Lynda Carter Wishes You A Happy Memorial Day

Imagineering

A few weeks ago I went to a talk moderated by actor Daniel Roebuck (perhaps best known as the murderer from "River's Edge") about monster toys of the 70's. He screened this teaser (below) for a documentary he was working on, then handed out several unopened packages of "Scar Stuf" to randomly chosen audience members.



Looks like the film could use some more quality production, but anyone in their late 30's - early 40's should at least dig seeing these package illustrations again. Imagineering products were ubiquitous in the 70's. We'd buy them at the local supermarket. There were few things more thrilling than seeing "Vampire Blood" appear on the store shelves in early October, signifying the approach of the greatest of all holidays.

This was supposed to be an auction pick, but I can't find any imagineering make up for sale on ebay. So you'll have to make do with these photos.

On a related note, check out these proto-juggalos.

It's Alive: 2009 Discoveries

Arizona State has named the top ten animals discovered within the calender year of 2009. Among them:


Danionella dracula, a.k.a Dracula minnow

The males have vampirish fangs for dueling with each other. This is the first time teeth have been seen in Cyprinidae, the largest family of freshwater fishes.



Swima bombiviridis, a.k.a Green bomber

This deep-sea annelid has modified gills that can be thrown off. They stay lit with bioluminescence for a few seconds afterwards, which distracts predators to facilitate escape.



Nephila komaci, a.k.a Komac's golden orb spider

Nephila spin the largest known webs in the world, about 1 meter in diameter. This is the first new species discovered in 130 years, as well as the largest, so it's assumed their webs are proportionately huge. Video here.



Histiophryne psychedelica, a.k.a Psychedelic frogfish

Just look at it.

Chasing Ghosts

I'm tired of waiting for this 2007 documentary to come to DVD, so I'm going to youtube it. Haven't seen it yet, but it has a 7.5 rating on imdb.com, and it's a topic I'm fascinated in: grown men who compete at early-80's arcade games.

As with King of Kong, Billy Mitchell seems to get lots of screen time here. How can he not? He's the champ. But we also get to know some other arcade legends like Mr. Awesome (the self-obsessed world record-holder of the "Missile Command" title) and many more.

Here's part 2. Part 1 has been pulled, presumably because of music infringement, but the remaining 70 minutes are all all here, for now.

Human Thumb Drive

A functional 2GB USB thumb drive embedded into a replica of my own thumb. Pre-formatted for mac or windows, the flesh-tinted urethane rubber cast is very chemically stable and will last indefinitely. It's so detailed, I was compelled to sand my thumbprint out of the original plaster model for fears of identification theft. They just took my thumbprint at the DMV last week, yo.

Click HERE to order.

I've also made new editions of objects which had previously sold out:



There are currently two Crab Lamps. These are a slight improvement over the previous ones in that they've been reinforced with fiberglass, and their paint jobs are a little more attentive. I won't be making any more of these. Too time-consuming.


Likewise with the Glowworm Solar Lamp. There's one left.


Still have some Cthulhu Bobbleheads and Cockroach Drives, and for a limited time, an order of $50 or more gets a FREE Jiggly Fred if you mention this blog post. Everything is in stock, and will ship within 1-2 days of ordering. Thanks for shopping.

Dance into The Future

The Rotograph

excerpted from the long-defunct but excellent bluespill animation blog:

These standout clips are from two Popeye cartoons – Popeye the Sailor Meets Sinbad the Sailor (1936) and Popeye the Sailor Meets Ali Baba’s Forty Thieves (1937), both from the Fleischer Animation Studio. A striking effect in these cartoons is the uncanny three dimensional backgrounds behind the cartoon character, achieved by the Fleisher Studio’s exclusive Rotograph device.

A Rotograph is essentially a miniature set, built in forced perspective, and placed on a circular platform that can be rotated incrementally as each frame is photographed. For each shot, an animation cell is mounted between the camera and Rotograph, integrating the cartoon character into the set. This patent drawing illustrates the Rotograph’s main components:


The camera (1), supported by lights (2), photographs an animation cell (3) mounted on a glass “bed” in front of the pivoted platform (4). For each shot, the animation cell is replaced, and if background motion is required (for a walk cycle, for example), the platform is incrementally rotated.

The Rotograph achieved shots not possible with other attempts to introduce dimensionality in animated cartoons, like Disney’s multiplane animation stand. The Rotograph set could be dressed with models and sculpted landscapes for a unique blending of 2D animation with 3D environments. Lighting effects that would be impossible to reproduce accurately through drawing alone were easily acheived on the Rotograph set.

The Fleischer Studio utilized the Rotograph for special episodes of their most popular cartoons. By the end of the 1940’s, the studio abandoned the Rotograph, bowing to its expense and changes in the film industry.

The $40 Color Organ

I've been meaning to build my own color organ circuit for a few years, but just spotted this piece of junk at a Filipino mall today and decided to get it. There's a potentiometer to calibrate sensitivity, but otherwise it just has a condenser mic (no audio cable input) and six arrays of different colored LED's that flash in response to sound levels. Still, no batteries required, and it's bright enough to work as a low-budget stage effect for bands.

