How's it going lurkers? Because we were celebrating my grandmother's
77th birthday at Red Lobster for lunch yesterday, I published Song Saturday 2 days ago.
Hopefully, MORE
people remembered to thank veterans for their services, while
celebrating Veterans Day.
Aside from celebrating
my grandmother's birthday on Veterans Day yesterday, it's Cartoon Sunday. This animated short I'm
sharing with you today was a short I meant to share last Sunday.
"The
Face Shop" is a Dark Comedy Animated Short created by Noella Borie. Originally,
"The Face Shop" was Borie's thesis film meant for children in May 2010.
The short focuses on the 11-year-old protagonist, Neil, who has no face. The protagonist's monster
friend, Manny takes him to a face shop to help Neil find himself a
suitable face.
When I watched "The Face Shop" a few weeks ago, it reminded me of the 3D Stop-Motion Dark Fantasy Horror film, Coraline.
Coraline [2009] Fan Made Trailer (2014)
In case you have never watched Coraline, it was based on the
Children's Dark Fantasy novella by Neil Gaiman; If you've never watched
Coraline, I highly recommend doing so. You will see some of "The Face
Shop's" similarities.
Even though Coraline and "The
Face Shop" were meant for children, adults can be easily attracted to
both. This is especially if you are a fellow Gothic Horror fan.
Not
only did I notice that the illustrations for Noella Borie's "The Face
Shop" looks similar to Coraline, but it also looks abstract enough
to pass as a potential animated short for Adult Swim.
Don't believe me? Watch Borie's graphically disturbing yet abstract Dark Comedy Animated Short for yourself.
How's it going lurkers? This weekend's blogs have an Edgar Allan
Poe theme. If you have been friends with me for the last decade or so or
have at least been a subscriber of mine within the last 4 years, you
already know that I am an Edgar Allan Poe fan. A stereotypical Goth
trait. Am I right?
Considering that there are a few
songs written about legendary authors, I decided to search for songs
written about Edgar Allan Poe. Lo and behold were at least several songs
about him.
"My Lost Lenore" by the Symphonic Gothic
Metal band, Tristania, really caught my ears. The name of this band
sounds vaguely familiar. Tristania comes from Dalane, Norway.
If
you have ever read ANY of Edgar Allan Poe's work, the name, Lenore
should sound very familiar to you. This is especially if you loved
reading his narrative poem, "The Raven."
In the 1845
poem, "The Raven," the character Lenore is assumed to be a deceased
wife. Poe wrote a poem specifically titled, "Lenore," which was
published 2 years before "The Raven," also.
After
listening to Tristania's song, "My Lost Lenore," I instantly thought of
Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven." The song was written by Morten Veland. If
you would like to read the lyrics to "My Lost Lenore," click on the
link right HERE.
"My Lost Lenore" was released on
Tristania's debut album, Widow's Weeds in 1998. Wow! This album will turn
20 next year and I just discovered this song 2 days ago. Had I known
about Tristania YEARS ago, I would've included the band on my music
playlist, when I hosted my radio show.
To make up
for it, I am sharing this Symphonic Gothic Metal band with you today.
Besides, it has been a while, since I last shared any Gothic Metal bands
in a Song Saturday blog.
Better late than never, right? Anyway, here is
Tristania's "My Lost Lenore" for today's Song Saturday.
{This Cartoon Sunday blog was previously published in 2017. As of
2021, videos containing the following music references have recently
been updated.}
How's it going lurkers? It appears
that more musicians from the 1980's were name dropped in last night's
episode of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Battle Tendency.
Lately, more
musicians from the '80s are being referenced to in Part 2 of this
series. Hirohiko Araki's characters are named after many groups (mostly
Rock bands) and singers in general.
It has been
about several months, since I last mentioned the JoJo's Bizarre
Adventure franchise.
Recently, I learned that JoJo's Bizarre
Adventure is considered to be a "multi-generational" franchise and the first 2 parts of the franchise are combined into Season 1.
JoJo's
Bizarre Adventure: Phantom Blood was only Part 1 of the franchise. It had a Dark Shadows, Gothic Horror Soap Opera tone and was set during the 19th Century in England, when the ORIGINAL protagonist (Jonathan
Joestar) was learning how to use Hamon.
Hamon is supposedly a form of Martial Arts, which uses the sun's energy.
Will
A. Zeppeli taught Jonathan how to use Hamon to fight his sinister,
adopted brother, Dio Brando and Dio's minions of vampires. Part 2 of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is
Battle Tendency.
Now
that JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Battle Tendency premieres on Adult
Swim's Toonami block, the franchise takes place, during the 1930's with
Jonathan Joestar's grandson, Joseph Joestar (in the picture above) in
America. Lately, there have been a lot of 1980's singers being named
dropped.
