More Roth.

Here is Ed's 1979 Honda CVCC, which he used to haul his airbrush stuff around in for years. Of course, as much paint went on it as in it. The hood, even in its unrestored state (I hope the owner leaves it as-is), is a thing of Beauty.

Ed Roth And His Orbitron

Here's a picture of Ed Roth and his Orbitron, years before what was left of the car was found sitting in front of a sex shop across the border from El Paso. Some people have no appreciation for Fine Art.

They say a complete restoration is in the works. Let's hope so.

Famous Monsters Of Filmland

Came across an interview with director Joe Dante (PIRANHA, GREMLINS) in a blog called Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule.

Joe spoke of 4E's immortal Famous Monsters Of Filmland magazine, and he really nailed what it was like to be a monster-loving kid back in those days (50s and 60s for him, 70s for me):

"The appearance of that magazine made a lot of kids realize they weren’t alone. There was a network of people who were interested in all the things they were interested in that no one else around them was. You can look back on it and say, well, it wasn’t much of a magazine, which it really wasn’t. But the transformative effect, the unifying effect that it had on an entire generation was amazing."

You can read the whole thing at:
http://sergioleoneifr.blogspot.com/2008/04/joe-dante-your-movie-orgy-mc.html

"Now tie that knot real tight. It has to hold the weight of a pig."

One of the things I don't like about myself circa 2008 is that I don't get excited about stuff the way I used to. Maybe it's because you can get really jaded after 20 years in Advertising. Maybe it's because you have a kid, your priorities change, and stuff like the next Who record isn't as big a deal as it once was. Or maybe I'm just getting old and tired. Who knows.

But something's coming up that I am real excited about. THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE UGLY is coming to the Carolina Theater in Durham. One showing. 35mm Techniscope. Man, I'd crawl to Durham on broken glass for that.

It's one of my all-time favorite movies. Easy. And it passes one of my Great Movie tests: I can sit in a chair and watch this thing for three hours and never once look at my watch. (That's a test movies like TITANIC or DANCES WITH WOLVES fail miserably.)

One thing that really amazes me about THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE UGLY is that its grand scope somehow comes through on a dinky little television. How did Sergio Leone pull that off? Of course, with Lee Van Cleef's closeups 40 feet wide, and on Film, that won't be much of an issue.

God, I can't wait!

(The title of this thing is one of Eli Wallach's lines.)

O. Winston Link

As I mentioned in my last thing, if anybody bothered with it, we went to the O. Winston Link Museum in Roanoke over the weekend. Above is one of his elaborate, amazing photographs. (Click on it, it gets bigger.)

As beautiful as his work is, the backstory might be even better. In the late Fifties, he documented the last years of the last railroad to still use steam, Norfolk & Western across Virginia. His shots are amazing compositions, using tons of lights to show the relationship people had with trains in the small towns along the N&W line.

In the museum, you'll see hundreds of his shots, along with his cameras, diagrams and lighting rigs. There's even some artifacts from one of the old country stores he shot.

My wife is from this area (her grandpa worked for N&W) and I'm a closet train nut, so we find this stuff just fascinating. But if you're a railhead or a camera geek, you should consider the museum a pilgrimage you really need to make.

If it's good enough for The Three Stooges, it's good enough for you.

This weekend, I spoke at a student portfolio review thing in Roanoke, VA. Saw some really nice work from some graduating seniors. And what a great town!

The best thing about the whole trip could have been The Texas Tavern, a city landmark and a chili/burger/hot dog place without equal.

The chili was great. The hot dogs were perfect (according to my daughter). Their famous sandwich, The Cheesy Western, was a heaping, delicious mess. And the people (on both sides of the counter) couldn't have been nicer.

The Texas Tavern has been there since the 30s, right downtown, and local legend has it The Three Stooges once ate there. What more endorsement could you possibly need?

Oh, we also visited the O. Winston Link Museum and checked out Link's incredible steam train photography from the late 50s.

Roanoke is kinda like what Raleigh would be like if Raleigh hadn't gotten so busy with the wrecking ball.