Should I have opted to become a vampire when I had the opportunity?

In college I was dating a girl who, as it turns out, was a vampire. It took me several months to come to this realization for I was fixated on her limitless beauty and infinite wisdom.





Her skin was as pale as the flesh of a lychee and glowed in the moonlight for she refused to be seen by day.





She took classes in the evening and slept all day. The only times I saw her outdoors in the dawn were when it was raining. She loved the rain. She had a large collection of trench coats and umbrellas. Under her coat she wore the most lovely skirts. I always got a kick out of seeing her wear a skirt with boots. (not literally)





I loved her. When she was ill I would tend to her. When she was sad I would comfort her. The realization that she was a vampire momentarily stopped my heart as I was overcome by respect and fear.





In the end, I decided to break it off. Maybe I was too afraid, maybe the vampire "life" isn't for me, I don't know.





Was I wrong or did I do the right thing?

Should I have opted to become a vampire when I had the opportunity?
A writer by profession, I have two things to say to you.





1) You should have become a vampire so you could live forever -- or, at the very least, be deceived into believing you would.





2) You should write for a living if you don't already. You are very good!
Reply:vampires have an awful 'life' they cant really feel everything is cold and dark so it depends on your lifestyle i for one wouldnt have taken it because i hate the taste of blood (thats why im a vegetarian)
Reply:You know, a lot of people are vampires in college. Once she graduated, she either got over it herself or moved back in with her parents. So, if you call her parents' house and she's there, you still have a chance!
Reply:depends on your beliefs...if your a true christian probally not
Reply:since you still believe in fairies... can i sell you a bridge with a troll under it too?


im half troll m'self
Reply:Oh if only I'd met a male vampire...*le sigh*





Ahem... :)





I'm sorry about that. Right or wrong...unfortunatly you cannot go back. If you have the ability to find her again, then you should follow your heart and the worst she could do is slam the door in your face. In the end you'll be no worse off than you already are.





If that is an impossibility and she is truly gone...then I suggest you take it for what it was, be happy you at least had those moments, and next time somthing like that happens...well you'll know what to do then won't you? ;)





Good luck.
Reply:Follow your heart, If you think you can lead a life of hers then leave her. mmmmmmmm can you let me have a chance to know her, I would like that kind of life.
Reply:yes way that would be cool and differnt
Reply:You do know that there are no real vampires, don't you? Not the kind you read about or see in movies. Only people with limited intelligence would believe otherwise. No one has to live in the dar or drink blood. Please.
Reply:Think it's the same chic I met, like you even have a choice.
Reply:No, being as she needed major mental help, I think you did the right thing.
Reply:Awww, you still love her. Try to find her, you can do it now. Best wishes
Reply:Well, you have to do what you have to do. Maybe the vampire life wasn't for you, but you could always look her up and try again. Me? I was bitten by a Lepinthrope at the Farmer's Market. Now every afternoon turn into a small furry bunny with sharp pointy teeth. Good thing the mailman doesn't have armour on.
Reply:Forget her , if she didn't suck your blood by now she wont if you go back to her !!!
Reply:fersure dude!








Vampire








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This article deals with vampires in folklore and legends. For treatments of the vampire legend in fiction, see vampire fiction. For the real bats that subsist on blood (though rarely human blood), see vampire bat. For other uses of the term vampire, see Vampire (disambiguation).





Philip Burne-Jones, The Vampire, 1897Vampires (or vampiress, for female) are mythical or folkloric creatures, typically held to be the re-animated corpses of human beings and said to subsist on human and/or animal blood (hematophagy). They are also the frequent subject of cinema and fiction, albeit fictional vampires have acquired a set of traits distinct from those of folkloric vampires (see Traits of vampires in fiction). In folklore, the term usually refers to the blood-sucking undead of Eastern European legends, but it is often extended to cover similar legendary creatures in other regions and cultures. Vampire characteristics vary widely between different traditions. Some cultures have myths of non-human vampires, such as animals like bats, dogs, and spiders.





Vampirism is the practice of drinking blood from a person/animal. Vampires are said to mainly bite the victim's neck, extracting the blood from the carotid artery. In folklore and popular culture, the term generally refers to a belief that one can gain supernatural powers by drinking human blood. The historical practice of vampirism can generally be considered a more specific and less commonly occurring form of cannibalism. The consumption of another's blood (and/or flesh) has been used as a tactic of psychological warfare intended to terrorize the enemy, and it can be used to reflect various spiritual beliefs.





In zoology and botany, the term vampirism is used to refer to leeches, mosquitos, mistletoe, vampire bats, and other organisms that prey upon the bodily fluids of other creatures. This term also applies to mythic animals of the same nature, including the chupacabra.





Contents [hide]


1 Etymology


2 Vampires in ancient cultures


3 Folk beliefs in vampires


3.1 Slavic vampires


3.2 Romanian vampires


3.3 Roma and vampires


3.4 Some common traits of vampires in folklore


4 Eighteenth century vampire controversy


5 New England


6 Contemporary belief in vampires


7 Natural phenomena that propagate the vampire myth


7.1 Pathology and vampirism


7.2 Finding "vampires" in graves


7.3 Vampire bats


8 Vampires in fiction and popular culture


9 Notes


10 References


11 See also


11.1 Related legendary creatures


11.2 Other


12 External links











[edit]


Etymology


The English word vampire was borrowed (perhaps via French vampire) from German Vampir, in turn borrowed in early 18th century [1] from Serbian вампир/vampir [1] [2], [3] or, according to some sources, from Hungarian vámpír [4], [5]. The Serbian and Hungarian forms have paralells in virtually all Slavic languages: Bulgarian вампир (vampir), вапир (vapir) or въпир (vəpir), Czech and Slovak upír, Polish wąpierz and (perhaps East Slavic-influenced) upiór, Russian упырь (upyr' ), Belarussian упiр (upyr), Ukrainian упирь (upir' ), from Old Russian упирь (upir' ). The etymology is uncertain [6]. Among the proposed proto-Slavic forms are *ǫpyr' and *ǫpir' [7]. The Slavic word might, like its possible Russian cognate netopyr' ("bat"), come from the Proto-Indo-European root for "to fly" [7]. Another theory has it that the Slavic word comes from a Turkic word denoting an evil supernatural entity (cf. Kazan Tatar ubyr "witch") [8], [5]. This theory has now become obsolete [7], but has recently been embraced by one Polish scholar [9]. The word Upir as a term for vampire is found for the first time in written form in 1047 in a letter to a Novgorodian prince referring to him as 'Upir Lichyj' (Wicked Vampire).





[edit]


Vampires in ancient cultures


Tales of the dead craving blood are ancient in nearly every culture around the world. Vampire-like spirits called the Lilu are mentioned in early Babylonian demonology, and the bloodsucking Akhkharu even earlier in the Sumerian mythology. These female demons were said to roam during the hours of darkness, hunting and killing newborn babies and pregnant women. One of these demons, named Lilitu, was later adapted into Jewish demonology as Lilith. Lilitu/Lilith is sometimes called the mother of all vampires. For further information, see the article on Lilith.





