Month: July 2025 (Page 3 of 4)

The PopCulteer
July 11, 2025

I’m still working my way through a backlog of cool content that your humble blogger accumulated during his travels in June, and today we’re going to show you what we saw in Washington, Pennsyvlania, on Father’s Day, just one day after The Marx Toy Show wrapped up. this was what I teased a week ago.

The Pennsylvania Trolley Museum is located in Washington, Pennsylvania, just South of Pittsburgh, and it’s dedicated to the operation and preservation of streetcars and trolleys. The museum contains historic trolleys from Pennsylvania,as well as examples from nearby Toledo, New Orleans, and even an open-sided car from Brazil. We were even surprised to see a Trolley that operated between Clarksburg and Fairmont, West Virginia there.

Many of the trolleys have been painstakingly restored to operating condition. Other unique cars either awaiting restoration or that are incompatible with the 5′ 2-1/2″ Pennsylvania trolley gauge track are on display in a massive trolley display building. You’ll see plenty of photos of that below.

The origin of the museum goes back to a group of electric railway enthusiasts who in 1949 acquired Pittsburgh Railways Company M-1, a small four-wheel Pittsburgh trolley. It and Pittsburgh Railways Company 3756 (a single-end low-floor car) and West Penn Railways Company 832 were stored for the group until 1954 in Ingram Car House by Pittsburgh Railways. since that time, the museum has grown, moved and expanded, and currently occupies a state-of-the-art solar powered building, on land with two separate operational trolley loops, one of which shuttles people to the Washington County Fair.

A special ride during the Christmas season includes a visit from Santa Claus. Following the success of the Santa Special, the museum has added events for Easter (Bunny Trolley) and a fall-season Pumpkin Patch Trolley.

The museum appeared in a 1984 episode of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, where host Fred Rogers takes a ride on and operates Philadelphia streetcar #5326.

A small theater runs a wonderful documentary on the history of the museum and features interviews and historical footage, as well as cool drone footage of the construction of the current facility.

This museum is, of course, loads of fun for kids who love trains and trolleys and all things transportation, but it’s also a treat for the nostalgia-afflicted fan of old-school transit, advertising and pop culture. There’s something here for everyone.

The Pennsyvlania Trolley Museum is just fun living history. It takes you back to a time when mass transit was maybe just a little more attractive to people. There’s also a very well-stocked gift shop with all kinds of fine trolley-centric knick-knackery.  For full information on tickets, hours of operation and special events, check out their website.

Even though buses edged trolleys out of existence, we were struck at how much the old Pittsburgh Trolley system resembled Chicago’s famed “L,” of which we are huge fans. I did shoot video, but I haven’t had time to look at it to see if it’s even usable.

In the meantime, check out these photos…

One of the Trolley cars we got to ride.

…and the other.

Just part of the gift shop.

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Last month when your PopCulteer and his lovely wife visited Chicago, we made it a point to stop by Rotofugi, a store/art gallery specializing in designer toys.  We’ve been going there for at least ten years, but it’s been nine years since the last time I posted a photo essay showing off all the cool plastic wonders and delights, so we’re going to correct that now.

We saw everything from small blind-box figures that were only a few bucks to medium-sized figures in the ten to twenty-dollar range to gigantic designer statues selling for several hundred dollars.  Of course, there were all sorts of cool things at all points in between, including ReAction figures, Vinyl Idolz, blind-boxes, weird plush, enamel pins, Tokidoki, Pusheen, and way more than I could possibly list here. It was overwhelming for collectors like us.

While it was amazing to visit Rotofugi in person, if you can’t make it to Chicago, head over to their website where you can find all sorts of cool items that you didn’t know you needed.

This is, of course, some of the coolest stuff on the planet and it was an amazing treat to get to go back to Ground Zero for epic cool-assed weirdness and the world’s niftiest trinketry.

Keep in mind that I took these photos more than a month ago. They have new stuff coming in all the time, and a lot of cool things sell out quick, so if you go, you might find a whole different assortment of awesome plastic treasures.

