Your humble blogger is not planning on doing much this weekend besides sitting in front of the TV, watching big sweaty people hit each other. It’s been very hectic lately, and I need some time to recharge.
To make life easier, this week in our video showcase, we are going to bring you five random videos that i produced for this blog over the years. Above you see my video from 2022, of a pedicab ride through NYC.
Right below, you see a video I made in 2009 that features Sierra Ferrel, with James Vernon Brown and Patrick Stephens on back up, singing the Portishead song, “Glory Box.” After that, Patrick treats us to his own tune, “I Speak Spanish To God.” This was recorded at an open mic night at Sam’s Uptown Cafe in Charleston.
From there, we jump to a video I shot in 2013, featuring guitar legend, Neil Zaza, with Sean O’Bryan Smith, performing in Dave Robert’s living room in South Charleston…
After that, from the spring of 2022, it’s a video I shot from the window of the Amtrak Cardinal. We were passing the C&O Railway Heritage Center, and I got footage of the back end of the museum, including some of the rare and ancient cars they have in their railyard alongside the Amtrak tracks.
Finally, we have a PopCult instant video look at Shocka-Con 2013, including the infamous Twerking incident with The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, plus music from Harrah, The Big Bad and The Renfields, and quick peeks of RJ Haddy, Daniel Boyd, Eliska Hahn, Danny Hicks, Eugene Clark, Eamon Hardiman, Pig Girl, Ghostbusters WV, Jeremy Ambler and cast members from The Walking Dead, a Dalek, The cast of Kanawha Players “Night of the Living Dead,” and more, all tighly-packed into one five and a half-minute clip. It’s a little bittersweet to see so many friends who are no longer with it, and it’s also hard to watch because of the video quality, but it’s still a fun reminder of how much fun ShockaCon used to be.
Leo Tuxedo as Patrick Morrisey (photo by Mark Wolfe)
Billed as “An Alarmingly Activist Episode” and hailed by many as one of our best, we go back to May, 2014 for “Save Top O Rock Shirt,” a show jam-packed with cool stuff. Sadly, our title shirt turned out to be a lost cause, as one of the city’s most treasured landmarks fell to the wrecking ball, but sad as that is, this is still a great show.
Radio Free Charleston 198, “Save Top O Rock Shirt” was one of our most politically active episodes. We had music from Time & Distance, Little Nomad, The Living Deads and a special music video by The Laser Beams, plus there’s ten epic minutes of animation by Jake Fertig. But first, in this episode I actually talk about the shirt that gives this show its name.
Top O Rock was an architectural marvel in Charleston. It was the home and office of the late architect, Henry Elden. We shot our host segments for Episode 100 there in 2010, a couple of years after he passed away. Despite the best efforts of many people, the structure was demolished, and the land still sits empty.
A scene from “The Flocking”
We jump into our show with the first of three parts of Jake Fertig‘s epic “The Flocking: Coal-Aid Freedomsodes,” which takes a pretty harsh and incisive look at some of the industrial special interests which control and afflict West Virginia. We split the cartoon into three parts, and you’ll see them throughout this episode of the show.
Our first musical guest this week was Time and Distance. We caught them on their first Charleston show after a nationwide tour, performing at The Empty Glass. Also at The Glass, we recorded The Living Deads, who had previously starred in an RFC MINI SHOW. In this show you’ll get to hear “All I Can Do Is Cry”
The Laser Beams formed out members of The Wayward Girls School of Burlesque, and were still members when we created this music video, where they salute West Virginia’s then Attorney General who is currently the Governor, the sock puppet of big business, Patrick Morrisey. The song is still accurate and relevant, sadly.
We wrapped the show up with a performance by singer-songwriter Little Nomad, with whom we were mightily impressed. It sure would be cool if she started making music again.
You can read the full production notes for this show HERE.
The good news is, I have way more really good photos of the July 18 Kentuckiana GI Joe Toy Expo than I thought I did. The bad news is that I did not have time to sort, edit and prepare off them for publication today. I used the Kodak Charmera so that I can write a review of it in the future, but there’s a lot of wheat to separate from the chaff with that. I took back up pics with my phone, and you can probably tell which is which.
Last week I brought you ten photos as a preview. Then last Sunday we had both the music video AND all the raw footage we shot.