The Ancient Egyptian goddess Sekhmet in one myth became full of bloodlust after slaughtering humans and was only sated after drinking alcohol colored as blood.





In Homer's Odyssey, the shades that Odysseus meets on his journey to the underworld are lured to the blood of freshly sacrificed rams, a fact that Odysseus uses to his advantage to summon the shade of Tiresias. Roman tales describe the strix, a nocturnal bird that fed on human flesh and blood. The Roman strix is the source of the Romanian vampire, the Strigoi and the Albanian Shtriga, which also show Slavic influence [citation needed].





In early Slavic folklore, a vampire drank blood, was afraid of (but could not be killed by) silver and could be destroyed by cutting off its head and putting it between the corpse's legs or by putting a wooden stake into its heart.





Medieval historians and chroniclers Walter Map and William of Newburgh recorded the earliest English stories of vampires in the 12th century.





Many vampire legends also bear similarities to legends and religious beliefs regarding succubi or incubi.





[edit]


Folk beliefs in vampires


It seems that until the 19th century, vampires in Europe were thought to be hideous monsters from the grave. They were usually believed to rise from the bodies of suicide victims, criminals, or evil sorcerers, though in some cases an initial vampire thus "born of sin" could pass his vampirism onto his innocent victims. In other cases, however, a victim of a cruel, untimely, or violent death was susceptible to becoming a vampire. Most of the European vampire myths have Slavic and/or Romanian origins.





[edit]


Slavic vampires


The Slavic people including most East Europeans from Ukraine to Serbia to Poland, have the richest and earliest vampire folklore and legends in the world. The Slavs came from north of the Black Sea and were closely associated with the Balts. By the 8th century AD, they had migrated north and west to where they are now.





Christianization began almost as soon as the Slavs arrived in their new homelands. However, through the 9th and 10th centuries, the Eastern Orthodox Church and the western Roman Catholic Church were struggling with each other for supremacy. They formally broke in 1054 AD, with the Bulgarians, Ukrainians, Belarusians, Russians, and Serbians staying Orthodox, while the Poles, Czechs, and Croatians went Roman. This split caused a major difference in the development of vampire lore: The Orthodox church believed incorrupt bodies were vampires, while the Roman church believed they were saints. At that time, vampire beliefs were common in (Catholic) Poland, and there is little indication they were less common in Croatia than among the Serbs.





Causes of vampirism included being born with a caul, teeth, or tail, being conceived on certain days, "irregular" death, excommunication, and improper burial rituals. Preventive measures included placing a crucifix in the coffin, placing blocks under the chin to prevent the body from eating the shroud, nailing clothes to coffin walls for the same reason, putting sawdust in the coffin (vampire revives in the evening and counts sawdust until he dies again in the morning)or piercing the body with thorns or stakes. In the case of stakes, the general idea was to pierce through the vampire and into the ground below, pinning the body down. Certain people would bury those believed to be potential vampires with scythes above their necks, so the dead would decapitate themselves as they rose.





Evidence that a vampire was at work in the neighbourhood included death of cattle, sheep, relatives, or neighbours, an exhumed body being in a lifelike state with new growth of the fingernails or hair, a body swelled up like a drum, or blood on the mouth coupled with a ruddy complexion.





Vampires, like other Slavic mythical monsters, were afraid of garlic and liked counting grain, sawdust, etc (see above). Vampires could be destroyed by staking, decapitation (the Kashubs placed the head between the feet), burning, repeating the funeral service, sprinkling holy water on the grave, or exorcism.





The most famous Serbian vampire was Sava Savanovic, famous from a folklore-inspired novel of Milovan Glišić.[10]





In the Old Russian anti-pagan work Word of saint Grigoriy (written in the 11th-12th century), it is claimed that pagan Russians made sacrifices to vampires.





[edit]


Romanian vampires


Tales of vampiric entities were also found among the ancient Romans and the Romanized inhabitants of eastern Europe, Romanians (known as Vlachs in historical context). Romania is surrounded by Slavic countries, so it is not surprising that Romanian and Slavic vampires are similar. Romanian vampires are called Strigoi, based on the ancient Greek term strix for screech owl, which also came to mean demon or witch.





There are different types of Strigoi. Strigoi vii are live witches who will become vampires after death. They can send out their souls at night to meet with other witches or with Strigoi i, which are reanimated bodies that return to suck the blood of family, livestock, and neighbours. Other types of vampires in Romanian folklore include Moroi and Pricolici.





A person born with a caul, extra nipple, extra hair, born too early, black cat crossed the mothers' path, born with a tail, born out of wedlock, one who died an unnatural death, or died before baptism, was doomed to become a vampire, as was the seventh child of the same sex in a family, the child of a pregnant woman who did not eat salt or who was looked at by a vampire or a witch. Moreover, being bitten by vampire meant certain condemnation to a vampiric existence after death.





The Vârcolac, which is sometimes mentioned in Romanian folklore, was more closely related to a mythological wolf that could devour the sun and moon (similar to Fenris in Norse mythology), and later became connected with werewolves rather than vampires. (A person afflicted with lycanthropy could turn into a dog, pig, or wolf.)





The vampire was usually first noticed when it attacked family and livestock, or threw things around in the house. Vampires, along with witches, were believed to be most active on the Eve of St George's Day (April 22 Julian, May 4 Gregorian calendar), the night when all forms of evil were supposed to be abroad. St George's Day is still celebrated in Europe.





A vampire in the grave could be discerned by holes in the earth, an undecomposed corpse with a red face, or having one foot in the corner of the coffin. Living vampires were identified by distributing garlic in church and seeing who did not eat it.





Graves were often opened three years after the death of a child, five years after the death of a young person, or seven years after the death of an adult to check for vampirism.





Measures to prevent a person from becoming a vampire included removing the caul from a newborn and destroying it before the baby could eat any of it, careful preparation of dead bodies, including preventing animals from passing over the corpse, placing a thorny branch of wild rose in the grave, and placing garlic on windows and rubbing it on cattle, especially on St George's and St Andrew's day.





To destroy a vampire, a stake was driven through the body, followed by decapitation and placing garlic in the mouth. By the 19th century, one would also shoot a bullet through the coffin. For resistant cases, the body was dismembered and the pieces burned, mixed with water, and given to family members as a cure.





[edit]


Roma and vampires


Even today, Roma frequently feature in vampire fiction and film, no doubt influenced by Bram Stoker's book, Dracula, in which the Szgany Roma served Dracula, carrying his boxes of earth and guarding him.





Traditional Romani beliefs include the idea that the dead soul enters a world similar to ours except that there is no death. The soul stays around the body and sometimes wants to come back. The Roma myths of the living dead added to and enriched the vampire myths of Hungary, Romania, and Slavic lands.