If you do make it to Chicago, you can visit Rotofugi at 2780 North Lincoln Avenue. I’ve got a ton of photos today, and not all of them will have captions, but I’ll try to interject a few witticisms to keep you on your toes.

Count Calorie straddles the line between beloved cereal mascot and latter-day King of Rock.

I’m not Labubu literate enough to tell if these are real Labubu, Labubu competition or simply Labubu adjacent. I offer this with no elaboration because I would not want to make a Labubu boo-boo.

A generous assortment of Gozillies. I have to admit…I only bought two of them. Confession time: I already had nine of these. I mean, heck, they’re Godzillies! Just look at ’em!

Hugging plush can help calm your nerves and relax…for the most part.

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This week STUFF TO DO is attempting to tell you about cool things happening all over this mountainous state.

One reason for that is that, this weekend, your humble blogger, his lovely wife and Mr. Lee Harrah are heading to Wheeling, West Virginia for the inaugural KrugerFest, action figure and toy show, which will happen at The Kruger Street Toy & Train Museum.

Carrying on from last year’s impromptu memorial show for Roberto Ligotti, and continuing in his memory, KrugerFest is, according to the private group page on Facebook, “A group of like-minded toy collector folks who buy/sell/trade vintage toys. A majority of us grew up with GI Joe (Hasbro), Worlds Greatest Superheroes (Mego), and Star Wars (Kenner). There’s a niche of these folks who’ve been action figure customizers for decades. This is an intimate event – not a huge convention. Please be prepared to gain friendships, not a college tuition yielded from sales.” You can read about last year’s Friends of ‘Berto show HERE and HERE.

It’s going to be a fun, small, toy show, with several short-run exclusive MEGO-scale action figures and lots of folks who were part of the original MEGO MEET shows, which were held at Kruger Street for the first ten years, before becoming a nomadic show that moves around the country.  KrugerFest happens July 12 from 8 AM to 4 PM.  It’s a toy show open to public. Adult admission is $15.  There will be panels and presentations throughout the day. The Cafe will be open for sloppy joe’s, hot dogs, soft drinks, snacks.

It’s going to be a lot like the early MEGO MEET shows, which will make a lot of folks very happy.

And if toys are not your cup of tea (you have my pity), then there’s plenty of other things in which to indulge.  Don’t forget to stay hydrated if you’re doing outdoor stuff.

As always, you should remember that THIS IS NOT A COMPLETE LIST OF EVENTS.  It’s just a starting point, so don’t expect anything comprehensive, and if you feel strongly about me leaving anything out, feel free to mention it in the comments. Also, if you have a show that you’d like to plug in the future, contact me via Social Media at Facebook, BlueSky , Spoutible, Instagram or Smoke signals.  I dont charge for this, so you might as well send me something if you have an event to promote. Note that some links look like they shouldn’t work because they have lines through them, but that’s just a WordPress glitch, so click on them anyway. They should still work.

We are also very happy to remind you that Cristen Michael has created an interactive calendar that is way more comprehensive than this list of STUFF TO DO, and you can find it HERE. Just click on the day and the event and you’ll be whisked away to a page with more details about loads of area events.

City Center Live at Slack Plaza in Charleston has announced their schedule for the summer. You can find it HERE.

You can find live music in and around town every night of the week. You just have to know where to look.

Most Fridays and Saturdays you can find live music at Taylor Books. There is no cover charge, and shows start at 7:30 PM. This weekend Steve Himes is listed for Friday, and Saturday BUG entertains the crowd at the air-conditioned bookstore/cafe/art gallery.

You can find live music every night at The World Famous Empty Glass Cafe. Mondays feature open mic night. The first Tuesday of every month sees the legendary Spurgie Hankins Band perform. There’s both Happy Hour music and local or touring bands on Thursday and Friday, and live bands Saturday nights. On Sundays when there’s a new Mountain Stage, musicians from the legendary WV Public Radio show migrate to The Glass for the Post-Mountain Stage jam. I hear that last week’s jam was epic.

