Saturday, May 20, 2017

Song Saturday: Chris Cornell Tribute Block

How's it going my gumdrops? Wow! Like many other fans of Grunge Rock, I was in complete shock and disbelief about Chris Cornell's death. Right now, I am still reeling. Honestly, I did NOT see his death coming. 

The death of a talented Grunge Rock vocalist like Chris Cornell was something TOO unexpected and sudden.

Most Gen Xers, who were familiar with Grunge Rock, during the early to mid-1990's already knew that Chris Cornell was the frontman of Soundgarden. Not only was Cornell the lead singer of Soundgarden, but also the frontman for Temple Of The Dog and Audioslave.

Temple Of The Dog, which formed in 1990, was a Grunge Rock Supergroup, in tribute to his dead friend, Andrew Wood. Wood was the frontman of Mother Love Bone, who died from a heroin overdose.

Temple Of The Dog consisted of Soundgarden's Chris Cornell, Soundgarden and Pearl Jam's Mike McCready, Matt Cameron, and Mother Love Bone's Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament.

Eddie Vedder (Pearl Jam's frontman) was also featured as the background vocalist on the song, "Hunger Strike."

Meanwhile, Audioslave formed in 2001, which was shortly after Rage Against The Machine (a politically divisive band I STILL hate over 2 decades later) disbanded. 

Audioslave was a Hard Rock Supergroup comprised of Rage Against The Machine's Tom Morello, Brad Wilk, Tim Commerford, and Soundgarden's Chris Cornell.

On Thursday, MTV Classic aired a tribute block of the late Chris Cornell's music videos. It's very strange that he is NOW having tributes done for him.

Cornell was the frontman, who usually performed tributes, after singers ranging from Pop to Rock died. He did Whitney Houston, Scott Weiland, and Prince tributes soon after they died.

Now, the situation is unexpectedly reversed. I may have never been a diehard fan of Chris Cornell's, however it is shocking as well as heartbreaking learning, that another talented Rock singer has suddenly died.

Cornell is another talented lead singer from the Grunge Era, who is now dead. There are NOT  very many of those frontmen left, when it comes to Grunge. 

Candlebox's Kevin Martin and Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder are most likely the final 2 vocalists, that are still alive from Seattle, WA's Grunge era.

Most Millennials 30 years old and younger never had the chance to experience growing up, saving an allowance to buy their favorite singers or groups' songs on vinyl, tape, and CD's. That's not including having to rush to hear their favorite songs being played on the radio.

Younger Millennials and Generation Z especially don't have the experience of watching music centric channels that genuinely care about airing music videos 24/7. 

Generally speaking, if you do NOT  have a cable or satellite provider, you are definitely unable to watch music videos 24/7 on MTV Classic.

Like the way I grew up watching MTV during the 1980's and '90s, I am spending MORE time offline watching MTV Classic as an escape from the Internet, Reality TV Shows, and politics.

Sometimes retreating to my old ways of enjoying music television makes me feel a little depressed. Because I am older now, I am watching blocks of old music videos with a hefty portion of dead celebrities within those music blocks.

MTV Classic will do a block of music videos of dead Pop and R&B singers, Rappers, Rock Stars, etc. I cannot speak for others watching, although it does make me say:

"There goes another talented singer, who is dead or has a dead member from the group."

This Song Saturday, some of you will be in for a grim treat. I am sharing a few music videos featuring Chris Cornell in Soundgarden and Temple Of The Dog. 

Some of you should really enjoy a more recent Soundgarden music video ("Black Rain").

The music video for Soundgarden's "Black Rain" was directed by the creator of Metalocalypse's Brendon Small. 

In addition, the animated Death Metal band, Dethklok was featured in this Soundgarden music video.

Watching some of these Soundgarden music videos feels nostalgic. This can especially be said about "Black Hole Sun." Listening to the song instantly makes me think about an old high school crush/secret admirer. 

Anyway, let's all set aside a moment to remember another talented Grunge Rock lead singer for today's Song Saturday.

