Sisters, All for One and One for All

                                                                

                                                                   

             Jane                                      Lucy                                    Marie

WARNING; THE THOUGHTS LISTED BELOW ARE MY OWN  PERSONAL BELIEFS AND I'M NOT ATTACKING ANYONE'S RELIGION...EXCEPT FOR THE RELIGIONS THAT DO NOT CONSIDER WOMEN AS EQUALS.

 

I have lots of sisters! Sure, I have my wonderful and lovely biological sisters Jane and Lucy, whom most of you have met either in person or in my “Life with Fred and Lucy” stories, but I also have close friends that I call sister.
                                                                           

We are all the daughters of Eve in a genetic and evolutionary way. If Eve did exist in the biblical sense, then she was framed big time and we have suffered the repercussions ever since that fateful day. Yeah, I’m talking about the crime to beat all crimes; taking a bite of the forbidden apple. Where was Eve’s lawyer? The woman was innocent.

My take on the Garden of Eden is this. GOD made Adam and then told him, “Get to know your world. I’ll check on you in a day or two.” When GOD returned to check on his prized creation, he realized that Adam would not last until the big creation celebration at the end of the week/ evolutionary chain of events.  Adam had a bad attitude and he assumed that he could do whatever he wanted to do, after all, he was a man and above all of nature.

                                                                 

GOD called all his trusted winged messengers in for a, emergency conference. A heated argument broke out with Lucifer who thought that the Dinosaurs should have never been exterminated, but in the end, the resulting decision was to make a helpmate for the arrogant man. Eve was created as Adam’s equal and GOD’s new and improved version of the human race. GOD gave Eve the order, “Keep that knucklehead out of trouble.”

Eve had her hands full. Adam had already acquired an attitude about taking a woman's advice. Adam wanted the forbidden apples. Lucifer came up with a plan to prove GOD wrong. First he approached Eve with a deal. “Eat the apple from that tree. It will give you knowledge, and as a added benefit, you can eat all the chocolate in the world and never gain an ounce.”

“I already have knowledge, and what the hell is chocolate?" Knowing the devil for the trickster that he was, Eva  sent him packing, saying, "Hit the road, Jack.”

Later in the week, Adam was approached by Lucifer, but this time the devil offered a sweeter deal. "You get to do what you want and I'll throw in a recliner, beer and junk food to watch all your football games." 

Adam not only ate all the damn apples, but he blamed Eve. The rest is history.
                                                                        

Sisters, we are many and we have to look out for each other: Stop calling other women nasty names; stop gossiping about each other; stop breaking up marriages; stop being nasty to your daughters.

We need to stand up for each other. We need to speak out when we see other women being attacked or abused by men. No religion, country or state or man can tell us what to do with our bodies. We cannot be forced to bear children against our will, and no religion can claim that a man is master over a woman; it is a lie!




The crimes against women around the globe must stop now. We are every woman’s sister. We are equal to men. Women should never be denied education. The men who try to stop them are evil. We are the children of GOD. Stand up and speak out for all your sisters around the Globe
                                                                                  

Part Two of Steampunk Granny's Interview with Scream Queen, Genoveva Rossi

                                                                    

We left off with my interview of Horror Goddess Genoveva Rossi on her acting in a new film called Trailer Heaven. We will pick up where we left off.  Welcome back Genoveva.

Marie Gilbert: “We left off with the film you’re working on now, Trailer Heaven.”

Genoveva Rossi: “I’m also a Divine fan as well and I grew up watching those types of movies. John Waters is amazing!

As an actress I love to cross into unchartered territory and play a lot of different characters and work with a really wide variety of directors. I feel that is vital for me as both an actress and an artist.  I am committed keeping my acting work an adventure! I wanted to bring up that there were several films that I did that were not horror at all, for example, Apocalypse Kiss which was a sci-fi thriller that I did with Michael Berryman, D. C. Douglas and Tom Atkins and I also did comedies with Bill Zebeb called Scienceless Fiction, and Jesus, The Daughter of God, which were both quite funny.

