nightowlgazette

[nightowlgazette]

what are you thoughts on gender?

Open source is usually the way to go

[nightowlgazette]

Where Secrets Flow Like Water

In 1912—108 years ago today—one of California's most celebrated performers was born. In his heyday, Gary Golden was hailed as one of Hollywood’s brightest stars. Now, sixty years after his last film, his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame serves as a landmark for visiting cinephiles, and fresh bouquets with elaborately written cards continue to show up on the actor’s grave in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. 

But his ghost does not watch over the famous graveyard along with Rudolph Valentino and Clifton Webb; instead, some way further than six feet under, Gary has built an unlife for himself in the Hollywood Warrens, and it’s there we were given the opportunity to meet with him a few nights ago.

Gary Golden has been a fixture in Los Angeles longer than he’s been kindred, and as a former movie star, he has a unique advantage; in a world of masks and facades, Gary is a professional actor.

“We’re all actors in our own way, Eliot. Consummate liars and manipulators by nature. You show me an “honest vampire” and I’ll show you a walking contradiction”

As a former star of the silver screen, it comes as no surprise that Gary’s previous experience has come in handy following his embrace. When one is accustomed to spending time with people who lie and perform for a living, it becomes easier to read between the lines and discern the actual meaning behind someone’s words. And in kindred society, a world filled with intricacies, court intrigue, and politics, that is undoubtedly a very valuable talent to have in your corner.

However, beyond his, as Gary put it, “built-in bullshit detector”, another skill from his past the Nosferatu Primogen has come to rely on his charisma. 

While the first instinct of many a recently embraced kindred would be to lay low and keep to themselves, Gary was quick to make a name for himself, and if you want a name to last, you need the charisma to carry it. The proof of his skills in charisma is irrefutable as, hate him or love him, those who haven’t heard of Gary Golden can be counted in one hand.

On the Night Owl Gazette, we have spoken before about the different venues and opportunities dealing in information offers -more notably in the cases of The Archivist and The Spider who are both notorious for their skill in discovering secrets and hidden knowledge- yet from within the mystery and intrigue that gives such careers a Bond air, a question arises; what does the world look like when one has access to so much information?

“Well, I was already kind of a hard-boiled cynic before the Embrace, and if anything, this has only reinforced my views.[…] Everyone who is anyone in Kindred society has done something they aren't proud of, and you will find those skeletons in the closet if you dig deep enough. It's hard to be anything but sarcastic once you're privy to all those gory details...world's gone mad and has -always- been that way. In short, I'm a pessimist, and probably always going to be that way.”

When you work with information, disillusionment can become a daily occurrence; soon enough, you start to expect it, so the grim nature of Gary’s response was far from unexpected. However, perhaps exactly due to that, I was surprised by the afterthought that followed;  

“But sometimes something catches you by surprise, and you hold on to that hope for change, maybe this time the world might be getting just a little bit better, and staying that way.”

As a self-proclaimed cynic, the feeling behind Gary’s initial response makes sense. However, it seems there is a sliver of light in this cynic’s heart, and it’s a good thing too; after all, eternity is a long time to spend without hope.

They say death is only the end if you assume the story is about you, but for Gary Golden death merely marked the beginning of Act Two. 

And the show must go on.

Eliot Wilde, journalist and writer for Night Owl and host of Night Owl FM

#vtm rp #article

[nightowlgazette]

#article #(With this Eliot and the Night Owl Gazette are going on an official hiatus until the around the 14th of July due to finals!)

[nightowlgazette]

Sunrise Around the World

“There's always a story. It's all stories, really. The sun coming up every day is a story. Everything's got a story in it. Change the story, change the world.” ― Terry Pratchett, A Hat Full of Sky

Los Angeles, California

Banjarmasin, Indonesia

Malasia, Bulgaria

Province of Belluno, Italy

Tainan, Taiwan

Bali, Indonesia

Joshua Tree National Park, California

Kauai, Hawaii

Akumal Beach, Mexico

Rila Mountain, Bulgaria

Paris, France

Eliot Wilde, journalist and writer for Night Owl and host of Night Owl FM

#vtm rp #article

[nightowlgazette]

The Beauty of Labyrinth Canyon

Located just north of Canyonlands National Park, Labyrinth Canyon is a flatwater stretch of the Green River. Completely remote and isolated, this float trip boasts towering, sandstone mesas, side canyons, lush vegetation, peace, and solitude.  So when a Night Owl sent us a collection of gorgeous photographs from their latest camping trip to Labyrinth Canyon, we knew we had to share them, with their permission.

Eliot Wilde, journalist and writer for Night Owl and host of Night Owl FM

(Credit for the first four photos goes to the wonderful mun of @2017fordtransit​. Please do not share this article outside of the VTM RPverse.)

#vtm rp #article

[nightowlgazette]

Amongst the Skyscrapers: New York

The NYC skyline is a thing of beauty, for sure—but what happens when you suspend yourself above the city on a freezing cold night?

