2012: A Look Back

The PopCulteer
December 30, 2011

It's time for our annual look back at the year to come. Remember all the really weird stuff that happened in 2012? Here's PopCult's month-by-month rundown of all the things that led up to the end of the world:

January:

In early January the political world was stunned when the Iowa caucus, held to chose the Republican candidate for president, was won by a previously-unknown candidate. The day after the caucus, it was revealed that the mystery man was, in fact, a ceramic statue of Ronald McDonald, re-painted to look sort of like the late Dennis Hopper.

Following this revelation, the statue placed no higher than third in any of the remaining primaries or caucuses before dropping out of the race for the Republican nomination for president in mid-March.

Monday Morning Art: Shapes

We end our year of Monday Morning Art with a digital abstract called "Shapes." As usual, click it to see a bigger version. Monday Morning Art will contnue into the new year, hopefully with stuff that wasn't cranked out in half an hour right before bedtime on Christmas night.

Merry Christmas From PopCult And RFC

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As we do every Christmas since we made this clip, we bring you Radio Free Charleston Big Shot and Resident Diva, Melanie Larch, performing "Ave Maria," live from the fifth floor fire escape outside LiveMix Studio. We send glad tidings and our sincere wish that our readers have a happy, joyful and peaceful holiday.

Our non-readers can fend for themselves.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Time Is Here

Once more, with feeling, it's this year's PopCult/Radio Free Charleston Christmas Treat...

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Living On Borrowed Timeline

The PopCulteer
December 23, 2011

Beating Facebook's Timeline

Well, here we are, December 23, and what is everybody talking about? The new Facebook Timeline, of course. Facebook, in their never-ending quest to extract more marketable personal data from their users is finally foisting upon the public their latest "upgrade", the Timeline.

If you haven't seen it yet, the Timeline allows people to personalize their profile page with a big cover photo which can be quite nice and is a very attractive feature. In exchange for this very attractive feature, Facebook has removed previously simple options for privacy, thrusting some of your information into the public domain and making other information, which you could previously restrict with a single click, so complicated that a prolific Facebook user could be faced with weeks of clicking three to seven times to remove each individual item that they do not want on their "Timeline."

PopCult Gift Guide Day 10: The Salvage Yard

Today we wrap up the PopCult Gift Guide with a visit to Charleston's Mecca of Action Fashion and  Kar Kulture, The Salvage Yard, located on the second floor of Charleston Town Center.You may know The Salvage Yard as the official haberdashers of Radio Free Charleston.

In addition to carrying a really cool line of Kulture apparel by Fatal, King Kerosin, and W.A.R. (We All Ride) clothing, The Salvage Yard also gets new designs each week from Sullen Clothing.

You'll also find some cool videos, automotive jewelry, headwear and accessories, as well as an elite collection of fine rockabilly music. You'll also find some really cool jewelry and art produced by local designers.

In fact, the store sports a spiffy new logo created by none other than Mark Wolfe Design.

In case you have a Hot Rodder on your Christmas list, you can't go wrong with The Salvage Yard and if you don't know exactly what to get, I'm assured that gift certificates are available. The Salvage Yard is open Monday through Saturday from 10 AM to 9 PM and Sunday from 12:30 PM to 6 PM. Check out their website or call them at (304) 419-9273 for more details.

This concludes the 2011 PopCult Gift Guide. Check back tomorrow for The PopCulteer.

PopCult Gift Guide Day 9: PIZZA!

Today the PopCult Gift Guide recommends one of the most loverly and sublime gifts that you can give. We are recommending that you give the gift of pizza. There are several fine local establishments that offer their own unique takes on pizza, God's anointed food.

If your tastes lean toward the gourmet, you can try Lola's in South Hills or Pies and Pints on Capitol Street.

For a traditional New York style pizzeria experience, there's Graziano's on Capitol Street (with other locations in Dunbar and South Charleston).

Just north of Charleston off the Mink Shoals exit (across Route 119 from Harding's Family Restaurant), you will find Barone Brothers Pizza, with a different take on the New York style and their own delicious recipe for sauce and dough.

Late night pizza fanatics can head to downtown Charleston, where the Slyce Pizza Company is open well into the wee hours. They have yet another distinctive and wonderful recipe and offer a wide array of fresh toppings. Spinach on a pizza with tomato sauce is a PopCult favorite.

The wonderful thing about giving pizza as a gift is that you can either round up your friend and take them out for a wonderful social dining experience or, with most of the pizzerias listed, you can treat them to a gift certificate so that they might be able to descend at will and nom to their heart's desire.

