music and tales
After WWII Stalin hesitated on commencing building of the great Palace of the Soviets. Included in his thinking was the idea that having won the war, the Soviet Union was now a superpower and must appear as one. It not […]
In the 1930s Stalin wished to boldly stamp a vision of the future, one where the great Worker’s Paradise would be a beacon to the entire world, leading the way to a new era. It would be grand and mighty, […]
To recap: in the beginning there was steampunk, a fantastical, futuristic reimaging of the victorian era. It was only logical that the period afterwards, the 20s to WWII, would have its sci fi devotees, and it has become Dieselpunk. 1945 […]
Created in 1929, this iconic character has lasted over 80 years, through many studios and permutations. Normally i would write out a long, researched blog taking you through the history of Popeye, but the fact is: 1. I wouldn’t do […]
Best invention of the Victorian age? Probably the light bulb. Telephone is up there. But where would our ipods and CD players be today without the great grandmother that started it all, the victrola. That’s actually not quite right. Thomas […]
In examining the more colorful forms of spirituality that appeared during the Victorian and Edwardian eras, there are some interesting figures who movements like Theosophy drew upon and reimagined into a mythological status. The Compte Saint Germaine is perhaps one […]
In continuing our recent discussion about the Penny Dreadfuls that populated the Victorian era, it’s worth pointing out that almost all of the popular characters who once defined the era, Spring Heeled Jack, Varney the Vampire, Dick Turpin, Ching Ching, […]
One character who was an early fixture of penny dreadfuls was Spring Heeled Jack. He would leap in out of nowhere, slap you, cop a feel, or rip your dress and then leap away. He could leap over tall shrubbery, […]
From 1830 to 1870, the exact time the macabre and violent incarnations of the penny dreadful were being published, otherwise known as penny bloods, a complementary form of theater was also taking place, Penny Gaffs. The penny gaff alludes to […]
For decades, since their conception in 1832, Penny Dreadfuls, 8 pages of lurid tales printed on cheap paper and sold for a penny, specialized in highly gruesome material. For the first 10 years or so there was a fair amount […]