Peter Sellers as Mandrake:
"Now look, Colonel... Bat Guano, if that really is your name, may I tell you that I have a very, very good idea, I think, I hope, I pray, what the recall code is. It's some sort of recurrent theme he kept repeating. It's a variation on Peace On Earth or Purity Of Essence. E. O. P.
O. P. E.
It's one of those!"
To anyone familiar with Stanley Kubrick's classic "Dr. Strangelove, Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb", the solution to the cryptic recall code to send to the squadron of 34 B-52's to stop them from dropping their payload (some fourteen hundred megatons worth) on Russia, is a variation on the initials P. O. E., which only General Jack D. Ripper, played by the excellent Sterling Hayden, has.
General Ripper is a completely paranoidal, psycho-sexual, psychotic lunatic, and the nutty, obsessed General who has found a scapegoat for his own sexual inadequacies in the Russkies, Commies are unaffected by the plot to pollute the water of the world because they drink vodka:
Ripper: Mandrake?
Mandrake: Yes, Jack?
Ripper: Have you ever seen a Commie drink a glass of water?
Mandrake: Well, I can't say I have.Ripper: Vodka, that's what they drink, isn't it? Never water?
Mandrake: Well, I-I believe that's what they drink, Jack, yes.
Ripper: On no account will a Commie ever drink water, and not without good reason.
Mandrake: Oh, eh, yes. I, uhm, can't quite see what you're getting at, Jack.
Ripper: Water, that's what I'm getting at, water. Mandrake, water is the source of all life. Seven-tenths of this earth's surface is water. Why, do you realize that seventy percent of you is water?
Mandrake: Uh, uh, Good Lord!
Ripper: And as human beings, you and I need fresh, pure water to replenish our precious bodily fluids.
Mandrake: Yes. (he begins to chuckle nervously)
Ripper: Are you beginning to understand?
Mandrake: Yes. (more laughter)
Ripper: Mandrake. Mandrake, have you never wondered why I drink only distilled water, or rain water, and only pure-grain alcohol?
Mandrake: Well, it did occur to me, Jack, yes.
Ripper: Have you ever heard of a thing called fluoridation. Fluoridation of water?
Mandrake: Uh? Yes, I-I have heard of that, Jack, yes. Yes.
Ripper: Well, do you know what it is?
Mandrake: No, no I don't know what it is, no.
Ripper: Do you realize that fluoridation is the most monstrously conceived and dangerous Communist plot we have ever had to face?
Whether fluoridation is a sinister plot or just another, ahem, "cost effective" way to dispose of deadly toxic materials, well the jury's still out, and the reason I started this entry with the Dr. Strangelove stuff- "strange love stuff", sounds posi+ively pornographic -was because of the reference to Poe, as in Edgar Allen, not fluoridation.
I had the opportunity in 1992 to go day tripping and journey down South to Baltimore's "Inner Harbor" to see what prospects (if any) were for me to obtain a General Vendor permit to become an "Araber" an itinerant street vendor of produce, or goods, typically using a decorated wagon drawn by a pony. The term derives from the 19th-century term "street arab" and has no connection with Arabs. The remaining arabbers in Baltimore are all African-American.
Except of course for me, that's if I could get the license.
Now you may ask, why and what the Hell am I doing in Baltimore, Maryland, trying to get a license, why not N.Y.C., Newark, etc.?
Well N.Y.C. at the time had a moratorium with no new licenses issued until further notice, and I did already have ones for Hartford, Connecticut, Newark, NJ, and Philadelphia, PA.
I would take advantage of travelling to places most people would only go on perhaps a vacation while I would routinely go weekly or bi-weekly and make some money to pay for the trips as well as briefly enjoying the local sights and scenes, cuisine and ambience- on a budget.
X-Mas 1992 was fast approaching and the window for sales as every merchandiser knows is only from November to December, as musc as 50% of the years sales are crammed into the Holiday Season, and in many small businesses it's do or die, feast or famile, depending on the outcome.
So looking for new ground selling women's accessories, mainly costume jewelry, it was imperative for me as all the styles were finite and my regular clientele in Newark and Philadelphia already had most of them.
Every day all over the world working women wear earrings when going to their jobs as part of their outfit, and during the all too brief holiday season these same ladies purchase extra pairs to replace the inevitabe lost or damaged ones, not just for themselves, but as gifts for their daughters, mothers, aunts, grandmothers, lovers (if lesbian), etc.
Men also buy these as well since these are affordable "stoffing stuckers" at only $5.00 a pair.
(as transvestites and transsexuals love 'em too as nippple and cock rings)
Why only $5.00 a pair?
Because experience has shown that most costumers- customers who wear costumes -will pay that amount as it is perceived to be the fair market value of this item, and falls within the consumer product price threshold, whatever that means.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Friday, October 23, 2009
October 23
Whew! Was that a long intermission/snack bar/bathroom break or what?
Now that I took care of both Number One and Number Two needs- soda and popcorn -ready to continue the snow, er ah, show.
Submitted for your approval, the great auteur Brian DePalma's arguably (hey, why is everything "arguably", I argue) 1974 masterpiece, "The Phantom Of The Paradise".
What? Surely you jest, you've heard of it much less seen it? Where have you been?
Okay here's the scoop- when I was in high school, freshman year, used to go to the Harrison Public Library to not just do research for book reports but check out the pretty girls and also fool around, and we used to bring comic books and monster magazines to read besides the required scholastic stuff.
One mag, don't know whether it was "Famous Monsters Of Finland"(sic?)- yeah that Reptilicus puppet was also on The Monkees; Go Reptilicus, go! -or "Castle Of Frankenstein" by that inspiration Calvin T. Beck, whose life with his Mom and geeky lifestyle- "Monsters" -were noted by noted writer Robert Bloch and later incorporated as part of "Norman Bates" in his story for Hitchcock, "Psycho".
Yeah, it's true. Cal Beck (rhymes with "Cal Tech") was a nerdy guy who lived with his dominating, overbearing Mom on Palisade Avenue in North Bergen, NJ, and was of of the original "fanboys" who used to circulate, converse, and otherwise hobknob with all the other similar like-minded individuals who attended the seminal SF, never "SCi-Fi" conventions- only outsiders and "off-worlds" ever referred to it as such, although "Such Conventions" didn't quite have that ring to it you know?