The ancient home of the Roma, India, has many mythical vampire figures. The Bhut or Prét is the soul of a man who died an untimely death. It wanders around animating dead bodies at night and attacks the living like a ghoul. In northern India could be found the BrahmarākŞhasa, a vampire-like creature with a head encircled by intestines and a skull from which it drank blood. Vetala and pishacha are some other creatures who resemble vampires in some form. Since Hinduism believes in reincarnation of the soul after death, it is supposed that upon leading an unholy or immoral life, sin or suicide, the soul reincarnates into such kinds of evil spirits. This kind of reincarnation does not arise out of birth from a womb, etc, but is achieved directly, and such evil spirits' fate is pre-determined as to how they shall achieve liberation from that yoni, and re-enter the world of mortal flesh through next incarnation.





The most famous Indian deity associated with blood drinking is Kali, who has fangs, wears a garland of corpses or skulls and has four arms. Her temples are near the cremation grounds. She and the goddess Durga battled the demon Raktabija who could reproduce himself from each drop of blood spilled. Kali drank all his blood so none was spilled, thereby winning the battle and killing Raktabija.





Sara, or the Black Goddess, is the form in which Kali survived among Gypsies. Gypsies have a belief that the three Marys from the New Testament went to France and baptised a gypsy called Sara. They still hold a ceremony each May 24 in the French village where this is supposed to have occurred. Some refer to their Black Goddess as "Black Cally" or "Black Kali".





One form of vampire in Romani myth is called a mullo (one who is dead). This vampire is believed to return and do malicious things and/or suck the blood of a person (usually a relative who had caused their death, or hadn't properly observed the burial ceremonies, or who kept the deceased's possessions instead of destroying them as was proper).





Female vampires could return, lead a normal life and even marry but would exhaust the husband.





Anyone who had a hideous appearance, was missing a finger, or had appendages similar to those of an animal, etc., was believed to be a vampire. If a person died unseen, he would become a vampire; likewise if a corpse swelled before burial. Plants or dogs, cats, or even agricultural tools could become vampires. Pumpkins or melons kept in the house too long would start to move, make noises or show blood. (See the article on vampire watermelons.)





To get rid of a vampire people would hire a Dhampir (the son of a vampire and his widow) or a Moroi to detect the vampire. To ward off vampires, Gypsies drove steel or iron needles into a corpse's heart and placed bits of steel in the mouth, over the eyes, ears and between the fingers at the time of burial. They also placed hawthorn in the corpse's sock or drove a hawthorn stake through the legs. Further measures included driving stakes into the grave, pouring boiling water over it, decapitating the corpse, or burning it.





According to the late Serbian ethnologist Tatomir Vukanović, Roma people in Kosovo believed that vampires were invisible to most people. However, they could be seen "by a twin brother and sister born on a Saturday who wear their drawers and shirts inside out." Likewise, a settlement could be protected from a vampire "by finding a twin brother and sister born on a Saturday and making them wear their shirts and drawers inside out (cf previous section). This pair could see the vampire out of doors at night, but immediately after it saw them it would have to flee, head over heels."





[edit]


Some common traits of vampires in folklore


It's difficult to make a unified description of the folkloric vampire, because its properties vary widely between different cultures.





The appearance of the European folkloric vampire contained mostly features by which one was supposed to tell a vampiric corpse from a normal one, when the grave of a suspected vampire was opened. The vampire has a "healthy" appearance and ruddy skin, he is often plump, his nails and hair have grown and, above all, he/she is not in the least decomposed.


The most usual ways to destroy the vampire are driving a wooden stake through the heart, decapitation, and incinerating the body completely. The use of a consecrated or silver bullet to kill a vampire seems to have a folkloric basis, too [citation needed]. Ways to prevent a suspected vampire from rising from the grave in the first place include burying it upside-down, severing the tendons at the knees, or placing poppy seeds on the ground at the gravesite of a presumed vampire in order to keep the vampire occupied all night counting. Chinese myths about vampires also state that if a vampire comes across a sack of rice, s/he will have to count all of the grains. There are similar myths recorded on the Indian Subcontinent.


A great deal of vampire myths from a variety of cultures seem to imply that such creatures are incredibly obsessive-complusive. Thus, the seeds/rice theory (as previously mentioned) arose.


apotropaics, i.e. objects intended to inhibit or ward off vampires (ans well as other evil supernatural creatures), include garlic (confined mostly to European legends), a branch of wild rose, the hawthorn plant, and all things sacred (e.g., holy water, a crucifix, a rosary). This weakness on the part of the vampire varies depending on the tale. In myths of other regions, other plants of holy or mythical properties sometimes have similar effects. In Eastern vampiric myths, vampires are often similarly warded by holy devices such as Shintō seals.


Vampires are sometimes considered to be shape-shifters.


Vampires in European folklore are said to cast no shadow and have no reflection. [citation needed] This may be tied to folklore regarding the vampire's lack of a soul.


Some traditions hold that a vampire cannot enter a house unless he or she is invited in. [citation needed]


[edit]


Eighteenth century vampire controversy


During the 18th century there was a major vampire scare in Eastern Europe. Even government officials frequently got dragged into the hunting and staking of vampires.





It all started with an outbreak of alleged vampire attacks in East Prussia in 1721 and in the Habsburg Monarchy from 1725 to 1734. Two famous cases involved Peter Plogojowitz and Arnold Paole. As the story goes, Plogojowitz died at the age of 62, but came back a couple of times after his death asking his son for food. When the son refused, he was found dead the next day. Soon Plogojowitz returned and attacked some neighbours who died from loss of blood.





In the other famous case, Arnold Paole, an ex-soldier turned farmer who had allegedly been attacked by a vampire years before, died while haying. After his death, people began to die, and it was believed by everyone that Paole had returned to prey on the neighbours.





These two incidents were extremely well documented. Government officials examined the cases and the bodies, wrote them up in reports, and books were published afterwards of the Paole case and distributed around Europe. The controversy raged for a generation. The problem was exacerbated by rural epidemics of so-claimed vampire attacks, with locals digging up bodies. Many scholars said vampires did not exist, and attributed reports to premature burial, or rabies. Nonetheless, Dom Augustine Calmet, a well-respected French theologian and scholar, put together a carefully thought out treatise in 1746, which was at least ambiguous concerning the existence of vampires, if not admitting it explicitly. He amassed reports of vampire incidents and numerous readers, including both a critical Voltaire and supportive demonologists, interpreted the treatise as claiming that vampires exist. According to some recent research, and judging from the second edition of the work in 1751, Calmet was actually somewhat sceptical towards the vampire concept as a whole. He did acknowledge that parts of the reports, such as the preservation of corpses, might be true. [11]. Whatever his personal convictions were, Calmet's apparent support for vampire belief had considerable influence on other scholars at the time.





Eventually, Empress Maria Theresa of Austria sent her personal physician, Gerhard van Swieten, to investigate. He concluded that vampires do not exist, and the Empress passed laws prohibiting the opening of graves and desecration of bodies. This was the end of the vampire epidemics. By then, though, many knew about vampires, and soon authors would adopt and adapt the concept of vampire, making it known to the general public.





