Flying Steak!

This is a mid-90s reissue of a toy from the sixties, but I still think it's worth checking out, especially since both the original and reissue are pretty obscure. I only have the "Flying Steak" piece of the "Flying Things" line, but this is the only one I've seen out in the wild. Originals by Tops, reissue by Playing Mantis. Pretty rad stuff!

Best use of plastic in 20 years!

Thanks to Chris N for hooking me up with this amazing game from Japan (I mean where else right?)...pics of the ooze in action soon!

People I'd Like to Meet

Back to School pencil bag!

Funny glasses? I thought these were cool glasses?

Fun Novelties pt. II

If you thought the nose on the graphic of the fang-man was white because of a rip or something, well it's the same on the other side.....

Happy Halloween a day late!

gonna try and list all my Halloween Costumes through the years...
My first Halloween, I was a clown, but thankfully with very minimal make-up...just some red on the cheeks...vinyl "clown" costume shirt.
I might be missing a few here, but next I was a ghost (inspired by, but not actually Casper). My mom made if for me, and I wanted a hood so I could have occasional relief. Dangerously close to a Klansman. But still passably a ghost.
Next up was a home-made E.T. costume. Thanks mom! I may have used it two years in a row.
In first grade I was Admiral Ackbar. Store-bought Ben Cooper plastic mask/vinyl shirt variety. We paraded around for the 2nd graders and one really liked the costume, and I felt pretty cool.
2nd or 3rd grade I was a heavy-metal rock star with a Judas Priest "Screaming for Vengeance" shit, a poster-board electric guitar, headband, and plastic green chains that I thought were really cool.
4th grade I was a depressed little shit and didn't have a costume.
5th grade was the first of two years where I was "victim" to my friend's Jason.
Years pass with no costumes.
Freshman year of college I was Thurston from the "Bull in the Heather" vid with my friend as Kathleen Hannah...that's kind of funny...we didn't go out partying or anything, just made a stupid video.
Sophomore year of college I was Glenn in a Misfits cover band...that was when I really started killing my voice.
Junior year I think I was "you." Which was just me wearing a robe with a mirror where my face should be. It was barely attached and broke upon entry to the party I was going to...lame.
Then I think I was in a bear with a skull mask on. It was very hot at the dance party and after I left I opened the furry suit and billows of steam poured out. It was awesome.
Next I was (sort of) Darby Crash in a germs cover band. I just acted like Darby, didn't dress like him or anything. Tried to get blood by smashing the mic into my forehead but just ended up with waffle marks on my face for a week.
Then I was Bun E. Carlos from Cheap Trick with Jon as Rick Nielson. I kept the outfit on (including real moustache, but not cigarette) for about a month.
The following year we had a party and I tried to wear a different costume for each hour...most of the costumes were just me in a semi nude state with some junk attatched to me...but early I was a techno fan with a god awful track suit on.
hmmmmm, memory fading.....hmmmmmm
I wore this velour ladies jogging suit and a Laser Tag gun and became "Nigel Vanguard," a Luke Skywalker rip off from a nonexistent Star Wars rip off movie...probably Italian.
I wore a early 70s vintage "the phantom" costume a couple of years ago...that was nice.
Being an "Alf Cluster" while having to DJ the following year was a poor decision. I had all my Alf stuffed animals and masks and puppets taped to me, and the big one was on my back and really dragged me downnnnnn. And nobody seemed to care that I had lots of Alfs all over my bod.
For a "Halloween in July Party" a couple of years ago I was a ghostbuster. Put it together from all the GB related stuff I have laying around, toy proton pack, t-shirt, "shoelace snaps," etc.
I ripped open some kind of snowman wall hanging made of a really itchy fabric and tore a hole for my face and became a snowman! I almost brought back the "xmas related outfit for halloween" this year, but didn't follow through.
Then, last year I was Garth Vader...combo of Darth Vader and Garth from Wayne's world. It didn't really work that well cuz I don't look like Garth even with blonde wig and black rim glasses...more like a Hanson brother.
For another "halloween in july" party this year I was the song "Under Pressure," which was kind of a cheat costume. I have this pair of weightlifter type pants that say "under pressure" right at belt level, so I wore that with a shirt that said "Queen plus David Bowie equals..." Like i said, a cheat.
This year I was first an Ewok, with Ben Cooper plastic mask that has been on my wall for years, and a home made shirt trying to replicate the old "put a pic of the character with name on the costume" bit. It was alright. Thank you puffy paint.
Then last night, I was Darkwing Duck, which is a character I never liked, but somehow made the costume that much more exciting....
I know I'm forgetting some, but halloween has never been too much about dressing up for me...more about the spookiness of watching a god horror movie alone and listening to Samhain and such...
Anyhow, hope you had a good one!

