Trailer for Norwegian film based on traditional folklore, 'Thale':

A few weeks ago bloody-disgusting.com brought news of a Norwegian horror film arriving later in 2012 that will tell the tale of the "huldra". Aleksander Nordaas' Thale follows a creepy chick with a cow's tale that appears normal from the front, but will appear "hollowed out" from behind (like a tree trunk).

Here's what Wiki says about the lore: "In some traditions, the huldra lures men into the forest to have sexual intercourse with her, rewarding those who satisfy her and often killing those who do not. The Norwegian huldra is a lot less bloodthirsty and may simply kidnap a man or lure him into the underworld. She sometimes steals human infants and replaces them with her own ugly huldrebarn (changeling huldre children). In some cases, the intercourse resulted in a child, being presented to the unknowing father. In some cases, she forces him to marry her."

I can't wait to see this!! >:-D

Jan. 7th, 2012: drainage ditch, paw print, prairie, beneath the owl bridge, rabbit cache, feathers

These shots of the drainage ditch epitomized the cold of the day to my mind's eye:
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Nearby in the mud lay several prints, smaller than the average dog. Fox, maybe? There are plenty in the area, and not far away was coyote scat:
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Antonio left the path to check out some shrubs before...
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... we reached the owl bridge:
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Something odd in a tree at the base of the overpass pillars made me do a double take. Since the pillars are off the trail in a ditch, the boys investigated the scene. A piece of rabbit was tucked into the branches! Since it was near a white-washed concrete pillar where the owls roost, I'm pretty sure an owl either dropped it there from its perch, or it cached it there for later.
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Nearly every time we've visited the owl bridge we've found at least one owl feather. I assume they're Great Horned Owl feathers, as they're the most common owl in these parts. Some might be Barn Owl; their feathers are difficult to differentiate.
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Close to the owl feather was this severed duck wing, and we found a great mess of duck fluff just outside the bridge where it must have been dispatched in the first place:
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Jan. 7th, 2012: distant birds, closing the distance, bald eagle and hawk, colorful grass, seed pods

As we pressed on through the softly falling snow, we noticed many Red-tailed Hawks all around us. None of the pictures came out very well due to the multitude of tree branches camouflaging them. The poor camera would focus on the foliage, and not the fowl. D'oh! Farther along, we spied what had to be two enormous birds in a tree in the distance. We moved forward as cautiously as possible to keep from spooking the birds. One did fly off to an adjacent tree--we couldn't tell if it was a Red-tailed or a Cooper's Hawk. The other bird, to our excitement, was a Bald Eagle! We weren't able to get very close to take pictures, as the area was private property and fenced off. Still, it was a neat surprise:
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A jarring patch of color:
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Seed pods:
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We had to photograph the amount of mud that caked my wheels for posterity's sake:
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Jan. 21st, 2012: Individual shots of Antonio and Erik

Since all of the shots from last week uploaded out of order, I thought I'd kick this series off with our playful mugs. First off is Antonio (LJ user cyberwolf007) who is half of my oft referred to "the boys". Following him is Erik (LJ user spiritcougar).

Oh, an explanation for the first two: as we set off on our jaunt, I noticed an oddly placed bright orange sticker in a drainage ditch. Antonio hunkered down to investigate, and the result was... what exactly is a Bush Hog Eaton?
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Oh my, you cheeky thing!
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Awww. >:-)
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A few of Antonio pushing me:
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Erik, avid outdoorscougarman!
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Woo hoo! GQ shots!
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Gazing into the Bole of Truth!
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King of the Steppes:
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Jan. 21st, 2012: C'est moi, and group shots!

The first one's inadvertently awesome because of Antonio's shirt. It looks like a slavering wolf's behind me!
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I thought these turned out cool. The first is Cartoonized, the second is Color Splashed, and the third is Blueprinted:
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Wearing Shewolf's scarf from Bahrain:
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Various moods:
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Erik, me, Antonio, and Jay (LJ user ndn_2spirit_den, the other half of "the boys"):
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Antonio, Erik, and I feelin' the love:
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