.
Taryn’s List of Top 50 Favorite Male Movie Characters
Taryn’s List of Top 50 Favorite Male Movie Characters
Disclaimer: Entirely my own opinions, but they might as well be facts because I’m right (Sorry Tony Stark took over my computer for a minuet there). These aren’t necessarily the best acted, I just really like them.
Prologue
- Yes I’m giving my list a prologue
- I put in all the dates and actors because I just wanted to see if I had an even spread of everything. I tried to get a good cover of time because I didn’t want to favor one time period. I ranged from 1933-2009 so I think I got that covered! By doing this I also realize how sad I am because I didn’t need to look up a single year of release on any movie on this list.
- I also did that to prevent from putting the same actor a million times. I won’t mention who said individuals were.
- I wish I could insert YouTube clips for all of these. The quotes just aren’t the same.
- I’m way to into making list
1. Elwood Blues– Blues Brothers(1980)(Dan Aykroyd)
Bet you weren’t expecting that one? 🙂 Seriously to me he is the best character ever. I think you know how much I love this movie, especially the extremely underrated first 5 
minutes (not including the extended edition’s super long intro credits because I really didn’t need to see Jake walk through the entire prison), so I won’t even explain myself further.
Best Throw Away Line: “Are there any messages for me on the phone?” (I bet when Dan wrote the movie he probably had zero intention of having that line be funny)
2. Indiana Jones– Raiders of the Lost Ark(1981)(Harrison Ford)
Clearly I like movie characters who wear fedoras. Indy really doesn’t need an explanation. Also, he takes up the most space on my walls therefore it is logical to conclude that he is awesome.
Best Moment: When he shoots the sword guy in Raiders!
3. Captain Jack Sparrow- Pirates of the Caribbean(2003)(Johnny Depp)
When this movie came out on DVD it was the first movie that wasn’t a little kid movie that I was obsessed with. I seriously watched this movie at least once a week every week for months. Twelve year old me completely adored Johnny Depp when I saw this movie.
Best Moment: When he is on the dock in the first movie messing with those two guards.
4. Han Solo– Star Wars(1977)(Harrison Ford)
I love him and he knows it.
Best Line: “Uh, we had a slight weapons malfunction but uh…..everything’s perfectly all right now. We’re fine. We’re all fine here now, thank you. 
How are you?”
5. Marty McFly– Back to the Future(1985)(Michael J Fox)
I have seen this movie more times than probably any other movie, even the Blues Brothers. There was a period of time where it was on TV every day and I watched it every day. I love how confused and awkward Marty is at times. Also his orange jacket thing.
Best Line: “You’re not going to pick a fight dad!…. Dad?… Dad…..Daddio.”
Album of the Week: Franz Ferdinand
Franz Ferdinand – Franz Ferdinand (2004)
I have a lot of hipster friends on Facebook. (I’m sorry it’s not my fault!) They always like to post music clips in the Facebook statuses. Sometimes I listen to it just to give it a chance but it’s difficult to make it past a few minuets. It’s just not my cup of tea. You know what I’m talking about. The kinda mellow yet depressive music that pretends to be really intelligent and innovative. (Ok I’m stereotyping and judging now. I said I would never do that so let us move on).
One day a few years back someone posted a Franz Ferdinand
song. I had heard of them before. I actually even owned one of their albums but had never listened to it. I had just assumed they were one of those bands my hipster school mates listen to so I had no interest (Lesson of the day: judging is bad). The song was “The Dark of the Matinee.” I gave it a listen and didn’t really like it that much at first but I was intrigued. I rummaged through my drawer and found the self titled first album and gave it a listen in my car. I listened to it several times over the course of the week and my mind was changed. At this point I’ve listened to it dozens of times and I would consider it to be a member of my imaginary Favorite 100 Albums of All Time List.
This one album has a lot of different twists and turns. They make it rock a little while still keeping it very mellow. Majority of the songs have a fast upbeat tempo but yet they still remain very mellow. It really is Indie Garage Rock at it’s finest.
