February 28, 2010
October 6, 2009
Perry Rhodan - SOS aus dem Weltall (AKA: Mission Stardust)
I finally managed to obtain a copy of the incredible Eurocheese film adaptation of the classic Perry Rhodan science-fiction novels, featuring platinum-blonde Swedish bombshell, Essy Persson, nightmarish robots, and an incredible theme song by composer Marcello Giombini that sounds like Yma Sumac singing to Hawaiian surf music performed by the Hank Marvin and the Shadows.
[Link: "Seli" by Marcello Giombini (MP3)]
And for more Perry Rhodan goodness, please visit my pal, The Cartoonist.
February 14, 2009
How to Make a Martian
The always entertaining Atomic Surgery posted this cool article from an unnamed magazine showing famous Hollywood rubber-monstermaker, Paul Blaisdell, and his wife Jackie, creating the head and hands for the über-creepy Martians in the '50's science-fiction classic, Invasion of the Saucermen.
January 4, 2009
Mini-Golf Moai On the Move
A couple of readers might remember this ancient post I made about Tuscon's Magic Carpet miniature-golf course, with it's animated pooping monkey and 25-ton concrete Easter Island head with an observation deck on top. The course closed a year ago, and to their everlasting credit, the fine citizens of Tuscon chipped in to rescue the Moai rather than let it succumb to the developers' bulldozers. Roadside America and Tiki Central were there to document the Moai's move to its new habitat outside a nightclub called The Hut, where hopefully, it will be rediscovered someday in the far-flung future by archaeologists who will wonder how the natives managed to move it from it's original location, using only their primitive technology.
[Link: New Home for Tuscon Tiki Head]
[Link: Giant Tiki in Tuscon Moving Next Week]
January 1, 2009
Psychotronic Title Cards
Happy New Year, Goof readers!
For my first post of 2009, I decided to unveil a gallery of screencaps featuring the title cards from incredibly strange films like the 3 shown below. I started saving them a while back, and I'm up to 100 or so. I'll be adding more as time goes on, so be sure to come back and visit occasionally to see what's new. Enjoy!
[Link: Psychotronic Titles Gallery]
December 22, 2008
Shakespeare "Howls"
I've found some mighty odd cocktail ephemera in my many years of puttering around antique stores and thrift sales, but this box of 50 cocktail napkins, juxtaposing quotations from Shakespeare with mildly-risqué cartoons of dames and drunkards, really takes the martini olive. Seldom have the words of the immortal Bard been used to less salubrious effect.
I've scanned the best ones, and uploaded them to a gallery for your viewing pleasure.
Bottoms up!
December 21, 2008
Polynesian Dancers at the 1964 Worlds Fair
One of my readers sent me this wonderful 8mm movie of dancers at the 1964 New York Worlds Fair Polynesian Pavilion. Many Mahalos, Joyce!
October 30, 2008
Hula Girls and Tiki Gods: Part Deux
More postcards I've found recently, featuring vintage Hawaiiana along with a view of the old Tonga Room Restaurant at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco.
August 2, 2008
Havana Before Castro
I just received my copy of Havana Before Castro, a wonderful new book by architect, Peter Moruzzi, that "through vintage and contemporary photographs, brochures, and artifacts evocative of time and place...tells the story of the city that was the most popular exotic destination for Americans during the forty years between World War I and Castro’s revolution." At the official website, you can preview many of the book's fantastic mid-century illustrations, like this one:
I'd love to visit Havana some day, and hope that when I do, it's people won't be ruled by thugs, communist or otherwise.
[Link: Havana Before Castro]
July 24, 2008
The Restoration of Me
Disney artist, Kevin Kidney, has posted an excellent collection of photos showing the restoration process of my namesake, the Mr. Bali Hai carving outside the Bali Hai Restaurant in Whale's Vagina, California.
[Link: Mr. Bali Hai's Restoration]