All kiddin' aside, "SCi-Fi" was an invention of one Forrest J. Ackerman, who coined it it the 1950s as a shorthand name for Science Fiction, no doubt influenced by the new term "Hi-Fi" aka High Fidelity; interesting to note that within a year after "Uncle Forry's" departure the "SCi-Fi Channel" further confused everybody by relaunching itself as the text-friendly, some would say gay, "SyFy", which looks like an high tech venereal disease.
Getting back: so I have this B&W mag and it has like a upcoming, or up & coming section where they leak press releases for future forthcoming features, and my 15 year old eyes see this tiny sentence about the "Phantom Of The Fillmore", a modern retelling of the old "Phantom Of The Opera" tale.
This was 1971-72 and the cinematic trend- both movies and TV -was to con temporise the old themes for MODern, "happening", "NOW" audiences; Hammer Films which made excellent versions of the classic monsters in the late 1950s and mid '60s, with lots of (for that time) "blood and gore"- blood a bright almost fluorescent orange -and "sex", mostly busty female vampires with ample cleavage and filmy, flimsy garb- all in Technicolor -which made the earlier '30s & '40s Universal Monsters look pale, weak, anemic-flaccid -and camp by comparison.
But Hammer was running out of momentum and the initial inertia that the rave successes of its two main monsters, "Dracula", and the "Frankenstein" franchise were soon losing steam.
In fact the Hammer "Frankenstein"'s were about Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein, played by Peter Cushing, and dealt with his mis-adventures of trying to perfect his methods of resuscitating the dead, not about the "monster".
Well, Hammer tried to breathe new life into an old series when they replaced the entire cast of stock players and Cushing too in 1970's "Horror Of Frankenstein", a remake/reimagining of the 1957 "Curse Of Frankenstein", but with Ralph Bates as the good(?) Dr. , Jon Finch as the Inspector, and David Prowse as the "creature"; played more for gallows-humor than outright horror, and with a sprinkling of nudity it died at the box-office.
The filmmakers decided that a "hip" cast for a "hip" audience wasn't enough, as "Horror Of Frankenstein" was still a costume period piece set in the 18th or 19th Century, so the next project would also involve some sort of plot development or device to set the action and characters in a contemporary setting.
This of course was nothing new, as TV's "Dark Shadows" was doing this since 1966, but really didn't get its groove on until Barnabas Collins appeared on the scene a year or so later.
The ratings for the Gothic daytime soap were stratospheric, a fact that wasn't lost on ABC-TV execs, so they agreed to fund an upcoming Dan Curtis made-for-TV movie: "The Night Stalker".
Now that I took care of both Number One and Number Two needs- soda and popcorn -ready to continue the snow, er ah, show.
Submitted for your approval, the great auteur Brian DePalma's arguably (hey, why is everything "arguably", I argue) 1974 masterpiece, "The Phantom Of The Paradise".
What? Surely you jest, you've heard of it much less seen it? Where have you been?
Okay here's the scoop- when I was in high school, freshman year, used to go to the Harrison Public Library to not just do research for book reports but check out the pretty girls and also fool around, and we used to bring comic books and monster magazines to read besides the required scholastic stuff.
One mag, don't know whether it was "Famous Monsters Of Finland"(sic?)- yeah that Reptilicus puppet was also on The Monkees; Go Reptilicus, go! -or "Castle Of Frankenstein" by that inspiration Calvin T. Beck, whose life with his Mom and geeky lifestyle- "Monsters" -were noted by noted writer Robert Bloch and later incorporated as part of "Norman Bates" in his story for Hitchcock, "Psycho".
Yeah, it's true. Cal Beck (rhymes with "Cal Tech") was a nerdy guy who lived with his dominating, overbearing Mom on Palisade Avenue in North Bergen, NJ, and was of of the original "fanboys" who used to circulate, converse, and otherwise hobknob with all the other similar like-minded individuals who attended the seminal SF, never "SCi-Fi" conventions- only outsiders and "off-worlds" ever referred to it as such, although "Such Conventions" didn't quite have that ring to it you know?
All kiddin' aside, "SCi-Fi" was an invention of one Forrest J. Ackerman, who coined it it the 1950s as a shorthand name for Science Fiction, no doubt influenced by the new term "Hi-Fi" aka High Fidelity; interesting to note that within a year after "Uncle Forry's" departure the "SCi-Fi Channel" further confused everybody by relaunching itself as the text-friendly, some would say gay, "SyFy", which looks like an high tech venereal disease.
Getting back: so I have this B&W mag and it has like a upcoming, or up & coming section where they leak press releases for future forthcoming features, and my 15 year old eyes see this tiny sentence about the "Phantom Of The Fillmore", a modern retelling of the old "Phantom Of The Opera" tale.
This was 1971-72 and the cinematic trend- both movies and TV -was to con temporise the old themes for MODern, "happening", "NOW" audiences; Hammer Films which made excellent versions of the classic monsters in the late 1950s and mid '60s, with lots of (for that time) "blood and gore"- blood a bright almost fluorescent orange -and "sex", mostly busty female vampires with ample cleavage and filmy, flimsy garb- all in Technicolor -which made the earlier '30s & '40s Universal Monsters look pale, weak, anemic-flaccid -and camp by comparison.
But Hammer was running out of momentum and the initial inertia that the rave successes of its two main monsters, "Dracula", and the "Frankenstein" franchise were soon losing steam.
In fact the Hammer "Frankenstein"'s were about Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein, played by Peter Cushing, and dealt with his mis-adventures of trying to perfect his methods of resuscitating the dead, not about the "monster".
Well, Hammer tried to breathe new life into an old series when they replaced the entire cast of stock players and Cushing too in 1970's "Horror Of Frankenstein", a remake/reimagining of the 1957 "Curse Of Frankenstein", but with Ralph Bates as the good(?) Dr. , Jon Finch as the Inspector, and David Prowse as the "creature"; played more for gallows-humor than outright horror, and with a sprinkling of nudity it died at the box-office.
The filmmakers decided that a "hip" cast for a "hip" audience wasn't enough, as "Horror Of Frankenstein" was still a costume period piece set in the 18th or 19th Century, so the next project would also involve some sort of plot development or device to set the action and characters in a contemporary setting.
