last night i caught an episode of "CSI".part of the plot took place amongst a group pf people who fancied themselves "vampires".they all had the same rather distinctive look.

we've all seen it.dyed black hair...black lipstick...black nail polish...black cloths.tatoos.vaguely gothic-inspired dinky-do silver jewelry and little vials of blood.people who claim to be into withcraft and satan worship often sport a similar goth/punk style.

where exactly did this look come from?how did it become a universally adopted "i'm into vampires" symbol?how does dressing like you're on your way to a joy division concert symbolize vampirism?
i've never seen this in any filmed portrayal of vampires.certainly not on d.s..when angelique was a vampire she was all white chiffon and golden sausage curls.the witches and other "dark" characters wore the same acid-bright cloths everyone else was wearing.
how did this style start?

this came up over in "luciaphil's idle thoughts" but i thought it was starting to get a little off-topic so i'll post this question here.

when nicholas relieves cassandra/angelique of her powers why is liz still under her spell?i think she's even visited by angelique in a dream which re-establishes the curse after ang is "something else".

i haven't seen the show all the way through so how does liz come to be out from under this spell?i'm assuming she doesn't spend the rest of the series run with this preoccupation with death/being buried alive.

in watching alexandra moltke's final episodes i could almost swear i could detect the tiniest bit of pregnant tummy bulging through the sleeveless.

if she hadn't opted to leave the show when she did how would they ever have handled a pregnancy for this character?the very topic of pregnancy was still handled delicately at the time.and for a girl who was supposed to be so virtuous?even if she had married jeff a pregnancy would of course meant that she had had sex and that seems so out of character for miss goody-two-shoes.

would they just have tried to hide her "condition"?vicki standing behind sofas?carrying giant pocketbooks?wearing a ridiculous array of blowsy,oversized garments a la diana millay in the first laura collins story?

since so many of her a-lines already looked like maternity dresses could they just ignore it all together and hope no one noticed?

on the msnbc channel they have a show called "headliners and legends".today's subject was lauren hutton and they interview kls...i guess they are friends and were playboy bunnies together in the early 1960's.

on the west coast maybe it can still be caught.it's on at 2:00pm(on the east coast).

over the weekend i received what are,for me,a very signifigant group of episodes.original series volume 79...the final alexandra moltke vicki episodes.

i started watching the show from episode one("my name is victoria winters...my journey is beginning...").for various reasons it's taken me over three years just to get to this point in the show.so victoria winters has been a part of my life for a long time.

true,the character deteriorated greatly after 1795 but she was still around and for whatever reason i found her to be a comforting presence on the show.a quiet note in a cacophony of over-the-top characters.her placidness(often criticized)reassuring.i felt like when i was seeing vicki i was watching "dark shadows".

i know i can always go back and re-watch her episodes but i wanted to get through this whole thing once before i re-watched favorite storylines.even though barnabas became the stand-out character from the show i feel as though vicki was at it's heart and when i watch future episodes her absence will be a large void for me.i went into this knowing that she was only around for about two and a half years but i guess i got more attatched to her than i thought.

plus she was just so darn easy on the eyes.

anyways i couldn't bring myself to watch the episodes.the box is still sitting unopened.at the risk of sounding like a maj drama queen i'm really kind of sad.

i know alot of you here consider vicki to be a total ditz but did anyone else experience a similar sense of "loss" when she exited the show.

let's try this.

an eccentric millionaire(and d.s. fanatic)has left you his fortune.there is however a stipulation in the will.

he wants a special house to be built.he wants you to build a house comprised of five sets from the show.the most skilled craftsmen will be employed,using the finest materials(real mahogany panelling,silk damask draperies,leaded glass windows)and specific to the most minute detail.
the rooms do not have to have come from the same original structure or from the same time period.you can mix-and-match your favorite sets to create your own dark dream home.there will be a small kitchen and bathroom but these five rooms will be the main living spaces.
seen from the outside it will appear to be a normal,contemporary house.only you and those you invite in will know.

i would choose the collinwood foyer and drawing room,josette's room,laura's cottage and the main room of the evans' cottage.

what rooms would you pick?

this topic comes up so often that i wanted to address it.

the "dumbing-down" of victoria winters after the 1795 story.everyone notes it.

there is alot of truth and some overstatement going on here.i do think that vicki's "i don't understand-ish-ness" has been exaggerated across the boards.i haven't heard her say it any more or less than anyone else on the show(and i've been listening).denial is a way of life for these folks."it's not possible" seems to be another key phrase.

but back to topic.it's true that after 1795 the character deteriorates.i'm not sure why.i don't know if vicki is any more clueless during 1968 than carolyn or maggie,but she is given a very dull storyline to be sure.and in time alexandra moltke responds by turning in a bland performance.she always played a pitch lower than some of her co-stars(and it worked)but during her final months on the show her unhappiness shows.
obviously the whole show changes direction but vicki was amongst the hardest hit.why?
one strange thing that happens is that they totally abandon her relationship with david.they established an interesting relationship before 1795.afterwards i can't recall a single scene between them.which is odd considering the whole reason for her being at collinwood is to care for him.during the cassandra story she should have served as his governess/protector(like she did during the laura story)but she's basically uninvolved.
when she's not being kidnapped or otherwise tormented during the adam story she has lots of mopey scenes with jeff.that's it.so why did they stop writing for the character?

and even though the writers were giving her weak storylines they sort of kept victoria in a strange "gilded cage"...only allowing her to express virtuous qualities.and that ultimately became dull for the actress who played her.thoughts?

this storyline was brought up on another topic but i wanted to mention it again.
the whole story of maggie being trapped in the mausoleum and her memory of her missing weeks returning.i found it to be ultimately unsatisfying.i liked the idea of the story(it certainly was inevitable)and elements of it,especially the flashbacks,were very well done.
but i felt that the whole thing took place in the shadow of the eve plotline.it didn't really seem as if everyone was throwing themselves behind what should have been the focal story.maggie's "missing weeks" were what kicked-off the whole barnabas era of the show after all.there were too few characters involved.it was as if maggie being missing during this part of the story went unnoticed by almost everyone(except when it applied to eve).
and then how her memories were just as quickly erased was such a cop out.this particular "memory erasing" device was used alot during this time(vicki,carolyn,jeff)and it just seemed like a way that the writers could move the action foreward without resolving fundamental issues.it was too easy.any thoughts?

that said,as much as i hated the adam story,i was surprised that i really liked marie wallace's portrayal of eve.