Son of The Ghoul Goes West, part KTLA 5.

Hello again, S&Pers!

I surely hope you have all been enjoying the Irish Month. I know weather across the country has been nearly schizophrenic in its ups and downs, so we know Spring is so tantalizingly near. With that renewal just about here, I have been busy with some projects and starting back up at my current workplace for the 2011 season, and haven't had time to relax here at the ol' pub.

One of the things that has been occupying my time is compiling audio for Nevermore and his exciting trip to Burbank next month. I still have plenty of programming to do, and it scares me a little. But just a little -- I'm good with deadlines.

Another exciting part of Monsterpalooza this year is... television! Yes, come early morning of Friday April 8th, the first day of the convention, a number of us crazy monster makers will be involved in news segments broadcast from the convention! This is all because of a close friend of my family who happens to be a hilarious and brilliant reporter for the morning news team on the oldest TV station in Los Angeles.

KTLA 5.

KTLA is now on digital channel 31, but it still represents a few firsts -- the first station licensed for commercial broadcasting in L.A., acquiring its license in 1947, and the first commercially licensed TV station west of the Mississippi (and only the seventh in the country, at a time when there probably weren't more than 500 or so sets in L.A. alone).

But for me, it represents a more personal set of firsts.

You see, KTLA TV5 was the station that ran all of the classic Universal horror films for decades. Oh, they weren't the only station to show great horror and sci-fi in the Southland-- KHJ 9 and KTTV 11 had plenty of shock power in those days, and I have much love for those memories too -- but Channel 5 seemed to always be running the great films of Karloff, Lugosi, Chaney Jr., Price, Lorre, Atwill, and all my other heroes.

There was always a Monster Week, or Sci-Fi Week, or Godzilla Week, or Apes Week, and each weeknight was another film in the series... it seemed to never end!

They'd run the movies on weekends too, repeating them four or even six times over Saturday and Sunday. In the days long before VCRs, let alone computers, DVDs, Tivo and Netflix, we had entire films memorized by Sunday evening, and were performing them at school on Monday morning.

Oh! the incredible images, the nerve-rattling moments KTLA was first to show me...

Yes, the first time I ever experienced the shock of these Monster Kid Moments, these rites of passage for fantasy film fanatics, was solely the fault of KTLA. I was watching TV 5 the first time my mind was blown by these legendary scenes...

Oh the precious memories.

KTLA was also the station that carried The Twilight Zone. Golly, the first time we saw these images...

KTLA also ran the fantastic films of Ray Harryhausen, all the Planet of the Apes films, and more of the great Toho Giant Monster 'kaiju' films from Japan than I could count.

In the mind of my inner child it was every week, all year long, that you could find something monsteriffic on KTLA.

It was KTLA running a Monster Week that helped me bond with my uncles over all things Universal Monster at my grandmother's house so long ago. It was KTLA which first taught me to stay up late (Movies 'Til Dawn!) suffering from a full bladder because I was too scared to walk down the hallway. KTLA absolutely put so many terrifyingly fun images in my brain that I could probably sue them for damages, but I owe them so much more than anything I'd get that it hardly would be worth it.

Besides, they also gave us legendary personalities like the unstoppable reporter Stan Chambers...

... and the funny and fun Tom Hatten, who'd doodle great pictures for us while showing us Popeye cartoons and episodes of Our Gang, Laurel & Hardy, and hosting the Family Film Festival every weekend...

... and getting back to the horror, the nearly god-like persona of Seymour, horror host extraordinaire!

Created and portrayed by the wholly under-appreciated and unique actor Larry Vincent, the tuxedo'd Seymour began his L.A. horror hosting career on KHJ 9 in 1971, but moved to KTLA for some years, and this is when I best remember him and his Monster Rally.

More of the fascinating, creative and all-too-short life of Larry Vincent, including audio files of Seymour shows, can be read here. Seymour, your Fringies miss you!

