Author: Rudy Panucci (Page 106 of 581)

This week our Monday art is a riff on a screen grab from the video I posted here last night. Both the animation and this piece are just examples of me playing with Moiré patterns. I hadn’t done any new geometrical art for a while, so this was a quick and easy way to wind-down after a busy week of outside assignments.

You can click the image if you want to see a bigger version.

Meanwhile, over in radio-land, Monday on The AIR, instead of our usual Monday Marathon we are running a full day of Radio Free Charleston, from 7 AM to 11 PM, you can hear five of our new, bulkier three-hour episodes, plus an encore of the 100th episode of RFC V4 #100. All day long on this President’s Day, you can help erase the sting and shame of the current holder of that title by listening to some great music.

You can listen to The AIR at the website, or on this embedded radio player…

This is a little bit of experimental animation, rather minimalistitic, that uses three geometric images and four simple backgrounds to create around two minutes of fun with Moiré patterns.

As they say at the Wikipedia, “In mathematics, physics, and art, moiré patterns are large-scale interference patterns that can be produced when an opaque ruled pattern with transparent gaps is overlaid on another similar pattern. For the moiré interference pattern to appear, the two patterns must not be completely identical, but rather e.g. displaced, rotated or have slightly different pitch.”

It’s set to two pieces of music that I composed around fifteen years ago, with the second being about thirty seconds of a bassline that I wrote which was completely remixed and expanded upon by my brother Frank.

Essentially, this is what happens after I wrap up a magazine deadline, don’t feel like writing or watching TV, am too tired to go out, and have half an hour to spare.

Enjoy!

This week we go back to May, 2014, for an RFC MINI SHOW starring Mark Bates.

Mark Cline Bates hadn’t been on RFC since episode 58 ,in 2009, before we caught up with him again almost five years later and featured his music on RFC 196. From that same recording session at The Empty Glass, this episode of The RFC MINI SHOW brings you two songs from Mark, “Bigger Things” and “Closer.” Mark is still perfroming in the area, and touring nationally at times, and you can check out his website for news of his tour dates and you can also buy his music.

You may notice that this episode of The RFC MINI SHOW is number twenty-one, while our previous show was number nineteen. It was around this time that we discovered that we numbered two of our RFC MINI SHOWs as “seven.” We didn’t catch it, and nobody pointed it out to us, so we didn’t discover it until we were working on the RFC Archives. Rather than go back and re-number the previous thirteen shows, we’re just going to skip a number to get back on track. After we rendered this show as number twenty-one, we discovered that we also had two shows numbered “fifteen.” So expect next week’s flashback to The RFC MINI SHOW to be number twenty-three.

Making matters even more confusing, I had totally forgotten most of this, so when I ran flashbacks to both of the RFC MINI SHOWs that were numbered “fifteen,” a few weeks ago, I didn’t even notice.

The PopCulteer
February 14, 2020

Next Wednesday at 10:30 PM (EST), IFC will present the American debut of Year of the Rabbit, a co-production of IFC and Channel Four in the UK, starring Matt Berry.

Year of the Rabbit debuted last summer in the UK, and through the kindness of our friends at Haversham Recording Institute, I was able to watch the series as it was broadcast over Channel 4. Your PopCulteer and his wife are big fans of Matt Berry, following his career from The IT Crowd to Toast of London to What We Do In The Shadows…with stops along the way for his great voice work and his music.

I even posted one of his early works HERE and a mash-up of his BBC work HERE.

The six-episode first season stars Berry as the tough booze-hound Detective Inspector Rabbit. His greenhorn partner Strauss is played to perfection by Freddie Fox, and Susan Workman is hilarious as Mabel, the adopted daughter of the Chief Inspector, who wants to become the country’s first female police officer.

Rabbit is, to be blunt, an alcoholic mess. He’s had one eyebrow chewed off by his dog, and is in a constant state of dishevelment. He’s also the best detective in London. Strauss is deep in the thrall of hero worship, and is oblivious to Rabbit’s flaws. Mabel, a Black woman in Victorian London desperately wants to be a police officer, despite her rather crude behavior.

The trio fight crime in Victorian London’s East End, uncovering a secret society of feminist terrorists along the way, while dealing with Rabbit’s arch-rival, Scotland Yard Detective Inspector Tanner. Their beat is the dark underbelly of London…and in many cases that literally means the sewers.