Fun Novelties!

Got these for a buck a piece at the Brimfield antique fare earlier this year...not a bad deal!

Got this for a buck...

Pretty good right?

more lp covers

Here's the other Zuma I mentioned earlier.

And this is a handmade replacement cover for a South American children's record: "Jugemos A La Rueda Con Las Ardillitas." Pretty sweet eh?

Reflections on My Bloody Valentine 1981

So, I'm really not the biggest fan of slashers. I have a hate/love/hate relationship with the Friday the 13th series and the titles I stand behind are more anomalous to the genre rather than definitive...Sleepaway Camp anyone? I suppose it should also be said that even staunch supporters of the slasher genre are thrust into the conundrum of dealing with overzealous murder-trimming. A lot of these films were either produced by or distributed by major studios at a time when media/public pressure to censor horror-violence was obnoxiously pervasive. This led to these Majors (and lots of Independents)to basically hack out all of the gore and mayhem from the films in order to avoid "the dreaded X rating" from the MPAA. BTW, how many times have I read the phrase "the dreaded x rating" in books about horror movies, 50,000? With the porn-stigma of that X rating, newspapers refusing advertising and theaters refusing to book them, it's understandable from a business that the studios would cut the pictures to get an R rating. What doesn't make sense to anyone who knows about this stuff, is why these films went to video in their pruned states, especially when for slasher flicks, pretty much their whole reason for being is in the murder scenes...this ain't no Cronebergian mindfuck shit, this is all exploitive kills. This is even more frustrating for horror fans seeing photos of these special effects in Fangoria. I mean, after all, this was the age of special gore effect as celebrity, with Tom Savini given near auteur status along with directors Croneber,Romero and Carpenter.
So, now we come to My Bloody Valentine, a Canadian slasher flick directly riding the wave of the Friday the 13th success. MBV replaces the teen related settings of most slashers for a quaint mining town with a bunch of young miners as the "prey," which is a really odd choice that turned me off in the past. I suppose that all those kids who grew up in mining towns and had a life down in the shaft ahead of them might have really identified with this situation, but me? Not so much. Does it need to be said that Summer Camps and Sorority Houses are natural settings for horror movies because they are hubs of awkward desires and changes in young people? So..... how about a small mining town? Youthful partying miners and their girlfriends?
I first encountered MBV as a 6th grader in the late 80s, when WLVI would often show neutered horror movies on weekend afternoons. My friend Greg was intent on showing me the "laundrymatte scene" he had described to me earlier that week. I was at this time still pretty squeamish and thus only half watched as Greg turned the TV on, just in time for an older lady to meet her tumbling demise. Beyond the fact that I didn't want to see any older lady gore right then, there was something about the movie that struck me as very unnatractive. Unsurprisingly, this mining town looks and feels pretty gloomy and the actors populating it are not so glitzy. This just did not jibe with my youthful, late 80s sensibilities. What I wanted from horror at this time could pretty much be summed up as "Nightmare on Elm st 1-5," which in some ways is as glitzy as good horror ever got. Also, a killer miner seemed rather non-scary to me. So I never went back and rented the movie, though I think I may have caught some of it on a subsequent WLVI showing. As the years went on and I dove head on into the horror world, I read about how MBV was cut to ribbons by the notoriously overzealous selfcensorers Paramount. So, why would I bother if there was no gore? I still didn't want to see a killer miner.
The coming of the DVD changed things of course, with all those fanboy desired horror flicks getting the royal treatment, and quite a few that weren't asked for. Paramount, in keeping with their whackness never picked up the ball when it came to redeeming their past indiscretions in the snippy-snip department. It took many years for them to do right by any of their horror properties including the most recognizable and profitable, the Friday the 13th series. The first DVD releases of these titles were barebones and unremarkable, until a box set with better presentation and a bunch of extras finally arrived in 2004. Was this the first time Paramount ever graced a horror DVD with any extras at all?
It took a modern remake of MBV for Paramount to justify a special edition DVD release, and I'm willing to tolerate hearing about these remakes if this is the result. Though I could have cared less about it in the past, the appeal of seeing those thought lost cut murder scenes was too much for me to squash. Was it different this time around? Most certainly.
You get the option of watching the movie with all the deleted stuff put back in, which seems like a given except for the fact that the cut scenes are of much poorer image quality. I suppose some people wouldn't like that so much...but for me...I think I've found my new fetishistic film joy. It feels so good to watch a beautiful remastered print of an ugly movie and have it revert back to grainy, scratchy faded film stock for all the shock-kill-shots. And there are so many of them! You really get to see how sad it is that a film like this had no chance at all, since every little bit of grue is gone...without it, it's pointless, and with it, it's quite enjoyable. There's a lot of murder in this movie! And the added ugliness gives it a chilly discomforting feeling that I enjoyed quite a bit.
I'm sorry reader, if you cared about any of the actual things that happen in the movie. This film falls into the traps of most slashers i.e. it basically sucks as a movie. The characters are nonexistent; some of the victims will actually make you say "wait, have I seen that person before?" It's the same old stalk and slash, and the plot is by rote. Do you care about mining? Do you care about Valentine's Day parties?
But, besides that: Highly Recommended! Thick Canadian accents a major plus!

