Pop Culture
Friday, January 14, 2011
Film / Pop Culture Bob Friedstand on Animation History Tuesday
Posted by Susan Ellis on Fri, Jan 14, 2011 at 2:06 PM
On Sunday, January 23rd, the Germantown Performing Arts Centre presents “Rhapsody in Boop,” a concert celebrating the animated, jazz-loving sex-pot Betty Boop, who was first introduced to audiences in the 1930s.
“I’ve been a fan of animation and visual effects since childhood, and I’ve worked in film and video all my life,” Friedstand says.
In the ’70s and ’80s, Friedstand lived in L.A. and worked on the first Star Trek movie. Back in Memphis, he’s been involved in a number of projects — from film features to music videos to the odd commercial job. (One promotional video he made for a medical company featured tear-duct plugs dancing to swing music.) At the IMAX theater, he’s the projectionist and does maintenance on the machines.
Friedstand says that his ArtSavvy presentation isn’t so much a lecture as it is a show-and-tell. Using PowerPoint, he’ll show clips and other materials that delve into the history of animation that extends from the early days to stop-motion on through to computer-generated advances in the form.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Pop Culture Signs: A holiday greeting or just bad advice?
Posted by Chris Davis on Tue, Dec 21, 2010 at 1:29 PM
Honestly Pastor Williams, I love Christmas but after thinking it over I've decided to see other holidays...
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Pop Culture Ryko Releases Bill Hicks Anthology
Posted by J.D. Reager on Thu, Sep 30, 2010 at 9:44 AM
Bill Hicks
The Essential Collection
(Ryko)
This month, Ryko rolled out a long awaited four-disc (2 CDs, 2 DVDs) retrospective on the now legendary late comedian, Bill Hicks. Since his untimely death in 1994, Hicks' status has slowly but steadily risen to the level of a cult icon, thanks in part to the success of “alternative” comedians such as David Cross, Patton Oswalt, and even Russell Brand, all of whom Hicks is often credited as being an artistic influence on and forerunner to.
Whether that's true or not, Hicks was definitely a dynamic, unconventional, but still polished (you'd never see Hicks carry notes onstage) performer. And his material still feels fresh and relevant, whether he's talking politics (Reagan, Bush, the first Iraq war) or pop culture (art vs. commerce, reality TV, manufactured pop stars).
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Pop Culture A Very Unfortunate Elvis Item
Posted by Chris Herrington on Wed, Jul 21, 2010 at 12:51 PM
The items — which include a toe tag — were apparently saved by for many years by an embalmer at the Memphis Funeral Home and will be put up for auction in two lots (estimated at $6,000-$8,000 and $4,000-$6,000, respectively) on August 12th. You can see the Hindman site for more details — if you dare.
(Credit to Boing Boing for unearthing this.)
Friday, June 4, 2010
Music / Film / Pop Culture Sound Advice: Jesco White at the Hi-Tone Cafe and Brooks Museum
Posted by J.D. Reager on Fri, Jun 4, 2010 at 2:07 PM
This Sunday, June 6th, presents two unique opportunities for local devotees of cult icon Jesco “the Dancing Outlaw” White to delve further into the Appalachian wild-man's bizarre and, at times, comical world.
White, 53, originally achieved notoriety as the subject of the 1991 PBS documentary Dancing Outlaw, which chronicled White's devotion to the dying art of mountain dancing (his father, D. Ray White, is regarded by some as the greatest mountain dancer who ever lived), as well his many criminal exploits, regular drug use, and troubled family life. Yet the film played like a comedy, and took on a life of its own thanks to word of mouth and relentless bootlegging.
In 2009, actor and Jackass creator Johnny Knoxville produced a new film about White and his large and equally rambunctious extended family, titled The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia. The film serves as both an update on the life of Jesco White, and a culture study on the depressed, poverty-ridden West Virginia community that helped shape the Whites into a hell-raising bunch of misfits and tap-dancers.
Music / Pop Culture Faces of Death: Photographer Jonathan Postal opens All the People who Died
Posted by Chris Davis on Fri, Jun 4, 2010 at 1:59 PM
"All the People who Died," which opens at the Jack Robinson Gallery on Friday, June 4 and runs through July 19, doesn't just include shots from Postal's punk days. It also includes artists as diverse as Alex Chilton and Stevie Ray Vaughn.
Friday, May 28, 2010
Pop Culture Dead Again: Scenes from a Zombie March
Posted by Chris Davis on Fri, May 28, 2010 at 11:15 PM
Once a year people dress up like zombies and take a walk down Main Street for no apparent reason Here's a taste of the Memphis Zombie March 2010.
Friday, April 23, 2010
Comics / Pop Culture Profiles in Awesome: Jerry Lawler draws the cover for "WWE Heroes" comic book
Posted by Chris Davis on Fri, Apr 23, 2010 at 11:17 AM
And here it is...
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Music / Pop Culture Muck Sticky & the Rock-afire Explosion, Pt. 2
Posted by J.D. Reager on Tue, Mar 30, 2010 at 12:48 PM
As the Flyer previously reported, Muck Sticky will hit the road this summer backed by “the greatest animatronic rock band of all time,” the Rock-afire Explosion. Formerly known as the house band at the Showbiz Pizza chain, the group will join Mucky Sticky on a nationwide tour known as “the L.I.F.E. Tour.” Muck Sticky spoke to the Memphis Flyer this week via email about this development and more.
The Memphis Flyer: First off, can you tell us what you've been up to since $5 Cover?
