Cartoon Sunday: Bill Tytla's The Wee Men

How's it going lurkers? Looks like some of you really enjoyed yesterday's Song Saturday blog. 

So, how creepy was it to re-read yesterday's blog about the banshee with Henry Cowell's song, "The Banshee" playing in the background?

Since we are already on the topic of Horror, I read yesterday morning on Anime News Network, that the Seinen Horror Action Anime, Tokyo Ghoul will replace One Piece on March 25th.

Toonami Replaces One Piece Anime With Tokyo Ghoul Starting On March 25

Even though One Piece fans get the shaft as usual, this is fantastic news for us Horror Anime fans.

For a year or so, I have said that Tokyo Ghoul should've aired on Adult Swim's Toonami block after Parasyte -The Maxim- ended. It would've been the perfect replacement for Parasyte.

With the constant promotion during the shortly lived Anime Wednesday block, it originally seemed as if Chiller TV was going to air Tokyo Ghoul.

Speaking of Chiller TV, Dish Network removed the channel from its package, last month. This means the channel will be even MORE niche than it already was on for the last decade. Both Dish Network and Direct TV were the ONLY packages, that carried Chiller TV.

Right now, I shouldn't complain too much. Tokyo Ghoul is a series that I never had a chance to watch in its entirety online because of my hectic schedule and because of Hulu. That online streaming site shafted all its loyal users, who watched free online streaming shows.

In order to watch Hulu's programming, it NOW requires you to sign up using your social media accounts. 

This is all because the company wants to track our personal information and because Hulu wants to compete with Netflix.

Since I don't have Netflix or use Hulu anymore, both are irrelevant to me. At least I will have another show to watch on Adult Swim's Toonami block on the weekends.

In 2 more weeks on Toonami, I will be watching Tokyo Ghoul, Naruto Shippuden, and JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. Tokyo Ghoul's a small victory for Horror Anime fans and for yours truly.

Meanwhile, I have another animated short by Bill Tytla for today's Cartoon Sunday. 

Last week, I shared his 1949 short, Leprechauns Gold. 2 years before Leprechauns Gold, Tytla created The Wee Men. You are probably wondering why I did not share his 1947 short before his 1949 short. 

I purposely saved The Wee Men for today's Cartoon Sunday because Saint Patrick's Day is on Friday, this year. Therefore, you may consider today's blog an early Saint Patrick's Day Cartoon Sunday blog.

This 1947 animated short by Bill Tytla has relevance to Saint Patrick's Day. The Wee Men is similar to the 1949 animated short, Leprechauns Gold.

Legend supposedly has it in Ireland, that leprechauns live with a hidden pot of gold.

If anyone succeeds in capturing 1 of the so-called "wee men," he must lead to the gold's hidden location.

In The Wee Men, the leprechauns make shoes and deliver them to poor people. 

On Patrick's 121st birthday, he wants to prove his manhood by delivering the shoes he and the other leprechauns make to the poor.

In the process of shoe delivering, Patrick is caught by a greedy landlord, who wants to steal the leprechauns' gold. Their pot of gold has been buried under a tree stump and the landlord wants Patrick to reveal the location to it.

Bill Tytla's The Wee Men (1947)

Song Saturday: Henry Cowell's The Banshee

How's it going lurkers? Was the last Song Saturday NOT  creepy enough for you? Chances are great that you will say, "Yes." The last blog wasn't intended to be creepy. However, you are in luck today!

Before listening to today's song by the Classical Music composer, pianist, and theorist, Henry Cowell, learning about the banshee is a MUST. Growing up, I have always heard people loosely mention the banshee in discussions but never really knew much about it.

According to Irelandseye.com, the banshee is widely known in Irish Mythology as a female spirit, that is appointed to warn those from certain Old Irish families about their times of death.

Wikipedia additionally mentions that the banshee is also known as "the woman of the fairy mound" or "fairy woman." The spirit warns 5 Irish families with her shrieking and "keening." 