Hand decorated record covers pt. 1

This is my most recent personally modified/designed album cover aquisition. I love it a lot. It's actually the second hand colored Zuma I've found. The original stark magic marker artwork just lends itself to such colorfication. I also don't want to fail to mention how great the album art is on it's own. I mean, just look at it! Middle finger givin cactai! Anyhow, here you go, sorry about the awful scan; I'm not much of a digital perfectionist.

Proof of your lies

From 1985 is this early example of Karaoke technology in the west. I got this baby sealed from a local flea market....SCORE! Cut off by my poor scan on the bottom of the box is the wonderful selling point: "No special tapes required."
You will really impress this gal with the proof that you are have recorded with all her favorite stars. If she doesn't believe you, just play her the tapes. The red/orange foam helps for authenticity.

Sticker Fun!

Got these for dirt cheap from a nice lady at the Holyoke Flea Market. Got some cool doo-dads and toy from her as well. The thing I love most about the Tweety and Sylvester one is the amazing font choices for the "name" stickers. They are copywrited 1982 by WB, but as 1988 on the back by the Henry Gordy sticker company.

If you don't know, Turbo is a 3/4 perspective car racing arcade game from Sega. It's not that great, in fact, I like these stickers way more than the game. Sleek! Chrashin'! Icy! Hit it!

The TMNT stickers aren't anything special, but I do love this more Eastman/Laird style of merchandising. Not cuted up at all! and plus, they stick on anything.

Bootleg E.T. Toy.

Scored this one at the thrift store a couple of weeks ago. Tagged for sale at the now defunct Johnson's, which my local friend Jessica tells me is an old W.Mass Drug store chain. I really, really love the little graphic of E.T. commanding his Dr. Wiley-esque U.F.O.

Cereal Reality

So, here's a longshot. One of my best friends gave me a sealed box of Batman 89 cereal with the bank shrinkwrapped to it. I have eaten 10 year old cereal before (Addamns Family) and that was okay, but what about 20 year old stuff? Anybody else done it? Should I wait for doomsday or should I brave it? Since it's shrinkwrapped, that means it is double sealed...what do you think?

i make stuff

GodDammit!!!!

I didn't even realize it, but one of my fave DVD companies, BCI, went under a while back!
AGGG! No more Paul Naschy reissues! No more Crown International garbage!
WTF!
At least Code Red is still plugging along.

