Month: August 2009 (Page 2 of 2)

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One of my favorite bands is The Stranglers. So, for no other reason, today’s videos are from the denizens of the rat-filled sewer, The Stranglers. Above you see the world-wide (except for the US) smash hit, “Golden Brown.” A few years ago Ore-Ida used this song in one of their commercials for frozen french fries. Then, when they found out that the song was about a particularly potent form of heroin, they pulled it and replaced it with a different song from the 80s.

After the jump, there’s more Stranglers fun!

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The PopCulteer
August 14, 2009

Photo Essay Time!

I had lots of stuff to do this week and I’m pretty exhausted and addled, so today’s PopCulteer is a self-indulgent photo essay, mainly comprised of pictures from my quick vacation to Pittsburgh.

If you watched this week’s RFC, you may have noticed that I sort of went Hollywood. I didn’t go out and get an agent or plastic surgery or a fancy new car (well, I did get a new car). In this week’s episode of Radio Free Charleston, when it came time to shoot our host segments on Charleston’s West Side, I did what any Hollywood Studio would do–I shot them in Pittsburgh, just like that Mothman movie.

After the jump you’ll see some behind the scenes photos of our host segment shoot and a couple of other Pittsburgh trip pictures. Before that, though, I’m posting pics of a couple of cool events.

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Up above you see “Kirby Captain America Shirt,” the latest, and longest, episode of Radio Free Charleston. If you’re seeing raw code (it happens sometimes, probably due to sunspots) go to this link where you can watch the show.

In this week’s RFC you get tons of music from Tofujitsu (Sean Richardson and Karen Allen) and former Mountain Stage band member, and legendary violinist, Deni Bonet. Our animation is by Nina Paley, an excerpt from her feature film, “Sita Sings The Blues.”

Host segments were shot on the West Side of Charleston, on a little-traveled scenic outlook. Really. Would I lie to you?

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Still in my Edelmann phase, this week’s Monday Morning Art finds a digital collage, copied, pasted and manipulated from bits of my previous works. By the end of the month, you should be able to see a large version of this hanging in The Book Exchange.

Click to enlarge. Coming early Thursday morning is Radio Free Charleston number 78, with music from Tofujitsu and Deni Bonet.  Deni will be performing at LiveMix Studio this coming Saturday. You should make it a point to be there!

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In honor of the just-wrapped “Shark Week” on The Discovery Channel, here’s some rare documentary footage. Watch this and just try and keep a straight face.

After the jump, check out some clips of the 1955 Lincoln Futura concept car. Uh…you might find it familiar.

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The PopCulteer
August 7, 2009

YO JOE!

This is s a big week for GI Joe. The movie, “GI Joe: The Rise Of Cobra” opens tonight, and next week, an event that I really wanted to attend, The International GI Joe Collector’s Convention takes place in Kansas City. I’m a toy collector and I’ve been doing work with the Official GI Joe Collector’s Club for years, but have never made it to any of their annual conventions. For years I couldn’t go because I was taking care of my mother, but since her death, either financial limitations or work conflicts popped up to keep me from going.

This year, I had the money set aside, and my work schedule was flexible, but unfortunately, the convention was scheduled during the one week of the summer where I had a long-standing prior commitment. So, once again, I won’t be able to go to the show and meet dozens of online buddies for the first time in the real world. So I have to resort to the cry of the Chicago Cubs fan, “maybe next year.”

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Radio Free Charleston’s latest episode is RIGHT UP THERE! Click on it and watch it. In the event that you see nothing up there but raw code, that means that printer’s devils have snuck over from the print version of the newspaper. You can thwart them by watching the show at THIS LINK.

This episode features music by Universes and OVADA, both recorded at The Empty Glass, plus a snippet of The Contemporary Youth Arts Company’s 2008 production, “Jack The Ripper,” featuring Ryan Hardiman, who can be seen this weekend in “Rent.”

Host segments were shot while strolling around the East End of Charleston Tuesday evening. In addition to the music, we also have vintage animation and a Plant Ro Duction Mini Movie. This is the first episode of the show that we’re posting directly into PopCult, so let us know if it’s working okay in the comments section below.

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You saw the original photo if you read The PopCulteer last week, but this digitally-assaulted version kicks off our week. If you read last week’s tribute, you can see that this is a piece which pretty clearly shows off my influences.

Click to enlarge. Check back for RFC 77 later this week.

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If you read The PopCulteer Friday, you saw my obituary for Heinz Edelmann, the designer of The Beatles’ Yellow Submarine cartoon and a personal hero of mine and major influence on my art. Today we’re going to look at some of his work. Above you can see the opening sequence from “Yellow Submarine.”

It should be noted that Peter Max, the famed 1960s “psychedelic” artist had absolutely nothing to do with the creation of “Yellow Submarine.” He’s spent over 40 years taking credit for Edelmann’s work, which sadly, says more about Max’s personal ethics than it does about Edelmann’s work. In fact, Max has built much of his career on accepting accolades that were actually intended for Edelmann and his colleague, Milton Glaser, who together created the style that Max exploited so well.

It’ll be interesting to see if, now that Edelmann is no longer living, Max will stop taking credit for the man’s work, or if call off his attack dog/agent, who cruises the internet threatening legal action against anyone who tries to set the record straight. Knowing a bit about Max’s history, my guess is that he’ll continue autographing “Yellow Submarine” album covers and keep the Submarine scupture on his desk as though he designed them.

After the jump, you’ll see a little more, plus one of the TV commercials that ripped off/paid homage to Edelmann’s style. Continue reading