This of course was nothing new, as TV's "Dark Shadows" was doing this since 1966, but really didn't get its groove on until Barnabas Collins appeared on the scene a year or so later.
The ratings for the Gothic daytime soap were stratospheric, a fact that wasn't lost on ABC-TV execs, so they agreed to fund an upcoming Dan Curtis made-for-TV movie: "The Night Stalker".
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Friday, October 16, 2009
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Intermission
"Brainiac on banjo."For your entertainment enjoyment some vintage
"DO NOT ADJUST YOUR SET"
which the title seems to indicate an "OUTER LIMITS"
influence, particularly in the fact that the "Control Voice" and
Narrator, Vic Perrin, used a similar suggestion each week
to the viewer and also it was originally supposed to be called
"PLEASE STAND BY"
which the '90s Canadian remake series used for their
station breaks.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Wolf Gang
Yes, 'tis true:
1. The Wolf~Man
2. Frankenstein Meets The Wolf~Man
3. House Of Frankenstein
4. House Of Dracula
Bud Abbott - Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein (1949) doesn't really count "Dracula", as it's a spooky spoofy send-up, likewise the 1960 South-Of-The-Border Mexican La Casa del Terror (House 0f Terror) another monster horror/comedy film, nor does the "Lizard's Leg and Owlet's Wing" October 26, 1962 (Episode 68) of Route 66(6) qualify where Chaney is reunited with his genre buddies Boris Karloff and Peter Lorre; last and certainly least of all is the the Jerry Warren regurgitation, Face Of The Screaming Werewolf (1964).
2. Frankenstein Meets The Wolf~Man
3. House Of Frankenstein
4. House Of Dracula
Bud Abbott - Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein (1949) doesn't really count "Dracula", as it's a spooky spoofy send-up, likewise the 1960 South-Of-The-Border Mexican La Casa del Terror (House 0f Terror) another monster horror/comedy film, nor does the "Lizard's Leg and Owlet's Wing" October 26, 1962 (Episode 68) of Route 66(6) qualify where Chaney is reunited with his genre buddies Boris Karloff and Peter Lorre; last and certainly least of all is the the Jerry Warren regurgitation, Face Of The Screaming Werewolf (1964).
Sorry, but Chaney notwithstanding, none of these is "Wolf~Man" canon, Jack.
For semi-realistic blood in a jiffy, you need not go any further than Heinz Ketchup, available at all fine grocers and eating establishments everywhere.
Friday, October 9, 2009
Thursday, October 8, 2009
'Star Treck (sic) In A Leather Jacket'
David Bowie again- why?
Well other than Alice Cooper, KISS, or even Screamin' Jay Hawkins, there's no other Rock performer who epitomises Halloween 'dress-up', and in his case literally as well as figuratively.
Ever c-c-changing, ever mercurial- after all, oh by jingo, he was on Mercury Records before his RCA adventures in sound -and he went from different guises and personnas as fast or as often you could change a, well, Halloween costume.
And a lot of his outfits were in retrospectacle (and a tip of the noggin to T. Dolby for that one) Halloween costumes let's see:
he went through being a R & B rocker, influenced in no doubt by the early 'Stones, a Music Hall/Caberet faux Anthony Newley, a 'Flour Power' Folkie, a Major 'Lost In Space', and this incarnation, a cross-dressing singer/songwriter that Ed Wood would have an affinity with-and all this is before his magnum opus 'Ziggy Stardust' which kept morphing and mutating itself into the the Lon Chaney, Junior-like transition of Diamond Dogs' one-eyed 'Halloween Jack' into the hokey cokey 'Thin White Duke'.
"...sake and strange Divine (real name Glenn Milstead- or is it Glenda Milstead?), wait for a lad insane..."
Grainy photo like grains of Martian sand.
HUNKY DORY was his fourth release sallying forth further where no one has gone before, recorded April 1971 at Trident Studios, London, just a year or so after The Beatles 'official' breakup, and released December 17, 1971:
Changes - This album is full of my changes and those of some of my friends.
Pretty - The reaction of me to my wife being pregnant was archetypal daddy -
Oh he's gonna be another Elvis.
This song is all that plus a dash of sci-fi.
Oh he's gonna be another Elvis.
This song is all that plus a dash of sci-fi.
Eight - The city is a kind of high-life wart on the backside of the prairie.
Life On Mars - This is a sensitive young girls reaction to the media.
Kooks - The baby was born and it looked like me and it looked like Angie
and the song came out like - if you're gonna stay with us you're gonna grow up
Bananas.
and the song came out like - if you're gonna stay with us you're gonna grow up
Bananas.
Quicksand - The chain reaction of moving around through out the bliss and
then the calamity of America produced this epic of confusion - Anyway, with
my esoteric problems I could have written it in Plainview - or Dulwich.
then the calamity of America produced this epic of confusion - Anyway, with
my esoteric problems I could have written it in Plainview - or Dulwich.
There is a time and space level just before you go to sleep when all about you
are losing theirs and whoosh void gets you with its cacophony of thought - that's
when I like to write my songs.
are losing theirs and whoosh void gets you with its cacophony of thought - that's
when I like to write my songs.
Fill - Biff Rose song.
Andy - A man of media and anti-message, with a kind of cute style.
Bob - This is how some see B.D.
Queen - A song on a Velvet Underground-Lou Reed framework s'about London sometimes.
Bewlay - Another in the series of David Bowie confessions - Star-Treck in a leather jacket
Bowie's next phase was probably his "Sgt. Pepper's" in that it shares some commonalities with the iconic Beatles LP from five years earlier, as the personas and identities presented are elaborate masquerades for the artists to hide behind making commentary as their 'altar-egos' ("...the church of man, love, is such a holy place to be.") make pronouncements equivalent to benedictions for the faithful flock almost religious in their fervor and zeal.
And just as theatrical, because "Sgt. Pepper's" Beatles and "Ziggy Stardust" Bowie are almost Pentecostal in their presentation(s), mixed with the roar of the greasepaint (Bowie wanted to be Newley once), the smell of the crowd (as the opening number and the reprise of same on The Beatles album demonstrates), music-hall tunes mixed with Rock, fantasy and larger-than-life reality.