Keening is supposedly a traditional form of vocal wailing in grief of a dead person. This is something customarily done at Irish and Scottish funerals by women.

Who are these 5 Old Irish families?

The O'Niells, O'Briens, O'Connors, O'Gradys, and the Kavanaghs are the 5 Irish families in need of warning. Notice that most of these Old Irish family names have last names starting with "O'."

While the banshee's shrieks and keens forewarn the 5 families at night about death, she can appear in 1 of her 3 guises. She can appear as a young and beautiful woman, a stately matron, or a frightful, old hag. The banshee is most commonly known as a frightful, old hag.

The preceding 3 guises of the banshee represent the triple aspects of the Celtic Goddess of War and Death, which happen to be Badhbh, Macha and Mor-Rioghain.

Even though those 3 guises are the banshee's most popular guises, she can also appear in a few other guises in the form of animals associated with witchcraft in Ireland. 

The banshee can appear as a hooded crow, stoat, hare, or a weasel.

After stumbling upon Henry Cowell's song, "The Banshee," listening to it automatically gave me the chills. Listening to this bone chilling song is like listening to a Horror film score. The way he played this piece on his piano exudes horror.

Imagine listening to "The Banshee," while reading a Horror novel, short story, listening to an audiobook, or simply watching something on your TV or computer screen with a really creepy vibe. 

Actually, I have a better idea. After reading today's blog about the banshee, re-read it as Cowell's "The Banshee" plays in the background. It should enhance your fear about this creepy spirit from Ireland.

Early yesterday morning, I was in the middle of reading an online article, as Henry Cowell's "The Banshee" played in the background. I began to dose off and suddenly awoke by the sound of the strings on his piano. "The Banshee" scared me awake. 

The sound of the piano strings was more effective than waking up to an alarm clock.

The creepy sounds of "The Banshee" automatically causes me to imagine heavy gusts of wind and gray fog, ice cold rain, and falling temperatures from a thunderstorm. 

Someone wakes up from howling and shrieking noises, while everyone sleeps on a dark and dreary night. 

The sounds linger and a man emerges battling insomnia. As badly as he tries falling back asleep, the howling and shrieking noises continue.

The man leaves his bed to roam around the dark hallways, in search of where those loud noises are coming from and from who. After getting closer to those noises, he opens a door and witnesses a frightful-looking old hag, crouching over someone's corpse, in a large puddle of blood!

How morbid is the imagination of yours truly before Saint Patrick's Day?

When listening to Henry Cowell's "The Banshee," what imagery comes to mind? Is it just as dark and creepy as what I imagined? If so, let me know in the comments section below.

Before I forget, make SURE to turn your clocks 1 hour AHEAD tonight for Daylight Savings. We will be "springing forward."

Anyway, re-read today's Song Saturday blog, while listening to Henry Cowell's "The Banshee."

Henry Cowell "The Banshee" The Piano Music Of Henry Cowell (1925)

Cartoon Sunday: Bill Tytla's Leprechauns Gold

How's it going lurkers? These next 2 Cartoon Sunday blogs somewhat have creepy tones to them.

Is it just me or does it seem like animated shorts from the 1920's to 1970's had creepier illustrations?

I don't recall of any animated shorts from the 1980's and '90s, especially animated shorts with creepy art illustrations. We had more cutesy illustrations. Otherwise, some looked really generic, abstract, or were just horribly illustrated cartoons.

If there were any animated shorts, that aired on local and cable channels, during the 1980's and '90s, I don't recall of them. Then again, I reached puberty very early in the early 1990's and outgrew MOST of the cartoons and TV shows meant for children. 

Now, here I am in my mid-30's discovering and watching cartoons, again.

We already know there is a stigma to watching animation as an adult. However, there is always a justification for why it is highly acceptable for adults to rush to the movie theaters to go see the latest Disney film.

Regardless of how adult animation elitists want to justify it, most Disney films ARE cartoons in movie form. Disney films are usually sugarcoated and dumbed down content meant for children.