1) Soundgarden "Loud Love" Louder Than Love (1989)

2) Soundgarden "Jesus Christ Pose" Badmotorfinger (1991)

3) Temple Of The Dog "Say Hello 2 Heaven" Temple Of The Dog (1991)
4) Soundgarden "Black Hole Sun" Superunknown (1994)

5) Soundgarden "Spoonman" Superunknown (1994)
6) Soundgarden "Blow Up The Outside World" Down On The Upside (1996)
7) Soundgarden "Black Rain" Telephantasm (2010) 
 
[BONUS: Chris Cornell's Prince & Whitney Houston Tributes]

1) Chris Cornell [Prince Cover] "Nothing Compares 2 U" Sirius XM Live (2010)

2) Chris Cornell [Dolly Parton/Whitney Houston Cover] "I Will Always Love You" Live (2012)

Do you have a favorite song(s) by the late great Chris Cornell?

Saturday, May 6, 2017

Early Cartoon Sunday: Axeman Cartoons' 10 Two Sentence Horror Stories

How's it going my gumdrops? Like yesterday's Song Saturday, this is an early Cartoon Sunday blog. 

Considering that next Sunday is Mother's Day, I will probably do next weekend's blogs early, too.

Don't forget to watch Tokyo Ghoul at midnight on Adult Swim's Toonami block. That's if you are a Tokyo Ghoul fan, as well as a Horror Anime fan. 

Today I am taking a break from Supernatural and Horror Anime for today's Cartoon Sunday blog. Things have to be shaken up a little bit.

In fact, it has been a while since I last shared any Horror Shorts for Cartoon Sunday. Today's short is brought to you by Axeman Cartoons. 

Yes, I know. I could not pass up the opportunity of sounding like an announcer, since I used to read PSA's on the air at WIPZ, years ago.

As I was saying, today's short is quite freaky. Axeman Cartoons has a series of Horror Animated Shorts. 

Let's Read, Axeman Cartoons, and Eden collaborated together for the short, 10 Two Sentence Horror Stories.

10 Two Sentence Horror Stories is a compilation of 10 Short Horror Stories, which are supposedly 2 sentences long with creepy narration. The animation for these 10 short stories is scarier than the narration to them.

Eden featuring Let's Read narrated the final short, "I Heard It, Too." 

Maternal Wraith and Sarah and Elizabeth Mahoney voiced Sarah, her mother, and that creepy-looking, shapeshifting monster.

"I Heard It, Too" is without a doubt, the best short out of this compilation of Horror Animated Short Stories by Axeman Cartoons. 

I may go as far as saying this short is probably 1 of the best shorts I have seen, since Stalker From The Cornfield.

"I Heard It, Too" actually feels like you are watching a Horror movie except it is an animated short. In this Horror Animated Short, Sarah hears her mother calling her from downstairs.

As Sarah leaves her bedroom to go see what her mother wants, Sarah's mother pulls Sarah into her room, saying, "I heard it, too." 

They are soon attacked by this creepy-looking, shapeshifting monster. I have no exact idea what the monster is, however it looks like some type of an insect, that resembles Sarah's mother.

Be prepared to be disturbed, if not creeped the fuck out for this Cartoon Sunday, 1 day in advance.

Axeman Cartoons' 10 Two Sentence Horror Stories (2016)

Sunday, January 22, 2017

Cartoon Sunday: Goth Chicks In Animation

Yuuko Ichihara (xxxHolic)

How's it going my gumdrops? Did you enjoy yesterday's Song Saturday blog about The Cure and the Goth Sub-culture in general?

Yesterday, you may recall, that I explained about Goths and the sub-culture on here and on Anime League. For today's Cartoon Sunday, let's revisit the topic of being Goth.

Allow me to acknowledge some Goth female characters in animation. There appears to be more Goth female characters in animation than we have realized. So, with that being said, it's only fair to acknowledge a few of them.

In the illustration above, we have Yuuko Ichihara. The characters in the Seinen Supernatural Horror Comedy Anime, xxxHolic have freaky illustrations.

The characters normally have long, spaghetti legs like Jack Skellington from The Nightmare Before Christmas.

Like I explained last year, Yuuko Ichihara is a powerful witch, who owns a shop and grants people their wishes. I believe Yuuko is more like a cunning and opportunistic genie.