[edit]


New England


During the late 18th and 19th centuries the belief in vampires was widespread in parts of New England, particularly in Rhode Island and Eastern Connecticut. In this region there are many documented cases of families disinterring loved ones and removing their hearts in the belief that the deceased was a vampire who was responsible for sickness and death in the family (although the word "vampire" was never used to describe him/her). The deadly tuberculosis, or "consumption" as it was known at the time, was believed to be caused by nightly visitations on the part of a dead family member (who had died of consumption him/herself [11]). The most famous (and latest recorded) case is that of nineteen year old Mercy Brown who died in Exeter, Rhode Island in 1892. Her father, assisted by the family physician, removed her from her tomb two months after her death. Her heart was cut out then burnt to ashes.[12] An account of this incident was found among the papers of Bram Stoker and the story closely resembles the events in his classic novel, Dracula.





[edit]


Contemporary belief in vampires


Vampire beliefs still persists across the globe. While some cultures preserve their original traditions, the modern notion of a vampire tends to be influenced, even for those who believe in it, by the well known fictional image of the vampire as it occurs in films and literature, rather than by folkloric prototypes.





In the 1970s, there were rumours (spread by the local press) that a vampire haunted Highgate Cemetery in London. Amateur vampire hunters flocked in large numbers in the cemetery. Several books have been written about the case, notably by Sean Manchester, a local man who was among the first to suggest the existence of the "Highgate Vampire" and who later claimed to have exorcised and destroyed a whole nest of vampires in the area.





In the modern folklore of Puerto Rico and Mexico, the chupacabra (goat-sucker) is said to be a creature that feeds upon the flesh or drinks the blood of domesticated animals, leading some to consider it vampiric. The "chupacabra hysteria" was frequently associated with deep economic and political crises, particularly during the mid-1990s. The chupacabra is also believed by some to be an extraterrestrial.[13]





During late 2002 and early 2003, hysteria about alleged attacks of vampires swept through the African country of Malawi. Mobs stoned one individual to death and attacked at least four others, including Governor Eric Chiwaya, based on the belief that the government was colluding with vampires.[14]





In Romania during February 2004, several relatives of Toma Petre, thinking that he had become a vampire, dug up his body, tore out his heart, burned it and drank its ashes in water.[15]





In January 2005, it was reported that an attacker had bitten a number of people in Birmingham, England, fueling concerns about a vampire roaming the streets. However, local police stated that no such crime had been reported, and this case appears to be an urban legend.[16]





[edit]


Natural phenomena that propagate the vampire myth


[edit]


Pathology and vampirism


Folkloric vampirism has typically been associated with a series of deaths due to unindentifiable or mysterious illnesses, usually within the same family or the same small community [17]. The "epidemic pattern" is obvious in the classical cases of Peter Plogojowitz and Arnold Paole, and even more so in the case of Mercy Brown and in the vampire beliefs of New England generally, where a specific disease, tuberculosis, was associated with outbreaks of vampirism (see above).





In his book, De masticatione mortuorum in tumulis (1725), Michaël Ranft makes a first attempt to explain folk's belief in vampires in a natural way. He says that, in the event of the death of every villager, some other person or people - much probably a person related to the first dead - who saw or touched the corpse, would eventually die either of some disease related to exposure to the corpse or of a fenetic delirium caused by the panic of only seeing the corpse. These dying people would say that the dead man had appeared to them and tortured them in many ways. The other people in the village would exhume the corpse to see what it had been doing. He gives the following explanation when talking about the case of Peter Plogojowitz: "This brave man perished by a sudden or violent death. This death, whatever it is, can provoke in the survivors the visions they had after his death. Sudden death gives rise to inquietude in the familiar circle. Inquietude has sorrow as a companion. Sorrow brings melancholy. Melancholy engenders restless nights and tormenting dreams. These dreams enfeeble body and spirit until illness overcomes and, eventually, death."





Nowadays, some people argue that vampire stories might have been influenced by a rare illness called porphyria. The disease disrupts the production of heme. People with extreme but rare cases of this hereditary disease can be so sensitive to sunlight that they can get a sunburn through heavy cloud cover, causing them to avoid sunlight — although it should be noted that the idea that vampires are harmed by sunlight is largely from modern fiction and not the original beliefs. Certain forms of porphyria are also associated with neurological symptoms, which can create psychiatric disorders. However, the hypotheses that porphyria sufferers crave the heme in human blood, or that the consumption of blood might ease the symptoms of porphyria, are based on a severe misunderstanding of the disease. There is no real evidence to suggest that porphyria had anything to do with the development of the original folklore, as the hypothesis is mainly based off the characteristics of the modern vampire in any case.[18] Others argue that there might be a relationship between vampirism and rabies, since people suffering from this disease would avoid sunlight and looking into mirrors and would froth at the mouth. This froth could sometimes look like blood, being red in colour. However, like porphyria, there is little evidence to prove any links between vampires and rabies.





Some psychologists in modern times recognize a disorder called clinical vampirism (or Renfield Syndrome, from Dracula's insect-eating henchman, Renfield, in the novel by Bram Stoker) in which the victim is obsessed with drinking blood, either from animals or humans.





There have been a number of murderers who performed seemingly vampiric rituals upon their victims. Serial killers Peter Kurten and Richard Trenton Chase were both called "vampires" in the tabloids after they were discovered drinking the blood of the people they murdered.





[edit]


Finding "vampires" in graves


When the coffin of an alleged vampire was opened, people sometimes found the cadaver in a relatively undecomposed state, which could have been interpreted as the corpse being the equivalent of a well-fed vampire. Another reason to believe that a body is a vampire that has fed on the living is the strange illusion that the hair, nails, and teeth have grown [19]. It is a well known phenomenon that after death the skin and gums lose fluids and contract, exposing the roots of the hair, nails, and teeth, even teeth that were concealed in the jaw. [20] Folkloric accounts almost universally represent the alleged vampire as having ruddy or dark skin, not the pale skin of vampires in literature and film.[21]





In the past, people were often malnourished and therefore thin in life, which could account for the pale skin often referred to. Corpses swell as gases from decomposition accumulate in the torso and blood tries to escape the body. During decomposition blood can often be seen emanating from nose and mouth, which could give the impression that the corpse was a vampire who had been drinking blood. Natural processes of decomposition, absent embalming, tend to darken the skin of a corpse — hence the black, blue, or red complexion of the folkloric vampire. (The same phenomenon accounts for the swollen body and dusky skin of the draug, an undead being in medieval Icelandic belief). Decomposition also contorts the body into positions other than that which it was laid to rest, adding to the illusion that the corpse has been active after death. The staking of the body could not only cause the body to bleed, but also force the accumulated gases to escape the body, producing a groan when they move past the vocal chords, or a sound reminiscent of flatus when they pass through the anus (the official reporting on the Plogojowitz case speaks of "other wild signs which I pass by out of high respect").





