Mr Karloff Tortures a Lighter

As a kid, I kept an eye out for monsters.

In 1968, King Boris Karloff made an ad for Ronco lighters.

Oh, the torture!

Welcome to Blog-o-ween!

Our first post is a new music compilation for this year.

Here is the download link:  http://www.megaupload.com/?d=NV7FMVAF

And here's the tracklist:

1 Halloween Sale Goodwill 0:59

2 Attack Of The Fifty Foot Woman The
Tubes 4:25
3 It's a Nerdy Halloween Herbert Midgley 2:42
4 Frankie-Stein Robbie Robison 2:58
5 This Is Halloween Panic! At the Disco 3:27
6 I Only Have Eyes for You Spike Jones 3:26
7 Horray For Horrorwood Frankenstein Drag Queens 2:18
8 It's Halloween Greg Conley 3:07
9 Zombie Dance The Cramps 1:51
10 Mummy Beach Hot Lava 2:59
11 Love Song For A Vampire Annie Lennox 4:12
12 Creature with the Atom Brain JezusFactory 2:40
13 Saturday Evening Ghost Frankie Stein and His Ghouls 2:01
14 Halloween Song Evangelicals 2:15
15 Mummy Walk Contrails 2:36
16 Main Theme Dracula Twins 1:32
17 Vincent Price Zombina & the Skeletones 2:19
18 Monster Mash Misfits 2:34
19 Kids Halloween 10/30/2008 ASK U 1:14
20 Halloween Linda Book 2:52
21 Feed My Frankenstein Alice Cooper 4:40
22 Dead Man's Curve Jan & Dean 2:25
23 Creature from Outer Space Big Eyed Beans from Venus 3:05
24 Bo Meets the Monster Bo Diddley 3:03
25 TV Theme Gigantor 0:52
26 Frankenstein Stomp Count Lorry & The Biters 2:01
27 The Skeleton In The Closet Louis Armstrong 3:08
28 Frankenstein Twist The Crystals 2:53
29 Frankenstein Meets The Beetles Jekyll & Hyde 1:51

 
Cover and disc art are included.  Please let me know what you think!
 
See you tomorrow.

A Wonderful Birthday Memory

On September 30, 1966, I turned 10 years old.

I was a huge fan of TV spies, specifically The Man (and Girl) from U.N.C.L.E. .

So when my birthday that year was on a Friday, the same night of the week that Man from U.N.C.L.E. was on TV, my wonderful mother had an inspiration.

I'd have an U.N.C.L.E. birthday party!

We had about six kids over (all boys, of course) and we tore up the house and ran around outside playing spies.  I remember one guy ran too close to the rose bush on the side of the house and nearly scratched his eye.

And, of course, at 7:30PM we watched the episode scheduled, "The Galatea Affair."

Here is the invitation Mom made and sent out. The invites were made of black construction paper. The U.N.C.L.E. logo was drawn by Mom in WHITE INK on the front.

She carefully typed the interior message with REVERSED CARBON PAPER so that you would have to hold it up to a mirror to read it.

I love my mom!


PS see you October 1st for BLOG-O-WEEN!

Camp Out in Your Living Room!

Yes, with this Frontier Cabin you could do that.

It was made out of "Dupont Polyethelene," which makes me think it was a pre-printed sheet of rubber meant to be draped over a card table.

Does anybody know more about it?

Like many of the other ads, this one is from a 1961 issue of Superboy.

Mothman Still Puzzles

As you probably know, the 2002 film The Mothman Prophecies was "based on true events" that happened in 1967 in Point Pleasant, West Virginia.

John Keel, who was a newspaperman at the time, investigated the reports of a strange flying creature and wrote a book from which the movie arose.

The film's character called Alexander Leek, a writer interviewed by Richard Gere's John Klein, more or less represents Keel's viewpoint -- the more attention you pay to the paranormal, the more attention it may pay to you.

And you shouldn't really desire that.

Here are two books by Jeff Wamsley, one of the original witnesses from 1967.

Oftentimes, investigations into the Great Garuda (as Keel called it -- look it up!) veer off into other lands of fancy.

A case in point is any of the series of books entitled The Mothman's Photographer.

See you again soon, and stay tuned for Blog-o-Ween, with a post-a-day in October!

A Treasure Chest of Fun

More mail-order offers from 1961.

Take your pick from foaming sugar, hot candy, atomic smoke bomb, and -- don't forget -- you too can be tough!

Me, I was so tough in the 4th grade that 2nd-graders hit me.

What Was His Real Name?

Most everybody who read comics in the 1950s and 1960s will remember Charles Atlas, the guy who wouldn't take sand in his face.


Angelo Siciliano was his birth name, by the way.  And they still sell exercise programs for 97-pound weaklings.

My problem is, I'm a 197-pound weakling!

This ad is from Superboy 86, cover-dated January, 1961.

Speaking of the Ending of Watchmen . . .

This image was generated on a Commodore 64 graphics program and was intended at the time to be a possible front page for the New Frontiersman that was never printed, because New York instead had bodies beyond our wildest imaginings.

What do you think?

Welcome to Kylie

If you put Julie and Kyle together, what do you get?

KYLIE, of course!

Kylie Jean Kramer, our second grandchild, was born on Friday at 2:30PM.  She was 21 inches long and 8lb, 6oz.

Yes, she's a big one, especially considering that Julie is about 5 foot three and about 105 lbs, normally.

Jazra is happy to be a big sister, and for right now our feelings are both tired and thankful.

Mashup - Beatles and Superman?