Most of her jobs consist of dealing with supernatural beings. In case you haven't already, I suggest clicking on the link above Yuuko's picture.

Next, we have Creepy Susie.

Creepy Susie (The Oblongs)


Some of you may remember Angus Oblong's shortly lived cartoon, The Oblongs from The WB. Creepy Susie is supposedly a 10-year-old character from the series.

Most people don't know that The Oblongs was based on Creepy Susie And 13 Other Tragic Tales For Troubled Children. This was a 1999 collection of illustrated short stories written by Angus Oblong.

This young, creepy, Goth Valley Girl is obsessed with death, was born on Halloween, and can tell an animal's gender by the taste of its blood.

Otherwise, there is Germaine Endez.

Germaine Endez (Neurotically Yours)

If you have been subscribed to It's Not All Gumdrops & Unicorns for the last 3 1/2 years, you KNOW how much I enjoy watching Goth webisodes featuring the slutty Goth-Punk protagonist, Germaine and her pet, squirrel Foamy. 

Who doesn't love Foamy?! That pet squirrel speaks THE TRUTH!

As for Germaine, she has been restyled a plethora of times throughout the decade. This character has been illustrated as fat, skinny, busty, flat-chested, constantly changes hair styles, etc.

The protagonist is a struggling poet/author desperately seeking to be published and works unstable jobs. At the same time, she has an identity crisis and Foamy The Squirrel helps to keep her grounded.

Meanwhile, here are some other Goth female characters, which have been shown in other Anime besides xxxHolic. There is my long-time favorite, Sunako Nakahara.

Sunako Nakahara (The Wallflower)

Despite the fact this homely recluse fears "beautiful people" (mostly attracive men), I love Sunako Nakahara. Sunako is a creepy Goth protagonist that resonates with me on MANY levels. She loves sitting in her bedroom and watching Horror movies ALONE. Sunako's also self-sufficient around the house.
 
I wanted to at least share a gif of The "Goth-Loli Sisters" from The Wallflower, but had no such luck. However, The Goth-Loli Sisters from this Shojo Horror Comedy are NOT  the only Gothic Lolita Anime characters in existence.

In substitution of The Goth-Loli Sisters from The Wallflower, there is Hildegarde from the Shonen Supernatural Action Comedy Anime, Beelzebub.

Hildegarde a.k.a. "Hilda" (Beelzebub)

Hildegarde is the main female protagonist in Beelzebub. She is a Demon Maid, who acts as the "adoptive" mother and nurse of Beelzebub IV. "Baby Beel" is the son of Beelzebub III and Iris and was sent to the Human World.

It has been a few years, since I last streamed this series. Too bad there wasn't another season of Beelzebub. Maybe someday it will get a decent English dub.

Last, but SURELY not the least of an acknowledgement is Saki Hanajima.

Saki Hanajima (Fruits Basket)

 

I have always loved this Fruits Basket character. I can't decide which character is creepier, Saki or her younger brother, Megumi. Both characters have psychic abilities.

When Saki Hanajima is not wearing her high school uniform, she normally wears a black cloak or a veil with her black dresses. I will NEVER forget that scene of her gothing up The Sohmas urinal for New Year's Eve.

Staring at the appalled expression on Shigure Sohma's face was hilarious. Anyway, if you would like to learn more about Goth chicks in animation, check out WatchMojo's choices for Top 10 Animated Goth Girls below.

WatchMojo's Top 10 Animated Goth Girls (2016)

Saturday, January 21, 2017

Song Saturday: The Cure Block

How's it going my gumdrops? Sorry for my lack of presence. These last 3 weeks have been brutal. As you already know, I have been recovering from a minor head injury. In addition to my head injury, my right hand is swollen.

Let's all hope and pray that I don't spend this entire year enduring injuries. I'm already hating this new year. Hopefully, 2017 will be better than 2016.

Aside from my injuries, I joined another forum earlier this month. Tomorrow I will explain more about this forum for Cartoon Sunday. However, I will say that this particular forum has sub-forums for general topics outside of Anime.