Eliot Wilde, journalist and writer for Night Owl and host of Night Owl FM

#vtm rp #article

[nightowlgazette]

PSA

There is great unrest in the city tonight. Police officials have issued a statement asking all civillians to remain indoors for their safety. If you absolutely must go out, they advise that you implement the buddy system and be with at least one other person at any given moment. 

Avoid dark alleyways and don’t follow the wailing in the shadows. This too shall pass.

Stay safe. 

#vtm rp #PSA

[nightowlgazette]

https://nightowlgazette.tumblr.com/articleIndex

Article Index added and will be updated regularly.

-Night Owl

#vtm rp #article #update

[nightowlgazette]

The Tale of the Archbishop

For the past 50 years, Archbishop Andrei has been a steady presence in the nocturnal realm of Los Angeles. Currently serving as the Archbishop to the city’s Sabbat, Andrei has built quite the legacy for himself as a capable leader, an expert metamorphosist, and the first Archbishop to ever achieve peace between the Sabbat and the Camarilla.  

But tonight, we are not here to talk about the present; instead, we are here to learn about his past, and what led Andrei down the path that ultimately shaped him into the remarkable man he is today.

“Typical upbringing is far from how my life was.”

Andrei was born sometime in the 1520s in Transylvania. As a revenant and scion of the Obertus family, his childhood was primarily dedicated to scientific and scholarly pursuits, and he spent most of his time confined to his room, studying the Book of Nod and medicine. In what little time he had away from his studies, Andrei was subjected to tests and trials from his masters to test his endurance and pain threshold. He was trained to persevere and endure, often through indescribably odious practices, all in preparation for his day of judgment; the day he would be chosen for an embrace.

However, that day was not meant to come in the way his family expected.

When he became of age, Andrei was sent away to study medical sciences at university; a degree held was high regard and usually guaranteed a lucrative future; yet one more detail to add to the portrait of the perfect scion.

 However, having tasted freedom for the first time in his life, the chance to discover himself outside of the role that had been carved out for him since his birth, Andrei decided he couldn’t go back.

So he fled to Wallachia.

Freed from the shackles of his old life, Andrei embarked on the path to a new one. However, that path would prove to be treacherous. 

Cut off from any financial assistance that his family had provided him with thus far and with the degree of a surgeon rather than a doctor which sullied him in the eyes of his fellows, when Andrei first started living in Wallachia he barely had enough money to survive. Need forced him to turn to manual labour, taking on gruelling jobs under harsh conditions just to scrape by. 

 It was during one such job, however, that he met the person who would change his life forever.

There had been a devastating battle; countless had perished, their bodies littering the field, turning it into a mass grave, and Andrei happened to be amongst those hired to count the bodies. 

 And as fate would have it, there was someone else roaming the battlefield that night; Vlad III Dracula Tepes, the former voivode of Wallachia.

Dracula found a kindred spirit in Andrei. The two bonded over their melancholy, and Dracula took an interest to the young surgeon; he invited him back to his castle with the intention of adopting him as his Childe, but he was reluctant. Andrei, on the other hand, craved the freedom the embrace would grant him, and the power that would come with being the childe of Dracula himself. So, after a great deal of pleading and persuasion, Dracula finally relented, and Andrei said his final goodbye to the life he had led thus far, trading it for the endless night.

 Following the embrace, the sire and childe grew even fonder of one another, with Dracula considering Andrei his son. Even so, Andrei’s time in Wallachia was short-lived. He learned all he could Under Dracula’s guidance, and when he turned sixty, he once again left. Only this time it was with his sire’s blessing.

Still young and ambitious and excited by the endless possibility of his unlife, Andrei took over a territory in Moldavia which he ruled for a few decades before expanding his reach into Hungary, and soon after even beyond. During those years he formed strong bonds with the Sabbat and started making a name in the organization, which served as the groundwork for his eventual rise to the position of Archbishop. 

But the bliss of victory only last so long, and after a few decades, Andrei grew weary of his post. So, he made the impromptu decision to leave Europe behind and move to America, and more specifically Los Angeles, where he made his grand entrance by killing the Archbishop before him and claiming his domain for himself. Since then, no attempts have been made by any aspiring Archbishops to steal control of the city from the Andrei; a fact which serves as a testament to his power and his abilities as a leader, which we discussed thoroughly in a previous article.

Some time later, in the year 2004, Prince Sebastian LaCroix established the Camarilla presence in the city. And although at first there was much tension between the two sects and the situation in the city was precarious, in time the two managed to accomplish a feat which has no precedent in kindred society. For the first time in history, a truce was established between Sabbat and Camarilla, and it holds strong to this day.

“I am rather content for the first time in a long while, content with where my Sect is within my domain, and where my life is. I’m changing, and that is what makes me satisfied; that’s the life of a Metamorphosist.”

With that, we leave the past behind, but the tale of the Archbishop is far from over. 