Here's a photo of John Lennon in a Superman shirt from Roger Sormo, Woblog, http://wogew.blogspot.com/ , subtitled "All Things Beatle."

His post for yesterday will tell you a lot more -- and show you too!

He's also listed in the Links section to the right.  Visit Roger often!

How Did Watchmen End Again?

In Watchmen: The Art of the Film by Peter Aperlo, there's a huge amount of sketches and pre-planning art.

"Among My Souvenirs" -- that's a song reference -- are three pages drawn by Dave Gibbons that answer the musical question:

What would the comic look like, if it had the same climactic "joke" by Adrian Veidt as depicted in the film?

Here is the answer ...

Well, it looks like ol' Ostermann is due for a little scapegoating . . .

See you again soon!

RorschWEEK 10

Well, here is the final Rorschach blot in the series.

What do you think?

This has been silly, but I trust that this experience hasn't put you off flying.  Statistically, it's ....

Whoops, wrong disclaimer!

I also hope that this image is the closest you get to French crabs.



We'll see you after the weekend with some alternate pages from Watchmen.

RorschWEEK Number 9

Now, the term "cretin" is purely a generic term and no insult to any cretin, living or dead, is implied.

Unless you know somebody who looks like this.

If so, tell them not to worry, because the President has promised to take care of EVERYBODY.  Especially those who need dental work.

Our big, flamin' (or foolish) finale to the Rorscach Self-Inspection Series will be the TRUTH behind this image, Plaat x.

Sometimes I wonder if the blots are deliberately faded-looking to encourage your subconscious to dive in there and "fill in" some blanks.

After the end of RorschWEEK, we'll continue in the blotty spirit by showing you three unseen pages from an alternate ending of Watchmen, by illo-guy Dave Gibbons, himself.

RorschWEEK Number 8

You Know, I don;t see what's so complicatedc about the whole "seeing things" in the Rorshach blots.

Doesn't everybody see an elephant, Iowa, a mountain lion, and Australia?

Of course, I could understand if you were reminded of Montana ...

Here's a preview of the unadorned Rorshach Plaat ix so that you can start the propellors on your thinking caps a-spinnin'.

You know, do I sense a return of the dancing poodles in the top portion of Plaat ix?

Naaahh ...

RorschWEEK Number 7

Surely you could see this one coming!

When else could Rorschach Plaat vii remind ANYBODY of?

Well, OK, maybe a pan of pork chops ...

Now, our next image, Rorschach's Plate viii, may seem mysterious, but in fact you don't have to make it hard on yourself to come up with an idea.

Think about it for a day or so...

RorschWEEK Number 6

Here is another macro-image.

An easy one, eh?

The Rorschach book said that oftentimes folks would "see" a flayed animal in this inkblot.

Of course, since the Rorschach blot test came around BEFORE Star Trek, it's always possible that Matt Jefferies, or whoever designed the original Klingon ship, had seen a few inkblots and decided to incorporate one!

In a few days, we'll see what you think about "Plaat vii."  View the original below.  It may remind you of one of those "do you see the vase or the faces" ads in the back of SAGA magazine, but I think you'll agree with me in a few days, that my take is more dead-on.

And, no, "dead-on" was not a clue.

RorschWEEK Number 5

OK, this is another easy one.  But on the other hand, you could consider it a two-fer!

If you've seen the wonderfully creepy movie The Mothman Prophecies, or are simply an amazed observer of Our Haunted Planet (to steal a phrase from John Keel), you've heard of Mothman.

This image of Mothman is actually one of the earliest eyewitness depictions.

Now, First Impression Number Two (is that possible?) is simply that the Rorschach V plate is pretty reminiscent of Arthur, longsuffering sidekick to The Tick.

Don't tell me you don't see it too!

Now, our little what-do-you-see for next time is Rorschach Plate VI, as seen on the left side.  You don't get to say it looks like Bill the Cat!

Until next time, ACK! or is it SPOON!

RorschWEEK Number 4

This time, it's EASY to tell the picture in the Rorschach blot.  Even someone who doesn't read comic books will recognize a bat, huh?

Although, I must admit, if you imagined a wild boar's head split down-the-middle like the rapist's pooch in WATCHMEN, I could understand that too.

But where are the "hidden" pictures that I keep hearing about?

Next post, another EASY ONE.  It's Mr Barlow the vampire from the original Salem's Lot miniseries, with only his hands peeking out from between two curtains.

No? then what do YOU see?!?!?

RorschWEEK Number 3

OK, this is going to be longer than a week, until we share all the workings of my benighted little brain, at least in regards to the infamous set of Rorschach images.  They're infamous not only because they were the inspiration for Alan Moore's character, but because they were DELIBERATELY intended to provoke the viewer to see "things" whose mentioning would make the viewer seem deeply disturbed, to tne analyst well-trained in their use.

Don't forget, you can't have "analysis" without "anal."

Here is Rorschach blot number three.  Look deeply at it and decide what you see in the image.

Then see if you don't agree with me that, at first glance, Rorschach blot number 3 reminds you of:

some tribal folks who've been shopping for new purses!

Until next time, ruminate on Rorschach blot number four.  What do you see?

(Surely not Wonder Warthog!?!)

RorschWEEK Number 2

Well, by now you should not have expected profundity.

If you knew we had a seven-year-old kid in the house, then you might have expected something like this.

Also, if you had known in advance the Rorschach blot.

So, starting now, I'll show you the ORIGINAL blot for our next post so that you can discover your own twisty little subconscious imagery!

Here is Rorschach Blot "Plaat III" (Plate 3 for unGerman-types).