Brenda Cowen, Costume Designer

Interview with Brenda Cowen, Costume Designer
Interviewed by Paul Dale Roberts, HPI Esoteric Detective
Interview Assistant: Deanna Jaxine Stinson
HPI (Hegelianism Paranormal Intelligence) International
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BRENDA TALKS COSTUME DESIGN
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hwhfh_k8FNM&feature=youtu.be

Interview Date: 2/8/2014
Time of Interview: 1400 Hours
Location of Interview: Barnes & Noble/Starbucks – Natomas – 3561 N Freeway Blvd, Sacramento, CA 95834

Question: Tell me something personal about yourself. Family life? Music? TV shows and movies you like? Books you like? Travels?

Answer: I grew up mostly in California. My family consisted of four children, 3 girls and a brother. We went on a lot of family vacations to the coast and amusement parks, my childhood was a pleasant one for sure. I have always had a need for music growing up, I remember being 6 and having my own battery operated radio to carry around with me at all times. The TV shows I grew up with were the sitcoms that you can only see on rerun channels now like Gilligan’s Island and Star Trek were my favorites. I love reading medical mysteries, fictional novels and anything I think might be turned into a movie. I love to travel to the coast and would someday like to retire there. There is something about the ocean that is just hypnotic to me. I also love to just get in my car and go somewhere with no agenda, it makes for an interesting weekend. 

Question: You have been involved with Shannon McCabe’s Vampire Ball for a good few years now. What inspired you to become involved with the Vampire Ball?

Answer: Shannon is an amazing woman and it has been an honor to be involved with anything she does. I first met Shannon thru an ad looking for help with the Vampire Ball, I wasn’t sure what I could do to help but I wanted to do something. I like to decorate and sew costumes so I figured that might be of use to her. Shannon amazing personality has kept me coming back year after year. 

Question: Do you have an attraction to vampires? If you do, how did that come about?

Answer: I have always been attracted to villains in movies. When I lived in Arizona there was this late night movie on Saturdays that was called Dr. Scar and it was a monster movie that kept my interest. I have always loved Halloween also because it was a time I could dress up as a monster and not be considered weird. 

Question: You actually got involved with the Vampire Ball, because of your costume designing talents. At the age of 14, you got involved with costume design, how did that come about?

Answer: I was a competitive roller skater and for competition you had to wear skating costumes. Most of my original costumes were previously owned by someone else and I wanted something original. My mom started making the costumes for me but didn’t have much time due to her working full time. So I started learning how to sew on the Singer machine my dad had bought for her. I still have that machine and it still works. I started to become more interested in sewing when I realized that I didn’t have to make things the same as the pattern that I could alter it to my likings. Now I find it hard to purchase clothing because I always want to make it a little different. 

Question: You also helped design roller skating outfits, please explain.

Answer: Everyone had their own ideas for costumes, I just had to help it come to reality. It was always a creative process because you wanted something completely different from everyone else and I usually succeeded at it. I really loved the creativity of it all. 

Question: You created a costume for the Sacramento Film Festival and didn’t get any credit for this. What was the name of the movie and can you tell me about the costume?

Answer: I actually created all the costumes for that short film which consisted of 10 pairs of pants and 10 shirts of all different sizes. One long dress with a cape which was the hardest due to the specification. The name of the movie was Lucifer and the Magus it was produced by Mind Clay Productions. It is possibly still on IMDB. 

Question: You lived in Broderick, Douglas – Arizona and Utah, tell me about that?

Answer: My first memories as a child were living in Broderick, I attended kindergarten there and then we moved to Arizona. I lived there till 1972 when we moved back to California and have been here since with the exception of 9 months living in Brigham city Utah. I moved there because my husband worked for the Air Force base that close and was given an option of place to go. It was a beautiful town and all the people were amazing, I just didn’t care for the weather.

Question: Tell me about the Twilight Convention you went to?

Answer: I saw on line that the Twilight Convention was coming to Sacramento so I jumped on the opportunity to volunteer at it. When the Friday before the convention was here I went to the Sheridan on J Street which is where it was held, myself and my son Bailey helped the crew setup the booths and the stage for the honored guests of Twilight. It was an exciting experience to be a part of, I got to meet several of the actors from Twilight, mostly the werewolves and one Volturi Vampire. The actors were amazingly nice and very human. It was an awesome experience and I would do it again every chance I get. 

Question: You told me about your parents both being in the Navy, can you tell me more? What was it like to be a Navy brat?

Answer: My mom would tell us the story of how she met my dad. She would tell us of how she was sitting on a bench on the base she was stationed at and she said this handsome man, he stopped and started talking to her and soon asked her on a date. Her response was for a jar of peanut butter, and then she would go out with him. My mom loved peanut butter and I guess it was hard to come by where they were, so he produced the jar and the rest is history. I have two older sisters and with my dad being stationed different places they would move around a lot. My oldest sister was born in Arizona because my dad was out at sea so my mom lived with her mother in law in Arizona. Then my dad was stationed in Alaska so the next sister was born in Alaska. Then came me born in Oxnard at Port Hyneme because that is where he was stationed at the time. Then came my brother born here in Sacramento because my dad was a reservist and we settled in Sacramento. So being a Navy brat hasn’t been as difficult as it could have been.

Question: You were involved with a music video, tell me more?

Answer: My friend Anthony Felty who I met thru a movie made with my Crowned Production Company, has amazing skills when it comes to productions. He contacted a rapper who resides in New York to make a music video for him. The rapper was unable to make it to California so Anthony found some actors who closely resembled the rapper and he made a video on a culdesac here in Natomas. I made some light filtering screens for him to help in the production of the video.