In the present nights, the Archbishop is making the most of the hard-earned peace he has established. Of course, there is rarely rest for those who call the night their home, and the Archbishop has his hands full with maintaining the peace, keeping those who would threaten the city at bay, and making changes to the Sabbat, setting the foundations for a better, brighter future. But responsibility is not all the night holds for him, and in this time of peace, he has started to build a life anew, facing each night as it comes readily and with new hope for the future.

“I am revelling in newfound love, enjoying this brief period of inner peace.[…] My life has changed dramatically since I moved here to Los Angeles, and I don’t regret a second of it. I hope that the future doesn’t change my mind.”

Eliot Wilde, journalist and writer for Night Owl and host of Night Owl FM

#vtm rp #article

[nightowlgazette]

The Vampire’s Guide to Los Angeles

Los Angeles is a perfect vampire city; even though it is in the middle of a desert and the direct sun. It comes alive at night and this night is filled with rockstars, actors, nightlife, celebrities, ghosts, hauntings and legends.

So, for the past week, Maria and I have been scouring the City of Angels, or rather the City of Fallen Angels, to find the best locations for those visiting or living within the city who hear the call of the night.

Here is what we discovered.

Bar Sinister

Bar Sinister is the grandfather of vampire hangouts. Located right in the middle of Hollywood, this club has been catering to the goth and vampire communities since the late 1990s. It’s a great place to go to dance to dark sounds and mingle with fellow creatures of the night, and it even occasionally hosts Night Vampire Salons. Unfortunately, only on Saturday night will you find the gates open on this lonely side street in the heart of Hollywood.

Vampire Lounge and Tasting Room

Nestled deep into Beverly Hills, this small but beautiful bar is home to a fine election of Vampire Wines from Transylvania Vineyards. Tempting bittersweet chocolates, strong and sultry Vampire espresso and elegant fine teas are all served in an ambience of a Twilight mystery. Personally, we recommend its line of blood-red wines, which include Dracula Merlot and True Blood Cabernet Sauvignon. The wine bar was created by Vampire Vineyards owner Lisa Dominique Machat and it’s believed to be operated by a circle of vampires. So cross its threshold if you wish to escape into another world where vampires exist and the blood of the vine is truly immortal.

Fangtasia Bar

In the T.V. series True Blood, Fangtasia is the hot spot where vampires go to hang out and get drunk off blood. These scenes were mostly filmed at a place called Alex’s Bar in Long Beach, California –Maria’s hometown! So if you want to get your own taste of “True Blood,” stop by for a drink.

Endless Night Los Angeles Vampire Ball

If you follow the Los Angeles nightlife, then you probably already know about this event. Presented by master fangsmith Father Sebastiaan, Endless Night happens in different cities annually, including Los Angeles. The L.A. edition is held at the historic Globe Theatre and is a delightful gathering of dark, immortal souls. You can get a peek into past festivities here!

Gothic Bar

Within Clifton’s Cathedral Grove lies the Gothic Bar, a shrine to the majesty of nature and the mythology of our cultural heritage. Here you can enjoy handcrafted libations and delicious offerings worthy of this iconic environment. With monumental Gothic tracery and two-story murals depicting Yosemite Valley and Muir Woods, The Gothic Bar evokes a sense of wonder at both the natural history it represents as well as the cultural history inspired by the space itself. It’s great for dates, dinner parties or coven gatherings. Just be sure to toast the visionaries who have always inhabited this space by tipping your glass gently to The Bradbury, the bar’s centerpiece, a 4.5 Billion-year-old meteorite that weighs over two hundred pounds.

Necromance

Necromance is a very unique store which opened its doors in 1990 and sells artifacts and remains in a Victorian style display, with a morbid and romantic touch. One can find insects, skulls, horns, obscure jewellery, taxidermy, feathers, antlers, moths and butterflies, sea creatures and wet specimens. Absolutely a must stop for all vampires and enthusiasts of the macabre.

Eliot Wilde, journalist and writer for Night Owl and host of Night Owl FM

#vtm rp #article

[nightowlgazette]

The Colours of Omnia

Paired with artist performance, the grandiose kinetic chandelier which serves as the focal point of the OMNIA Nightclub creates a fully immersive nightlife experience for any who cross the nightclub’s threshold.

Eliot Wilde, journalist and writer for Night Owl and host of Night Owl FM

#vtm rp #article

[nightowlgazette]

Amongst the Skyscrapers

Los Angeles from a bird’s eye view.

Eliot Wilde, journalist and writer for Night Owl and host of Night Owl FM 

Photography courtesy of Johnny Spells 

#vtm rp #article #(I'm a simple person. I make character who can fly; I use them for photography)

[nightowlgazette]

Wave At The Stars and They will Wave Back

“Saturn is my absolute favorite object in the night sky. When I was a child, I had a dog-eared book on the Solar System, which I read over and over, stopping and staring with wonder at the section on Saturn. How could a planet have rings of ice? What would it be like to fly out and visit the planet, to see the rings with your own eyes. How did it get all those strange moons?”