As an adult, I view the characters and stories in animation differently.

Yes, I know those characters are NOT real people. Although, the characters and the stories DO have some "human-like" (also known as anthropomorphic) qualities with more realistic topics.

Bill Tytla's animated shorts somewhat reflect realistic characters with human-like qualities to them. 

Only judging based on 2 of this Ukrainian American animator's shorts, which I have seen, Tytla's works were similar to Ub Iwerks.

Cartoon Sunday: Ub Iwerks' Skeleton Frolics (2016)

Cartoon Sunday: Ub Iwerks' The Skeleton Dance (2016)

Like last October when I featured Ub Iwerks' animated shorts, these next 2 Cartoon Sundays will feature Bill Tytla's animated shorts in the spirit of Saint Patrick's Day. Today we have Bill Tytla's Leprechauns Gold. 

Leprechauns Gold is an Irish themed animated short depicting leprechauns, during their annual gold-washing ceremony. 

They also manage to outsmart an evil landlord, who plots to steal their gold in the process.

Bill Tytla's Leprechauns Gold (1949)

Song Saturday: VNV Nation's Darkangel

How's it going lurkers? It has been nearly 3 years, since I last published a Song Saturday blog featuring the Irish Industrial-Electro duo, VNV Nation.

Song Saturday: VNV Nation {Double Dose} (2014)

Since it is March and because Saint Patrick's Day is just around the corner, these next 2 weekends will have Irish themes to them.

What better way to start today's Song Saturday than with an Irish, Industrial-Electro duo?

Generally speaking, it has been a while, since I last shared a little Industrial-Electro Music on here. It doesn't hurt to switch things up a bit.

As much as I love Rock and Metal, I still love Industrial-Electro Music. Maybe someday, Industrial-Electronica, Industrial Metal, and House Music will make their comebacks here in The Midwest.

This is AS LONG as someone like Rihanna, Katy Perry, or Taylor Swift does NOT  ruin another fun music genre and sub-genre like they already have in the past.

Anyway, to get into the Irish spirit, let's revisit the Irish Industrial-Electro duo, VNV Nation for today's Song Saturday.

VNV Nation "Darkangel" Empires (2000)

Cartoon Sunday: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Phantom Blood & Battle Tendency Music References

{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)

Suddenly, I have Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song" stuck in my head.

Song Saturday: Dokken's Back For The Attack {Horror Triple Dose}

How's it going lurkers? I originally planned to publish this blog last Saturday. February 10th was the 30th anniversary for Dokken's release of their single "Dream Warriors." 

"Dream Warriors" was not only written and used as A Nightmare On Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors' theme song, but can also be found on Dokken's 4th album, Back For The Attack.

"Dream Warriors" brings back childhood memories. So does A Nightmare On Elm Street. Dokken released their single 3 weeks before the Slasher Horror film released in theaters; A Nightmare On Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors released on February 27, 1987. 

At the time, I was only 4 going on 5 years old. I remember the band's music video for "Dream Warriors" being heavily played on MTV. My mother would usually change the channel so that I wouldn't get scared of Freddy Krueger in the music video.

Most people don't know, that some of today's Hollywood "A-List actors and actresses" made their film debuts in Slasher Horror films. Johnny Depp made his film debut in the original A Nightmare On Elm Street, for example. 

Watching Freddy Krueger pull the character, Glen through the bed only to slash and spit Glen into pieces saddens me, until this day. Poor Glen.

Another A-Lister, who debuted in a Slasher Horror film was Patricia Arquette. Patricia debuted in A Nightmare On Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors.

A Nightmare On Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors Trailer (1987)

She also made her cameo appearance in Dokken's music video for "Dream Warriors." Dokken used movie clips for their music video, along with filming their own original video scenes. 

The actress' character, Kristen ends up being "rescued" by Dokken from Freddy by the band performing the sequel's theme song, "Dream Warriors."