[edit]


Vampire bats


Bats have become an integral part of the vampire myth only recently, although many cultures have myths about them. In Europe, bats and owls were long associated with the supernatural, mainly because they were night creatures. Conversely, the Gypsies thought them lucky and wore charms made of bat bones. In English heraldic tradition, a bat means "Awareness of the powers of darkness and chaos".[22] In South America, Camazotz was a bat god of the caves living in the Bathouse of the Underworld. The three species of actual vampire bats are all endemic to Latin America, and there is no evidence to suggest that they had any Old World relatives within human memory. It is therefore extremely unlikely that the folkloric vampire represents a distorted presentation or memory of the bat. During the 16th century the Spanish conquistadors first came into contact with vampire bats and recognized the similarity between the feeding habits of the bats and those of their mythical vampires. The bats were named after the folkloric vampire rather than vice versa; the Oxford English Dictionary records the folkloric use in English from 1734 and the zoological not until 1774. It wasn't long before vampire bats were adapted into fictional tales, and they have become one of the more important vampire associations in popular culture.





[edit]


Vampires in fiction and popular culture


Main article: Vampire fiction





Count Orlock, a well-known example of vampire fiction, from the 1922 film NosferatuLord Byron introduced many common elements of the vampire theme to Western literature in his epic poem The Giaour (1813). These include the combination of horror and lust that the vampire feels and the concept of the undead passing its inheritance to the living.





John Polidori authored the first "true" vampire story called The Vampyre. Polidori was the personal physician of Lord Byron and the vampire of the story, Lord Ruthven, is based partly on him — making the character the first of our now familiar romantic vampires. Coincidentally enough, the "ghost story competition" between Byron and his close friends which spawned this piece, was also the same competition which motivated Mary Shelley to write her novel Frankenstein, another archetypal monster story.





Bram Stoker's Dracula has been the definitive description of the vampire in popular fiction for the last century. Its portrayal of vampirism as a disease (contagious demonic possession), with its undertones of sex, blood, and death, struck a chord in a Victorian Europe where tuberculosis and syphilis were common.





Richard Mathesons' I am Legend gives a realistic and genetic posibility of the Vampire curse in a epidemic type of situation. The novel follows the last man on earth as he fights with the both dead and living vampires, as well as his own sanity.





Vampires are featured in the role-playing games Vampire: The Masquerade and Vampire: The Requiem
Reply:If you do, Move to Las Vegas. There is a large community here.
Reply:no way
Reply:I don't believe in God any more because of a tragic motor scooter and gun accident that blew off my left foot and three fingers. I often wonder that if I saw Bozo naked would I think that chocolate milk cannot be sold in stores in a plastic container, or could it? That is a very deep and philosophical question that many great people like Coach Ditka and Jesus could not answer when they went before a grand jury for illegal dancing in Utah. Just because Van Halen does not play at your grammar school dance doesn't mean that you have missed out in life or did something wrong. You have to move past those issues and begin to address the fact that Men are from Mars and Women are from Saturn. I once fed a dead rat to a blind man in a tossed salad and he was not happy with the dressing I picked for him. Do you ever reflect on the meaning of extra large shrimp or why plumbers don't lay plumbs when bricklayers lay bricks? Dance freely and don't forget to wear sunscreen when you go to the bowling alley. The government and aliens want you to stop smoking and you are just falling into their plan and trap. Think about all the people in the phone book that cannot play the piano or shoot a cross bow. Why is that? I cannot explain this to anyone unless they open their mind to free thoughts and the acceptance that dogs can teach humans to create a clean burning combustible engine to put in our automobiles. I do generally wear only women's orange panties when I cut the lawn in the morning. I think that is the best answer that I can provide with this limited amount of time and research.
Reply:Wow! Just by her description she sounds really Hot!
Reply:many people believe they are vampires. they convince themselves of this. they live the life of a vampire. they buy accessories a vampire would need to survive. they even have their teeth altered. but in the end i don't believe vampires exist. now fairy's that is a different story
Reply:9 will get you 10 she was a Goth or actually believed that she was a vampire. Truthfully if what you say if true than she is merely fictional. If she was not then she would not have let you depart from her life so easily. Consider the source.



accessories belts

Can you tell me if there is anything wrong with my essay??

Shipping Docks of the World





It was there on that deserted peace of woodland property in the north GA Mountains





that I was going to prove to all that had any doubted the ability of the 116 Falcon Field





Air Force Division. That we were and always would rain supreme on that day and





And any other day; Enduring forever more.





It was about 5:30 I guessed since I had no device to assure me of this. “Still one





strenuous hour before the light of day started to push back the eerie darkness” I thought.





That’s when it started, Standing Val (The People that are always in your face yelling out you) started to unleash their military absentee with





whistles blowing and voices bellowing with the words “Let’s Get them up! Let’s Go!





Today! This is all that seemed to pierce the silent night. My battle buddy and I jumped





up, unzipped our tent and fumbled outside into the piercingly fridge cold. We stood at





attention with an almost embalmed like stature waiting for further orders. This day would





be the hardest day of mental and physical endurance. “The last one always is,” I thought





to my self” This is the one day that really separates the victorious form the forgotten.”





Then the order to move out was given and we started our march into the piercing





night. After about an 8th of a mile we came out into a clearing and we could make out a





paved road. We were then commanded to start the rigorous exercise of “Man Down.”





This exercise consisted of running with 40bl rock to simulate a wounded solder. After





this exercise you really have to stay in tune with your body to keep it moving or the





toxins will build up in your mussels and this can make even the most simply tasks turn





into an agonizing event. We had a few moments of rest which is crucial not so much for





your body, as some would suspect but more for your mind because this is the truly the





weak link for survival. We then started back towards base with the light now slowly





seeping into the crevasses of darkness and this gives you a since of cognizant and





orientation. It all seemed too surreal now to think just months ago after my 15th birthday I





was eager and enthusiastic to start my new life with fresh experience in the Civil Air





Patrol. This new life promised one of purpose, advancements and team building





camaraderie and it was this camaraderie that now seemed almost inapplicable to achieve.





It was only because of one of my fellow comrades taping on the shoulder that had





brought me back to our present situation.














We were then slothfully marching back into the camp sight.





Once there we were sharply instructed to bear our battle dress uniform, which consisted





of a fire retardant pare of camouflage pants a shirt





and leather combat boots. We were only justified 2 minutes to deem our uniform and this





makes the task of combat boots even more problematic. Reconciling this ordeal Standing





Val progressively enlightened the morning by allowing us to indulge in our parcels that





we had been packing. Truth be told even Standing Val has to revitalize their energy level





from time to time. After this short endeavor we marched up a slim embankment when





suddenly like a clap from the heavens machine gun fire unfastened from a forward tree





line after what seemed like hours the fire silenced. It is only now that I can seem to be





able to remember these events. I stand her now standing on the docks of the world





thinking about how this great event has shaped, molded and sharpened the inner soul and





the man that I am today. Most would think that standing on the docks of the world would





mean that I am surrounded by one of the great shipping ports of the world but not to me.





For me standing on the docks of the world is a metaphor for the opportunities yet to be





discovered and how this event and ones like it have for ever shown me how to go when





people say it can’t be done and to run when others walk to risk when others hide. To





borrow a fraise from one of the great finance majors Robert T. Kiysaki “If I act like every





body ells I am no better than every body ells” and this for me is a very profound





statement for in the way that I carry and interact in my life.