Live at The Shop in Dunbar hosts local and touring bands on most weekends, and is a nice break away from the downtown bar scene.

Louie’s, at Mardi Gras Casino & Resort, regularly brings in local bands on weekends.

In Huntington, local institution, The Loud (formerly The V Club), brings in great touring and local acts three or four nights a week.

The Wandering Wind Meadery holds several events each week, from live piano karaoke to bands to comedy to burlesque.

The multitude of breweries and distilleries that have popped up in Charleston of late bring in live musical acts as well. I tend to miss a lot of these because, being a non-drinker, they fly under my radar.

Clendenin Brewing Co is a microbrewery with 4 themed lodging rooms in a 1920s bank building on Main St Clendenin, WV. They’ve been host a lot of musical acts lately.

Roger Rablais hosts Songwriter’s stage at different venues around the area, often at 813 Penn, next door to Fret ‘n’ Fiddle in Saint Albans and also at The Empty Glass many Tuesday evenings. You might also find cool musical events at Route 60 Music in Barboursville and Folklore Music Exchange in Charleston.

To hear music in an alcohol-free enviroment, see what’s happening at Pumzi’s, on Charleston’s West Side. Pumzi’s looks to be beefing up their offerings in the coming weeks and months, so be sure to check that link in case we miss something. This week Bronco Junction and Woodbine grace their stage at 7:30 PM, Saturday. See the graphic at right for more upcoming shows.

You can also visit Coal River Coffee in Saint Albans for live music in an alcohol-free environment. This Friday at 7 PM  Coal River Coffee features Minor SwingI am looking to expand this list, so please contact me through the social media sites above if you know about more alcohol-free performance venues. The Huntington Music Collective has recently started hosting all ages shows at Event Horizon.

For cutting-edge independent art films, downstairs from Taylor Books you’ll find the Floralee Hark Cohen Cinema by WVIFF. Each week they program several amazing movies in their intimate viewing room that you aren’t likely to see anywhere else.

Please remember that viral illlnesses are still a going concern and many people who have very good reasons are still wearing masks, and many of us, understandably, are still nervous about being in crowds, masked or not. Be kind and understanding  while you’re out. And if you’re at an outdoor event, please remember that it’s awfully inconsiderate to smoke or vape around people who become ill when exposed to that stuff.

Keep in mind that all shows are subject to change or be cancelled at the last minute.

Here we go, roughly in order, it’s graphics for local events that I was able to scrounge up online with a few bonus events for early next week…

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Your humble blogger is on the mend after a harsh summer cold, followed by some sort of ritualized bloodletting, so I’ve put together a partly-new Radio Free Charleston  that you can hear today on The AIR.  To listen to The AIR, you simply have to point your cursor over and tune in at the website, or you could just stay here, and  listen to the cool embedded player found elsewhere on this page.  

You can hear Radio Free Charleston Tuesdays at 10 AM and 10 PM, with boatloads of replays throughout the week.

It’s a free-format extravaganza as this week’s first hour is, with one exception, all newly-released tunes by the likes of The Heavy Set Paw Paws from Beckley, plus J. Marinelli, Byzantine, The Settlement, Brian Diller, Pulp and Slate Dump. We have a sneak peek of an upcoming single from Aliza Hava, who splits her time between Nashville and Ashland, Oregon…and who comes to us via our Chicago Pipeline. “Let It Roar” will be available on all streaming services on July 22, but you can get another new track of hers if you pre-order her upcoming album on Bandcamp. That album will be out in September, and you can get the title track, “Into The Light” now.

Also, I probably should have asked if you pronounce her name “Aleeza” or “A-Lie-za,” but I didn’t, so you can either be astonished at my accuracy, or amused by me mangling yet another name.

After all, I do still sometimes say, “dee-orama,”

After the first hour we revive an episode of Radio Free Charleston International from January, 2017, and I have to be honest, it’s one that I included in a compliation show just four years ago, but it’s also one of my favorite free-format cluster fudgesicles of a show that has everything from Oingo Boingo and Neil Young to Emerson Lake and Palmer and The Buzzcocks.

