A Brand New Day on The Horizon of Life

I honestly have to say that I am very glad that this blog will no longer be graded. This being said, I will now probably post a lot more and will carry this blog on simply as a hobby. I imagine no one will likely read it, but hey, I’ll be famous someday right? That and I get bored a lot and it will give me something to do while in Philidelphia. Along with having more personal posts, i will also fill you in on all of the latest vampire goodness as well.

                As some of you may have already known, next week I will be in Philidelphia partaking in my brother's murder trial, and it will be very hard to deal with. soooo an idea popped into my head and the future therapist in me told me to use this blog as a sort of outlet. so thats exactly what i intend to do!

umm, ok. so here goes..

On January 24th of 2009 my 22 year old brother was taken from this world by a very worthless soul named Alex Narajo. His name was Reo Bailey Dennis and despite us having different last names and only sharing our mother as kin, he was the person i was closest too. we had grown up together and in fact, i had no idea he was my half brother until i was ten, and even then it didnt matter. He was my brother, and if he had a different dad, that was cool. Had it not been for him, i would not be who i am today. He was my role model and my biggest influence, and still is today. Although we were eight years apart, we were never cruel to each other. of course we fought, sometimes wrestled, but never truly disliked one another. he would always complain that i was treated better and "got off easy" when in trouble. and i would always complain on how he got to do everything and I didnt. "He's older." my mom would say, and I would just look at her, her words not meaning anything. My young brain couldnt quite get the concept that age mattered. I was friends with his, they would carry me around and let me play video games with them. I saw no difference, and even today his friends walk up to me and hug me, joke with me, as if nothing has changed...  and yet everything is different .

Yummy =P

Hello readers, I found this journal entry while skimming through the internet and found it very interesting. This post is about how to drink, yes, blood. It’s so detailed and intriguing so if you are slightly squeamish this post is not recommended for you.

Take a look!

“Blood has historically been a powerful symbol in literature and art, signifying both life and death. Blood drinking and blood letting are in this way a case of taking the symbolic into the literal. We generally associate blood drinking with the stereotypical vampire. The subculture of those today who call themselves vampires claim that they need to consume blood as part of their diet as much as any normal human must eat food and drink water. Without it the vampire begins to feel a variety of symptoms from nausea, headaches, muscle aches, blurred vision, weakness, sensitivity to light and sound, and lethargy. These subside after they feed. However, apart from these 'vampires', there is an entire subculture of 'normal' human beings who like to engage in blood drinking for various reasons, which I will list. Blood drinking can be a solitary activity, or something to be 'enjoyed' between two people or in a group.

Curiosity

Blood is a very fascinating thing. It's life. It's a pretty colour. An odd taste. It flows curiously. It feels different every time. These type of cuts will usually be made with razor blades or more crude knives and are usually fairly superficial and made in an easy to hide area such as the inner arm. Rarely will this experimental act become a compulsion or a fetish.

Vampiric imitation

Buffy the Vampire Slayer and other pop culture have romanticised vampires in recent years, where once they were represented as demons and creatures of the devil in folklore. Thanks to contemporary authors such as Anne Rice, vampires aren't shrouded by so much superstition and have become a sensual creature of passion and beauty, immortally young, powerful, rich and free of inhibition. The vampire is in this way no longer the murderous demon, but a creature possessing qualities that every human wishes it could own: fearlessness, immortality, indulgence, power. Some people find pleasure in imitating this lifestyle. They don't kill to get blood, but they will drink from themselves or any willing 'donors' using controlled cutting techniques. These people do not necessarily think they are vampires, but they enjoy playing the part. They are not usually the type to drink blood from a glass or drink an animal's blood.

Extremists

These are fanatics and possibly killers, often belonging to strange religious cults. They are the type to drink blood from a glass, and to offer bloodshed as a religious offering or sacrifice. They believe that blood is a powerful agent, and that it can help them reach immortality. There are a few people who sincerely believe they actually are vampires and are obsessed with vampires to the extent of becoming a fanatic. This person is not really religiously or homicidally motivated; they are delusional and possibly disturbed. At the very least, they have lost the ability to distinguish fantasy from reality. These groups or individual extremists are very relatively small in number.

