So I learned from a friend last night about the mythical significance of Lilith in the Talmud. This was Adam’s first wife, portrayed in the same books that would later comprise the Book of Genesis — though she was excised from them when they were incorporated into the Bible. (Yes, I have weird telephone conversations with my friends before bed.)
Aside from being a notable figure for feminists (she demanded equality with Adam), Lilith is alternatively portrayed as an evil or demonic figure. If I understand correctly, this is because she defied God’s law about Adam’s superiority, essentially “divorced” him, and left the Garden of Eden. (Jewish tradition holds that Eve was actually Adam’s third wife.)
So now I understand why the name pops up so often for villains in horror films and fiction. My own favorite is the vampire queen Lilith from the 2010 film adaptation of Steve Niles’ comic series, “30 Days of Night: Dark Days.” (See the trailer in the first video below. She’s the girl with the … dark eyes.) “Dark Days” was a surprisingly terrific movie for a direct-to-video sequel … Niles seems to be the rare creator to have anything he touches turn to gold. (In addition to the movies, the many comic book limited series under the “30 Days of Night” banner have been almost uniformly excellent … “Dead Space” was pretty clunky and the 2017 reboot was largely unnecessary, but they were both still enjoyable.)
Anyway, the Lilith you see in the trailer was played by the priceless Mia Kirshner. If she seems a like a familiar female villain, it might be because you remember Kirshner as Mandy, the mysterious, cherubic assassin on “24” (2001-2014).
It also occurs to me now that the name of Frazier’s ex-wife on “Cheers” and “Frazier” was a subtle joke too — complete with an ostensibly psychic character calling her an “evil presence.”
The return of summer means the return of these squiggly suckers. (Yeah, I know I called them centipedes the last time I snapped a pic, but my high school friend who is now science teacher corrected me on that.) Turns out they curl up into little orange leggy balls when they feel threatened. I meant to get video of this guy unfurling, but my camera started running too late.
I showed this clip to the little boy next door, with whom I usually have a really nice rapport, and asked, “Isn’t that cool?!”
He responded flatly, “No.”
Well, I thought it was cool.
On another wildlife note, I swear I’ve got a muskrat or a mink or something right around my house. (Or maybe a weasel?) I’ve seen him several times from my window, crossing the road in precisely the same place. People keep telling me that I’m only seeing another groundhog, but this guy is svelte and lengthy, not round and goofy. He’s a graceful animal. I’d love to see him up close.
But I still haven’t seen a bear, people, and I been in the Roanoke area for two and a half years now. I was led to believe there would be bears.
(I didn’t create this meme; I got it from Facebook.)
The last time I discussed a theory like one of those you could generate below, I asked as neutrally as I could for evidence. I was told that “Good people are just now stepping forward.”
I happened across a poem about Grendel’s mother last night that I truly like a lot, and I thought I’d link to it from here. It’s at the All Poetry website, and it was written by a gentleman with the user name “Peripatetic.”
These little Roanoke fur-twerps need to be more careful about getting underfoot. We not-quite-middle-aged New Yorkers aren’t used to animals darting about our feet. And we … can’t see quite as well as we used to, either.
Eric Robert Nolan, Author 