Write Fink!

Pete Quaiffe, 1943 - 2010

2010-06-25T09:45:00.001-04:00

Two of my favorite things

2010-06-21T23:28:00.000-04:00

Baseball and Jeff Beck.

How do you know when a movie is funny?

2010-06-14T15:57:00.001-04:00

When even the title card makes you laugh.

Why do these things happen?

2010-06-06T23:15:00.005-04:00

The star of "Jaws" has been found resting in a Los Angeles junkyard.

No, not Richard Dreyfuss -- the shark! With the 35th anniversary of Steven Spielberg's classic blockbuster just around the corner, an NPR reporter set out to track down the mechanical beast that struck fear into the hearts of so many.

In order to maximize their control over the creature, the "Jaws" filmmakers built three sharks for their 1975 movie. All created from the same mold, the sharks were dubbed "Bruce" after Spielberg's lawyer, Bruce Ramer. The gigantic metal creatures were 25-feet long and weighed hundreds of pounds. The heads alone came in at 400 lbs. apiece, with jaws the size of a small human.

When reporter and "Jaws"-enthusiast Cory Turner set out to track down Bruce's whereabouts, he went straight to the source -- the movie's director. A spokesman for Steven Spielberg explained that the original Bruces had all been destroyed, as no one had thought to save them.

But theories circulated on a Facebook page for the famous shark that another Bruce might be out there. After a little research, Turner discovered that a fourth shark had indeed been cast from the original mold, just months after its brothers were constructed. The baby of the Bruce family was created for display at Universal Studios Theme Park, where it hung by its tail for fifteen years.

In 1990, the shark was taken down and shipped out to destinations unknown. Turner picked up the phone and started dialing junkyards. He finally found the creature in a yard in the Sun Valley area of Southern California -- just minutes away from Universal. Turner brought the team who built Bruce -- art department members Joe Alves and Roy Arbogast to verify the shark's authenticity.

"It's the real one," Arbogast told Turner after examining the creature. "It's just kinda' nice to see it again after 25 or 30 years. It's amazing that it's still here."

Bruce's discovery couldn't come at a better time. There's talk that Universal might be considering a 3D "Jaws" remake -- with comedian Tracy Morgan in the shark-hunter role. Perhaps Bruce will find his way onto the silver screen once again.

Found this article here.

Let's hope and pray that last thing — the remake — doesn't happen.

Ed Roth in his element.

2010-05-25T20:30:00.003-04:00

How many people went to car shows and snapped pictures of Ed Roth?

There must be thousands upon thousands of photos like this. And every one is great.

Somebody's truck.

2010-05-20T16:25:00.003-04:00

I come across this things and drag 'em to my desktop. No idea where I found it. It's a '32 Ford pickup. Note the Mooneyes sticker on the back glass.

Judging from the tires and wheels, I'm gonna guess this was taken in the early 70s.

Ed Roth's business card

2010-05-12T09:50:00.004-04:00

This is so cool!

2010-03-24T09:52:00.001-04:00

Alex Chilton, 1950 - 2010

2010-03-18T00:09:00.004-04:00

Just saw that Alex Chilton passed away today.

Here he is (pointing, on the right) with Big Star.

Drag-U-La ain't no drag.

2010-03-15T15:31:00.000-04:00

This is beautiful.

2010-03-10T07:04:00.001-05:00

The billboard for Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948).

Time to start shopping for a Blu-Ray player.

2010-03-08T09:26:00.001-05:00

If Not For You.

2010-02-25T13:11:00.005-05:00

Happy birthday, George.

Work of art.

2010-01-18T11:29:00.000-05:00

5 hours well spent.

2009-12-28T14:24:00.000-05:00

Slither (1973)

2009-11-10T16:52:00.003-05:00

My second favorite movie of all time. Coming to DVD finally.

I can't wait — even though there's a 16mm print of it sitting at home.

This Is Not Expendable.

2009-10-09T14:20:00.003-04:00

Production art by Malcolm F. Brown from John Ford's They Were Expendable (1945), my favorite of his non-Western films.

And here's Ford and Wayne (and DP Joseph H. August?) doing the real thing.

Happy Birthday, Mom.

2009-10-06T16:39:00.000-04:00

A visual feast.

2009-10-05T10:05:00.001-04:00

Of audio equipment.

You REALLY gotta see this: Wagon Master (1950)

2009-09-25T16:03:00.008-04:00

I don't mean to go spending your money, but if you haven't ordered your copy of Wagon Master, you need to get to it. Here, I'll save you all the looking — get it here.

