Oob La Do Do

Anyone going to pick up the remastered White Album? I don’t have $140 laying around, but I’d really like to hear the Esher demos. Also, and I know I will take heaps of abuse for this, I could do without about half that album.

Bob 2 Throbblehead

We must repeat!

Bob Casale, one of the 5 essential gears in the original Devo Fab 5, gets honored posthumously with this hand-numbered, limited edition, 7″ sculpted figure of 1,000 units. Bob is outfitted for devolved action with his “Duty Now for the Future” era helmet and protective pads circa 1979 and his classic Devo Tee and 3-D glasses.

This year marks legendary Devo’s 40th anniversary release of their iconic debut record, “Are We Not Men?, We Are Devo!” Commemorate Bob 2 (and his famous facial mole) by stepping up and becoming one of the few Throbblehead owning members of the Devolutionary Army.

Get yourn here.

UPDATE: Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! came out 40 years ago. In its honor, 99% Invisible‘s Sean Cole investigates the creation of that iconic cover, interviewing all involved – INCLUDING CHI-CHI RODRIGUEZ.

Hey Ladies

Because I want the new Beastie Boys memoir.

Hey ladies in the place, I’m callin’ out to ya
There never was a city kid truer and bluer
There’s more to me than you’ll ever know
And I’ve got more hits than Sadaharu Oh
Tom Thumb, Tom Cushman or Tom Foolery
I date women on T.V. with the help of Chuck Woolery
Words are flowing out just like the Grand Canyon
And I’m always out looking for a female companion
I threw the lasso around the tallest one and dragged her to the crib
I took off her moccasins and put on my bib
Wheelin’ and dealin’ I make a little bit of a stealing
I’ll bring her back to the place and your dress I’m peeling
Your body’s on time and your mind is appealing
Staring at the cracks up there up on the ceiling
Such and such’ll be the bass that I’m throwing
I’m talking to the girl telling her I’m all-knowing
She’s talking to the kid (who?) to the kid, to the kid
I’m telling her every lie that you know that I never did
Hey ladies, get funky
All the ladies in the house
The ladies, the ladies
Well, me in the corner with a good looking daughter
I dropped my drawers, said welcome back Kotter
We was cutting up the rug, she started cutting up the carpet
In my apartment, I begged her, please stop it
The gift of gab is the gift that I have
And that girl ain’t nothing but a crab
Educated no, stupid yep
And when I say stupid, I mean stupid fresh
I’m not James at fifteen or Chachi in charge
I’m Adam and I’m adamant about living large
With the white Sassoons and the looks that kill
Makin’ love in the back of my Coupe De Ville
I met a little cutie she was all hopped up on zootie
I liked the little cutie but I kicked her in the bootie
‘Cause I don’t kinda go for that messin’ around
You be listening to my records’ A number one sound
Just step to the rhythm, step, step to the ride
I’ve got an open mind so why don’t you all get inside?
Tune in, turn on to my tune that’s live
Ladies flock like bees to a hive
Hey ladies, get funky
(Girls, girls)
Ain’t it funky now?
(Ain’t it funky now?) well, you know that
She got a gold tooth you know she’s hardcore
She’ll show you a good time then she’ll show you the door
Break up with your girl it ended in tears
Vincent Van Gogh go and mail that ear
Call her in the middle of the night when I’m drinking
The phone booth on the corner is damp and it’s stinking
Said come on over it was me that she missed
I threw that trash can through her window ’cause you know I got dissed
Your old lady left you and you went insane
You blew yourself up in the back of the six train
Take my advice at any price a gorilla like your mother is mighty weak
Sucking down pints until I didn’t know
Woke up in the morning with a one-ton ho
‘Cause I announce I like girls that bounce
With the weight that pays about a pound per ounce
Girls with curls and big long locks
And beatnik chicks just wearing their smocks
Walking high and mighty like she’s number one
(She thinks she’s the passionate one)
Hey ladies, get funky
Good god
(I like that polyester look)
Dance
Good god
Baby, baby, baby, baby
(Hey you know, I ‘d really love to do your hair sometime)
Ain’t it funky brother?
Hey, hey, hey, hey ladies
Hey ladies

Original “Eye of the Beholder” Prosthetic Up For Auction

Lot 208 of 401, with a starting bid of $5,000.00. It’s expected to go for as much as $15,000.00!

From the auction site

A male nurse ‘Pig Face’ makeup appliance from Rod Serling’s essential anthology series The Twilight Zone. This foam latex makeup appliance is painted in a light flesh tone with pink lips and large nostrils, and has been professionally conserved by LACMA object conservator Irena Calinescu and pin-mounted to an oval museum board. The appliance was made by prolific Hollywood makeup artist William Tuttle, who previously worked on H.G. Welles’ The Time Machine. It was acquired from science fiction writer and memorabilia collector Forrest J. Ackerman. This appliance has been meticulously cared for and stored in a light, climate and humidity controlled fine art warehouse. As a result, though the appliance is delicate and the foam is now brittle with age, the shape, color and appearance remain intact, and it is in good vintage condition overall.

In the episode ‘The Eye of the Beholder’ (206), the appliance is worn during the trademark twist ending, when the medical staff is repulsed by their patient’s ‘horrific’ beautiful appearance, one of the seminal moments in television history.

There’s actually TONS of cool shit in this auction. Check it out here.

I Want To See This Now

The little indie that could.

From Ars Technica

Back during SXSW 2018, Ars caught a small, enchanting bit of space sci-fi called Prospect, and evidently many others felt just as smitten. The film ended up snagging a distribution deal soon after and is now being released in theaters starting this weekend.

I’m Busy, Watch This

In 1998, a little known company named Valve released a first-person shooter named Half-Life and changed the face of gaming. Where other shooters struggled to provide even a semblance of a story, Half-Life had brains to match its brawns; a stirring tale featuring a realistic human cast and a protagonist that was more than a hand and a gun unfolded before the player’s eyes as they progressed through each level.

As Valve grew, so too did Half-Life’s reputation, with Half-Life 2 in 2004 once again revolutionizing the genre, and its episodic expansions, Half-life 2: Episode One and Episode Two, further raising the bar. The series didn’t release consistently, and occasionally suffered unexpected and painful setbacks; but when it did, it seemed as if Valve could do no wrong – until the series suddenly stopped. Shifting priorities, a lack of motivation, and other, more nebulous factors would lead Valve to put Half-Life on ice in the middle of its prime, leaving a generation of gamers adrift, and an opus unfinished.

And yet – Half-Life lives on. Be it in the innumerable games and series it inspired or provided the computative bedrock for, an undying stream of mods, or other media based on the franchise, Half-Life’s DNA is permanently embedded in the fabric of the video game industry, and will likely remain so for some time. As sad as it is that a Half-Life 2: Episode 3 or a Half-Life 3 will likely never happen, and as frustrating as it is that Valve remains belligerent as to precisely why, the series, for the most part, has only really fallen… out of Valve’s hands.

This is the rise and fall of Half-Life.