Andy Milligan

I pursued some interest in the much maligned filmmaker Andy Milligan years and years ago, after watching a VHS of Torture Dungeon. I really didn't know what I was in for, didn't know anything about the guy or his movies. It was the late 90s and I was starting to move away from the horror cannon and into more dangerous, exploitive, grimy stuff. The supertrashy cover art for TD grabbed me and I bought it off the toss-off rack of a local rental place. It was startlingly insane. Check it:

It was like an accidental John Waters, with a less humorous edge...it was kinda hateful stuff. In fact after viewing this, I sought more of his movies, and only found The Man with Two Heads, which at the time I thought was just too hateful and mean. After that I kinda dropped the ball on finding more Milligan movies. I think I'd like TMWTH now, and I"m cursing myself for not making a dub...for me in those days, finding movies was not about waiting for them to be released on DVD or ordering grey market tapes (too broke). Instead it was about driving to each and every Mom and Pop rental place I could find, being psyched if they had just one tape that I couldn't find elsewhere...or that I didn't know existed. Bygone days.
After not being into TMWTH and not even being able to get through any of The Rats are Coming! The Werewolves are Here! I kind of dropped the ball on Andy Milligan. Later I found out he was Staten Island based, and made all the wardrobes for his films. I also heard that a book came out about him, my reaction to which was "wow, there's a book about every fucking person now." Little did I know....
A couple of weeks ago I got a copy of The Ghastly Ones on DVD for pretty cheap...while watching it all agog one rainy afternoon, I knew that I was gonna be a die hard AM fan. God, why'd it take me so long? Torture Dungeon might be even better than The Ghastly Ones, but I think I was just not prepared for it as a spritely 19 year dude.

So I hopped on the old internet and searched with vigor! "Andy Milligan book." And up it came on Amazon for 99 cents; The Ghastly One: The Sex-Gore Netherworld of Andy Milligan...Done! A few more AM dvds? DOne! I get the book, before I start reading I am kind of confused by the pullquotes on the back cover. Time gives a glowing review? Paper says it's "one of the best books ever about the life of a filmmaker..." How did I miss that this was an important book? It sure doesn't seem like that crappy Al Adamson book I have. I start reading and I can't believe it...the guy was certifiably insane and an asshole! But the most exciting nutcase I've read about in ferrrever! This book is the complete antithesis of the Paul Naschy Autobiography I just wrote about; it's obsessive, engaging like a disease and the stories are beyond belief. I don't wanna spoil anything, but experimental theater, extreme hardcore gay S&M, suicide, murder, and cruelty all play a big part in the story.
I was also shocked when I realized after 100 pages that Jimmy McDonough, the author, is also the dude who wrote Shakey, the Neil Young Bio. Shakey really shook me when I read it a number of years ago, and it's great that this guy has gone from writing about one of the most respected artists of the past half century to a guy that NO ONE seems to like. I like him though, no matter how nasty he was. I like him a lot.
I'm not even finished and I don't want the book to end, but I felt like I had to get it out to you, the dear reader, that this one is a must-read....right up there with the Klaus Kinski Autobio.
And check out this guys films!

New Entry into the blog....

Yeah, yeah, life has been crazy...
Haven't been on here for a while...
Started a new band...
Me and the Mrs. broke up....
Lots of DJ gigs...
Blah, blah, blah...
So here's a new entry.
Just finished reading Memoirs of a Werewolf, the Autobiography of Paul Naschy aka Jocinta Molina. PN is a big deal in the Eurocult cinema world, but I'm kind of a newcomer to him. I had only scene him in "House of Psychotic Women" and was really underwhelmed by the experience (though I would return to it in the form of it's uncut release Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll and fucking love it). I also attribute my lack of drive to see his films to the gothic element that seemed to run through most of his most available movies. I have never been a big fan of the gothic wing of my favorite genre...never even given any Hammer films much of a chance.
I first got excited about Mr. Naschy when Mondo Macabro released his 1982 film Panic Beats on DVD. I jump on anything that Mondo Macabro puts out and I was not dissapointed with this supergory, Spanish horror film. I didn't rush out and try and find bootlegs of his other works, as Panic Beats is pretty good, but not the best showcase for the man. He's frankly past his prime here.
But last year BCI's awesome series of DVD releases of Naschy films tempted my wallet and I indulged and I am very glad I did. Right from the newly produced introductions from the man himself, I was charmed. I really liked this guy. Don't know how else to put it, except that he seemed like a good guy. The kind of guy I wouldn't mind tell anecdotes for hours on end.
And that's basically what I got in Memoirs of a Werewolf, which reads like a translated tape of Naschy spouting off anecdotes and whatever else comes to his mind. No ghostwriter or overbearing editor to shape this into a compelling read for anyone but PN enthusiasts. Luckily being already charmed by the dude, I was able to enjoy the short paperback, as long as I imagined him entertaining me in his study, with roaring fireplace. Pyched I got it used at Raven, I have to say.