It's a beautiful DVD. First class. And, of course, it's one of John Ford's best.

All the DVD reviews out there cover how simple, light and unpretentious it is, playing almost like a Western fairy tale and looking very much like the silent Westerns Ford had made (he'd return to this stripped-down "silent" look for The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance).

What's weird to me is that the badguys, the Cleggs, rarely get a mention. I saw this thing a thousand times growing up (like yesterday's Hellfire), and I always thought the Cleggs were evil incarnate — an Old West version of the freak family in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

They scared me. Bad. And as a result, I don't usually agree with a lot of the analysis of this great film. Masterpiece? Without doubt. Unpretentious? Sure. Beautiful? Absolutely. But those Cleggs, they throw bright and cheery right out the window — and dump in a big bucket of Menace.

You gotta see this: Hellfire (1949).

2009-09-24T14:27:00.013-04:00

Republic's Hellfire (1949) — a family favorite I've seen a million times — is pitifully hard to find, though it used to show up on The Westerns Channel every once in a while.

It's a terrific movie — in wonderful, weird-looking Trucolor — with gambler Bill Elliott trying to fulfill a promise to build a church — without resorting to the violence he's accustomed to. He decides to do a little bounty hunting to raise the money, and runs into a number of unsavory characters along the way.

Paul Fix: For a Bible-toter, you're pretty handy with a six-shooter.

Bill Elliott: It kinda bothers me, too. Seems like the only kind of sermon I can make folks listen to.

It also stars my all-time favorite actress: Marie Windsor. You may know her from Kubrick's The Killing (1956), The Narrow Margin (1952), Abbott & Costello Meet The Mummy (1955), Bounty Hunter (1954) with Randolph Scott, a few John Wayne movies and other great stuff. She always said Hellfire was one of her personal favorites, which is good enough for me.

Interesting weird little note: H.B. Warner plays the old preacher, Brother Joseph, whose death sends Elliott on his quest to build the church. Back in 1927, Warner was Jesus in The King Of Kings. He's also one of the bridge-playing Hollywood fossils in Sunset Boulevard (1950).

The bird is the word!

2009-09-23T15:01:00.004-04:00

Just got this from Sundazed Music:

Beloved midwest garage-rock kings and Sundazed recording artists the Trashmen will perform their FIRST-EVER New York-area shows, on October 23 at Southpaw in Brooklyn and October 24 at Maxwell's in Hoboken.

The seminal foursome—original members Tony Andreason, Dal Winslow and Bob Reed, with Tony's brother Mark Andreason taking over for the late Steve Wahrer on drums—will deliver such immortal Trashmen classics as "A-Bone," "Tube City," "King Of The Surf," "My Woodie" and the bigger-than-life anthem "Surfin' Bird."

Hard as it may be to believe, these shows mark the first time that the Trashmen have played in the New York City area. According to Dal Winslow, "In the early '60s, we played a club in New Jersey and around the Finger Lakes region, but we never hit New York City. It's been a long tome coming, like 40 years, and we're really looking forward to it!"

As a bonus these shows coincide with the WFMU Record Fair at the Manhattan Pavillion, where the Sundazed booth will, as always, be supplying smashing sounds to satisfied shoppers!

Don't miss the opportunity to see the Trashmen live at these venues!:

Friday Oct. 23rd Southpaw 125 5th Ave., Brooklyn, NY

Sat. Oct. 24th Maxwell's 1039 Washington St.,. Hoboken, NJ

Go ahead, make my movie.

2009-09-23T10:07:00.008-04:00

Here's a couple pictures of Clint Eastwood at work. First up, Dirty Harry (1971). Seems to be the quarry scene at the end. Is that the great Don Siegel behind the camera in the floppy hat?

Next is High Plains Drifter (1973), which Clint both starred in and directed. This film seems to be going through a bit of a reappraisal lately, which it deserves. Throughout, you can really see the influences of Eastwood's key directors, Don Siegel and Sergio Leone. Who needs film school when you can watch those guys at work? And why hasn't Dee Barton's score ever been released?

(Both images were found somewhere on the Internet, a long time ago.)

A very good, but sorta weird, night at the movies.

2009-09-21T10:24:00.005-04:00

I never woulda thought of these as a double feature.

Evidently, Paramount did.

Wouldn't you like to head to Reno in a camper with Kim Novak?

2009-09-18T12:08:00.005-04:00

One of the best Fifties crime films, and one of my all-time favorite movies, is coming on DVD — 5 Against The House (1955).