                                                                    

                              Genoveva on the set with Stephen Baldwin                                       

The one film that was very different for me was Tapestry which was directed by Ken Kushner and that is a wonderful Christian film. It was an amazing and inspiring experience. I deviated into something completely different and it starred Steven Baldwin, Tina Louise from Gilligan’s Island and Burt Young from Rocky. ”

Marie Gilbert: “Where can people see Tapestry?”

Genoveva Rossi: “I don’t think it’s been released to theatres yet. He just wrapped that up pretty recently, but look for it soon! ”

Marie Gilbert: “Well then you’re getting calls for different types of films, now.”

Genoveva Rossi: “Well, that worked out well because I met a director on the set of a horror movie where we were both scene partners and that set led to Tapestry. Film sets often lead to more film sets in this business. I’m open to different genres. I don’t just do horror films and it was really interesting to be in this Christian film where there is no sexuality or nudity and people don’t curse provocatively…and it has a family message to it. This is something my mom would probably like. It’s a wholesome movie and I can certainly appreciate a film that embodies such values. Everyone was wonderful to work with on set and I had a lot of fun working on this. I am grateful for the opportunity.”

Marie Gilbert: How does your mother feel about you acting in horror films?”

Genoveva Rossi: “Everybody in my family has always known that I was obsessed with horror movies ever since I was a little kid. My father is probably the blame in that he introduced me to Budd Abbott and Lou Costello meeting the Wolfman and Boris Karloff and Lon Chaney Jr. When I was little I had one wall full of these pictures of these movies because that’s what I was into. Then my father and I got interested Peter Cushing, Vincent Price, Christopher Lee, Barbara Steele, Ingrid Pitt and films like that, but when more modern horror films like Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13^th came out, he sort of lost interest.  He likes the classics like Hammer and Universal Studio Monsters. For me, my interest in horror just expanded and evolved!  ”

                                                             

                                            Genoveva in the Enchantress                                        

Marie Gilbert: “Have you ever done Stage Shows?”

Genoveva Rossi: “Not since high school and college. I was mostly focused on short films in college, but stage was of greater interest to me in high school. At this time, it isn't something that interests me, but we shall see how things evolve down the road. I'm very committed to film at this time, but I'm also open to the vast possibilities that life can offer so it's possible if the right opportunity came up I would go back to the stage!”

Marie Gilbert: “Would you be interested in doing stage shows, now?”

Genoveva Rossi: “That’s a good question…I’m not sure if that would appeal to me. I have this reputation in film that's really growing and evolving. The Digital Dead, a UK magazine recently referred to me as one of the most well-known scream queens in the world so I feel like I need to focus on film.  Film is a fun medium; I like the screenings, the film distribution, the chance to reach an international audience, and being a celebrity guest at Horror Conventions and the interviews and the IMDb credits. It’s a different medium than theatre work. If someone asks me to be in a horror theatre production that would be running for a while, I guess it could be fun being the same character for weeks at a time, sometimes months. I'm open to the possibility.

It’s the opposite of film work where you’re the same character, but it’s during these little snippets of time. You’re hanging on the set rehearsing your lines and then being “on” while you film  your scene and then go back to eating your bagel and drinking your coffee. Then you have to be “on” as the same character, the same voice and the same appearance. You have to remember what you were wearing and be consistent because it might be five minutes later on the film, but actually the scene might be shot a month later in real life. I can’t drastically change my appearance until I wrap up a film. It's all about being able to go in and out of character seamlessly. ”

Marie Gilbert: “I never thought about that, but as a woman, you would have to keep your hairstyle the same way.”

                                                                        

                                                                       

Genoveva Rossi:  “Yes, I could get my hair trimmed so it stays consistent to go along with my current hairstyle until I stop filming, but every now and then, I do wear wigs. This is nice because you don’t have to worry too much. I do wear wigs in several films I had purple hair in Flesh of the Beast: Tsukiko's Curse and I have a black wig in Witches’ Blood, and long black hair in The Enchantress, which I star in and they are filming right now in Buffalo.