At the end of their music video, Freddy wakes up from his "nightmare" about Dokken. When you watch the music video, you have to laugh at how silly it looks. Luckily, the music video was MUCH better than the actual movie. Dokken was heavily advertised for A Nghtmare On Elm Street 3.

About 10 minutes into the movie, the character Taryn was shown in the hallway wearing a Dokken T-shirt.

Even though A Nightmare On Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors heavily advertised Dokken and gave the band more commercial success, this Slasher was a joke. Giving mentally disturbed teenagers "special powers" to fight Freddy Krueger in their dreams felt TOO contrived. 

Yes, I know the movie is titled "Dream Warriors" for a reason. However, that movie is as God-awful as Sharknado and other movies, which are currently airing on Syfy. 

I tried watching Dream Warriors years ago and ended up turning it off because I couldn't take it seriously at all. It was LAME.

Have you ever noticed that the original A Nightmare On Elm Street (excluding the 2010 remake) still gets aired on cable whereas the sequels usually don't?

After watching MTV Classic, I realized a number of Dokken's music videos had Horror in them yet their songs consisted of topics regarding love, relationships, heartbreak, fear, etc.

Judging by this Metal band's music videos, album covers, and instruments, I assume they are fellow Horror fans. If not everyone from Dokken, at least a small percentage of them may be Horror fans. 

Throughout the years, guitarist George Lynch had skulls, bones, snakes, and demons designed on his guitars.

In addition to Lynch's guitars, Dokken has a song on Back For The Attack titled, "Mr Scary." George Lynch and Jeff Pilson wrote the song. 

Mr. Scary" is a guitar solo following "Heaven Sent" on the Back For The Attack album.

Also, I want to add that the success of Dokken's "Dream Warriors" for A Nightmare On Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors led to the following sequels to include a Heavy Metal song on its soundtrack.

Those of you reading today's blog are probably wondering about my favorite songs from Dokken. Right now, I have their song "Breaking The Chains" stuck in my head, which is on their 1981 debut album, Breaking The Chains.

As for the Metal band's Back For The Attack album, my mother bought me that album, when I was a little girl and I have owned it on vinyl for nearly 30 years. Although, I haven't played the album on my turntable in 17 years. Decades later, "Heaven Sent" is still my favorite from Back For The Attack.

I believe Dokken is 1 of the most HIGHLY UNDERRATED Metal bands from the 1980's. Not that I hated listening to every Glam Metal band, during my early childhood in the '80s, but there were other Metal bands, that did NOT  get the amount of exposure and praise as they should've.

Dokken was NOT  the stereotypically flamboyant, '80s Glam Metal band that constantly wore Androgynous Fashion for female fans and groupies.

Anyway, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Back For The Attack album, here are 3 Horror themed music videos by Dokken for Song Saturday.

1) Dokken "Dream Warriors" Back For The Attack (1987); A Nightmare On Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors Soundtrack (1987)

2) Dokken "Burning Like A Flame" Back For The Attack (1987)

3) Dokken "Heaven Sent" Back For The Attack (1987)

Happy 52nd Birthday To The Late Brandon Lee!

How's it going lurkers? Remember when I said, that I wouldn't be gothing it up hardcore as much this week? Well, I couldn't help it, especially not today.

The last 2 days, I have been updating more previously published blogs that I published, throughout the years. 

In fact, I JUST  updated a blog that I published about Bauhaus' Peter Murphy. 

Then, I linked that exact same blog with my most recent Cartoon Sunday blog. 

Suddenly, I remembered that today is the day Brandon Lee would've turned 52 years old. 

I believe Brandon would've been a sexy, 52-year-old man had he STILL been alive today. He probably would've also been getting more acting gigs.

Yes, I know. It sounds like I'm fangirling over a dead sexy (pun intended) actor more than 2 decades later. 

Honestly, I can't help it. Men with long, dark hair, especially if they happen to be musicians and/or Goth have always been hard to get out my system.

Even though I retired from dating 10 years ago, dark hair, musicians, and Goths will ALWAYS be my types.