Year of the Rabbit is a perfectly concocted mix of ripping adventure and absurdist humor. The detective work is intriguing enough to pull you into the story, while the elements of the bizarre and slapstic comedy provide a series of hilarious payoffs.

There’s just enough drama to keep this from being a “zany” comedy, and the set design and costuming is as elaborate as anything you’ll see on Masterpiece Theater.

Created by Kevin Cecil and Andy Riley (Black Books, Veep) with considerable input from Berry, Year of the Rabbit has aleady been renewed for a second season. The first season will debut on IFC next Wednesday at 10:30, and it’s a real gem of a television program.

More Stuff To Do

I posted a guide to Valentine’s Day events HERE, but the weekend does extend beyond tonight, and I found a graphic for an event tonight that was hidden away on Instagram, so check out these other cool things you can do in town this weekend.

And that is the PopCulteer this week. Check back for fresh content every day, and all our regular features.

The PopCult Toybox

The Hess Truck has become a Christmas tradition over the last 50-plus years, even surviving the sale and rebranding of the Hess Oil retail outlets a few years ago. We’ve been including The Hess Trucks in The PopCult Gift Guide for several years. Now Hess has expanded the line into a new area—plush.

My First Hess Truck: 2020 Fire Truck is a squeeze-activated cuddly plush toy firetruck with lights and sounds that will thrill the youngest kids, and the oldest Hess Truck collectors.

Created as a way to provide a fun, high-quality, and affordable toy for families during the holiday season, the original Hess Toy Truck was introduced in 1964. Ever since, the annual release of a new toy truck is a highly anticipated event and a treasured holiday tradition for millions of families.

Now the perfect start to any Hess Toy Truck Collection is here. Earlier this month Hess introduced My First Hess Truck – a soft and cuddly plush toy truck created with younger fans in mind. It’s more than a truck – it’s a playtime pal and a comforting face at night. It’s a collectable connection to the past and a gift they’ll handle with love and never want to be without!

In classic fire-engine red, My First Hess Truck – 2020 Fire Truck is designed with soft, durable, multi-textured fabric that highlights fire equipment detail, and is stuffed with softness to make it the perfect snuggle buddy. A pair of warm, friendly eyes and smiling grill reveal the playful personality of this new and lovable character.

A tap or squeeze of the “nose” activates two delightful sing-along songs; “The Wheels on the Truck” and “If You’re Happy and You Know It”, that both feature cheerful truck sounds and flashing LED lights. The ladder, side exhaust pipes and tires are easy to grasp by little hands, making toting around their new best friend a cinch. And when it’s time to rest those sleepy eyes, a squeeze of the roof lights activates all the truck lights for an auto shut-off 15-minute night light

This newest addition to the Hess Toy Truck tradition is made in highly limited quantities! My First Hess Truck – 2020 Fire Truck is sold exclusively at HessToyTruck.com for $29.99 plus tax. Energizer batteries and free standard shipping are included.

I ordered one as soon as they went on sale last week, and had it in my hands two days later. It’s a great collectible, but also a great toy for toddlers that can work as a nightlight, as well as a beloved toy. Kids will love this fire engine. The music is not annoying, and the lights aren’t blinding. Collectors will want this to complete their collection, and kids will love what may just turn out to be the first of many plush Hess Trucks.

The features of My First Hess Truck include: baby-safe packaging; child-safe padded internal battery enclosure; Soft and durable outer fabric; Squeeze activated lights and sounds; 2 Sing-along songs (“Wheels on the Truck” and “If You’re Happy and You Know It”); Eleven (11) LED lights that work in flashing or steady modes; Night light – steady light mode with 15 minute auto shutoff timer; Mute feature keeps things silent for rest time; Easy-grab ladder; 2020 commemorative year license plate; Personalizeable keepsake detachable gift tag; 3 Energizer® ‘AAA’ batteries included, pre-installed and activated.

The Overall size is 11.75” long x 5.75” wide x 5.5” high.

You can order My First Hess Truck HERE.

It’s public service time here in PopCult.

In case you don’t realize it, Friday is Valentine’s Day. It’s that special day when you show that special person the special way you feel about them.