                                                                             

I have blond hair in the series In Fear Of which is playing in Italy right now before going to Vimeo on demand. I have a lot of different hairstyles including a short frosted wig that I wore in The Attack of the Brain People and it looks like Tippi Hedren’s hair in The Birds. That wig is authentic hair and was made in 1958, and my grandmother had it up in her attic.”

Marie Gilbert: “Did you travel to Italy for your part in “In Fear Of”?

Genoveva Rossi: “No, the series was filmed here in America, but they were able to get it distributed to Italian T.V.  Yes, it’s funny because sometimes the films that we shoot, the European market has an even bigger interest than the American market does! I know that a few of my films have a HUGE following in the international market. I have been to Italy though for fun of course and I would certainly be open to filming there or most other countries.”

Marie Gilbert: “I’ve heard that before and it’s amazing how shows will do better in the foreign industry. Tell me more about this series.”

                                                                        

Genoveva Rossi: “In Fear Of is produced by Scott W. Perry and I’m featured in four episodes and star in two. One episode is Fear of Sexual Harassment, and I have long blond hair and I fire an employee of mine who comes back for revenge. I had fired him because of sexual harassment. I looked good in the blond hair and looked very Nordic I must say.

In Fear of Blindness, I have my own hair and this episode is directed by Jeremiah Kipp, a very talented director and it stars Susan Adriensen, which is a friend of mine in real life, is going blind and I’m her best friend who is desperately trying to help her.”

Marie Gilbert: “This is so exciting. When will it be out?”

Genoveva Rossi: “It’s going to be on Vimeo on demand and people can watch the different episodes as they are released on demand. Two of my episodes should be released in June and  July, so I’m very excited.”

Marie Gilbert: “Which director so far have you found the easiest to work for? That you learned the most from?”

Genoveva Rossi: “I think I can go with two people that I felt I learned the most from. The first is Jeremiah Kipp and the second one is Christian Grillo. With Jeremiah Kipp, you rarely work with a script, but instead he would give you a treatment that was several pages long with the whole background of your character that you could really think about and bringing that character alive in your mind and giving you this distinct vision. I think Jeremiah understands the mind of an actor more so than a lot of directors do. Yes with his direction in films, he always has a good scope on what he wants the film to be. He has a keen artistic vision.

                                                                  

                                            Genoveva in Apocalypse Kiss                               

Organization is why I enjoyed working with Christian Grillo in Apocalypse Kiss. He gave me the script six months in advance and told me what days I would be doing my scenes. In every scene I shot, he had a four camera set-up and that means something because each camera captures every angle of your scene. Christian Grillo put in a lot of time and effort into the sets and the wardrobe, and it shows in the final product. I like both because of their organizational skills and because they have this distinctive vision of their film and how to achieve it. They are both great artists.”

Marie Gilbert: “Then it is important for an actor or actress to have a director that connects and let’s you know what’s expected.”

Genoveva Rossi: “Exactly, it’s the director’s vision and how you play your part and how say your lines can be done a hundred different ways. He/she understands the greater scope of your scene and your character on the film. Not all directors have an easy time communicating that to the actor. It's wonderful to work with a director that is also a trained actor.”

We are stopping part two of the interview here, but Genoveva Rossi will be back next week with part three of her interview. I want to thank Genoveva for being a guest on my blog. You can find Genoveva at these sites.

 

Find me at Twitter: @GenovevaRossi1 https://twitter.com/GenovevaRossi

Facebook: GenovevaRossi810                https://www.facebook.com/Genoveva810?fref=ts

 

Guest appearances: Meet Genoveva Rossi at Connecticut Horrorfest on August 23rd and Blood and Babes in Long Island Sept 12-14th

Steampunk Granny's Big Hug and Thank You

                                                                 

                   

On Sunday, June 29, 2014 I did a book launch for my apocalyptic tale with a twist, Roof Oasis, at the Treehouse Coffee Shop in Audubon. There is my banner outside of the Treehouse. Joining me that day at the tables was Dawn Byrnes, better known as Super D to all our friends in the South Jersey Writers’ Group. Dawn and I are responsible for selling our group’s anthologies.

                                                                        

                                                      ReRe and me setting up.                              

