Monday, December 31, 2007

Retrocrush - Retro Culture From The 70's - 90's

Retrocrush has long been one of my favorite websites, covering retro culture from the 70's - 90's with humor, yet always with a sense of fondness, rather than the snarkiness you find with other similar websites. They also have a fun podcast, now numbering around 130 episodes. If you were born in the 60's or 70's I highly recommend checking it out. In any case, the latest site update added a piece about poor/gimmicky toys of the past, appropriate at this time of year when many people, especially with kids, have loads of toys floating around the house. Santa gave me a Magic 8-Ball this year, something I always wanted as a kid, but never got until this year. This is among 20 or so toys covered in the article - they've even linked to YouTube clips of some retro commercials.

Saturday, December 22, 2007

Sandy Nelson - Live In Las Vegas Download

The blogsite 45's to MP3's has Sandy Nelson's Live! In Las Vegas LP available for download - this recording features Gerry McGee of The Ventures!

Friday, December 21, 2007

Hondells "Sea Cruise" Scopitone Vid For Free Download

Okay, I've been blogging like crazy today - this will be the last one, but it was too good not to post. One of my favorite blog sites, Bedazzled, has this vintage Hondells Scopitone available for download.

Crazy Christmas Light Display Synchronized To 80's Videogame Music

There's some cool Christmas light displays here in Bellingham, but nothing like this!

Funny We Are Scientists Holiday Clip

I'm not a huge We Are Scientists fan, but this Spinal Tap-esque clip was pretty funny to me.

Richard Hawley - Silent Night + Seattle Concert - Free Download

Richard Hawley has been one of my favorite non-surf/garage/rockabilly artists of 2007 - this ex-Pulp guitarist/singer has a great sound that mixes a little bit of Elvis, Roy Orbison and Morrissey. I highly recommend his latest CD, Lady's Bridge, but if you've already spent all you can this holiday season, definitely get his take on the holiday classic, "Silent Night", from his mySpace page. I had tickets for his recent Seattle show at the now-defunct Crocodile Cafe, but had to give them up since I already had tickets to Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings here in Bellingham. Luckily, someone captured a soundboard recording, complete with artwork, which you can download here.

New Monorail Arrives At Disneyland


My kids have been obsessed with monorails ever since they were about 3 years old. We're lucky enough to have one in nearby Seattle, but haven't made it to Disneyland quite yet (although my kids have a motorized toy Disneyland monorail system). The real Disneyland monorail hasn't been in operation for about 20 years, but it's back now! This photo is from the 60's, but the article linked here has photos of the new monorail being lowered onto the track.

Thursday, December 20, 2007

The Star Wars Christmas Special In 5 Minutes!

Okay, I admit it - I have a copy of the Star Wars Christmas Special on video tape. I bought a used copy from a dealer about 8 years ago. I watched it once and shelved it - it is absolutely painful to watch. I have a couple of kids that are really into Star Wars, but are too young to watch the movie - I may just let them watch the whole 2 hour special and see how much they like Star Wars after that! This 5 minute YouTube clip is much more tolerable.

Original Frosty The Snowman Cartoon

This is the original Frosty the Snowman cartoon, which came out 15 years before the Rankin-Bass classic.

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Hooray For Santy Claus - Free Download

One movie I have to see each year is Santa Claus Conquers The Martians (which you can download for free by clicking here, although I prefer the Santa Claus Conquers The Martians). The theme song gets stuck in my head for days - I have the original ripped from the DVD at home, but here is a nicely done remake, along with an instrumental version, recorded by SeƱor Tonto and available for free download!

Possibly The Dumbest Website Ever - Is It Christmas?

Just stumbled across this website, just in time for the holidays!

Monday, December 17, 2007

Mr. Rogers Plays Donkey Kong

We I found this wandering around the internets I thought it was kind of an odd combination - well, view this YouTube clip and judge for yourself. Also, if you have a chance, check out the movie "The King Of Kong" - it comes out on DVD in January. I saw it at a local indie theater and it brought back a lot of memories - Space Invaders was the first game I ever played, but what really got me hooked on video games in the 80's was Donkey Kong, Gorf, and Galaga.

Photoshop Celebrity Star Wars

This site has all sorts of funny Photoshop contests - one of the recent contests was celebs mashed up with Star Wars characters. This one's Gary Coleman as Yoda - "What'cha talkin' bout, Skywalker"?

Friday, December 14, 2007

Bryan Adams - Reggae Christmas

Wow, I forgot all about this one. I'm ashamed to admit I actually bought this 7" when it came out in 1984. I remember being into Bryan Adams for about a year back then and bought his Cuts Like A Knife and Reckless albums, as well as his Christmas Time / Reggae Christmas 7". While embarassing, this vid actually brought a smile to my face. "I pity da foo that don't give Pee-Wee no presents!"

Disneyland's House Of The Future

Disneyland's House Of The Future - I've seen photos of this before, but this film shows what this retro-futuristic home looks like inside and out.

Friday, December 07, 2007

Wednesday, December 05, 2007

The Year Christmas Almost Wasn't

SNL did a parody of this a few years ago and did a better job of it. However, this is a new one I found on Youtube - it's not quite as good and Santa drops the F-bomb a few times, but it 's pretty good.

Tuesday, December 04, 2007

Brian Wilson - Smart Girls Rap


Oh my brain hurts after listening to this. I guess if you're a Beach Boys completest you've got to have this, but may, it's pretty horrible.

WFMU's Beware Of The Blog - Country Fuzz Spectacular (MP3s)


Okay, so we all know about how Davie Allan is the "King of the Fuzz Guitar", with his trademark sound appearing on virtually every track he's ever recorded. Well, who knew there was a genre of music called "country-fuzz"? WFMU has a whole bunch of downloads, from country stars of the 60's and 70's like Buck Owens, Merle Haggard, Wanda Jackson and the Willis Brothers - amazing stuff!