Happy Halloween From Fussy Gussy!!!

Happy Halloween from Fussy Gussy (and Dean Winchester?) Swoon.

I hope that you're having a blast on this night of vamps and ghouls and other spooky things that go bump in the night.

Aside from it being Halloween, it is also Wednesday (my usual Weekly Song List day), and I've been thinking: since my previous two Weekly Song Lists have been posted on Friday why not try that out for a while?

And so, your Fussy Gussy Weekly Song Lists will now be posted every Friday, featuring seven songs that I love and the reasons why. Until Friday!!!

Supernatural: Bitten, Heartbreak, + Found Footage

This post contains no real spoilers, though (as always) I do make reference to a detail or two that may be better left unknown (until you've watched).

This week's episode of Supernatural simply titled "Bitten" was sort of a concept episode. Not entirely unlike "Ghostfacers". It opens in typical Supernatural style. The Winchesters break into a house and find lots of bad stuff. But they also find a computer with an edited movie that chronicles the events that have led up to the bad stuff. The better part of the episode is of this footage and nothing else.

I couldn't help thinking about the recent horror flick V/H/S which features a group of short horror stories told through a hand held video camera lens. It was one of the most nerve shredding movie experiences of my life. And it stuck with me in a big way. The found footage concept is pretty popular these days in horror.

I enjoyed "Bitten" and feel like this season is off to a great start. I loved last week's episode "Heartbreak", directed by Jensen Ackles. This whole plot thread of Sam-being-out-of-practice and wanting a "normal" life vs. Dean being super focused and warrior-like is bound to go somewhere intense and very dramatic.

I'm so looking forward to this Wednesday! Will we have a Halloween themed episode? It's not every year that Supernatural airs on Halloween night.

Oh My Sweet Goodness, Supernatural Is Back!

This past Wednesday, my favorite TV show Supernatural returned for its 8th season. I don't want to spoil anything for those who have not watched, but let's just say it did not disappoint. The Winchesters are back to the grind and they're both as handsome as ever. Swoon.

Stylistically, this first episode of the season seemed a little different. Edgier, or something? Darker. There were some very funny moments (don't get me wrong), but in general it felt more somber. More dark. There's ample use of flashbacks which is very different, but works really well, I think. And the use of music was (as usual) fantastic!

I'm planning a second viewing over the long weekend, and I'm so excited for next week's episode!

P.S. A detail that I just remembered: there are lots of different locations in this episode, my favorite of which is "Kermit, Texas". I know that the use of the word "Kermit" exists outside of The Muppets, but for me it only exists in regards to The Muppets.

Oh My Sweet Goodness, It's October!

I'm so happy that it's October. This might be my favorite month. Or December. Or maybe April? Hmmm. It's a tough one. Anyway, I love October for all sorts of reasons. I love Autumn! Halloween. My crazy craft fair season begins this month. And I like to see it a sort of fresh start. Seasons are the best that way.

Just a reminder/update: Weekly Song Lists are going to be up every Wednesday. I may do a few on a Halloween theme, but we'll see how it goes. I've heard a lot of great new music these past couple of weeks, so I'm particularly excited about this week's list.

Supernatural is starting back up this Wednesday, October 3rd. Oh my sweet goodness!!!(That's my new favorite exclamation.) And American Horror Story will be starting up on the 17th. Aaaahhh!!! So much awesome, dramatic, spooky TV.

I've seen lots of great live music this past week, so stay tuned for my standard-overly-detailed-accounts, and photos, very soon.

And that's that for now! I leave you with this beautiful black and white film still from The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, one of my all time favorite movies, and one of the great haunted-house-love-stories ever put to the silver screen.

Photo: Gene Tierney and Rex Harrison

Sam and Dean, Meet Mulder and Scully

This past Spring I did something that I should have done a long time ago. Something that was a ton of fun and kept me totally entertained for months. I watched The X-Files from start to finish.

This was quite an undertaking, but I loved it so much and may do it again this Winter. While watching, I kept a list of actors who I recognized from my favorite show of all shows Supernatural (which will be returning for its 8th season on October 3rd!) I'd planned on sharing this list in the Spring, but decided to save it to include as part of my countdown to Supernatural series of posts.