Muck Sticky: I spent the winter hibernating and preparing the elements of the L.I.F.E. Tour as well as writing and recording a bunch of new music. I am very blessed to have had my music and message heard by a new audience because of my role on $5 Cover.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Music / Pop Culture Muck Sticky & the Rock-afire Explosion
Posted by J.D. Reager on Thu, Mar 18, 2010 at 1:17 PM
In what is surely an early frontrunner for the most bizarre local music story of 2010, local comedy rapper Muck Sticky has announced a partnership and tour with the animatronic former house band from the old Showbiz Pizza (a precursor to Chuck E. Cheese's) chain, the Rock-afire Explosion.
“Considered to be the greatest animatronic rock band of all time” (according to the press release posted on Muck Sticky's blog), the Rock-afire Explosion will join Muck Sticky's colorful crew for college, theater and festival dates nationwide this summer and fall on a joint venture called “the L.I.F.E. (Love Is Free Everyday) Tour.” The show will consist of songs from both Muck Sticky and the Explosion's catalog of original songs, along with comedy skits, interactive games, and motivational speaking.
There is no word yet if and when the show will hit Memphis.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Pop Culture Comedian Paul F. Tompkins at the 1884 Lounge
Posted by J.D. Reager on Tue, Mar 16, 2010 at 12:16 PM
This Saturday night, March 20th, Minglewood Hall brings well-known comedian/writer/actor Paul F. Tompkins back to town for two shows in the intimate 1884 Lounge.
Tompkins is perhaps best known as the former host of VH1's Best Week Ever (canceled by the network in late 2009), but his list of credits includes Mr. Show with Bob and David, where he served as a writer and performer, multiple HBO and Comedy Central stand-up specials, and most recently, MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olberman, where he is an occasional correspondent/contributor. His second stand-up comedy album, Freak Wharf, was also released in late 2009. Tompkins spoke to the Memphis Flyer last week via email.
The Memphis Flyer: Your new album features a lot of improvisation. Is that a regular part of your live show now?
Paul F. Tompkins: Yeah, I definitely improvise a lot more now. It's not so much that the prepared material isn't still fun to do, it's just that I've heard it before! There really is nothing like the tightrope feeling that stream-of-consciousness comedy provides. And when the audience realizes that's what's going on, when they're on the same page, it's just exhilarating.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Pop Culture Hello Dalai: The video
Posted by Chris Davis on Tue, Sep 22, 2009 at 4:51 PM
Mayor Pro Tem Myron Lowery has taken quite a razzing for his fist bump of the Dalai Lama. And he probably deserves some of it. But nobody seems to have noticed that the Dalai Lama, after discussing the need to replace fear and violent activity with affection, ended his address by giving Mayor Lowery a fist bump of his own. His Holiness used the classic dap as an example of how a violent action can become an act of affection. It was really kind of beautiful.
"Hello Dalai" may not be the most dignified way to greet a great spiritual leader but the fist bump turned out to be a real winner. Here's the complete unedited video.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Music / Pop Culture Elvis Week: Meet Cousin Edie Hand
Posted by Andria Lisle on Thu, Aug 13, 2009 at 7:59 PM
See Minnie Mae Hood Presley, above, serving biscuits to her son Vernon and her grandson Elvis?
Well, Minnie Mae's niece, Alice, was the grandmother of Alabama-based actress, advertising executive, and book author Edie Hand.
Got that?
Starting tomorrow, Hand, Joe Meador, and Ronnie McDowell, co-authors of The Genuine Elvis: Photos and Untold Stories about the King, will be signing copies of their new book all over town.
Flyer: What was it like, as a relative of Elvis, to actually visit Graceland when he was alive?
Hand: Well, we were down-home people. I can still hear my grandmother, Alice, and his grandmother, Minnie Mae, dipping snuff and telling stories. Ghost stories were a big thing! They'd be laughing and high on life. When I came to Graceland, I would always bring the black gum toothbrushes for them to dip their snuff in from my grandparents' sawmill farm in Russellville, Alabama. My Aunt Nash Pritchet, Vernon's youngest sister, was an Assembly of God minister who had a daughter my age, Karen. I got to be good friends with [Elvis' scarves-and-water man] Charlie Hodge, and [Elvis' step-brother] Rick Stanley.
What was the reaction on your side of the family when Vernon Presley was arrested and sent to the penitentiary at Parchman?
People were much more tight-lipped back then. You didn’t talk about your problems, you didn’t have Oprah. My grandmother would say things like, "They’re having a bad time," but not a lot was said about it. It was one of those things — you do strange things in bad times, and Vernon did it for survival.
Television / Pop Culture CNN: Ferguson-Free?
Posted by Greg Akers on Thu, Aug 13, 2009 at 12:33 PM
TVNewser reported this week that CNN will no longer book talk radio hosts on the news network. Among others whose radio faces might disappear from your boob tube: Memphis' own Ben Ferguson.
From the report: "In his morning editorial meeting today, CNN/U.S. president Jon Klein asked his show producers to avoid booking talk radio hosts. 'Complex issues require world class reporting,' Klein is quoted as saying, adding that talk radio hosts too often add to the noise, and that what they say is 'all too predictable.'
But this means other talk radio hosts who appear regularly on CNN, probably won't in the near future including names like Stephanie Miller, Michael Medved, and Ben Ferguson."
Remember this?
Good times.
And one to grow on:
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Television / Pop Culture Pee-wee Herman's Hollywood Comeback
Posted by Andria Lisle on Wed, Aug 12, 2009 at 4:00 PM
I was a huge fan back in the 1980s, from the time that Pee-wee appeared on HBO through the debut of his Saturday morning children's show on CBS. I still do the "Tequila" dance and joke about the basement in the Alamo.
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