~Maria

Maria has always been fascinated by the night sky and what lays beyond it. As a matter of fact, she met the love of her life, Maxine, while watching Saturn from the Girffith Observatory.

Their eyes locked, time stopped...then Maria tripped and accidentally spilled her iced coffee all over Max in the middle of winter and the rest is history.

So, for this very special article as a second early wedding gift to her and Max, we asked all of you which are your fevourite celestial bodies, and compiled a small list of interesting facts about them!

Saturn

As Maria’s favourite planet, and the reason Max and her met, Saturn has the honour of being at the very top of the list.

Did you know:

Saturn has 82 moons As of the pennings of this article, Saturn boasts Solar System's most known moons: 82! Some of these are large, like Titan, the second largest moon in the Solar System. But most are tiny – just a few km across, and they have no official names. 

There could be life near Saturn Not life on Saturn; the planet is way too hostile to support life. But there could be life on one of Saturn’s moons: Enceladus. NASA’s Cassini spacecraft discovered ice geysers blasting out of Enceladus’ southern pole. This means that some process is keep the moon warm enough that water can remain a liquid underneath the surface. And wherever we find liquid water on Earth, we find life

Jupiter

For number two, we have Jupiter, named after the King of the Olympians himself.

Did you know:

Jupiter has 79 moons Second only to Saturn, Jupiter has a 79 confirmed and named satellites. However, it is estimated that the planet has over 200 natural satellites orbiting it. Almost all of them are less than 10 kilometers in diameter, and were only discovered after 1975, when the first spacecraft (Pioneer 10) arrived at Jupiter. However, it also has four major moons, which are collectively known as the Galilean Moons. These are, in order of distance from Jupiter, Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto. These moons are some of the largest in the Solar System, with Ganymede being the largest, measuring 5262 km in diameter.

You Can See Jupiter With Your Own Eyes Jupiter is the third brightest object in the Solar System, after Venus and the Moon. Chances are, you saw Jupiter in the sky, and had no idea that’s what you were seeing. And here at Universe Today, we are in the habit of letting readers know when the best opportunities for spotting Jupiter in the night sky are. Just think, you’ll be seeing precisely what Galileo did when he gazed at the planet in 1610!

Mars

For the last planet on our list -but definitely not the least- we have Mars; the Red Planet.

Did you know:

Mars Had Water In The Ancient Past We’ve been debating for centuries about whether Mars had life or not. In fact, the astronomer Percival Lowell misinterpreted observations of “canali” — the Italian word for channels — on the planet as evidence of alien-made canals. It turned out Lowell’s observations were hampered by poor telescope optics of his day, and the canals he saw were optical illusions. That said, several spacecraft have spotted other signs of ancient water — channels grooved in the terrain and rocks that only could have formed in the presence of water, for example.

Mars Has Two Moons – And One Of Them Is Doomed: The planet has two asteroid-like moons called Phobos and Deimos, named after the sons of Ares -or the Roman Mars- in Greek mythology.  Because they have compositions that are similar to asteroids found elsewhere in the Solar System, according to NASA, most scientists believe the Red Planet’s gravity snatched the moons long ago and forced them into orbit. But in the life of the Solar System, Phobos has a pretty short lifetime. In about 30 million to 50 million years, Phobos is going to crash into Mars’ surface or rip apart because the tidal force of the planet will prove too much to resist.

Black Holes

Moving on from planets to the other beauties of space, for number four we have Black Holes.

Did you know:

You Can’t Directly See a Black Hole. A black hole is called a black hole because of it’s color, especially since light can’t escape. What we can see, though, is the effects of a black hole. Analyzing the surrounding area of a black hole, we can see its effects upon its environment. For example, a star that’s close enough to a black hole can be seen being ripped apart.

Dying Stars Lead to Stellar Black Holes. The death of large stars lead to black holes, because a star’s gravity will overwhelm the star’s natural pressure that it maintains to keep its shape. When the pressure from the nuclear reactions collapses, gravity overwhelms and collapses the star’s core, and the star’s other layers are thrown off into space, and this process is also known as a supernova. The remainder of the core collapses, a spot overcome by density and without volume – a black hole.

There are Three Categories of Black Holes. 1) Primordial Black holes – These are the smallest of black holes and range from an atom’s size to a mountain’s mass.

2) Stellar Black Holes – These are the most common of black holes and they can be up to 20 times more massive than the Sun. There are also a variety of these all over the Milky Way.

3) Supermassive Black Holes – These are the largest of black holes, being more than 1 million times more massive than the Sun. There’s also a song named Supermassive Black Hole by Muse.

Perseid Meteors

Did you know:

We’ve had a near-miss in the past, and there may be one again in the future. Back in the early 1990s, astronomer Brian Marsden calculated that Swift-Tuttle might actually hit Earth on a future pass. More observations quickly eliminated all possibility of a collision. Marsden found, however, that the comet and Earth might experience a cosmic near miss (about a million miles) in 3044.