And so here you have it! Note that the actor's name is listed first, followed by their Supernatural character name and finally, their X-Files character name.

Jim Beaver: Bobby/Coroner

Mitch Pileggi: Samuel/Skinner

Steven Williams: Rufus/Mr. X 

Mark Sheppard: Crowley/Bob the Caretaker

A.J. Buckley: Ed Zeddmore/The Dude

Katharine Isabelle: Ava/Lisa Baiocchi

Chad Lindberg: Ash/Bobby Rich

Nicki Aycox: Meg Masters/Chastity Raines

Mark Pelligrino: Lucifer/Derwood Spinks

Titus Welliver: War/Doug Spinney

James Otis: Famine/Arien Sacks

Fredric Lehne: Azazel/Young Arthur Dales

Mark Rolston: Alastair/Bud LaPierre & Richard Odin

William B. Davis: Folklore Professor/Smoking Man

Nicholas Lea: Elliot Ness/Alex Krycek

If there's anyone I've left out please feel free to share in the comments section below. Enjoy!

Thank Goodness Supernatural Is Back!

Supernatural returned this past week after a month long-ish hiatus with an episode that basically blew me away. Lots of Winchester humor and charm, as well as some crazy leviathan shenanigans made "Out With the Old" my favorite episode of season seven. So far.

A certain trench coat clad angel may be making an appearance next week, so these final episodes will hopefully be really, really good. Although he may now be a navy blue cardigan clad angel, but more on that later. I'm hoping for some high Sam Winchester drama (with plenty of brow creasing). And after this week's episode I may be starting to like those leviathans. Some of them can be very sassy and entertaining.

The opening scene of "Out With the Old" features a prima ballerina dancing her heart out to Swan Lake (metaphorically), and then dancing her feet off (literally). It was very dramatic and fairly gross. Turns out her pointe shoes are cursed! And they have a certain thrall. For example, Dean has difficulty fighting his completely-out-of-character desire to strap on the pink satin shoes and prance around. He even makes a ballet pun. Normally I don't love puns, but in this case it was adorable and totally cracked me up.

I'll stop there with the plot details. Don't want to reveal too much for those of you who haven't watched it yet. I'm just so happy that they're back, and in great form.

Those Winchester Boys Crack Me Up!

I'm in the midst of putting together a list of my favorite Supernatural episodes (I haven't decided if I'm going to do top 10 or top 5, or if I'll include finales in a separate list?)

Anyway, I'm re-watching all of my episode "nominees" and while I know that "Changing Channels" isn't the most plot heavy episode, it's definitely oozing with Winchester charm and some very funny bits. Like the clever (and spot-on) sitcom style opening credits or the Knight Rider segment that closes the whole channel changing hilarity.

It's not everyday that you see a Winchester riding a bike, let alone both Winchesters riding a double bike with a basket that has flowers in it. If you watch the show, you know just how ridiculously adorable (and unlikely) this is.

Supernatural Wins People's Choice Awards

Congratulations to Supernatural for winning not one but two People's Choice Awards this year!

Everyone's favorite monster-ghost-demon hunting brothers won "Favorite Network TV Drama" beating out such hospital dramas as House M.D. and Grey's Anatomy.

Supernatural also took home the "Favorite Sci-fi/Fantasy Show" award beating out Fringe, True Blood, The Walking Dead, and The Vampire Diaries.

Supernatural retruns this Friday night, February 3rd with new episodes. I can't wait!

American Horror Story: Birth

It's officially been one month since the final episode of American Horror Story and I think that I'm finally ready to write about it. I've watched it twice now and while I think the first 15 or so minutes were tense, awesome, and devastating, I still have so many questions that will never be answered.

But I'm going to address these questions in a separate post, because there's too many and I want to devote one whole post to the single greatest episode of American Horror Story, season one. The penultimate episode, aptly titled "Birth".

I absolutely, whole-heartedly loved this episode. I think that Alfonso Gomez-Rejon is fantastic. He directed my other favorite episode of the season "Home Invasion", and there's something very special about his eye and the way in which the characters come to life in his episodes.

I loved the opening flashback sequence of young Tate and Nora, and then all-grown-up Tate and Nora. "Life's too short for so much sorrow."

I loved Billie Dean Howard's monologue about spirits and energy and regret. So what if her Croatoan ritual didn't work. The Winchesters could've told her that.