Directed by Phil Karlson — an absolute master of this sort of gritty, nasty stuff — it stars Brian Keith, Kim Novak and Guy Madison. It's all about some Korean War vets who rent a camper trailer and head to Reno for a big casino heist.

It's one of the films in the upcoming DVD set Columbia Pictures Film Noir Classics, Vol. 1. The other pictures are The Big Heat (directed by Fritz Lang), The Lineup (from Don Siegel), Murder By Contract and The Sniper.

You can't go wrong with this thing, people.

Crappy-looking video of one of the greatest things ever.

2009-09-15T15:31:00.003-04:00

Here's The Byrds on Playboy After Dark back in September of 1968. They do "You Ain't Going Nowhere" and "This Wheel's On Fire."

By this point, Roger McGuinn was the only original member. Here, he's backed up by Clarence White on guitar, Gene Parsons on drums and John York on bass.

Watch and listen to Clarence giving his B-bender Telecaster a workout. Amazing stuff.

Wanna see Charles Bronson get his face burned off with a blowtorch?

2009-09-15T13:09:00.010-04:00

All through my years of film geekery, there's been a handful of movies I desperately wanted to see but never could track down. One by one, I've been finding 'em — and in almost every case, what I've seen has been worth the wait.

7 Men From Now — one of the greatest Westerns I've ever seen.

Gun Crazy — for once, all the books of snobby scholarly film noir analysis didn't screw up my enjoyment of a terrific B crime picture.

Another example, which I saw last night here, is 1955's Big House, USA (located by my web-surfing wife Jennifer — another reason I love her so much).

It's a tough, gritty B crime film, directed by Howard W. Koch and boasting one of the greatest casts I've ever come across: Broderick Crawford, Ralph Meeker (the same year he did Kiss Me Deadly), Reed Hadley, William Talman, Lon Chaney (Jr.) and Charles Bronson. I knew it'd be good. Gordon Avil's camerawork is impressive, too.

This is nowhere near the movie those other two are. But as a nasty 83 minutes of Fifties cinema, it's hard to beat. Let's see. A kid is chucked off a cliff. A guy is trapped inside a giant boiler — and promptly steamed like a lobster tail. And as previously mentioned, Bronson has his face and fingertips seared off to conceal his identity.

Y'all can have Wizard Of Oz and Sophie's Choice. Give me more like this.

So go watch it. (You can spare 83 minutes, can't you?) You'll thank me.

A few hot rod pics.

2009-09-09T16:01:00.005-04:00

Things like this get drug to my desktop every so often. There, now I've done something with them.

Little Deuce Coupe

2009-09-01T12:08:00.003-04:00

Bitchin' article in The New York Times.

Masterpiece.

2009-09-01T11:10:00.002-04:00

"Old Fisherman" by Jeppa.

A tribute to the Old Master, Ed "Big Daddy" Roth.

From The Shoulda-Been-There Department.

2009-08-21T14:10:00.005-04:00

Here's The Huntington Cads at Tiki Oasis a week ago, their first show together in over a decade.

And I'd like to dedicate it to Spanky, who's being laid to rest this afternoon.

Brian Rogers (AKA Spanky Twangler) 1970 - 2009

2009-08-18T09:27:00.007-04:00

Just found out that Brian Rogers — Spanky Twangler of The Penetrators — passed away yesterday.

The Penetrators were a fabulous surf band.

And Brian, he was a terrific person. I really enjoyed our sporadic, long-distance, email relationship over the years, and I wish I'd known him better. Having the band stay at my home during a pass through Chapel Hill was indeed a privilege, as is being a member of The Southern Surf Syndicate.

I admire Brian's faith, peace and determination throughout his illness even more than I've always admired his talent. He was a good one.

Let's remember the good stuff.

2009-08-14T16:58:00.006-04:00

Last week marked 40 years since the murder of Sharon Tate by a gang of evil freaks. None of us have to really work at remembering the anniversary — the endless reruns of Geraldo's old interview with Charlie will let you know it's come around again.

But now that Geraldo has reminded me, I'm gonna dig up (no pun intended) the DVD of The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967).

It's funny. It's brilliant. It's silly. It's beautiful. It's dead-on. And it reminds us just what promise Sharon and Roman had going together before those freaks took it all away.

The Man In The Moon.

2009-08-14T16:27:00.002-04:00

Ed "Big Daddy" Roth in a Mooneyes shirt of some sort.

That's Entertainment!

2009-08-13T15:30:00.001-04:00

What your driveway looks like in Heaven.