Frontiers still exist

With all the euro-disco videos I've watched, I hadn't seen this special treat. It's so dope cuz it features a lot of original (i think) animation with a really rad space fantasy theme. I kinda make it my business to see as much old fantasy related animation as possible, so it's really fucking awesome when you come upon something you hadn't even heard of. Although, the cartoon version of the two dudes is not that great, but luckily the song is great, and I'm pretty into the real life version of La Bionda.

Anybody got the rekkid?

WLVI till the day I die!

I love the high drama of the sci-fi dental PSA.

Ralston/Purina Cereals Part IV

Okay, now for Batman Cereal. Batman cereal is right up there with Ghostbusters and TMNT (review forthcoming) as an all time favorite in cerealdom. Oddly, it was nothing too special; no marshmallows, no variety of flavors, no double bagging, but instead was simple perfection. Little corn Batman logos with a Cap'n Crunch flavor, but not as intense, and without the mouth shredder texture of said Cap'n. The only way I can really convey the tastiness of this breakfast treat is that it is some kind of zenith in the science of cereal creation. Only food scientists could come up with something this good. You may recall that Donkey Kong cereal had a similar vibe, but there's just somethin' about this one. And it came with a giant Batman "piggy" bank shrinkwrapped to it.



There was also a Gremlin's Cereal made by R/S that I unfortunately never got to try, but it looks very much the same as Batman.


Was that Beans Baxter with the mogwai ears on?

Anybody got a time machine, a lot of money, 4-6 weeks?

R.I.P. Marilyn Chambers 1952-2009

One of the top 5 porn actresses ever.
One of the top reasons I got into classic era porn in the first place.
Star of Rabid, one of Cronenberg's early classics.
She was the girl on the cover of the Ivory Soap box.
Star of a lot of silly softcore t&a stuff, that was pretty bad, but I watched anyhow.
Marilyn, I hope you are cool with the fact that I jerked off to you so much through the years.
I imagine you on an Ivory Snow Cloud in heaven, happy, in some endless insatiable orgy where you are queen.
Or maybe you're just chillin up there.
I hope yer at peace, sex goddess...

new tape release

I just drank a lot of coffee and I'm trapped at work, which means I'm bummed that I can't be working on music or something right now...so as an antidote to frustration I will post about the new collaboration tape between me (Anthro Rex) and my pal Scott (Id M theft able). It is now available from www.breakingworldrecords.com and the cover is a silkscreened drawing that me and Geo did. I'm really psyched about this cuz I'm proud of the tape itself, but also just happy to have a tape with Id M, cuz he is one of my favorite performers EVER!
Check the style:






This is what I do when not watching exploitation movies, DJing, cleaning the hummus factory or hanging out with Madeline.

Ralston/Purina Cereals Pt. III

Around 88-89 is where R/P really came into their own if you ask me. In addition to the fine bowl-fillers that I'm about to tell you about, Ghostbusters (my favorite of all mid-80s cereals) was still going strong. What a fine time to indulge in preservatives,sugar and corn.


Nintendo Cereal System fucking ruled for the most part. Employing the dual-bag set up from Nerds, we get both a fruity Super Mario and berryish Zelda cereal. I remember that meant a little less net weight, but I didn't fucking care; this was intellectual property synergy at it's finest. I recall watching that shitty saturday morning show, Captain N: the Game Master and eating me some Mario cereal and feeling like I was really being taken care of. The lame part of the cereal was that the box advertised tips and secrets on beating NES games. Seeing that Nintendo Power was only a monthly jolt, these little tid bits were quite exciting to me, but they were all the outdated well known stuff. Aww well...the cereal was pretty good. The commercial had maybe the catchiest jingle for a cereal ever...



Uh oh, I think I have to say that this is THE catchiest jingle for sugar-meal ever:

I don't a week goes by without me singing this song in my head. This cereal, the NCS and Dinersaurs all had the same kind of taste if I remember right...a kind of Trix-ish meets BerryBerry Kix thing. This is fine, but it isn't the awesome eating experience that I rememer most about these brands.
The only thing I can think of to say about Dinersaurs was that it had pretty oddball concept (Dinosaurs running diner) and that it figured prominently in a kindergarden schoolplay my sister was in. For whatever reason, the kids eating Dinersaurs were sent back in time and turned into dinosaurs...I'm surprised the teachers approved of it, but it was cute nonetheless.