I loved Tate's come-on-turned-beat-down at the hands of a very angry Patrick. I feel like Evan Peters was channeling Adam Brody a smidge in this scene. That perfect sarcasm and boyish-ness. Only a smidge, though. I adore Adam Brody, by the way.

And I loved Violet. That final scene broke my heart. "I used to think that you were like me, you were attracted to the darkness. But Tate, you are the darkness." Such high drama and sadness. I felt so sad for both of them by the end, Violet telling Tate she loves him but can't forgive him. And Tate, tear soaked and weepy "You're all I want, you're all I have!"

Poor Tate. Poor Violet.

Poor Ben. And poor, poor Vivien. But as we see in the finale, things turn out pretty much okay for the Harmon family.

Winchester Brothers On Etsy

I love the TV show Supernatural, and I love this Supernatural themed treasury curated by Balthasar on Etsy! Who knew there was such an abundance of Sam, Dean, Castiel, and Bobby inspired handmade goodies out there.

I'm especially in love with this Supernatural inspired pendant (pictured above) handmade by Paisley Monday. For those of you not familiar with the show, salt is perhaps the most useful household item when it comes to fighting ghosts and demons. Need to keep a ghost from harming you? Just grab a seat, then grab some salt, and make a circle around the chair with said salt. That ghost won't stand a chance.

Merry Christmas From Fussy Gussy

Merry Christmas from Fussy Gussy (and Sam Winchester!) I love this photo of Sammy decorating the Christmas tree. Note that he's using tree shaped air fresheners. Awesome.

I'll be heading into my annual Wintertime hibernation, which will include lots of hot tea & chocolate, and also posts about:

1. the last two episodes of American Horror Story

2. all of the holiday movies I'm going to see this week (like My Week With Marilyn, which I'm very excited about!)

3. and finally...how sad I am that I won't be seeing Tate Langdon ever again (except when I re-watch the first season of American Horror Story over and over and over)

And that's that! I love this time of year. Hopefully it will snow soon. I hope that you have a wonderful Christmas filled with lots of delicious food and good times with family & friends!

See you in the New Year!!!

Winchester Logic + Murder House Ghosts

I know that one should never try and apply the logic from one supernatural themed TV show to another, but I can't help myself in this case.

All of these American Horror Story ghosts...why have none of them moved on? Or maybe some of them have, and we haven't met them because they don't feel the need to linger? But the vibe that I get from the "logic" of the show is that if you die in Murder House, you stay there for eternity.

Which brings me to the Winchester boys. I think the show Supernatural does a really great job of setting up questions and answering them. And since Sam and Dean Winchester are "hunters", they often look to rules and guidelines set out by hunters before them.

These guys are essentially supernatural detectives who are awesome fighters, dress really well (think worn in jeans, great boots, and plaid flannel, in kind of a cowboy meets lumberjack kind of way), and they can out-smart pretty much any creature known, or unknown, to man. When trying to track down or fight a creature, they look to folklore, legends, and ancient texts for information. If the lore says that you have to use fire to kill a ruguru, then that's what they do and it pretty much always works.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer also did a really great job of this.

And so, on the topic of ghosts, in Supernatural land there are only two types of standard ghosts:

1) Those who are unaware of their death and therefore wander around reliving the events of their death, never able to move on. I don't know that Supernatural actually has a name for this type of ghost, so I'm going to call them "wandering spirits".

2) And then we have vengeful spirits. These people died wrongfully and are sticking around until they exact their revenge.

In order to get rid of a wandering spirit, you need to make them aware of and accept their demise. They always move on after that. For vengeful spirits, all one needs to do is find their remains (all of them), salt the bones, and burn said bones. Easy as pie!

On the American Horror Story episode "Piggy Piggy", medium Billie Dean Howard says something along these lines. She refers to her maid who had been murdered as the vengeful type, and to Tate as the wandering, clueless type. We now know (and I've had this feeling for a while now) that Tate has actually known all along that he's dead. He faked his cluelessness to (supposedly) keep Violet in the dark. "Hi, I'm Tate. Wanna hook up?" probably would not have gone over to well, as Tate points out toward the end of last week's episode, "Smoldering Children".

