Month: July 2007 (Page 3 of 3)

Two notable deaths to report. 

Doug Marlette, the cartoonist of the “Kudzu” comic strip, died in a car accident Monday morning.  He was 57.  Heidi MacDonald has more details and links over at her blog, The Beat.

Character actor Charles Lane, a favorite of director Frank Capra, who was famous for playing crotchety, usually evil, old men passed away at the tender age of 102.  You can read about his incredible career, which includes everything from “It’s A Wonderful Life” to “L.A. Law” at Mark Evanier’s blog.

It’s going to be a wild week for The LaBelle Theater, 311 D Street in South Charleston.  Several young area musical acts (many slated to be future guests on Radio Free Charleston) will be holding two all ages shows on Wednesday and Friday nights.   This is a great chance to see some of the fresh faces on the Charleston music scene at a low price without having to deal with heavy tobacco smoke or bartenders looking at you funny because you don’t drink.

On Wednesday night, Seven Minutes To Midnight (above) and Mark Baits take the stage with The Suits.  Regular readers of PopCult will remember a couple of weeks ago I raved about Seven Minutes when they appeared at the Sound Factory with Doctor Senator.  This is your chance to see what got me all excited.  Seven Minutes To Midnight sounds like The Dave Matthews Band with balls.  We heard Mark Baits last year at one of the Unity Open Mic nights, and asked him to come on the show, but we could never get our schedules to coincide.  The music will be phenomenal,

If you go, tickets are just five bucks, and the show kicks off at 7 PM.

Friday night In Formation (left) returns to the stage of the Labelle, with Joe Slack providing support.  In Formation has been opening for The No Pants Players at the Labelle for some time, and it’ll be great to hear them run through a full set as the headliners.  These guys have some amazing chops and they’re going to be a band to watch. Joe Slack will be appearing one night after we tape him for a spot on a future episode of RFC.  An additional treat for fans of RFC on Friday will be an experiment that we’re undertaking.  I will be on hand with RFC big shot Melanie Larch to try and record a couple of In Formation’s songs on location for possible future use on the show. I’ll be on stage with my camera for a couple of tunes, if you want to bring stuff to throw. Just don’t hit the band.

If you go Friday night, tickets will still just be five dollars, and the show starts at 7 PM.

This is a great way to get out and support some of the up-and-coming new faces in the local music scene without having to deal with smoke or fake IDs.

A quick look at the cool PopCultish stuff that you may have missed over the weekend:

Mark Evanier was in Pittsburgh for AnthroCon, a gathering of fans of all things cute, animated, and furry.  You can read his reports here, and here.

DC Comics announced a new online comics imprint, Zuda Comics.com.  The announcement came via The New York Times, but you can find more detailed coverge at Newsarama and Comic Book Resources.

The Charleston Gazette reports that some thought is being given to expanding FestivALL to nine days.  Hmm….maybe somebody’s reading PopCult after all. 

Stick around, because later today I’ll be bringing you news about an exciting week of events at The LaBelle Theater in South Charleston.

We’re kicking off this week with a frame-grab from the much-delayed episode 23 of Radio Free Charleston, featuring The Feast Of Stephen.  This shot is from the opening few seconds of the song “Mystery Hole,” an ode to the infamous tourist spot you find along the way to Hawk’s Nest.  The first fifteen seconds of the “Mystery Hole” video has nearly sixty edits in it. Keep your fingers crossed, because the latest RFC is scheduled to go online later this week.

A special note of thanks to all of my readers who have sent kind words as I deal with the family illness that’s played havoc with the schedules of both PopCult and Radio Free Charleston lately.  Your kind wishes are much appreciated.

 As always, click the image for a larger view. And go here for the Monday Morning Art Store, and here for the PopCult store. In the unlikely event that anyone actually purchases anything with this image on it, a portion of the proceeds will be given to The Feast Of Stephen fund for the home for wayward nymphomaniacs, now in its fifteenth year of trying to find a home full of young nubile nymphomaniacs.

..until The Feast Of Stephen Reunion Special on Radio Free Charleston goes live right here at TheGazz.com!  I’m taking extra time to polish the show (and recover from tobacco exposure during FestivALL that’s kept me coughing non-stop for a week).  Rather than drop this gem in the middle of a holiday week, I’m going to make you wait while I pretty it up a little more.  To hold you over, let’s revisit the Easter Egg from episode 20 of RFC.  Here’s The Feast Of Stephen, with “No Vaccination.”

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We kick off the week with a digital watercolor based on a candid photo I took of Melanie Larch–Radio Free Charleston Big Shot and Resident Diva, acclaimed soloist with the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra, and my main squeeze.  Mel is notoriously camera-shy (in 17 years, she’s only let me take her picture five or six times) so this was a rare occasion, and I wanted to immortalize it in digital paint. This shot was taken in the control room at LiveMix Studio, Charleston’s coolest music place.

The Monday Morning Art Store is undergoing renovations, so this piece of art probably won’t go up for a day or two, there, but you can click the image for a larger version.