Can you tell me if there is anything wrong with my essay??
Shipping Docks of the World





It was there on that deserted peace of woodland property in the north Georgia mountains that I was going to prove to all that who had doubted the ability of the 116 Falcon Field Air Force Division, that we were and always would rain supreme on that day and any other day; enduring forever more.





I guessed it was about 5:30 although I had no way to confirm this without a watch. Still one strenuous hour before the light of day started to push back the eerie darkness. That’s when it started, Standing Val (the people that are always in your face yelling out you), started to unleash their military presence with whistles blowing and voices bellowing, “Let’s get them up! Let’s go! Today!”





The shouts pierced the night. My battle buddy and I jumped up, unzipped our tent and fumbled outside into the piercingly fridge cold. We stood at attention with an almost embalmed like stature waiting for further orders. This day would be the hardest day of mental and physical endurance. The last one always was that way. This is the one day that really separates the victorious form the forgotten.





Then the order to move out was given and we started our march into the chilling night. After about an 8th of a mile we came out into a clearing from which we could make out a


paved road. We were then commanded to start the rigorous exercise of “Man Down.” This exercise consisted of running with 40 pound rock to simulate a wounded solder. After


this exercise you really have to stay in tune with your body to keep it moving or the toxins will build up in your muscles which will make even the most simply tasks turn into an agonizing event. We had a few moments of rest which is crucial not so much for your body, as some would suspect, but more for your mind, because this is the truly the weak link for survival. We then started back towards base with the light now slowly seeping into the crevasses of darkness givng us an awareness of our location.





It all seemed too surreal now to think just months ago after my 15th birthday I was eager and enthusiastic to start my new life with fresh experience in the Civil Air Patrol. This new life promised one of purpose, advancement and team building camaraderie and it was this camaraderie that now seemed almost impossible to achieve.It was only because of one of my fellow comrades tapping on the shoulder that brought me back to our present situation.





We were then slothfully marching back into the sight of the camp. Once there we were sharply instructed to bear our battle dress uniform, which consisted of a fire retardant pair of camouflage pants, a shirt, and leather combat boots. We were given 2 minutes to dress. This can be a problem with combat boots. After this, Standing Val allowed us to indulge in the parcels of food that we had been packing. Truth be told even Standing Val has to revitalize their energy level from time to time!





After this short endeavor we marched up a slim embankment when suddenly like a clap from the heavens, machine gun fire chattered from a forward tree line! After what seemed like hours the fire silenced. It is only now that I seem to be able to remember these events.





I stand her now standing on the docks of the world thinking about how those events have shaped, molded, and sharpened the inner soul that has made me the man I am today. Most would think that standing on the docks of the world would mean that I am surrounded by one of the great shipping ports of the world but not to me. For me standing on the docks of the world is a metaphor for the opportunities yet to be discovered. It means that the events I went through have forever shown me how to proceed when others say it can’t be done, and to run when others seek a place to hide. To borrow a phrase from one of the great finance majors, Robert T. Kiysaki, “If I act like every body else I am no better than every body else.” That is a very profound statement that has affected my life and which I will always carry with me.
Reply:Proofread for spelling errors, repeated words, run on sentences. Read the paper to yourself and see what sounds right and what does not. This is way too long for me to go through and correct for you. I will tell you that there are several problems here.
Reply:If I was your instructor and you presented this essay to me I would have to give you an F on it. There are way to many spelling errors, to many grammer errors, your paragraphs are to long and are more run on sentences and the entire paper lacks smooth flow, comprehendable content and it seems more like you are relaying an answer to a question than writing an essay. It has nothing to do with the title, "Shipping docks of the world" and it lacks an introduction, a thesis and a closing summary.
Reply:u made 2 huge paragraphs, u might want to structure it better
Reply:In the first sentance, change peace to piece.



interest rate

My feet get soaked in my uggs??

ok so i have fuggs. thats right fuggs. from JCP not real uggs but similar lol. u know the tan suede-ish ones? well the inside of them gets soaked everytime i step outside in the snow or rain. i love in buffalo..so theres plenty of it!! my socks are soaked by the end of the day. its seemed to come in from the bottom... so we tried to put good insoles in but it didnt help at all!!








so my mom wants me to go shopping tonight and buy a better pair of boots. i have real ones..u know the brightly colored plastic ones! but i want a pair that looks like uggs... but that keep your feet dry all day!!





any suggestions? and only give what ur positive of..maybe u ahve a pair? find me these boots!

My feet get soaked in my uggs??
Can't you just get some real Uggs? I saw some beautiful beige suede one with white fluffy "fur" the other day.... those are cute if you wear beige, and if you do not live in a city ....or just choose another style or color





Insoles will only help cushion your feet, they will not waterproof your boots.





x
Reply:Get this stuff called Snow Seal. You can get it at the Tractor Supply stores. Just follow the directions. It will make them water proof. Or get a good silicon spray in the shoe department. That will work but not as well as Snow Seal.



skin disease

What are the best rainboots and raincoats out there and where can I get them?

I bought a pair of rainboots from target.com around October and everything was fine until abou a month ago when I realized thay had teared in three different places. I want boots that will last me a long time not just 6 months. I'm also looking for raincoats that the rain just slicks right off. Has anyone seen those Northface coats that look like trench coats or something like that, if so are they good for the rain?

What are the best rainboots and raincoats out there and where can I get them?
But them from LL Bean. They have good one. If you want to go little fashion(y), try The North Face.



dog skin problem

What you think of this Prince article?

