Tuesday 27 March 2012

Dracula: The man behind the myth...

Count Dracula, probably the most famous villain of all horror. He has been portrayed in all aspects of the media books, films, even breakfast cereals! We all know who he is. But do you know where he came from? How it all started?

Count Dracula was first depicted in 1897 in Bram Stoker's novel Dracula. The story tells of how Dracula attempted to relocate from Transylvania to Britain, and the resulting battle between him and a group of people led by Van Helsing. This wasn't the first showing of the vampire, as there have been many stories and myths about bloodsuckers going through the ages. But Stoker really did start the vampiric phenomenon we see today. Although the book was praised by critics it wasn't an immediate bestseller. Victorian readers appreciated the story but it did not become significant until the art of film making boosted its reputation.

Now we all know (don't we?) that Count Dracula is a completely fictional character but it has been widely believed that he is largely based on Vlad III Dracula better known as Vlad the Impaler.
Vlad was a Transylvanian born Prince of Wallachia. He got the nickname "Impaler" due to the fact that he would torture and kill anyone he considered useless to him, His favourite method would be to impale them on a sharp pole and then leave them to die. It is rumoured that over 40,000 people suffered that fate by his order.  It was also said that Vlad drank the blood of his victims. But there is no evidence of this and it was probably started being spread after the Dracula connection became popular.

The word 'dracula' means "Son of Dracul" (dragon) is actually derived from a secret fraternal order of knights called the Order of the Dracul (dragon) that swore to defend Christendom and the Holy Roman Empire form the Ottoman Turks. The father of Vlad the Impaler, Vlad II was inducted into the order in 1431 because of the victories he had claimed against the Turks. From then on he wore the badges of the order and when he became ruler of Wallachia he even had the dragon symbol stamped on his coins. Bram Stoker was known to have had limited knowledge on Romanian history but it is unknown as to how much fact he inserted into the fiction.

Dracula has since become one of the all time most popular characters in history. It has spawned many films such as Dracula, Dracula and would you believe Dracula. There have been a total of 217 films made with Dracula playing a major part, that's second only to Sherlock Holmes (223 films).  The first film was made in 1922 it was called "Nosferatu" they avoided copyright issues by changing the names of all the books characters, as they could not get permission from Stoker's widow. 

Count Dracula is one of the few villains everyone loves. His character has spawned a wave of fascination throughout the world. Vampires would be nothing without him.  From him spawned Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the Legacy of Kain series, Blade, True Blood, The Vampire Diaries and even the sparkly losers from Twilight. Without him none of these hugely popular shows and games would ever of began. You know who to thank for their popularity and it sure as hell isn't Robert Pattinson.

Thursday 22 March 2012

Is this the end? No probably not...

Hi everyone,  not really much of a blog this week but I have been really busy doing things in the real world! This is pretty much an announcement more than anything. So here goes.


When I began this I called it Musings of an Idiot because A) I am an idiot and B) I intended to muse about my thoughts and feelings. As time went on I realised I really don't care about things that much, I also did not want this to be a thing where I moan about stuff. We hear moaning all the time!

So I started writing about what was happening in the week i.e Valentines Day, Pancake Day etc etc. I really enjoyed finding out the little facts and stories I didn't know. This is it, the announcement....

From next week I am changing the name of the blog to something more suitable (suggestions would be appreciated as I haven't got a f**king clue what it is yet!). The blog is going to be about interesting things that I come across, it could be anything a person in history, a city or the Mayans end of the world theory! As normal I will put a little dash of me into the mix and hopefully out will pop something you can enjoy. Maybe even say to yourself  "huh I never knew that".

I am even offering it out to you so we can all be part of this together. If there is a certain person, topic, festival, or even chocolate bar you want to know about, send me a message either through my facebook or my e-mail which is lei080387@hotmail.co.uk If I can I will research it and do a little write up you can all enjoy.

Whe I started this I never expected it to become as popular as it has so I will also take this time to thank you all for reading my stuff. I hope you will carry on and enjoy the show, because god damn it, Thats what its all about! I look forward to hearing your suggestions.

Cheers Leigh

Tuesday 13 March 2012

Thirteen: Unlucky For Some..

So today is Friday the 13th which is a really unlu... Oh wait hang on, its Tuesday the 13th not so unlucky then! But there is a fascination with the number 13, lucky for some but unlucky to others. Who decided it was unlucky? Whats the history behind it? Well I am gonna tell you!

Many people believe that the origins of the unluckiness (if that is even a word!) of 13 comes from the Bible, Yes you got it! That little book crops up everywhere we go. There were 13 people at the last supper, Jesus and his 12 apostles. Even now in many countries its considered unlucky to have 13 people at a table. 13 is also the amount of witches you need to make a coven, and it is also the age you are ready to start using witchcraft. I myself am a level 45 warlock/ninja, if you believe that then you will believe anything!

