Friday, May 7, 2010

Jinx Speaketh



One of (if not the) most evilly influential women in music is now on Blogspot!

Jinx Dawson, "irreverent, erotic, fiendish Left Hand Path Ceremonial Magickian & Artist, lead singer and creator of The Coven, and the first to do the Sign of the Horns in rock," recently posted her first entry over at Jinx Speaketh: Jinx Dawson Official Blog.

I have been following Ms. Dawson's online escapades for some time now (courtesy of her MySpace and Facebook profiles), and was elated to learn that she had decided to expand upon her musings through the creation of a blog.

"I will post previously censored photos from the other sites and adult conversation on Sexe Magick, Left Hand Path rituals, Hoodoo Rites I have seen and experienced and Ceremonial Magick workings I have achieved... I will also write about some of my experiences within the rock musick world and talk about my passed ancestors who visit me from time to time."

Jinx, speaketh... Tell me things I am dying to know.

Friday, March 19, 2010

The Kids in the Hall: Death Comes to Town [2010]




Canadian Comedic Royalty, The Kids in the Hall, brought a painful 15-year drought to a most gruesome end this year with the debut of their eight part miniseries, Death Comes to Town.

This delightfully different offering from the daring darlings of sketch comedy focuses on the curiosity cabinet that is Shuckton, a small (fictional*) town with a big dream to one day host the Olympics. All the usual cross-dressing, gender-bending, and dark, dark humour that KITH fans have come to expect from the 5-man troupe is mixed liberally with... brutal murder!!! Yes, that's right -- it's a good, old-fashioned whodunnit, KITH-style!


Star hockey player turned 600 lb. shut-in, Ricky Jarvis (Bruce McCulloch) is determined to catch the killer, before Death comes for him, too! For such a seemingly quiet little town, the people of Shuckton sure have an awful lot of skeletons stashed away in their closets. The murderer could be any one of a handful of people, and with Death literally nipping at his heels, Ricky must act quickly to solve the mystery. Marnie (Kevin McDonald), the "fuzzy" pizza delivery lady, is Ricky's sleuthing partner. She acts as his "eyes and ears" until he is able to lose enough weight to leave his house for the first time in years.

The murder investigation centers around a number of shady characters. Petty criminal and germ gel addict Crim Hollingsworth (Scott Thompson**), who happens to be 1/16 Native, is arrested after he is found covered in the victim's blood -- but he has no memory of committing the crime. Dusty Diamond, the town coroner (Thompson), seems to have an obsessive homoerotic fixation with the recently deceased, which is definitely suspicious. Heather Weather (Thompson), Shuckton's aging barometric bombshell, was having an affair with the victim, and is known to have a viciously vengeful streak. And then there's the victim's wife, Marilyn (Dave Foley), a closet drinker, who stood to gain a great deal in the event of her husband's demise...




As the citizens of Shuckton struggle to sort out amongst themselves who is responsible for the grisly, bludgeoning death of one of their own, the viewer is privy to information about who the real culprit is... Death Himself (played by Mark McKinney). Death carries a bitter hatred for the brainless, bumbling citizens of Shuckton, and would savour nothing more than to see every last one of them laid six feet beneath the Earth. Scythe in hand, he is ready to kick some serious ass.



While the work The Kids in the Hall did in their long-running (1988-1995) eponymous television series is virtually untouchable in terms of groundbreaking comedic genius, Death Comes to Town was greatly successful in providing an alternate venue for the showcasing of the Kids' unbeatable chemistry, without detracting in any way from the legacy of the original show. Hardcore fans will be happy to see some classic characters (such as the dumbass OPP Cops, The Chicken Lady, and towel-clad Bellini), while undoubtedly forming lasting relationships with the new ones created exclusively for Death Comes to Town.



Sadly, there are no plans to extend the series beyond the original 8 episodes. The Kids in the Hall have individually noted that they have no plans to return to the studio to reprise the roles which made them famous. Death Comes to Town aired it's final episode on CBC March 16, 2010.



5/5 Kitty Skulls..... Pick of the litter!


_________________

NOTES


* Death Comes to Town was largely shot in North Bay, Ontario (CA). Kitty has relatives there, but doubts they woke up at the crack of dawn to chase the guys for autographs, as she almost certainly would have.

** While I thought he looked fantastic in Death Comes to Town, it is worth noting that Scott Thompson (Dusty Diamond, Crim Hollingsworth, Heather Weather) was diagnosed with inoperable stomach cancer in early 2009. To the credit of one of the funniest men in Canada, Thompson reports that he is cancer free after undergoing four months of radiation therapy and six rounds of chemo. Cheers to a happy, healthy, productive (more stuff with the troupe -- pleeeease!) future for the irreplaceable "Buddy Cole"!