Notable too is that David Bowie's first album, the eponymous DAVID BOWIE had the unfortunate distinction of being released in the UK the very same day as SGT. PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND which certainly didn't help sales much, even though it as a debut effort it was as good as it can get from a 20 year old wunderkind, and his "Rubber Band" 45 r.p.m. single predated the much better known famous song and 'concept' album by about a little more than half a year, December 2, 1966.
Most interesting is that both Bowie LPs include references to Mars, and have Bowie posing in pictures that immediately (at least to me) evoke the (in)famous "Face on Mars" photograph taken in the Cydonia region by the Viking 1 orbiter (orbital insertion June 19, 1976) released by NASA/JPL on July 25, 1976.
'Coincidence' or...?
As most know the name 'David Bowie' was about as real as 'Ringo Starr'- Richard Starkey became the stellar cowboy, possibly outlaw, 'Ringo', whereas David Jones became 'Bowie', so as to avoid confusion and mis-identification with/as in the musical show 'Oliver'- 'The Artful Dodger' -the lil' chap who was also on 'The Ed Sullivan Show' that fateful historic night the Beatles first appeared, February 9, 1964, and later of the 'Faux Four'- Monkee Davy Jones.
↑The other David sans leather jacket↑
'David (Jones) Bowie' in a leather jacket w/ Star Trek: The Next Generation holodeck detective 'Dixon Hill' who for some reason or another resembles esteemed Beat author & junkie
William S. Burroughs.
And just as theatrical, because "Sgt. Pepper's" Beatles and "Ziggy Stardust" Bowie are almost Pentecostal in their presentation(s), mixed with the roar of the greasepaint (Bowie wanted to be Newley once), the smell of the crowd (as the opening number and the reprise of same on The Beatles album demonstrates), music-hall tunes mixed with Rock, fantasy and larger-than-life reality.
Notable too is that David Bowie's first album, the eponymous DAVID BOWIE had the unfortunate distinction of being released in the UK the very same day as SGT. PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND which certainly didn't help sales much, even though it as a debut effort it was as good as it can get from a 20 year old wunderkind, and his "Rubber Band" 45 r.p.m. single predated the much better known famous song and 'concept' album by about a little more than half a year, December 2, 1966.
Most interesting is that both Bowie LPs include references to Mars, and have Bowie posing in pictures that immediately (at least to me) evoke the (in)famous "Face on Mars" photograph taken in the Cydonia region by the Viking 1 orbiter (orbital insertion June 19, 1976) released by NASA/JPL on July 25, 1976.
'Coincidence' or...?
As most know the name 'David Bowie' was about as real as 'Ringo Starr'- Richard Starkey became the stellar cowboy, possibly outlaw, 'Ringo', whereas David Jones became 'Bowie', so as to avoid confusion and mis-identification with/as in the musical show 'Oliver'- 'The Artful Dodger' -the lil' chap who was also on 'The Ed Sullivan Show' that fateful historic night the Beatles first appeared, February 9, 1964, and later of the 'Faux Four'- Monkee Davy Jones.
↑The other David sans leather jacket↑
'David (Jones) Bowie' in a leather jacket w/ Star Trek: The Next Generation holodeck detective 'Dixon Hill' who for some reason or another resembles esteemed Beat author & junkieWilliam S. Burroughs.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Bar Sinister
"Belly-up to the Bar Boys!"
(sounds like an old all-male revue show at the Ninth Circle)
Monday, October 5, 2009
Lil' "Nell" GODdard
Robert Goddard was born today.
He's the guy you've always read about in elementary school science books- at least I did at 8 or 9 years old -who fooled around with solid rocket fuel and lauched his little "Nell" rockets in New England, being scoffed at and ridiculed by the local hambones, if hambones is the correct term for Northeast rustics.
Goddard resembled a cross between Lionel Jeffries as 'Prof. Cavor' in the 1964 "First Men In The Moon" and another Robert- Robert Heinlein -and was the archetype of the dedicated scientist, square, on the straight & narrow, unlike his persona non grata (for the most part)counterpoint/counterpart Jack Parsons' unrepentant reprobate.
He's the guy you've always read about in elementary school science books- at least I did at 8 or 9 years old -who fooled around with solid rocket fuel and lauched his little "Nell" rockets in New England, being scoffed at and ridiculed by the local hambones, if hambones is the correct term for Northeast rustics.
Goddard resembled a cross between Lionel Jeffries as 'Prof. Cavor' in the 1964 "First Men In The Moon" and another Robert- Robert Heinlein -and was the archetype of the dedicated scientist, square, on the straight & narrow, unlike his persona non grata (for the most part)counterpoint/counterpart Jack Parsons' unrepentant reprobate.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
The Penguin, The Walrus & The Joker
In keeping with the upcoming Halloween Holiday spirit, this time it's the adventures of the Penguin, the Walrus, and the Joker- but with a twist -bup suppa buppa buppa buppa suppa...
In 1963 interestingly enough Total Television, an unofficial 'subsidiary' of General Mills- GM, you know makers of 'Total' breakfast cereal -already known for their "King Leonardo" (Da Vinci reference) and 'toon "Superpup" clone "Underdog" cartoons starring 'Jor-El's' lover Wally Cox as humble and lovable 'Shoe-Shine Boy', and known to earlier viewers even as 'Mr. Peepers' in the Golden Age Of TV and more recently (we're talkin' '63 here) better known as Proctor & Gamble's salesman for "Salvo - The Fortified Detergent!" -also came up with the more cerebral and consequently 'educational' "Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales" about the misadventures of the "small penguin, who tries but can't succeed-o," Tennessee, voiced by Don Adams, soon to be known worldwide as Agent 86 in the Man From U.N.C.L.E./James Bond spy spoof Get Smart, and his friend Chumly Walrus voiced by Bradley Bolke.
Whew!
An elementary penguin not singing Hare Krishna.
In and among the promos for other cartoon frolics, puppet shows- remember Fireball XL5 was on NBC that season -and the endless adverts for toys- "Hey kids, tell Mom and Dad!" -and of course the never-ending cereal ads brought to you by the grain futures sector of the economy, Tennessee & Chumly actually left an impression on me and it wasn't just mindless entertainment for the kiddies- I was a 6 year old then -as it was partially a response to FCC honcho Newton Minnow's comment that TV was/is a "vast wasteland", and it was one of the first successful integrations of information and entertainment for young minds that excelled where similar fare as 'The Funny Company' didn't.
