We're moving house!!!!! www.cult-of-pop.com

Hi everybody!
Our new site is nearly finished and so we're bidding you adieu, packing up our stuff and heading to our new diggs....

We are still setting up the new site, so there will be small tweaks happening on a daily basis but we're happy with the look so far and hope you will join us!

We have email subscription and RSS feeds set up, a cool multi-page layout (still working on that) and there are some BIG developments not too far in the future....

So please, if you stumble on this website and notice the cobwebs, head to our new site....

"www.cult-of-pop.com"

see you there!!!!

peace!

Scarecrow & Dutch Master
(aka, Anton and Jonathan)

Daily Pick- Pecanpals

Today we're liking-

Pecanpals, by Noferin....

You will have to be quick!! These are a limited edition run of 300 handcrafted wooden toys released only yesterday. Their last run was sold out in 24hrs so procrastinators beware!!

These toys are really beautifully modelled and made... they are constructed out of rubberwood and the fine grain detail looks fantastic. Each toy comes with great little accessories and if purchased as a series the kind guys at Noferin will throw in a limited edition print to go with the set.... nice....

For those that miss out stay tuned because Noferin should be releasing more toys down the track (limited edition of course) but they do also have some fantastic limited edition artworks available that are well worth looking at..... check it out today at www.noferin.com

Daily Pick- Openfilm

Today we're liking-

Openfilm

I had a rant last week about how much I like Vimeo and their high quality videos. Well, imagine my delight when I stumbled upon Openfilm today.... similar format to Vimeo, with "channels" to allow you to pick your preferred genre and good quality video feeds. Having a look through the site and there are some really good videographers and film makers present here. One inparticular I quite like is Patrick Boivin, a Canadian (french) director and film maker that is doing some interesting things with transformers, bruce lee and ironman toys.....

Check out his stuff at Openfilm on his profile page.... it's good stuff....

Cult Movie- "Seven Samurai" (1954)

Today we're liking....

"Samurai Seven" (1954) by Akira Kurosawa

I've had a couple of days of downtime lately, enough time to hit the couch and watch some DVDs. One I've had in my collection for a while is Seven Samurai. This movie has been regarded as one of the best epics ever to come out of Japan. Well, it certainly is epic...with a 3hrs and 28mins run time it's a movie for people that have a well stocked bar fridge at their side and a lot of patience....but it has moments of brilliance that make it all worth while. Akira had great skill behind the camera in his ability to visually tell a story and the fight scenes are incredibly well shot, given the equipment of the era.

The story itself might be familiar for many, surprisingly, because this movie was remade in 1960 by the American film maker John Sturges as "The Magnificent Seven", a classic in it's own right. But the storyline, for those that have seen neither flows along the lines of; a poor community, at the mercy of a band of bullies, pulls together and hires a group of fighters to defend them... the odds are stacked against them, there are the usual pitfalls and triumphs along the way and the happy, yet tragic ending that befits most classic epics. This is a movie for those that love japanese culture, swordfighting and samurai.... it is also an interesting watch for those that loved the cowboy version of events portrayed in The Magnificent Seven and want to compare the two story lines. The Hollywood producers always tend to miss something when adapting foreign movies to their own market and the same can be said here, but the two movies have great action sequences and strong storylines with Seven Samurai winning out in the end, mostly because it is the original.....

A good movie if you have a few hours..... 4/5

Daily Pick- Headphonies

Today we're liking-

Headphonies...

Ok guys, you are going to have to be quick if you want one of these. These are limited edition vinyl toys, with a difference. Not only are they ultra cool looking (we LOVE our vinyl toys) but they are working portable speakers, suitable for an ipod or similar.

There are several different designs in stock, with some already sold out, as well as more designs in the pipeline. There is also black and white versions for those that like to design their own...

Overall, we're liking these, more for the shape and look but the speaker option is pretty cool.... Only thing I'd like to see is the ability to link more than one together so I could have an army of phonies all belting out the latest tunes....check 'em out at "www.headphonies.com"

Rant of the day- I Love Vimeo!!!

We all have that friend that we trust more than anyone else. That person that we know will always give us good advice and is always up for that warm-fuzzy term "quality time"...

Well the net equivalent of that for me is Vimeo. Forget that back-alley prostitute quality you get from You Tube. Vimeo is about quality on-line video- hell, they even do HD! There are some amazing videographers and film-makers out there and I know that Vimeo will always deliver the good stuff for me. I once spent 8 hours straight on Vimeo, and you can do it easy, trust me! There are the options of downloading the videos as well (if the artist allows it) and the layout is more art gallery than drug den...

The internet is filling up rapidly with crappy camera phone clips showing dogs licking balls and old grannies doing, well, nothing special and it all shits me to tears. Have we really got to the point where quantity overrules quality just because it's easy? The philosophy behind Cult-of-Pop is that we seek out quality (even it is happens to be on YouTube on the odd occassion) because we are tired of crap. Period. We must be one of the first generations in history ever to be brought up on absolute crap. It's time to install some quality back into the market and that, my friends (in a round about way), is why I love Vimeo......


