Friday, June 29, 2001
Google's new image search engine is cool (thanks, Max!) - check out what comes up searching for my own name. Granted, it's mostly stuff from my portfolio ... but dig that groovy car!
 What a treasure - somebody unearthed a cache of 1930s watercolor costume designs by an artist named Berger Oscar Perrault. Very outlandish and Erté-influenced, and likely made for a theatre variety show. If anything, a good resource for drag queen getups.
What's happening here? A lot of my favortie bl*ggers are away or on hiatus or mysteriously unreachable. My Sitemeter stats are down, too. Probably lots of students on summer break. Or something.
Thursday, June 28, 2001
Book I must look out for: My Little Blue Dress by Bruno Maddox.
Wednesday, June 27, 2001
"You know what comes to mind everytime I see him? The Seagram's building." - Stephen Sondheim, Company OCR
Now playing at MoMA - Mies In Berlin/Mies In America, a retrospective of architect/designer Mies Van Der Rohe. I wanna be there so bad!
A.J. Benza, Big Idiot - OK, that's not the headline of that story, but it might as well be. Of course, that doesn't prevent me from watching Mysteries and Scandals whenever I can. From World New York, which is one of those ubane, witty links-plus-excerpt-plus-commentary sites I oughta be reading every day. World NY comes via The Bradlands, which is one of those weblogs that always intimidates me simply because he posts so much stuff every day. But it's nearly all great stuff, which is why it also earned a spot among my permanent links.
Two of America's most dangerous intersections are in Phoenix. As Bugs Bunny said, "Well, yipe again!"
Tuesday, June 26, 2001
Christopher begged me to blog The Death of Dorothy Kilgallen, so here it is. She was a columnist and TV personality who died under mysterious circumstances in late 1965. It happened the night before she was set to present damaging evidence from her interview with Jack Ruby regarding the JFK assassination. Conspiracy alert!
Monday, June 25, 2001
The news that Tower Records is on the verge of bankruptcy comes as no surprise. The last few times I've gone to the Phoenix location (including just last week), the place was empty except for a few sullen teen hip-hop customers. Worse yet, the selection's gotten skimpier over the years as prices increased. Counter help is surly and "hipper than thou" as always. Maybe that last point is just personal sour grapes, since they didn't hire me when I interviewed with them a long, long time ago - despite being the only applicant among dozens who knew who Charlie "Bird" Parker was. Story via Metafilter.
A sweet remembrance of '80s R&B group Atlantic Starr. "Secret loooovers, that's what we are ... "
Check out The Meat Show by the creepy/talented illustrator Mark Ryden. Children and meat, meat and children. And Christina Ricci, too.
Sunday, June 24, 2001
 Cheezy Sixties Tune I'm Listening To "Deep Down" plays over the opening credits of the campy Italian spy flick Danger: Diabolik* (which many of you probably know from the final MST3K episode**). The fabbo film composer Ennio Morricone*** wrote it, in his typical over the top style. I dig those guitars, and the singer Christy really, um, throws herself into this. I mean, we're talking orgasmic here. Those Italians sure know drama, don't they? The Euro boy-girl combo Die Moulinettes do a cover version of "Deep Down" on their fine, recent disc Alfa Bravo Charlie.
* Diabolik is a still-running comic book over there; apparently a popular animated version is coming to the Fox network's Saturday morning lineup.
** By the way, all MST3K fans should check out The MSTed Movie Gallery - collected poster art from most MST3K movies; of varying quality but cool nonetheless.
*** Listen to this snippet from Morricone's Diabolik score - wild! Courtesy Spyjazz.
Friday, June 22, 2001
 The Palm Springs site is finally done. Whew. You remember, back in February, we took a trip there and I've been promising to make a site about the architecture there ever since. Needless to say, this project turned out much more labor-intensive than I originally intended. Thank God it's done. Go there!!
I have little to add to what David said about this show except - amen, brother. It's Bravo's version of "The Real World," with an all gay and lesbian cast of urban sophisticates in New York and Miami. Nice concept, except the "personalities" chosen are a bunch of vain, vapid, prancy clichés whom I personally wouldn't be caught dead with. They're not even cute. Barf.
Thursday, June 21, 2001
The Pornography of Semiotics - Which is worse: Chinese water torchure, the iron maiden, or watching nothing but MTV for 24 hours? Michael Daddino gives a running commentary on one. Catch it now before he dissolves into a big pile of goo (P.S. to Michael - happy birthday and I'm happy you liked the book).
Happy birthday to Sophie ...
I went to the mall today. Now I feel like Jane Goodall returning from a chimp studying expedition. Entered the Radio Shack to buy a tiny audio connector, gave the store drone my name, address and money, then returned home to find what I got was the wrong part. Drat.
