¡Quiero ver sangre! has been on our wishlist for a while. This is an Encyclopedia on Lucha Libre Cinema published in Mexico that is hard to come by in the USA. Recently, Keith Rainville (Writer of Los Campeones, Mr FPU) bought a copy on Amazon and WOW! – our film is in this book! What a huge thrill. Los Campeones De La Lucha Libre is listed in here with a synopsis and very nice review. Click on the image below to enlarge. (Everything is in español)
Kaspar Kasparovich – a Soviet secret agent specialising in western pop culture – is an idea we have been developing for some time.
I started writing a script a few years back, and because I was watching a lot of Film Noir at the time, the script started to become more of a first person narrative. So much so, that I’ve released the story as an actual novel, and it is now available to buy on the blurb website…
It’s a short, fun read, and I’ve tried to keep the price pretty much down to cost. The only downside are the shipping charges which are quite steep. Blurb does offer discount coupons on the shipping though, and entering the code DADTASTIC25 (before May 31st) can save you 25% off shipping costs.
I must stress though, that this is purely an exercise in getting the Kaspar Kasparovich story documented rather than a money making venture, and will hopefully lead to the next step in getting the project animated.
It has been such a blast reading When Magoo Flew – a new book on the history of UPA animation studios – by Adam Abraham. What’s more, I am so thankful that many of the cartoons mentioned in this book are on YouTube, so I was able to watch what I was reading about at the same time, and I am even more thankful that I could attend last week’s 3 hour screening at LACMA of UPA films on 35mm!!! My all-time favorite – Rooty Toot Toot – looked amazing, and so did the cartoons I had been dying to see that are not (yet) on YouTube, like Ballet Oop, which is essentially an animated (parody of a) classical ballet class with very cool stylized character posing and layouts.
It’s so exciting that these UPA cartoons are finally on DVD!
I am working my way through the UPA Jolly Frolics 3-DVD Set this month… and loving all the stunning modern visuals and jazzy soundtracks.
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I am currently sort of fascinated by the Ham half of the Ham & Hattie cartoons which are so-bad-they’re-good. They are very much products of their time, with silly cultural stereotypes… (Interesting too, that most of these 50’s cartoons feature outsider-teenagers, doctors and psychiatrists…)
Hamilton Ham appears in Jamaica Daddy, a calypso-ish musical number about having more BA-BEES to PER-PET-CHUATE the FAM-LEE. Is it just me or do these Jamaicans look like Mexican caricatures? :)
Saganuki is a story of a woodcutter boy who wants to become a Samurai warrior. There is a Japanese singing accent and one hears “Ah-So!” quite often.
Dino’s Serenade … in which Hamilton Ham goes Italian.
More screengrabs…
From The Jaywalker (On YouTube)
Baby Boogie – love the layouts and colors!
Gerald McBoing McBoing on Planet Moo – which is actually a pretty bizarre story…
More screengrabs coming soon to my flickr set…
Related Links:
“En Pleine Guerre Froid” is a story by Froch and Fromental in Metal Hurlant issue 70. We recently repurchased this comic book from eBay because it was easier and cheaper to do this than to have someone relocate it amongst our storage items and ship it from Sydney.
“En Pleine Guerre Froid” is set during the Cold War as the title suggests, and thanks to Google Translate, the story goes a little something like this:
A Russian spy visits a fellow spy and famous comic book critic/reviewer who was once thrown in jail for peddling American comic books in the Red Square. In the home of this critic, he meets a kid who has won a drawing contest to see Walt Disney in America. Using a special device, the spy transfers his ‘mind’ into the kid’s body and vice versa, and off he goes to kidnap Uncle Walt.
As it turns out, Walt Disney was no longer alive.
This Walt Disney was a robot created by the KGB.