For the second week in a row I did not get the extensive photo essay from this year’s Kentuckiana GI Joe Toy Expo completely done in time for today’s PopCulteer. This has been a week full of absolutely top-of-the-line excuses, none of which I’m going to go into here.
Instead, I am going to carve up the big photo essay into three more manageable pieces.
Today we’re going to look at some of the folks we saw…a lot of old friends and their smiling faces that make this such a fun show. We also took a lot of photos that were blurry or unflattering, so I’m only running a few here. We are also going to look at a few of the vendors who offered up incredibly cool 3D printed items, vehicles and accessories.
Next week we will devote one post to the cool custom figures and dioramas. Then we will bring you a huge photo essay that is nothing but pictures of cool vintage toys.
I hate taking so long to get these photos published, but I love bringing them to you.
Friendly Faces
Two legends in the hobby, Ace Allgood and Scott Beckmann, both paying homage to Bulletman on his 50th anniversary as an action figure
Steve Stovall, one of the main forces behind The Kentuckiana GI Joe Toy Expo AND The Adventure Command figures. Also, the guy who had a cooler shirt than I did.
Dean Morrison, another legendary GI Joe dealer, and also saluting Bulletman
Your humble blogger finds himself, once again, behind schedule. This time it’s due to a combination of inexplicable internet outages, a nonstop barrage of telemarketer calls and more pressing paying gigs getting near their deadlines.
So, it’s time to run down to the still-being-built photo studio, grab a stack of toys I just got recently, and bring you a quick photo essay so you have something new and cool to look at today. I promised you fresh content every day, and this is as fresh as it gets!
Tomorrow you’ll get another photo essay, finally wrapping up our look at Kentuckiana, and next week I plan to dig into an ever-growing stack of really cool books that need to be reviewed.
Some of today’s pics are also previews of upcoming posts. A lot of this cool stuff deserves more in-depth looks.
Let’s jump in, shall we?
Ashland Kentucky’s Juggulator, a local wrestling hero, has appeared in action figure form. Seen here having vanquished Tommy Dreamer. Juggs had a short run of these. I’ll let you know if he has more made. This is one cool figure.
While we’re on a wrestling kick, Sabu and Raven have joined the (much larger) Tommy Dreamer as Big Rubber Guys. I really didn’t need to start collectiing a new action figure line, but they keep pulling me back in.
STUFF TO DO is PopCult‘s weekly guide to just a few of the great events happening in Charleston, Huntington and a few other points here in West Virginia, and sometimes a little beyond our borders, in the coming days.
This week’s featured event is the latest CLOG show, held at their workshop…
Each week I try to tell you about a few cool events all around the state that you might not know about. If you have a show that you’d like to plug in the future you can still contact me via Social Media at Facebook, BlueSky, Spoutible, Instagram or Twitter. I dont charge for this, so you might as well send me something if you have an event to promote.
I do ask that you send a graphic that includes the date, time and location, of the event, as well as the cost to attend. I can’t promise that I’ll run it here, but chances are I will unless it’s something completely offensive or an event happening in South Carolina. If it looks original and charmingly weird, you have a better chance of seeing it here.
Keep in mind that I’ll need this several days in advance, so please don’t send me a graphic on the day of the event and expect it to show up in this feature.
For much more comprehensive guides to things you can get into in our region, check out these two wonderful resources:
Cristen Michael has created an interactive calendar that is way more comprehensive than this list of STUFF TO DO, and you can find it HERE. Just click on the day and the event and you’ll be whisked away to a page with more details about loads of area events.
Mya Ross at Status Quo does a much better job of compiling a list of local events than I do, and you can find the WTSQ guide to events HERE. Toss ’em a donation while you’re over there.
You can find live music in and around town every night of the week. You just have to know where to look. Keep in mind that all shows are subject to change or be cancelled at the last minute.
To hear music in an alcohol-free enviroment, see what’s happening at Pumzi’s, on Charleston’s West Side.
For cutting-edge independent art films, downstairs from Taylor Books you’ll find the Floralee Hark Cohen Cinema by WVIFF. Each week they program several amazing movies in their intimate viewing room that you aren’t likely to see anywhere else.