Nyle "Let The Beat Build" from Nyle on Vimeo.


Oil in Water from Shawn Knol on Vimeo.

The video quality here is outstanding, and with full screen mode and HD level recording there is finally something worth watching on the net!

Daily Pick- Mousevomit

Today we're liking-

Mouse vomit....

Not the projectile type that comes hurtling out of mouse holes in the middle of the night much to the surprise of sleeping cats, rather the photoblog of a nameless artist (at present) that has us bookmarking like crazy every image he has put up- his work is a mixture of simple line illustration, 3d work, photo manipulation and self portraits and throughout all he displays a well contructed, yet insanely warped sense of humour.....

Check out his works at "www.mousevomit.com"

Cult Movie- "Nothing" (2003)

We're liking-

"Nothing"

Canadian director Vincenzo Natali of "Cube" fame, has brought us another surreal existential displacement flick in the fun and thoughtful "Nothing".

The cast includes David Hewlett and Andrew Miller...that's it. They are best friends living in the middle of a topsy turvy Toronto. They live like a sandwich in between two massive bridges and everything is going as smooth as can be...that is, until the problems arrive.

Enter: The Rest of the World.

Eventually, the cops bust down the front door of the two best friends and they realise they hate the World and wish it would go away...and it does!

For the remainder of the movie, Natali guides the viewers through a jungle of nothingness, using a white background to delve into the psyche of the friends and the structure of their friendship.

Although on its surface, Nothing allows for a good laugh out loud, it doesn't take long to realise this is not the entire scope of its intent. The sometimes stretched humor eventually lets loose to reveal a genuine story about why people are friends and how even best friends come come to disagree with each other.

The story is well written (courtesy of Andrew Lowry and Miller), and despite its very surreal framework, Nothing displays dynamic characters with a lot of heart, and entertains exceptionally while doing so. Many would benefit from viewing this movie.

Top Film - 4/5

WTF? Ray Romano must die.... apparently.....

Ray Romano has that weird, whiny American sense of humour- it's a hit and miss affair with him for me, I can certainly watch an episode of "Everyone loves Raymond" and enjoy it, sometimes.....

Though NOT everyone loves Raymond apparently. Although perhaps the tattoo on this chic is a misguided sign of affection? "I'm Going to Kill You, Ray Romano." I mean, come on- for the cost of the tattoo you probably could have hired a low-grade hitman to do the same job and maybe have enough left over for a cute tattoo of a teletubby or something....

Sadly, that's not the worst tattoo I've seen... Type Brighter is a blog that has managed to track down some of the most F@#@ed up tattoos I have ever seen..... If you have a morbid facination with the things people do to their own bodies (for the worse) then I recommend you check this site out.....(beware that there are some graphic images contained here, perhaps not for under 18s??)

Daily Pick- "Rain- Prepare to be defeated!"

Today we're liking-

Rain....

Well, more specifically we're liking the opportunity to go out in the rain with our new kick-arse umbrella.... Before you go "WTF?" let me explain....

Think Geek is a great online shop for all those gadgets and toys and "stuff" you never wanted, or needed, or thought existed until you saw them here. One such creation has caught my eye after a few crappy days of rain here in Melbourne. It's an umbrella that thinks it's a samurai sword in disguise (or perhaps it's vice versa? either way- it's cool...). Hell, I'd wear this around town on my back (courtesy of the shoulder strap) even if it were 40c and mid summer.... I'd buy 100 and encourage mock battles in the middle of town when all the suits are having lunch. Move over Chuck Norris, we have a new weapon in town... and he has an umbrella......

If you want one, check out "www.thinkgeek.com"

WTF? Don't lick and drive...

A motorist has put to rest any doubts that an ice-cream gave him blood-alcohol reading.

A judge ordered the man to buy and eat the offending confection to test his assertion that a Bubble O Bill had given him a reading when he blew into his alcohol interlock device.

After only a few bites, the man registered an alcohol reading of 0.018 .

This is so cool.

Daily Pick - 80's Tees

Wowza! Look what I found while looking for a Ghostbusters outfit to impress the ladies with!

Yes, I did find the outfit I was looking for, but now, the

possibilities are endless...

Check this out if you want to add some spice to your life. There is no guarantee this gear will give you the self-confidence you need, but it will no doubt make heads turn...At the end of the day, it doesn't really matter. You will have new (and cool) shirts!

Check em' out at www.80stees.com

Play Hard

People often come up to me and say "Wow dude, you're a total

Beefcake! How do you maintain a great physique?" To which

I always reply "It's easy: I Photoshop my head onto the body

of a computer generated buff-boy."

Being a smart-arse is a prerequisite for maintaining a pop-culture

"hub". When your "job" involved reviewing, previewing and getting

involved in entertainment for the youth (and everybody else), you

have to make sure you can relate to your audience.