The meteors are what shooting stars are made of. When a Perseid particle enters the atmosphere, it compresses the air in front of it, which heats up. The meteor, in turn, can be heated to more than 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit (1,650 Celsius). The intense heat vaporizes most meteors, creating what we call shooting stars. Most become visible at around 60 miles up (97 kilometers). Some large meteors splatter, causing a brighter flash called a fireball, and sometimes an explosion that can often be heard from the ground.

Next Time Around. Swift-Tuttle is due back in 2126 (as you know now, it won't hit us) and astronomers think it might become a spectacular naked-eye comet like Hale-Bopp. If historical calculations are correct (see Fact #9) then the 2126 appearance will mark the comet's 3rd millennium of human observation, assuming someone is in fact around to see it.

Pulsars

Did you know:

Pulsars are what remains after the death of a massive star. Pulsars are types of neutron stars; the dead relics of massive stars. What sets pulsars apart from regular neutron stars is that they’re highly magnetized, and rotating at enormous speeds. Astronomers detect them by the radio pulses they emit at regular intervals.

Pulsars are invaluable when it comes to discovering more about space. Pulsars help us search for gravitational waves, probe the interstellar medium, and even find extrasolar planets in orbit. In fact, the first extrasolar planets were discovered around a pulsar in 1992, when astronomers Aleksander Wolszczan and Dale Frail announced the discovery of a multi-planet planetary system around PSR B1257+12 – a millisecond pulsar now known to have two extrasolar planets. 

It has even been proposed that spacecraft could use them as beacons to help navigate around the Solar System. On NASA’s Voyager spacecraft, there are maps that show the direction of the Sun to 14 pulsars in our region. If aliens wanted to find our home planet, they couldn’t ask for a more accurate map.

Eliot Wilde, journalist and writer for Night Owl and host of Night Owl FM

#vtm rp #article

[nightowlgazette]

7 Types of Photography Styles to Master

For novice and professional photographers alike, the number of technical and creative skills needed to take perfect shots can be overwhelming. Everything from capturing natural light and making good use of it with exposure variables and subject planning needs to be understood and perfected if we hope to become professional photographers or simply better at our craft. With so much to learn, how do we go about getting anywhere at all?

Well, by learning and practicing the seven different types of photography below, you can build a strong foundation for your photography career.

1. Street Photography

We’ll start with a form of photography that is accessible to most of us; street photography. This genre aims to capture everyday life as it happens and represent it in an artistic fashion.

First and foremost, street photography will help you hone your observation skills. You’ll be watching for small nuances that can take a photograph from a snapshot to a world-class image and you’ll be doing it on the fly. Street photographers are looking for light, moments, gestures, patterns, and juxtapositions to mention just a few things. Learning to see these things and make good use of them is paramount to street photography and can help you pay attention to these things in other types of photography as well.

2. Portrait Photography

One of the most common photography styles, portrait photography, or portraiture, aims to capture the personality and mood of an individual or group. Images may be candid or posed, full body or close-ups. Either way, the subject’s face and eyes are typically in focus. Lighting and backdrop help to convey tone and emotion. Popular types of photography portraits include senior portraits, family portraits, engagement photos, and professional headshots. The best portrait photographers make clients feel completely comfortable, so that their expressions are natural and relaxed.

3. Fashion Photography

Fashion photography showcases and glamorizes fashion clothing, shoes, and accessories to make them more desirable to consumers. It is commonly published in magazines and online. People may choose this niche over different types of photography because of the opportunity to be highly creative in making photographs eye-catching and appealing. Fashion photographers take a lot of full body shots and work in an array of locations, from fashion shows to studios with full lighting setups to city streets and open fields. They utilize many of the same skills as portrait photographers and must practice good teamwork and communication when working with shoot stylists, creative directors, and models.

4. Still Life Photography

Like it sounds, still life photography features inanimate objects—natural or manmade. Still life photography can be artistic or commercial. It is commonly used in stock photography as well as product advertising. (Think of the product images shown in catalogs, magazines, and billboards.) For still life photographers, object selection, arrangement, and lighting are key to getting a great shot.

5. Architectural Photography

Both the interior and exterior design of buildings and structures are the subject of architectural photography. From warehouses to city bridges to old country barns, this genre encompasses diverse structures. Often, the photograph showcases the structure’s most aesthetically pleasing parts, such as a particular beam or archway. Interesting materials and colors may also be emphasized. Lighting can be challenging in architectural photography and, for exteriors, photographers must know how to work with natural light. Gear such as a tilt-shift lens, a tripod, and a panorama head is often useful. Architectural photographs can be of value to designers, architects, leasing companies, and building investors.

6. Landscape Photography

Great landscape photographs transport the viewer to a time and place and give them a sense of what the photographer felt and saw.

Many of the important elements of landscape photography are often out of your control. Weather and light, for example, play huge roles in successful landscape photography and learning to interpret those and react to them can help you immensely in creating mood in your images. Mastering these things can be of great boon even to a wedding photographer. Taking the weather and using it to your advantage to tell the story of your client’s day can be very powerful.