I’m reminding you so you don’t screw up and forget it this year.

Friday evening, in and around Charleston, there are a wealth of things that happy couples can take in to celebrate their love. You can listen to live music. You can attend an Improv comedy show, or two. You can witness the love story and subsequent assassination of our 16th president. You can go skating, like you used to in the old days. You can even watch some fine independent wrestling, if that’s what rekindles the flames in your messed-up little hearts.

And if you don’t have a special someone and think the whole holiday is a steaming pile of broken hearts, scroll all the way to the bottom of this post for a music and burlesque show at The Boulevard Tavern.

There are many, many more Valentine’s events than this happening in town, but these are the few that were hand-picked by yours truly because they had complete graphics with dates, times and locations, so I didn’t have to do more than swipe images from Facebook. Even in the week leading up to Valentine’s Day, your PopCulteer has pressing deadlines to deal with.

If you aren’t staying in for a quiet, intimate evening for two, then here are some good ideas to get you out of the house on this special evening…

Tuesday brings a new three-hour episode of Radio Free Charleston The AIR!  You may point your cursor over and tune in at the website, or you could just stay on this page, and  listen to this happy little embedded radio player…

We have yet another new three-hour Radio Free Charleston at 10 AM and 10 PM Tuesday.  This week it’s another show jam-packed with great music from Charleston and the whole world.  Leading off the show we have the first of two tracks featuring The Swivel Rockers. The Radio Free Charleston cameras were on hand just three days ago at Sam’s Uptown Cafe (you may have read about it here), and we recorded what will form the basis for a special video episode of RFC, complete with interviews and live footage.

We’ll tell you about that show as it grows near. In the meantime, The Swivels anchor this episode of RFC, and kick off the second hour of the show. We also have new music by Rel-X and 4OHM MONO, plus classic local tracks from the RFC Archives, deep album cuts from major artists and new music from The Who, The Busters, Mika, Elvis Costello and The Alarm.  Since The Swivel Rockers open the show with a medley of Boone County legend Hasil Adkins tunes, I decided to close the show with the very first local record that I ever played on Radio Free Charleston, way back in 1989–The Haze doing “Big Red Satellite.”

Check out the playlist…

RFCV5006

hour one
The Swivel Rockers “She Said/Chicken Flop”
Maureen and the Mercury 5 “The Keepin’ Kind”
Paul McCartney “Nobody Knows”
Jerry Lee Lewis and Neil Young “Baby You Don’t Have To Go”
The Nanker Phelge “Mr. Creepy”
The Big Bad “Buried My Baby”
Sheldon Vance “Keep On Talking”
Mother Nang “Knee Deep In Wine”
Fletcher’s Grove “Mourning Mountaineer”
Junco Shakers “Sugar Coated”
Rel X “Believe The Lie”
Time And Distance “On My Own”
The Who “Detour”

hour two
The Swivel Rockers “Cinnamon Girl”
Transvision Vamp “I Want Your Love”
Hawthorne Heights “New Winter”
John Radcliff “Useless”
Peter Ivers “Eighteen and Dreaming”
Sparks “No More Mr. Nice Guy”
Scarlett Revolt “Bleed”
The Busters “Bust A Style”
Rasta Rafiki “Calypso Too”
Beggars Clan “Maiden Voyage”
Wolfgang Parker “The Heat”
69 Fingers “Pocket Full Of Change”
The Beat “Dangerous”
Madness “Idiot Child”

hour three
4 OHM MONO “Swandiver”
The Company Stores “So Good”
Stark Raven “Here Comes The Sun”
Elvis Costello & The Imposters “Unwanted Number”
Blue Million “Don’t Leave”
The Shoes “Stay The Same”
The Alarm “Brighter Than The Sun”
Strawfyssh “Netted Fish”
Dexy’s Midnight Runners “Incapable Of Love”
Crazy Jane “Echo Of A Season”
The Beautuful South “Blitzkrieg Bop”
Anthony Hoey “So So”
Mika “Tiny Love”
Hasil Adkins “Big Red Satellite”

Radio Free Charleston can be heard Tuesday at 10 AM and 10 PM, with replays Thursday at 2 PM, Friday at 9 AM and 7 PM, Saturday at 11 AM and Midnight, Sunday at 1 PM and the next Monday at 8 PM, exclusively on The AIR.

