Found 270 posts tagged ‘grave mood rings’ |
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I Found a Penny Today, So Here's a Thought –
July 29, 2024 |
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A surrealist, dadaistic, even post-contemplationist spoof of slow-moving Gothic soap operas of the 1970s, from the minds of Jonathan Caws-Elwitt and Prof. Oddfellow: it's Grave Mood Rings, a weird intersection in the universe of Penetralia.
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I Found a Penny Today, So Here's a Thought –
July 27, 2024 |
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Mixing vampire humor and 1970s tropes (like pet rocks, lava lamps, disco music, bell-bottom pants, mirror balls, and of course mood rings), the web series Grave Mood Rings pokes fast fun at classic slow-moving Gothic soap operas like Dark Shadows and the Canadian series Strange Paradise. In addition to a vampiric Viscount, a castle is home to a groovy Doctor (a phlebotomist, naturally), a jolly housekeeper with her own laugh track, a werewolf Vicar, and an arch-nemesis riddler wearing a Sphinx mask. Corny wordplay, the occasional bizarre sing-a-long, and haunted doughnuts punctuate the proceedings, in the tradition of the sketch comedy of MadTV, Kids in the Hall, and SCTV.
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I Found a Penny Today, So Here's a Thought –
July 20, 2024 |
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Mixing vampire humor and 1970s tropes (like pet rocks, lava lamps, disco music, bell-bottom pants, mirror balls, and of course mood rings), the web series Grave Mood Rings pokes fast fun at classic slow-moving Gothic soap operas like Dark Shadows and the Canadian series Strange Paradise. In addition to a vampiric Viscount, a castle is home to a groovy Doctor (a phlebotomist, naturally), a jolly housekeeper with her own laugh track, a werewolf Vicar, and an arch-nemesis riddler wearing a Sphinx mask. Corny wordplay, the occasional bizarre sing-a-long, and haunted doughnuts punctuate the proceedings, in the tradition of the sketch comedy of MadTV, Kids in the Hall, and SCTV.
In this episode, the Viscount fears an uprising of the Village People.
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I Found a Penny Today, So Here's a Thought –
July 12, 2024 |
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Mixing vampire humor and 1970s tropes (like pet rocks, lava lamps, disco music, bell-bottom pants, mirror balls, and of course mood rings), the web series Grave Mood Rings pokes fast fun at classic slow-moving Gothic soap operas like Dark Shadows and the Canadian series Strange Paradise. In addition to a vampiric Viscount, a castle is home to a groovy Doctor (a phlebotomist, naturally), a jolly housekeeper with her own laugh track, a werewolf Vicar, and an arch-nemesis riddler wearing a Sphinx mask. Corny wordplay, the occasional bizarre sing-a-long, and haunted doughnuts punctuate the proceedings, in the tradition of the sketch comedy of MadTV, Kids in the Hall, and SCTV.
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Go Out in a Blaze of Glory –
July 9, 2024 |
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Go Out in a Blaze of Glory –
July 8, 2024 |
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We're honored by this review over at Dabodab: Video Series Review: Grave Mood Rings
by Briyan Frederick
In an unexpected yet delightful twist of nostalgia and absurdity, Jonathan Caws-Elwitt has introduced us to “Grave Mood Rings,” a web series crafted alongside Craig Conley and Michael Warwick (of Captive Audience and Mystery Arts fame). This series is a carriage ride of humor that blends vampire lore with the most iconic clichés of the 1970s.
For a bit of personal context—as someone who was once nicknamed Barnabas Collins by schoolmates due to my hair—this show resonates on a unique level. Watching “Grave Mood Rings” feels like revisiting a beloved, albeit twisted, chapter of television history.
Each “emptive” episode runs just a few minutes but is packed with layered seventies tropes presented through gauze-lensed scenes. You can viscount on each episode to deliver absurd twists and puns forced through plastic teeth. The Viscount playing an invisible organ and singing with said teeth quickly became my favorite recurring element. His character embodies the blend of humor and homage that makes this series so engaging.
The artist or label describes the show as a mix of vampire humor and 1970s elements such as pet rocks, lava lamps, disco music, bell-bottom pants, mirror balls, and mood rings. (And that’s just the credits preface). “Grave Mood Rings” cleverly parodies slow-moving Gothic soap operas like “Dark Shadows” and the Canadian series “Strange Paradise.” This creative concoction culminates in a series that is both a satire and a love letter to the past.