Your walking wounded blogger/radio host was able to put this weeks RFC together while still recovering from the rather stabby medical test I had done a week ago.  Links in the first hour will take you to pages for the artists…

RFCV5 231

hour one
Heavy Set Paw Paws “Summer Sweat”
J. Marinelli “So Much For The Tolerant Left”
Aliza Hava “Let It Roar”
Byzantine “The Clockmaker’s Intention”
The Settlement “Cycles (live)”
June Swoon “American Dream”
Brian Diller “Fill My Eyes”
Pulp “Spike Island”
Slate Dump “Honey, Watch For Deer”

hour two
Oingo Boingo “The Controller”
Neil Young “Sample and Hold”
Dubioza Kolectiv “Alarm Song”
Marc Ribot y Los cubanos postizos “Los Teenagers Bailan Changui”
The Cure “Let’s Go To Bed”
Red Vox “There She Goes”
The High Violets “Bells”
The Enid “Someone Shall Rise”
The Foreign Films “Sweet Sorrow”
The Hillbilly Moon Explosion “Heartbreak Boogie”
Captain Beefheart and The Magic Band “Run Paint Run”
Mike & The Melvins “Dead Canaries”
The Residents “Japanese Watercolor”
St. Vincent “Krokodil”
The Dandy Warhols “Pope Reverend Jim”

hour three
Killing Joke “The Big Buzz”
Brian Eno “The Hour Is Thin”
Escapism “Ship To Shore”
The Range “Superimpose”
Filter “Pride Flag”
Dread Crew of Oddwood “Siren’s Song”
Atomic Rooster “Friday The 13th”
Black Stone Cherry “War”
Emerson Lake and Palmer “Toccata”
Hooverphonic “I Like The Way I Dance”
Danielle DeCosmo “Don’t Know What It Means”
The Buzzcocks “ESP”
Operators “Bring Me The Head”
Spoon “Hot Thoughts”

You can hear this episode of Radio Free Charleston Tuesday at 10 AM and 10 PM on The AIR, with replays Wednesday at 9 AM,  Thursday at 2 PM, Friday at 9 AM, Saturday at Noon and Midnight, Sunday at 8 PM and  Monday at 11 AM, exclusively on The AIR. Now you can also hear a different classic episode of RFC every weekday at 5 PM, and we bring you a marathon all night long Saturday night/Sunday morning.

I’m also going to  embed a low-fi, mono version of this show right in this post, right here so you can listen on demand.

After RFC, stick around for encores of the most recent episodes of  MIRRORBALL at 1 PM and Curtain Call at 2 PM.

At 3 PM we give you an encore of two classic episodes of The Swing Shift. I know I’ve been neglecting my Swing Music showcase lately, but I play to rectify that situation with a stretch of new episodes coming every week beginning in August.

 You can hear The Swing Shift Tuesday at 3 PM, with replays Wednesday at 8 AM, Friday at 10 AM and 8 PM and Saturday afternoon, only on The AIR . You can also hear all-night marathons, seven hours each, starting at Midnight Thursday and Sunday evenings.

This week’s art is digital. There’s a reason for that.

Last Tuesday I had a medical test done at the behest of my neurologist. He was concerned that, in addtion to Myasthenia Gravis, I might have something else causing weakness in my hands.

I went along with this even though the weakness in my hands is something that I only notice when I go to the doctor and he checks my hand strength.  After beginning meds for MG I have retrained myself to hold a pencil, pen and brush, and because I was never terribly good at playing guitar, I quickly regained the ability to play as badly as I had before the onset of MG. But he thought I might have a pinched nerve in my neck, so we scheduled the test…and then it got bumped back several months until last Tuesday.

I do not have a pinched nerve. I apparently have pain-free, moderate Carpal Tunnel and Cubital Tunnel issues. I do not intend to even consider surgery. I will say that, this particular test combined with an EMG, which is thoroughly unpleasant, was something I was not fully informed of in advance…the sticking of needles deep into my muscles up and down both arms and into my neck felt as brutal as it sounds.