"The Funny Company" bankrolled by Mattel, "...and TOYS!", was very educational but not very funny, a guaranteed 5 minute video sleeping pill for all but the most nerdiest of kids -and seemed more akin to the brief segments of "The Big World Of Little Adam" NASA training films fest that were run by Sandy Becker on his show after January 1, 1964 WNEW NYC show as well as WNET right and up to when they still had the old Owl logo, shortly just before Apollo 8.
Psssst...saw almost every episode of "Little Adam", shhhh- just don't tell anybody!
The makers of the "Funny Company" redeemed themselves shortly thereafter with "The Adventures Of Roger Ramjet"- seldom seen but great fun in the tradition of "Rocky and Bullwinkle", whereas "Little Adam" is largely forgotten and much less ever seen today.
The blend of both entertaining and informative is equally balanced- with the writing and the voice characterization -and important in Tennessee Tuxedo and is one of the many reasons it is so fondly remembered.
Without recounting or rehashing the episodes as I'm certain that there are much more precise and concise sources on the 'net from which to find out further about this wonderful series, I'll just go into one particular episode- #27 " The Treasure Of Jack The Joker".
Originally aired on Saturday, October 10, 1964, 9:30 am EST.
Now please remember Dear Reader that I haven't actually seen this since maybe 1966, and several zillion brain cells ago- R.I.P. -so recollection of this is particularly hazy or shadowy, but I remember that 'punch line' ending, "Ha, Ha, Ha-- Jack The Joker!" when the walrus and the carpenter- oops -penguin, find instead of a treasure inside the chest this taunting note.
Taunting note? Taunting...note...hmmm...the Joker...#27...penguin...by George Reeves, I think I've got it!
Detective Comics #27 was the first appearance of The Batman- and this was Episode #27 of "Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales"- Holy Bat-Clues old chums, Chumlys, & 'chumettes'!
So what you say, big deal, I'm not impressed, etc., etc.,
Okay then, consider this:
Lawrence Samuel "Larry" Storch (born January 8, 1923) is a US actor best known for his comic television roles, including voice-over work for top cartoon shows, including Mr. Goldberg, er, uh- Whoopee -on Tennessee Tuxedo and his Tales, and of course Corporal Agarn on F Troop.
Waaay before Mark Hamill, he was also the first actor to voice Batman's arch-enemy, "Doctor Scholl" ("The Joker" in one of his many disguises...)
Yes it's true- It was in the Batman with Robin The Boy Wonder segments produced by Filmation animation in the late 1960s.
Larry continued his association with Filmation as a voice-over actor in other series the company produced- and more importantly was one of the original GHOSTBUSTERS in his zoot-suit, along with pal Forrest Tucker and Bob Burns in one of the few live-action shows for Filmation a decade before Bill Murray, Dan Aycroyd, and Harold Ramis.
Sohowzat?
(an old comic store just off of Canal Street)
In 1963 interestingly enough Total Television, an unofficial 'subsidiary' of General Mills- GM, you know makers of 'Total' breakfast cereal -already known for their "King Leonardo" (Da Vinci reference) and 'toon "Superpup" clone "Underdog" cartoons starring 'Jor-El's' lover Wally Cox as humble and lovable 'Shoe-Shine Boy', and known to earlier viewers even as 'Mr. Peepers' in the Golden Age Of TV and more recently (we're talkin' '63 here) better known as Proctor & Gamble's salesman for "Salvo - The Fortified Detergent!" -also came up with the more cerebral and consequently 'educational' "Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales" about the misadventures of the "small penguin, who tries but can't succeed-o," Tennessee, voiced by Don Adams, soon to be known worldwide as Agent 86 in the Man From U.N.C.L.E./James Bond spy spoof Get Smart, and his friend Chumly Walrus voiced by Bradley Bolke.
Whew!
An elementary penguin not singing Hare Krishna.
In and among the promos for other cartoon frolics, puppet shows- remember Fireball XL5 was on NBC that season -and the endless adverts for toys- "Hey kids, tell Mom and Dad!" -and of course the never-ending cereal ads brought to you by the grain futures sector of the economy, Tennessee & Chumly actually left an impression on me and it wasn't just mindless entertainment for the kiddies- I was a 6 year old then -as it was partially a response to FCC honcho Newton Minnow's comment that TV was/is a "vast wasteland", and it was one of the first successful integrations of information and entertainment for young minds that excelled where similar fare as 'The Funny Company' didn't.
"The Funny Company" bankrolled by Mattel, "...and TOYS!", was very educational but not very funny, a guaranteed 5 minute video sleeping pill for all but the most nerdiest of kids -and seemed more akin to the brief segments of "The Big World Of Little Adam" NASA training films fest that were run by Sandy Becker on his show after January 1, 1964 WNEW NYC show as well as WNET right and up to when they still had the old Owl logo, shortly just before Apollo 8.
Psssst...saw almost every episode of "Little Adam", shhhh- just don't tell anybody!
The makers of the "Funny Company" redeemed themselves shortly thereafter with "The Adventures Of Roger Ramjet"- seldom seen but great fun in the tradition of "Rocky and Bullwinkle", whereas "Little Adam" is largely forgotten and much less ever seen today.
The blend of both entertaining and informative is equally balanced- with the writing and the voice characterization -and important in Tennessee Tuxedo and is one of the many reasons it is so fondly remembered.
Without recounting or rehashing the episodes as I'm certain that there are much more precise and concise sources on the 'net from which to find out further about this wonderful series, I'll just go into one particular episode- #27 " The Treasure Of Jack The Joker".
Originally aired on Saturday, October 10, 1964, 9:30 am EST.
Now please remember Dear Reader that I haven't actually seen this since maybe 1966, and several zillion brain cells ago- R.I.P. -so recollection of this is particularly hazy or shadowy, but I remember that 'punch line' ending, "Ha, Ha, Ha-- Jack The Joker!" when the walrus and the carpenter- oops -penguin, find instead of a treasure inside the chest this taunting note.Taunting note? Taunting...note...hmmm...the Joker...#27...penguin...by George Reeves, I think I've got it!