The setting—a castle—hosts a colorful array of characters, including:
- A Groovy Doctor: A phlebotomist who adds a tongue-in-cheek nod to the show’s vampiric theme.
- A Jolly Housekeeper: Complete with her own laugh track, she brings a meta-comedic touch reminiscent of classic sitcoms.
- A Werewolf Vicar: Infusing the Gothic atmosphere with humorous howls.
- An Arch-Nemesis Riddler: Donning a Sphinx mask, he adds an aura of mystery and mischief.
Corny wordplay, bizarre sing-alongs, and even haunted doughnuts punctuate the proceedings. The humor is in line with sketch comedy classics like MadTV, Kids in the Hall, and SCTV, making “Grave Mood Rings” a refreshing addition to the genre.
Jonathan’s invitation to explore the series led me to the Grave Mood Rings playlist on YouTube. It’s a surreal journey into a world where vampires groove with werewolves and laugh-tracked housekeepers. It’s an experience replete with humor, nostalgia, and a touch of the absurd. Whether you have a penchant for Gothic soap operas or a soft spot for 1970s kitsch, this series offers a uniquely entertaining escape.
So, if you’re intrigued by the idea of witnessing a Viscount sing through plastic teeth or simply crave a good laugh, “Grave Mood Rings” is well worth your time. Dive into this wonderfully off-the-wall sendup and prepare for a nostalgic, yet refreshingly original ride.
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I Found a Penny Today, So Here's a Thought –
July 8, 2024 |
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Hailed as "the best series running at this time" (thanks, Billy Brujo Show!), it's Grave Mood Rings. Mixing vampire humor and 1970s tropes (like pet rocks, lava lamps, disco music, bell-bottom pants, mirror balls, and of course mood rings), the web series Grave Mood Rings pokes fast fun at classic slow-moving Gothic soap operas like Dark Shadows and the Canadian series Strange Paradise. In addition to a vampiric Viscount, a castle is home to a groovy Doctor (a phlebotomist, naturally), a jolly housekeeper with her own laugh track, a werewolf Vicar, and an arch-nemesis riddler wearing a Sphinx mask. Corny wordplay, the occasional bizarre sing-a-long, and haunted doughnuts punctuate the proceedings, in the tradition of the sketch comedy of MadTV, Kids in the Hall, and SCTV. This episode was penned by Jonathan Caws-Elwitt.
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I Found a Penny Today, So Here's a Thought –
July 6, 2024 |
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Go Out in a Blaze of Glory –
July 5, 2024 |
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Our very own Grave Mood Rings has been hailed on Reddit as a genuine WTF series and likened to the hilarious cult horror series The Heart, She Holler from Cartoon Network's Adult Swim ."I feel as though my whole day will be different from here on, just don't know what or how as yet" —BigCrackZ
"Unsettlingly fascinating for sure" —No-Bees
"Bizarre performances" —Percolated_aspie
Reminiscent of the weird VHS tape in The Ring series —alinearis
Catch up with this playlist of all the episodes to date.
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I Found a Penny Today, So Here's a Thought –
June 22, 2024 |
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I Found a Penny Today, So Here's a Thought –
June 12, 2024 |
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I Found a Penny Today, So Here's a Thought –
May 1, 2024 |
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This song offers a major twist on vampire lore, turning everything inside out and upside down so as to reveal a new perspective (in the tradition of creativity stimulation techniques and esoteric customs). Various spiritual traditions acknowledge beings on earth who, as highly evolved souls, chose to incarnate so as to help humanity carry the burdens of life. Of course, Buddhists call these beings bodhisattvas, Hindus call them Devas, Christians refer to saints and angels, and so on. These evolved souls incarnate into human form and assist others by taking on their darkness until those people are able to process it on their own. Over millennia of reincarnations, each bodhisattva/saint takes on a massive amount of darkness (even earth-sized). The darkness doesn't technically weigh anything, but it's a burden nonetheless, and here's the thing: the thick layers of other people's darkness begin to hide the saint's own angelic light, so people can't see the saint's true nature but rather see a twisted, distorted, very dark image. Misunderstood, persecuted people from various minority cultures will grasp this phenomenon all-too-well. What if vampires, seen as the incarnation of evil, were actually saints who take on their so-called victims' darkness and grant eternal life (freeing the souls from the cycle of rebirths)? What if vampires were understood to live only at night because they are so shadowed by the darkness they carry for others? Of course, the only way to free oneself of a burden of shadows is to expose the darkness to light — an instant, automatic fix. Mightn't an angel (viewed by lesser-evolved or otherwise unseeing souls as a vampire) possibly fear disburdening all the carried darkness, lest that possibly violate the divine contract to help humanity? So these angels seem eternally bound to the night, but in fact they can free themselves by simply tapping back into the godly light that was theirs before the earth was even formed. Given that philosophical background, here are the lyrics with bracketed commentary:
Under black light we are glowing, gloaming.
