Auction Pick: The Disneyland Memorial Orgy

A few months after Walt Disney's death in 1966, Paul Krassner published a centerspread poster in his magazine The Realist. Titled The Disneyland Memorial Orgy, it depicts Walt's characters engaged in all manner of debauchery (a larger image, as it was originally published in black and white, can be seen here). It was such a hit that he printed up posters to sell.

This magnificent work of art was drawn by Wally Wood, possibly my all-time favorite comic illustrator. It gets brought up often when talking about copyright laws in the U.S. When a poster company bootlegged the image and started selling color black light-reactive versions, they were served a cease and desist by the Disney corporation and paid an out-of-court settlement. But since Krassner owned the image, and it would probably be protected in the courts as a work of satire, he was never shut down. He's still selling posters of it on his website. It's even been colored by an ex-Disney employee.

I prefer the look of the black light poster, maybe for the way it dates itself firmly in the countercultural era. You don't see them around that often. When you do, they go for a few hundred dollars. But an ebay seller has a stack of little 5 x 8" versions, printed in 1970 presumably by the same company, for $25 each. I just bought one for myself.

Own a piece of history! Outrage your square breeder relatives! Sum up the entire career of Paul McCarthy with one postcard! Get yours here.

Another Clip from "Get Crazy"

I must've seen this youtube video at least six times in the last couple months. It is just too rad.

FEAR rip through a Muddy Waters cover in this sort-of sequel to Rock and Roll High School (same director, many of the same actors). I hadn't heard of it in when it came out in '83, right around the time I started getting into punk rock, and not since then either, until I read about it recently in Destroy All Movies, the most essential book ever.

This song didn't appear on Fear's records (they only made two studio albums, which I played regularly in high school), but it's definitely one of their best. That's Lee Ving, of course, a.k.a. "Piggy". The rest of the band isn't shown on film, but the all-girl guitar orchestra subbing for them is just as well.

FutureChimps

Cornelius / Roddy McDowell's super 8 home movies, shot during production of the original Planet of the Apes in 1967 in lovely Fox Ranch, Malibu.

(referred by John Hodgeman's blog and J. Furmanski)

Metal Robots - "I Love It Loud"

I assembled the Metal Robots in the recording studio, filled them with Red Bull and vodka, and ended up with this. See the music video before Gene Simmons deletes my youtube account.

The Metal Robots Album is like having a vintage high-performance roadster in my garage; I keep going back to improve it. Nearly all ten songs have been remixed or re-recorded entirely in the last few months.

Stexe - "Animals in Space"

I would like to dedicate this song to animals in space. Not just the famous ones, like Ham and Laika, but also the forgotten heroes, like the cows that supply our astronauts with fresh dairy products during their long voyages.

Instruments: CS-80 (vst), minimoog (vst), V-drums, guitar, bass, vocoder.

One of the Worst Things You've Ever Seen

No, it's not Madonna at the Super Bowl, it's the merciful conclusion of "Elvira: Mistriss of the Dark", her breakthrough film from Roger Corman productions. Last time I witnessed this abomination was when I was 19, and far less discriminating, because I wasn't nearly as appalled as I am right now. 

I was still a soldier in Germany, and had rented it on VHS from a place in town. I shuttled the precious tape 25 miles to the barracks on the army bus, and watched it that evening with my roommate and three other black dudes. They all thought it was excellent that she was rapping, as if she were giving their musical interest some kind of validity, when, really, she was exploiting it (and arguably helping to destroy it) in a sad effort to remain relevant.

Anyway, more of a side note, I never liked Elvira and her obnoxious bimbo valley girl schtick. She lacked the sinister, demure vibe of Vampira (who rightfully sued Elvira for stealing her look, and wrongfully lost) and her writing / performing partner John Paragon was one of the most unfunny comedians to ever make a buck. She degraded America's culturally rich horror host tradition. The 80's were indeed terrible.

A Moment with Mae

The Majestic Mae Mercer lays down the law.

From Swinging Cheerleaders, a high water mark from writer / director / auteur Jack Hill. If you happen to have Netflix Streaming, you can currently see two of his most excellent films, Switchblade Sisters and The Big Bird Cage.

In Search Of: Martians