Detective Comics #27 was the first appearance of The Batman- and this was Episode #27 of "Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales"- Holy Bat-Clues old chums, Chumlys, & 'chumettes'!
So what you say, big deal, I'm not impressed, etc., etc.,
Okay then, consider this:
Lawrence Samuel "Larry" Storch (born January 8, 1923) is a US actor best known for his comic television roles, including voice-over work for top cartoon shows, including Mr. Goldberg, er, uh- Whoopee -on Tennessee Tuxedo and his Tales, and of course Corporal Agarn on F Troop.
Waaay before Mark Hamill, he was also the first actor to voice Batman's arch-enemy, "Doctor Scholl" ("The Joker" in one of his many disguises...)
Yes it's true- It was in the Batman with Robin The Boy Wonder segments produced by Filmation animation in the late 1960s.
Larry continued his association with Filmation as a voice-over actor in other series the company produced- and more importantly was one of the original GHOSTBUSTERS in his zoot-suit, along with pal Forrest Tucker and Bob Burns in one of the few live-action shows for Filmation a decade before Bill Murray, Dan Aycroyd, and Harold Ramis.
Sohowzat?
(an old comic store just off of Canal Street)
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Octobriana!
I first read about this in 1973 in connection with a proposed David Bowie project, you know, "...the Halloween Jack is a real cool cat, and he lives on top of Manhattan Chase...", era Bowie, that Bowie.
There were all sorts of rumours circulating then such as Bowie was going to make his film debut in "Stranger In A Strange Land" as 'Michael Valentine Smith', with all the sexual and weird stuff intact from Heinlein's allegory, then Angie Bowie his then wife as 'Jipp Jones' was going to play the new Wonder Woman, and that a film be made with Amanda Lear called...
In her autobio, Angie Bowie mentions a character 'concocted' by her then husband, who she described as "a sci-fi priestess of high Bowie camp and magic [and] a pretty cool customer." This character's name was "Octobriana". Further research (ie, trawling through the early-1970s music press) shows that Bowie was working on a feature film about Octobriana, and had also apparently written songs for the alleged motion picture soundtrack.
But of course these events never happened- and who is Octobriana?
There were all sorts of rumours circulating then such as Bowie was going to make his film debut in "Stranger In A Strange Land" as 'Michael Valentine Smith', with all the sexual and weird stuff intact from Heinlein's allegory, then Angie Bowie his then wife as 'Jipp Jones' was going to play the new Wonder Woman, and that a film be made with Amanda Lear called...
In her autobio, Angie Bowie mentions a character 'concocted' by her then husband, who she described as "a sci-fi priestess of high Bowie camp and magic [and] a pretty cool customer." This character's name was "Octobriana". Further research (ie, trawling through the early-1970s music press) shows that Bowie was working on a feature film about Octobriana, and had also apparently written songs for the alleged motion picture soundtrack.
But of course these events never happened- and who is Octobriana?
Friday, October 2, 2009
The Magick Of Marvel Is...
Today October 2, is another Marvel milestone day, as it was on October 2, 1914 that the true Marvel Age was actually born, more specifically, Marvel Whiteside Parsons, later known as John, and finally 'Jack'.
What- you don't know 'Jack'?
Well...you heard of Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen and- oops -Robert Hutchings GODdard (October 5, 1882 - August 10, 1945), U.S. professor of physics and scientist, was a pioneer of controlled, liquid-fueled rocketry. He launched the world's first liquid-fueled 10-ft. rocket on March 16, 1926, and launching the 'Space Age' in a New England cabbage-patch field.
In 1929, an 11-ft. missile caused such a stir the cops were summoned- the next day the local rag ran the hee-haw headline: MOON ROCKET MISSES TARGET BY 238,799 1/2 MILES.
In 1930, with the promise of a $100,000 grant from financier Harry Guggenheim, Goddard and his wife Esther headed west to Roswell, New Mexico, where the land was vast and the launch weather good, and where the locals, they were told, minded their business.
Roswell, New Mexico, hmmm....
Hey wait, isn't this about 'Jack' Parsons?
Yeah, yeah, we're getting there.
Most people who are interested in the subject of Rocketry & Aerospace probably heard about or read about Robert Goddard in the primary grades- I first read about him when I was 9 in 1966 -or at least in High School.
But most never heard of 'Jack' Parsons, and with no surprise: he was an acolyte since 1938- the year of the comics debut of 'Superman' and 'The War of the Worlds' radio panic -of Aleister Crowley, the self-styled "Great Beast 666" , an employee of Howard Hughes- lecherous but brilliant aviator and industrialist who degenerated into eventual insanity -a victim of L. Ron Hubbard- Golden Age pulp science-fiction writer and crator of lucrative PoP Culture religion, who ripped-off Parson's woman & money. Whatta pal! -and an enthusiastic phone buddy to Wernher Von Braun- who was also incidentally a 33° Freemason.
Parsons had NO successful formal education beyond high school.
Can you imagine the uncomfortable teachers or principal or PTA that would have to explain >EGAD!< all this to young questing minds, mentioning that the illustrious Mr. Parsons besides all of the above info, also regularly used- some would say abused -alcohol, marijuana, peyote, and heroin, opiates, had sex orgies, etc., etc., This definitely would have guaranteed an A on a surprise quiz for most of the kids.
But instead...
In 1972 American scientists named a crater of the moon after Jack Parsons. The crater at 37 degrees north and 171 degrees west can't be seen from Earth- it's on the dark side of the Moon.
And get this, his birth and death dates- October 2 & June 17 -almost bookend the birthdays of Lennon & McCartney- October 9 and June 18, respectively -of the Beatles.
I'm waiting for the Disney bio-pic.
June 17 on the Julian Calendar is also the day when the Tunguska Whatchamacallit fell from the skies over Siberia in 1908 - June 30, 1908 to you.
BTW on Oct. 2, 1959, CBS broadcast the first “Twilight Zone” episode, written by the series creator Rod Serling, called “Where Is Everybody?”, about a man wandering through a town in which he appears to be its only living inhabitant.
Cue spooky music.
Oh yeah, and did I mention that it's Gandhi's B-day too.
What- you don't know 'Jack'?