Someone posted a thread on that exact message board about being Goth. Apparently, some of the posters have very little knowledge about what it is like being a Goth. For people, who knew and still know very little about me, I have always been Goth.

There is more to being Goth than wearing all black clothes and liking certain bands. If you are somebody with a dark, morbid, and creepy personality and interests, you may be Goth. Although, you're NOT  required to only like something with the "Goth" label attached to it.

Something everyone should understand is that being Goth is NOT easy. Since the time of the Columbine High School Massacre on April 20, 1999, the mainstream media has been demonizing and condemning Goths and the Goth Sub-culture.

Everyone should take most the negative stereotypes and depictions of being Goth in the media worth a grain of salt. Not all Goths are depressed, suicidal, and homicidal maniacs worshiping Satan, sacrificing anything and everyone, while ONLY dressed in black attire.

Yes, even though some Goths are Satanists, they do NOT  purposely go out their way to hurt innocent humans and animals like sociopaths. The same most definitely applies for Wiccans, who are Goths.

Yes, there are some of us Goths who generally have serious baggage. We are not any different from the average person with baggage. Also, Goths are NOT  required to be Pagans. 

We can be Atheist, Agnostic, Christian, Muslim, Pagan (Wiccan or Satanist), etc.

Because we may look and act differently and don't always share the same interests and views as most "normal people" do, we're automatically ostracized and condemned for not conforming to everything in society.

As I was saying earlier, we can like whatever we like whenever we like without having the "Goth" label. Goths are normally the most well-rounded, open-minded, accepting, and nicest people you will ever encounter in public. This cannot always be said about "normal" people.

If you would like to learn more about the Goth Sub-culture and its community, you may want to visit the website, What Is Goth?  This will give you a better explanation about what it's like to be Goth.

Last year, I published a blog about me being morbid, since childhood. If you would like to learn more about my "dark and morbid history," you can read it right HERE.

Speaking of being Goth on the latest forum I joined, I introduced that same group of posters to the pioneers of Goth Rock. 

It's amazing. Over the last 3 years, I already published Song Saturday blogs about bands such as Bauhaus, Siouxsie And The Banshees, and other Goth Rock bands.

All the while, I have never published a Song Saturday blog about The Cure. All this time and not a single Song Saturday blog about this Classic Goth Rock band!

For The Cure fans, today is your lucky day. This band has been around for nearly 4 decades and their sound has changed a lot over the years. Between 1980-82, they were more of a Goth Rock band in the sense that their music sounded darker and more ominous.

The Cure's albums, Seventeen Seconds and Pornography sounded much better than Faith, in regards to the the band's darker sound. Faith wasn't that enjoyable. I feel the best song on that album is "Carnage Visors."

To warn you in advance, "Carnage Visors" is literally close to a 30-minute song. It sounds like a really long Horror film score. If you'd like to listen to "Carnage Visors," go for it!

After 1982, The Cure evolved and crossed over as being Alternative and Pop-Rock. Most people don't hear the band's older and more obscure songs from the late '70s and early '80s. 

Therefore, I am sharing some of The Cure's older and more obscure songs with you for today's Song Saturday, including their song, which was originally featured on The Crow Soundtrack in 1994.

1) The Cure "The Final Sound" Seventeen Seconds (1980)

2) The Cure "A Forest" Seventeen Seconds (1980)

3) The Cure "Carnage Visors" Faith (1981)

 
4) The Cure "One Hundred Years" Pornography (1982)

5) The Cure "The Figurehead" Pornography (1982)

6) The Cure "A Strange Day" Pornography (1982)


[BONUS SONG:]

The Cure "Burn" The Crow Soundtrack (1994)

Friday, December 30, 2016

Let's Take A Somewhat Grim Look Back, Then Say Goobye To 2016!

So, how was your YuleChristmaHanukkah? Hanukkah's still being celebrated (if memory serves me right), in addition to Christmas. 

Don't forget that Orthodox Christians don't celebrate Christmas Day, until January 7th.

The Orthodox Christians are somewhat lucky because all their presents will be on clearance! 

You may be wondering, "Anna, what did you get for Christmas?"