Alex Kapranos has an interesting voice. It’s not the most beautiful or the most versatile, but it is unique. The guitars, bass and drums blend well together. It all stands together well to create one really strong song.
I saw them live at a festival about a year ago and they were fantastic. They had an insane amount of energy and they kept the crowd going the entire time. If you ever get a chance to see them I would highly recommend it. I was there with people who didn’t even know any of their songs (Besides their most famous song “Take Me Out” of course, which is on this album) and they still thought it was one of the best bands of the weekend. That says something.
Favorite Songs: “Jacqueline”, “The Dark Of The Matinee”, “This Fire,”
Sherlock
Sherlock
At first I was extremely hesitant to watch this show. What’s new? I usually go through some strange depression when I’m done binge watching a show. Ever since Netflix has come around (ruined my GPA) I feel like binge watching TV shows is something that more and more people are doing these days and (as I’ve said many times before) I am a big offender of doing this. About a year ago I caught myself in a serious post Supernatural depression. I had finally caught up to the current season. All 
100+ episodes in a very short period of time. My feelings over Sam, Dean, Castile and the whole Supernatural crew just brought me down and made me feel like I was wandering around in Purgatory somewhere (save me Benny!). As I usually do, I refused to watch anything else. I said things like, “I’ll never love another show as much as I love that show.” (Note I had just said that pre-Supernatural about Mad Men. Make up your mind lady!)
My friend suggested I watch Sherlock and I was uninterested. I had read all the Arthur Conan Doyle novels and have seen a majority of the television and film adaptations of the character. I have even listened to a lot of tapings of old radio mysteries based on the Sherlock Holmes character. Being the Sherlock purist I thought I was, I really didn’t want to see a modern day interpretation of my beloved detective. But eventually one day due to my love of Doctor Who and the fact that Steven Moffat was involved with Sherlock, I though “uggg might as well give it a try.”
Basically there are only 2 series consisting of there episodes each (yes I know that means there are only 6 episodes. I can do math) all episodes equating to about an hour and a half each. When I sat down to watch the show for the first time I didn’t realize the episodes were so long. I kept wondering when are they going to cut it and leave me hanging, but they never did. The episodes are longer than your typical TV show. So fair warning if your going to watch Sherlock, make sure you have time (I was caught in a similar situation when I watched the pilot episode of Twin Peaks. 2 hours!?!?! And I still didn’t know who killed Laura Palmer until season 2!!!!!)
So now that I’ve bitched for several paragraphs you’re probably thinking, “why is she talking about this if she doesn’t even like the show.” Hold your horses man, I was just setting up the scene for you!
I won’t go into explaining the plot because unless you’ve been hiding under a rock since 1887 you probably know what the story is about. Two men, a doctor and a super detective galavant around England and solve all sorts of crimes that baffle the police but are no problem for the ultra aware brain of the great Mr. Holmes.
I would like to start off (start off? your already 500 words in) by saying that Benedict Cumberbatch is an AMAZING Sherlock. At this point I have watched every episode about 5 times and he captivates me every single time. He is exactly how I would picture modern day Sherlock to be. In fact until Sherlock sends a text message I sometimes forget that the show is set in the present. Martin Freeman also does a fantastic job of playing a lovable version of 
Dr. Watson. I have never seen an adaptation of the characters where I felt such a nagging urge to just give Dr. Watson a hug (I think it’s his eyes).
The writing in this show is what is most remarkable to me. They intertwine a lot of aspects of the stories from the novels and yet they modernize them, but not in a cheesy way that makes you go, “aghhh fourth graders could have done that!” The writers make the stories their own and still give us readers of the novels something to go “OHHHH! That’s a reference to something from the books!” There is nothing better than making your audience feel intelligent.