Ralston/Purina Cereals Pt. II

Even though I was one of those boys who thought Cabbage Patch Kids were strictly girl shit, I kinda liked their cereal namesake. This 1985 cereal was one of those mom-friendly deals with low sugar,kinda like Kix or Crispy Critters, but with bigger pieces, giving it a more Honey Comb like texture. Definitely not a cereal I'd pick on my own, but I wouldn't complain if it was picked for me. With cereals like this, you gotta make sure you eat it while crunchy, cuz hi-sugar sog-muck is way tastier than it's healthier counterpart.

I never got to try Nerds Cereal(I think), which I'm okay with, since the idea of orange flavored cereal never sat well with me. But it's important for it's introduction of the idea of a dual-bagged box with two distinct flavors. Maybe the orange would be more enticing to me if mixed with it's cherry-flavored neighbor. This design would be employed in three short years with the NCS (details to follow). Also, mail in bowl with the "nerds gate" is pretty rad...check the vid.

Dunkin Donuts cereal came in two flavors, "glazed" and "chocolate." I only had the glazed kind, and it was a rather unique taste experience. The glaze was an intense frosting (by that I mean "more intense than usual for sugar cereal") that had a kind of strawberryish flavor. Because it was soooo frosty I liked it, but I always knew it was a little "off." It has been 20 years though, and this cereal memory isn't that strong. Ralston had Dinky Donuts cereal in the early 80s and I can imagine that it was basically the same, but we may never know.

Morning Funnies cereal had the cool concept of a gatefold flap on the box covered in comic strips. Now you'd have something more to look at over the course of a week of breakfasts, besides a crappy maze with Barney trying to get his pebbles or whatever. Unfortunately the comics were mostly of the pre-80s variety, which I hated at the time (now I have books of the stuff) and the cereal tasted mediciny. It was just like the Cabbage Patch Kids faces, but overly sweetened in a way remeniscent of cough medicines trying to taste good. I only dug this stuff in a masochistic way.
(commericial is at the 4:40 mark)

Cruisebound

Hey,
I mean, what can I say, I haven't been writing. Duh. It's bad. Maybe right now I'll try and do part II on Ralston/Purina. In 24 hours I'm leaving with my rents and sis on a cruise to Mexico, tourist fat-ugly-American style. I'm really psyched, packing all my ridiculous tropical wear and putting together a sick sailing mix tape. I'm gonna post it up later so you can see first hand how bad my music taste can get when I don't have to please anybody (my coworker, my girlfriend, my "audience" as a dj)....but since it's a tape and I have a lot of shit to do tonight, I'm not gonna digitize it till I get back. Even though I've been trying to live the Yacht-rock lifestyle for a bunch of summers, this is the first time I'm actually going to wear the water is clear and the beaches are jammin. I plan to do kareoke every night, hopefully doing "Escape (the pina colada song)" at least once. Long live Rupert Holmes, fuck Jimmy Buffet.
See ya soon!
xo
Dan

Ralston/Purina Cereals

I have a special place in my flavor-heart for the various Ralston/Purina brand cereals from throughout the 80s. It also didn't hurt that almost all of their cereal line were tie-ins with intellectual properties that I was quite fond of as a kid. But they had an extra-mealy, corny flavor, that I really dug. And most importantly, the marshmallows softened up really fast, actually becoming 'mallowlike. The hardness of the marshmallows in more famous cereals can really detract from the experience, often giving the impression of sweetened styrofoam in yer mouth. R/P also has the gen-x nostalgia cred (oh wait, they don't have cred anymore) of producing Freakies. If you didn't know, Freakies (along with Quisp and Boo Berry) are the beginnings of cult interest in cereals. You can see the connection with Freakies being the tree dwelling hippies, Boo Berry being a stoned ghost who talks like Peter Lorre, and Quisp being a space alien with some whacked-out-drug-use-related-if-you-use-drugs-also-behavior.
Of course, I was born in 78, so I missed the Freakies as it ceased production in 76. A short lived remake never made it to my consciousness until seeing it on Topher's Cereal Guide. This is a great internet resource and helped me jog my memory or blow my mind on numerous occasions: http://www.lavasurfer.com/cereal-guide.html.
Here's a commercial for Freakies:

R/P is also the producers of Cookie Crisp, which I've never been that into taste-wise, though I do appreciates it's place in our culture. I also find it funny that CC mascot went from wizard (Cookie Jarvis) to Cookie Crook.
The first R/P cereal I remember really digging was Ghostbusters Cereal, which featured those smooshy marshmallows in ghost form. I think it's interesting that the song incorporates the suggestion for completing the "nutritional breakfast" instead of just giving the standard "part of this complete breakfast" line.

