Thursday, November 3, 2011

So good news!  I've finished Clash at Demon Head (as the title screen calls it) AKA Clash at Demonhead (as the box art calls it. The manual can't make make up its mind, either.)  I'm currently preparing my detailed takedown of this beloved cult classic.  Not that I think it's terrible; it just wasn't as good as I thought it was going to be.

So I hope to get some major work done on Chrontendo 41 in a few days. But in the meantime, I've been too busy rockin' like Dokken.  I have the misfortune to live in a city that is not considered a major market for most "medium-sized" bands, so I was very surprised and delighted to see that Mastodon was playing a show locally.  As a super cool bonus, Dillinger Escape Plan was opening. You might not have been thinking that Dr. Sparkle was a rocker dude, but my impressive array of neck tattoos tells a different story. I can throw the devil horns and engage in meth abuse and perform ritual human sacrifice with the best of them.

(Bonus facts: Both Ronnie James Dio and Gene Simmons take credit for introducing the devil/goat/metal horns into popular culture.  Dio claims learned it from his superstitious grandmother; Simmons says he invented by waving at the audience while holding his bass pick with the middle and ring fingers. Truly diabolical metal fans know it originated well before those two dudes.)















Even more surprising than Mastodon is the fact that Cinematic Titanic is doing a live appearance in my area!  CT is essentially an unofficial reunion of the original cast of Mystery Science Theater 3000.  Even the ads for this show describe it as "MST3K Live."  What's odd is that the show is being held in the region's classy venue -- a rather expensive "arts center" that normally hosts guys like Yo Yo Ma or Wynton Marsalis.  I guess the MST guys have made it big time. Needless to say, I'm pretty excited.

And speaking of ill-conceived CGI, have you guys seen the trailer for the Tin Tin movie?  Freaky, cartoon-style heads and faces inserted into a photo-realistic environment?  That's some uncanny valley shit right there.

Oh God, take it away take it away!

6 comments:

Kevin Moon said...

Dr. Sparkle, every time I think I have you all figured out, you peel back another layer of the onion and surprise me yet again. You might just turn out to be the most interesting person I've never met.

As for the Tintin movie, I am a huge, huge fan of the Tintin books. I have all of them, including The Land of the Soviets and Tintin and Alph-Art, as well as a small handful of foreign versions as well. I want to root for the movie, but it just looks too freaky. I may pass, despite--or perhaps because of--my love for Tintin. Indeed, a while back I decided I will never, ever see any of the new Chronicles of Narnia movies, for example, because the original books are so very dear and sacred to me. If what I saw in the previews was accurate, the movies are just another example of bloated, CGI-laden, lowest common denominator Hollywood blockbusters. The overly-used and cliché Orffian, O Fortuna-esque music in the trailer quickly sealed the deal for me.

Very much looking forward to seeing Episode 41!

Kamiboy said...

Ah, when I think back on Tintin it is always with a sense of bittersweet nostalgia.

You see, as a toddler I had amassed quite a pristine collection of the books, and the ones I had were very rare outlawed foreign versions, which I am sure would be worth a small fortune if I still had them around.

Or perhaps not, we'll never know as my evil, dastardly father, who among his many character flaws counted a unexplained disdain for videogames, ever sneering at them with vehemence followed by his favourite lines, "study" or "go outside to play", well, he also did me the additional life scarring disservice of selling off my entire collection behind my back to the no doubt very gleeful neighbourhood kids, curse them all.

Yes the very same rascals who ever regarded my collection with a jealous coveting appetite of the oozing black and honestly blunt variety which you only ever see in kids.

I wish a thousand paper cuts upon any who got to enjoy those books after they unknowing to and unendorsed by me me were forced out of my possession.

As for any adaptations, let alone a western one, well, obviously my interest rates subterranean as it always does for the sort. Stick to the originals, sirs, that'll get you farther indeed.

qaylIS aka Nicolas Deußer said...

Dillinger Escape Plan? Fucking yeah, my favorite American Band ever. I am really jealous about that, they are scarcely in Europe, so I really need some luck to see these giants of Mathcore live. Have fun on the concert, kick some ass, and finish Chrontendo 41 when the time is right. And no one would blame you if you would mix some Dillinger Escape Plan in the episode... =)

Chris Osborne said...

Dillenger Escape Plan and Mastodon at the same time?

Why don't you just tell me that Refused will be there too and completely ruin my day.

Rodneylives said...

41? Did I somewhere miss #40?

Doctor Sparkle said...

John H: It was around a million years ago, but here it is: http://chrontendo.blogspot.com/2011/08/evil-desires-of-dr-sparkle.html

Damn, so Kamiboy's father sold off his Tin Tin books? That's hardcore. When I was a little kid I had this 18" Alien action figure that mysteriously disappeared one day. It was completely "child inappropriate" so I think an authority figure was involved.

Yes, the Mastodon/DEP show was pretty awesome. DEP was pretty nuts though a certain amount of the extreme precision found on the records is lost in live performance.