My daughter, ReRe, her husband Jim of Reid’s Auto Repairs in South Philly, and my two grandsons, Joshua and Nathan were there to sell her jewelry and to handle the children’s craft corner. Marybeth, a friend of Josh, was kidnapped into playing photographer and what a great job she did. Thank you Marybeth!

                   

                                       

My editor Pattie O’Brien was there to celebrate in my big day and to introduce me when it was time for my reading from the book. She was also selling her ‘Bottles of Inspirations’ which proved to be very popular.
                                                                    

                                                    

My granddaughter, Allie, the fashion designer in the family was selling her Steampunk and Cosplay jewelry and she made the pin that I word on my dress. It represented my writing. Thank you, Allie.

                                                                         

                                                   Me with my husband, Dan.

My husband Dan was put to work collecting money and giving out tickets for our guests to win a door prize. I drove the poor man crazy.

                                                            

                                                              

 

The Treehouse was packed with family and friends from all paths of my life starting with our writers’ group, friends from the Academy of Natural Sciences, St. Agnes Hospital, friends from my Zumba class, friends from my old neighborhood in South Philly, and even my ghost hunting friends were there.

 

                                                                   

              
                                                            

                             

                                                                     

Steampunk Granny's Interview with Actress Genoveva Rossi

                                                                   

I have met many talented people either through my Steampunk adventures or my Ghost Hunting adventures and I’ve learned so much from them. I became acquainted with the lovely and talented actress, Genoveva Rossi, through my interviews of Director Chris Eilenstine of The Soulless. I’m very happy to have Genoveva as a guest on my blog.

Marie Gilbert: “How did you get started in acting? Did you always want to be an actress?”

Genoveva Rossi: “This was something that had always interested me since I was very young as far back as nursery school, I was in school plays. In nursery school, I played a Lady Bug, but I don’t remember what I had to say, but I was very excited. I’ve always had that interest and by the time I got into college, I started doing some short dramatic films with college students that were working towards their film study majors and things like that and I was taking acting classes as well.

                                                                   

                                                                               

Then, one day awhile after I graduated from college someone Jennifer Valdes and Fallen Faith had posted on my Facebook wall that they were looking for people to star in a horror film and did I want to be in it. They wrote a part for me and I went out to Long Island to this old haunted house and farm and I played a sexy Satanist in Jack 'o' Slasher, my first horror movie and I met a lot of consistent people on the set of that film, especially, Director, James Balsamo.

                                                                        

 I did his next film, I Spill Your Guts, which actually got huge pretty quickly and James Balsamo became famous all over the world for that. James got didn’t know how big it was going to become and I didn’t know how big it was going to become in the horror genre, but I still get a lot of feedback at Conventions where people recognize me from that film. I also get fans messaging m from all over the film to ask about this film.

I was doing Zombie Hunters at that time and I was in episodes nine and ten as a National Guard soldier. I had met Patrick Devaney the director from Chiller Theatre that I’ve been going to since I was a kid. I asked him if him if he had a part for me and he said, “You know what I have a part for a soldier, which I haven’t cast yet and I was going to cast a man, but we’re living in a modern world where women are soldiers too, so why don’t I cast a woman and why don’t I cast you.” So, the part was given to me and I got to wear camouflage and I got to handle an M-16. This was so interesting and I had fun."

                                                                                     

Marie Gilbert: “This was a television series?”

Genoveva Rossi: “Yes it’s on Zombie Hunters: City of the Dead. It’s been going on for years and each episode is around thirty minutes. I was on episodes nine and ten and there’ll probably be some more episodes down the road as well.

Marie Gilbert: “Now, where can people find these episodes?”

Genoveva Rossi: “People can find them on FYE.com.  It goes on Public Access television stations on some parts of the country. You can Google it. I don’t think it’s on Netflix, but you can probably buy it. There are a lot of places that distribute it and you can buy it. It’s been around for a while and it’s very much like a soap opera and it follows so many different characters lives.”

Marie Gilbert: “You started acting right out of school and it looks like you do mostly horror.”