O for Orson

Dance of the Seven Veils

This 1970 BBC movie by Ken Russell is extremely rare, and for legal reasons will not stay on youtube for long (read more about that HERE). I haven't seen it yet, but it looks great, a largely fictional biopic of Richard Strauss that has many similarities to Lisztomania, his craziest film. Check it out while you can:

Jiggly Fred

I made a sculpture of my pal Fred. He's rendered in the manner of a Jiggler, a cheap dimestore toy which was ubiquitous in the 60s -70s.

When relaxed, Jiggly Fred measures 5" long. But you can stretch him much longer than that.

"No one can stretch longer than I!"

He's cast in a single silicon tray mold, so he's flat on the back:


The material is long-lasting, very flexible urethane rubber (not latex) which has been tinted a flesh tone. Acrylic paint highlights and an elastic silver hanging band complete the monstrosity.

Hang Jiggly Fred from the rearview mirror of your car, motorcycle or rascal scooter. Send him on all sorts of super-stretchy adventures. Or tuck him away in your jiggler collection, knowing you have one of the most rare such items in existence.

The convenient thing about making sculptures that are possessed: they release themselves from the molds.

This is my cheapest item yet; Jiggly Fred is now available for only $9.99 on Etsy. Order HERE.

Helping Johnny Remember

Helping Johnny Remember from ashleigh nankivell on Vimeo.

Do The Jerry

The few times I've tried to dance looked something like this.



UPDATE: longtime chimponaut Clark S. Nova has referred this amazing video: Jerry gives a hamfisted demonstration of his Chamberlin tape loop keyboard:

The Queen Mary in 3D

Stereoscopic views of inner workings from The Queen Mary, a stunning 1930's art deco masterpiece, as well as the adjoining Soviet 'Scorpion' Submarine are now available, free of charge. Get those glasses on and click the above picture to launch the slideshow.

It's Alive: Darwin's Beetle

Creation of the Humanoids

I rented this on VHS when I was 15 or 16, as I was geeked on Andy Warhol at the time so I knew this was his favorite movie. My friends and I barely lasted half an hour into it. Too talky. But I read some positive reviews of it recently, so I found it on netflix.

I don't believe Warhol was being ironic; this is not only an intelligent drama that addresses the existential condition in a daring way, but it looks incredible. The sets have a gorgeous pop art minimalism, and the cinematography is carefully composed. The print on the DVD is far more crisp and colorful than the above clip. Admittedly the acting is wooden, but the dialogue is thoughtful and articulate.

Despite the low budget, this is definitely not an Ed Wood movie, nor is it like the big-budget dumbed down Freudian schlock of "Forbidden Planet". This is real science fiction, along the lines of Asimov and Phillip K. Dick; the story is little more than a medium for the philosophy behind it. Highly recommended.

Auction Pick: Snap-Together Neanderthal

I was flipping through an early 70's Creepy magazine in my garage and happened across this ad:


Among all the prehistoric scenes models, you have to go with the Neanderthal. He's the ugliest, and he has several different accessories and a cool diorama base. No glue needed, just snap him together. Place your bid HERE.

Besides your Neanderthal, the other two available hominids are Cro-Magnon Man and Cro-Magnon Woman. This can make for some interesting situations during your Prehistoric Playtime. And now that we've cracked the Neanderthal genome, we know that they mated with our ancestors. So indulging your imagination in this sort of thing is actually very educational.

Getting bored with your stone-age love triangle? Complete your set today :


I've done the ebay search for you here so you can start spending right away.

(related post: Monster Scenes)

LDS: Lost in Space

These are cuts that haven't previously been uploaded, but date back to early 2009. Other tracks from the same sessions were heard in LDS2 and LDS3.

Education for Death: The Making of A Nazi

Soundlab 5-5-10

Live solo improvisations, recorded just after setting things up in the new house.

track 1: freaknmath, ribbon synth, chimera
track 2: minimoog (softsynth), ribbon synth, chimera

Warp Speed Winnebago

(thanks to Pizzateen)

Auction Pick: Atom Age Illustration

Tomorrow in Beverly Hills will be an auction of illustration originals from the 40's-60's. There are some paintings by heavy hitters like Norman Rockwell, Alberto Varga and Frank Frazetta, as well as pinup classic Gil Evgren. But the #1 dream pick for me is this one by my favorite pulp illustrator, Virgil Finlay:


That, like the gorgeous Chesley Bonestell painting up top, is opening in the five-figure range. But there are also some works by lesser-known artists used for 1950's men's adventure magazines, with starting bids of $2000:




I personally consider reproductions of this sort of work to be almost as good as the real thing; That's how they were meant to be seen, after all. But these are some amazing paintings, regardless of context.

And it's tempting; we're all moved into our nice new house which has lots of available wall space, and I got a generous severance package from my job. Anyway, If you don't live in LA you can still bid online. Check them out HERE.

Surf II