7. Photojournalism

Photojournalism is a way of telling the story of a newsworthy (perhaps even historic) event or scene through photographs. Photojournalism should be as objective and truthful as possible and capturing candid moments as they happen is more important than getting picture-perfect shots. Generally, photojournalists attend planned events with the hope of capturing unplanned, unscripted moments. Their work is routinely published in magazines and newspapers, and makes for a good addition to any photographer’s resume.

#vtm rp #article

[nightowlgazette]

Sealed with a Kiss

 While helping Maria and Max plan their wedding, which will be fantasy medieval themed, we discovered that apparently, different colours on was seals were indicatory as to the content of the letter that bore them!

All the way back to the early 1700s, black used to signify bad news dates back to at least the early, while red became associated with official business since red shellac waxes were of higher quality than cheap bees wax. Over time, by the late 19th century, various newly available colours took on more and more meanings, due to what others called out as the Victorian habit for codifying everything. Additionally, even the symbols adorning the seal were significant, as they often indicated as to the nature of the letter and the level of familiarity between the correspondents.

So, whether you’re preparing for a larp or a medieval fantasy themed event, or want to surprise your friends and special someones with an subtle yet meaningful gesture, here are the most well-known seal colours and symbols, and their meanings.

Wax Colour

The colour of the sealing was indicates the type of letter it was, so the recipient knew how quickly it should be read and in what company:

Red means formal or business correspondence. It is also the default colour if others aren’t appropriate.

Black means mourning, death, or other bad tidings. It should not be used otherwise in order to avoid needless shock

Blue means romance and passion.The richer the blue used, the stronger the feelings being conveyed.

Green means casual and friendly correspondence.

White is used forinvitations to private affairs and festivities, especially wedding invitations.

Pink is used for praise or congratulations.

Type of Seal

The type of seal being used was determined by the nature of the letter and how familiar the correspondents were.

Your family crest of sigil should only be used for official business regarding your family and title, or when sending correspondence to another family member. The full coat of arms is never used as a seal. Seals of your government or military office are only used for official dispatches.

A monogram seal is proper for business and casual correspondence. A plain circular seal without any decoration is also acceptable for a majority of letters.

Motto seals that bear a saying, or novelty decorative seals, indicate a lever of familiarity between the correspondents; as such they, were reserved for private informal correspondences between friends, close family, and lovers.

So, if you have plans to throw a thematic wedding, are setting up for your next medieval fantasy rp, or simply feel like corresponding with your friends, relatives, and special someones like a Victorian, penning letters in the night with little but the moonlight and a melting candle to keep them company, take care to pick the proper seal; aftet all, one can’t be a proper Victorian without codifying everything, can they?

Eliot Wilde, journalist and writer for Night Owl and host of Night Owl FM

#vtm rp #article #(not exactly an article but i thought this was really cool & i of course had to share it with the vamps) #(might add some visual examples later next to the descriptions but i just woke up & was compelled to finish this so behold!)

[nightowlgazette]

Bela Lugosi Is (Un)Dead

Los Angeles is the home of entertainment, the beach, and even some specters that haunt some places that might make you feel like you’re in a classic horror movie. The place is known as the “City of Angels” might be filled to the brim with the ghosts of ages past. Especially those who have once graced the silver screen or even your TV screen at home. 

Today, the city is best known for the bright lights, big stars, and the Walk of Fame that pays homage to many who have made a name for themselves in entertainment. But is there a spirit of some celebrity hanging around their star?

We may not be able to answer that question definitively, but what we can do is point you to the places that might.

With that, join us as we take a look at the Top 10 Most Haunted Places in Los Angeles.

10. Hollywood Forever Cemetery

First on the list is the cemetery that is the final resting place of many celebrities. With names like Mal Blanc, Fay Wray, Gary Golden and more, a stroll can quickly turn into a game of “you name it, they’re probably here”.

One of the known hauntings that most visitors have recounted was the sound of a woman crying by the lake that is located on the grounds of the cemetery. Some have said that the woman may have been that of Virginia Rappe. Rappe was a silent film actress who passed away in 1921. Her death was said to be linked to a fellow film actor named Fatty Arbuckle. While Arbuckle was cleared in the connection of her death, some historians beg to differ.

Many visitors have often found figures and apparitions milling around the cemetery grounds, with most of them wearing clothing from the periods of when they were still alive. So it may not be unusual to see a specter dressed like they were from the 1950s.

9. Hollywood Pantages Theatre

When charmed businessman Howard Hughes owned the infamous Pantages Theatre, he built a door that connected his office directly to one of the theater balconies, where he would go to think in the dark. Hughes’s ghost is a notorious workaholic, and is said to be seen in his former office on the second floor.

According to legend, during the restoration in 2000, people said they saw a man stepping off the balcony, walking along the scaffolding, and standing over a worker to inspect his work. When the guy turned to ask the man what he wanted, the figure vanished.