Last week, the character "Lisa Lisa" was
introduced. There was also a song sample of Yes' "Owner Of A Lonely
Heart" being used, when Joseph was doing Hamon training.
In
Battle Tendency, Joseph Joestar trains to defeat The Pillar Men. The
Pillar Men are members of an ancient vampiric race. Last night, he
managed to defeat Esidisi. Esidisi is named after the Hard Rock band,
AC/DC.
Even though the illustrations of these characters look like dated characters from
the 1980's, watching JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is quite an
entertaining franchise for a Seinen Supernatural Thriller Action Anime.
Then again, Hirohiko Araki created his
Manga during the 1980's, which explains why some of his characters are
named after Lisa Lisa, Wham!, REO Speedwagon, Dire Straits, The Cars,
etc.
The characters being namesakes of celebrities, songs, albums, etc. add to the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure franchise's campiness. Whenever watching this particular series, I usually laugh because they are namesakes.
Rather than sharing the usual animation, I
thought it would be better to learn more about the names of the
characters from the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure franchise for Cartoon
Sunday.
1) JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Phantom Blood Music References (2021)
2) JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Battle Tendency Music References (2021)
How's it going lukers? Several nights ago, I created a Google+ profile, joined some group pages, and I am following a few.
Judging
from its interface, Google+ feels similar to being on other social
media sites. Luckily, my news feed is not being flooded with selfies,
politics, and house cats.
Well, now that
Thanksgiving is over, I thought I would share another blog about
Krampus. Over these last several years, Krampus has been getting a lot
more exposure in the good ol' U.S. of A.
In fact, a PG-13 rated Horror Movie is being released in the movie theaters about Krampus on December 4th.
December 4th is
literally 1 day before Krampus makes his appearance to punish naughty
children and 2 days before Saint Nicholas is supposed to give presents
to nice children.
Krampus Official Trailer (2015)
I love how the filmmakers play on coulrophobia (fear of clowns) with the Jester Clown being a monster.
How many kids play with or have toy clowns in today's era? Aren't they too busy playing with video games and other electronics?
Since
we are on the topic of Krampus, you may recall that I published a few
blogs about him over these last 2 years.
Next week, I will re-share at
least 1 of those other blogs for December 5th because that is the day,
when Krampus appears and punishes naughty children.
Sometimes he even banishes them to hell!
Meanwhile,
it is Song Saturday. Last night, I stumbled upon this duo of Gothic Horror
Fantasy Instrumental composers. They are Midnight Syndicate.
I am currently following them on Google+ and alerted them about me sharing their song, "Night Of The Krampus."
The
song can be found on their new album, Christmas: A Ghostly Gathering.
Anyway, here is Midnight Syndicate for today's Song Saturday.
Midnight Syndicate "Night Of The Krampus" Christmas: A Ghostly Gathering (2015)
In
that last Cartoon Sunday blog, I briefly summarized his short story, "The
Cask Of Amontillado." This was followed up with a 3-D animated version of Poe
"narrating" it.
We have the classic 1954 animated
adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart" for today. The
story's about deranged boarder, who SLAUGHTERED his landlord supposedly because he
was possessed an "evil eye."
A "boarder" is someone, who pays to live and
have meals daily at another person's house or at a school.
In other
words, a boarder is like a tenant, in case you are
unfamiliar with the term.
The boarder
(narrator) did not murder his landlord out of greed in "The Tell-Tale
Heart." The narrator is psychotically OBSESSED with his landlord's
so-called "evil eye" and begins rationalizing, that he is not.
In
reality, the boarder is more deranged than he wants to accept. He is
being haunted in his house by the heartbeats of the man he murdered over
his (landlord's) eyes. The more I think about "The Tell-Tale Heart," it
somewhat reminds me of Octavio Paz's "The Blue Bouquet."
You
should read "The Blue Bouquet" by Octavio Paz, in case you haven't
already. Rather than explaining every little detail, here is Columbia
Picture's animated adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart"
for today's Cartoon Sunday.
How's it going lurkers? I have another Anime for Cartoon Sunday. Today I have Kuroshitsuji.
It's also known as "Black Butler" in English. I would've shared a YouTube
video, but Funimation Entertainment [cough, cough], the monopoly of the
Anime Industry restricted it. This means, you will have to watch Black
Butler in English through Vimeo.
Black Butler is a
historical, dark humored, Shonen Supernatural Mystery Anime with a
smidge of Action, set during The Victorian Era in London, England.
However, I will say the target age demographic is debatable. Kuroshitsuji is usually rated as a Shonen but some say it is a Seinen.
Considering that in a later episode, Sebastian, the demon butler himself, has sex with a nun, it definitely gets rated a Seinen in my book.
Most Shonen don't have any sex in the comic books and animation, especially when the protagonist is immature and oblivious to a female character's attraction to him.
Seinen, on the other hand, has a better chance of having sex in the comic books and animation but not necessarily to the extent of Hentai or animated pornography.
