The Goon

It all depends on how you feel about comics. If you're dismissive of the medium, if you think that it's all Super Guys in tights kicking each other's asses, you've been misinformed (Although I've got nothing against men in tights...at one point in life I wore tights myself. Looked pretty damn good in 'em too). Seriously, things have evolved quite a bit from the early days of Batman, although I'm still an unrepentant Batman fan...the place where great writing and great graphics meet is getting to be a pretty exciting hang.

There are some amazing people doing amazing work, and The Goon by Eric Powell is one of the best examples. Set in a weird noir universe in a 40s-like era, these stories are alternately hilarious, obscene, heartbreaking, suspenseful, offensive and exciting. Wikipedia says "The series has a distinctly paranormal slant, with the average story concerning ghosts, ghouls, skunk-apes with an unnatural hunger for pie, extra-dimensional aliens, and mad scientists." And yes, there is a good dose of ass-kicking as well. Did I mention that Powell is a fantastic artist? His art and content owe a good deal to Will Eisner's "The Spirit" Comics of the 40s, but he's ramped it WAY up both in terms of art and of story content. No, WAY up.

So, my advice is, don't you be dismissive or afraid of them there picture books. You can even call 'em Graphic Novels if it makes you feel better. But do go out and check on The Goon...if you're in my neck of the woods, hop over to Vault Of Midnight, a wonderful store, or go online (hey, you're already there!), or check your local Public Library...they may even have copies, mine did! The Goon and his psychotic pal Frankie, The Zombie Priest, Doctor Alloy and The Buzzard await you...

Stone Premonitions

A strange angel, with the head of a lizard, dances with a small orange furry alien and two beautiful nudes around a ring of power in some unnameable space. Sounds of music draw you into the circle, which reveals itself a spiral of eternal energy, spinning further and further into inner space, as your mind expands...

Then you're back on the street in your business suit wondering if it was all a dream. You're late for work! But before you rush off you look up, and there, high in the sky above you in a red balloon, you see the evil clown manipulating your marionette strings, laughing...

...It's just a taste of the vibe that many of the Stone Premonitions creations seem to inspire in me (and maybe in you too). Stone Premonitions is a Cooperative or Collective organization, officially started in 1994 but with its roots much earlier in 1974. Sometimes a record label, sometimes a radio station, always an incredible group of creative artists and musicians. The story's way too big for me to tell here, so check out their history on:
http://www.aural-innovations.com/stonepremonitions/history.html

...One of my favorite bands from the many (there's just an amazing output of music!) available is Census Of Hallucinations. Here's some unabashedly Psychedelic music with great hooks, crazy spaced-out moments, counter-cultural anarchist attitudes, fantastic musicianship, and lots of fun. But there's a LOT more besides COH. Check out the Stone Premonition discography and see:
http://www.aural-innovations.com/stonepremonitions/catalog.html

...Many of the SP recordings can be found at Stone Island Records (along with the CDs of some tosser called Beowulf Kingsley for some reason), which has a great web radio station that plays Stone Premonitions stuff all day long! Check it out here:
http://www.stoneislandrecords.com/

...Crazy cool. I'll leave you with a couple of teaser demos...have fun...

Gwar

Here's where my more intellectual, sensitive friends will flee from this blog in horror (what, Call Of Cthulu didn't do it for you already?)...my recommendation of Gwar, Insane Metal Band, Theatre Troupe, Scumdogs Of The Universe and Purveyor Of All Things Disgusting. Gwar will probably never be on NPR. Or on commercial radio. But they've been attracting and keeping (sometimes literally) rabid fans satisfied for more than 25 years! Gotta love 'em.

Gwar began in Richmond, Virginia in 1984, when Dave Brockie's band Death Piggy donned outer space monster costumes for a no-budget independent art film "Scumdogs Of The Universe" being made by Hunter Jackson and Chuck Varga. The costumes kept appearing onstage at Death Piggy shows and eventually Piggy was absorbed by the Gwar persona. Like Death Piggy, Gwar shows were both music and mini-plays, but Gwar went further and further into it, eventually creating movies and live performances that were like psychotic musicals written by very very disturbed adolescents (and I mean that in the very best possible way). After over 25 years and many personnel changes, Brockie is still in the band, in the character of Oderus Urungus, chief monster of Gwar. It's cool.