Genoveva Rossi:  “Yes, but as far as horror, I can go through my IMDb to tell you what isn’t horror. Sanctum Deep is actually a Sci-fi horror film directed by Geraldine Winters. We just shot that pretty recently and it’s been getting some press. Midnight Show is an interesting film and a collection of trailers of all kinds of movies and is more of a fantasy movie. Then we have The Soulless, which is more like a sci-fi drama. It has zombies in it, but it’s not really a horror film. Also, it doesn’t have crude language or sexuality in it and there is not going to be exclusive violence. I would call it a dramatic series with serious dramatic acting.”

                                                                            

                                                             

Marie Gilbert: “I did an interview on Director Christopher Eilenstein here and here and also with actor Joe Parascand on The Soulless and I was invited to the Premier of part one and I was very impressed with the movie. What part did you play in The Soulless?”

Genoveva Rossi: “In part one; I played a part of a zombie and also a person running from people. We don’t shoot on some days consecutively, but I’m a team player and I’ll to help when needed. I pop up as a member of ‘the soulless’ as a soldier, Charlotte Elling going around and killing zombies and trying to save the human race in parts 2 and 3. In fact I actually have a duel role in that I play Madam Serling, a fortune teller and she is in part three.

You don’t meet my characters until part two when we go away on location with the main characters. In part three, Madam Serling pops up and I play that character with a wig, make-up and a French accent and Christopher was impressed on how unrecognizable I was at being the same actor. He said that the people he showed this film to did not know it was me."

Marie Gilbert: That’s really neat.”

Genoveva Rossi: “Well it challenging for me as an actor. I didn’t know if I would be able to pull it off, but after Christopher shot it he said it actually came out better than he expected, which is what you want to hear as an actor.”

Marie Gilbert: “This opens your career up now because other people are recommending you, right?”

Genoveva Rossi: “Yes, that’s right. If things work out and you’re a good actor, you’re reliable and you have a good positive attitude, it gets around. In fact I was working on The Soulless when I got cast for Trailer Heaven, which is being directed by Michael Chartier and we’ve already starting shooting that film, but it’s not on my IMDb yet. Trailer Heaven stars Edward X Young, myself, Alan Rowe Kelly, and a whole bunch of other wonderful actors. I play a reporter in that film, Jennifer Devine.

The film is about a con artist played by Edward X Young who seeks sanctuary in a trailer park inhabited by cannibal transvestites”

Marie Gilbert: laughing says, “This is going to be a good movie.”

Genoveva Rossi: “It’s going to be amazing and thatstically done with the great acting and with the strong cinematography. What I’ve seen so far, it looks spectacular. I play Jennifer Devine as homage to the actress Divine  who acted in a bunch of John Waters' films.”

Marie Gilbert: “I know Devine. I love the actor. Thank you for doing part one of the interview, Genoveva and we'll continue with part two next week.

I have to end part one of the interview with Genoveva Rossi here, dear readers, but don't worry, Genoveva will be back next week to tell us more about her acting career.  

Life With Fred & Lucy Episode 32: Don't Kill Patty

                                                              

My sister Lucy, who was the youngest of Fred and Lucy’s spawn and, had somehow survived past her infancy in spite of her older siblings as told on this episode, had received a Patti PlayPal Doll for Christmas. Lucy was so happy to have a doll that was just her size. Lucy really loved that doll. Unfortunately, she lived in a dysfunctional home and Patti’s survival looked dim

Patty Play Pal

This doll was the big hit in 1961 and the best way for you to understand how big a deal it was to own a Patti PlayPal, is to see the commercial.