Shoes, candy, clothes, jewelry, a snow suit and rain boots like I wanted for having to shovel up all our snow, 4 pairs of ear buds and head phones, an Abstract Art painting by Kersten Hackney (college best friend of nearly 15 years), glycerin bar soaps, another cordless mouse for my other laptop, and another winter coat for this Christmas.

Hopefully, you were able to enjoy the holidays despite all the tragedies we keep learning about in the news. 

Lately, I dread turning on my TV and laptops because it feels like there is a celebrity death toll almost everyday.

This most definitely applies to legendary actors, actresses, and talented music icons.

I am sure many of you will probably roll your eyes at me for continuously mentioning Stone Temple Pilots' Scott Weiland. 

Even though Scott died last December, I believe his demise triggered a domino effect because mostly iconic musicians died, throughout this year.

Speaking of dead music icons and legends, the death of Motorhead's Lemmy Kilmister on December 28, 2015 was a brutal segue into this year. 

At the very beginning of 2016, we all lost David Bowie, who was mostly a HUGE musical influence on the late Scott Weiland and so many others.

Very much like Lemmy Kilmister died 4 days after his birthday from Prostate Cancer, Congestive Heart Failure, and Cardiac Arrhythmia, David Bowie privately died from Liver Cancer 2 days after his birthday.

Then, the day after Valentine's Day, Prince's protegee Vanity died from Renal Failure. Literally 2 months later, HE died!

Everyone knows that people die everyday by the seconds. However, I have NEVER in all my life ever heard about so many LEGENDARY entertainers dropping like flies literally by the nano second the way they have in 2016.

2016 has been a really cruel and shitty year for so many of us, that we can't wait for it to be over. Without a doubt, 2016 EXCEEDED my expectations of being a horrible year. 

So many lives have been taken, during this year. Lately, I have even cried about it.

Whether it was just the average man, woman, child, or an iconic celebrity, loved ones have been in mourning. 

All these deaths will surely make grief counselors and funeral homes richer, if not already.

Let's all hope and pray that we can survive 2017 without there being so many deaths in general. 

To end this year, I was going to publish 1 Song Saturday and 1 Cartoon Sunday blog but I changed my mind. These last 2 weeks have been extremely exhausting. If I have ENOUGH time and energy, I will publish more blogs at the start of 2017. 

With that being said, RIP George Michael, Carrie Fisher, Debbie Reynolds, and to all those who lost their lives in 2016! 

I wish EVERYONE a very happy, safe, and more prosperous new year!

Sunday, September 25, 2016

Cartoon Sunday: Murder Princess OVA 1 Birth

How's it going my gumdrops? I don't know about everyone else, but Anna is exhausted from the nonstop blogging since last week. I am especially exhausted from hunting all around the Internet for this particular Seinen Action Anime.

While posting on Adult Swim last week, an Adult Swim Helper posted a thread asking us posters about OVA's that could marathon on Adult Swim, during the holidays. Most of us are bored with the network marathoning current shows each holiday.

I completely understand, that Toonami wants viewers to catch up on missed episodes of certain titles. However, every viewer doesn't necessarily like a certain show, that is being marathoned as a recap for viewers. This is mostly a stall tactic for Adult Swim.

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Phantom Blood will be premiering sometime next month. Since I only watched episode 1 in English Dub, I am waiting for this show to actually premiere on Adult Swim. 

While others will go into cardiac arrest over Samurai Jack getting a 5th season 12 years later, I am waiting for better shows to replace what is currently on the Toonami block.

Like I said earlier, a Swim Helper wanted us to give OVA suggestions to premiere, during the holiday seasons rather than marathoning more recaps. I suggested Murder Princess. This 6-episode OVA would be decent to air, during Halloween.

Chances are highly unlikely, that Murder Princess will air next month for Halloween. Although, Adult Swim could try acquiring the rights to this OVA for next year. 

Having action and monsters in this 6-episode OVA makes it perfect, since Toonami is now an Action block on Adult Swim.

Considering that I am rooting for this OVA, you may want to know, "What is Murder Princess about?"