The Pantages is also host to a female presence who died during a show in 1932. Apparently, during a cast recording, microphones were set up in the theater and they heard someone singing in the mic when no one was on stage. Some say the woman who died was an aspiring singer who’s living out her unrealized dreams of performing at the Pantages.

8. The Culver Studios

The studio complex where such legendary Tinseltown films as Gone with the Wind and Raging Bull were filmed was built in 1918 by silent movie pioneer Thomas Ince. Ince died in 1924, after falling ill on newspaper mogul William Randolph Hearst’s yacht during a star-studded cruise and dinner, celebrating Ince’s 42nd birthday. While the official cause of death was listed as heart failure, legend has it that Ince was actually shot and killed by a jealous Hearst, who was supposedly aiming at (and missed) Charlie Chaplin, who had eyes for Hearst’s mistress Marion Davies. Some say Ince’s ghost still shows up for work at his beloved former studio, and can be seen and heard walking through walls and criticizing management.

7. The Queen Mary

Famous for its Halloween event, Dark Harbor, but the Queen Mary in Long Beach is certifiably haunted according to the countless visitors who claim to hear voices and rattling chains during tours and overnight stays. The Queen Mary certainly has a past that’s ripe for modern-day hauntings. She started life as a luxury liner, setting forth on her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, in 1937, and hosting everyone from Bob Hope to Winston Churchill. But when WWII began, the Queen Mary was drafted into service as a ferry ship, carrying thousands of troops into battle areas. The fancy lady was stripped of her chic facade, painted a camo grey and dubbed the “Grey Ghost.” After years of service in war, and at her majesty’s whim, the Queen Mary was eventually sold to a tour operator and sent to retirement in Long Beach, where she’s been a floating hotel and event spot since 1967. According to the late psychic and ghost hunter, Peter James, who led tours around the Queen Mary, almost all areas of the ship including the second class pool deck and engine room 13 are known to be haunted.

6. The Haunter Forest and Cobb Estate

Avid hikers will recognize this spot as the Sam Merrill trailhead, “a quiet refuge from people and wild life forever”—so reads the dedication on the cobblestone gate of the Cobb Estate. But to ghost hunters, it’s the Haunted Forest.

The sparse forest didn’t seem so haunted until the 1950s, when the Marx Brothers purchased the land and temporarily saved the dilapidated mansion from destruction—in the process turning it into a favorite haunt for squatters and ne’er-do-wells.

Today, you’re more likely to find curious teens at night wandering around what’s left of the house’s foundation; though ghost sightings are non-specific, many report ghostly noises on the surviving staircase and the feeling that they’re being watched in the dimly lit forest.

5. Griffith Park Old Zoo

A lot of people who may have heard or seen spirits will describe them as a man, woman, or child. But not every spirit might be of human form. The Old Zoo located in Griffith Park might be such a place where the spirits of even unhappy captive animals may be heard or possibly seen at night. By the daytime, it’s a really popular picnic area where friends and family can hang out and enjoy the day.

This was the first-ever zoo to be established in Los Angeles. And it was home to many lions, bears, monkeys, and several other animals. If you want to check out a place at night they might not be a walk in the park for the faint-hearted, this could be something to check out.

4. “The Entity” House

The Entity House might just look like some ordinary house located smack dab in the middle of suburban Los Angeles. But the home is known for having a story that was published into a book (and later adapted into a horror film that earned the house its name). The house was believed to the be sight of a series of hauntings with one victim recalling so many stories of each haunted happening.

While the story of “The Entity” may seem to live on forever in books and movies, the home may still have a story of its own to tell of things never been told. Are there spirits still haunting the home? What other stories that have yet to be heard that may have never been revealed in either the book or film adaptation? We will discuss the history of the home and the stories that have given it the reputation of being one of the most haunted places in all of Los Angeles.

3. Beverly Hills Bermuda Triangle

Even in the trendy neighborhood of Beverly Hills, there’s always a place that has some kind of strange presence. This part of 90210 is no stranger to some weird things. Billionaire and aviation enthusiast Howard Hughes was said to have crashed into a few homes in the neighborhood. Fortunately, Hughes survived the crash. 

However, this area was also the site of a couple of high-profile homicides. One of them was the murder of Bugsy Siegel in 1947. Nearly sixty years later, a Hollywood publicist named Ronni Chasen was shot while driving in her car. She later died shortly afterward when she collided into a light pole as she attempted to flee the scene.

Over the years, some celebrities who came across this part of LA often found themselves in weird, if not, near-death situations. One such case was when musician Jan Berry of the 1960s group Jan and Dean was nearly killed in a car crash while driving and turning a sharp curve.