Sexual fetish

For some people, blood drinking becomes a part of intimacy. Often it is viewed as a more deeply bonding and erotic way to experience the essence of another person. It is the ultimate way to symbolically share your life with another. This would be an entirely consensual experience with perhaps a bit of fantasy role playing. As far as blood extraction, it has been said that if you suck on a particular part of the skin in a certain way for long enough, blood will come out. Sometimes blood is extracted by controlled cutting, or perhaps with teeth or fingernails for those who into more primal sex or a visceral experience.

Survival

No kidding. Jessie Camacho from the reality tv series "Survivor: Africa" spoke about her blood drinking for an Entertainment Tonight interview. The water was so repulsive that they turned to drinking blood. She said that they knew the Masai drank blood for protein, so they thought the challenge would either be eating bugs or drinking the blood. Of course, she set her mind to think that it would taste the worst, even worse than the water. When she actually chugged it down and took a taste of it, she says, "It wasn't that bad! It was actually good! It was better than the water, I'll tell you that!"

The first step is to find yourself some blood.

Mail Order Blood
Yes, there is actually such a thing as "mail order blood". One website that specialises in this apparently is http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Cavern/1238/blood.html. They do not use human blood, but they reassure you that all their animals are of the purest breeds. Apparently the taste is slightly different, but animal blood is just as satisfying and filling as human blood.
There are risks with such slaughterhouse blood, as with all blood. First of all, in many places it is illegal for the butcher to sell blood for consumption. This should clue you straight away in that it is not an especially safe practice. Even domestic animals can carry cross-species infectious disease as well as the risk of those diseases often associated with spoiled food (such as salmonella). If the slaughter process is sloppy, partially digested animal food-stuffs can contaminate the blood. This partially digested food is just loaded with bacteria, some of which our body has no clue how to work with. The meat can be rinsed and washed of these bacteria but one cannot do the same with the blood.
Along similar lines is the risk of a sloppy slaughter resulting in prion contamination of the blood. Prions are infectious proteins that cause "Mad-Cow Disease" among others such as Kuru, Krutsfield-Jackob (more genetic), Scrapie (in sheep) and a multitude of wasting diseases. Generally, the protein only resides in neuronal tissue (brain, spinal cord, etc) but sloppy butchering can cause contamination. The prion its self causes mutation of the bodies natural brain proteins to a non-digestable form. The proteins build up in the cells and causes lysis (breakage) and cell death. This eventually leads to "spongioform encephalopathy" (spongy brain) where you brain is riddled with holes and you begin to mentally degenerate.

Drinking blood from uncooked meat & poultry
There are many who do this; they are referred to as "squeezers". With the advance of mad cow, salmonella, E.Coli, and the like, it is advised against. If you insist upon it, you should go to a butcher and get fresh blood by the pint. You can pass it off as being used for a recipe. It is advisable to only use beef blood as pig's blood and blood from poultry has a higher chance of carrying bacteria. Heat the blood to a slightly warm temperature on the stove, stirring often. Do not boil it or over cook it. Cook it for about 5 minutes over a very low heat.

Finding a human victim donor
Donors are virtually everywhere. Some of the outer fringe groups and more alternative subcultures such as Goths, Ravers, Fetishists and the like are a buffet for the vampire, or blood drinker. These people are more likely open to the idea of someone drinking their blood.

Risks to the donor
There is the obvious risk of the wound; if not cleaned properly before and after drinking it can easily become infected. The human mouth is far from the cleanest thing on this planet. The bacteria can cause abcesses at the least and motor paralysis at the worst if the cut is close to a nerve that becomes infected. This can be avoided somewhat by cleaning the wound very well before and after drinking with some isopropal alcohol, bactine disinfectant and a little hydrogen peroxide. The wound should also be treated against scarring (Vitamin E creams help this somewhat) and bandaged for at least a day to keep out infection. Even all of this, though, is not a fool proof preventative.

