disco sucks.

German vampire novelty track, Soul Dracula by Hot Blood (1977) off the album Disco Dracula.

circle.

chariots of the gods.

Chariots of the Gods is a 1970 German documentary about extra-terrestrial impact on early human life and evolution. Click the link to watch it on YouTube and hear the soundtrack theme preformed by the Peter Thomas Sound Orchestra below.

Peter Thomas Sound Orchestra - Chariots of the Gods

rorschach.

coffin factory.

Czech animation short titled, Rakvickarna or Coffin Factory (1966) by director Jan Svankmajor. A surreal capatist vs. communist satire in which the director uses traditional folk puppetry to act out a battle between the Jester and the Buffoon over a live guinea pig. I'm a big fan of the tone setting opening sequence of rusted wind-up toys in an eerie drone of mechanical repetition.

at the carnival.

Screen caps of MS-DOS game At The Carnival (1989).

skull ride.

picture box.

I stumbled across this short from a BBC program designed to teach children at the elementary school level. Picture Box aired from 1969 until 1990 and featured international and often silent short films introduced by Alan Rothwell. Not sure what is more unsettling, the eerie carnival steam organ intro or the psychedelic bear head in space.

space 1999.

Selected tracks from Barry Gray's soundtrack to season one of Space: 1999 (Britain, 1975). This recording marked the end of a long line of work commissioned by producer Gerry Anderson including Fireball XL5, Thunderbirds, UFO, Joe 90, and Captain Scarlet. All worth checking out.

Title Track

Black Sun

Death's Other Dominion

wunderkind.

Rap had Illegal, pop had Michael Jackson, chess has Bobby Fisher and punk of course had J.P. Toulon... I gave my Old Skull cassette a listen today as a bit of a tribute to the pre-teen punk prodigy frontman.

✝R.I.P. J.P Toulon✝

basketball jones.

1970 animated short based on Cheech and Chong's Basketball Jones featuring Tyrone Shoelaces from the album Los Cochinos.

black mink.

Vintage Blackglama print ads.

✝Pearl Bailey 1972✝

✝Leontyne Price 1970✝

✝Lena Home 1969✝

the witch.

1980's cover of the The Witch preformed by The Fuzztones (written by The Sonics).

pasting.

My friend Chris Aslanidis came over to snap some flicks of me preaching in Parkdale.

spider about town.

holy symbols.

gimme a drinka water.

Do you ever feel like throwing a temper tantrum to song in a baby voice?

+Danny Kaye's 1958 Recording of Mommy, Gimme a Drinka Water+

la faim.

Animated cautionary tale of greed titled, Hunger (1974), produced by the National Film Board of Canada and directed by Peter Foldes.

the horror part one.

If any of you followed my old blog you might remember these scary movie reviews by Diego Bergia called, The Horror. The concept was that Diego would rate the top 5 films of a decade accompanied by a brief synopsis. His posts were really well received and a stellar guide to vintage horror watching so it was a shame when they disappeared with my previous blog. It's Diego's big one man show/ book launch tonight at Toronto's Magic Pony Gallery and I thought it fitting to put up his original post as a bit of a tribute. Enjoy it again.

One day when I was seven or eight my mom walked in while I was in bathroom and started freaking out. I was stabbing a hard-boiled egg over and over with a cocktail sword yelling "DIE!!!...DIE!!!..". It's pretty understandable why it was so uneasy to her, thinking back on it now it almost sounds serial killer. But what she didn't know is that I had just painted a Jason mask on the egg, and I was pretending to be Tommy Jarvis from the end of Friday the 13th part 4. That's all.

This is the first of five installments, I will be talking about my top 5 favorite horror movies from each decade beginning with the 60's.

-Diego

+++ The 60's +++

This is as old-school as i really like to get. I love slasher films mostly, gritty gross feeling stuff. Anything before the 1960's doesn't really do it for me.

+ Psycho + 1960
I won't be posting too many "classics" on my lists, but Psycho deserves being here. It holds up incredibly, Alfred Hitchcock was a master.
Just see it.

+ What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? + 1962
People could argue this being a horror movie, but it really gets under my skin. Bette Davis and Joan Crawford play a pair of sisters who were once child actresses. Now they're grown up share and a home together, one of them is totally insane.

+ Two Thousand Maniacs! + 1964
Hershell Gordon Lewis is the Godfather of gore. In this second installment of the Blood Trilogy, two carloads of teenagers drive through the redneck southern town of Pleasant Valley. To their surprise, there is a celebration about to begin. They stick around for the party.

+ Repulsion + 1965
Roman Polanski isn't allowed in the U.S.A. anymore. This is his first english language film, about a sexually repressed girl who slowly loses her mind over the course of a weekend, with homicidal results.

+ Night of the Living Dead + 1968
George A. Romero invented the zombie movie with this one, and pretty much set the standard for modern horror films. Slow zombies, the way they should be.

rue.

My good friend Jill Botting made this short film for a video art show I curated recently. Check out her blog: Skull Rituals.

plantasia.

Here's a little whimsical synth-pop diddy for you and your flora friends... Mort Garson's 1976 concept album, Plantasia. The record came complimentary with each Simmon Mattress purchase throughout the late 70's and accompanied an illustrated booklet on plant care.

ball player.

do the freddy.

Early 90's Memphis Wrestling promo video featuring competitor Freddy Krueger accompanied by Freddie and the Dreamers/ Robert Englund mash-up, Do the Freddy (from Freddy's Greatest Hits, 1989).

forts.

lonely wooden crosses.

fitting room follies.

A couple of weeks ago I checked out Canzine - Toronto's Largest Zine Fair and Festival of Alternative Culture at The Great Hall. The atmosphere was very much like a mosh pit and equally rank but I managed to make it out with a few finds. My favorite: Fitting Room Follies, a photo account and commentary of garments and pairings in various dressings rooms.

+selected pages+

"I'm a big nerd, thanks for supporting my stupid fat vanity."

ferrante and teicher.

American pianists Ferrante & Teicher preforming African Echos on a 1960's television special.

old monkey.

You're Bound to Look Like a Monkey When You Get Old by The Clarence Williams' Novelty Band, 1929.

venturous veg.

Scans from The Venturous Vegetables at The "Frolic Grounds" story and illustrations by T. Benjamin Faucett (1924).