Well...you heard of Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen and- oops -Robert Hutchings GODdard (October 5, 1882 - August 10, 1945), U.S. professor of physics and scientist, was a pioneer of controlled, liquid-fueled rocketry. He launched the world's first liquid-fueled 10-ft. rocket on March 16, 1926, and launching the 'Space Age' in a New England cabbage-patch field.
In 1929, an 11-ft. missile caused such a stir the cops were summoned- the next day the local rag ran the hee-haw headline: MOON ROCKET MISSES TARGET BY 238,799 1/2 MILES.
In 1930, with the promise of a $100,000 grant from financier Harry Guggenheim, Goddard and his wife Esther headed west to Roswell, New Mexico, where the land was vast and the launch weather good, and where the locals, they were told, minded their business.
Roswell, New Mexico, hmmm....
Hey wait, isn't this about 'Jack' Parsons?
Yeah, yeah, we're getting there.
Most people who are interested in the subject of Rocketry & Aerospace probably heard about or read about Robert Goddard in the primary grades- I first read about him when I was 9 in 1966 -or at least in High School.
But most never heard of 'Jack' Parsons, and with no surprise: he was an acolyte since 1938- the year of the comics debut of 'Superman' and 'The War of the Worlds' radio panic -of Aleister Crowley, the self-styled "Great Beast 666" , an employee of Howard Hughes- lecherous but brilliant aviator and industrialist who degenerated into eventual insanity -a victim of L. Ron Hubbard- Golden Age pulp science-fiction writer and crator of lucrative PoP Culture religion, who ripped-off Parson's woman & money. Whatta pal! -and an enthusiastic phone buddy to Wernher Von Braun- who was also incidentally a 33° Freemason.
Parsons had NO successful formal education beyond high school.
Can you imagine the uncomfortable teachers or principal or PTA that would have to explain >EGAD!< all this to young questing minds, mentioning that the illustrious Mr. Parsons besides all of the above info, also regularly used- some would say abused -alcohol, marijuana, peyote, and heroin, opiates, had sex orgies, etc., etc., This definitely would have guaranteed an A on a surprise quiz for most of the kids.
But instead...
In 1972 American scientists named a crater of the moon after Jack Parsons. The crater at 37 degrees north and 171 degrees west can't be seen from Earth- it's on the dark side of the Moon.
And get this, his birth and death dates- October 2 & June 17 -almost bookend the birthdays of Lennon & McCartney- October 9 and June 18, respectively -of the Beatles.
I'm waiting for the Disney bio-pic.
June 17 on the Julian Calendar is also the day when the Tunguska Whatchamacallit fell from the skies over Siberia in 1908 - June 30, 1908 to you.
BTW on Oct. 2, 1959, CBS broadcast the first “Twilight Zone” episode, written by the series creator Rod Serling, called “Where Is Everybody?”, about a man wandering through a town in which he appears to be its only living inhabitant.
Cue spooky music.
Oh yeah, and did I mention that it's Gandhi's B-day too.
The Marvel Age Of Bologna
In the late '80s/early '90s when I used to commute bi-weekly to Philadelphia, PA to work as a mobile street vendor in and around 'Center City', the nickname probably influencing the writer of the DC's Silver-Age Barry Allen "The Flash" for the name though I really can't say for sure, other than the (fictional) fact that it is located in Missouri (originally Ohio in Showcase # 4, September-October 1956), right near 'Keystone City'- just as the real 'Center City' happens to be coincidentally- not -near a fantasy 'Keystone City' but rather in the actual 'Keystone State', Pennsylvania.
Anyway...I noticed in the course of my working day then that one of those small boxy refrigerated provision 'truckettes' would be going around town making deliveries with the logo or legend 'STANLEY MARVEL' emblazoned on the side, and I'd always laugh and point this out to my girlfriend and workmates whenever it would pass us while we were in congested Center City traffic, or while working on the street, and once actually outside Fat Jack's Comic Crypt on Sansom Street where I customarily went after work to get my new comic fix and also look for lower priced, better quality, Silver Age books- waaaay better than anything ever found in the NY-NJ Metro area rip-off shops.
Then around '92 Philly started to get this attitude that the vendors have to be more controlled, as a lot of NY peddlers, vendors, hucksters, and outright con men were influxing into the area since the early to mid '80s and the word was out that it was 'easy pickin's', so it was inevitable.
Found unexplored territory shortly afterwards and fortuitously for me it was still not far from Center City: as soon as disembarking from the R7 SEPTA at 30th Street Station all I had to do was walk towards 'University Hill'- all the cities I used to work in on the NE Corridor had a 'University Hill', or it's equivalent, Newark with Rutgers and UMD, Baltimore with University of Maryland and Johns Hopkins, Philly with Drexel, University of Pennsylvania, etc., I'm certain that there are better examples; alternated with the old Center City spots, and Newark, NJ, whenever possible, bi-weekly, and also went to new spots in weekly established outdoor rural 'flea markets' such as Columbus NJ, on Rt. 206, Cherry Hill, right across the Delaware River in NJ near the racetrack, and Philly Racetrack in BenSALEM, PA.
So after I started to taper off my visits to Philly due to a change in work plans, seldom went there after '96, and so that was that...or was it?
In late '96 discovered Bucks County
It was run by the same folks who ran the Columbus Rt. 206, and the locale I liked better than Cherry Hill even- they had a much larger selection of both old and new stuff for sale, and better yet was accessible after a fashion via mass transit when I didn't go there with a friend and their vehicle- 'a ride'.
Getting there was reletively sinple- you took the Newark to Trenton NJ Transit train from Penn Station (either NYC or Newark) and switch over at Trenton to the R7 to Philadelphia, except instead of taking it to that destination going to Eddington Station and taking a $15.-$20. cab ride, or get off at the Croydon Station where you can go up the crumbling sandstone steps past warehouses and walk at your own risk up Street Road/Route 132 on the overpass bridge above Interstate 95 until walking at a confortable pace you get to Philly Racetrack parking lot and the Philly Market.
But not before seeing a whole lot of STANLEY MARVEL trucks as you see, and as I found out soon afterwards, that Stanley Marvel is right near Adams Street, on Ford Road just behind (or in front of) 'Meating' Road off of Bensalem Road and not at all far from the King David Memorial Park, the largest Jewish cemetery in that region.
