I’ve got a question for the TN readers, particularly those who have access to the BBC. While studying in London in 2001, I saw a television show that was so weird and twisted that it has bothered me ever since. 

The plot basically went something like this: A not-unattractive redhead in her mid-teens is attracted to her high school’s Classic Hot Guy. I’m almost positive the girl was named Poppy. Anyway, CHG is the top athlete/scholar/etc. and even volunteers at the local hospital, and doesn’t ever seem to notice all the things Poppy does to get his attention. Finally, Poppy decides to confront CHG at the hospital and openly declare her love for him. When she arrives, she finds him in the morgue, committing an act of necrophilia.

They both freak out, and Poppy runs home to consult a book of spells (or something??), since she is convinced that if CHG will only find her attractive if she is a reanimated corpse, since he obviously prefers the dead. She then slits her wrists in the bathtub after saying an incantation of some kind, dies, and then revives. Aside from being paler and proclaiming not to have a pulse, nothing much is different about her. The next day at school, CHG is all over her, and asks her out on a date. She then goes home and consults the magic book about embalming herself, as she has begun to rot.

This was the point at which I had to abandon the TV and go to class, so I never found out how this incredibly sick and strange show (or possibly made-for-TV movie) ended. It was the fall semester, so this might have been some kind of Halloween special. Other plot points included Poppy’s best friend, who seemed only to exist to say things like “I don’t know, Poppy, this might not be a great idea” in the most unfazed possible way. The chilling thing about this show was the blase way in which all of the macabre matter was treated. When Poppy proposes killing herself to her friend, the friend is like, “Well, whatever. Just because he likes ONE dead girl doesn’t mean he likes ALL dead girls.” And when Poppy is discussing embalming herself, the friend is all, “Tsk. The things we do for guys, amiright?” As though embalming one’s undead self was on part with plucking one’s eyebrows.

There did not appear to be any other supernatural elements in the show, and no one besides Poppy’s friend ever acknowledged (or noticed) that she was “dead.”

That particular TV only got BBC stations 1-4, so I know that this appeared on one of those channels. Various attempts to use my Google-fu have been fruitless. Please, Nation — I have to know how it ends! Many thanks in advance.

 Hoping It Wasn’t All Just Poppy’s Dream

*****

Dear Sars & Tomato Nation Readers:

I’m looking for fabric featuring people, especially kids, which is both cute and has non-white people on it. Quite a bit of the “retro” stuff, including Candy Land, features only white kids; I would like something with kids of all colors. Sub-categories I find especially challenging are princesses, fairies, most other fantasy, astronauts, and cowboys/girls. I can sometimes find “People of the World” stuff, and some of that’s okay, but the American is always white and the non-whites are always representing other countries.

I’m not particularly interested in stereotypes, like geisha girls or Native Americans only being represented with feathers and teepees; I really want what-kids-imagine-they-are, just not with only white people. (Try find an Asian fairy-princess or a black medieval knight, for example. Oh, and I’m not so much concerned with historical accuracy as I am with just representing the kids in my life and their make-believe with someone who looks like them.) I also need it to be high-quality quilting cotton. 

Here are some examples of what I’m talking about:

Good

More stereotypical, but acceptable

Not interested (stereotypes abound) 

I am willing to buy online; I have previously bought from equilter and fabricdepot, and Spoonflower is fine, although please don’t point me to something which violates copyright. Physically, I can go to anywhere within 2 hours of the Bay Area in CA, or dispatch people to places within an hour of Chattanooga, TN or Portland, OR. I am also dynamite at calling fabric stores anywhere, if you can tell me the information off of the selvage on the bolt of fabric and the name and phone number of the store. 

Sincerely, 

Paper dolls are also challenging

Dear Paper,

I would try Brooklyn Mercantile. Granted, the only fabric stores I deal with are BM and Jo-Ann, which no, but BM owner Tammy is rad and likes a challenge, and you have to love a storekeeper who makes a jerk-off motion when she says the word “colorway.” (Hee. But for serious, can we find a decent synonym for that?) Her stock runs more towards prints with cakes, or chickens, or grey toile — i.e., why the store is total Buntnip — but don’t be put off by that; if you email and ask, she may know a specialty/artisanal fabric-maker who’s likely either to carry a print like that, or even work with you on one.

Spoonflower…yeah, that one’s tough in this case, because you’d kind of be generating your own. But you might consider drawing/commissioning it yourself, because you know what, I bet that would sell like whoa.

Readers? Any thoughts?

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