Also to the donor is the risk of cutting at the wrong point. A person inexperienced in physiology can sever a nerve or major vessel in no time flat. Nerves do not regenerate and thus, once severed, can cause paralysis, loss of feeling and eventually a possible loss of limb. Major blood vessels are large enough that they do not quickly clot. Yes, you will have more blood then you know what to do with, but your donor will also be at great risk for bleeding to death.

Risks to the Drinker
There exists the risk of drinking too much. This can result in Iron overdose, (possibly) Toxic Porphyria, and bloody stools. Moderation should always be the key. You may want to drink two or three times a week, but it is far better to limit yourself to what you need. This cuts back on all the above mentioned problems to you and your donor.

Blood from a menstruating woman

This method does of course eliminate the hazard of creating a wound, but the possibility of infection is still present because of the unclean and bacteria ridden nature of the human mouth. To the donor it can result in pyrometriosis, a rather nasty, smelly, and painful infection of the uterus which results in it being filled with infected pus. Treatable through leutalyse injection which auses contraction of the uterus and expulsion of the infection with side effects of nausea and diarrhea. Not all people respond to the injections either so, more commonly, hysterectomy is the recommended treatment. The disease also often causes future infertility. Infection of the cervix, oviducts, and all other parts of the reproductive and, actually, this can extend to the bladder and kidneys as well. Cervical and uterine infections both increase the risk of future uterine or cervical cancer as well.


Questions to ask your donor

1. Have they ever been exposed to AIDs or HIV?
2. Have you ever been exposed to Hepatitis C?
3. Have you ever been exposed to any type of Hepatitis virus at all?
4. Have you been outside the country within the last 2 years?
5. Have you ever used a dirty needle, shared a needle, or ever used a needle that you feel could have been, in anyway, unsafe at all?
6. Have you recently had any part of your body pierced? If it was less than a year ago it is advisable to find another donor; it is better to be safe than sorry.
7. How many people within the last year have you had sexual intercourse with? If more than one, you may need to be a little hesitant.
8. Within the last month have you had any kind of sexual contact with anyone? If the answer is yes, then ask how many people? Then ask, Have you been with this person less than a month? If this answer is yes, then ask has this person slept with anyone else besides you during the last 2 months? If the answer is yes, then don't chance it.
9. Find out if they are on medication or whether they have been fairly recently. Also find out if they are taking, or have taken drugs. Remember it will still be in their blood stream and you may be exposed to things you are allergic to.

It is always advisable to get your donor to have some tests done.
What tests should be ran on the blood?

1. RPR (rapid plasma reagin). Its purpose is to determine the presence of treponema palidum infection (syphilis). If the test comes back positive you will then want to run a confirmatory test, which is FTA (fluorescent antitreponemal antibody). But no matter what, discard this blood, and defer this donor for 1 year. Note that the treponema palidum organisms die in blood after 5 days of refrigeration. That does not mean use this blood after 5 days. It means the test will not be accurate after 5 days.
2. ALT (alanine aminotransferase). The purpose of this test is surrogate testing for Hepatitis C. Discard this blood if ALT values are out of range.
3. Anti-HBc. The purpose of this test is a surrogate test for Hepatitus C; high incidence in HIV-positive donor. Never use this donors blood if the test values are positive.
4. Anti-HCV. This test determines the presence of antibodies to the Hepatitis C virus. Again, if the antibodies are there defer this donor forever.
5. HBsAg. Determines presence of Hepatitis B surface antigen. If this test comes back positive then repeat test procedure after neutralization of HBsAg in sample with anti-HBs; results unaffected if false-positive, at least 50% reduction if true-positive. On confirmation, discard blood and permanently defer this donor.
6. Anti-HIV. This test is also very important. It determines the presence of antibodies to the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). If test is positive, run a test called Western blot. There is a 0.5% false positive rate. Also discard the blood if positive.
7. Anti-HTLV-1. This test determines presence of antibodies to human T-cell lymphotropic virus, type 1. If this test comes up positive, pitch the blood and never consider this donor again.