And just in case you still don't quite grasp how important KTLA was to the rise of the Monster Kid movement:

... this was published in the very first issue of Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine in 1958. What's zat say in the corner? What're them call letters? Yeah, that's right.

'Nuff said.

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Oh, KTLA 5, you rocked. Very, very hard.

And so I am looking forward to Monsterpalooza all the more. Being back in L.A., showing off my Hallowe'en work, seeing friends and family, and somehow connecting ever so tenuously to KTLA 5... I cannot wait.

O' ZOM-beeee!

Old tubes, part the dozenth.

When magic eyes are smiling...

Oh, you sly S&Pers. You knew it wouldn't be long after the jukebox changed that the ol' Hallowe'enith radio would start to crackle and hum, and we'd have a new program to enjoy while we relax in the warmth of our little pub.

Sure an' tis true, there's (so far) one new/old bit of fun to be heard on the ol' machine.

From Hallmark Playhouse comes a half an hour's worth of the blarney; based on the famous 1938 Stephen Vincent Benet short story, O'Halloran's Luck tells of a seeming troublemaker who finds himself a leprechaun... and all the luck that can bring.

It stars Edmond O'Brien:

... who, among myriad other notable roles, also starred as Kansas City big-shot Fran McCarg in Pete Kelly's Blues (the tale of another fine Irish boy).

How is this remotely related to Hallowe'en?

Not much. The episode was first broadcast on October 28, 1948.

Close enough to be green and orange and black.

Give yourself the half-hour, you'll enjoy it, trust me.


Now whaaaaar's me gold...?

O' ZOM-beeee!

In like a lion.

Well, say goodbye to Runtmonth -- oh what a month she was.

Say hello, or perhaps aye, to the month that is the end of Winter and the beginning of new life, new horizons, and such wonderful, wonderful green...

March. 

Month # 3. 

Most importantly -- the Irish Month.

Oh, bless me soul, the amount, the depth of SPOOKY we owe our dear Ireland.

We'd have precious little Hallowe'en but for the Irish. And precious fewer public houses.

If not for Ireland, then, there'd certainly be no Skull & Pumpkin (and very likely no Humble Pubkeep for that matter).

And... we'd have no Elphaba.

That's right, the Wicked Witch is (at least partially) Irish. It's in the book. Deal with it.

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As ever, a changed month means changed music on our li'l ol' S&P jukebox to the right.

We always begin with the official S&P theme song, The Great Pumpkin Waltz, but the second slot is usually a position of fun. In that vein, I offer a song that for me signifies something very early Spring, something very March-like.

Hobbits.

From the now-classic 1977 animated TV movie The Hobbit, comes a lovely instrumental version of the memorable Roads Go Ever, Ever On, composed by Maury Laws. The soundtrack to this film has long been a family favorite and this song, for me, is such an integral element of the very idea of Spring.

In fact, all of Tolkien's incredible works are, in my mind and heart, wrapped up in Spring, renewal, family, music, celebration... all the things that make life so worthwhile. So sticking with this notion for one more song, I thought a bit of Howard Shore's breathtaking score for The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) would be perfect. Concerning Hobbits is my favorite motif of the entire trilogy's worth of them. That pennywhistle...

Then, we have piece that I had on the player last March. Near Northern is the closing piece on the 1986 Live at Montreaux album from my favorite "new grass" group, the Anger-Higbie Quintet. You hear them a lot here at the S&P -- they write a lot of Autumn into their music.

And then, considering Ireland's many gifts of ghostliness to our culture, I thought I'd add a haunting little piece from 2001. From the piano of William Allaudin Mathieu and the inimitable pipes of Bobby McFerrin comes an improvisation called To The Well. One feels a sense of drawing, of quickening, in the repeated phrases and reel-like passages that fill this almost alien beauty.

Finally, a piece of real, honest-to-goodness Irish reel from a group called The Bothy Bandy, titled The Green Groves of Erin. It's exactly what you want to hear. Go on, no one will be bothered if you play this one first. I just thought it would live best next to last month's British Isle beauties John Barleycorn and The Unquiet Grave, which shall, of course, remain for yet another month -- they are just as appropriate now as ever.