Please remember that viral illnesses are still a going concern and many people who have very good reasons are still wearing masks, and many of us, understandably, are still nervous about being in crowds, masked or not. Be kind and understanding while you’re out. And if you’re at an outdoor event, please remember that it’s awfully inconsiderate to smoke or vape around people who become ill when exposed to that stuff. If somebody asks you to refrain, please respect their weishes and don’t be a jerk about it.
Here’s a few select suggestions for STUFF TO DO in and around Charleston and Huntington this weekend…
Almost every Tuesday is NEW RFC DAY on The AIR and today is epic and legendary because once again we bring you a brand-new, three-hour episode of Radio Free Charleston to tickle even the finest of your fancies. To listen to The AIR, you simply have to point your cursor over and tune in at the website, or you could just stay here, and listen to the cool embedded player found elsewhere on this page.
You can hear Radio Free Charleston Tuesdays at 10 AM and 10 PM, with boatloads of replays throughout the week.
Radio Free Charleston brings you a new show with THREE FULL HOURS of newly-assembled free-format radio. We have a bumper crop of new music by local, independent and cult artists, with some nice material from the archives as well as a few mini-themes sprinkled throughout the show. .
We open with the title track from the new album by Stitch Jones & His Bionic Marines, and this week’s show also features brand-new tunes from Gary Myrick, Robyn Hitchock, The Strokes, Minor Swing, Hardy Mums, and a pre-release sneak peek at the newest single by Saycouth, which is also slated to open next week’s show.
I go on a bit about how cool the Stitch Jones album is, packaged on a USB doohickey that I purchased from him at The Kentuckiana GI Joe Toy Expo.
It’s really cool to have new tunes from Gary Myrick and Robyn Hitchcock, both of whom I’ve been a fan of for more than four decades. I also tell the story of how Mel frightened Robyn at a bar in Charleston in this episode of the show. We also have an extra long bit of aural surrealism from Ann Magnuson, and lots of yours truly just having fun programming music on the fly. We even preview a cool touring band that will be performing at The Empty Glass in about three weeks.
We also bring you some great local and indie archive tunes, plus mini themes featuring Waltzes, female vocals and a horror/sci fi film festival.
Check out this playlist, with links to the artist’s page where possible…
You can hear this episode of Radio Free Charleston Tuesday at 10 AM and 10 PM on The AIR, with replays Wednesday at 9 AM, Thursday at 2 PM, Friday at 9 AM, Saturday at Noon and Midnight, Sunday at 8 PM and Monday at 11 AM, exclusively on The AIR. Now you can also hear a different classic episode of RFC every weekday at 5 PM, and we bring you a marathon all night long Saturday night/Sunday morning.
I’m also going to embed a low-fi, mono version of this show right in this post, right here so you can listen on demand.
After RFC, stick around for encores of last week’s episodes of MIRRORBALL at 1 PM and Curtain Call at 2 PM.
At 3 PM get ready for two classic episodes of The Swing Shift.
You can hear The Swing Shift Tuesday at 3 PM, with replays Wednesday at 8 AM, Thursday at 9 AM, Friday at 10 AM and 8 PM and Saturday afternoon, only on The AIR . You can also hear all-night marathons, seven hours each, starting at Midnight Thursdays and Sundays.
The last few weeks, after I returned from Chicago, when I’ve had the time to work on art, I’ve been inspired by what I saw on my trip to the Windy City.
One twist in the trip this time was that it seemed to take us forever to get out of Chicago, proper. The train was moving ridiculously slowly. I never found out exactly what was going on, but when we got off the train in Charleston, more than four hours later than we were supposed to arrive, we noticed that the entire train was being pulled by a CSX engine.
However, this was actually fascinating because we got to see a lot of sights from the train that we normally can’t see because it’s too dark, or because we’re hyped up from our trip starting out. For instance, we got to move at a snail’s pace through Chicago’s Southside, taking in the views of the trainyard and a getting to watch the tailgating at whatever they’re calling the ballpark where the White Sox play these days.
I grabbed a lot of reference photos on my phone, and you’re going to get to see what they stirred up in me over the next several weeks.
This week we have a really small watercolor on textured paper, showing a Hopperesque composition of structures and early-evening shadows. It exists because I thought it might look cool.