2. Hotel Roosevelt

Legend has it that the ghost of Marilyn Monroe still haunts her old stomping grounds. Until a few years ago, there was a famous mirror in the lobby where people would take pictures and claim they could see Marilyn’s reflection above them. The full-length mirror that once hung in Monroe’s poolside suite, and then in the lobby where it has since been removed. On the ninth floor, you can hear the late actor Montgomery Clift—who lived in suite 928 for three months while filming From Here to Eternity—practicing on his trumpet. During their stay, many guests have asked the hotel staff to tell the guest in the next room to stop playing in the middle of the night, only for the room to turn out to be vacat. What’s more? Lights and faucets are known to turn on and off on their own and the switchboard gets calls from vacant rooms.

1. Bela Lugosi’s Apartment

Bela Lugosi was another one of the acting greats in the horror film genre. For those that don’t know, his famous role was Dracula. It was known that Lugosi would always visit his favorite cigar shop every day on Hollywood Boulevard. When he died, the mortician could not have told a crazy story like the one of what happened while driving Lugosi’s body to the funeral home.

The funeral procession was supposed to go towards the cemetery in Culver City. However, the horses that were carrying the coffin had started to fight the driver. The driver wanted the horses to go right, however, the horses drew the hearse to the left. The horses went through oncoming traffic and down the boulevard. Turns out, Lugosi had gone daily to buy cigars and read the newspaper on Hollywood Boulevard. The horses stopped right in front of the shop that he frequented. 

Some have said that Lugosi’s spirit may have played a role in that apparent incident. Possibly as a way to say goodbye to the place that he called home for much of his acting career. But ultimately,  no one would ever be able to explain what really happened.

Eliot Wilde, journalist and writer for Night Owl and host of Night Owl FM

#vtm rp #article

[nightowlgazette]

The Art Behind the Effects

If you were to watch the original Hellbound and then immediately follow it with its prequel, you would likely notice a few key differences. For starters, the protagonist looks younger in the prequel. The other is the difference between CGI monsters and using practical effects.

Many believe that animatronics, costumes, makeup and prosthetics are more believable and realistic than their CGI counterparts, and while it does boil down to opinion, it’s not without a backbone; case in point, the life-like monsters from Hellbound that still manage to strike fear into our hearts all these years later.

This time, we at Night Owl sat down with Travis A Burr, founder of the SFX company Final Sunset and the mastermind behind the aforementioned monsters to learn a bit more about his work and how he came to be where he is today.

Burr’s story begins in late 2000/early 2001, back when he was still a struggling artist in Santa Monica, working the night shift at a gas station. Unsatisfied with his less-than-adequate paycheck, Burr started selling the sculptures he made in his free time and showcasing them wherever he could.

Unfortunately, after a few months it became clear that his venture was not paying off, and Burr was on the brink of giving up.

That was when fortune finally smiled on him. During a small exhibition at a friend’s house, Burr’s sculptures caught the eye of a travelling SFX Artist from Hollywood. Impressed by his work, he offered the young artist a position to work for him. Some years later he started his own SFX company, Final Sunset, and the rest is history…

“Sometimes, a lucky break is all you need.”

Burr’s career really took off a few years later, starting with the work he did for the film Hellbound.

Even though a few holes in the script cost it the nomination for Best Horror Film, Hellbound was critically acclaimed and nominated for the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects thanks to the realism of its special effects, which served to set the standard for Burr’s work in the big screen.

Unfortunately, even though Burr was hired to work on Hellbound’s prequel as well, his outstanding special effects were ultimately replaced by CGI whose quality left much to be desired. While that was not the only reason behind the prequel’s box office catastrophe, it was the final nail in the coffin in which lay all of the original film’s redeeming qualities.

“[…]Nine-times-out-of-ten you aren’t getting shit done the first time. Something always goes wrong or the scene is changed[…]”

Working with special effects can be a long and tiresome ordeal. Countless sleepless days and nights for the sake of a project with the risk of something changing or going wrong at the very last minute, which leads to even more hours put into it… It’s for that very reason that beyond creativity, experience, or natural talent, the most important quality for a SFX artist to possess is Patience.

“Without patience you’re guaranteed to end up rippin’ your fuckin’ hair out.”

Those were the Burr’s words, followed by him empathically gesturing at his own hair which was the textbook definition of organized chaos.

Much like most artistic careers, a career in special effects has its moments of frustration, chaos and exhaustion in every meaning of the word. Even the most hardened professional have days in which they loathe going to work to face whatever unexpected situation may have arisen or spend hours making the same prosthetics over and over again. 

But for Burr and other professional SFX artists, those days are outweighed by all the times they’ve eagerly gotten their hands on an interesting new project or discovered some new technique or seen the result of their hard work on the big screen, enthralling the audience.

In the end, CGI may not be going away any time soon, seeing as it has already carved out its place in cinema, but it still has a long way to go to reach the mastery and depth achieved in practical effects. That very statement is echoed in Burr’s parting words to us, which are as much advice for fellow SFX artists as they are a warning for the producers of todays special effects-heavy films;

“Don’t [replace] the practical with [CGI]. It’s meant to enhance not replace.”

Eliot Wilde, journalist and writer for Night Owl and host of Night Owl FM

#vtm rp #article #coteried