A rather complete history of the band is over on Wikipedia at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gwar#1985.E2.80.931989
and is interesting reading, if you find this kind of thing interesting! Gwar are horrible, perverse, disgusting, offensive and appealing to the lowest common denominator in humankind. I highly recommend them! For elder geeks like me who don't want to go to the show and covered with fake body effluvia, a trip to the video store is in order. "Dawn Of The Day Of The Night Of The Penguins" is a pretty good representation of their live show, and features a delightful segment in which Marilyn Mansion is flayed alive! Or the hilarious "It's Sleazy" in which Gwar's amazingly pompadoured manager Sleazy P. Martini hosts his own daytime talk show...although there's some very disturbing violence that ensues. DON'T watch this stuff with your younger kids! At least watch it yourself first. I warned ya.

Edit: I just realized that Marilyn Manson is actually flayed alive in "It's Sleazy"! My mistake. Oh well.

The Adventures Of Prince Achmed

This film was created by groundbreaking animator Lotte Reiniger, all in laborious stop motion, back in 1926. Not only is it the first animation of its kind as far as I can tell, but its detail and artistry are unbelievable. The few clips I'll post can't really give you any idea of the beautiful detail involved, I'd highly recommend renting or buying a copy and watching it on a good full-sized screen. As I said, the attention to movement, facial expression and composition make this far ahead of its time...and the shadow-puppet silhouette animation adds to the period charm. Plus, it's a rockin' tale of Magic, Love, Flying Mechanical Horses and Beautiful Women Who Turn Into Birds! Great stuff.

Don Ross

As a sometime guitarist myself, I feel I have to periodically post some of the great music being played by some of the really great players of the instrument. One you might not know of is Don Ross. He's one of those musicians who not only have the technique to do things seemingly impossible, but to make his compositions beautiful and lyrical as well. His first album of solo guitar, "Passion Session", is a series of breathtaking, gorgeous tunes that can alternately beguile you with his harmonies and melodies, or (especially for fellow guitarists) blow you away with his effortless mastery of the instrument. But enough of my yakkin'. I'll post up a few vids and let you hear it yourself.

Roadside America

When I was young (many millennia ago in the Jurassic age) my folks would take us on annual trips to visit their parents in Montana. On the way, the highway billboards would advertise amazing, magical places like Seashell City or Wall Drug or Reptile House or Mystery Spot, strange locations that I desperately wanted to visit. We would stop for these wonderful haunts all too rarely, and they were highlights in my memories of those travels (well, that and things like my Dad trying to get close-up photos of buffalo...something he found inadvisable quite quickly).

I was really pleased to find Roadside America, a website that loves the same kinds of crazy Americana that I do. It still lives on our highways, although somewhat diminished with the times...and RA also celebrates the wonderfully weird stuff that you can still find all over the US, bizarre and delightful locations like Pet Cemeteries, Giant Paul Bunyans, homemade Stonehenge's, 2-story outhouses and unlikely statues of every description. Plus many museums that must be seen to be believed.

One wonderful thing about the RA website is that it has a function that allows you to plan your trip around various wild and wacky attractions that might just make your next road excursion something really special. I mean, who doesn't want to see the Nun Doll Museum, the Giant Neon Kielbasa, the Upside Down Stove Restaurant and Bar,
the Hiawatha Statue, Mr. Chicken the Plastic-Legged Rooster, or Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum? And hey, those are only a few wonders available just here in Michigan! You better get movin'. Check out Roadside America at:
http://www.roadsideamerica.com/

The Orange Hat

In keeping with my ongoing love of really strange and wonderful indie musicians and multi-media maniacs I'd like to present The Orange Hat. The two principal guys in this organization, Christo and Zeus, have known each other and played together since high school...and look what it did to them! The Hat has been together in some form or other since 1995 or before (accounts seem to vary), and for a few years produced a crazed TV show for Atlanta Public Access Television called "The Orange Hat Hour" (only real problem there was that it was a half-hour show). I can only describe it as a demented blend of Magical Mystery Tour and The Monkees Show, but in the nicest way. I really love The Orange Hat's music, with its melding of Psychedelia, Power Pop and Indescribable Strangeness. Marvel at their website at:
http://web.me.com/christoharris/Orange_Hat/Welcome.html
...And find their CD "Pufferfish" at:
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/orangehat
...Finally, I've included some of their YouTube documentation of their music and their TV show below. Enjoy!!!