Hockey Night in Shuckton
(stick-slappin' fun game to play online)

Friday, January 8, 2010

Vampira



Vampira
Acrylic on Canvas
Winter, 2009


This portrait was created from a photograph which originally appeared in a magazine spread. Maila (Vampira) had recently been involved in a fiery beauty parlour mishap, which left her almost completely bald! Time and again, the iconic star proved that there was much beauty to be found in the untraditional.

Much to the chagrin of my living room wall (this portrait's temporary home), the piece was a gift for Karswell of The Horrors of it All. What do you get for a man who already has everything one could imagine? You hand-craft something, and pray to the gods that it turns out!

As some of you may know, Karswell had become quite close with Ms. Nurmi during his time in Los Angeles. I couldn't think of a more appropriate gift than a heartfelt momento created in the likeness of one of his most cherished companions.


Maila Nurmi
1922 ~ 2008
Rest in Peace

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Bride of Satan (1974)



Q: How many witches does it take to outsmart the Devil's minion?
A: Just one! Mothers, lock up your evil sons!

When Raymond agrees to eternal service to Satan in exchange for enough money to win the love of a beautiful woman, he enters into a diabolical contract which can never be broken... or so he thinks! When the object of his affection learns of the unholy contract, she sets into motion a plan steeped in deception in order to save her lover from hellfire. Will she become the Bride of Satan?

Thanks to Karswell for sharing this fiendish fable from Witching Hour No. 49, printed in December 1974. The Horrors of it All will be posting a similar story tonight, as Devilcember begins drawing to a close...









Friday, December 4, 2009

Terror of the Cat-Men (1952)



"Help us! We are not cats!"



When American army buddies Sandy Lake and Steve Hannan travel to argentina to make their fortunes, they both fall head over heels for the beautiful Senorita Del Faro. Known to the natives as The Cat Woman, the striking seductress is suspected of witchcraft. According to the frightened townspeople, those who dared to seek out her hacienda atop Mount Homono had a nasty habit of vanishing without a trace! Behold: the Terror of the Cat-Men!

This feline frightener comes Dark Mysteries No. 5, and was kindly donated by the generous Karswell of The Horrors of it All. As noted in the final panel, there's nothing like a little propaganda to keep the masses in line!










Monday, November 30, 2009

God Bless Tiny Tim ( April 12, 1932 - November 30, 1996)


Herbert Khaury fell in love with music at an early age, spending countless hours playing the classics of yesteryear on a wind-up gramophone. His rise to fame began in 1952, when he entered a local talent show and debuted his trademark warbling falsetto singing style. The gentle giant adopted the stage name Tiny Tim, and began amassing a healthy cult following.

Tiny Tim released his first album, God Bless Tiny Tim, in 1968, and became a regular "novelty act" on programs such as Laugh-In, The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, and The Ed Sullivan Show. In spite of the sheer ridiculousness of an enormous man with long, red hair, strumming a tiny ukelele while belting out ballads like Tiptoe Through the Tulips and I Got You Babe, Tiny Tim's repertoire showcased his vast knowledge of musical history.

His sound was ahead of it's time, at times resembling some of Alice Cooper's earlier releases. The legendary vaudevillian actor/comedian, Groucho Marx, employed Tim's version of Irving Berlin's Stay Down Here Where You Belong, in his act. The song depicts a conversation between Satan and his son, in condemnation of World War 1:

"To please their kings, they've all gone out to war,
and not a one of them knows what they're fighting for…
Kings up there are bigger devils than your dad.”



Tiny Tim suffered a serious heart attack during a performance in September of 1996. Ordered to give up performing due to his frail health, Tim chose to disobey the advice of his medical team. He collapsed onstage two months later on November 30, and died shortly thereafter. Ironically, the last song he would ever perform before a live audience, Tiptoe Through the Tulips, was the very tune that made him a household name.

Thanks for the music, Tim... Rest in peace.


Tiny Tim sports a Toronto Maple Leafs jersey during a visit to Canada.

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Canada Loves Boris Karloff



Karloff and a spooky mewer in Edgar G. Ulmer's brilliant adaptation
of Edgar Allan Poe's classic: "The Black Cat"

~~

In honour of the final day of Frankensteinia's Boris Karloff Blogathon, Killer Kittens From Beyond the Grave would like to share this interesting excerpt from Alberta History (Vol. 55 No. 2). Boris Karloff in Alberta was written by Stephen Jacobs, and details Boris Karloff's work with the Jeanne Russell Stock Company in the early 1900's.


"I felt I had to get away and work things out on my own.
When I blithely flipped a coin in the family solicitor's office,
the unfortunate losers were the Canadians."


This article was nabbed from Jacobs' web site, Boris Karloff: More Than a Monster, which is also the title of the biography he wrote about the iconic actor (scheduled to be published by Tomahawk Press).