RFC 147 With Giants, Nerds, Volts, And Superheroes

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Floating at the top of this post you will find Radio Free Charleston 147, "Mighty Avengers Shirt." This installment of our webshow features music by Miniature Giant, Dual Core, Volt 9000 and Disturbing The Peace. We also have animation from Frank Panucci and other weirdness.

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Host segments were shot at a random parking lot in Kanawha City along MacCorkle Avenue. Sometimes we do things on the show for no reason. Like opening with a vintage commercial for Teaberry Gum, for instance.

Monday Morning Art: Dissonance

We kick off this week with a geometric/organic digital abstract painting called "Dissonance."  Click to see it bigger. Check back later Monday to see Radio Free Charleston newest episode, "Mighty Avengers Shirt" with music from Miniature Giant, Dual Core, Volt 9000 and Disturbing The Peace.  Look for it soon!

Sunday Evening Video: Volt 9000

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Tonight's video is "American Machine" by Volt 9000, a Toronto Industrial/Electronica musician.  This video was created by my brother, Frank Panucci a couple of years ago, and we featured it on Radio Free Charleston.  The reason we're bringing it to you tonight is that we have a brand-new collaboration between Frank and Volt 9000 on the next episode of RFC, which will be winging your way Monday. Enjoy!

Halloween Hangover, No Pants Players, Spinach Rant and The Return Of The Quarrier Diner

The PopCulteer
November 4, 2011

HallowEast Revisited

Here we are, a couple of days past dia de los muertos, and Halloween is over for another year. I have to admit, it was hard for me to get into the Halloween spirit this year. I had a bad case of Hallow-ennuin. But I did make it out to a couple of the HallowEast events, and they were loads of fun.

I brought you highlights of the ArtMares exhibit last week in The PopCulteer, but that was before the big reception on Friday with music by Tofujitsu and a special edition of Dr. Sketchy's Anti-Art Show. Later Friday night the world premiere of Eamon Hardiman's new epic motion picture, "Porkchops," took place at The Empty Glass.

Zombie Walk 2011

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The East End Zombie Walk, part of HallowEast 3 Freak Out, took place Saturday and that's the video of the event you see right up at the head of this post.  The event was loads of fun. The editing of the video, not so much.  This was supposed to be our Sunday Evening Video, but I had to deal with so many inexplicable technical glitches that it took more than two days to get this beast to fart out of my computer intact.

Many thanks to Chase Henderson for contributing some great video, and to Mark Wolfe for coming up with the idea in the first place. Kudos also to Ric Cavender of East End Main Street, and our talented crew of makeup artists.

Monday Morning Art: Happy Halloween

It's that time of the year again, folks.  Our art for today is a digital painting of Cait Cool, taken from the Dr. Sketchy's session of a couple of weeks ago. Click to see it larger. Check back with PopCult late tonight for video from Charleston's Zombie Walk.

BOO!

The PopCulteer
October 28, 2011

Halloween Weekend

Are you ready to have the crap scared out of you?

It's Halloween time, and that means that there are more things to do in town than a human possibly could.  ArtMares, a horrific art show at Kanawha Players Theater, is still going on with a big reception tonight. Come on down, partake of the free food and booze, then spend your rent money buying art.  We'll be looking at some of the ArtMares art at the end of this PopCulteer.

After that, get yourself over to The Empty Glass. You can witness the world premiere of "Porkchops," the first-ever sequel to a West Virginia-made horror movie.  I'm so enthusiastic that I'm going to quote the Facebook event page:

"We're kicking off the EMPTY GLASS HALLOWEEN HOOTENANNY WEEKEND with the premiere of our latest film PORKCHOPS. Also on the bill are the awesome horror-punk sounds of THE RENFIELDS as well as the hyper-energetic ska-pop-punk horn blasts of THE TOM MCGEES, featuring ex-members of 69 Fingers!

Monday Morning Art: Steampunk Sketchy's

Our art this week comes from a special "Steampunk" edition of Dr. Sketchy's Anti-Art show that took place in a very tiny room last Saturday night during Ccharcon at The Charleston House Ramada Inn.  Above you see a digital painting of Susie Sketchman and Elle Xombeah, and below you see another digital painting of Sarkany and Penny Maple. As always, click the images to see them larger.

Sunday Evening Videos: The Beatles Halloween

It's Halloween Season, so let's have fun with The Beatles!

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This last one is not really a Halloween clip, but the lads are wearing costumes...

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October's ArtWalk In Photos and Video

The PopCulteer
October 21, 2011

The big story at last night's ArtWalk was the triple dose of Diller at Taylor Books last night. Brad Diller was on hand, signing copies of his book of cartoons, "The Neighbors Have Two Flamingos," while his brother, Brian, and nephew, Nathan, were performing in Taylor's cafe. When the matriarch of the Diller clan, Polly Diller, showed up, the family reunion was nearly complete,

But that's not all that ArtWalk had to offer. The Charleston Ballet entered the fray with a cool exhibit, Art Emporium had a dazzling show by April Waltz, The Purple Moon offered up a room of way-cool vintage items like the one at the head of this column and the other galleries all made their mark.

We will jump into the photo essay after the "read more" link, right after this PopCult Instant Video of Brian Diller performing an old Stubby Dill classic.

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DILLERMANIA!

Brad, Brian and Nathan Diller will be at Taylor Books during ArtWalk Thursday evening. Brad will be signing copies of his book, and Brian and Nathan will be providing some great music.  We're going to re-present my recent review of Brad's book, and take a look at a 2010 episode of Radio Free Charleston featuring Brian and Nathan to remind you why you should come out to Taylor's and see what all the fuss is about!