[The song begins with a seeming oxymoron, "black light." Ultraviolet is invisible to the eye, and the song is about qualities of vampires that are invisible to others. The vampire glows under black light, the meaning of which will become clearer as the song progresses—in the seeming blackness of night, there is yet an inner glow, like the little white circle ensconced in the black half of the Yin/Yang symbol.]
Those of us who bear the burden of others' darkness get aura-ed in gloom, seeming unilluminated. Inner radiance is hidden, unseen.
[Here we learn that the vampire is less a creature of darkness than a creature /in/ darkness. The darkness—crucially /other/ people's darkness—hides the vampire's inner light, his true nature.]
Though the carried shadows span the earth's circumference they don't weigh anything--not much; still they exert a force.
[Of course a shadow isn't technically heavy, yet it can be a pressure or strain on the one handling it.]
The least we could do
Undertake the pain
[This refers to the bodhisattva/saint's voluntary mission to help humanity.]
Gravid with the dark
[The word gravid, literally "pregnant," alludes to the cycle of rebirth while also hinting at being buried (grave) under the darkness.]
Accepting sorrows
Shadows will accrue
[Darkness accumulates with the hardships of the 3D world.]
Happening again
Another birthmark
[For the incarnated angel, rebirths are part of the Buddhistic Wheel of Life until the angel's work is done and he reascends.]
Archaic morrows
[The word "morrow" is itself archaic, but this also refers to lifetimes of sunrises in a seemingly eternal mission to assist humanity.]
If sunrise should disburden us
Would our travail have been in vain?
[Only light can dispel a shadow and release the bodhisattva from the burden of humanity's sorrows. Yet, would dropping the load negate the mission? That is the bodhisattva's paradoxical situation.]
According to angles of view
["Angles" is a subtle play on "angels.]
Mistaken for Nosferatu
[The angel is demonized as a vampire like Nosferatu, whose name is the archaic precursor to "vampire."]
Or some Orlok
[Another reference to Nosferatu, with a hint at the word "warlock."]
Władysława
[The Polish cognate of "Vlad," in feminine form.]
What's in a name?
[The following list of vampire names from literature and film of course serves as a litany, since these figures are now seen in their angelic nature. (And doesn't this help to explain the general public's fascination with vampires? Surely vampires don't spark fascination because people truly relate to evil, horror, and tragedy. Instead, mightn't people instinctively, unconsciously sense the angels behind the deadly masks?)] Lestat d'Lioncourt
Olga Dracula
von Horrificus
Zachary Kralik
Stefan Salvatore
Morticia de'Ath
Sergei Kubichek
Laszlo Cravensworth
R. von Schlotterstein
Michael Morbius
Christian Ozera
Marcus Van Sciver
Cassandra DuCharme
Lucien LaCroix
Barnabas Collins
Whatchamacallit
Demonize, if you must
We'll bear that darkness
[How others label the bodhisattva is ultimately none of the bodhisattva's business. The work of bearing humanity's darkness goes on.]
We'll endure night endless
Encloak inwardness
[The bodhisattva suffers seemingly eternal night; the carried darkness, like a vampire's classic cloak, enshrouds his inner light.]
Just let go, so they say
[The bodhisattva has heard the advice, "Let go and let God."]
Burgeon in verdure
[The advice has been to let go of the dark burden and simply flourish in the green life of earth. "Get back to nature!" "Go green!"]
Our specs are rose hued
[But the bodhisattva doesn't see the green so well, partially because he isn't tied to the illusions of the 3D world and also because he wears the "rose-colored glasses" of optimism for humanity.]
Bloody well endure
[The rose-color of the glasses here ties to the blood associated with vampires. The bodhisattva's primary objective is to persevere with the burden of the mission.]
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Original Content Copyright © 2025 by Craig Conley. All rights reserved.
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