Did you know there's a store that does a photograph of your infant as an angel dozing on a cloud? Creepy.
Tuesday, June 19, 2001
The Scrubbles Entertainment Weekly Cover Gallery Awards
Best Madonna Cover - "Truth or Dare" (1991)
Best "What Posessed Us To Run This Cover?" Cover - Faces to Watch: Nina Siemaszko (1992)
Best Use of Wet Clothing - Dean Cain (1996)
Best Use of a Horribly Defaced Dead Movie Star Photo - Marilyn Monroe (1992)
Best Headline - Michael Jackson (1993)
Best Unflattering Placement of Right Hand - Julianne Moore (2000)
Best Hype Job for a Sucky TV Show, Aaron Spelling Division - Models, Inc. (1994)
Best "100 Best" Issue - 100 Best Movies You've Never Heard Of (1991)
Best Cover Showing People Who Appear As If Photographed Together, But It Was Really Done In Photoshop - Scream 2 (1997)
Best Hope for the Future of Entertainment - The Teen Bust (2001)
Nifty diversion - daily Li'l Abner comic strips from 52 years ago. Via Linkalog.
Monday, June 18, 2001
I'm on a housecleaning holiday this week. So there might not be as many posts.
In one episode of "The Love Boat," Carol Brady (Florence Henderson) and Mike Brady (Robert Reed) both appear as guest stars. The catch is, they're in different subplots. They don't recognize each other, except for one brief moment when they exchange a signifigant glance. Like reincarnated souls, they seem to retain only the most fleeting memories of their past lives. I've said it before and I'll say it again: there's an undertone of horror, of pathos, in the perky world of the Pacific Princess.
- from Platforms: A Microwaved Cultural Chronicle of the '70s by Pagan Kennedy
Sunday, June 17, 2001
 Our newest cheezy thrift store find is now up for bids. It's a plastic Sunbeam electric clock - the housewifey knockoff of George Nelson's trend-setting Howard Miller clocks. And it can be yours, if the price is right!
I spent this weekend just sitting around, watching the last two DVD rentals from Netflix. They couldn't be any different, but both are highly recommended. The first was Björk's video collection, Volumen. Wow, wow, and wow. OK, "It's Oh So Quiet" may be overrated and cutesy, but "Bachelorette" is one of the weirdest things I've ever seen, "Human Behaviour" has retained its folksy power over the years, and "I Miss You" is Spumco wackiness at its peak. And that's just the highlights. All of these clips can be seen here, at Björk's own site.
The second DVD I watched was I Know Where I'm Going!, a 1945 British comedy/romance about a woman (played by Wendy Hiller) travelling to her own wedding to a wealthy industrialist. Unexpectedly, she gets waylaid on a tiny Scottish isle and becomes entwined in the lives of the simple folk who live there. Very low-key and charming, and Criterion's DVD is overflowing with their usual, classy extras.
Thursday, June 14, 2001
The word "D'Oh!" gained entry into the Oxford English Dictionary. About time - that expression's been around long before Homer Simpson said it. Via boing boing.
Wednesday, June 13, 2001
Except for the odd Little Marcy record, I always avoid the scary, crappy religious albums I come across in thrift stores. I'm not sure where that was heading, but suffice to say a suitably scary looking mp3 by a religious group called The Sound Impressions has just been downloaded off this page by yours truly. Just look at their picture - this is your hometown's "Re-Elect Richard Nixon" committee, precariously perched on a man-made rocky hillside. Clothing by Abe's Polyester Emporium, smiles by Jesus.
This page has been heavy on the kitsch lately. I need some real, honest non-ironic stuff here, people.
Airline: Identity, Design, and Culture is a long overdue coffee table book subject - visuals from an earlier, more glamorous era of air travel. One magazine's review has a sampling of spreads from its pages, including this great panoramic view of a swingin' 70s first class section. I must trip on down to my favortie local bookstore to see this.
Tuesday, June 12, 2001
 This summer reruns article reminds me of how, as a TV-addicted youth, I used to actively watch out for the networks' failed pilot episodes every summer. They would always get crammed into little pockets of otherwise dead airtime with little fanfare, starring B-list performers like Joseph Bologna, Garrett Morris, and Judy Landers. Kind of pathetic, huh? Article is via the consistently good but rarely visited teevee.org.
Monday, June 11, 2001
The subject of this book review isn't so important as the reviewer - the hilarious Ann Hodgman. I've been a fan ever since the 1988 Spy magazine piece where she reviewed different brands of dog food by sampling them herself. Woof.
Sex Tales Bring Unwanted Focus to Sun City West - Who says nothing ever happens in Sun City, Arizona? I'm really surprised Chris hasn't blogged this ongoing story.