2009-08-06T12:08:00.001-04:00

Rio Bravo #4

2009-07-30T15:36:00.004-04:00

The Untamed Youth: "Hey Elly May"

2009-07-29T12:47:00.002-04:00

Rio Bravo #3

2009-07-28T10:38:00.002-04:00

Howard Hawks tells John Wayne and Angie Dickinson what he wants.

Rio Bravo #2

2009-07-24T09:43:00.002-04:00

A snapshot of Dean as Dude. Old Tucson, Arizona, May of '58.

Thanks to the site I took this from.

Rio Bravo

2009-07-23T10:24:00.006-04:00

Here's John Wayne fixing Ricky Nelson's hat on the set of one of my all-time favorite movies, Rio Bravo (1959).

When I first saw this photo, I thought "Wayne's really cool in those Ray Bans." But the more I look at it, I think he's got some of those Esquivel/Buddy Holly frames. Even cooler.

Also, I noticed that even in his street clothes, he's wearing his belt buckle from Red River. Can you tell I've been looking at this way too much?

Thought I'd put my Friday/Zappa thing on hold and wallow in Rio Bravo for a while.

What a night.

2009-07-10T15:15:00.000-04:00

Cary, North Carolina. The couch. A Sony console TV.

Fridays With Frank (Zappa) #15

2009-07-10T00:53:00.002-04:00

Does that say "Turgid Flux States?"

I thought so.

Roth, anyone?

2009-07-08T14:09:00.002-04:00

From an old Roth t-shirt ad.

Good news.

2009-07-06T10:02:00.002-04:00

September 15, 2009, will see the DVD release of John Ford's Wagon Master (1950). Be sure to pre-order this one.

Fridays With Frank (Zappa) #14

2009-07-03T03:23:00.001-04:00

I'd love to browse in this place.

Karl Malden, RIP

2009-07-01T16:31:00.003-04:00

Here he is whipping Brando in the great One-Eyed Jacks (1961).

Dino DeLaurentis And His Crummy Kong

2009-06-30T16:54:00.001-04:00

Crummy gorilla. Crummy movie — King King (1976) — but I love it anyway.

A Quick Lesson In Compostion

2009-06-29T10:43:00.004-04:00

Attention photographers. Here's a couple frames lifted from a couple great Westerns. Dig the beauty of these shots.

First, Ride Lonesome (1960) directed by Budd Boetticher and shot by Charles Lawton, Jr.

Next, Sam Peckinpah's modern-day Western Junior Bonner (1972), with Lucien Ballard as DP.

I'd love to hang either of these images over my couch.

53 Gasser

2009-06-26T10:50:00.001-04:00

Wish I could say I drove this 1953 Chevrolet to work this morning. Instead, I found it with Google Images.

Fridays With Frank (Zappa) #13

2009-06-26T10:46:00.001-04:00

Four dollars and fifty cents! And no "convenience charge."

Fridays With Frank (Zappa) #12

2009-06-19T09:37:00.008-04:00

The Zappa/Mothers ad campaign for Hagstrom Guitars — created in 1967 by Zappa's ad agency, Nifty Tough & Bitchin'.

From the Hagstrom Guitars website:
Back in 1967, Frank Zappa created an advertising agency in New York City called "Nifty Tough & Bitchin'" as another creative outlet associated with, but not directly tied to his musical endeavors. This ad agency, in a very short amount of time, mounted various professional advertising campaigns for clients such as Hagstrom Guitars, Panther Combo Organs, and even Remington Razor Blades in addition to art direction for the Mother's of Invention album covers.

The Hagstrom campaign was one of the first campaigns launched by Nifty Tough & Bitchin'. It features 3 print ads: "Nifty", "Long and Slippery", and "Folk Rock is a Drag", and a radio spot: "Long and Slippery". Using himself as the subject matter of the ads, Frank does a masterful job crafting these ads showing that he is not only a musical genious, but also an astute business man, and savvy marketeer. Frank was responsible for art direction of the various ad campaigns, and he was also skilled in the technical aspects of ad creation handling layouts and creating the blue lines for print media.

Nifty indeed.

""Well, if we're looking for a shark we're not gonna find him on the land."

2009-06-18T09:27:00.007-04:00

The Ben Gardner head prop (found here) that pops out of the boat in one of the greatest scares in Film History.

Shot in Verna Fields' swimming pool. (She edited Jaws in her pool house.)

Venture In Space: Bob Bogle, 1934-2009

2009-06-17T11:12:00.004-04:00

One of my heroes has passed away. Bob Bogle, co-founder of The Ventures, passed away on Sunday. In this photo, he's on the left.

(The) Ventures In Space (1964) remains one of my all-time favorite records.