If you have no interest in the character that is Sherlock Holmes I firmly believe that you can still enjoy this show. The mysteries are genuinely clever and intriguing. There’s many hilarious dry remarks and quips between characters for those who like comedy and there are even hints of romantic pursuits and endearing friendships for those who care about relationships.
If you’re doubtful about Sherlock, don’t be. I have put this show to the ultimate test. I made my dad watch it and he actually sat through the entire pilot episode (that is unheard of). Not only that but one day he asked me if we could watch the second episode. Yeah this show is that good. Give it a chance. Don’t be an Anderson. (See you would have gotten that reference if you watched the show. Stop missing out on my pop culture references damn it!)
Movie of the Week: Detroit Rock City
Detroit Rock City
When I was in high school I always had day dreams where in the spur of the moment my friends and I would decided that we should ditch class and go on a great rock n’ roll adventure. The kind
of adventure where crazy mishaps occur and regardless of the severity no one really gets in trouble. You know, you go on a little mini road trip, listen to some great tunes, meet some strange characters along the way and then in the end you make it to the show and get to see your favorite band live.
That’s what seeing your favorite band is like right? It’s a pilgrimage. A right of passage. It’s a journey that you make to that moment when the lights go down and you hear that first note from the guitar and you can feel the bass hitting you in the chest. When you don’t know any of the thousands of people in the crowd around you, but when you all sing that chorus together you feel like you haven’t belonged more in your entire life.
I think thats why, even thought Detroit Rock City may be a little cheesy and not the most well crafted film around, it rings true to a lot of people because it’s a movie putting to life every high school rockaholics greatest fantasy. (Don’t tell me you never sat in economics class and hoped that James Hetfield would walk through the door, take you away to the nearest arena, and put you right in the front row so that you could throw your fists in the air yelling Blackened and pretend to do all the cymbal chokes in Master of Puppets.)
The film 
is essentially about four boys from the 70’s who have an insane passion for Kiss. But of course one of the boys has a mom who thinks that this rock n’ roll stuff is the devils music (don’t they always) so she burns their concert tickets. The boys now, as their last hope to see their favorite band of all time, go on an epic journey to find tickets and live out their greatest dream.
As much as I love this movie there is one criticism that I have. In 2013 it was tough to really fell the full emotional impact of this film because the entire time I just kept thinking, “just go online to your LiveNation account and print out new tickets.”
Taryn’s 100 Favorite Beatles Songs
Taryn’s 100 Favorite Beatles Songs
(Not including Anthology)
Someone sent me the Rolling Stone list of 100 Greatest Beatle Songs, so I decided to make my own list. I was just going to make a Top 50 but then I got really carried away……… What’s your top 10?
1. Taxman – Revolver (George)
2. I Should Have Known Better – Hard Days Night (John)
3. Let it Be – Let it Be (Paul)
4. You Can’t Do That – Hard Days Night (John)
5. Night Before – Help! (Paul)
6. Hey Bulldog – Yellow Submarine (John)
7. All My Loving – With the Beatles (Paul)
8. I’ve Just Seen a Face – Help! (Paul)
9. It Won’t Be Long – With the Beatles (John)
10. Back in the USSR – White Album (Paul)
11. I Want to Hold Your Hand – 1 (John & Paul)
12. Hold Me Tight – With the Beatles (Paul)
13. Can’t Buy Me Love – Hard Days Night (Paul)
14. Wait – Rubber Soul (Paul & John)
15. Tell Me Why – Hard Days Night (Paul)
Album of the Week: Runnin’ Wild
Runnin’ Wild – Airbourne (2007) (2008 USA)
I don’t think this one post could adequately describe to you how much I LOVE this band. I don’t think a week goes by where I don’t listen to at least one song off of Airbourne’s debut
album Runnin’ Wild. Hell, my ringtone for the past year is the intro to the 9th track, Cheap Wine and Cheaper Women (it’s bad ass).