I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that this is a test that I don’t imagine many people ever agree to have done a second time. On top of the shocks and the needles, the technician did not read my chart ahead of time and used rubbing alcohol on my palms before I realized what was going on (I’m allergic to the stuff). So I had about three days of burning, itching, tender palms, and aching arms and no chance in hell of creating any physical art. The fun part was, three days later when the bruises began appearing. It looks like I was running around backhanding fire hydrants.

So that’s why this week’s art is digital. As for what it is…I decided to indulge in a bit of synaesthesia. What you see above is my impression of the sound made by the machine that the needles plunged into me was making.  The needles had little microphones on them, and they go by those sounds to detect what’s going on in your body.  It was basically loud and annoying static, turned up very high.

Aren’t you glad you asked?  I hope I’m able to make some real art for next week.

And apparently this is the third time I’ve used this as a title for a Monday Morning Art piece.

If you want to see this image larger, click HERE.

Meanwhile, over in radioland, beginning at 2 PM (EDT) on The AIR, we bring new episodes of Nigel Pye’s Psychedelic Shack, and Herman Linte’s weekly showcase of the Progressive Rock of the past half-century, Prognosis.  You can listen to The AIR at the website, or on the embedded radio player elsewhere on this page.

Nigel Pye has managed to hit episode 102 with Psychedelic Shack. For some reason, Nigel was more excited about this episode than he was about episode 100.  It’s a pretty cool collection of trippy music.

Check out the playlist…

Psychedelic Shack 102

Andy Partridge “Humanoid Boogie”
Lickerish Quartet “Lighthouse Spaceship Revised”
Mike McGear “Rainbow Lady”
Roger Glover & Guests “Sitting In A Dream”
TC&I “Comrades of Pop”
Reparata & The Delrons “Captain of Your Ship”
Prince “Pop Life”
The Beach Boys “The Elements-Fire”
Oingo Boingo “Change”
Grace Slick & The Great Society “Sally Go Round”
The Turtles “Last Laugh”
Klaatu “Around The Universe In 80 Days”

At 3 PM (EDT), Herman Linte put together a mixtape show paying tribute to the late Chris Squire, the virtuoso bass player for YES, who passed away ten years ago last month. Since Prognosis had not begun when Squire died, Herman wanted to take this occasion to collect some of his most memorable bass and vocal perrmances.

Check out the playlist…

Prognosis 129

Chris Squire “You by My Side”
YES “Heart of the Sunrise”
Squackett “Life Within A Day”
Rick Wakeman “Chamber of Horrors”
Pink Floyd Tribute “Comfortably Numb”
Conspiracy “Say Goodbye”
The Syn “Mr. White’s Flying Machine”
YES “Cinema”
YES “Onward”
Chris Squire & Alan White “Run With The Fox”
Conspiracy “Violet Purple Rose”
YES “The Gates of Delirium”
Squackett “Perfect Love Song”
The Syn “14 Hour Technicolor Dream”
Chris Squire and Billy Sherwood “Days of Wonder”
Cinema “It Can Happen”
YES “Tempus Fugit”
Chris Squire “Amazing Grace”

Psychedelic Shack can be heard every Monday at 2 PM, with replays Tuesday at 9 AM, Wednesday at 10 PM, Friday at 1 PM,  and Saturday at 9 AM. You can hear Prognosis on The AIR Monday at 3 PM, with replays Tuesday at 7 AM, Wednesday at 8 PM, Thursday at Noon, and Saturday at 10 AM.

At 8 PM you can hear an hour of music from Weird Al Yankovic The Comedy Vault.

Tonight at 9 PM for the Monday Marathon we bring you ten hours of Beatles Blast, featuring episodes heavy on the Ringo, as it is the lad’s 85th birthday today.

As promised in last Tuesday’s episode of Radio Free Charleston, above you see the music video for Chuck Biel‘s latest tune, “RIPStaVEr.”