Its thought that a year with 13 full moons will cause many problems, Apparently it was also massive nightmare for the monks who organised the calendars. But in a normal 100 years there are 37 years with 13 full moons I can't see it being that much of a big deal. The Mayan Calendar ends at the 13th Baktun, which many people/morons believe will be the Apocalypse! For Jewish people the number 13 is considered lucky, to which it is argued the unlucky number 13 stems from anti-semitism. On a traditional hangman's noose there are 13 turns, anything less is not strong enough to snap a neck. There is even a medical name for the fear of the number 13 Triskaidekaphobia!

13 has also been tagged with Friday, but why? Again its the bibles fault! Jesus was killed on a Friday, Noah's great floods started on a Friday, even Adam and Eve were tempted to eat the forbidden fruits on a Friday! Many countries have Fridays as there execution day. Friday in general is considered unlucky in many nations and faiths. So I guess two really unlucky things put together makes the mother of all unluckiness (still not sure if that's a real word or not!)! 

Also on Friday the 13th of October 1307, King Philip IV of France ordered the arrest of the Knights Templar. He had built up massive debts to them during the crusades. But at the time the crusades were losing popularity so he used this to his advantage. He had them arrested and tortued until they admitted heresy. He then used this to disband the order, thus freeing himself of his debts. The crafty bastard....

There are many more minor reasons why 13 is unlucky but many cultures consider 13 to be lucky. I guess its just one of those things! Seems to me like its been unlucky for most of our history so I suppose it will carry on being unlucky. Just remember its just a number and a day, the more you think bad stuff is going to happen the more it will. Thinks good thoughts and good things will happen, its the best way to be!



Tuesday 6 March 2012

St Piran: Cornwall's Symbol

St Piran: The patron saint of Cornwall. Everyone knows his name, but do you actually know who he was, or what he did? Well if you don't by the end of this blog you will!

The Legend
So this is how the story goes. St Piran was born in Ireland sometime in the 6th century A.D . He became a christian Abbott and decided to preach the good Lord's name to the world, Hallelujah! Unfortunately for St Piran the heathen Irish weren't too keen on the idea of God and his troublemaker son Jesus. So instead of converting, they thought it would be a better idea to tie poor old Piran up, attach him to a mill-stone and throw him into the ocean. Problem solved, except when he was thrown into the stormy ocean, the sea grew calm, the rains stopped and the giant stone floated. A miracle if I had ever seen one! So as the heathens stood in disbelief, Piran sailed off into the sunset (I imagine he was also waving the middle finger, but that probably didn't happen).

He finally came ashore on a sandy beach in Perranzabuloe, where he set up a church, and helped spread Christendom to the Cornish, who I might add were much more welcoming than the Irish!
The Cornish had also been known as skilled miners and had supplied the Romans with tin for centuries, but due to the fall of Rome the skill of tin smelting had become lost. Luckily Piran rediscovered this method, by smelting the tin out of his black hearthstone, which must of been a tin-bearing ore. The rumour is that as the molten tin came across the hearthstone it formed a white cross. White molten tin cross on a black hearthstone background? That's a great idea for a flag, and that is exactly what the Cornish flag symbolises.

After many years St Piran died and his remains were buried at his abbey in Perranzabuloe. Centuries later his remains were exhumed and redistributed to different churches across the country. Exeter Cathedral got an arm, Perranzabuloe got his head so on and so forth. Churches in Perranarworthal and Perranuthnoe were dedicated to him. And holy wells in Perranwell and Probus are named after him. There also towns in Brittany named after him and even a mountain in Canada! Thats the story or is it?

The Probable Truth
This can be quite confusing so keep up!
The Irish Saint Ciarán of Saighir, who founded the monastery at Seir-Kieran (Saighir) in County Offaly, is widely believed to also be St Piran, this is due to the fact that in the Celtic language The 
P-Celtic Brythonic (Cornish, Welsh, and Breton) 'P' can easily be transformed into the
Q-Celtic Goidelic (Gaelic, Manx, and Scottish) 'C'. I am not gonna pretend I really know what that means but if you do your research it keeps coming up! It is also believed Ciarán had travelled to Britain to spread christianity. The feast day of Saint Ciarán is also March 5. In the 14th Century the life of St Piran was written at Exeter Cathedral, where rumour has it the records were modified to distance Piran from Ciarán. Who knew the Catholic church could be so devious?

Well there you have it in a nutshell, but as I have been researching this, whether or not he was Piran or Ciarán. I thought to myself does it really matter? He certainly didn't float here on a rock! But he is a symbol for Cornish pride, and as a nation (we ARE a nation, whether England likes it or not!) you need symbols, a rallying point to share your heritage. March 5th is a day to venerate him and show the rest of the world that we are proud to be Cornish.  KERNOW BYS VYKEN!