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Selections
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as chosen by Zippy McDuff, The Invisible Intern™.
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WEIRD
ALBUM ART HAUNTS CHILDHOOD
PLEASE
HELP!!!!! I have been desperately trying to find an album cover
from the late '50s early' 60s. I do not remember the label, although it
seems like it might have been RCA Victor, in Stereo. It was a recording
of Igor Stravinsky's Le Sacre Du Pretemps on one side and his Firebird
Suite on the other side. The cover had a very dark background and
the artwork on it seemed to be done in pastel or chalk. The design was
of a nude man wearing a stag's head, dancing and sprinkling seeds upon
three naked, dancing maidens with long hair. The way that the artist portrayed
the subjects was sketchy/whispy, like chalk on very dark construction
paper. In fact, in my memory, the maidens seemed to be done in white,
so that they looked something like ghosts dancing.
I
used to look at that cover for hours. I was supposed to be taking my nap,
but that picture captivated me. I was three back then.
Anyway,
please help me if you can!
Alicia
A. Pierman
piermans@yahoo.com
This
is probably not the same album as the one you had, but it certainly looks
like the same artwork. I picked it up last summer in a tiny thrift store
run by a little old lady in a rather depressed area of Birmingham, AL.
While I like the music, I mostly bought it because of the cover art—so
very paganistic and surreal at the same time. (The signature looks like
"Gray Foy.")
–Ed.
THE
THRILL OF THE VINYL HUNT
I
just read your article on vinyl
collecting and I found myself laughing along with recognized experience!
While I have been tempted to shell out serious money for hard-to-get LPs
on occasion, nothing but nothing can beat the thrill of the hunt for me.
There definitely is nothing like the thrill of discovering a gem hidden
amongst the Mitch Miller/James Last/Nana Mouskouri graveyards!
Luckily,
the vinyl cheese collecting bug doesn't seem to have caught on as much
here in New Zealand as elsewhere–so it's with some relief that I
watch as other hunters haul out copies of Ummagumma & Jimi Hendrix
from jumble sale boxes, leaving the real treasure for me… :)
Mind
you, one good thing about the collecting mania for our parents' easy listening
grooves: It has meant a lot of stuff has come available on (dare I utter
that dread acronym??? I dare!)… CD.
But
while those CDs can satisfy me aurally, visually they ARE a VERY poor
descendant of the glorious LP…
Anyway,
thanks for the article, and for posting such big scans, too (always a
treat!).
Yours
in Vinyl Excelsis,
LoreNZo
Van Der Lingen
zali@paradise.net.nz
THE
FASCINATION CONTINUES TO FASCINATE
Oh,
my god.
I
hadn't thought about the Fascination
car for years (about 30 years, to be exact). A friend of mine and I were
talking about total failures in the automobile industry and I told him
about a car that I had seen at the old Denver Stapleton Airport in the
early '70s. I couldn't remember the name of it, but a couple of Googles
later we were at your page about the Fascination.
Man,
what an ugly car! And what a stupid concept! I can recall being at the
airport waiting for a flight (my dad worked for the airlines, so we went
standby and had to wait at the airport a lot) and seeing this ugly car
on display. I think they had chosen Stapleton because it was the only
large airport within a day's drive of Sidney, Nebraska. My dad and I walked
over to look at it and were accosted by the snake-oil salesman who was
trying to sell them. I was doubled over in hysterics laughing at it (hey,
I was 15 years old at the time and this car was the antithesis of cool),
and the guy at the booth was trying to talk my dad into ordering one or
starting a dealership. Having an extremely low tolerance for BS, my father
used a few choice expletives as he quickly walked away.
Thanks
for bringing a memory of a car that was like something you'd see in a
fever dream.
Steve
Sande
(e-mail address withheld)
FLOWBEES
FOR ECONOMIC SELF-EMPOWERMENT
I
think that you are close to the point (The Bottom 5: Useless
"As Seen on TV" Products) but you missed when you
added the Flowbee to your list. In no way does it compare with Big Bob
Billy Bass or a pocket fisherman. I have used the Flowbee for approximately
10 years now and it still works as good as the day I got it. Count up
all the trips to the salon I saved, the gas to get there, the time wasted
waiting in some lobby to be next just to get a fricking haircut, and put
this next to the $120 I spent and you will see the dollars I saved in
10 years.
10
years x 12 months = 120 x 4 cuts a month =480 haircuts @ 20 bucks = $9600.
So you see that stupid little Flowbee paid for my new car.
Dan
(e-mail address withheld)
Having
never used the Flowbee, I must cede you the point. But you have to admit,
it looks kind of weird to use a vacuum to cut your own hair.
–Ed.
TWO
OUT OF TWO LOCKERGNOMITES AGREE
I
am in awe of your talent and tireless hard work in compiling all this
stuff! I found your site mentioned in the lockergnome.com
newsletter, and had to check it out. Fascinating info, and lots of fun,
too.
For
a Bottom 5 suggestion (and I don't know if you've already done this because
I have been looking at your site for only 10 minutes or so), I would love
to see a list of the reality/pseudo-reality shows. My three favorites
to place on the list are The Bachelor, The Bachelorette,
and Joe Millionaire. Also for consideration: any MTV Real World/Road
Rules or a combination thereof, complete with crappy competition and
contrived discord.
Keep
up the great work, and I'll keep coming back and referring people!
Sue
B. Dean
(e-mail address withheld)
My
heart is with you regarding "reality" shows, but I would need to come
up with a twist on it, like "The Most Dehumanizing Moments From Reality
TV Shows" or something… the problem is, I can't force myself to watch
them! Oh, the responsibilities of being a smartass social critic…
–Ed.
I
got the link to your site from Lockergnome.
I
wanted to let you know that it's not only a great idea, it's a well put-together
site.
Great
job!
Crystal
Lockergnomie
(e-mail address withheld)
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