En Pleine Guerre Froid: Read the full story here (flickr set)
File under: Inspiration for the Kinky Kasperovich Konundum (Our Comrade In Cuba)
A new project I am developing has me going back to my Tintin books. I’ve never understand why the estate of Herge refused to let anyone continue the series after Herge’s death (although they will release countless rehashes of existing work in all manner of gimmicky format, and allow the film rights to go to – shudder – Spielberg), especially as there are other Belgian and French artists who could have kickstarted Tintin for a new millenium. Here’s a few interpretations…
Tintin by Yves Chaland
The great Belgian artist now has an official website. It’s all in French, but there’s a great pictorial listing of all Chaland’s published work.
Though Chaland died in 1990 aged only 33, he left a vast and amazing body of work. Here is his take on the classic ‘Spirou’ cartoon
Following on from the previous blog entry, a list of favorite books on music and fashion subcultures. WE LOVE THIS STUFF.
1. Ready, Steady, Go!: Swinging London and Invention Of Cool by Shawn Levy
Shawn Levy documents the rise of swinging London through the rise of 7 people: Mick Jagger, Mary Quant, Robert Fraser, David Bailey, Videl Sassoon, Brian Epstein and Terence Stamp. – eddie
2. The Way We Wore: A Life In Threads by Robert Elms
Besides being an amusing autobiography which focuses on Elms’ obsession with changing fashion trends and getting the right clothes; this book also serves as an engrossing history and etymology of London’s Youth Subcultures from the 50’s to the 90’s. Teddy Boys, Rude Boys, Mods, Skinheads, Northern/Southern Soul Boys, Bowie/Glam types, Punk and its offshoots (Goth, Two-Tone, Rockabilly etc), New Romantics & Blitz Kids… there’s even an amusing mention of what he calls “Bedsit-Depression chic”… (that 80’s trend of looking as ordinary and glum as possible eg, Joy Division, The Smiths) – lili
3. The Legendary Joe Meek: The Telstar Man by John Repsch
Biography of England’s most innovative and tragic music producer. RIP Joe, you crazy, gifted bastard! John Repsch’s book has become THE source for everything that has since been produced about Joe Meek. – eddie
4. A Decade Of The Who by Pete Townshend/Fabulous Music
The Who in paintings, words and Pete Townshend’s hand-drawn fretboards that tell you how to play The Who’s best songs. Altogether now…”Substitute me for him, Substutute my Coke for Gin…”- eddie
5. The Sharper Word: A Mod Anthology edited by Paolo Hewitt
A great and diverse selection of articles, short stories and excerpts from different sources detailing Mod culture in the UK. – eddie
6. Soul City: A Novel by Toure
This is a city run by DJs, where souped-up cars are dedicated to musical legends (eg, The JamesBrownmobile, The Billiemobile, The Wu-Tangmobile etc), groovers drop bliss (a drug that enhances your hearing), are able to fly, and buy mind-altering shampoo from the Devil. – lili
7. Subculture: The Meaning of Style and Hiding In the Light: On Images & Things by Dick Hebdige
Although somewhat dry and academic in style, Subculture is the first, most important POSITIVE book ever written on British youth subcultures that brings with it an inspiring knowledge of teddy boys’, mod’s and punk’s West Indian/Jamaican musical roots. Hiding In The Light focuses more on consumer aesthetics and there is a cool chapter on the history of Mod aesthetics.
8. Back In The Days by Jamael Shabazz – lili
Awesome, fun and stylish photographs from the early days of hip hop. – lili
9. Made In the UK: The Music of Attitude 1977-1983 by Janette Beckman
A photographic showcase of Punk, Mod, 2Tone, Rockabilly in the late seventies and eighties – eddie
10. Cool Cats – 25 years of Rock n Roll Style by Tony Stewart
Great book – and awesome photographs – of the different decades of Rock n Roll, with an early eighties bias. First time I ever heard of Northern Soul was when I read this. Ian Drury (RIP) writes a great essay on the fifties. – eddie
11. Haircults: Fifty Years of Styles and Cuts by Dylan Jones
Hairstyle reference! – lili
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