Its Friday night - you've got the lurgy, so instead of going out to a friend's place with her awesome cook of a husband, you stay in.
You curl up on the lounge with a cup of soup, huddle under a handmade shawl your best friend from England made you, you turn out the lights and settle down to watch F. W. Murnau's Nosforatu.
Half hour into the movie, we see the vampire. You're all alone, the cat is curled up with you and suddenly the stairs shake madly like someone has just pelted up them. The upstairs creak and groan like there's someone walking around up there.
Holy SHIT! Who's in the house with me and when did they get in !!!!
An hour or so later I find out we had an earthquake.
19 comments:
BTW: We don't get earthquakes in Australia - they are exceedingly rare so I didn't even *think* that's what it was until I found out on Twitter after the movie finished!
Very old continent but yes earthquakes are very rare. This time it was a 4.7, with an epicentre near Loch, about 90km south east of you. Great talking point though!
We had a small earthquake here a few years ago - very. very rare here, too. It was weird.
Have you seen Shadow of the Vampire? It has John Malkovich playing Murnau, making that movie. Very interesting....
Wow - timing is everything!
We don't have earthquakes often in this part of the country, but we had one that was noticeable at home about 5 years ago. (If I'd been asleep, I probably wouldn't have known about it..). There have been two or three near MIL's place in New Jersey in the past month. Nothing major, but they've gotten people's attentions!
Just another reason not to watch scary movies. I hope you are feeling better. Beside the movie the evening sounded nice. There is something to be said every now and then to sit back and relax on the couch by yourself.
Yikes! Although an earthquake is probably better than someone having gotten into your place. We don't get earthquakes in MN so I would have probably freaked...
One of the four elephants on the great turtle must have lost his footing briefly. Now you can say you survived the great quake of '09.
Hope you're on the mend sweetie. Dad felt the earthquake last night (we didn't which is odd because we're in the same house). I'll say something romantic like "we too wrapped up in each other to notice".....but I'll be fibbing..we're clearly just dense
Oh...and also..."Fires...drought...floods..now earthquakes...DOOMED...we're all DOOMED"
One of my favourite movies, astonishingly enough. Very black humour - loved it at the cinema and need to add it to my collection.
I relax on the couch by myself every night of the week :) I was looking forward to getting out and spending time with people!
The fact that it was an earthquake didn't bother me. Its the timing that made it blog-worthy {grin}
One of my favourite poems:
"We’ll all be rooned," said Hanrahan
In accents most forlorn
Outside the church ere Mass began
One frosty Sunday morn.
The congregation stood about,
Coat-collars to the ears,
And talked of stock and crops and drought
As it had done for years.
"It’s lookin’ crook," said Daniel Croke;
"Bedad, it’s cruke, me lad
For never since the banks went broke
Has seasons been so bad."
"It’s dry, all right," said young O’Neil,
With which astute remark
He squatted down upon his heel
And chewed a piece of bark.
And so around the chorus ran
"It’s keepin’ dry, no doubt."
"We’ll all be rooned," said Hanrahan,
"Before the year is out.
"The crops are done; ye’ll have your work
To save one bag of grain;
From here way out to Back-O’-Bourke
They’re singin’ out for rain.
"They’re singin’ out for rain," he said,
"And all the tanks are dry."
The congregation scratched its head,
And gazed around the sky.
"There won’t be grass, in any case,
Enough to feed an ass;
There’s not a blade on Casey’s place
As I came down to Mass."
"If rain don’t come this month," said Dan,
And cleared his throat to speak –
"We’ll all be rooned," said Hanrahan, "
If rain don’t come this week."
A heavy silence seemed to steal
On all at this remark;
And each man squatted on his heel,
And chewed a piece of bark.
"We want an inch of rain, we do,"
O’Neil observed at last;
But Croke "maintained" we wanted two
To put the danger past.
"If we don’t get three inches, man,
Or four to break this drought,
We’ll all be rooned," said Hanrahan,
"Before the year is out."
In God’s good time down came the rain;
And all the afternoon
On iron roof and window-pane
It drummed a homely tune.
And through the night it pattered still,
And lightsome, gladsome elves
On dripping spout and window-sill
Kept talking to themselves.
It pelted, pelted all day long,
A-singing at its work,
Till every heart took up the song
Way out to Back-O’-Bourke.
And every creek a banker ran,
And dams filled overtop;
"We’ll all be rooned," said Hanrahan,
"If this rain doesn’t stop."
And stop it did, in God’s good time:
And spring came in to fold
A mantle o’er the hills sublime
Of green and pink and gold.
And days went by on dancing feet,
With harvest-hopes immense,
And laughing eyes beheld the wheat
Nid-nodding o’er the fence.
And, oh, the smiles on every face,
As happy lad and lass
Through grass knee-deep on Casey’s place
Went riding down to Mass.
While round the church in clothes genteel
Discoursed the men of mark,
And each man squatted on his heel,
And chewed his piece of bark.
"There’ll be bush-fires for sure, me man,
There will, without a doubt;
We’ll all be rooned," said Hanrahan,
"Before the year is out."
So is this what they mean when people say that the earth moved for them!!!!
PMSL! Its the closest I ever get to it these days!
ROFL. Sorry Mel, I know it initially scared the crap out of you, but 'Earthquake' was certainly not the punch line I was expecting. Last year, when I woke up to the bed shaking, I toed the dog because I thought she was chasing squirrels in her sleep again. It was an earthquake, also quite rare in Michigan. 1988 was the last one prior to it.
Well, they do say timing is everything. Did you pause the movie to go upstairs to investigate?? I don't think I could have finished watching it, unsure if someone was really upstairs!! I LOVE the poem Mel, who's the author?
Funny coincidences sometimes!
The other day we've had a staff meeting and one colleague reported about his business with another department, with which he's had a few problems to work out thing, and every time he mentioned them we've had a clap of either thunder or lightning. We're still laughing our ass off because of that!
Scary movies can do that to you when something entirely unexpected happens. We have earthquakes up to about 3.5 on the Richter scale (which isn't very much!, hardly any damages reported because of them), so we usually know how to place these movements.
But it's still nice if it's something you can laugh away in the end, isn't it?
Oh my, Mel!! I can remember an incident from my childhood. My sister was babysitting me and was mad she had to so she insisted we watch a vampire movie. I was quite young and it scared the poo outta me. Went to bed on my top bunk of the bunk beds and immediately started having nightmares about the movie. Right as the vampire leaned over to bite me, I felt the teeth going into my stomach. I sat up with a squeal and discovered my cat had somehow misjudged the jump and had dugs his lovely claws into my stomach to hang on! Whew!
Hope things are okay! You all have sure been through a lot there lately!!
I was fine Laura - just got the pulse racing for a small while there. I couldn't believe it when I found out it was my first earthquake. If I had been with friends or doing something any other activity I doubt I would even have noticed it!
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