Billed as “Original Progressive Metal featuring Chuck Biel (Composer/Creator) and International Mallet Artist Scott Milam and featuring the RiPStaVEr Strings” on YouTube, this remarkable piece of music (and video) features the Maestro, Chuck Biel, along with another Maestro, Scott Milam, and The RIPStaVer Strings (featuring Kristi Holstein), and it’s pure Film Noir eye candy.

As for what it means, the Oxford English Dictionary describes the word as a colloquialism that originated in the US in the early 19th century and is now archaic. According to them, a “ripstaver” is an impressive person or thing—a beaut, a corker, a crackerjack, a doozy, a humdinger, a knockout, a lollapalooza, a jim-dandy, or a ripsnorter.

The earliest example of the usage in the OED is from an 1828 issue of the Bower of Taste, a short-lived magazine in Boston: “She beheld him striding down the street, lustily exclaiming to himself, ‘She’s a ripstaver, so help me Davy Rachel!’ ”

The dictionary’s next citation is from the anonymously published Sketches and Eccentricities of Col. David Crockett of West Tennessee (1833): “In ten minutes he yelled enough, and swore I was a ripstavur.”

Eventually, Chuck’s tune and video will be cited in the OED.

Dive in, it’s a mini-epic.

You can hear “RIPStaVer” on last week’s Radio Free Charleston Sunday at 8 PM and Monday at 11 AM on The AIR, or listen on demand at the RFC PopCult post.

Dating back to August, 2011, and positioned strategically at the head of this post, you should see this week’s vintage episode of Radio Free Charleston. Our 142nd installment was called “It’s Just A Flesh Wound Shirt.” Our music this week was by InFormation, The Renfields, and the Charleston Light Opera Guild cast of “Hairspray”. In addition, this episode features a quick look at Dan Kehde’s then-new play “Cupid Falling/Cupid Rising,” a short film by K.D. Lett, and animation by Frank Panucci.

This was our first episode back after taking off most of July. We’d produced a 70-minute anniversary show, right on the heels of cranking out eight episodes of FestivAll coverage in two weeks, and needed a break. We came back strong, with a show that combined great live music, and our friends The Renfields making their RFC debut, with a healthy dose of theatre, film and animation in the mix. After busting our asses producing the prior shows, it was a relief to get back to a “normal” episode.

You can find the original production notes HERE.

Remember folks, eat smart. Food goes in your mouth, not your nose or ear.

The PopCulteer
July 4, 2025

It’s a holiday, and my readership will be low because so many of my readers check out PopCult while they’re at work.

Add to that the fact that your humble blogger has had a rough week due to some medical tests that did not go as expected,  plus this particularly holiday is not one I feel like celebrating for the next few years, and you can guess that I don’t really have much prepared for the column/post this week.

So we’re going to go a bit random.

First, today at The Regatta, the little-known band tasked with the job of going on after the awesome Velvet Brothers is KC and The Sunshine Band.  It just so happens that Mel Larch devoted an episode of her Disco Showcase, MIRRORBALL, to KC and we will be replaying that show for you this afternoon at 2 PM on The AIR. The AIR is PopCult‘s sister radio station. You can hear our shows on The AIR website, or just click on the embedded player found elsewhere on this page.

In honor of the Disco-ification of the Regatta, starting at 9 PM tonight, the AIR will run twelve hours of MIRRORBALL, for your listening and dancing pleasure.

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A word of advice for folks getting medical tests done: Do not assume that the technician doing the test  has read your chart, particularly if you have  unusual allergies.

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The Gilded Age has returned for its third season on MAX (soon to revert back to HBO MAX). If you’re a fan of this spectacularly-acted period drama, it’s time to sign up for MAX for a couple of months again.

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I hate writing obituaries. One reason for that is that I really don’t like it when someone I admire passes away.

Also, when somebody I don’t admire dies, I don’t get too much satisfaction from abusing their corpse in print. Even if their demise gives me great pleasure, and possibly even a grin that you couldn’t remove from my face with a sandblaster, I hate the idea of intruding on the genuine grief of people who, for whatever reason, loved and admired the dead S.O.B.

My ego is not so great that I feel the need to parade around the dead body pointing and laughing in public.