Donkey Kong cereal came a little earlier, and I enjoyed it, but more for my videogame obsession. If I remember right, it was a slightly less mouth-shredding version of Cap'n Crunch.

Donkey Kong Jr. had more of the feel of eating a cereal version of Fruit Runts, which was pretty cool.

Part II soon

Let's Groove Tonight

It's such a great feeling when the pieces start falling into place and knowledge warms you, even if it can take away some of the mystery. Let me tell you about it. In the past couple of years I've become interested and mesmerized by the early computer graphics used in commercial visuals from the 70s into the 80s. I'm particularly fond of this era in the combinations of opticals, models and cg, and the warmth that tends to eminate from this technique. It's no secret that I am a child of this era, and a child who was warmed and nurtured by this neon arcade asthetic, and it still gets me today. It's not just nostalgia, because a couple of my recent favorites are music videos from the era that I don't recall seeing as a kid, but whose artistry zings me. These would be "Let's Groove" by Earth Wind and Fire and various Yellow Magic Orchestra vids. The pieces fall into place as I find out this evening that the cg effects for those promos as well of lots of other faves were created by Ron Hays.
And on fucking youtube I find a demo reel of his stuff.
It's amazing.

Crystalsculpture3 has uploaded a ton of amazing early cg vids on his youtube account, including part II of this Ron Hayes demo. I implore you to check it out.
http://www.youtube.com/users/crystalsculpture3

"Stevie, You Rodent!"

I never had a computer growing up. I fantasized heavily about having one from the time that I saw the segment on Sesame Street with the school kids and the Commodore Pet (I think), along with lots of stuff like this:

So I'm about 5 or 6 in 83/84 and now there is a character on practically every single cartoon or television show that is using a computer. By this time I'm already starting to feel like an outsider, so i consider being the token computer nerd as a way of fitting in. It seemed like an empowering path, with the smart kids solving all the crimes in cartoons and such. By this time I'm much more obsessed by video games in arcades and on the Atari 2600, and the ability of computers to play games is not lost on me. I start to gain limited access to the Commodore 64 in my friend Tina's house by 85. It's in her father's den and he was a pipe smoker, so now every time I smell pipe tobacco I think of her often unsuccessful attempts to boot up "Pogo Joe." "Pogo Joe" is a pretty good expansion on the Q-bert "tile touching hop" kind of game play and is worth checking out via emulation. I'm both fascinated and intimidated by the difficulty of interacting with the machine. Around this time, we are subjected to some Apple II's at grade school, primarily for using LOGO. You may recall LOGO as the tedious design program where a user gives commands to a small triangle/turtle, which leaves a white line trail. Using computers in this way solidified the idea that I did not want to use computers unless it was for playing video games. But my contact with computers (outside of "Oregon Trail") stopped for a bunch of years, not by choice, just cuz I didn't know any home computer enthusiasts.
The games only attitude towards computers lasted a number of years, until seeing this commercial in 89:

This little commercial was the impetus for me heavily fantasizing about having a computer to work on my great creative endeavors and meet some girls. Of course I had no great creative endeavors to work on, but I was convinced that once I had a video camera and a computer, those impulses would flow endlessly. By the time I enter High School, I'm using MacPaint in the Library, doing lots of cartooning, and nonsense flyers. I had also played Maniac Mansion and been on Prodigy at my friend's Dad's apartment. Because of my exposure to these programs, along with the games reviewed in "Video Games and Computer Entertainment," my desire for a computer ramped up. VG&CE was the best videogame magazine of the late 80s-early 90s era, and it definitely does not get the props it deserves. And I can't find any back issues anywhere! AGG. Anyhow, I did get a video camera when I was 15. That was awesome. My family didn't get a Home Computer until 97 or 98. I never got to play any of those LucasArts games from the classic era. Maybe I'll get to "Loom" someday.