Q: Was the corporate cold-cut entity known as 'Stanley Marvel' actually founded in 1915, if so was Stanley Lieber aware of this and rename himself professionally 'Stan Lee' so if introduced he would be , "Stan Lee, Marvel...", or completely unawares and therefore a coincidence, or was the original Stanley Marvel and his descendants Stanley Marvel II and Stanley Marvel III even aware of the likewise monikered comic book writer and publisher, and would he offer him a real good deal on catering events and so forth; and was it really founded in 1915, or the two confusing entries indicating 1975 and 1986- what's up?
Cold cuts and cemeteries- good Halloween eatin' to me...and sounds more like EC Comics than Marvel to boot- size 11 1/2.
Anyway...I noticed in the course of my working day then that one of those small boxy refrigerated provision 'truckettes' would be going around town making deliveries with the logo or legend 'STANLEY MARVEL' emblazoned on the side, and I'd always laugh and point this out to my girlfriend and workmates whenever it would pass us while we were in congested Center City traffic, or while working on the street, and once actually outside Fat Jack's Comic Crypt on Sansom Street where I customarily went after work to get my new comic fix and also look for lower priced, better quality, Silver Age books- waaaay better than anything ever found in the NY-NJ Metro area rip-off shops.
Then around '92 Philly started to get this attitude that the vendors have to be more controlled, as a lot of NY peddlers, vendors, hucksters, and outright con men were influxing into the area since the early to mid '80s and the word was out that it was 'easy pickin's', so it was inevitable.
Found unexplored territory shortly afterwards and fortuitously for me it was still not far from Center City: as soon as disembarking from the R7 SEPTA at 30th Street Station all I had to do was walk towards 'University Hill'- all the cities I used to work in on the NE Corridor had a 'University Hill', or it's equivalent, Newark with Rutgers and UMD, Baltimore with University of Maryland and Johns Hopkins, Philly with Drexel, University of Pennsylvania, etc., I'm certain that there are better examples; alternated with the old Center City spots, and Newark, NJ, whenever possible, bi-weekly, and also went to new spots in weekly established outdoor rural 'flea markets' such as Columbus NJ, on Rt. 206, Cherry Hill, right across the Delaware River in NJ near the racetrack, and Philly Racetrack in BenSALEM, PA.
So after I started to taper off my visits to Philly due to a change in work plans, seldom went there after '96, and so that was that...or was it?
In late '96 discovered Bucks County
It was run by the same folks who ran the Columbus Rt. 206, and the locale I liked better than Cherry Hill even- they had a much larger selection of both old and new stuff for sale, and better yet was accessible after a fashion via mass transit when I didn't go there with a friend and their vehicle- 'a ride'.
Getting there was reletively sinple- you took the Newark to Trenton NJ Transit train from Penn Station (either NYC or Newark) and switch over at Trenton to the R7 to Philadelphia, except instead of taking it to that destination going to Eddington Station and taking a $15.-$20. cab ride, or get off at the Croydon Station where you can go up the crumbling sandstone steps past warehouses and walk at your own risk up Street Road/Route 132 on the overpass bridge above Interstate 95 until walking at a confortable pace you get to Philly Racetrack parking lot and the Philly Market.
But not before seeing a whole lot of STANLEY MARVEL trucks as you see, and as I found out soon afterwards, that Stanley Marvel is right near Adams Street, on Ford Road just behind (or in front of) 'Meating' Road off of Bensalem Road and not at all far from the King David Memorial Park, the largest Jewish cemetery in that region.
Q: Was the corporate cold-cut entity known as 'Stanley Marvel' actually founded in 1915, if so was Stanley Lieber aware of this and rename himself professionally 'Stan Lee' so if introduced he would be , "Stan Lee, Marvel...", or completely unawares and therefore a coincidence, or was the original Stanley Marvel and his descendants Stanley Marvel II and Stanley Marvel III even aware of the likewise monikered comic book writer and publisher, and would he offer him a real good deal on catering events and so forth; and was it really founded in 1915, or the two confusing entries indicating 1975 and 1986- what's up?
Cold cuts and cemeteries- good Halloween eatin' to me...and sounds more like EC Comics than Marvel to boot- size 11 1/2.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Octoberfest!
Well I'm baaack, sort of- haven't been doing any entries for a while as am in the laborious process of relocating, so hopefully you'll please excuse me if I'm still spotty at times.
'Octoberfest' is not just a reference to the annual Germanic Autumnal beer festival held in European countries such as Germany, Austria, and parts of Italy and Switzerland, but also worldwide wherever Germanic communities are predominant- and to paraphrase the old classic 1960s Levy's Jewish Rye ad, "You don't have to be German (in this case)..." to be a BIG-TIME 'beer nut'- was going to say aficionado but 'beer nut' sounds just about right in this case; a good corned-beef or pastrami on rye w/mustard & a beer is paradise... and BTW what the hell are Beer Nuts anyway(?)- there's NO beer in 'em at all- they're like 'Apple Jacks' cereal: NO apples and NO jacks either;
'Octoberfest' (on this here blog at least) also refers to the next 31 days that I'll try to provide more pertaining to PoP Cultural stuff & events related to Comic Books, Science-Fiction, and Rock n' Rock, though not necessarily in that order.
Wish me luck!
More later...
'Octoberfest' is not just a reference to the annual Germanic Autumnal beer festival held in European countries such as Germany, Austria, and parts of Italy and Switzerland, but also worldwide wherever Germanic communities are predominant- and to paraphrase the old classic 1960s Levy's Jewish Rye ad, "You don't have to be German (in this case)..." to be a BIG-TIME 'beer nut'- was going to say aficionado but 'beer nut' sounds just about right in this case; a good corned-beef or pastrami on rye w/mustard & a beer is paradise... and BTW what the hell are Beer Nuts anyway(?)- there's NO beer in 'em at all- they're like 'Apple Jacks' cereal: NO apples and NO jacks either;
'Octoberfest' (on this here blog at least) also refers to the next 31 days that I'll try to provide more pertaining to PoP Cultural stuff & events related to Comic Books, Science-Fiction, and Rock n' Rock, though not necessarily in that order.
Wish me luck!
More later...
Today is Chumley's B-Day
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