Why I choose to live in Garner, NC.

2009-06-17T10:25:00.005-04:00

Have a script due today, so I stopped at the local Dunkin Donuts for coffee and a bowtie — and to look this thing over before heading into the office.

Was there about 30 minutes, and as I was getting ready to leave, this rather large woman came in, got in line, waited through 4-5 customers, and got a large coffee with "a whole lotta cream." She walked out right in front of me, obviously in a hurry and irritated by the wait.

Out in the parking lot was a big Buick or something, with a paintjob that had been beaten to hell by the sun. The driver's window was down and another big woman was behind the wheel. In her left hand was a cigarette. In her right hand was a puffy Cheeto. The Cheetos bag was in her lap.

Seeing her friend/mama/whoever come out with the coffee, the Cheeto lady yelled "We gotta git to the courthouse!"

It was all I could do to get to the car before I busted out laughing. And I'm really curious about what they're doing at the courthouse.

"We're having much more fun"

2009-06-16T13:23:00.007-04:00

My daughter Presley and I saw X at Cat's Cradle on the 9th. Presley's descent into X fandom had really accelerated since last year's show (written about here), and she was in full autograph-seeking mode this time. Both Exene and Billy Zoom were extremely kind and patient, and my eight-year-old's still floating on a cloud over the whole thing.

Exene handed Presley the setlist, which is now hanging in her room (top photo). As you can see, this was a show full of great stuff. The encore also included an acoustic run-through of "See How We Are" by Exene and John Doe. There was an additional encore of "It's Who You Know," "Blue Spark" and "The World's A Mess, It's In My Kiss" — as fine a chunk of music as I've ever heard.

I've also come to the realization that X is my favorite band. And after years of evangelizing about them, to whoever would listen, my greatest success story has to be my own kid. Seeing Presley singing "Nausea" along with Exene was quite a sight. Her later call to my best friend James to give him a full report of the show was a hoot, too. (When you're handing out the Father Of The Year awards, don't hesitate to email for my address.)

In the background of the photo above (thanks, Erika), you can see Presley chatting with Billy Zoom. Her blog about the whole thing, much better than mine, is here.

"What's the point? Hooks and lines..."

2009-06-16T10:08:00.003-04:00

Jaws
Friday, June 19

7pm
The Carolina Theatre
Durham, NC

http://festivals.carolinatheatre.org/retrofantasma/

Fridays With Frank (Zappa) #11

2009-06-12T10:07:00.008-04:00

As you may know, the first Mothers record, Freak Out!, was released as a two LP set in the States and a single LP throughout most of the rest of the world. Is this a great country or what?

If you're rich — or if you don't care if your children eat or have shoes — you can go here and bid on the actual master tapes of that international single-record version.

Will they help you meet girls? No. But would they be a really cool thing to have sitting on your mantle? Absolutely.

Fridays With Frank (Zappa) #10

2009-06-05T16:06:00.000-04:00

Go here and you can check out Burt Ward's Batman cash-in 45 "Boy Wonder I Love You." The backing track was provided by Zappa and The Mothers back in June of 1966.

Thanks to Never Get Out Of The Boat.

The Driver

2009-06-03T13:57:00.008-04:00

A good friend is sick, so naturally we got in a short email discussion of writer/director Walter Hill.

Like all Steve McQueen movies, The Getaway (which Hill wrote) has curative powers, so Joseph should be up and around soon.

Anyway, I got to thinking about The Driver (1978). I saw this thing when it came out — I was 14 and hated it. Now I think it's Hill's best movie and a masterpiece. Totally stylized. A complete film noir throwback. And filled with some really boss car stuff.

It was offered to McQueen, who turned it down since he'd done so many car movies. Ryan O'Neal ended up with the part, and his usual stiffness works perfectly here — like it did in Barry Lyndon. This guy is a machine with no feeling whatsoever, a zombie, tearing around LA in all sorts of cars with absolutely no expression.

Bruce Dern is the cop obsessed with bringing the Driver down. Good stuff. Seventies movies, especially if they have cars in them, can be so great.

I hate this.

2009-06-02T13:32:00.003-04:00

From the Associated Press:

A judge placed former Columbo star Peter Falk in a conservatorship Monday to ensure his daughter could occasionally visit the ailing 81-year-old actor.

Falk’s wife of more than 30 years, Shera, will remain in control of his personal care and affairs. Falk has advanced dementia, likely from Alzheimer’s disease, one of his doctors testified Monday.

Catherine Falk petitioned in December to take over her father’s affairs despite a sometimes contentious relationship with Falk and his wife. By court order, she will be allowed a 30-minute visit with her father every other month.