You can get these tests ran for free if you go to a blood bank and donate. It also then gives blood for the hospitals to use. Now if that is all free & clear, you can move on to..

Extracting the blood
The most popular way is to cut the skin with a very sharp, sterile scalpel in the shape of an X about 3-4 layers of skin deep and 1/4-1/2 inch long. For very small amounts sterile lancets work well and leave a very small wound which heals with little to no real evidence. These are the least painful for the donor as it makes the wound quick and easy. Biting is not recommended much as it can leave deep tissue damage as well as nerve damage and is extremely painful for the donor.

Sterilise the area and clean it with antibacterial soap and alcohol wipes. Make sure that your instruments (scalpels, lancets, razor blades) are also clean and sterile. Most lancets come sterile and capped so they remain that way until use. Scalpels can be found at most hospitals and medical supply stores as well as science stores dealing with biology. If they cannot be auto claved, soak them in alcohol and then using tweezers or forceps, grasp the end of the piece away from the blade (the end of the scalpel where it would attach to the handle) and hold it in a flame for 30 seconds then redip it in alcohol. The same holds true for razor blades.

Now drink.

If you don't want to drink it all at once, here are some handy hints on keeping blood fresh. If you were to bleed right now and put some into a glass you would have fresh blood (plasma). But for every second it sits in that glass it starts clotting. Eventually you will be left with a glass full of serum, and a clot in the bottom. So you must isolate what causes your blood to clot. The main difference is that plasma contans fibrinogen, and the serum contans fibrin.

There are different chemicals you can use to ensure the freshness of blood. EDTA (Ethylenediaminetraacetic acid) is a common one. EDTA binds with the calcium in your blood; making sure it doesn't clot. However, the blood will seperate into red blood cells on the bottom, and white blood cells, and platelets in the middle, and plasma on top. It can easily be stirred back to whole blood plasma though. You can find EDTA in Lavender top Blood tubes, preservatives for food, and in blood banks. Then you want can keep blood in the fridge, at 35 degrees Fahrenheit.


After all the risks & hassle, the spontaneity is gone so you may as well just abstain from blood :)”

Cool eh? Now here is the link to the page:  http://www.everything2.com/title/blood+drinking
And no, I do not wish to be graded on this, just thought it was cool.

Sick and Tired of being Sick and Tired

Two years ago I was diagnosed with what I thought was a joke. I brushed it off and continued as if everything was fine. Now, as I write this all I can think is that I wish I would have listened. While others may do the same, I plead to you on re-thinking it. After my brother was murdered I constantly got sick. everyone was very worried about me and when I told the doctor my symptoms he told me something that made me laugh. I was diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder, better known as Depression.

 "Although there is no blood test to diagnose depression, there are well-developed guidelines used by health care professionals to diagnose major depressive disorder. One of these guidelines, developed by the American Psychiatric Association, is called the DSM-IV^®. Your health care professional may ask you questions based on this established diagnostic tool.


According to the DSM-IV, major depressive disorder (or "depression") is diagnosed when five or more of the following symptoms of depression are present for most of the day, nearly every day for at least 2 weeks. At least one of the symptoms must be either persistent sad or "empty" feelings or loss of interest in activities.





A Sad Sunflower

• Constant sadness
• Irritability
• Hopelessness
• Trouble sleeping
• Low energy or fatigue
• Feeling worthless or guilty for no reason
• Difficulty concentrating
• Loss of interest in favorite activities



Be sure to tell your health care professional if you're experiencing any of these symptoms as described by the DSM-IV. Also, tell your health care professional if your symptoms are affecting your ability to function at home, at work, or with family, friends, or colleagues." [1] As time went on I realized this was an actual disease. I read all the pamphlets and online information but it never seemed real. I gradually got worse and worse, to the point of attempted suicide. I honestly cannot stress this fact to the world.

 Depression is Real.