You can never go wrong with pizza.

PopCult Gift Guide Day 8: Kenneth Brian Band "Welcome To Alabama"

Today's gift guide pick is "Welcome To Alabama," the debut album from frequent guests of The Empty Glass and The Boulevard Tavern, The Kenneth Brian Band.

This album, available anywhere CDs are sold, features Charleston's Travis Stephens, Brian's bandmate, on harmony vocals and rhythm guitar is a primer on the New South, with a modern fusion of blues, outlaw county, and just enough roots-rock energy to warm the hearts of any Southern Man. Produced by the legendary Johnny Sandlin (Allman Bros. Band), the album features an impressive line-up of Southern music-makers including David Hood, Randall Bramblett, Bonnie Bramlett, Jason Isbell, and more.

Standout tracks include the slow groove, "Last Call,"which features guest vocals by Lillie Mae Rische, the crunchy rock tune, "Tonight We Ride," the tender "Cry To The Dark," and the catchy title track.

The playing and vocals are near perfect throughout, and the production well serves Brian's skillful songwriting. Also of note are the guest vocals by Bonnie Bramlett on the album's sole cover tune, Dicky Bett's "Nothing You Can Do."

This CD is the perfect gift for any country music fan, alt-country afficianado or roots-rock enthusiast on your Christmas list. "Welcome To Alabama" is pure Americana gold.

PopCult Gift Guide Day 7: Books from Woodland Press

In today's PopCult Gift Guide, we recommend four books published by the West Virginia publishing powerhouse, Woodland Press. You can find Woodland Press books at both local locations of Drug Emporium, both Charleston locations of Books-A-Million, and Taylor Books. If you know of any other locations selling them, feel free to mention them in our comments.

Woodland Press is a West Virginia based company publishing books by local talents and covering themes close to the heart of the Mountain State. But don't think that this is some sort of vanity press. These are world class literary works.

Their latest books are "Shadows and Mountains" by Jessie Grayson and Ellen Thompson McCloud

Glimpse beyond the stunning beauty of Appalachia into what hides beneath. Allow these stories to guide you down spooky hollow roads and deep into the mysterious mountains within its dark heart, where monsters, mayhem and madness abound and things are never exactly as they seem.

Monday Morning Art: Batgirl

Your loyal PopCult blogger missed his first edition of Dr, Sketchy's last night I was really looking forward to it, but on arriving home after a fun weekend trip, I found myself exhausted and having to deal with accumulated assignments from three days away from email.

However, last night's theme was "Gotham City Sirens," and in that spirit, I present a digitally-assaulted image swiped mercilessly from the website of TV's Batgirl, Yvonne Craig. Go buy an autographed photo from the pretty lady, won't you? And click the image to see it larger.

Sunday Evening Video: The 2011 RFC Christmas Treat

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Tonight, PopCult's Sunday Evening Video is the 2011 Radio Free Charleston Christmas Treat.  It's a special impromptu video, shot last Wednesday night at The Blue Parrot.  Prank Monkey, Johnny Compton, Jamie Skeens, and Mike Vandergriff host the electric jam sessions every Wednesday at the Parrot and they learned a special, heartwarming Christmas hymn just for the holiday season.  You'll hear this tender lullaby in this video, shot on the fly by Melanie Larch and Rudy Panucci.  Listen carefully at the beginning of the video and you'll hear Rudy beckoning Melanie to join in.  Merry Christmas, everyone, and don't forget to tip your bartender!

The Gift Guide Day Six at Collage, A Hot Weekend Show And ArtWalk In Photos

The PopCulteer
December 16, 2011

PopCult Gift Guide Day Six: Coolness From Collage

Yesterday in the Gift Guide, we suggested that you support local artists by frequenting the galleries that participate in ArtWalk. Today, we're going to focus at another outlet for local artists, Charleston's newest boutique of funky coolness, Collage, located at 805 Quarrier Street.

The dream and brainchild of artist Jamie Miller, Collage features a quirky assortment of cool, vintage clothing and jewelry, mixed with new artwork and creations by area artists like

On the left, you see fine Mountain State stemware created by Vasilia Scouras. You can find all sorts of nifty little treats and gift items at Collage and if you don't trust your own tastes, you can always pick up a gift certificate so that the special person on your list will have the joy of opening a really nifty envelope on Christmas Day.

Collage is open Tuesday through Saturday, 11 AM to 6 PM. Call 304-541-0778 for more details and visit their website. Collage is Charleston's newest shopping destination for handmade art, jewelry, and vintage/altered clothing by local and national artisans.

