Archive for the 'Kitsch' Category

White Elephant Blogging: Follow That Bird

April 1st, 2008

I have to admit that my maiden voyage into the second annual White Elephant Film Blogathon was approached with some trepidation. What kind of cinematic turd are they gonna hand me? Then I found out the movie I was to write about was Sesame Street Presents: Follow That Bird — hey, that’s not so bad. […]

New Mix: The Mr. Blackwell Show

February 15th, 2008

Nowadays he might be dimly known for his bitchy “Worst Dressed” lists, but back in the ’60s Richard Blackwell had his own fashion line for plus-sized women and society matrons desiring a Beverly Hills sophisticated-yet-casual look. The gowns (and, yes, it was mostly gowns) he created had this luxe “swanky chic” thing going on — […]

Forever My Girl

January 29th, 2008

Long, long ago I can remember seeing a clip on Entertainment Tonight of a teenage Paula Abdul frolicking in some godforsaken low-budget musical set in a high school cafeteria. She looked dorky, the song was dorky, and the kitsch gods were smiling down on me. Eighteen-odd years later, I revisited it — and, yeah, it’s […]

Sweet Chewy Nostalgia

October 16th, 2007

Halloween candy flashback time! The temporarily renamed Neato Ghoulsville writes about Wrapples, the 1970s product for lazy people who crave a quick and easy caramel apple. I remember Wrapples really well — my father was a salesman for Kraft Foods back then, so we had a lot of them around the house. I used to […]

Ernö Rubik’s Breakfast Nook

September 18th, 2007

I kind of like this multicolored floor — real kicky! And you can’t go wrong with Eero Saarinen furnishings. This is actually one of the more subtle interiors from the Your Swingin’ Pad set, assembled by flickr user Miss Retro Modern (via Eye of the Goof).

Things to Watch While Sick

September 5th, 2007

Yesterday I came down with a bout of sickness — runs, fever, headaches, icky feelings in my gut. I’m feeling much better now, but have you ever noticed that whenever you’re sick and stuck in front of the TV you’ll pretty much watch anything? Well, almost anything — old episodes of Sesame Street were too […]

Ethel Smith’s Busy Fingers

July 31st, 2007

Enjoy Ethel Smith performing her signature song “Tico Tico” in the Esther Williams musical Bathing Beauty (taken off an old VHS tape, apparently). I love Ethel Smith. There’s something about the combo of her hyperactive hands and the cheesy “roller rink” sounds emanating from her Hammond organ that is so weirdly compelling. I couldn’t locate […]

Doo What?

June 23rd, 2007

The Washington Post has a small article on the beachside ’50s-’60s motel revival in the Wildwoods section of New Jersey. The locals call this architectural style “Doo Wop,” which bugs me since Doo Wop is a musical style and I always thought “Googie” is the accepted term for that kinda stuff. The Wikipedia entry for […]

Getting Gay with Kids Is Here

June 14th, 2007

Another embedded video to share because I’m too lazy to write anything substantial, I know, but this one’s a real kitschy gem. Back in 1986, NBC celebrated its 60th anniversary with an all-star special which somehow escaped my notice back then. The clip below showcases Nell Carter, Bea Arthur and others (Punky Brewster!) singing “Family” […]

Cheap Thrill: Joan Crawford on The Sixth Sense

June 4th, 2007

Here at Chez Scrubbles we’ve been getting a few jollies from a new channel that popped up on our DirecTV lineup earlier this year — Chiller. Chiller broadcasts lots of heavily edited ’80s vintage fright flicks, but constant repeats of Friday the 13th: The Series, Tales from the Crypt and shows of that ilk form […]

Mold-y Oldies

May 1st, 2007

Nicely photographed vintage plastic items from the collection of Brazilian designer and flickr user Gerson Lessa. Gotta show this to the s.o., curator of PlasticLiving.com. If it was poured into a mold, he loves it.
Via the newly WordPressed Robot Action Boy.

Bollywood by Ear

April 25th, 2007

Swapatorium shares a few nuggets from Musical Highlights from R.K. Films, an LP which appears to be an early compilation of Indian film music for the English-speaking audience. Coincidentally, I was in the mood for some cool Bollywood music this month, so I used some of my eMusic credits to download 2005’s Bollywood: An Anthology […]

Ladies in Waiting

March 21st, 2007

Just spotted that DVD Savant has an item about Warner Home Video readying a series of Cult Camp Classics DVD boxes for a June 26th release. All four sets look tantalizingly good, but the one that had me really jazzed was the “Women In Peril” one containing latter-day vehicles for two aging movie queens (Joan […]