So I keep quiet.  Unless the person is an undeniably huge figure in the local scene or pop culture, like Michael Jackson on Stan Lee, I prefer to simply let their passing go by without a mention in this blog. And even in those cases where I feel compelled to write about them I’ve tried to be respectful while setting the record straight about my reasons for not being a fan.

This post is not a response to any particular recent demise. It’s a general response to the question, “Why didn’t you write an obituary for …?”

There are three possible answers.  Either I don’t know enough about the person to write a decent obituary, or I had no idea who they were, or I know too much about the person to write about them without upsetting their friends and/or family. No amount of score-settling is worth being a prick to other people.

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I want to get this post online within the hour, so I’m going to just stick in random photos from our recent travels now. The plan is to drop a lot of photo essays next week.

Yesterday I gifted my lovely wife with a Disco Pineapple from Temu. We wanted to send a photo to our friend Pixie, and decided to stage a Plastic People Disco Pineapple Party for her.

While we were waiting to get on the train to Chicago about a month ago.

In Chicago, the mobile office was set up to do important work, while I used my old phone to monitor a security camera at home.

Across from our hotel, we found Chip City, a newish cookie chain. Just to piss off all the people who get mad that cookie chains exist.

The inside of the elevator at the hotel was covered with stickers. Yes, that’s a Buc-ee’s sticker you see before you.

We seen da Bean.

At the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum (photo essay coming next week) we were surprised to learn that there was a trolley service in the Clarksburg/Fairmont area.

My current Facebook cover photo. Since this was taken, another Corgi model and some plastic folks have been added.

And that is this slapdash edition of The PopCulteer. Check back for fresh content every day, even when I don’t really feel like it.

The original plan was to bring you a bunch of photo essays next week so I could play catch-up with all the cool stuff I got to see last month. That is still the plan, but we’re going to get a head start today because, Tuesday of this week I had some medical tests done, and they have impaired me somewhat. Typing is not easy, and next week’s Monday Morning Art is likely to be digital, unless my hands get better real soon.

So today I’m going to bring you a little photo essay devoted to some of the cool stuff they had at last month’s WonderFest USA in Louisville to celebrate 60 years of Lost In Space.

The lovely Marta Kristen Kane was on hand, representing the original cast, and Ron Gross, the artist of several books based on the original LiS as well as trading card sets that I’ve written about in Non Sport Update was there. A selection of awesome Lost in Space props, replicas and artifacts, some of which were showcased on MeTV’s Collector’s Call, was on display, thanks to Tony Hardy and Tracy’s Corner.

We’re going to bring you photos from that display today. Your PopCulteer was in full “Temu Fashionista” mode, as you can see at top right, and for the first time, all the photos here were taken with the new phone.

Here’s a taste of Lost in Space, at WonderFest…

It wasn’t until I was editing the photos that I realized how much cool stuff was in the background that I didn’t get close-ups of.

The life mask fo Jonathan Harris (Dr. Smith) was put to good use throughout the show (and the display).

The replica of The Jupiter II spaceship was huge, and incredible.

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So I’m recycling the headline and graphics from last year. Had a rough day of medical testing yesterday, so give me a break.

It’s a holiday weekend and Regatta weekend, and we feel obligated to once again start our trek through STUFF TO DO this week with a weather advisory. As I write this, it’s hot…not as bad as last week, but still hot and humid.  If you’re going to do stuff outdoors, remember to stay hydrated.

The Charleston Sternwheel Regatta happens starting Thursday, and you can find out everything you need to know about it HERE.  As for yours truly, I’m getting over a summer cold, had a brutal and invasive test yesterday and hate being outside in the heat, so I won’t be anywhere near the Regatta. I don’t gotta Regatta. I gotta note. The only thing I’ll regret skipping is The Velvet Brothers Friday evening. If you plan to go, follow that link and have a blast.

There are Fourth of July celebrations all over the state this weekend. If you are not disgusted and ashamed at the state of our country, they are relatively easy to find online. Google is your friend. Please remember, if you choose to observe the holiday by setting off your own fireworks, everybody will hate you.