As usual, I digress. Because it is the late Brandon Lee's 52nd birthday and since there are so many other readers, who have never read my previous blogs about him, I thought I would share and re-share them with everyone for today. 

Simply click on this LINK and you will be directed to several links about the late Brandon Lee.

Cartoon Sunday: Pitchfork TV's History Lesson About The Goth Sub-culture

How's it going lurkers? While checking messages and working on today's blog last night, I noticed that MTV Classic was showing music videos by 2 pioneers of Goth Rock!

Not only did the network play a classic music video by The Cure, but also Peter Murphy from Bauhaus! Out of shock, I almost dropped 1/2 my Turkey Sub Sandwich.

MTV Classic airing The Cure's music videos is something to be expected. Now, a music video by the lead singer of Bauhaus? That is something exceedingly rare. 

NEVER in all my years have I ever seen MTV air a music video by Bauhaus, much less a music video by Peter Murphy himself. Hell, I've watched VH-1 Classic (now turned MTV Classic) air Joy Division's music video for "Love Will Tear Us Apart."

Playing music videos by Peter Murphy and Bauhaus? Never. 

Well, you could argue that it really all depends on MY timing of turning on music channels. However, MTV has a long-time history of blacklisting certain singers, rappers, groups, and bands. This especially applies to excluding minorities talented in music.

Several months ago, I was surprised to discover that MTV used to blacklist music videos by talented black men such as Michael Jackson and Prince. Originally, founders of the network ONLY wanted to air Rock music videos and music that was close to Rock.

Michael Jackson had to actually strong arm MTV into playing music videos made by people of color. This especially applies to his music video, "Thriller." Michael threatened to tell the media about MTV discriminating against he, Prince, and other talented minorities.

Michael Jackson also let MTV know that a lot of time, money, and talent went into making "Thriller."

After the network finally premiered "Thriller," the music video instantly became the classic that it is today. Once I learned this surprising news, I really started viewing MTV a lot differently than I have throughout my life. 

Since the time of growing up during the 1980's and '90s, I have been use to watching a wide variety of music videos from different genres and sub-genres. After learning how biased, closed-minded, and bigoted the people in charge of MTV's programming were and still are, since the launching of it, I lost MORE respect for the network. It is amazing how MTV started as a network wanting to pander to ONLY  White America.

Today this exact same network now wants to act like self-righteous, civil rights activists and pander mostly to the black audience like it is suddenly BET with non-stop SJW propaganda.

Therefore, if MTV blacklisted music icons such as Michael Jackson AND Prince 35-36 years ago, the network will SURELY exclude anyone, who doesn't fit their branding at the moment. This really is a perfect example of MTV NOT wanting to play music videos made by certain artists for a CERTAIN group(s) of people.

The pioneers of Goth Rock may not be people of color, but I can tell you without a doubt, that I don't recall of ever seeing a Bauhaus music video. Goth fans were just lucky to see The Cure because Goth Music is extremely niche.

On a much lighter note, I thought I would share this satirical animation for Cartoon Sunday. 

Pitchfork TV made an informative yet satirical cartoon about the history of Goth Music and the Goth Sub-culture. If you have never heard of Pitchfork.com, it was founded on New Year's Day 1996 and is supposedly considered 1 of the most popular online music resources. 

Pitchfork.com publishes daily reviews, features, interviews, and real-time music news coverage of Indie Rock, Hip-Hop, Electronica, Pop, Metal, and Experimental Music.

As I watched Pitchfork's history lesson about Goth Music and the Goth Sub-culture, I laughed. There are a few song samples from The Cure, Joy Division, Bauhaus, and Ministry featured in the cartoon.

In addition, there are illustrations of some of these Goth bands' albums and of The Crow film. 

Then, there are jokes about who and what can be considered "Goth." When they said that Kanye West could be considered "Goth," I definitely laughed.

That particular scene is basically mocking hipsters. Everyone knows how much of posers they are, when it comes to any and everything.

