Month: December 2011 (Page 2 of 3)

Tonight, PopCult’s Sunday Evening Video is the 2011 Radio Free Charleston Christmas Treat.  It’s a special impromptu video, shot last Wednesday night at The Blue Parrot.  Prank Monkey, Johnny Compton, Jamie Skeens, and Mike Vandergriff host the electric jam sessions every Wednesday at the Parrot and they learned a special, heartwarming Christmas hymn just for the holiday season.  You’ll hear this tender lullaby in this video, shot on the fly by Melanie Larch and Rudy Panucci.  Listen carefully at the beginning of the video and you’ll hear Rudy beckoning Melanie to join in.  Merry Christmas, everyone, and don’t forget to tip your bartender!

The PopCulteer
December 16, 2011

PopCult Gift Guide Day Six: Coolness From Collage

Yesterday in the Gift Guide, we suggested that you support local artists by frequenting the galleries that participate in ArtWalk. Today, we’re going to focus at another outlet for local artists, Charleston’s newest boutique of funky coolness, Collage, located at 805 Quarrier Street.

The dream and brainchild of artist Jamie Miller, Collage features a quirky assortment of cool, vintage clothing and jewelry, mixed with new artwork and creations by area artists like

On the left, you see fine Mountain State stemware created by Vasilia Scouras. You can find all sorts of nifty little treats and gift items at Collage and if you don’t trust your own tastes, you can always pick up a gift certificate so that the special person on your list will have the joy of opening a really nifty envelope on Christmas Day.

Collage is open Tuesday through Saturday, 11 AM to 6 PM. Call 304-541-0778 for more details and visit their website. Collage is Charleston’s newest shopping destination for handmade art, jewelry, and vintage/altered clothing by local and national artisans. Continue reading

We have a great new episode of Radio Free Charleston this week. Production notes are here.

Sasha Colette from RFC 149

It’s fundraiser time for PORKCHOPP3D tonight at The Empty Glass. Bring a donation of a toy or canned goods and save half the cover charge. Help complete the trilogy.

Today’s gift suggestion is local art. ArtWalk in downtown Charleston takes place this evening and you will have a great opportunity to visit all the local galleries and find that special objet d’art that you need for that hard to buy for person on your Christmas list. You can drop a ton of money on an original painting, or you might pick up a calendar or notecards, all featuring artwork created by the people who live in the lovely Kanawha Valley.

Among the cool items you might want to look at are calendars featuring the photography of Clayton Spangler, available at Art Emporium; antique bits of coolness at The Purple Moon and Stray Dog Antiques; hand-blown glass ornaments at Visions Day Spa; pottery by Eric Pardue and others at Taylor Books Annex Gallery; and a wide assortment of nifty artworks at Studio 1013 and Gallery 11. The possibilities are endless! Continue reading

Craig Yoe

If you’re a regular reader of PopCult, you probably know I’m a big fan of comics historian Craig Yoe. In addition to about a million other comic and cartoon related things, Craig has released a steady stream of beautifully-assembled historical comic book archives. Today, we’re going to look at five of the niftier recent tomes of Craig’s that I haven’t previously plugged in PopCult. These books can be found almost anywhere books are sold and if they’re not in stock, you can probably order them from Taylor Books in time for Christmas.

First up, we have “The Carl Barks Big Book of Barney Bear.” Carl Barks is a comic book legend, known primarily as the creator of the very best Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge comics. While Barks made his reputation as “the good duck artist” for Walt Disney, he did lesser-known, but equally brilliant comic books starring the MGM cartoon character, Barney Bear. “The Carl Barks Big Book of Barney Bear” collects the extremely rare stories in a deluxe, full color hardcover for the very first time. It’s a fabulous collection of rarely seen work by a comic book legend.

(ISBN-10:1600109292) Continue reading

Today’s entry in the PopCult Gift Guide is “Naked Souls,” a brand new CD by Parkersburg’s John Radcliff, a frequent guest on Radio Free Charleston and an old friend.Simply put, “Naked Souls”is an exquisite album, starting with the McCartney-esque “RocknRolla” and ending with the ultra-catchy “It’s Not The End.” Rad’s album is almost like the second coming of XTC’s “Skylarking.” I mean that as very high praise indeed.

The ten songs that make up this CD are finely crafted musical treats, with catchy melodies and clever lyrics. Radcliff’s quirky sense of humor is on display throughout, particularly in the song “My Plastic Lover,” which is about exactly what you think it is. Another highlight is the infectiously pseudo-optimistic “It Might Work Out.” Continue reading

Sasha Colette on RFC!

That’s Radio Free Charleston 149, “Shredd’s Pizzeria Shirt,” at the top of this post, and it’s an early Christmas present, loaded with special gifts for our fans. We are proud to present a World Premiere music video by Sasha Colette, “Rock of Ages,” plus we have a music video by Jordan Andrew Jefferson, the RFC debut of a new band, Trielement, and we flashback to a special Christmas tune performed by RFC’s resident Diva, Melanie Larch and The Diablo Blues Band. We also have two trailers for special projects and we meet Hasbro! Continue reading

Homegrown Horror

Out second item in the PopCult Gift Guide features film work of Eamon Hardiman on DVD or Blu Ray. His most recent movie, “Porkchops,” a film in which yours truly can be seen briefly sans hat, is on sale for a short time directly from Razor Sharp Studios, for a mere seven bucks (plus shippping) or ten dollars on Blu Ray.

“Porkchops” the first-ever sequel to a West Virginia-made film, tells the story of the legendary Pig-masked serial slasher, Porkchop, who mows down innocent (and not-so-innocent) victims left and right. With a lower budget and a higher sense of fun than your typical slasher movie, “Porkchops” offers just the right mix of blood, gore, boobs and cleverness to make for a fun viewing experience for the adult devotee of fine slashercentric entertainment.

If you’re curious, but not yet sold, check out the trailer for “Porkchops” on RFC 149, coming to PopCult Monday evening. Completists can also find the original movie “Porkchop” from Razor Sharp Studios, too.

The PopCult Gift Guide will continue on weekdays until December 22. Check back every day for suggestions of Pop Culture gifts for the ultra-hip, or maybe just nerdy, person on your shopping list. Also good for disaffected loners!

Today’s art is from last month’s edition of Dr. Sketchy’s Anti-Art show. This is a digital pastel sketch of Pepper Fandango and Kitty Killton. This coming Sunday Dr. Sketchy invades Lost Legion Games and Comics in South Charlestn (the new location on D Street). It’ll be a night of “Gotham City Sirens” Starring models dressed as three caped (or undraped) crusaders. It’s Sunday night starting at 7 PM. Admission is eight bucks in advance, ten dollars at the door.

Also, later tonight check back in PopCult for RFC 149 with a world premeire video by Sasha Colette, plus music by Trielement, Jordan Andrew Jefferson and Melanie Larch with The Diablo Blues Band. You’ll also see trailers for the DVD “Porkchops” and the graphic novel, “Carbon.”