 

That year, my brother, Michael, had also received a Christmas gift that he’d been hoping good, ole, Santa would bring him. His gift was a Remco Science kit which held all kinds of scientific experiments. Michael was ready to play Dr. Frankenstein. A few days later, while Michael was setting up his diabolical laboratory, my mother was in the kitchen washing dishes.
                                                                  
                                                                     

                 Michael, Jane, Mom, unknown doll, Patty Play Pal and Little Lucy

Mom was at the sink and she wanted someone to dry the dishes. There was a mirror over the kitchen sink. To this day, I don’t know why my father would have hung a mirror over the kitchen sink, but I suspect it was to see what we were doing behind his back.
                                                                                    
                                                                      

                                              you can see the mirror over the sink

Unknown to Mom, Lucy left her Patti doll sitting at the kitchen table while she ran to the bathroom. Mom thinks it’s my sister sitting at the table and when Lucy ignored her request for help, my mother gave a "Gibbs smack to the back of the doll's head and it went flying off the chair. My mother let out a scream thinking she had seriously hurt little Lucy.

Little Lucy had just returned to the kitchen to see Patti lying on the floor. “You killed Patti!” Lucy cried out, but luckily Patti wasn't damaged. That would soon change with my brother planning his first experiment.                                                                      

My sister Lucy came home from school one day to find a badly scarred Patti sitting on her bed. There were stiches drawn in permanent ink across her face, arms and legs and one of her eyes was a bit crooked. “Mikeeeeey,” she screamed in horror.

                                                                          

My brother came running into the bedroom wearing a white lab coat and holding a pen knife. When Lucy, who was in tears, asked why he broke her doll, his reply was, “I saved the patient.”

My father gave the good doctor a spanking and tried to undo the damage to Patti, but she was destined to remain a character from a horror movie.  Lucy refused to play with her doll in public. It was too painful explaining to her little friends that our family was more like the Addams Family. Later that year, Patti lost a limb during another one of Michael’s experiment. Patti was finally put to rest in doll heaven, better known as the basement.
                                                               

 I'm writing an apocalyptic series and in the first book, Roof Oasis, one of my characters is a robot. I named her Patty in honor of Lucy’s doll, but unlike my sister's doll, no one can hurt this Patty. She’s armed.

My Interview with Intertainment Hub

                                                                      

I'm so excited. My friends at Intertainment Hub interviewed me on their show and we had fun talking about my apocalypse book, Roof Oasis, ghost hunting, zombies and Steampunk. I was even invited to play a game with the two fabulous hosts. They were so friendly that I wasn't nervous at all. If you get a chance, go to their site on Twitter https://twitter.com/IntertainHub  Follow them on Facebook too. https://www.facebook.com/IntertainmentHub


Thank you Scarlett and Nathan from Intertainment Hub. You rock!!

Bombshell Pinups at the SoHa Arts Building

                                                                         

 

 

I’ve written about my marvelous friend, Mandy, of Bombshell Pinups before, and I recently wrote about my grandson Nathan participating in a class about DNA at the SoHa Arts Building…folks you need to check this place out!

                                                                        

Mandy has her photography studio inside the SoHa and she has all kinds of specials coming up. Right now, Mandy is doing photo shoots on the Maleficent character portrayed so deliciously by Angelina Jolie in the Disney film. Here is Mandy holding two of the headpieces that you can choose from when you go to have your photo done. Check out that dragon throne. I love it.

                                                                                 

                                                                         

When I needed an author’s photo for the back cover of my apocalypse novella, there was only one person I would trust with this task and it was Mandy. This is the picture I went for and I have received so many compliments from people who have bought my book. Thank you Mandy!
                                                                                  

Here are some upcoming photo shoots that Bombshell Pinups has planned.

Maleficent photo shoot until the end of June

Housewife special for July.

                                                                               

Where you get to dress in vintage clothing and pose in a vintage Kitchen scene. Mandy has a large selection of clothing to choose from. She also does your make-up for the shoot

                                                                          

                                                                     

Mandy is also working on her Tarot Cards photo shoot complete with wardrobe to depict the different scenes normally seen on Tarot Cards. This sounds so exciting. She also has plans for a Alice in Wonderland scene, Carnival scene, Halloween Special photo shoot and a Christmas Special photo shoot.

                                                                               

What a wonderful gift to get for your sweetheart or husband! A picture of your dressed sensually in vintage clothing against a vintage background. So check out Bombshell Pinups and make someone happy.

Right now, for anyone interested in Steampunk, Mandy is selling her Steampunk Grandfather Clock. Contact Mandy if interested.