John Nelson turns sixty-nine today, and all the semiretired piano man wants for his birthday is to shoot some pool with his firstborn son. "He's real handy with a cue," says Prince, laughing, as he threads his old white T-bird through his old black neighborhood toward his old man's house. "He's so cool. The old man knows what time it is." Hard time is how life has traditionally been clocked in North Minneapolis; this is the place 'Time' forgot twelve years ago when the magazine's cover trumpeted "The Good Life in Minnesota," alongside a picture of Governor Wendell Anderson holding up a walleye. Though tame and middle-class by Watts and Roxbury standards, the North Side offers some of the few mean streets in town. The old sights bring out more Babbitt than Badass is Prince as he leads a leisurely tour down the main streets of his inner-city Gopher Prairie. He cruises slowly, respectfully: stopping completely at red lights, flicking on his turn signal even when no one's at an intersection. Gone is the wary Kung Fu Grasshopper voice with which Prince whispers when meeting strangers or accepting Academy Awards. Cruising peacefully with the window down, he's proof in a paisley jump suit that you can always go home again, especially if you never really left town. Tooling through the neighborhood, Prince speaks matter-of-factly of why he toyed with early interviewers about his father and mother, their divorce and his adolescent wanderings between the homes of his parents, friends and relatives. "I used to tease a lot of journalists early on," he says, "because I wanted them to concentrate on the music and not so much on me coming from a broken home. I really didn't think that was important. What was important was what came out of my system that particular day. I don't live in the past. I don't play my old records for that reason. I make a statement, then move on to the next." The early facts, for the neo-Freudians: John Nelson, leader of the Prince Rogers jazz trio, knew Mattie Shaw from North Side community dances. A singer sixteen years John's junior, Mattie bore traces of Billie Holiday in her pipes and more than a trace of Indian and Caucasian in her blood. She joined the Prince Rogers trio, sang for a few years around town, married John Nelson and dropped out of the group. She nicknamed her husband after the band; the son who came in 1958 got the nickname on his birth certificate. At home and on the street, the kid was "Skipper." Mattie and John broke up ten years later, and Prince began his domestic shuttle. "That's where my mom lives," he says nonchalantly, nodding toward a neatly trimmed house and lawn. "My parents live very close by each other, but they don't talk. My mom's the wild side of me; she's like that all the time. My dad's real serene; it takes the music to get him going. My father and me, we're one and the same." A wry laugh. "He's a little sick, just like I am." "That was the church I went to growing up," says Prince. "I wonder who's getting married." A fat little kid waves, and Prince waves back. "Just all kinds of things here," he goes on, turning right. "There was a school right there, John Hay. That's where I went to elementary school," he says, pointing out a field of black tar sprouting a handful of bent metal basketball rims. "And that's where my cousin lives. I used to play there every day when I was twelve, on these streets, football up and down this block. That's his father out there on the lawn." These lawns are where Prince the adolescent would also amuse his friends with expert Prince is fiddling with the tape deck inside the T-Bird. On low volume comes his unreleased "Old Friends 4 Sale," an arrow-to-the-heart rock ballad about trust and loss. Unlike "Positively 4th Street" -- which Bob Dylan reputedly named after a nearby Minneapolis block -- the lyrics are sad, not bitter. "I don't know too much about Dylan," says Prince, "but I respect him a lot. 'All Along the Watchtower' is my favorite of his. I heard it first from Jimi Hendrix." He turns onto Plymouth, the North Side's main strip. When Martin Luther King got shot, it was Plymouth Avenue that burned. "We used to go to that McDonald's there," he says. "I didn't have any money, so I'd just stand outside there and smell stuff. Poverty makes people angry, brings out their worst side. I was very bitter when I was young. I was insecure and I'd attack anybody. I couldn't keep a girlfriend for two weeks. We'd argue about anything." Across the street from McDonald's, Prince spies a smaller landmark. He points to a vacant corner phone booth and remembers a teenage fight with a strict and unforgiving father. "That's where I called my dad and begged him to take me back after he kicked me out," he begins softly. "He said no, so I called my sister and asked her to ask him. So she did, and afterward told me that all I had to do was call him back, tell him I was sorry, and he's take me back. So I did, and he still said no. I sat crying at that phone booth for two hours. That's the last time I cried.In the years between that phone-booth breakdown and today's pool game came forgiveness. Says Prince, "Once I made it, got my first record contract, got my name on a piece of paper and a little money in my pocket, I was able to forgive. Once I was eating every day, I became a much nicer person." But it took many more years for the son to understand what a jazzman father needed to survive. Prince figured it out when he moved into his purple house. "I can be upstairs at the piano, and Rande [his cook] can come in," he says. "Her footsteps will be in a different time, and it's real weird when you hear something that's a totally different rhythm than what you're playing. A lot of times that's mistaken for conceit or not having a heart. But it's not. And my dad's the same way, and that's why it was hard for him to live with anybody. I didn't realize that until recently. When he was working or thinking, he had a private pulse going constantly inside him. I don't know, your bloodstream beats differently." Prince pulls the T-Bird into an alley behind a street of neat frame houses, stops behind a wooden one-car garage and rolls down the window. Relaxing against a tree is a man who looks like Cab Calloway. Dressed in a crisp white suit, collar and tie, a trim and smiling John Nelson adjusts his best cuff links and waves. "Happy birthday," says the son. "Thanks," says the father, laughing. Nelson says he's not even allowing himself a piece of cake on his birthday. "No, not this year," he says with a shake of the head. Pointing at his son, Nelson continues, "I'm trying to take off ten pounds I put on while visiting him in Los Angeles. He eats like I want to eat, but exercises, which I certainly don't." Father then asks son if maybe he should drive himself to the pool game so he won't have to be hauled all the way back afterward. Prince says okay, and Nelson, chuckling, says to the stranger, "Hey, let me show you what I got for my birthday two years ago." He goes over to the garage and gives a tug on the door handle. is a An "That. "We used parts of my past and present to make the story pop more, but it was a story. My dad wouldn't have nothing to do with guns. He never swore, still doesn't, and never drinks." Prince looks in his rearview mirror at the car tailing him. "He don't look sixty-nine, do he? He's so cool. He's got girlfriends, lots of 'em." Prince drives alongside two black kids walking their bikes. "Hey, Prince," says one casually. "Hey," says the driver with a nod, "how you doing?" Passing by old neighbors watering their lawns and shooting hoops, the North Side's favorite son talks about his hometown. "I wouldn't move, just cuz I like it here so much. I can go out and not get jumped on. It feels good not to be hassled when I dance, which I do a lot. It's not a think of everybody saying, 'Whoa, who's out with who here?' while photographers flash their bulbs in your face." Nearing the turnoff that leads from Minneapolis to suburban Eden Prairie, Prince flips in another tape and peeks in the rearview mirror. John Nelson is still right behind. "It's real hard for my father to show emotion," says Prince, heading onto the highway. "He never says, 'I love you,' and when we hug or something, we bang our heads together like in some Charlie Chaplin movie. But a while ago, he was telling me how I always had to be careful. My father told me, 'If anything happens to you, I'm gone.' All I thought at first was that it was a real nice thing to say. But then I thought about it for a while and realized something. That was my father's way of saying 'I love you.'" A few minutes later, Prince and his father pull in front of the Warehouse, a concrete barn in an Eden Prairie industrial park. Inside, the Family, a rock-funk band that Prince has been working with, is pounding out new songs and dance routines. The group is as tight as ace drummer Jellybean Johnson's pants. At the end of one hot number, Family members fall on their backs, twitching like fried eggs. Prince and his father enter to hellos from the still-gyrating band. Prince goes over to a pool table by the soundboard, racks the balls and shimmies to the beat of the Family's next song. Taking everything in, John Nelson gives a professional nod to the band, his son's rack job and his own just-chalked cue. He hitches his shoulders, takes aim and breaks like Minnesota Fats. A few minutes later, the band is still playing and the father is still shooting. Prince, son to this father and father to this band, is smiling. THE NIGHT BEFORE, in the Warehouse, Prince is about to break his three-year public silence. Wearing a jump suit, powder-blue boots and a little crucifix on a chain, he dances with the Family for a little while, plays guitar for a minute, sings lead for a second, then noodles four-handed keyboard with Susannah Melvoin, Wendy's identical-twin sister. Seeing me at the door, Prince comes over. "Hi," he whispers, offering a hand, "want something to eat or drink?" On the table in front of the band are piles of fruit and a couple bags of Doritos. Six different kinds of tea sit on a shelf by the wall. No drugs, no booze, no coffee. Prince plays another lick or two and watches for a few more minutes, then waves goodbye to the band and heads for his car outside the concrete barn. "I'm not used to this," mumbles Prince, staring straight ahead through the windshield of his parked car. "I really thought I'd never do interviews again." we drive for twenty minutes, talking about Minnesota's skies, air and cops. Gradually, his voice comes up, bringing with it inflections, hand gestures and laughs. faced icons of Yahweh or Lucifer. "We're here," Monroe to talk to. Indeed, if a real-estate agent led a tour through Prince's house, one would guess that the resident was, at most, a hip suburban surgeon who likes deep-pile carpeting. "Hi," says Rande, from the kitchen, "you got a couple of messages." Prince thanks her and offers up some homemade chocolate-chip cookies. He takes a drink from a water cooler emblazoned with a Minnesota North Stars sticker and continues the."This place," he says, "is not a prison. And the only things it's a shrine to are Jesus, love and peace." Off the kitchen is a living room that holds nothing your aunt wouldn't have in her house. On the mantel are framed pictures of family and friends, including one of John Nelson playing a guitar. There's a color TV and VCR, a long coffee table supporting a dish of jellybeans, and a small silver unicorn by the mantel. Atop the large mahogany piano sits an oversize white Bible. The only unusual thing in either of the two guest bedrooms is a two-foot statue of a smiling yellow gnome covered by a swarm of butterflies. One of the monarchs is flying out of a heart-shaped hole in the gnome's chest. "A friend gave that to me, and I put it in the living room," says Prince. "But some people said it scared them, so I took it out and put it in here." Downstairs from the living room is a narrow little workroom with recording equipment and a table holding several notebooks. "Here's where I recorded all of 1999," says Prince, "all right in this room." On a low table in the corner are three Grammys. "Wendy," says Prince, "has got the Academy Award." The work space leads into the master bedroom. It's nice. And...normal. No torture devices or questionable appliances, not even a cigarette butt, beer tab or tea bag in sight. A four-poster bed above plush white carpeting, some framed pictures, one of Marilyn Monroe. A small lounging area off the bedroom provides a stereo, a lake-shore view and a comfortable place to stretch out on the floor and talk. And talk he did -- his first interview in three years. A few hours later, Prince is kneeling in front of the VCR, showing his "Raspberry Beret" video. He explains why he started the clip with a prolonged clearing of the throat. "I just did it to be sick, to do something no one else would do." He pauses and contemplates. "I turned on MTV to see the premiere of 'Raspberry Beret' and Mark Goodman was talking to the guy who discovered the backward message on 'Darling Nikki.' They were trying to figure out what the cough meant too, and it was sort of funny." He pauses again. "But I'm not getting down on him for trying. I like that. I've always had little hidden messages, and I always will." He then plugs in a videocassette of "4 the Tears in Your Eyes," which he's just sent to the Live Aid folks for the big show. "I hope they like it," he said, shrugging his shoulders. change clothes." He comes back a couple minutes later wearing another paisley jump suit, "the only kind of clothes I own." And the boots? "People say I'm wearing heels because I'm short," he says, laughing. "I wear heels because the women like 'em." A FEW MINUTES LATER, driving toward the First Avenue club, Prince is talking about the fate of the most famous landmark in Minneapolis. "Before Purple Rain," he says, "all the kids who came to First Avenue knew us, and it was just like a big, fun fashion show. The kids would dress for themselves and just try to took really cool. Once you got your thing right, you'd stop looking at someone else. You'd be yourself, and you'd feel comfortable." As we pull up in front of First Avenue, a Saturday-night crowd is milling around outside, combing their hair, smoking cigarettes, holding hands. They stare with more interest than awe as Prince gets out of the car. "You want to go to the [VIP] booth?" asks the bouncer. "Naah," says Prince. "I feel like dancing." A few feet off the packed dance floor stands the Family, taking a night off from rehearsing. Prince joins the band and laughs, kisses, soul shakes. Prince and three of Family members wade through a floor of Teddy-and-Eleanor-Mondale-brand funkettes and start moving. Many of the kids Prince passes either don't see him or pretend they don't care. Most of the rest turn their heads slightly to see the man go by, then simply continue their own motions. An hour later, he's on the road again, roaring out of downtown. Just as he's asked if there's anything in the world that he wants but doesn't have, two blondes driving daddy's Porsche speed past. "I don't," Prince says with a giggle, "have them." He catches up to the girls, rolls down the window and throws a ping-pong ball that was on the floor at them. They turn their heads to see what kind of geek is heaving ping-pong balls at them on the highway at two in the morning. When they see who it is, mouths drop, hands wave, the horn blares. Prince rolls up his window, smiles silently and speeds by.