Depression is a disease that can be successfully treated. There are a variety of ways to treat depression, including prescription medication and psychotherapy. Everyone is different and some people may use natural remedies such as herbal therapy. Only a health care professional can determine the appropriate option to treat your depression. Many people are able to take medication that will balance their Serotonin's and  Norepinephrine levels in their brain. These two neurotransmitters regulate mood and behavior. In other cases, such as mine, more treatment is needed. Psychotherapy (sounds great right?) is a type of "talk therapy" [2] that evaluates your moods and negative way of thinking. A trained therapist will help you to re arrange your self and way of thought, and yes, Therapists have that power.

It is very important that our growing society is informed of this illness. More and more Americans are plagued with this diesease each day and it is such a horrible diesease.

Citation:

[2] Pifizer, . (2010). Learnin about depression. Retrieved from http://www.pristiq.com/depression_treatment.aspx

[1] Pifizer, Initials. (2010). Learnin about depression. Retrieved from http://www.pristiq.com/depression_symptoms.aspx



bUNNEY

As Halloween approaches, you’ll be hit from all sides with tales of ghosts, witches, vampires, monsters, and other assorted scary icons. But none can be more terrifying than bunny rabbits!

1. Gargoyle Rabbit

This terrifying gargoyle is known as the Vampire Rabbit of Newcastle. He perches above a solicitor’s office behind St. Nicholas’ Cathedral in Newcastle, England. No one knows why he is there, or what makes him glare with such evil. Image by Leo Reynolds.

2. Giant Mutant Rabbits

The 1972 film Night of the Lepus is the definitive monster bunny movie. Plagued by too many rabbits, a community turns to scientists who experiment on the rabbits to keep them from reproducing. An escaped rabbit reproduces anyway, and the results are huge carnivorous mutants that eat anything in their way, including humans!

3. Were-Rabbit

In the 2005 claymation film Wallace & Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit, a mysterious nocturnal rabbit is raiding a community’s vegetable gardens, threatening the annual vegetable contest. It turns out that the hero of the story is suffering from a curse (brought on by his own machinery) that causes him to turn into a giant rabbit when he is exposed to moonlight!

4. Vampire Rabbit

Bunnicula, the Vampire Rabbit was a 1982 animated ABC Weekend Special based on a series of children’s books by James Howe. Bunnicula was a family pet who sucked the juices out of vegetables. Not all that frightening in reality -unless you’re a vegetable. Nevertheless, Bunnicula can sprout bat wings, fly, and move things with the power of his mind.

5. Killer Rabbit

The Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog guards the entrance to the cave of Caerbannog in the movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Yes, he may look like a innocent little fluffball, but he can bite your head off before you even realize it, as he did Bors, Gawain, and Ector in the movie. Run away! Run away! The Killer Rabbit also appears in the musical Spamalot. You can purchase a Killer Rabbit here.

6. Imaginary Rabbit

Evil rabbits can even invade our thoughts! The 2001 movie Donnie Darko left many with nightmares of imaginary human-size rabbits, and not the benign imaginary friend we met in the movie Harvey. The apparition of a 6-foot rabbit named Frank saves Donnie Darko’s life and tells him the world will end in 28 days. Frank incites Donnie into committing criminal acts -and why not, if the world is going to end anyway?

7. Versatile Rabbits

Bunnies can portray any evil character, as they demonstrate in the 30-second Bunnies Theater. See bunnies perform in Alien, The Shining, Freddie vs. Jason, Night of the LIving Dead, Saw, and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (as well as non-scary films) at Angry Alien.

8. Swamp Rabbit

Not all killer rabbits are fictional. In April of 1979, president Jimmy Carter was fishing near his home in Plains, Georgia when he was attacked by a swamp rabbit! The rabbit swam toward the president’s boat and tried to board. Carter had to fend it off with an oar. Press secretary Jody Powell is quoted from his 1986 book The Other Side of the Story:

The animal was clearly in distress, or perhaps berserk. The President confessed to having had limited experience with enraged rabbits. He was unable to reach a definite conclusion about its state of mind. What was obvious, however, was that this large, wet animal, making strange hissing noises and gnashing its teeth, was intent upon climbing into the Presidential boat.