So, what is Black Butler's plot?
On
Ciel Phantomhive's 10th birthday, he was captured as a fire torched his
mansion and killed his parents. As the noble family's mansion burned,
Ciel formed a contract with the demon, Sebastian Michaelis. In exchange
for Ciel's revenge, Sebastian is to take Ciel's soul. Their contract
resulted in Sebastian becoming Ciel's butler.
Sebastian's main purpose is to serve and protect Ciel, until their deal is completed.
A
month later, Ciel returned with Sebastian, disguised as Ciel's butler.
All the while, Ciel became the head of The Phantomhives. The heir
handles Funtom, which is a toy factory business. Ciel is also the Queen
of England's watchdog and solves crimes in London.
I
need to re-watch Kuroshitsuji because it has been years, since I last
watched it. On July 10th, Japan premiered a new season. I have been so
busy on and offline, that I haven't found the time to watch it. Anyway,
here's Black Butler's pilot episode.
How's it going lurkers? I can't speak for everyone else, but this
past week has been very rough for some of us, especially for yours
truly.
On Thursday at 3 AM-ish, I was in the middle
of blogging on Horror-Punks.com, when my mother had a seizure. I had to
postpone blogging over there for a while, until my mother was feeling
better. These last 2-3 days, I barely got any sleep.
If
you want to learn more about what I have endured this past
week, you're always welcome to read my latest Horror-Punks blog.
On
another note, it is Song Saturday. This week, there songs in this block from Maynard James Keenan's bands, Tool, A Perfect Circle, and Puscifer.
Last Saturday, I watched AXS TV for most of A Perfect Circle's
concert. I would've watched the entire concert but it ran against Bleach
and Naruto Shippuden.
Too bad AXS TV didn't premiere A
Perfect Circle's concert earlier in the evening rather than premiering Judas Priest
and Lamb of God's concerts before them.
I suppose I didn't miss very
much with A Perfect Circle's performance. Maynard mostly hid himself in
the dark.
I don't understand the purpose of Maynard
James Keenan fronting 3 bands (Tool, A Perfect Circle, and Puscifer),
owning a winery and making wine, being an album producer, and actor but at the same time, he is ALWAYS hiding his face.
It is understandable that
the man wants his fans to respect him for his talents. However,
Maynard is involved in numerous professions, which require him to
constantly be "in the publicly eye."
Also, Maynard James
Keenan always hated the Hollywood lifestyle and the way fans worship
Rock musicians yet he has a home in the Hollywood Hills AND his sycophants believe he's like a god.
All the while, some find Maynard to be
self-righteous.
Maynard may not be as self-righteous
as David Draiman from Disturbed, for example. Although, he can sometimes
be a self-righteous hypocrite. I believe Maynard secretly hates himself
because he is the embodiment of some of the qualities that he hates in
others. It's like a reflection in the mirror.
Speaking of Maynard James Keenan's house in the Hollywood Hills, I read earlier this past week, that he is selling it.
Being an individualist by NOTconforming to the latest trends, not
wanting to be someone's idol god, being reclusive, and having to endure stalkers not only resonate with me, but are also problems that can be empathized by yours truly. Nevertheless, public appearances come with being an
entertainer.
Some of my old college friends are both male and female Maynard James Keenan sycophants for fans.
Meanwhile, some of them are like his personal zealots
because they consider him to be a god for his "deep philosophies" about
life, religion, and society through his lyrics. They worship the ground this man walks
on.
Interesting
enough, while reading hardDriveRadio's Dirt page, I learned that Maynard does
NOT write Tool's songs. As he sits idle, the band writes the lyrics for Tool's songs. Therefore, this would definitely explains WHY the band always has so many
side projects and delays.
Personally, I never put
Maynard James Keenan on a pedestal and claimed his as my God like a zealot.
Like I already said, even though I enjoy
some of Tool's and mostly A Perfect Circle's songs, and respect the singer for his talents, Maynard James Keenan is somewhat self-righteous and has the tendency to contradict
himself. Oh, I can only imagine the sycophants and zealots reeling over what I just said.
I like A Perfect Circle much better than
Tool because A Perfect Circle has a different sound compared to them. I
don't particularly care to listen to Puscifer except for their song,
"Revolution 22:20," which is featured on the 2003 Underworld Soundtrack.
"Revolution 22:20" has a dark yet seductive sound to it.
Today
I am sharing some of my favorite songs from Tool, A Perfect Circle, and Puscifer.
Tool's "Parabol" is a separate song
from "Parabola," which makes it actually 2 Tool songs.
1) Tool "AEnema" AEnema (1996)
2) Tool "Parabol" Lateralus (2001)
3) Tool "Parabola" Lateralus (2001)
4) A Perfect Circle "Magdalena" Mer de Noms (2000)
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