It would be all too easy to dismiss Aleister Crowley as a gleefully evil libertine with a penchant for tantric sex, mind-altering substances, and funny hats, but the truth is that without his influence, we'd be living in a very different world right now...quite probably one without Scientology, Wicca, or any number of other New Age belief systems involving self-discovery, ritual magic(k) and highly-evolved clams.

Crowley's philosophies penetrated deep into the subconscious of the Sixties counterculture, and were a big influence on acid-guru Timothy Leary, along with a multitude of rock luminaries, most notably guitarist Jimmy Page. The Great Beast also casts his shadow on the world of literature: author Robert Anton Wilson, of Illuminatus fame, was an initiate of Crowley's Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.).

Where will Crowley's influence turn up next? Can we find a way to blame him for the proliferation of home-remodeling shows on television? I'll let you know if I uncover any incontrovertible evidence.

Posted by MrBaliHai at 8:55 PM | Permalink

The Minnesota Association of Rogue Taxidermists creates custom creatures both real, and not-so-real.

via Plep

Posted by MrBaliHai at 1:44 PM | Permalink

The Jivaro tribes, who lived deep in the Ecuadorian and Peruvian Amazon jungle, were known to practice the ancient art of shrinking human heads (tsantsa).

Want your own shrunken head for Halloween? Well, you could make a real one (scroll down for instructions), but that's messy and might involve murder, so you're probably better off buying a fake made out of goatskin or rubber. If you're feeling artsy-craftsy, you can make one out of dried apples.

Posted by MrBaliHai at 8:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Last night, while browsing around the local multimedia emporium, I discovered that the classic underground film, Forbidden Zone, has finally been released on DVD. Oh joy! Oh rapture! I purchased a copy forthwith (fifthwith, even) and rushed home to watch it.

On the off chance that you're unfamiliar with this cinematic gem, it's a bizarre conglomeration of live-action, animation, and music that sprang forth from the creative minds of filmmaker/musician Richard Elfman (excruciatingly slow and gratuitous Flash site), and his brother, film/tv composer, Danny, who at that time was part of Richard's musical performance troupe called The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo.

The film stars everyone's favorite French midget, Hervé Villechaize as King Fausto, the ruler of an underground world that looks like a Max Fleischer wet dream. Fausto's sultry and insanely jealous wife, Queen Doris, is played by cult actress, Susan Tyrell, who reveals in one of the DVD's extras that she and Tattoo fell madly in love during the making of the film and went on to live in sin for over a year.

The quality of the DVD transfer is excellent, so the crisp cinematography and the remixed soundtrack showcase the surrealistic black-and-white imagery and Elfman's score brilliantly. The non-original tunes, like Nino Morales' Bim Bam Boom, Cab Calloway's Minnie the Moocher, and Pico and Sepulveda (by the mysterious Felix Figueroa and his Orchestra), lend an air of jazz-baby debauchery to the proceedings, that's totally appropriate for this wigged-out flick.

Mr. Bali Hai sez, "Check it out!"

Posted by MrBaliHai at 10:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Please enjoy this directory filled with jaw-dropping moments of eBay zen from Blort. From the titles of these folders, it should be obvious that quite a few are not suitable for work viewing, or possibly anywhere else for that matter.

Posted by MrBaliHai at 9:23 AM | Permalink

I've always been fascinated by the twisted way in which human knowledge advances, and Strange Science examines some of the odder ideas that preceded our modern-day understanding of paleontology and biology.

Sometimes, however, reality is even weirder than the fanciful creatures dreamed up by medieval zoologists. The discovery of the Burgess Shale fossils in 1909 uncovered bizarre lifeforms that seem better suited to some alien world than to our own, like the hallucigenia, for example. Definitely the stuff of nightmares.

Posted by MrBaliHai at 9:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)