After some objected that rabbits can’t swim, a picture of the incident was produced, clearly showing the rabbit swimming. The rabbit’s political affiliation is still unknown.
Obviously, bunny rabbits are out to get us. Beware!

Mwahahahahhahahahhaha

Vampires come in all shapes and forms, and they are certainly more numerous (at least at parties) near Halloween! Here’s a look at some pop culture vampires.

Vlad Tepes III, also known as Vlad Dracula or Vlad the Impaler, was the prince of Wallachia (a region of Romania) in the 15th century. Although he was a cruel leader, having tortured and killed thousands of his own citizens, he was never considered a vampire. He was the inspiration for the Bram Stoker character Dracula because of the name, which means “son of Dracul”. His father, Vlad Tepes II took the name Dracul as a member of the Order of the Dragon. Because of this inspiration, he is an “honorary” pop culture vampire.

The 1922 film Nosferatu was the first widely-seen movie based on the the Bram Stoker novel Dracula. However, it was not an authorized adaptation, so the names were changed. “Nosferatu” is supposedly a Romanian word for vampire, but the origin of the word is in doubt. Max Schrek played the title character, called Count Orlok, as a repulsive and terrifying creature. The film is in the public domain, and available on the internet.

But we’re just getting started! Lots more vampires, after the jump.

Count Dracula is the best known vampire of all. He was the subject of Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel Dracula, and set the stage for all other vampire tales that followed. The first authorized movie featuring the chracter was Dracula, starring Bela Lugosi in 1931. He was also played by Lon Chaney Jr., John Carradine, Christopher Lee, Frank Langella, Louis Jourdan, Klaus Kinski, Gary Oldman, and Marc Warren in later movies. Lugosi’s portrayal of Dracula as a charming and erudite aristocrat is still the archtype for the character.

The character Vampira was born when actress Maila Nurmi wore a Halloween costume modeled on a Charles Addams character (later named Morticia Addams) to a party. Nurmi was hired to host horror movies on KABC-TV in 1954. A year later, she took the show to KHJ-TV. Vampira became a local hit, then a nationwide cult celebrity. She appeared in several movies, most notably in Ed Wood’s Plan 9 from Outer Space. Nurmi now runs the website Vampira’s Attic.

Barnabas Collins was the most popular character on the ABC soap opera Dark Shadows, which aired from 1966 to 1971 (also remade in 1991). The gothic series began with no supernatural elements. The vampire Barnabas Collins (played by Jonathon Frid) debuted in the second season and made the show a hit. You can see an extensive history of the character at CollinWiki. A new feature film based on Dark Shadows is in development, in which Johnny Depp will play Barnabas Collins.

Count Chocula showed up in cereal aisles in 1971. He took the vampire back to what Halloween is really all about -sugar overload! The character craved chocolate instead of blood. Count Chocula, along with Frankenberry, were the first of General Mills’ series of monster-themed cold cereals. Count Chocula has had some fame outside of the breakfast table, including a press conference related at The Onion.

Blacula was the lead character in two “blaxploitation” films, Blacula in 1972 and Scream, Blacula, Scream in 1973. Mamuwalde, played by William Marshall, was an African prince bitten by Dracula and doomed to be a vampire (it was Count Dracula who named him Blacula). The movies are now cult classics and available on DVD.

Elvira, Mistress of the Dark was a character played by Cassandra Peterson. She gained fame as the host of the weekly Movie Macabre on KHJ-TV in Los Angeles in the 1980s, a job turned down by Maila Nurmi. Elvira went on to guest star on TV shows, appeared in several movies, hosted a video series, and was the celebrity Halloween spokesperson for Coors beer.

Sesame Street’s Count von Count taught Gen X how to count, with a weird vampire laugh thrown in with every success. He doesn’t suck blood or stay inside all day, but like other vampires he isn’t reflected in a mirror. He lives in a castle and counts bats, as well as anything else he encounters. Ah-ha-ha-ha!