If you just like to rock out and have a good time you will like this. These Aussie boys deliver good old fashion rock. I hate to mention it because I feel like this is so overstated (seriously go check out YouTube every second comment on their songs says it), but these guys are very much like a modern day AC/DC (there I said it!). When I listen to this album I just want to run around in circles, throw my fist up in the air and sing along to the huge choruses.
The first time I listened to this album within the first 10 seconds of the first track I knew I would love it. The riffs are amazing. The energy is off the walls. I can’t get enough of it. I believe this is the most played album on my iPod (obsession much). I love to blast this in my car when I’m driving down the freeway. There is never not (yeah, I used a double negative, get over it) a good time to listen to Airbourne. Maybe a funeral (debatable).
Favorite Songs: Diamond in the Rough, Girls in Black, Running Wild, Heartbreaker, Stand Up for Rock and Roll, Cheap Wine and Cheaper Women……….(ok seriously just listen to the whole thing)
House of Cards
House of Cards (2013- Present)
Staring: Kevin Spacey, Robin Wright, Kate Mara, Corey Stoll, Michael Kelly
Developed By: Beau Willimon
Channel: Netflix
Related: Adaptation of the BBC show House of Cards (which was actually adapted from a novel by Michael Dobbs)
For some reason I have convinced myself that I don’t like political dramas. For the life of me I can’t understand why because every time I watch one I like it and yet I am still 100% convinced I don’t like the genre.
Every time I have logged into Netflix for the past few weeks 
(which trust me is often) I continually have seen House of Cards pop up on my recommended viewing list and in return I continually ignored it because “I don’t like political dramas.” So finally last week I decided that I would give the show a shot. I wasn’t expecting much (it is a political drama after all), but Kevin Spacey stars in it so that factor ultimately convinced me.
I sat down and watched the pilot episode. A few hours later I was 4 episodes in. Needless to say I was hooked.
The show follows US representative Frank Underwood as he manipulates and deceives his way around Washington after he is denied as US Secretary of State (he was ultimately the man who helped the president get elected in the first place. I’d be angry too!). He launches into a series of attacks that all revolve around Underwood getting revenge on those who betrayed him. He is the master manipulator and generally ends up getting what he wants. Even if at first his plans don’t succeed he always seems to find a way to fix everything, or so it seems (I’m not giving ANYTHING away!).
There are a slew of others characters that play an important role in Frank Underwood’s world. Underwood and his wife have an interesting relationship. Together he and his wife work to further his career. She leads a non profit organization that Frank also sometimes uses to his advantage. Underwood has a revolving door of pawns including Congressmen and other similar state officials. He also befriends a young journalist who becomes integral in his schemes. Underwood is relentless is getting what he wants, even if that means hurting everyone around him.
As season 1 has progressed, I often find myself wondering how Underwood keeps all his lies straight. I feel like he leaves too many loose ends lying around. A lot of what he does relies heavily on the fact that no one is going to speak out about his deceit. I think this can only come back to haunt him in the end because he has pushed way too many people to their limits and one of them is bound to crack eventually.
Kevin Spacey. What can I say about his on screen magic that you don’t already know? His character is my absolute favorite part of the show. He so devious and yet his southern charm leaves the audience captivated. He frequently breaks the fourth wall to talk to the audience about what he is really thinking in a situation. It’s an interesting touch and really displays how two faced he can really be all in the name of getting what he wants.
Netflix debuted the show by posting all 13 episodes of the first season at once rather than showing one episode at a time like the way we are accustomed to viewing television. This brings up an interesting question. Is it better to get small doses of a show or is it better to binge watch it. Personally I prefer to binge watch a television show. I prefer to watch the entire season and then wait for the next. It’s that new need for everything to come to us instantly. At any time in the day we have access to the internet. That means that we have instant answers, instant news and instant entertainment all just sitting there in our back pocket. We have become so accustomed to instant gratification that it has become a necessity (I know this all too well).
Bring on season 2! (I’m waiting!)
idubtheetaryn 