The Neighbors Have Two Flamingos

Charleston native and cartoonist extraordinaire, Brad Diller, has released the first collection of his "Funday Morning" cartoons, "The Neighbors Have Two Flamingos." This nifty spiral-bound book collects dozens of his single-panel cartoons from his Funday Morning.com website.

Single-panel cartoons are an under-appreciated art form. With merely one drawing and one caption to create a humorous situation, the cartoonist has to stick firmly to the rule that brevity is the soul of wit. They have to combine a fresh, offbeat perspective with observations that resonate in the reader. Diller does so in a spectacular manner, with a sense of humor that skews off-kilter enough to be genuinely funny, without being so far gone that you worry about the safety of pets living in the area.

Monday Morning Art: Ghouls Night Out

Today's little bit of art is a digital painting based on a photograph taken last night at Dr. Sketchy's Anti-art show's special Halloween edition.  In this photo, Elle Xombeah, Lavender Menace and Penny Maple, terrorize Sarkany, in a classically horrific manner.

I did two versions of this, the Gothic Oil painting above, and the brighter, more lurid painting below. Click on them to see them larger.  And don't be surprised if you see a lot more art from last night's Dr. Sketchy session here in PopCult in the next couple of weeks.



 

Sunday Evening Video: The Walking Dead

Walking Dead

Season two of TV's best episodic zombie show, The Walking Dead starts tonight on AMC, right after a day-long marathon of the first season.

However, there's a little bit more Walking Dead for you. If you've seen the show, then you may remember "Bicycle Girl," a sad zombie from the first episode.

Well, here's a web-only look at her story, uh, it's pretty gory, just in case you're not into that sort of thing...

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Everything Under The Sun, In One Long Post

The PopCulteer
October 14, 2011

Your PopCulteer has a lot of ground to cover this week, so let's dive in, shall we?

A Happy Birdie Story

RFC Big Shot and one of my oldest friends, Brian Young and his wife, Debbie Hunt Young are off on a wonderful adventure. They're going to China to adopt a baby girl, Birdie Ge.That's her over there, see how cute!

This happy occasion has been a long time coming. Back when I first met with Brian at LiveMix Studio almost six years ago, he and Debbie had begun the grueling process of international adoption.

Tons Of Music And Leaves On RFC 146

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Episode 146 of Radio Free Charleston, "Pepper Fandango Shirt," finds us driving around the state looking at the fall colors. We have great music this week with songs from Born of Conviction, John Lancaster, Gabriel, and the cast of Jack The Ripper, plus we have animation from Frank Panucci and an art film by yours truly.

Our host segments were filmed all over West Virginia as Melanie Larch and I made the Charleston-to-Clarksburg-to-Parkersburg-to-Charleston loop so we could check out the changing foilage and basically just take a day away from everything. The trip was a load of fun, and it's still a couple of weeks away from the peak colors, so you might just want to consider making the trip yourself. There are tons of places to stop and linger along the way. It was also nice to show off some of the other areas of the Mountain State in RFC.

Monday Morning Art: Crestfallen

Today's art is one of my exercises in pattern creation, which, in a different hue, was used in the short art film, "Blues no. 1" which you can find in this week's episode of Radio Free Charleston.

Speaking of RFC, our latest show, "Pepper Fandango Shirt" will be posted here, along with full production notes, later tonight. This week we have music from John Lancaster, Born of Conviction, Gabriel and the cast of "Jack The Ripper," plus my art film, animation from Frank Panucci, and a short promo film for HallwEast 3 Freak Out.

You can click the image above to see it larger, and if you can't wait until this evening to see the new show, head over to the RFC Facebook Page, where it just might turn up sooner.

Sunday Evening Video: HallowEast 3 Freak Out

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Check out the HallowEast website for more details.

Randomosity (And Guitars) Abounds

The PopCulteer
October 7, 2011

Your PopCulteer has been swamped a bit this week, and has not had time to finish reading the first month's worth of DC's "New 52." The plan is to wrap this up with a long column next week, two weeks into the second month for some of these books. This week we're going to fire off some random items, including a photo essay on last Monday's Taylor Guitar Roadshow at Route 60 Music in Barboursville.

Just One More

Around a hundred guitar aficianados made a pilgrimage to Route 60 Music in Barboursville last Monday evening for a Taylor Guitars Roadshow. Dozens of the latest Taylor Guitars--a high-end company manufacturng some of the finest instrements on the market--were on display, as Taylor rep, Zacher Arntz and master musician Wayne Johnson (The Manhattan Transfer, Bette Midler) showed off and demonstrated the latest in Taylor Guitar wizardry. It was an informatie and educational night, as Johnson explained in great detail the advantages and uses of each model of Taylor's guitars.

Monday Morning Art: Blue #5

Today's art is an element from "Blues no.1," the short art and music film I posted here a few days ago. It's a detail piece. Detail of what depends on the viewer. Click to see it beigger.

Sunday Evening Video: Time Flies

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Today I began working on episode number 150 of Radio Free Charleston. Don't panic. You haven't missed any. I'm also working on episode 146, which I have delayed until October 10 to take advantage of a great host location, but with a milestone show coming up, I want to be prepared. Anyway, it seems like just yesterday that we hit episode 100. Actually it was less than a year-and-a-half ago.  That means we will have produced almost fifty episodes in the last eighteeen months.  Time flies when you're having fun.

Let's take a look at that previous milestone show, featuring Hellblinki, Eva Elution, The Nanker Phelge, Kitty Killton, Top O' Rock, David Synn and Jeff Ellis, shall we?