This blog by mikl-em (I played Sugarchurch) features Stuff about carnival sideshows, the 1800's to 1930’s, Vaudeville, clowns, freaks, silent film, or whatever else seems to fit.
Kathy Keeton at 20 years old—the future Mrs. Bob Guccione and co-publisher of Penthouse. Via bhof:
20 year-old South African stripteaser Kathy Keeton (1939–1997), performs at London’s Embassy Club… while her mother, who moved to London “to keep an eye on her daughter” sits in the audience, sewing G-strings for her daughter. Photo by John Pratt/Keystone Features/Getty Images, c. 1960.
Have a pinup fantastic Friday and weekend, k? The original Hammer girl? ;)
The lovely Catherine Deneuve in “Vice and Virtue” (1963) with a creepy wall o’ skulls. Directed by Roger Vadim. via oldhollywood
Moscow circus poster, Mark Levin, 1968, via midcenturia & theshipthatflew
In a word, “Creepy”. That’s the magazine “Creepy” and specifically the cover of issue #8 from 1965. Cover art by Gray Morrow. via monsterman
Here’s some creepy sci-fi imagery. It’s actually cover art from “The Aliens Among Us” (1969) by James White, Ballantine Books. The artist is unknown.
(Source: theyank)
!Psychedelic Beatles multiples-selpitlum seltaeB ciledehcysP!
(Source: psychedelicking)
sometimes. not often. but sometimes. sometimes you even agree with them. that they should beat you up.
Starting Creepy Thursday just a wee bit early with this gem from junior clown hell. One word: “JACKBOX”. yikes.
Frightening. First of all, I absolutely despise clowns (a jack-in-the-box to boot!). Second of all, those 1960’s costumes with the stiff, scratchy plastic masks give me the creeps (just look at this picture, will you??). And the child’s hands look like…plastic claws. This is a no-win situation.
Songs in the Key of Left-Handed Darling #3: “Ballad Of A Thin Man” by Bob Dylan. Originally from the album Highway 61 Revisited, which happens to be my favorite album of all time. This live version is from 1966.
A couple choice quotes from the lyrics to note how it touches the spirit of our show…
You hand in your ticket
And you go watch the geek
Who immediately walks up to you
When he hears you speak
And says, “How does it feel
To be such a freak?”
And you say, “Impossible”
As he hands you a boneBecause something is happening here
But you don’t know what it isDo you, Mister Jones?
…Well, the sword swallower, he comes up to you
And then he kneels
He crosses himself
And then he clicks his high heels
And without further notice
He asks you how it feels
And he says, “Here is your throat back
Thanks for the loan”Because something is happening here
But you don’t know what it is
Do you, Mister Jones?Now you see this one-eyed midget
Shouting the word “NOW”
And you say, “For what reason?”
And he says, “How?”
And you say, “What does this mean?”
And he screams back, “You’re a cow
Give me some milk
Or else go home”Because something is happening here
But you don’t know what it is
Do you, Mister Jones?
When I first heard this album, as a kid, the line about the one-eyed midget who “screams back, ‘You’re a cow…’” really clued me in that something different and full of possibilities was going on here.
What does it all actually mean? I think one point to take is that we are all hip and we are all square—now even more so in our diverse & fractured culture heading in a million directions at once. Mr. Jones is an in-the-know dude in his daily circles. But there are many other scenes and neighborhoods which he will never even comprehend. And specifically in this song, the country is changing, and he’s not with it, man.
I tend to think it’s open to a live & let live interpretation, too. When the sword swallower tries to get a building permit next week, and squaresville Jones sees him at the courthouse and helps him navigate the system then some tat comes back for the tit.
Anyway we’re all freaks on the inside. The sideshow gives an external expression to that, and one point our show directly makes is that those performers are honestly facing their freakyness. While the multitudes tend to repress it, walking a normal line and sweating out being discovered in their darkest, loneliest nights.
That all may be far off of what the song “means”. But I also learned by listening to this song and the others on that album, that I don’t want to know what all of it “means”.
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