Lestat de Lioncourt is the main character in Anne Rice’s series of novels called The Vampire Chronicles. Tom Cruise played the part in the 1994 film Interview with the Vampire. Stuart Townsend played Lestat in the 2002 film The Queen of the Damned.

Vampire Bats are the only real vampires here. There are a thousand species of bats, but only the common vampire bat (Desmodus rotundus) drinks the blood of other mammals to live. They are native to Latin America, only about four inches long, and feed mostly from livestock. If a vampire bat doesn’t find food one night, it may ask a close relative or friend for some regurgutated blood to survive!

Vampire fans and movie buffs will also want to check out the list of The Top 70 Vampire Movies of all Time. Which vampire is your favorite?

Science: meet Vampire!

One dark and stormy evening (hahahahahaha) Spanish neurologist Juan Gomez-Alonso was watching a vampire movie when he realized something strange; he noticed that vampires behave an awful lot like people with rabies. The virus attacks the central nervous system, altering the moods and behaviors of those infected. Sufferers become agitated and demented, and, much like vampires, their moods can turn violent.

Rabies has several more vampire-like symptoms. It can cause insomnia, which explains the nocturnal portion of the legend. People with rabies also suffer from muscular spasms, which can lead them to spit up blood. What’s stunning is the fact that these spasms are triggered by bright lights, water, mirrors, and strong smells, such as the scent of garlic. (Sound familiar?) After watching the Dracula movies a few more times, Dr. Gomez-Alonso felt compelled to continue studying vampire folklore and the medical history of rabies. Eventually, he discovered an even more profound connection between the two phenomena: Vampire stories became prominent in Europe at exactly the same time certain areas were experiencing rabies outbreaks. This was particularly true in Hungary between 1721 and 1728, when an epidemic plagued dogs, wolves, and humans and left the country in ruins. Gomez-Alonso theorized that rabies actually inspired the vampire legend, and his research was published by the distinguished medical journal Neurology in 1998.

The Madness of King George
Dr. Gomez-Alonso wasn’t the first scientist who tried to pin vampirism to a real illness. In 1985, Canadian biochemist David Dolphin proposed a link between vampires and porphyria—a rare, chronic blood disorder characterized by the irregular production of heme, an iron-rich pigment found in blood. The disorder can cause seizures, trances, and hallucinations that last for days or weeks.

As a result, people with porphyria often go insane. (Britain’s King George III, the one who inspired our founding fathers to start their own country, is thought to have suffered from it.) Porphyria sufferers also experience extreme sensitivity to light, suffering blisters and burns when their skin is exposed to the sun. Another symptom of porphyria is an intolerance to sulfur in foods. Which food contains
a lot of sulfur? That’s right, garlic!

Sacrilege

I'm never gonna understand this.
I'm never gonna let it be.
I just can't understand this aged plan,
It's obsolete.

How can you recognize and cherish
hysteric fairy tales?
They've come to life. Now sit by and listen...
The whole world wails.

I feel as though I've been abducted
Or maybe I am just misplaced
As I watch these rash hysterics
lay to waste the human race.

Just ask them if the sky will open
and save us from the truth.
They say that they'd leave today
Just without, without you.

Is this one big joke?
I can only hope
Say your prayers, they're the final punchline.
I don't see the love, below or above
Say you're scared, well, I feel fine

Oh, please believe (oh, please believe)
I'm doing just fine
For what's deceased I shall never grieve
Just let your faith die. Die!

I feel I have been abandoned
I alone seem to see disgrace
As I watch these mad dogmatics
govern our entire race.
Don't tell them you can walk on water
Or they may drink your blood
Why live for pain in the name
the name of, the name of love?

I can only hope
This is one big joke
With your prayers as the final punchline
How is it divine
When it's flawed design?
Fill the cracks with faith I can't find.

Screaming for pure love
You venerate
Delusion based in hate

Bleeding from pure love
For this I pray:
We've got to shake the faith.


DO NOT GRADE THIS