As always, you should remember that THIS IS NOT A COMPLETE LIST OF EVENTS.  It’s just a starting point, so don’t expect anything comprehensive, and if you feel strongly about me leaving anything out, feel free to mention it in the comments. Also, if you have a show that you’d like to plug in the future, contact me via Social Media at Facebook, BlueSky , Spoutible, Instagram or Smoke signals.  I dont charge for this, so you might as well send me something if you have an event to promote. Note that some links look like they shouldn’t work because they have lines through them, but that’s just a WordPress glitch, so click on them anyway. They should still work.

We are also very happy to remind you that Cristen Michael has created an interactive calendar that is way more comprehensive than this list of STUFF TO DO, and you can find it HERE. Just click on the day and the event and you’ll be whisked away to a page with more details about loads of area events.

City Center Live at Slack Plaza in Charleston has announced their schedule for the summer. You can find it HERE.

You can find live music in and around town every night of the week. You just have to know where to look.

Most Fridays and Saturdays you can find live music at Taylor Books. There is no cover charge, and shows start at 7:30 PM. This weekend Matthew Malinoski is listed for Friday, and Saturday Luke Molina entertains the crowd at the air-conditioned bookstore/cafe/art gallery.

You can find live music every night at The World Famous Empty Glass Cafe. Mondays feature open mic night. The first Tuesday of every month sees the legendary Spurgie Hankins Band perform. There’s both Happy Hour music and local or touring bands on Thursday and Friday, and live bands Saturday nights. On Sundays when there’s a new Mountain Stage, musicians from the legendary WV Public Radio show migrate to The Glass for the Post-Mountain Stage jam. I hear that last week’s jam was epic.

Live at The Shop in Dunbar hosts local and touring bands on most weekends, and is a nice break away from the downtown bar scene.

Louie’s, at Mardi Gras Casino & Resort, regularly brings in local bands on weekends.

In Huntington, local institution, The Loud (formerly The V Club), brings in great touring and local acts three or four nights a week.

The Wandering Wind Meadery holds several events each week, from live piano karaoke to bands to comedy to burlesque.

The multitude of breweries and distilleries that have popped up in Charleston of late bring in live musical acts as well. I tend to miss a lot of these because, being a non-drinker, they fly under my radar.

Clendenin Brewing Co is a microbrewery with 4 themed lodging rooms in a 1920s bank building on Main St Clendenin, WV. They’ve been host a lot of musical acts lately.

Roger Rablais hosts Songwriter’s stage at different venues around the area, often at 813 Penn, next door to Fret ‘n’ Fiddle in Saint Albans and also at The Empty Glass many Tuesday evenings. You might also find cool musical events at Route 60 Music in Barboursville and Folklore Music Exchange in Charleston.

To hear music in an alcohol-free enviroment, see what’s happening at Pumzi’s, on Charleston’s West Side. Pumzi’s looks to be beefing up their offerings in the coming weeks and months, so be sure to check that link in case we miss something.

You can also visit Coal River Coffee in Saint Albans for live music in an alcohol-free environment. This Friday at 7 PM  Coal River Coffee features Minor SwingI am looking to expand this list, so please contact me through the social media sites above if you know about more alcohol-free performance venues. The Huntington Music Collective has recently started hosting all ages shows at Event Horizon.

For cutting-edge independent art films, downstairs from Taylor Books you’ll find the Floralee Hark Cohen Cinema by WVIFF. Each week they program several amazing movies in their intimate viewing room that you aren’t likely to see anywhere else.

Please remember that viral illlnesses are still a going concern and many people who have very good reasons are still wearing masks, and many of us, understandably, are still nervous about being in crowds, masked or not. Be kind and understanding  while you’re out. And if you’re at an outdoor event, please remember that it’s awfully inconsiderate to smoke or vape around people who become ill when exposed to that stuff.

Keep in mind that all shows are subject to change or be cancelled at the last minute.

Here we go, roughly in order, it’s graphics for local events that I was able to scrounge up online with a few bonus events for early next week…

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