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February 14, 2009

How to Make a Martian

6.jpg 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.

[Link: Ancient Hot Springs of Mars May Hold Life]

January 4, 2009

Mini-Golf Moai On the Move

9116x4958f544.jpg 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!

Monster_Campus.jpg vlcsnap-78949.jpg vlcsnap-275195.jpg [Link: Psychotronic Titles Gallery]

December 22, 2008

Shakespeare "Howls"

SH_Cover.jpg 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!

[Link: Shakespeare Howls Cocktail Napkins]

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!

[Link: Polynesian Dancers at the 1964 Worlds Fair]

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.

Hula1.jpg
Hula Dancing Class Late 1800s

Hula3.jpg
Hula Dancers at Waikiki

Hula2.jpg
Hula Dancers in Ti-Leaf Skirts

Hula.jpg
Hawaiian Hula Dancer

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Hawaii Map

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Tonga Room

August 2, 2008

Havana Before Castro

havana-before-castro-cover-med.jpg 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:

240_dining_drinking_dancing.jpg 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

2693742281_b7019ba1d6_o.jpg 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]

July 6, 2008

Hula Girls and Tiki Gods

Hula_Maid_at_Waikiki_sm.jpgKukailimoko_sm.jpg

Mrs. BH and daughter wanted to go shopping at the Mall of America yesterday, so I dropped them off for a few hours of retail therapy while I headed off to do some antiquing. My finds included a beautiful Rotoruan carving from New Zealand, a Don Ho Suck 'Em Up ashtray, an Appleton Rum recipe brochure (front, back), and best of all, a motherlode of old Hawaiian postcards which I've uploaded to my Vintage Hawaiiana gallery.

My favorite postcard is this one, featuring the Hula Hostesses at the Hawaiian Pavilion at Expo '70 in Osaka, Japan. I spent a week at Expo '70 as a kid, and I remember these gorgeous gals in their Day-Glo Mod polyester Muu-muus very well.

June 25, 2008

It's A Family Game


From the always delightfully potted mind of the Booberry Alarm Clock comes this awesome bit of 70's nostalgia: the TV commercial for Mego's horrifically named board game, Ball Buster.

What the hell was their marketing department thinking?

[Link: 1975 Ball Buster Game!][via Junkyard Clubhouse]

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