What you think of this Prince article?
Interesting, never knew very much about Prince, even though I grew up listening to his music and watching Purple Rain a million times.
Reply:extremely long but informative.



Hotel reviews

My feet get soaked in my uggs??

ok so i have fuggs. thats right fuggs. from JCP not real uggs but similar lol. u know the tan suede-ish ones? well the inside of them gets soaked everytime i step outside in the snow or rain. i love in buffalo..so theres plenty of it!! my socks are soaked by the end of the day. its seemed to come in from the bottom... so we tried to put good insoles in but it didnt help at all!!








so my mom wants me to go shopping tonight and buy a better pair of boots. i have real ones..u know the brightly colored plastic ones! but i want a pair that looks like uggs... but that keep your feet dry all day!!





any suggestions? and only give what ur positive of..maybe u ahve a pair? find me these boots!

My feet get soaked in my uggs??
there r a lot of different kinds of snow boots. alot cuter than uggs.My daughter has all kinds of snow boots.even though it dont snow in Al.it rains and her feet stay dry.go to shoe dept.or finish line you should find some good boots there.
Reply:Are not uggs for the snow?...or just a cold day.....they are not intended on being in the rain.
Reply:put plastic bags around your feet


cut off axess bag


tuc in rest
Reply:did you put the rain and stain protector on it?? That could be why your feet are getting soaked...Try that and see how it works...



cat skin problem

My feet get soaked in my uggs??

ok so i have fuggs. thats right fuggs. from JCP not real uggs but similar lol. u know the tan suede-ish ones? well the inside of them gets soaked everytime i step outside in the snow or rain. i love in buffalo..so theres plenty of it!! my socks are soaked by the end of the day. its seemed to come in from the bottom... so we tried to put good insoles in but it didnt help at all!!








so my mom wants me to go shopping tonight and buy a better pair of boots. i have real ones..u know the brightly colored plastic ones! but i want a pair that looks like uggs... but that keep your feet dry all day!!





any suggestions? and only give what ur positive of..maybe u ahve a pair? find me these boots!

My feet get soaked in my uggs??
I don't like ugg boots I think they are freakin ugly. Besides which, any boot that's not rubber will leak a little, and since yours probably only have rubber on the sole of the shoe, it probably seeps in through the suede-type material all around the bottom on the sides. I recommend getting some other kind of boot. Even hooker boots will do better in the snow/rain (if you can walk haha).





http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31...





look around... there are other cute boots besides UGGs
Reply:I have a Pair of "report shoe" brand boots that are sort of like uggs only they have a heel and are knee high. but theyre still super cute and comfy.



develop skin cancer