Falk’s condition virtually ensures he will not remember the meetings, his doctor said.

Ross MacDonald

2009-06-02T13:16:00.007-04:00

1981. In a Rolling Stone article, Warren Zevon talked about how much he loved to read Ross MacDonald.

Zevon's recommendation was enough for me. Then I realized that MacDonald's Lew Archer character, and the novel Moving Target, was the source for Harper (1966).

Soon, I'd found my favorite novelist.

Came across some old MacDonald paperback covers on a great blog dedicated to such things. Killer Covers. Check it out. More importantly, check out Ross MacDonald. You can't really go wrong with any of them, but I really liked The Way Some People Die.

If real cowboys didn't look like William S. Hart, they sure should have.

2009-06-01T16:52:00.007-04:00

Growing up, there were always pictures of silent Western star William S. Hart lying around. I've always loved his profile — his face seemed to have been specially shaped to go with the hat. And his man of few words — living by a strong, rigid code — is reflected in the films of Sam Peckinpah, Randolph Scott, Clint Eastwood and a few others.

If you've never seen the land rush sequence in his last film, 1925's Tumbleweeds, you're missing out. It's incredible.

Dangerous Don Rich (And Buck Owens)

2009-06-01T16:47:00.000-04:00

The JBL Paragon Loudspeaker.

2009-05-30T03:56:00.003-04:00

All 698 pounds of it.

Now available at The Warner Archive

2009-05-29T13:54:00.008-04:00

Here's some old newspaper comic film ad things for some Randolph Scott RKO westerns you can now buy here.

Sadly, these strips are not included on the DVDs. I found these on a great blog, The Fabulous Fifties.

There's so much wrong with the world these days.

2009-05-29T12:15:00.004-04:00

If you dig around on Internet film-fan sites, you'll find a lot of geeks whining about how their favorite movies aren't available on DVD. (Some are even griping about the lack of a Blu-Ray upgrade. Get real.)

Well, I can whine as good as anybody, so here's a couple of mine.

I got a million of 'em, but these are topping the list these days.

Fridays With Frank (Zappa) #9

2009-05-29T02:25:00.002-04:00

FZ (in Mike's Monkee chair) and Michael Nesmith (in FZ's nose and hair, giving the finger).

Nesmith: "I asked Frank Zappa if he would guest on the show. He said, 'I'll only come if I can have your part.' And I said, 'Well, that's fine. If you come on the show and be me, then I'll be you.' So I dressed him up in a shirt and gave him a wool hat so he'd look like me... He was very kind. When people hated us more than anything he said kind things about us. He was talking about the music, about how well it was produced... He offered to teach me to play lead guitar one time. It was an incredibly groovy thing to do. He worked with me for hours, but I never learned."
(From that Zappa book by Barry Miles)

By the way, if you've never heard the three LPs Nesmith made with the First National Band — Magnetic South, Loose Salute and Nevada Fighter — you're really missing out. They're out on CD now, so you have no excuse.

Double Nickels.

2009-05-28T10:57:00.008-04:00

More '55 Chevys, lifted from various sites and blogs.

Mega Shark Vs. Giant Octopus

2009-05-26T10:42:00.004-04:00

I haven't been this excited about a new movie in 10 years.

Just dig that title. Mega Shark Vs. Giant Octopus. Say it out loud. Ain't it great?

This thing is gonna stink. A lot. I can't wait.

For more wonderfulness, here's the trailer.

Shoulda Been There.

2009-05-23T10:09:00.001-04:00

Bob Dylan, Merle Haggard and Buck Owens.

Fridays With Frank (Zappa) #8

2009-05-22T09:58:00.003-04:00

Came across this on Jimmy Carl Black's website.

Jimmy passed away peacefully Saturday 11/01/08 at 11:00 o'clock pm.

He says hi to everybody and he doesn't want anybody to be sad.

That's him on the right.

7 X 13 = 28

2009-05-20T15:44:00.003-04:00

"Did you ever go to school, stupid?"

"Yes sir, and I came out the same way."

From Little Giant. Brilliant.

"The most damnedable ill luck."

2009-05-19T15:30:00.006-04:00

That's a frame from a 70mm print of my favorite movie, Where Eagles Dare (1969).

It was recently shown in 70mm with six-track magnetic sound at a widescreen film festival in England. You can read about it here.

"We've been digging in garbage for 18 months."

