Rudy Panucci On Pop Culture

Month: June 2010 (Page 1 of 2)

FestivAll again on RFC 104

RFC 104 "FestivAll 2010 part Three" from Rudy Panucci on Vimeo.

What was planned to be three episodes continues to expand. This is the third episode of Radio Free Charleston devoted to FestivAll 2010, but it won’t be the last. I have enough material for at least two more of these shows, and you can expect them to disrupt the regular PopCult features until I get them finished.

Today’s installment of Radio Free Charleston –origininating from Charleston, West Virginia’s 2010 FestivAll– showcases music by The VooDoo Katz, Miss Behavin’, Mark Scarpelli, The Sweet Adelines and more, plus art from ArtWalk and The Capitol Street Art Fair.

Radio Free Charleston Does FestivAll part two

RFC 103 "FestivAll 2010 Part Two" from Rudy Panucci on Vimeo.

This special FestivAll edition of Radio Free Charleston features music From Brian and Nathan Diller, Evan Mack, Captain Crash and The Beauty Queen, Comparsa, and Alasha Al-Qudwah blended with art and animation from Joe Bolyard, Diane Martens, Leisha Angel, Kerry Bingham, and Frank and Rudy Panucci. It’s midweek at FestivAll 2010.

Look for more RFC at FestivAll right here in PopCult. It’s looking like it’ll take more than three shows to hold all the FestivIties.

Technical Difficulties

For the first time since we kicked it off in April 2009, there will be no PopCulteer today. Editing the FestivAll episodes of RFC has proven to be more time-consuming than we thought.  Over the weekend, two episodes of Radio Free Charleston will go online, and a photo essay trip through ArtWalk should turn up.

FestivAll Stars on RFC 102

RFC 102 "FestivAll 2010 Pt. One" from Rudy Panucci on Vimeo.

Above y0u see the first of three departure episodes of Radio Free Charleston. I’m going to attempt the insane this week–three shows in six days!  The shows will all be based on this week’s FestivAll festivities. We don’t follow the usual format.

You will hear music by Smoke and Mirrors, The Spurgie Hankins Band, The Nanker Phelge, The Kanawha Kordsmen and The Bob Thompson Unit, and you’ll see and hear FestivAll events like the Buswater art exhibit, The Art Parade, The shows at LiveMix Studio, music from Haddad Riverfront Park and The East End Main Street Streetworks Art Auction.

These shows are meant to be self-explanatory, so the production notes will be kept to a minimum. Needles to say, work on this episode is the reason that Sunday Evening Videos and Monday Morning Art took the week off. The plan is to have our next episode, with music from Brian Diller and tons of other cool things, online by Friday. The third show, which will wrap things up, will go online early next week.

The Making Of A Brick

The PopCulteer
June 18, 2010

This Saturday, the original artwork for the 2010 East End Main Street Streetworks project will be auctioned off at Frutcake, on Washington Street. The auction starts at 5:30 PM, with Ted Brightwell serving as auctioneer and MC for the evening. This is one of the visual art tie-ins with FestivAll.

25 artists contributed designs which were transferred to bricks that will be permanently installed on Charleston’s historic East End. This is a continuation of the Streetworks art project that began last year with the colorful banners you see in that part of the city.

This year, the focus turned to bricks, and I was honored to be invited to participate. The assignment was simple: I had to create a design that captured the spirit of what Charleston’s East End means to me. This design had to be something that would translate to a four by eight inch brick, using a process inspired by my friend, Eric Pardue, and perfected by Mark Wolfe with Mike and Karen Garnes of Capitol Clay Arts.

Today, I’m going to walk you through the process I used to create my design.

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MEGO MEET PART TWO: CUSTOMS AND NEW FIGURES

Scott Pierce presents The Man Of Steel

We wrap up our coverage of last week’s MEGO Meet at The Kruger Street Toy & Train Museum in Wheeling with a look at some of the really cool custom figures on display, and a look at some of the newer MEGO-style figures at the show.

Remember, we had to take off before most of the top customizers showed up, but we did get to see the jaw-dropping work of Scott Pierce and Random Axe Design. That’s his Superman you see to the right. Below you can see some of the other amazing comic-based figures he’s created by sculpting or repurposing heads and sewing the uniforms himself. It’s incredible work, and he’s taking commissions, if you want a cool figure of your own.

A man after my own comic nerd heart, Scott has created several figures based on the DC Comics creations of Jack Kirby, as well as some of the cooler Golden Age heroes, and other favorites.

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MEGO MEET PART ONE: VINTAGE

As you may have read earlier in PopCult, last Friday I drove up to The Kruger Street Toy & Train Museum in Wheeling for the first day of MEGOMeet 2010.  Now, keep in mind that all the cool stuff happens on day two, so I just got to see a small selection of dealers and customizers, and I didn’t get to meet the toy celebs like Doc Mego (Robot Chicken’s chief action figure supplier).

Still, I had a blast, and picked up a few cool toys.  And I took lots of photos. Today we’re going to look at some of the cool vintage MEGO figures.  Tomorrow we’ll look at some of the cool customs and newer sets that people have created.

It was a collector's paradise. Each of these boxed figures cost more than the total black-market values of all of your major internal organs combined.

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Kruger Street Toy & Train Museum Photo Essay

Last Friday I drove up to Wheeling for the MEGOMeet at The Kruger Street Toy & Train Museum. I’m going to bring you photos from that event later in the week, but right now we’re going to take a quick photographic tour of one of the coolest tourist attractions in the state: A museum filled with toys from all eras.

The Kruger Street Toy & Train Museum is currently open 7 days a week, starting at 9am with the last admisson by 4pm. Call 1-877-242-8133 for more information. In a few weeks they will open their new slot-car racing room, which promises to make for an even more exciting visit.

The Kruger Street Toy & Train Museum is conveniently located not too far from the Elm Grove exit of Interstate 70. Just don’t follow the directions that Google Maps gives you. You basically just follow the signs until you’re on Kruger Street. You should see the large, colorful sign (right) and if you miss that, you’ll probably see the building with a bright yellow full-size caboose in the parking lot (below).

This weekend, Kruger Street is playing host to the National Marx Toy Collectors Convention, which includes JohnnyCon, a sub-group devoted to Johnny West. I went up for the Marx show last year, and had a blast, but this year FestivAll duties will prevent me from attending.  That doesn’t mean you can’t go.

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Monday Morning Art: The Kid

Once again, the subject of our Monday Morning Art is Chelsea Cook, my sidekick from Radio Free Charleston 100, and the alter-ego of Kitty Killton. You can see Chelsea in previous editions of Monday Morning Art here, here and here.

This time it’s a digital painting based on a still from RFC 100. I was trying out new digital paint techniques on images from the show, and I really liked this one. Click the image to see a larger version.

Sunday Evening Videos: Kruger Street Toy & Train Museum

This weekend I ran up to Wheeling for the MEGOMeet at The Kruger Street Toy & Train Museum, and you’re going to get to see photos from my trip all week long. However, today we’re going to look at some videos from The Kruger Street crew.  Above you see a short film shot from their toy train layout. After the jump, you’ll see more cool footage from the Museum.

The Kruger Street Toy & Train Museum is one of the coolest attractions in the state, and if we can pull it off, later this year we’re going to shoot host segments for an episode of RFC there.  We might wait until after they get their new slot car room up and running, so we can go play…uh   I mean, use it as a fitting and proper backdrop for the show.

The Museum is currently in the process of revamping their website, but you can also check them out on Facebook, where they are building quite a following.

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