Anyway, here is Pitchfork TV's history lesson about Goth Music and the Goth Sub-culture.

Pitchfork TV: "A Brief History of Goth" (2016)

Song Saturday: London After Midnight's Sacrifice

How's it going lurkers? It appears that a nice portion of you took quite a liking to last weekend's Song Saturday and Cartoon Sunday blogs, which I am glad. Therefore, I am sharing London After Midnight once again for Song Saturday. It has been a long time, since I last shared anything by LAM.

A previous Song Saturday blog from 2014, which featured the so-called "project" was updated yesterday. 

It would be much better to refer to London After Midnight as a "band," but whatever. That's something to take up with the vocalist, Sean Brennan. 

It also would've been much better, if LAM gained more exposure via traditional radio stations, during the 1990's. 

During the '90s, Goth music, films, and shows were at their pinnacle in regards to entertainment exposure. At least it seemed that way, during my youth.

During the '90s, Live Action TV shows, cartoons, music, and movies really began to acknowledge Goths and our sub-culture. So, with that being said, I find it a BIT  disappointing that London After Midnight wasn't aired on traditional local radio stations, including those in my area.

I don't recall of ever browsing our CD shelves of music at 101.7 WIPZ and stumbling upon LAM. If any of this Goth band's music existed in our studio, I surely would've played them on my radio show, All Things Frightening.

It was not until summer break 2005, that I discovered London After Midnight through LAUNCHcast Radio. In 2005, I was attending my last year at Carthage College. Also, I was no longer hosting my radio show at UW-Parkside because I transferred to Carthage in 2004.

This was along with the fact, that I was feeling politically fatigued from most of entertainment 12-13 years ago. That was another major reason why I quit radio. Entertainment became too politicized.

Entertainers should spend MORE time ENTERTAINING us fans and LESS time acting like a bunch of militant, self-righteous, wannabe political activists ad nauseam at award shows, concerts, and other social/entertainment events.

I want to be ENTERTAINED. Politicizing entertainment and being self-righteous about politics are fantastic ways to alienate loyal fans and hurt an entertainer's paycheck. These wannabe political "activists" assume that EVERYONE shares their views about everything like sycophants, when in reality, everyone does NOT.

Most of what has been released and are still being released are heaping piles of shit. 

And Hollywood entertainers wonder why nobody's buying their albums, shows, and movies? 

Since we are back on the topic of the Goth Sub-culture, I want to emphasize that the sub-culture is NOT  meant for everyone. 

At the risk of sounding like an "elitist," "purist," or "gatekeeper," lots of hipsters today are posing as Goths when they know absolutely nothing about the sub-culture and what it's like to endure being mocked, condemned, and demonized by the media, their watchdog groups, and Christian zealots for being Goth. Well, I digress.

In my previous Song Saturday blog about London After Midnight, I explained more about the "project," Sean Brennan's rant about social media, and my usual rants about social media and hipsters (just a smidge. Sorry, I can't it. Hipsters continuously ruin entertainment, food, religions, fashion, and sub-cultures, including the Goth Sub-culture).

In that same Song Saturday blog, there is a block of songs featured from LAM's 2nd album, Psycho Magnet.

Today we are going backwards by sharing a song from London After Midnight's debut album, Selected Scenes From The End Of The World.  There are at least 3-4 different versions of this album. Selected Scenes From The End Of The World originally released in 1992 with a purple album cover.

By 2003 and 2008, this exact same album was re-released in other colors such as blue and red for 2 more examples. Each version was re-released featuring bonus tracks, re-recordings, and more. 

Anyway, rather than bore you to death with more details and personal rants, here is London After Midnight's "Sacrifice" for today's Song Saturday.

London After Midnight "Sacrifice" Selected Scenes From The End Of The World [2008 RE-RELEASE]

Who Would've Thought That Fun & Sane Anime Fellow Fans Existed Online?

How's it going lurkers? As promised, I said I would mention the forum I joined earlier this month.

