Month: March 2016 (Page 3 of 5)

Due to your PopCuteer just returning from his annual trip to JoeLanta and The Great Atlanta Toy Convention, this week our radio offerings are special encore presentations of the first episodes of these new shows.

It might be mainstream. It might be avante-garde. It could be decades old or brand-new. It might be comedy. It might be the soundtrack from an old children’s record. Anything goes on Radio Free Charleston International. I don’t have to play any local music, but I will if I feel like it. You can listen to Appalachian Independent Radio right here in this little widget…

The only rules are…there are no rules. You won’t know what to expect, unless you take a peek at the playlist, which will be posted here in PopCult each week. Even with that, every show will end with a bonus mystery track. I’m really excited about the show I hope you go like our Facebook page, which barely has anything on it yet. Eventually that’s where I’ll take requests.

So strap yourself in. Broadcasting to you live from an alternate dimension, RADIO FREE CHARLESTON INTERNATIONAL is ON THE AIR! This is a special re-presentation of our first episode.

Our playlist this week:

The Beatles and Led Zepplin “Helter Skelter”

The Beetlevanias “Smells Like Teen Spirit”
The Rutles “Shangra La”
Chemical Beats “Welcome To The Black Parade”
Todd Rundgren “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”
The Beatnix “Stairway To Heaven”

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We kick off our video coverage of the just-concluded 2016 JoeLanta and The Great Atlanta Toy convention with the annual State of the Hobby panel.

In this case the hobby is collecting and customizing 1/6 scale action figures, and the panel is made up of Buddy Finethy, Greg Brown (of Cotswold Collectibles), Steve Charlton, Scott Beckmann (of The Trenches Forum) and yours truly. We go over a lot of information in a short amount of time, so listen up.

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The PopCult Toybox

If you’ve been keeping up with PopCult you know that your Popculteer just returned from his annual trip to JoeLanta and The Great Atlanta Toy Convention. The trip was a blast. This year the PopCult crew consisted of yours truly, Mrs. PopCulteer Melanie Larch and our good friend, Lee Harrah. The 2016 JoeLanta and The Great Atlanta Toy Convention was a rousing success.

We returned with tons of video and photos (and I had to spend all day Tuesday finishing magazine assignments so I’m already behind schedule), and over the next week we plan to bring the entire JoeLanta experience to you.

Today was spent transferring video to the computer (it took almost two hours) and tonight we bring you a quick photo essay. The plan is to start posting video tomorrow, with our coverage filling up PopCult until at least next Wednesday. We will bring you panels, music, footage of the dealers and diorama rooms and of course the famous action figure parachute drop.

Mixed in with our coverage of JoeLanta and The Great Atlanta Toy Convention will be all our regular PopCult features, including lots of extra STUFF TO DO to make up for all the slacking off that we’ve been doing for the last month while indulging in our toy habit. After we bid farewell to JoeLanta, we will get back to posting video from our trip to Toy Fair last month.

Registration for the Commander’s Package

Tomorrow look for the JoeLanta and The Great Atlanta Toy Convention State Of The Hobby Roundtable video. All weekend long we plan to post panels devoted to Monster High, Talking GI Joe Repair, Transformers, Big Jim, Toy Stories, and more. We’ll also run performances by Possum Kingdom Ramblers and Radio Cult, and their surprise guests. You will hear from Larry Hama, the creator of The Real American Hero GI Joes. Our recap will try to show a little bit of everything, but we’ll also post extended video of the dioramas and the dealers rooms. Saturday we plan to run a huge photo essay of the diorama room.

2016 was the biggest year yet for JoeLanta and The Great Atlanta Toy Convention and if you couldn’t make it, PopCult will be the next best thing to being there.

Mostly GI Joe-centric cosplayers

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A great touring band, plus two awesome local bands for only three bucks? How can you go wrong? The show will actually kick off at 9:45 PM

Due to your PopCuteer just returning from his annual trip to JoeLanta and The Great Atlanta Toy Convention, this week our radio offerings are special encore presentations of the first episodes of these new shows.

Debut Rerun Week on Appalachian Independent Radio continues! Wednesday at 1 PM, you can tune in and hear the first edition of On The Road With Mel, a travel program written, hosted, and executive produced by the lovely Mrs. PopCulteer, Mel Larch.