Murder Princess English Dub Trailer (2009)

 
Murder Princess is a Seinen Action Fantasy OVA about a bounty hunter (Falis) and a princess (Alita) accidentally transferring bodies, while fleeing the land of Foreland. 
 
The scientist Dr. Akamashi stages a coup d'état in the Foreland Kingdom, which kills Princess Alita's father in the process.

After the king is killed, she flees to find her brother Kaito. While doing so, Princess Alita accidentally knocks Falis off a cliff. The forest guardian beast by the name of Jitterbug killed Alita's entourage of castle guards.

Because Princess Alita and Falis had near death experiences, while they were fleeing the Foreland Kingdom, both had automatically experienced a soul transfer. Once Falis regains consciousness, she realizes that she is in Princess Alita's body, then panics.

This should be summary enough for you. Murder Princess may ONLY be a 6-episode OVA, but it is action-packed. Like I said earlier, I did some major hunting for this OVA. Trying to find the English Dub of Murder Princess was extremely difficult.

From the looks of it, Funimation Entertainment had the dub yanked from YouTube. All the while, the company had no problem uploading episodes in English Subtitles. Leave it up to Funimation to monopolize every Anime in the Anime Industry.

Murder Princess was originally licensed by ADV Films but Funimation Entertainment acquired the rights to this OVA in 2008. 

I believe it was around that time, when ADV Films went out of business. Anyway, here is Murder Princess in Japanese for today's Cartoon Sunday.

Murder Princess OVA 1: "Birth" [English Subtitles] (2007)

Friday, September 23, 2016

It's Not All Gumdrops & Unicorns Q&A 2016 [3rd Anniversary]


How's it going my gumdrops? Today is the day! It's Not All Gumdrops & Unicorns turns 3, this year! 

After announcing that I would be publishing another Q&A blog for It's Not All Gumdrops & Unicorns' 3rd anniversary, I seriously expected more questions from everyone on here and social media. 

Were you scared? Unsure where to submit your questions? Had no questions to ask? Do you believe you know everything about me (Trust me, you don't!)? OR Do some of you feel extremely indifferent/apathetic about me publishing another Q&A blog?

Lately, I have considered publishing Q&A blogs once a week besides publishing Song Saturday and Cartoon Sunday blogs. 

However, I try keeping Q&A blogs for It's Not All Gumdrops & Unicorns' anniversaries like today. I consider these Q&A's as "intimate fall treats."

Some friends think they know EVERYTHING about me, when they really don't. I have always been a very complex and multi-passionate person. Sometimes it can be really difficult to decide if I should publish blogs about more different topics on It's Not All Gumdrops & Unicorns, or stay with the current topics.

Before this turns into a long-winded blog of my digressions, here is the Q&A for It's Not All Gumdrops & Unicorns' 3rd anniversary.

Donald Clements' Questions: 

1) Within the blogosphere, who are the people you look up to and why? 

2) How big is your current following, and how has it evolved over the years? 

My Answers:

Donald, these are fantastic questions to have asked me. 

1) Marie Forleo and Tim Ferriss are 2 bloggers and authors I suggest checking out.

Watching, reading, and listening to Marie and Tim will be beneficial to you, if you need self-help, want to become a better writer, blogger, etc. Both are really multi-passionate (like MOI except they are more informative, useful, less moody, and snarky).

You can learn so much from them both, especially Marie Forleo. Marie is motivational and entertaining to watch on Marie TV. I always look forward to a good laugh. 

Meanwhile, I believe I have a little more in common with Tim on different levels. The man is an Anime and Metal fan, which makes him awesome when you are a fan of both. 

Tim Ferriss also has personal experience with overcoming adversity such as dealing with being suicidal, years ago. He turned his life into something positive. 

This is all the more reason to commend Tim Ferriss.

2) My current following is gradually regrowing but it is much like a revolving door.  

Having false support from social climbers, open and closet "haters," and opportunistic friends hurts me and my traffic.

If followers TRIED being more interactive, this would definitely help. I ALWAYS respond to comments day and night.

It has been a major struggle these last 3 years. 

The fact that The Xanga Team was divisive by dumping their money issues into our laps at Xanga 1.0 definitely hurt Xangans, including yours truly. 