Now that Adult Swim's forum is shut down (finally), I joined Anime League. For all you Anime fans, Anime League is a serious breath of fresh air and is the polar opposite of Adult Swim. When saying "polar opposite," I mean PLEASANT.

Throughout the last 3 years, you have read my rants about the network itself and the overall Adult Swim Community. Had I known Anime League existed 3 YEARS AGO, I would've joined that forum MUCH SOONER and would've NEVER joined Adult Swim.

I most definitely regret joining Adult Swim's forum and allowing a misogynistic, sleazebag, con artist to guilt trip me into staying ONLY to use me as a means to an end and to smear my reputation out of spite.

Even though there were SOME decent posters on Adult Swim's forum, I cannot help saying good bye and good riddance to such a deplorable and extremely toxic community mostly moderated by crooked man-children with Little Dick Syndrome.

The social environment on Anime League is welcoming of new posters so much so that there is literally a welcome committee and you are automatically assigned a buddy, after joining. 

Also, the moderators are very active, helpful, inclusive, and go above and beyond to make the forum as pleasant as possible for everyone.

I haven't had a single fight or witnessed a fight, since joining. This says A LOT  about Anime League's community.

In addition, there are numerous sub-forums on Anime League about Anime as well as other types of entertainment and sub-cultures. 

Anime League even has a sub-forum for general discussions outside of Japanese animation, sub-cultures, and entertainment in general.

So, are you looking to join an uncensored Anime forum that allows you to support your favorite characters and series with fans of your ilk? If so, you may want to give Anime League a shot!

What's That? SCREAM Is Celebrating Its 20th Anniversary?!

Wow! Can you believe that today is the day, when the Slasher Horror film SCREAM released in movie theaters 20 years ago?! Where has the time gone? In 1996, I was only 14 years old.

During that same time, Beavis And Butt-Head Do America released and I went to see that movie with my uncle. 

Yes, you read that correctly. Both SCREAM and Beavis And Butt-Head Do America are celebrating their 20th anniversaries today.

Because you must be AT LEAST  17 years old, in order to go see an R-rated movie, I never watched SCREAM on the big screen. 

Yes, I know. Adolescents under 17 years old would sneak into R-rated movies if they did NOT  have a parent or an adult to take them to go see those movies.

However, that was never the case for me. By the time I was 14 years old, I normally rented R-rated movies with my mother at local video stores. In order for SCREAM to get an R-rating, a few scenes actually had to be deleted.

In the 2011 documentary, SCREAM: The Inside Story, the cast and crew mentioned, that some scenes were removed from SCREAM.

Do you remember those scenes of Drew Barrymore playing the character, Casey?

Ghostface sadistically grilled her over the telephone about Classic Slasher films and their moral villains. The filmmakers had to delete this scene of Casey's boyfriend being gutted on the patio.

1) SCREAM [Deleted Scene]: Casey's Boyfriend Steve Is Gutted (1996)

Because the scene of Drew Barrymore's character, Casey being hung from a tree was "too graphic" 20 years ago, the filmmakers also had to edit this next scene. In order to watch the following scene, click on the video link below, which will take you to the scene on YouTube.

2) SCREAM [Deleted Scene]: Casey Hanging From The Tree (1996)

Guess what? There are 3 MORE scenes that were removed from the 1996 Slasher Horror, SCREAM.

3) SCREAM [Deleted Scene]: Tatum's Death By Garage Door (1996)

4) SCREAM [Deleted Scene]: Kenny The Camera Man Gets His Throat Slit (1996)

5) SCREAM [Deleted Scene]: Stuart's Hand Drips A Puddle Of Blood After He & Billy Stab Each Other (1996)

Now that you have watched the preceding deleted scenes from SCREAM, it is only fitting to revisit these past blogs from 2014.

While being on social media yesterday, I re-shared my previous blog review about retro Christmas Slashers dating as far back as 1972.

Most people are unaware that Christmas Slashers helped originate the Slasher Horror sub-genre. Without Christmas Slashers, John Carpenter's Halloween would've never existed today. If you read my Christmas Slashers review, I explain about this topic in particular.