But my point is, if we look at every ghost in Murder House, are all of them vengeful or wandering spirits?

Take Tate. What is he avenging? His own death? Abuse at the hands of Constance, maybe? And how about Violet? What is she avenging? She was a wandering spirit for a few weeks, but now that she knows she's dead she should be able to move on, right? I know for the sake of the show that we need to see the Violet/Tate relationship come to some sort of climax and/or resolution, but it makes me wonder. In "Smoldering Children", I 98% believed Tate when he told Violet that she died in the bathtub, in his arms, loved, etc. But that 2% of doubt makes me wonder if she is avenging something or someone, and doesn't quite realize it yet.

Or maybe the rules simply don't apply.

I've read that this week's episode of American Horror Story will tackle the topic of "how to get rid of ghosts". I can't wait to see what they come up with!

I Haven't Forgotten About Those Winchester Boys

It's been a while since I've written about my favorite show on TV. You might be thinking "What is she talking about!?! Every time I check her blog it's American Horror Story this, Tate and Violet that." While I do love, love, love American Horror Story, and it is indeed my favorite new show on TV...(and it consumes my thoughts, and has even crept into my dreams on occasion)...Supernatural remains my long standing favorite. I love those Winchester boys!

Last Friday's episode was really funny and cute. It co-starred DJ Qualls as a fellow hunter who teams up with Dean on a case, and he was a great addition to the show! Adorable, cool in a way that's completely unique to him. I loved it! Definitely a stand out this season, so far.

Stay tuned for more on this week's episode of Supernatural.

Supernatural Tour De Force

The aforementioned Supernatural season finale featured a serious tour de force on Jared Padalecki's part. Oh Sammy! Why are you so good when you're so bad. Again, not wanting to spoil anything...but when Sammy goes to the dark side I just melt.

Oh, How I LOVE Those Winchester Boys!!!

Tonight's season finale was (I think?) my favorite finale ever! It was poignant, funny, and clever in its aesthetic and overall format. The writers chose to use the prophet Chuck as a sort of narrator and it really worked. Normally narrators drive me nuts, but not this time. Without giving anything away, I have to admit to preferring Sammy when he's not so good and righteous. "Born Under a Bad Sun" is one of my favorite episodes for just this reason. I also have to admit to crying a bit toward the end of the episode. It's a sad one, for sure.

I look forward to next season and will sleep well tonight knowing that the Winchester boys will be back again...in the fall!

Sweet Life Of Sam and Dean Winchester

"Dean, it's coming." These were the last words we heard as the Supernatural season 4 finale came to a close. My high hopes for a Winchester brother show down were not quite met, BUT the season finale was better for it, I think. Dean spent the bulk of the show in an angelicly altered reality, while Sam hunted his oh so blonde nemesis, Lilith...with his "faithful" side kick Ruby. I don't want to give anything away for those of you who have not watched, but I'll just say that both Sam and Dean have each others' backs, once again. Thank goodness. Bobby will be happy.

 My favorite part of the episode: Dean's reference to The Suite Life of Zack & Cody (currently known as The Suite Life on Deck). Don't ask me how I know these things.

Those Winchester Boys Are At It Again

I read the other day that one of my favorite TV shows Supernatural, will be going strong for just one more season. I also read that in the season 4 finale the brothers will be going head-to-head in a good vs. evil showdown. At first I was slightly sad, on both fronts. Just knowing that the show will be ending is a little bittersweet, and the idea of the Winchester boys fighting eachother (once again)...well...I guess I'm not actually too sad about that! "Born Under a Bad Sign" is one my favorite episodes. I think it will be very entertaining and the necessary "twist" that makes for a good season finale. For those of you unfamiliar with the show, it follows two brothers (Sam and Dean Winchester) all over the country, hunting and fighting all things supernatural. They drive around in a vintage Chevy Impala, listen to classic rock, and have their own fair share of sibling issues. A friend and business associate turned me on to the show by telling me about one particular episode in which a 19th century family portrait comes to life and reeks havoc on the unlucky owner. It took me a few episodes to be convinced of the show's greatness, but after those first few, I was hooked. Also worth noting, I love Sam's (Jared Padalecki's) shirt in this photo. Sometimes he wears some doozies (not that that is his fault, in any way), but when he gets it right, look out!