New RFC With Sasha Colette And More!

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We have a great new episode of Radio Free Charleston this week. Production notes are here.

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Do Your Bit To Make Movie History

It's fundraiser time for PORKCHOPP3D tonight at The Empty Glass. Bring a donation of a toy or canned goods and save half the cover charge. Help complete the trilogy.

PopCult Gift Guide Day Five: Local Art

Today's gift suggestion is local art. ArtWalk in downtown Charleston takes place this evening and you will have a great opportunity to visit all the local galleries and find that special objet d'art that you need for that hard to buy for person on your Christmas list. You can drop a ton of money on an original painting, or you might pick up a calendar or notecards, all featuring artwork created by the people who live in the lovely Kanawha Valley.

Among the cool items you might want to look at are calendars featuring the photography of Clayton Spangler, available at Art Emporium; antique bits of coolness at The Purple Moon and Stray Dog Antiques; hand-blown glass ornaments at Visions Day Spa; pottery by Eric Pardue and others at Taylor Books Annex Gallery; and a wide assortment of nifty artworks at Studio 1013 and Gallery 11. The possibilities are endless!

PopCult Gift Guide Day Four: Yoe Books

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If you're a regular reader of PopCult, you probably know I'm a big fan of comics historian Craig Yoe. In addition to about a million other comic and cartoon related things, Craig has released a steady stream of beautifully-assembled historical comic book archives. Today, we're going to look at five of the niftier recent tomes of Craig's that I haven't previously plugged in PopCult. These books can be found almost anywhere books are sold and if they're not in stock, you can probably order them from Taylor Books in time for Christmas.

First up, we have "The Carl Barks Big Book of Barney Bear." Carl Barks is a comic book legend, known primarily as the creator of the very best Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge comics. While Barks made his reputation as "the good duck artist" for Walt Disney, he did lesser-known, but equally brilliant comic books starring the MGM cartoon character, Barney Bear. "The Carl Barks Big Book of Barney Bear" collects the extremely rare stories in a deluxe, full color hardcover for the very first time. It's a fabulous collection of rarely seen work by a comic book legend.

(ISBN-10:1600109292)

PopCult Gift Guide Day 3: Rad Music

Today's entry in the PopCult Gift Guide is "Naked Souls," a brand new CD by Parkersburg's John Radcliff, a frequent guest on Radio Free Charleston and an old friend.Simply put, "Naked Souls"is an exquisite album, starting with the McCartney-esque "RocknRolla" and ending with the ultra-catchy "It's Not The End." Rad's album is almost like the second coming of XTC's "Skylarking." I mean that as very high praise indeed.

The ten songs that make up this CD are finely crafted musical treats, with catchy melodies and clever lyrics. Radcliff's quirky sense of humor is on display throughout, particularly in the song "My Plastic Lover," which is about exactly what you think it is. Another highlight is the infectiously pseudo-optimistic "It Might Work Out."

Sasha Colette, Trielement, Jordan Andrew Jefferson And More In The RFC Holiday Extravaganza!

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That's Radio Free Charleston 149, "Shredd's Pizzeria Shirt," at the top of this post, and it's an early Christmas present, loaded with special gifts for our fans. We are proud to present a World Premiere music video by Sasha Colette, "Rock of Ages," plus we have a music video by Jordan Andrew Jefferson, the RFC debut of a new band, Trielement, and we flashback to a special Christmas tune performed by RFC's resident Diva, Melanie Larch and The Diablo Blues Band. We also have two trailers for special projects and we meet Hasbro!

PopCult Gift Guide Day Two: Razor Sharp DVDs

Homegrown Horror

Out second item in the PopCult Gift Guide features film work of Eamon Hardiman on DVD or Blu Ray. His most recent movie, "Porkchops," a film in which yours truly can be seen briefly sans hat, is on sale for a short time directly from Razor Sharp Studios, for a mere seven bucks (plus shippping) or ten dollars on Blu Ray.

"Porkchops" the first-ever sequel to a West Virginia-made film, tells the story of the legendary Pig-masked serial slasher, Porkchop, who mows down innocent (and not-so-innocent) victims left and right. With a lower budget and a higher sense of fun than your typical slasher movie, "Porkchops" offers just the right mix of blood, gore, boobs and cleverness to make for a fun viewing experience for the adult devotee of fine slashercentric entertainment.

If you're curious, but not yet sold, check out the trailer for "Porkchops" on RFC 149, coming to PopCult Monday evening. Completists can also find the original movie "Porkchop" from Razor Sharp Studios, too.