WLVI PSA's Part II

More Ritts Puppets


Snuffy, the talking fire engine


Someone please post the full version of Chow Daddy!!!! I don't have a copy! AGG!


More Ritts. Anyone have the "Don't forget to count your change!" one?

PSA's from WLVI in the 80s pt. 1

I watch these with regularity on tape, or on youtube, but I figure I'll post them all here in one place so y'alls can immerse yourself. This may bring you back or help you understand why I am the way I is.
Robolar:


Farmer Brown (this version aired in Chicago, boston got the version with the goose that isn't on youtube)


The Ritts Puppets

wow

Okay, this is something I thought I'd never see; five minutes of behind the scenes footage from the Star Wars anti-smoking psa from 1981...well, I guess I should put that up as well, in case for some weird reason it isn't burned into your brain.


And here's the silent behind the scenes footage. The poster is the grandkid of the producer of the PSA's, who appears in the orange vest.





I never saw this as a kid, but it's a favorite of mine now, in this youtubey world we live.

NuMetal at work

If I get to my job and there are still people here, they often have the fucking NuMetal station on the Syrius radio thing. Being subjected to this shit for more than a few minutes really fucks with my brain and makes me hate life. That's not that surprising, what is however is the scenarios that my mind conjures during the fucking ballads. Yes, numetal ballads make me think of US soldiers in Iraq seeing their recently birthed children for the first time, and their happy reuniting with their lovers and children. It gives me a queasy and bad feeling. Then when it goes right back to "hard and heavy" on the next song, I imagine those same soldiers (always men) blowing up shit in Iraq while listening to this crap. It just hurts me to think that this horrible music has been everywhere for a decade and for many, probably is the soundtrack to their war and family. When will it stop?

And you thought Billy Dee was dope?

This is right on so many levels.

Rogue Male- First Visit

This is a by-the-numbers Motorhead rip-off from 85. The only real stand outs on the album are it's opener "Crazy Motorcycle" which sounds just like "Ace of Spades" but is called "Crazy Motorcycle" and that makes it awesome. The next song is the killer: "All Over You." This ridiculous heavy jam features the lyrics: "you make me feel like I don't know what to do/I'm gonna shoot my load all over....you." And that's the chorus; need I say more?
But most importantly I bring you this entry to feature it's LP cover, which is one of the best ever. Ever. Illustration by Peter Guoynas.
Released on Elektra.

Sorry my scan is cropped. I wasn't ready to do it in two parts and put them together.

Oh my lord, I miss the Fu Shnickens

I cannot believe I didn't watch Arsenio every night as a kid. I think I just didn't know this kind of shit went down.
I wish this was better quality so I could really peep that fucking shirt/sweater that C.L. is wearing.
Lordy, Lordy, Lordy.

Best Perfs of 08

I've been working hard on making stuff for the art show I have at HBML on the 9th. My first ever solo art show. I'm working hard and not even procrastinating. Last night was NYE and we DJ'd and it was fun and I never make resolutions and I feel shitty that the crappy beer is so expensive at the bar. But I had a grand ol' time. Every year www.ecstaticpeace.com invites whoever to send in their Best of Performances and they get listed. I wasn't gonna do one this year (I don't think I did last year) but I read what was up there already and remembered so many fine times, and one in particular that I had to shout about, and thusly I will list for them and for you...
1.Harvey Milk at O'Brien's. I suckily missed the first 15 minutes, but they could have played all night and I would have been in heaven.
2.Steamrollers, second set at Casual Academy...I felt like I was watching the E Street Band in 73, but instead of Ashbury, they were repping the North Shore Rt. 1
3.Corsano/Flaherty/McPhee at the Montague Book Mill. Truly ecstatic, dangerous peace.
4.Black Pus at Media Play. The neighbors got pretty mad.
5.Go To the Chateau dress rehearsal. This was a play in and around a car, I didn't get to see the real thing even though the director is my wife.
6.Nonhorse, Manuel/Mick Quantius/guy from Maniac's Dream/Grey Skull at Helbaard.
7.Cassis Cornuta at Scheldapen
8.Western Mass INC
9.Noise Nomads,Bunny Brains @Stone for Adam N.
10.Jake Meginsky @ Hampshire

okay. mo' writing later I hopes.