Pop Culture Gadabout
Saturday, February 20, 2010
      ( 2/20/2010 05:57:00 AM ) Bill S.  


WEEKEND PET PIC: Here's a shot of Xander Cat that does a good job of showing off his freaky eyes:



THE USUAL NOTE: For more cool pics of companion animals, please check out Modulator's "Friday Ark."
# |



Friday, February 19, 2010
      ( 2/19/2010 06:40:00 AM ) Bill S.  


“THIS STREET SCUM ALSO HAPPENS TO BE THE BEST PICKPOCKET IN SHAMBHALLA!” Reading the first issue of Radical Comics’ new take on the Aladdin story, Legacy of the Lost, I had a moment where I flashed on the brief faux controversy arising from the Disneyfied musical take on the story. As originally released, the 1992 animated musical contained a song with a lyrical ref to severed ears (“Where they chop off your ear if they don't like your face”), but the offending line was replaced after the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee publicly complained. In the new comic book Aladdin, scripter Ian Edgington includes a scene where our young thief hero is caught trying to cheat at dice and nearly gets his hands lopped off -- a variation on the yarn that inspired the original Howard Ashman/Alan Menken lyric. Don’t see Radical recalling and re-lettering their comic, though.

That times-have-changed moment noted, on the basis of the first in this three-issue mini-series, Aladdin: Legacy of the Lost looks to be a fairly straightforward remake of the story of a boy and djinn. First ish is primarily devoted to establishing the villainy of wicked sorcerer Qassim and to getting our hero into the cave that contains the magical lamp. As murderous weapons, Qassim utilizes a pair of toothy sand-dwelling monsters (bring on the disposable lackeys!) which prove suitably impressive, while the cave itself contains its share of Harryhausen-esque menaces (giant scorpions!) that’ll warm the bloodthirsty cockles of every creature-crazed young boy’s heart.

Patrick Reilly’s painterly renderings of the proceedings, separated with thick black spaced ‘tween the panels, make even the outdoor market of Arabian city Shambhalla look cavernous at times -- or perhaps like the studio bound world of an old exotic fantasy starring Maria Montez. The women all have bigger breasts, of course, but then you knew that would be the case, right? All part of the Whole New World of modern American comics.

Labels:

# |



Wednesday, February 17, 2010
      ( 2/17/2010 07:01:00 AM ) Bill S.  


MID-WEEK MUSIC VID: A quick cut from Songs of the Pogo, courtesy of John Linnell of They Might Be Giants:


# |



Tuesday, February 16, 2010
      ( 2/16/2010 07:01:00 AM ) Bill S.  


“SHE DOESN’T NEED COSMOPOLITAN TO TELL HER WHERE SHE FITS IN.” If every generation needs its cultish eccentric pop songbird, than Aussie warbler Kate Miller-Heidke has to be This Gen’s Model. Her new release Curiouser (Sony/BMG), co-written with guitarist Keir Nuttall, has plenty of goofy vocal swoops and smart-girl attitude to go with the well-blended keyb and guitar work: lovers of this kind of wiggy songcraft will recognize traces of Lene Lovich and Kate Bush in the sound, while some of Miller-Heidke’s lyrics (“I Like You Better When You’re Not Around,” f’rinstance) come close to broaching Kirsty MacColl in the brightly snippy put-down department.

You either dig this kind of material or find yourself thoroughly irritated by its swooping affectation: me, I currently can’t stop playing it, though whether this onetime opera student will have the staying power of MacColl or devolve into a stuck-on-the-shelves flash like, say, Nina Hagen is presently an open question. What remains inarguable for now is the sheer catchiness of cuts like “Can’t Shake It,” with its ode to dance floor klutziness and “Mickey”-esque guitar line; the album’s second great piss-off track, “God’s Gift to Women” (“If you’re God’s gift to woman, than she got it wrong".”) and the folksy “Politics in Space,” which slams into the Politics of Hope with strumming acoustic work straight out of The Coca Cola Kid. “Caught in the Crowd” tackles school bullying with a ruefulness that avoids both pity or sentimentality -- it’s sung from the PoV of a girl who stepped aside when one of the school misfits is targeted -- though the touching track is nearly derailed by keyboarding that's almost a trace too poppy.

With a fraction of restraint (not too much, though, less she mute her distinctive voice), this pop cult Alice could produce something musically transplendent. “I’m a baby boomer’s daughter, and I’m never gonna reach Nirvana,” she sings at one point in “Space.” Ah, but you’re pretty damn close, daughter.

Labels:

# |



Pop cultural criticism - plus the occasional egocentric socio/political commentary by Bill Sherman (popculturegadabout AT yahoo.com).