The remainder of Tuesday will see hand-picked encore editions of our programming. Our Haversham shows are still being delayed by Brexit coverage plus some much-needed vacations, and your PopCulteer is a little too swamped by other assignments to do a new Swing Shift this week. Luckily, our reruns are way better than anbody else’s brand-new shows.

You can keep up with the schedule right here…

Above you see a digital watercolor painting called “She Said.” Of course, there is a story behind it.

Saturday night your PopCulteer and his wife did something we haven’t done enough of lately…we took the RFC cameras out and shot a great local band. In this case, the band was The Swivel Rockers, a Radio Free Charleston legacy band that I first played on the air in 1989. The band recently reunited, and for the last few weeks we’ve been planning to record them for a special episode of the video show that will combine their performance last Saturday at Sam’s Uptown Cafe with interviews that we will shoot in the next week or two.

It will be one of the rare RFC shows that includes interviews and devotes its entire focus to one band.

As a preview, you get the painting above, which shows a lovely young lady from the audience dancing as the band plays Hasil Adkin’s song, “She Said.” If you’re wondering what that sounded like, tune into Radio Free Charleston tomorrow on The AIR, because we’re going to open the show with the Swivel’s medley of “She Said” and another Hasil tune, “Chicken Flop,” and later in the show you’ll hear their take on Neil Young’s “Cinnamon Girl.”

Today’s art is a quick digital watercolor, done over a frame-grab from the raw footage I shot last Saturday. It was an evening of great music and fun times, and I hope this piece captures that.

You can click the image if you want to see a bigger version.

Meanwhile, over in radio-land, Monday on The AIR, our Monday Marathon runs from 7 AM to 3 PM, and extends the Sunday night marathon of Sydney’s Big Electric Cat.  Sydney Fileen’s weekly two-hour tribute to New Wave Music normally airs Fridays at 3 PM, but today we’re giving your eight extras hours to keep riding that New Wave. At 3 PM, we will present an encore of a recent edition of Prognosis, because show’s host, Herman Linte and all our collegues at Haversham Recording Institute are all still tied up providing stringer coverage to international new agencies covering the Brexit mess. Sydney tells us that we may have a new Big Electric Cat this week. Keep your fingers crossed.

You can listen to The AIR at the website, or on this embedded radio player…

In honor of Robert Conrad, who passed away yesterday at the age of 84, PopCult brings you an episode of the show that made him famous, and made a huge impression on your PopCulteer, The Wild Wild West.

The Wild Wild West was a hybrid show that took all the trappings of James Bond and the Superspy craze, and set them in the Old West Cowboy days. Later, Conrad would star in many movies and also make an impression as Pappy Boyington in the WWII action series, Baa Baa Black Sheep.

As James West, from The Wild Wild West, Conrad was set to be immortalized in action figure form by The Marx Toy Company, but at the last minute, a rights dispute killed the project. Still, Marx used the headsculpt, quite clearly based on Conrad, for their Captain Maddox figure in the Fort Apache Fighters series (seen at right). Later, the body and accessories intended for James West were used for the villainous Sam Cobra.

For his influence on toys and pop culture, we salute Robert Conrad.

This week we go to late April, 2014, for an episode of The RFC MINI SHOW starring Jody Herndon.

Jody Herndon is a very talented singer/songwriter, and he was also one of the driving forces behind Voices of Appalachia and New Appalachian Radio, which, as you may know, mutated over the years into what we now know as The AIR.

We caught up with Jody at a special evening of local music hosted by Little Nomad at The Empty Glass.  Jody left Charleston about a year after this show, but is still making music a little farther North in West Virginia. Other artists who performed that night wound up on later episodes of Radio Free Charleston and The RFC MINI SHOW.

Getting back to Jody, he’s written some striking tunes and we happily brought two of them to you in this RFC MINI SHOW. Lifting a bit from his bio page, “Jody started writing songs when he was fourteen years old and quickly learned that he had a passion for words. When he went to college he encountered a song writer that changed him forever: Mike Morningstar. Mike’s honesty and eloquence about the beauty of West Virginia, and even more so, the beauty of West Virginians has kept Jody in these mountains singing about life from a Mountaineer’s perspective.”