Rudy Panucci On Pop Culture

Month: September 2009 (Page 2 of 2)

Sunday Evening Videos: Captain Scarlet

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“Captain Scarlet” was a 1960’s creation of Gerry and Silvia Anderson, who are mainly noted for their earlier “Supermarionation” series, “Thunderbirds” and “Supercar,” and for their later, live-action series, “UFO” and “Space: 1999.” However, my favorite was “Captain Scarlet and The Mysterons,” which told the story of a war between Earth and a band of aliens known as “The Mysterons.” Earth’s greatest champion was Captain Scarlet, who leads his fellow agents of Spectrum against the wily space terrorists.

“Captain Scarlet” featured more realistic puppets than the earlier Anderson shows, and as you can see, the show had a very special psychotic energy, which can only be found tucked away in the odd children’s program. That’s a techno/rap remix of the theme by Power Themes 90 VHS that you see at the top of this post. After the jump we have a few more clips. Some are music videos, plus you can see the entire pilot episode and a bit of Moonplay.

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Dumb All Over

The PopCulteer
September 11, 2009

Living In The Age Of Absurdity

The late 1960s was “The Age Of Aquarius.” The 1980s were “The Me Decade,” Now it’s become clear. We are living in the Age of Absurdity. I think that this is direct result of the subversive humor of the 1970s filtering into the mainstream. Our world today seems to have been shaped by two major influences….Monty Python’s Flying Circus and The National Lampoon. Don’t get me wrong. The Pythons and Lampoon shaped my sensibilities and I have fond memories of them. Unfortunately, I am not alone.

We are paying the price for the sharp, cynical despair of counter-culture comedy finding its way into the mainstream. Not only has it made the original comedy a little less enjoyable, but it’s placed sharpened objects of comedy into the hands of people who lack the wit and ethics to wield them properly. There is still a lot of great cutting-edge humor out there–more than ever, in fact–but there’s also a lot of comedy out there that uses the tools of shock comedy without any concern for what it can do to their audience. The whole point of using shock in the 60s and 70s was to open the minds of the audience and try to change attitudes. Now there are comedians who simply use shock to get cheap attention from stupid people.

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20 Years Of RFC, with Blue Million, Go Van Gogh, and GI Joe

RFC 80 "No Pants Players Shirt" from RFC Archives on Myspace.

Above, you may take a gander at Radio Free Charleston’s 80th episode, “No Pants Players Shirt.” This edition of our local music and animation program has a bit of a nostalgic feel to it. We recorded our host segments outside of WV Radio Corp, which is the building, from which the RFC radio show debuted, twenty years ago, this week.

Our musical guests are both veterans of the radio days. Go Van Gogh, Stephen Beckner, Timothy Rock, Mark Beckner and Johnny Rock, appear via a vintage video for their song “Shut Up, I Love You.” While Blue Million is seen in a performance recorded just a couple of weeks ago here in Charleston.

We also have “Digitally Assaulted Charleston #2,” a short animated bit by yours truly. You’ll also get to see The GI Joe Adventure Team and you still have time to enter The First Great Guitar Giveaway from Radio Free Charleston and Route 60 Music. If you don’t see the video player at the top of this post, that means that Don Blankenship has hacked this website and is trying to keep you away from the good music. Go here to see the show.
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Monday Morning Art: The Tower (Number One)

This week’s dose of art is the first of a series of digitally-assaulted photographs based on a picture I took in Pittsburgh last month. It’s a broadcast tower looming over the scenic overlook at the Mount Washington Incline. I’ve got over thirty versions of this one, so get used to seeing it.

Click the image to enlarge. Come back tomorrow for RFC 80, with Blue Million and Go Van Gogh, and our cool comic of the week.

Sunday Evening Videos: Ringo!

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Beatlemania is ready to strike yet again this coming Wednesday with the release of The Beatles Rock Band and Remastered versions of their studio albums coming out on the same day. You are going to be inundated with The Beatles in the coming weeks (including in RFC 81, our second Beatles tribute show) but there’s one Beatle who never seems to get any respect. Today we’re going to celebrate the genius of Ringo Starr, the man who kept the beat in the greatest band that ever existed.

Above you see the music video for “Fading In, Fading Out” from his “Choose Love” album. after the jump you’ll find more music videos, film clips and commercials by one Richard Starkey, M.B.E.

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An RFC Milestone Noted, And Lots Of Photos

The PopCulteer
September 4, 2009

IT WAS TWENTY YEARS AGO, TODAY

Well, sort of. Twenty years ago, in 1989, during Labor Day weekend, at 2 AM Sunday Morning, Radio Free Charleston debuted on WVNS, 96.1 FM. It was my reward (in lieu of a raise) for working over a hundred consecutive days at the station, after starting out as the night deejay who wasn’t trusted to talk, and winding up as the assistant program director. Part of my job was filling the weekend schedule with part-timers, and I was having a hard time keeping anyone in the Saturday late night/Sunday early morning spot.

Since the station owed me–I’d been filling up to three shifts a day, sometimes using three different voices and personas–I made a proposition: We had syndicated programming in my regular 7 Pm to Midnight shift on Friday nights, so I really wasn’t needed. I offered to give that spot to a part-timer in order to take the Saturday Midnight timeslot…on one condition.

They had to give me total freedom to play anything I wanted.

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IWA Tonight

A wild night of top-shelf independent wrestling can be found tonight at Skateland in Campbell’s Creek. You’ll see Mad Man Pondo, Bull Pain, WWE star Henry O. Godwin, Sami Callihan, Viper and the legendary Super Oprah!

In addition, Alex Vincent, the child star of the classic horror movie, “Child’s Play” will be on hand. I think Brain Trauma might be there to seranade him.

Belltime is 7 PM tickets are $12.

Cool Comic Of The Week: Citizen Rex

You know you’re having a bad day. You wake up at 3 AM in an alleyway. You’ve been beaten, robbed, spat on. You’re in the bad part of town. They even took your shoes.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, they also trashed your robot.

That’s where we come into the story of “Citizen Rex,” a new comic book collaboration between Mario and Gilbert Hernandez, two of “Los Bros. Hernandez” who produce the legendary “Love And Rockets” comics and graphic novels.

Published by Dark Horse, “Citizen Rex” tells the story of Sergio Bauntin, who under the name “Bloggo,’ writes a web-based gossip column that debunks urban myths and blows the whistle on corruption in his Fair City, which seems to be equal parts Orweillian nightmare and Chandleresque Film Noir.

Mostly written by Mario (the least prolific Hernandez brother) and mostly drawn by Gilbert (The collaboration is a little more seamless than that. Both are supremely capable writer-artists and they each contribute to both the story and the art.), “Citizen Rex” is a crime-drama soap opera with a science fiction sheen.

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