2009-05-18T15:39:00.001-04:00

Two hours of pushin' broom

2009-05-18T14:49:00.003-04:00

You're looking at Roger Miller's original handwritten lyrics to "King Of The Road." It's just one of the nifty things you'll find at his site.

Miller's been a favorite of mine since I was a toddler. I still marvel at the way he bumps words into each other.

Mexico, 1966

2009-05-15T11:45:00.000-04:00

Classic surf photo by Ron Stoner.

Fridays With Frank (Zappa) #7

2009-05-15T10:55:00.004-04:00

Outtake from Cal Schenkel's shoot for We're Only In It For The Money, often held up as the best Zappa/Mothers LP.

Sorry folks, I feel that distinction has to go to Freak Out!

"I need a taco."

2009-05-14T12:07:00.003-04:00

I've plugged The Warner Archive DVD-on-demand program on here a few times, and the titles I splurged on (and at $20 for a DVD-R, I do mean splurged) — Wichita and Westbound — have been quite nice. I was happy with the quality — and overjoyed to have these things sitting in my house.

There are a number of other titles I want. More of their Randolph Scotts. Darby's Rangers. But I was really looking forward to one of their latest releases, Freebie And The Bean, Richard Rush's terrific 1974 buddy/cop movie. It's got a ton of great car and motorcycle stunts. Great performances from James Caan, Alan Arkin and Valerie Harper. Plenty of Hawks- and Altman-esque overlapping dialogue. And Paul Koslo!

Well, my best friend pulled the trigger on this one before I did, and judging from his email this morning, he's a bit disappointed in what showed up in his mailbox.

Anything Laszlo Kovacs shot (dig his list of credits sometime) deserves the red-carpet treatment when it comes to DVD, so for this transfer to be anything less than perfect is a big fat drag. Among the many things he pulls off effortlessly during this 114 minutes, the way lens flare helps conceal the fact that Evel Knievel is doubling for Caan is brilliant.

So even if the picture and sound aren't what you'd hoped for, the movie itself is still hilarious. Arkin's still masterful. And it's still got all that loopy dialogue. (How much of it's improvised?)

And Whitey (Koslo) still gets punched in the face through the screen door.

For a limited time, you can buy two Warner Archive films and get a third free with the coupon code SPITFIRE. Not sure when it runs out. Try it.

"La Nave de los Monstruos." Or as I call it, "The What Of The What?"

2009-05-14T05:33:00.003-04:00

One look at that photo, and a true 50s sci-fi/horror buff can smell a masterpiece.

However, some of you might need further proof.

"I want to know if you red-necked peckerwoods are too chicken-gutted to finish this thing in the open."

2009-05-13T12:19:00.000-04:00

From Ride The High Country (1962)

"The only way to avoid a wipeout is to take this wide, stink-bug stance."

2009-05-13T12:15:00.001-04:00

"Did you see that tooth? She had so much bridge work, every time I kissed her I had to pay a toll."

2009-05-13T11:56:00.004-04:00

Sure it stinks. But why isn't it out on DVD?

2009-05-12T09:37:00.009-04:00

Quality has nothing to do with a movie's presence on DVD. Lots of super-crappy movies are available — Dante's Peak, for instance. This particular crappy movie, Rolling Vengeance, is something I'm dying to see. But can't.

My senior year in college, this thing showed up at the Greeley, Colorado, video store where I worked. I thought it looked like a real hoot — stupid even for an 80s action movie — and I planned to take it home some night. Well, these dudes came and stole it (along with a VCR and a copy of Faces Of Death) before I ever got a chance to see it. The bastards! Why couldn't they have ripped off The Princess Bride or The Lost Boys instead? We had dozens of those.

So now it's more than 20 years later and I still haven't seen this thing. Hope you dirtbags enjoyed it! A quick search shows that it's nowhere on DVD.

But the clip below (sorry about the cussin') makes it look like it'll be worth the decades-long wait.

Fridays With Frank (Zappa) #6

2009-05-08T04:29:00.001-04:00

In observance of Mother's Day, here's a Mother with his mother.

Another '55 Chevy

2009-05-07T14:51:00.001-04:00

It don't get no better than this 81 minutes right here.

2009-05-05T11:50:00.003-04:00

One of my all-time favorite movies — which my best friend James and I used to watch almost daily via a faded 16mm 'Scope print — Pit And The Pendulum. Enjoy.

Fridays With Frank (Zappa) #5

2009-05-01T10:51:00.000-04:00

Someplace you shoulda been.

So Long Pontiac.

2009-04-27T12:40:00.010-04:00

The news about GM and Pontiac got me thinking about The Rockford Files and all those Firebird Esprit's (74-78 models, I think) James Garner drove.