Sunday, June 10, 2001
This would probably horrify the snowboard-and-pierced-navel-lovin' folks at Mountain Dew, but their new Code Red drink tastes like ... a Shirley Temple. Cherrylicious.
The New York Times pays a visit to 70 year-old fashion model Carmen Dell'Orefice. What a fascinating woman - although she seems to harbor a lot of bitterness in looking back on her extraordinary life and career.
Saturday, June 09, 2001
Christopher's latest eBay item - a "space age" plastic ashtray. Yes, it's brown.
Friday, June 08, 2001
Daft Punk's "Digital Love" video is out - the plot thickens!
Holy crap, '80s TV Theme Supersite, where have you been all my life? This site has everything. I especially liked the Promos area, overproduced network season promotions which run the gamut from Reagan-era soft focus Americana to slick neon graphics. The Potpourri section has vintage video clips of the sedate, Katie Couric-less "Today Show", including one from my 19th birthday - October 8, 1987. There's even a page of groovy Price Is Right music cues. Wowza.
(I am a little disappointed, however, that the comedy section doesn't have the "It's a Living" theme. You remember "It's a Living", don't you? Ann Jillian and a buncha other ladies waitressing at the chi-chi Westin Bonaventure in L.A.Awesome theme song.)
Thursday, June 07, 2001
Napster's Long Haul - I'm not looking forward to this. In unveiling the new Napster later this summer, they will have trashed its main appeal - its simplicity. Are there any good alternatives out there for Mac users?
Jejune's new look is deliciously refreshing!
"They Ate His Genitals!" - a fun look at Italian Sex/Horror films.
Wednesday, June 06, 2001
[Dick] Clark divested the Twist of all its sexual connotations, its essential blackness, and made it safe for white, suburban teenagers. A new version was recorded by a pale-skinned black man called Chubby Checker (whose name was a jokey dig at Fats Domino) for a label, Cameo-Parkway, in which Dick Clark happened to have a financial interest. Clark promoted this new version of "The Twist" on Bandstand, where Checker explained to the audience exactly how it was done: "Just imagine you're wiping your bottom with a towel as you get out of the shower and putting out a cigarette with both feet." White dancers, claiming they'd originated it, demonstrated how the dance was done. Checker was soon #1 in the Hot 100.
- From Last Night a DJ Saved My Life: A History of the DJ by Bill Brewster and Frank Broughton, a mucho interesting book I'm currently working on.
Tuesday, June 05, 2001
Nice piece on the particular joys of the newspaper obituaries section. My sentiments exactly.
Gee, did Sony really create a fake movie critic to fawn over its own movies? What a friggin' shock.
 I was looking online for an old commercial for Tobor, a toy I played with as a tyke. Using a remote clicker, you could make it spin around and change directions. Yes, folks, it was basically The Clapper attatched to a plastic robot. Kids of 1981 were easily entertained, weren't they?
The Tobor ad was never found, but I did come across the Yesterdayland Commercial Corner in the hunting process. Old toy commercials give me a sugar rush, even if these ones were made too early ('60s) to personally get nostalgic about. Now I want an Ice Bird.
Monday, June 04, 2001
New season, new mix CD - Is there a stain on Mai Tai? This is going out to Max, Sophie and anybody else with adventuresome ears who wants a trade. Email me if you're game.
Three songs that almost made it onto the mix CD, but didn't: "Glory Box" by Portishead, "Mi Novel Autobiografica" by Le Mans, and "I'm Gonna Let My Heart Do the Walking" by the Supremes.
Since this page desperately needs a pretty picture, here's a Mexico travel banner design I'm working on at my job. Wish you were here.
Saturday, June 02, 2001
In a rare burst of synergistic activity, both Best of Show and part of the Crufts Dog Competition have been viewed within the last 24 hours. I was quite entertained by the standouts of both; Catherine O'Hara in the former, and hearing prim English people repeatedly say "bitch" in the latter.
Friday, June 01, 2001
Makin' Bacon is a long, thoughtful piece (found via Feed) about the controversies involving Seattle's public art project "Pigs On Parade". I have a keen interest in these things, which began in the U.S. with Chicago's "Cows on Parade" in 1999. Every major city has since done a version of it; Phoenix tried one last year with crude, bent metal chairs. A noble endeavor, sure, but they ended up looking so incredibly ugly and cheap looking. Overall, it's a nice concept (if done well), but the corporate sponsorship thing really bothers me. The worst aspect is that they try to render public art into something cute and ready-made for the masses, which it shouldn't be. They need a subversive, clever artist to mix things up, as one Chicagoan did with "Cow Pies on Parade".
Would you drink something called Water Salad? The Japanese apparently would. Looks like a harmless, V8-like drink - but something about the combination of the words "water" and "salad" sounds unappetizing.
Salon eulogized the downfall of digital music today. Mighty depressing.
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