Meanwhile, over in radioland, Monday beginning at 2 PM on The AIR, we bring you a classic episode of Psychedelic Shack, and then at 3 PM we do the same with an encore of a more recent episode of Herman Linte’s weekly showcase of the Progressive Rock of the past half-century, Prognosis.
You can listen to The AIR at the website, or on the embedded radio player elsewhere on this page. PsychedelicShack can be heard every Monday at 2 PM, with replays Tuesday at 9 AM, Wednesday at 10 PM, Friday at 1 PM, and Saturday at 9 AM. You can hear Prognosis on The AIR Monday at 3 PM, with replays Tuesday at 7 AM, Wednesday at 8 PM, Thursday at Noon, and Saturday at 10 AM.
Tonight at 8 PM, tune in for a classic edition of The Comedy Vault. That’s followed by two-hour blocks of Curtain Call and Beatles Blast at 9 PM and 11 PM, and then an overnight assortment of our Haversham Recording Institute programs at 1 AM.
Above you see an eight-minute “music video” that combines footage from last weekend’s Kentuckiana GI Joe Toy Expo in Louisville, with two incredible songs from Stitch Jones & His Bionic Marines. This includes a bit of a tribute to the 50th anniversary of Hasbro’s Bulletman in the first half.
Below you see all the raw footage we shot, set to some nice proggy music.
And the extra-big photo essay that I promised?
You’ll have to wait until later this week. Your humble blogger got so caught up in all the video editing that I didn’t leave myself any time for photo editing yesterday. In a few days you’ll get to see dozens of photos of the toys, the people, the dioramas and more from The 2026 Kentuckiana GI Joe Toy Expo. For now, just gawk at the videos.
This week we go back to a full-length episode of Radio Free Charleston from April, 2014. This show featured musical artists that we’d previously featured on TheRFC MINI SHOWs plus first-time contributors, animation and a promo clip for a local theater production.
Radio Free Charleston 197, “Jake The Dog Shirt” is a diverse collection of great music, cool animation plus a neat theater preview. Our music was from Donnie Smith, The Big Bad, The Terra Firma Ensemble and Jordan Searls. Animation came to us from Jake Fertig and we also had a preview for the Alban Arts Center production of “Antigone.”
Donnie Smith was our first musical guest on this show. He’s seen here recorded at the same edition of Rock N Roll theater that gave us an episode of The RFC MINI SHOW. This time around Donnie treated us to his original song, “Mixed Message. Our animation was by Jake Fertig. It was the latest “Deep Space Microsode” of his series, “The Flocking.” We were lucky enough to catch The Big Bad earlier in April 2014, and from that night we brought you the band doing their song, “Babe, We Own This Town.”
The centerpiece of this episode was our recording of The Terra Firma Ensemble performing the world premiere of Jim Lange’s compostion, “Brambles and Briers.” You can see the entire Terra Firma Ensemble concert HERE.
Playing us out, for the second episode in a row, was Jordan Searls with his song, “Naturally Easy.”
Your humble blogger has had the last month of travel, and the last week of late-night video shoots catch up to him.
This is my way of saying that I did not get the extensive photo essay from last weekend’s Kentuckiana GI Joe Toy Expo done in time for today’s post. Evidently there is this vital thing called “sleep” that I’ve not be indulging in enough lately, so yesterday my productivity took a bit of a nosedive.
The plan is to run the Kentuckiana music video, plus a fairly large photo essay this coming Sunday.
Tonight your PopCulteer will stop by the Celebration of Life for Brian Young at Short Story Brewery on Summers Street in Charleston, and then all day Saturday I will be chained to the video and photo editing machines.
Sunday we’ll see photos of friends we spotted at Kentuckiana, plus a look at Cindy Scott’s new diorama and some great customs and some of the 3D printed offerings that we saw at the show. Plus we’ll have the music video, and maybe more.
But today we have ten photos of some of the really cool vintage toys, along with captions cranked out fast on a Friday morning so I can get this posted for you fine folks…
This is a bit of a “murderer’s row” of incredible GI Joe boxed sets that I’d gladly add to my collection if I ever won the lottery. Except for the Helicopter at the top. I have that one already.
There was such an amazing mix of vintage toys from different decades, like this table that had stuff from the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s.
The PopCulteer
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