Rocky's pickup was cool, too. And I'd love to have Rockford's trailer sitting in my backyard.

By the way, 29 Cove Road is not a real address. The trailer sat alongside the Sandcastle Restaurant, now the Paradise Cove Cafe. It's at 28128 Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu. When I eventually tote the family out to CA, you can bet we'll eat there.

Fridays With Frank (Zappa) #4

2009-04-24T14:53:00.005-04:00

The New Rock
by Frank Zappa in Life
June 28, 1968

"...I remember going to see Blackboard Jungle. When the titles flashed up there on the screen Bill Haley and his Comets started blurching "One Two Three O'Clock, Four O'Clock Rock...." It was the loudest sound kids had ever heard at that time. I remember being inspired with awe. In cruddy little teen-age rooms across America, kids had been huddling around old radios and cheap record players listening to the "dirty music" of their life style. ("Go in your room if you wanna listen to that crap... and turn the volume all the way down.") But in the theatre, watching Blackboard Jungle, they couldn't tell you to turn it down. I didn't care if Bill Haley was white or sincere... he was playing the Teen-Age National Anthem and it was so LOUD I was jumping up and down. Blackboard Jungle, not even considering the story line (which had the old people winning in the end) represented a strange sort of "endorsement" of the teen-age cause: "They have made a movie about us, therefore, we exist..."

SURFINK!

2009-04-24T09:55:00.006-04:00

Dig this, boys and girls.

You can make the scene just like Jody McCrea (in Beach Blanket Bingo) or these lovelies you see here, circa 1964, with your very own SURFINK! t-shirt.

This fine apparel was once available from the Ed "Big Daddy" Roth dumb junk empire. Now you go here for a reproduction. But don't do it till I get mine ordered!

Now, where do you go to get one of those bitchin' RF hats?

Another console stereo.

2009-04-23T15:35:00.004-04:00

A Zenith this time. I love how the louvers can be closed when you're not playing (The) Ventures In Space.

2009-04-23T13:52:00.000-04:00

In the past, the future was really cool.

2009-04-22T13:43:00.006-04:00

Now that future has turned into the present, and it's kind of a drag. What happened?

Where's the kitchen that cooks stuff automatically? The car that navigates itself? The business trips to the moon?

Instead we got microwave burritos, the Prius and American Idol. I feel cheated.

Jody McCrea, Part Two. Or Revenge Of The Deadhead.

2009-04-21T17:55:00.005-04:00

L to R: Jody McCrea, Dick Dale, John Ashley, Frankie Avalon, Annette Funicello.

Putting together yesterday's post about Jody McCrea's passing, I came across so many great images, I got stoked and had to stick a couple more on here.

Click on the insert card and it gets like the most.

See ya, Deadhead!

2009-04-20T12:40:00.011-04:00

Jody McCrea, 1934 - 2009

Just found out that Jody McCrea passed away. The son of Joel McCrea and Frances Dee, he's known as Bonehead, Lunkhead and most often Deadhead in the Beach Party movies. He's still pretty much the same character each time. My favorite (and indeed one of my all-time favorite films) is the masterpiece Bikini Beach.

The story goes that McCrea was the only one of the cast who could actually surf. He left Hollywood in the early Seventies to become a rancher in New Mexico.

In these photos, note the "RF" Rat Fink hat and Surf Fink! t-shirt.

Fridays With Frank (Zappa) #3

2009-04-17T11:05:00.008-04:00

Here's a little fact-y thing that signifies that there's a tiny micro-speck of hope for the record-buying American: We're Only In It For The Money actually hit #30 on the Billboard charts back in 1968.

Heard the Lumpy Money thing yet?

The beauty of the console stereo.

2009-04-16T09:06:00.005-04:00

The Clairtone Empress 601 Stereo Console.

You know, some of these things don't sound too good. And they take up a lot of space. But to me, they're works of art. This one, with its simple lines, is a knockout.

Or Clairtone's Project G.

One of these days, when I get a house with more than 17 square feet...

Fridays With Frank (Zappa) #3

2009-04-10T08:11:00.002-04:00

Neon Park's cover to The Mothers' mighty Weasels Ripped My Flesh.

And in case you were wondering, where Zappa got the title came from.

Seems like a good day for a '55 Gasser. Or two. Or five.

2009-04-08T11:56:00.010-04:00

There's this folder on my detachable hard drive, and it's nothing but pictures of 1955 Chevy Gassers.

I find 'em, I drag 'em. Here's a few outta there.

My apologies to the uncredited photographers.