Rudy Panucci On Pop Culture

Month: March 2009 (Page 1 of 2)

Monday Morning Art: The Ghost Of Building 82

Okay, so it’s getting close to beating a dead horse, but after watching the implosion of Union Carbide Building 82 Saturday morning, I was inspired to sketch out a little doodle while at Taylor Books listening to Maya Nye and Tofujitsu later that evening. I know, I posted videos of the implosion here in PopCult for the last two days, but enough folks looking over my shoulder liked this drawing for me to use it here. Above you see a digital painting based on the sketch, and after the jump you can see the original sketch, done in black and red brush pens plus a fine-line marker. The Ghost of Building 82.

Click the images to enlarge. If they add more hours to the day, I’ll get around to updating the Monday Morning Art store.  Also, stay tuned to PopCult this Wednesday for the most incredible Radio Free Charleston ever!

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Sunday Evening Videos: Building 82 From Ten Different Angles

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I was hardly the only person who videotaped Saturday’s implosion of the old Union Carbide Building 82. Above and after the jump are an assortment of clips that were posted to YouTube, presented without comment, so you can see the building fall down from many different angles.  While it turned out to be a wild time and an interesting social activity, I hope it didn’t give Danny Jones any funny ideas about how to get rid of The Union Building on Kanawha Boulevard.

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Pat McAfee kicks off RFC 63, with Stephen Beckner, The ButtonFlies and Tofujitsu!

The latest edition of Radio Free Charleston, “Bauhaus Shirt”, is online now! This is yet another music-packed episode, featuring new tunes from Stephen Beckner, The Buttonflies, and returning for a second week in a row Tofujitsu. We also have a five-second appearance from WVU Mountaineer Football’s all-time leading scorer, Pat McAfee and by popular demand, the return of vintage beer commercial animation.

Host segments were shot in an undisclosed location in the hills surrounding Charleston. There are reports that this undisclosed location bears an uncanny resemblance to the deck behind Sean Richardson and Karen Allen’s house, but we are sworn to secrecy. Also, it was raining that day.

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Pat McAfee In The Ring: The PopCult Instant Mini Photo Essay

In lieu of “Sunday Evening Videos” and “Monday Morning Art,” which are taking a week off for spring break, PopCult presents a brief photo essay of star WVU Placekicker Pat McAfee (above) making his professional wrestling debut, last night at the IWA East Coast show in South Charleston.

Below you see Pat headed to the ring to confront Dr. Max Graves and his charge, the monster known as “Warpig.”

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Monday Morning Art: The Airman

This week’s Monday Morning Art is a digitally-colored version of a sketch I did twenty years ago to illustrate an unpublished fantasy story. The original drawing was done in black ball-point pen on typing paper while I was on the air on WVNS radio, several months before I began Radio Free Charleston. In the days before portable video games, iPods, and crystal meth, this was how disc jockeys would pass the time while bringing you all the classic hits.

After the jump, you can see the original drawing, along with a couple of rejected color versions.  Click ’em to enlarge. Still no time to update the Monday Morning Art store–I’ll be editing RFC 63 with music from The ButtonFlies, Stephen Beckner and Tofujitsu, who return with a vengeance.  But that’s going to take up most of Monday for your loyal PopCultist.

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Sunday Evening Video: Saturday Morning Watchmen

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You may have already seen this. I’ve had it emailed to me a dozen times this week, but it’s pretty darned funny and very clever. It’s the opening sequence from the 1980s Watchmen cartoon, which never really existed. Produced by Happy Harry Productions, I thought the PopCult crowd might enjoy it, plus it gives me an excuse to briefly share my thoughts on the movie after the jump. Continue reading

RFC 62: Bride, Grooms, Tofu, Jesus and Politically Incorrect Cows.

Radio Free Charleston episode 62 is online now! This installment features music from Tofujitsu (That’s Sean Richardson and Karen Allen) and The Bible Beaters. We also have a new trailer for Butch Maier’s “The Bride & The Grooms,” which will be playing at Park Place Stadium Cinema in April. Our animation is vintage stuff, with a cow rescuing two ducks from a racial stereotype.

Host segments were shot Monday afternoon in the sweltering heat of Summer’s Street right before Mel and I crashed a Shouts And Hollers meeting.  This show is called “Action Comics Shirt,” after the coolest shirt I’ve found in quite a while.

 (Ruditorial Note: A special feature in this episode is my major screw-up! I managed to edit, mix the audio for, and introduce the WRONG SONG for Tofujitsu.  Sean pointed it out in the comments below.  The song in this show is “Pop Up,” and it is a lovely song, but it’s not “Clap On, Clap Off.” That was the song I was supposed to include  in this episode. Instead, look for it in a future installment of RFC.  And kids, make a note, this is what happens when you edit video while hopped up on Orange Cream flavored Whoppers. Please, eat your candy responsibly.)

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Monday Morning Art: Turbulent Sky 2

Okay, across the street, the city of Dunbar is ripping up a sewer outlet. A few houses down, a neighbor is having a tree removed. This is not conducive to writing. Today’s art is a variant of one of the “Art For Emily” pieces I did last year. Click to enlarge.

Look for RFC 62, with Tofujitsu and The Bible Beaters in a day or two.

Sunday Evening Videos: The Goodies

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The Goodies were a trio of UK comedians/musicians (Tim Brooke-Taylor, Graeme Garden and Bill Oddie), who created, wrote, and starred in a bizarre comedy series  in the 1970s and 80 that combined elements of Monty Python with The Monkees and lampooned the sitcom format.

All three members of the troupe were contemporaries of the members of Monty Python in the pre-Python days of The Cambridge Circus, and in various combinations, they worked in such proto-Pythonian programs as “At Last The 1948 Show,” “Do Not Adjust Your Set” and “The Frost Report.” 

The Goodies was derided by members of Monty Python as a kid’s show. Much of this was done mockingly, in good fun, but there was a genuine dislike of Bill Oddie by some of the Pythons, which made their comments more pointed.  Despite this, The Goodies had a major influence on the British “Alternative Comedy” movement that spawned “The Young Ones,” “Absolutely Fabulous,” and “The Black Adder,” among many others great comendy works.

Though not widely known in the US (the show was only carried briefly on PBS in the 70s) there is a loyal fanbase.  The clip above and those after the jump will give you a hint as to why.  Up top you see the first part of their classic episode “Kitten Kong.” On the other side you’ll get to see the remainder, plus a few extra clips that show off the mix of music, mayhem and anarchy that was The Goodies.

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