The PopCult Gift Guide will continue on weekdays until December 22. Check back every day for suggestions of Pop Culture gifts for the ultra-hip, or maybe just nerdy, person on your shopping list. Also good for disaffected loners!

Monday Morning Art: Dr. Sketchy's Redux

Today's art is from last month's edition of Dr. Sketchy's Anti-Art show. This is a digital pastel sketch of Pepper Fandango and Kitty Killton. This coming Sunday Dr. Sketchy invades Lost Legion Games and Comics in South Charlestn (the new location on D Street). It'll be a night of "Gotham City Sirens" Starring models dressed as three caped (or undraped) crusaders. It's Sunday night starting at 7 PM. Admission is eight bucks in advance, ten dollars at the door.

Also, later tonight check back in PopCult for RFC 149 with a world premeire video by Sasha Colette, plus music by Trielement, Jordan Andrew Jefferson and Melanie Larch with The Diablo Blues Band. You'll also see trailers for the DVD "Porkchops" and the graphic novel, "Carbon."

Sunday Evening Video: Improv At GW

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This Thursday you can oin GW's Improv Comedy Troupe "Batteries Not Included" for an evening of improvisational comedy! Admission is free, but donations are accepted. Starring Sabah Ahmed, Louis McQuade, Michael Tighe, Nathan Thomas, Caitlin Moore, Mariah Plante, Taylor Shaw, Austin Susman, Jacob McGloughlin, Madison Riffe, and Gabe Conley. Hosted by everyone's favorite GW Freshman Honors English Teacher Adam "Crazy Legs" Jones!

It's at George Washington High School from 6:30 Pm to 9:30 PM, and it's your chance to check out some of the area's best young talent, including several CYAC vets.

 

The PopCult Gift Guide Kicks Off, Plus WV Indie Filmmakers Fundraising

The PopCulteer
December 9, 2011

This week's PopCulteer sees the beginning of our annual PopCult gift guide. For the next two weeks you can hit up this blog for a daily gift recommendation. We'll point you to books, CDs, toys, and all sorts of bizarre novelty items, all designed to thrill and delight the Pop Culture devotee on your Christmas list. We've also got several local fundraising efforts to tell you about, so let's get on with it...

The PopCult Gift Guide Day One:
Mail-Order Mysteries
by Kirk DeMarais

There are some people who believe that, when you die, every question that you've ever had in your life will be answered. Thanks to Kirk DeMarais you won't have to wait that long for answers to some of the most pressing questions.

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Mail-Order Mysteries is a pretty comprehensive look at all the stuff they used to sell in cheesy ads in comic books. DeMarais has spent years scouring eBay to track down all the cheap, crappy toys, bodybuilding and karate books, rubber masks and other dubious wonders that were so tempting to kids who didn't know any better way back then.

Of course, when you were a kid, you didn't have enough money to send seven bucks in so that you could buy a Nuclear Submarine. Hell, it was tough to scrape up a dollar for a "Monster Size Monster." If you asked your folks they'd tell you it was a rip-off and say "no."

Admit it, since then you've been wondering. How different would your life have been if only you had a six-foot tall Frankenstein? Would ordering from the Johnson Smith catalog make you the coolest kid in school? Would you be wealthy now if you'd been able to get "1,001 Things Free?" Could you have taken a Sea Monkey to the prom?

Monday Morning Art: Evolution of a Tree

This week's Monday morning Art is a digital painting of a Christmas tree. It didn't really start out that way. You can click on the above image to see it larger. After the jump you can see the backwards evolution of how we wound up with this finished image after starting with a random doodle.

Sunday Evening Video: Christmas Toy Parade

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This month in Sunday Evening Videos we're looking back at random and offbeat Christmas memories. This week we're looking back at a shocking holiday toy story. Toy kids say the darnedest things!

What A Weekend

The PopCulteer
December 2, 2011

A Monster Weekend Approacheth

I always hear people complain about how there's nothing to do in Charleston. I think my new stock reaction to that statement will be a swift punch in the face. This weekend in particular, there are so many cool things going on in and around town that it would take a team of bloggers just to make a token appearance at all of them.

This is truly an embarrassment of riches for our smallish metropolis. This week's PopCulteer is devoted to detailing three whirlwind days in Charleston, West Virginia.

Friday

The Contemporary Youth Arts Company will present the final weekend of its 15th annual production of the Scarpelli-Kehde rock opera MARY at 8 pm Friday and Saturday at the WVSU Capitol Center, 123 Summers Street, Charleston.