In this lively half hour, Mel will share with you travel tips, helpful hints, preparation advice, and cool places you can go. Mel enjoys travel and has years of experience as a meticulous trip planner to share with her listeners. Best of all, you can listen to Appalchian Independent Radio right here…

Fans of the show can also visit the On The Road With Mel Facebook page and Twitter stream so that they can interact, ask questions, and make suggestions for future episodes of the show.

On The Road With Mel can be heard every Wednesday at 1 PM on Appalachian Independent Radio. You can catch a replay Saturday afternoon at 1 PM, part of a five hour block of General Substances programming which includes Radio Free Charleston, Radio Free Charleston International, and Word Association With Lee and Rudy.

RFCv4 #001

Due to your PopCuteer just returning from his annual trip to JoeLanta and The Great Atlanta Toy Convention, this week our radio offerings are special encore presentations of the first episodes of these new shows.

It’s your chance to see what all the fuss is about and get in on the ground floor. The only exception is Word Association with Lee and Rudy, which will have part two of their look at Saturday Morning Cartoons Friday evening.

Every Tuesday at 10 AM and 10 PM (EST) you can listen to  Radio Free Charleston volume Four (we don’t really call it that anymore) on The AIR, Appalachian Independent Radio. Our debut show was a killer, filled with terrific local music.

You can stream it from the AIRadio website, or from this little widget, right here…

This week’s playlist:

Jordan Andrew Jefferson “White Light”

The Smoky Room “Pie Chart”
No Rain “Don’t Come Around”
Jack Griffith “Everything It Takes”
Dina “Pies”

The Laser Beams “Eden By The Fire Escape”
Sheldon Vance “Don’t Walk Away”
Miss Mousie and The Rigamarole “Dumpsters and Divebars”
Neil Zaza “Take On Me”

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This one’s just a digital doodle, based on my recent trip to Manhattan. Click to enlarge.

The PopCult Toybox

Mezco Toyz is one of the hottest action figure and collectible toy companies going. They’ve had incredible success with their Mez-Itz and Living Dead Dolls, and their new One:12 line of action figures is redefining the 6″ action figure world. We were lucky enough to have a guided tour of the Mezco booth at Toy Fair from Pierre Kalenzaga, the Project Manager for Mezco Toyz, and he showed off a ton of new and exciting products that they have coming out this year.

Below you will find a photo essay, with close-ups of the stuff Pierre told us about. These are presented mostly without captions, so you’ll have to watch the video to learn what’s what.

The Original Captain Marvel, done right

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In honor of our two recent Beatles Tribute shows on Radio Free Charleston International, this week the RFC Flashback returns with episode 81 of Radio Free Charleston, “Abbey Road Shirt.” From September 2009, this was our second tribute to the Beatles (the first was back on episode 28) and it featured performances by Rubber Soul, Captain Crash and The Beauty Queen, and an animated video by Under The Radar plus some animated coolness and other stuff. You can read the original productionnotes HERE.

Your PopCulteer is at JoeLanta and The Great Atlanta Toy Convention this weekend, but you should expect a bonus PopCult Toybox from Toy Fair Sunday as we look at cool stuff coming up from Mezco Toyz. Next week you’re going to get buried under videos from Toy Fair and Atlanta, as the PopCult video factory goes into overdrive.

This show was produced and scheduled before we learned of the passing of Sir George Martin, the producer of most of the Beatles albums. We dedicate this program to “the fifth Beatle.”

Tonight on Word Association with Lee and Rudy on Appalachian Independent Radio talk turns to Saturday Morning Cartoons, and the topic is so vast that it requires the very first two-part episode of Word Association. Once Luigi rang, it was decided to continue on, reset our little Italian Chef kitchen timer, and do another half-hour on the topic.

Lee and Rudy attempt to address the entire history of Saturday Morning Cartoons in two thirty-minute programs, and barely scratch the surface. It’s a bit of a mess, but they mess it all up in an entertaining fashion. That’s at 8 PM Friday night. You can tune in at the AIR website or listen to it in that handy little widget floating above this paragraph.

Word Association with Lee and Rudy can be heard Friday nights at 8PM, with replays Satruday at 1:30 PM and Sunday at 9 PM.

Don’t forget to tune in next week for part two!