Since we are on the topic of SCREAM, the franchise still appears to be a very popular franchise 20 years later. 

In fact, I was quite surprised that MTV chose to remake this 20-year-old Slasher Horror movie into a TV series. You may be wondering:

What do you think about MTV remaking SCREAM into a prime time show?

Truthfully, it was highly unneccesary for a network, which was originally dedicated to airing MUSIC VIDEOS to be jumping on the bandwagon of remaking films. 

Even though I never bothered watching the TV series for SCREAM, it's quite evident that Hollywood filmmakers and screenwriters are desperately in need of MUCH newer and a lot more ORIGINAL content.

It appears that most filmmakers today are too hung up on their nostalgia. This Slasher did NOT  need to have its own TV series in this era. It would've made sense if SCREAM had its own show, during the time when the film was popular in the late 1990's.

Today, MTV and the creators of SCREAM's TV series are desperately reaching for an audience. 

The trilogy had its time, YEARS AGO and should stay in the past without Hollywood filmmakers ruining its legacy for money.

Now, let's take a murderous trip down memory lane by watching the documentary, SCREAM: The Inside Story. 

The uncensored version of this documentary, which I originally shared in the following blog, was removed from YouTube. Ugh! So annoying.

Therefore, I was forced to update my blog with a censored version of it. So, bear with me. Anyway, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of SCREAM, here is SCREAM: The Inside Story.

SCREAM: The Inside Story (2014)

Gruß vom Krampus!

How's it going lurkers? Gruß vom Krampus! 

In case you did not already know or in case you forgot, today is Krampus Day. Krampus is Saint Nicholas' evil sidekick, who shows up every December 5th to punish "naughty children."

Growing up, I never learned anything about this evil goat demon from teachers or my family. 

Some classmates did not necessarily know anything about Saint Nicholas Day being on December 6th, which I always found to be very odd. They not only knew NOTHING about Saint Nicholas Day, but also knew nothing about Krampus Day. NEITHER were discussed in any of my K-12 schools. 

I suppose our teachers did NOT  want to traumatize us impressionable children. Otherwise, they probably never heard of Krampus either.

I recently learned about Krampus 3 years ago from watching Grimm on NBC. Speaking of Grimm, I will really miss watching this show after its series finale, in the spring. As comical as the writing is, viewers have been exposed to some international folklores and Germanic terms to describe various creatures known as "wesen."

The series also gave me a reason to start watching primetime shows on Fridays again, over these last 5-6 years. I would've tried sharing that Krampus episode from Grimm today, but no thanks to Hulu, only viewers subscribed to their site can watch online streams now.

Since that is the case, I have decided to share footage of a Krampus Parade instead. Last month in Schladming, Styria (a former small mining town in the northwest of Austria), a Krampus Parade was held. It is normally called Krampuslauf  meaning "Krampus Run."

Over 1200 Krampus celebrants dressed as the beast in black rags and masks drag chains behind themselves. 

Every so often, these celebrants hurl their chains and switches towards children. This is along with them swinging cowbells, which is to warn people that Krampus is coming.

In Scandinavian countries and other parts of Europe, Krampuskarten or "Krampus Cards" are given for Krampus Day.

Saying "Gruß vom Krampus" means "Greetings from the Krampus" in German.

The depiction of Krampus has evolved over time, since the 1800's. Older versions of Krampus cards depict this goat demon as more evil and frightening. In more modern times, he is depicted as more child friendly, if not a womanizer.

If you would like to learn more about Krampus, feel free to check out my previous blogs about him at the following:

Song Saturday: Krampus + More About Saint Nick's Evil Sidekick (2014)

Song Saturday: Midnight Syndicate's Night Of The Krampus (2015)

To celerate the holiday, here is footage of the Krampuslauf in Schladming, Styria from last month's Krampus Parade.

Krampuslauf ["Krampus Run"] In Schladming, Styria, Austria (2016)