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March, you make me happy to have lived through a dark, deep Winter without ruining myself. 

You help me dream again, and dream new dreams.

And like the hobbitish songs above suggest, life is often full of new dreams, new opportunities, choices to pick a new road, to maybe see an old road as something new, and to know that for the journey undertaken, coming home again will always be the sweeter...

... and if sweet homecomings ain't Irish, I simply don't know what is.

Oh, wait -- that's right:

O' ZOM-beeee!

Son of The Ghoul Goes West, part v4.10.

Don't get up, folks, this will be brief.

Please stay in your comfy chairs and couches and barstools.

It's just your humble pubkeep making more noise about that silly Raven...

Now if you recall the Raven's voice in the videos from Hallowe'en 2011, you'll note that I gave him a bit of an Orson Welles flair.

I think he will have that voice every Hallowe'en.

But for Monsterpalooza, I am bowing to the request of Eliot Brodsky (the guy who owns and runs the whole shebang) and letting Nevermore ape (parrot? RAVEN!) the words and dripping tones of one of horror's finest thespians...

Yes, folks, Nevermore the Raven will be channeling Vincent Price at this year's convention, spouting some works of Edgar Allan Poe and famous dialogue from Price's films and stage work. 

You see, May 27th of this year marks the ONE HUNDREDTH BIRTHDAY of the late Mr. Price, and I felt only too happy to oblige Eliot's request -- it means I'll be able to display something in 2011's roster of monster conventions to tribute the great actor during his centennial year.

Now, if I could do a really good Price impression (and don't think I haven't tried!) I'd do it all myself, but until that fine day comes, I'll be sticking with whatever I can find in my audio library and of course online. I am compiling audio and editing it into usable tracks, and then will begin the arduous process of programming Nevermore to come to life via Price's remarkable, recognizably resonant voice.

I'm looking forward to it immensely.

DDSPrice!

Son of The Ghoul Goes West, part 4

I know what you're thinking.

"Wha--?! MORE of that damned bird? Dear God in Heaven, will it never end?"

Yep. And nope.

Got the claws painted up this evening...

It's easier to see the detail of wrinkles and so on.

Of course, such detail isn't really going to show up in dim candlelight and washed colors. But it looks so pretty it doesn't really matter, does it?

My beloved Vonnetta, a professional lighting director for many many years, helped me play around with different configurations of light and color.

And man! am I loving that skull candle... had to get a few different shots:

And just so you could get a quick look at how that candle flickers, here's some terrible video (but it's right side up this time!):

I think this is going to be a lovely display.

Of course, it needs a different voice. Monsterpalooza creator Eliot Brodsky requested a very neat voice, one that will please everyone, I think.

More on that next time.

DDSpeculation!

Son of The Ghoul Goes West, part 3

Hello again, loyal S&P-brains!

I'm excited to show you this set of pictures; it's just an update of our dear Nevermore's progress but I am happy about each step forward!

I thought a few pictures in front of a plain background would make it easier for you to see his form.

I decided to make his 'improved' wings just as feathery-shaggy and non-descript as the rest of his feathery-shaggy-non-descript body. He looks like he just got run through the rinse cycle and left in the tumbler for a day or two.

I love it.

And as you can see, over the wiring and copper tubing that affixes him to his perch, I've sculpted some legs and talons from a little 'earthtone' Model Magic.

When they dry, I'll paint and wash them to look like they oughta. In case anyone was wondering, good close up images of raven legs and claws are hard to locate (yet it is very easy to find all kinds of images relating to Ravenclaw... go figure). I just thought about chicken legs and went for it. It's not like this is supposed to be a hyper-realistic piece.

It's easiest to see how it moves and looks so far with a little sideways video. The sound is low, but the audio isn't important here. Neither is the video, apparently, because it's sideways and I cannot fix it for some reason. At any rate if you tilt your head to your left you'll have a good ol' time.