Question: You met Jasper from the Twilight movie series, please elaborate.

Answer: I contacted the Manager of the Band 100 Monkeys, which were scheduled to perform here in Sacramento. Shannon McCabe wanted to do an interview with them and thru the manager I made it happen. The lead singer of the band is Jackson Rathbone aka Jasper from Twilight. The band was awesome and I would love to see them come back soon. Jackson and all the band members were very gracious to give us an interview. 

Question: You have experiences with the paranormal, tell me about that?

Answer: when I moved back from Arizona We moved into this house in North Highlands, there was always a cold odd feeling for me in this house. I was always the last person to go to bed at night and I always felt like something was behind me, while I was watching TV. One day I was trading thing with my younger brother and I ended up with a whistle that he had had for a long time that I wanted. I painted it and put it up in the window to dry for the night, the window was behind the bed. I had just been in bed for a few minutes and had started to drift off to sleep when I heard the noise from the whistle, I thought I was going to catch my brother trying to steal it back when I opened my eyes there was someone standing at the foot of my bed. They were wearing clothing that looked all white and I could only see them from about the knee up because of the bed foot board. I was frozen and didn’t know what to do or how to respond. The person held out their hand as if wanting me to take it. My hands were under the blanket and when I finally decided to move and bring my hand out, it disappeared. A second later my dad showed up at my bedroom door and asked me if I just came from down the hall, all I could do was shake my head no, I still couldn’t speak because I was still not sure what had just happened. The next morning I told my parents what I had experienced, my dad said he saw someone come from the living room into my room and thought it was me. 

Question: If you had 6 dinner guests, 3 fictional, 3 historical, who would they be?

Answer: on the lighter side of life I would have Bugs Bunny because I I really want to know ‘whats up doc?’ The other two would be Xena the Warrior Princess and The Guardian from the Vampire Academy. I would really like to have John F. Kennedy at my table because he died before I could have any memories of him and for some reason I feel I need to know more. 

Question: If you were stuck on a deserted island, what 3 things would you bring with you?

Answer: A water filter, a fishing pole and a fully stocked tent.

Question: Thank you for this wonderful interview, are there any words of wisdom you would like to tell your readers?

Answer: Just believe no matter what. If you question it, research it and believe!

Question: How can people contact you?

Answer: I can be contacted at [email protected]

BELOW ARE HPI UPDATES, NEWS AND GOSSIP!

CABINET OPENS BY ITSELF!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKTe4Ysgrac&feature=youtu.be
Captured by Shari Aresta – Video by Maxam Mysteries – Wendy Maxam!

TYPES OF VAMPIRES
ENERGY VAMPIRE: One who can connect their own aura to your aura and drain your energy. Some energy vampires only need to touch you, to obtain your energy.

PSYCHIC VAMPIRE: One who has the ability to absorb a person’s energy through psychic abilities from their mind.

PHYSICAL VAMPIRE: Most physical vampires take jobs like ‘coach’, ‘drill sergeant’, etc. Example: The drill sergeant takes a platoon of soldiers for a ten mile march. The drill sergeant knowing the soldiers are exhausted, makes them run double time. The soldiers are completely drained physically, but the drill sergeant seems to have captured a second wind and is ready to march another 10 miles. This physical vampire has drained all of the energy from this platoon through physical means and in turn becomes stronger and impregnable.

MENTAL VAMPIRE: Most mental vampires will take on positions such as a History Teacher or any position that requires an oral repertoire for the human masses. Example: High school History Teacher teaches about Charlemagne and his conquests. He tells the story with a monotone voice. The story drags on and is very boring. Half the class is asleep and now he has acquired the energy from his mentally fatigued students. Mental Vampires are a b***h!

BLOOD VAMPIRE: Blood vampires are known to obtain their energy and strength from feeding off the blood of people. Example: Dracula. 

SEXUAL VAMPIRE: Hugh Hefner, Warren Beatty, Mick Jagger – these are famous womanizers. Sexual vampires are able to feed off the energy of their sexual conquests. Their hunger becomes a feeding frenzy, similar to the hunger of the piranha, they just can’t get enough and seek out more and more victims for their energy lust. 

Arachnida Fever: The Case of the Spider Scheusal!
Jerimiah Backer in 1927 – Topeka, Kansas was bitten by a brown recluse spider while working in his fathers’ fields. His leg swelled up to the size of a Oak tree trunk. Jerimiah suffered a horrible fever, that almost took his life. His leg was amputated. Jerimiah during his fever would see a large figure of a man, that had regular legs and regular arms, but his head was that of a spider with two large fangs. Attached to his neck were hairy appendages that resembled spider legs. He had 4 nightmares and in each nightmare The Spider Scheusal came closer to his bedside. When his fever broke, there were no more nightmares and no more Spider Scheusal. Was the Spider Scheusal just from his imagination or was this a type of Grim Reaper? If the Spider Scheusal reached his bedside, would Jerimiah have died? 

Monique Apodaca-Scott recommends for everyone to watch Spider Baby. I also recommend this movie! Spider Baby is a 1964 black comedy horror film, written and directed by Jack Hill. It stars Lon Chaney, Jr. as Bruno, the chauffeur and caretaker of three orphaned siblings who suffer from “Merrye Syndrome”, which causes them to mentally, socially, and physically regress backwards down the evolutionary ladder starting in early puberty. Sid Haig, Jill Banner, Carol Ohmart, Quinn Redeker, Mary Mitchel, and Karl Schanzer also star. This movie deals with a possible ‘spider disease’!

Paul Dale Roberts, HPI Esoteric Detective
aka The Demon Warrior
Hegelianism Paranormal Intelligence (International)
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