The Xanga Team REALLY should've taken out a business loan or so rather than beg us for donations, relocate to WordPress as a platform, THEN make it mandatory to pay to blog.

I cannot count, much less remember all the sites I have joined to generate blog traffic and to rebuild my following over these last 3 years. With that being said, my current following is extremely niche and can be temperamental.

The moment I share my opposing views about something, they leave. If I shared my political views, they would NOT be able to handle it. That's why I stay apolitical.

Danni Darkness Questions:

1) What are the logistics of your website? 

2) What was it like working at a radio station?

My Answers: 

Danni, these are 2 more excellent questions! 

1) Readers/visitors must create an account, read my blogs and excerpts to my short stories, comment, and share them on social media or e-mail to friends.

Meanwhile, I am a 1-woman show. In case you have NOT already done so, you should read last week's Cartoon Sunday blog. 

In the preceding blog, I explained the discussions I had with Jonathan Ian Mathers, last week via Facebook.

Whenever I am working on these blogs, most of my time lately is spent on finding the right picture to upload to this site, in order to capture the topic or theme of my blogs. 

Then, I must decide which links, songs, and videos to share. Afterward, I start blogging.

I work on these blogs, while everyone is asleep in bed throughout the night and early morning. Editing anything always takes the most time. Once I am finished editing, I publish these blogs, type and send out e-mail blasts to all my subscribers, share on Facebook and around the Google Plus communities I have joined.

Sharing around Google Plus takes more effort because I must share my blogs to every social circle to generate page views, traffic, feedback, and followers. It would be so much easier and better, if all my subscribers actually commented on It's Not All Gumdrops & Unicorns and shared these blogs around social media. It's not like Xanga and Blogster where everyone is guaranteed to see these blogs.

2) Since 2002, I have always been a 1-woman show. During Fridays at 4-6pm Central, I hosted All Things Frightening. 

This was while attending and living on campus at UW-Parkside and commuting to Carthage College part-time for Japanese. My show originally broadcasted locally in Kenosha, WI and online. 

Due to FCC regulations, everyone at UW-Parkside's 101.7 WIPZ had to censor music live UNLESS they had a pre-censored CD. 

I usually carried my own CD collections to our campus radio station and played extra albums, that were already on campus.

Sometimes I seriously miss hosting my own radio show. I was able to discover other bands and expose listeners to music, that wasn't always played on traditional radio stations.

Hunter Gibson: Do you have a favorite movie and band?

Answer: Yes, I do and my favorites have always been very broad. 

If only I could narrow them down. As everyone knows, I am a Horror fan hence the Horror page I built with excerpts of my latest short stories.

Re-Animator, the original Carrie, The Crow, The Craft, Child's Play, Beetlejuice, and The Omen instantly come to mind. 

I enjoy movies from several other genres and sub-genres, but I always look forward to watching Horror movies from the 1970's to '90s.

During those decades, Hollywood filmmakers were actually more original and did NOT  remake every movie.

Lately, as for bands, I enjoy... 

Alien Vampires (they are actually an EBM duo), Lacuna Coil circa 1999-2002, Type O Negative, other Goth Rock bands like Bauhaus, Siouxsie And The Banshees. 

Stone Temple Pilots and KoRn from the 1990's were 2 of my favorite bands. So are White Zombie, Stabbing Westward, Gravity Kills, Fear Factory, Arch Enemy, Slipknot, and lots more.

Growing up, music especially Metal was my entertainment and my catharsis. Most people young and old do NOT  realize, that the 1990's had the most music genres and sub-genres compared to now. Today it seems as if Pop and Rap Music have merged and ONLY 1 music genre exists.

There are too WAY many bands to think of from the top of my head. I was already drawing blanks with your questions because I really had to think much HARDER. 

Great questions! Even though there were not as many questions from most subscribers this year, the few I did receive were excellent questions. 

Hopefully, there will be more questions similar to these next year for It's Not All Gumdrops & Unicorns' 4th anniversary!

What are your thoughts? Did you like this year's Q&A blog? If so, let me know in the comments section below!