I think it's coming along beautifully.

Cartoony, pretty, perched and perfect!

Next step is painting up those talons. Then we move on to assembling audio and then programming.

More to come.


DDSPaintingsoon!

Son of The Ghoul Goes West, part 2

Welcome, welcome.

I trust everyone's been enjoying their mid-Winter.

I think maybe Punxsutawney Phil's shadowless sojourn from a few weeks ago might be behind the recent (and truly beautiful) warm spell most of the country has been enjoying after endless weeks of snow and ice and bitterly cold temperatures.

I know it has brought us back to life here in the Ozarks; suddenly we slugs have become animated, stirred to activity and enthusiasm. Windows are open during the day, the sun has come out to play... and most importantly, some fine projects are under way.

Foremost, of course, is the 2011 Monsterpalooza Museum's animatronic avian, our own  

Nevermore the Raven.

He's getting a bit of a makeover (decent talons and finally some tail feathers!), and a brand new perch. 

Just a few days ago, my cousin Goober (you'll recall him from this post) helped me tremendously cutting the piping, drilling holes to hide the wiring trunk for all the innards and welding things together for me. He's the one whose birthday IS Hallowe'en, so maybe he just felt obliged?

Innards? Oh you bet there are. Here's a shot from an angle as you've never seen Nevermore before...

Oh boy, robotic bird guts. The chassis from an old R/C truck, a servo controller, and wires galore. Most of the servos are in his head and in front of him (on the other side of the chassis), but the one you see at the bottom controls his wing/shrug. Hidden just below it is the servo that controls his leaning. Just above that little green controller board is where I'll stick the 9v battery to power his green LED eyes.

Yes he's wingless for the moment, because I need to make somewhat better-looking wings. If this guy's going to be presented among the works of Brent Armstrong, Mike Hill, and dozens of other luminaries, his wings gots'ta have a bit more umph to 'em. Call it an artist's insecurity.

Even so, he's looking good, like he's going to really enjoy hanging out on that little perch.

Also, I figure since you're seeing so much of my messy Hallowe'en laboratory in these shots, you might wish to see an angle of it I've never really shown anyone here at the S&P before. 

Here's the other side of my workstation...

The computer is my old but very capable multitasking darling. She plays music and internet radio while I'm working, helps me record, compile and edit all of the audio I need for my figures (and all my music and numerous other sound-related projects) and of course is the programming and editing brain for all of my animatronics. Uncle Forry, to the right, has been in love with her for a few years now -- if I move him too far from that spot he grows petulant and uncooperative.

To the left of the monitor there's my longtime workhorse Sony MiniDISC recorder/player, which helped me put together the audio for my first Hallowe'en displays years ago and provided servo and audio playback for the Great Pumpkin for many years.

You'll also see, at lower left, the core of my sound system -- a truly minty Kenwood KR4600 FM/AM Stereo Receiver from 1977. Everything audio I play in the lab goes in, out and through that beautiful beast.

FM only sounds good when it looks like this. 

What I really love is that it has the old flywheel tuning that you spinnnnnnnnnn and the speakers go  phthpthpppthhhtttpthtphtttphtptphttt! and the needles bob around and the warmest, richest sound comes floating out. 

There is nothing like hearing Boris Karloff telling ghost stories through this baby -- I swear to God you feel the voice in your feet.

In love.

By the way, just now while I was looking for another picture of this receiver on the web, the very first image I saw was on a blog about vintage '70s stereo gear -- the picture of the blogger's own KR4600 was posted on October 31st, 2009! How much do I adore that coincidental bit of Hallowe'en love?

But enough about vintage audio. I could go on about that all night long. Vonnetta will attest to that.

So, Nevermore is on his way to becoming what I need him to be come Monsterpalooza. He'll get new wings, myriad accessories for his little parlor table, and a new (but very familiar) voice. More on that in future updates. I think you'll appreciate it.

Ah, Raven of mine...

I think we're going to have some fine times.

DDSProject!