On Sale Now!
Measure by Measure:



A Romantic Romp with the Fat and Fabulous
By Rebecca Fox & William Sherman

(Available through Amazon)

Measure by Measure Web Page







Ask for These Fine Cultural Blogs & Journals by Name!

aaronneathery.com News
Aaron Neathery

American Sideshow Blow-Off
Marc Hartzman

Arf Lovers
Craig Yoe

Attentiondeficitdisorderly
Sean T. Collins

Barbers Blog
Wilson Barbers

The Bastard Machine
Tim Goodman

The Beat
Heidi MacDonald

BeaucoupKevin
Kevin Church

Big Fat Blog
Paul McAleer

Big Mouth Types Again
Evan Dorkin

Bloggity-Blog-Blog-Blog
Laura "Tegan" Gjovaag

Blog This, Pal!
Gordon Dymowski

Bookgasm
Rod Lott

Cartoon Brew
Amid Amidi & Jerry Beck

Cartoon Web Log!
Daryl Cagle

Clea's Cave
Juana Moore-Overmyer

Collected Editions

The Comics Curmudgeon
Josh Fruhlinger

The Comics Reporter
Tom Spurgeon

Comics.212
Christopher Butcher

Comics Waiting Room
Marc Mason

Comics Worth Reading
Johanna Draper Carlson

a dragon dancing with the Buddha
Ben Varkentine

Egon

Electromatic Radio
Matt Appleyard Aaron Neathery

Estoreal
RAB

Eye of the Goof
Mr. Bali Hai

Fred Sez
Fred Hembeck

Greenbriar Picture Shows
John McElwee

The Groovy Age of Horror
Curt Purcell

The Hooded Utilitarian
Noah Berlatsky

Hooray for Captain Spaulding
Daniel Frank

The Horn Section
Hal

The House Next Door
Matt Zoller Seitz

Howling Curmudgeons
Greg Morrow & Friends

The Hurting
Tim O'Neil

I Am A Child of Television
Brent McKee

I Am NOT the Beastmaster
Marc Singer

In Sequence
Teresa Ortega

Innocent Bystander
Gary Sassaman

Irresponsible Pictures
Pata

Jog - The Blog
Joe McCulloch

The Johnny Bacardi Show
David Allen Jones

Journalista
Dirk Deppey

King's Chronicles
Paul Dini

Let's You And Him Fight
One of the Jones Boys

Mah Two Cents
Tony Collett

Metrokitty
Kitty

Michael's Movie Palace
Michael

Nat's TV
Nat Gertler

Ned Sonntag

Neilalien

News from ME
Mark Evanier

No Rock&Roll Fun
Simon B

Omega Channel
Matt Bradshaw

Pen-Elayne on the Web
Elayne Riggs

PeterDavid.net
Peter David

(postmodernbarney.com)
Dorian White

Progressive Ruin
Mike Sterling

Punk Rock Graffiti
Cindy Johnson & Autumn Meredith

Revoltin' Developments
Ken Cuperus

Rhinoplastique
Marc Bernardin

Scrubbles
Matt Hinrichs

Self-Styled Siren
Campaspe

Spatula Forum
Nik Dirga

Tales from the Longbox
Chris Mosby

TangognaT

The Third Banana
Aaron Neathery & Friends

Thrilling Days of Yesteryear
Ivan G. Shreve, Jr.

Toner Mishap
B2 et al

Trusty Plinko Stick
Bill Doughty

TV Barn
Aaron Barnhart et al

Unqualified Offerings
Jim Henley

Various And Sundry
Augie De Blieck

Video WatchBlog
Tim Lucas

When Fangirls Attack
Kalinara & Ragnell

X-Ray Spex
Will Pfeifer

Yet Another Comics Blog
Dave Carter



A Brief Political Disclaimer:

If this blog does not discuss a specific political issue or event, it is not because this writer finds said event politically inconvenient to acknowledge - it's simply because he's scatterbrained and irresponsible.




My Token List of Poli-Blogs:

Alicublog
Roy Edroso

Eschaton
Atrios

Firedoglake
Jane Hamsher

James Wolcott

Lance Mannion

The Moderate Voice
Joe Gandelman

Modulator
Steve

Pandagon
Amanda Marcotte & Friends

The Sideshow
Avedon Carol

Skippy, the Bush Kangaroo
Skippy

Talking Points Memo
Joshua Micah Marshall

This Modern World
Tom Tomorrow

Welcome to Shakesville
Melissa McEwan & Friends



Blogcritics: news and reviews
Site Feed



Powered by Blogger



Twittering:
    follow me on Twitter