I may not be able to confidently claim much about myself, but one thing that I am

absolutely assured of, is that I enjoy the mentality of a fifteen-year-old. My immaturity

does tend to get me into trouble often (I'm still paying off the bill from last month

when I used a stack of Nintendo Wii's for my Karate Kid impersonation). So, while

pissfarting* about may get you screamed at by people who don't know how to enjoy

themselves, imagine how dull life would be without it. If pop-culture has taught me anything,

it's how to have as much fun as possible.

It doesn't matter what you enjoy. You may be like me and enjoy putting on your man-kini and

playing with your pet watermelon. Whatever it is, do it and do it hard!

* Pissfarting: the act of participating in a humorous activity without any thought for the consequences; to execute

something with all the style and sophistication of a labotomised rotweiler.

Daily Pick- Freebord

Today we're liking-

Freebord...

And no, that's not a typo. If your a fan of hitting the slopes on a snowboard and want to do the same when you get home and run out of snow then this one is for you...Freebord are based in the U.S. of A and are the creators of one cool looking board. Imagine a skateboard that can carve it up just like a snowboard, allowing greater control on slopes and tricks never before possible on the flats. I don't skate, but I do have a mountain board and I can see the similarities but I also see where this board comes into its own....I like it, I like it a lot...

Check out the Freebord site "www.freebord.com" for more details...
There are some excellent video clips on the website and one of my favourites was from a guy called Corey Lucero. I found some more of his videos on Vimeo. You can check them out at the Vimeo website "www.vimeo.com"


team sub? from Corey Lucero on Vimeo.

Daily Pick- Banksy & Street Stickers

Today we're liking-

Street Art...

Graffiti artists, God bless 'em, the scourge of uneducated middle class. Truth be told, their work is often more politically astute than the pollies that want it banned. Their work is controversial, daring, quite often visually stunning and the artists themselves have cohunas to be admired in the way they stick it to the authorities in the name of art....

Personally I think a city without graffiti is sterile and boring and it's sites like this that get my juices flowing..... Banksy "www.banksy.co.uk" A street/graffiti artist whose work is both beautiful and poignant. His work is really about making a point about social condition rather than pure artistic outlet. His large scale stuff is amazing and it's easy to see why he has developed a bit of a international following.... Enjoy....

WTF? No More Acid Until You've Cleaned Your Room

This kinda falls into that category somewhere between "WTF?" and "Holy Hell, that's cool!!"

I'm a big fan of breaking and this little fella has got skillz man! Can't wait to see him in "So You Think You Can Dance India".... It's the punchline that has me scratching my head though..... WTF?

Cult Game- Space Invaders

A game that requires no introduction (and virtually no instructions)... Space Invaders. A cult classic, but hardly a game I'd go out to buy or download. So here's a little website I stumbled across today where you can play the original game and, if you get bored (how could you ever get bored of this game?!) you can learn a little about the history of the #1 arcade game in the world.... hmmm, fun AND educational....

Check it at "www.spaceinvaders.de" and save your quarters for another day....

WTF? Extreme Skipping

REALLY not sure what's going on here, but I kinda like it....

I could see this catching on here in Melbourne. Spice it up with a little Parkour skills and you've got yourself a truely extreme sport....

Check out more at www.extremeskipping.com

Daily Pick- Glennz

Today we're liking-

I have been following Glennz for a while and I love his work. An absolutely twisted sense of humour conveyed in some of the most effective illustrations I have ever seen. And with his on-line t-shirt store it's like have a newspaper cartoon on your chest..... Forget those department store, bulk issue "funny" tees- get one of Glen's and stand out from the crowd...

Seriously!..... check it out regardless of whether your a t-shirt wearing kinda person or not- his stuff will always provoke a smile... www.store.glennz.com

Daily Pick- HydroSeventyFour

What we're liking today-

Well, it's the killa designs of Joshua M Smith. Vector based illustration combining retro themes and modern techniques his work is well worth a look at....

Check the website- www.hydro74.com

What the hell IS Pop Culture???

That's a damm good question....
Being well educated men ourselves we know the answer to this question; in a word.... Wikipedia.

Oh yes, Wiki is your friend and always has the right answer. So, here it is....


"Defining 'popular' and 'culture', which are essentially contested concepts, is complicated with multiple competing definitions of popular culture. John Storey, in Cultural Theory and Popular Culture, discusses six definitions. The quantitative definition, of culture has the problem that much "high" culture (e.g. television dramatisations of Jane Austen) is widely favoured. "Pop culture" is also defined as the culture that is "left over" when we have decided what "high culture" is. However, many works straddle or cross the boundaries e.g. Shakespeare, Dickens, Puccini-Verdi-Pavarotti- Nessun Dorma. Storey draws attention to the forces and relations which sustain this difference such as the educational system.

A third definition equates pop culture with Mass Culture. This is seen as a commercial culture, mass produced for mass consumption. From a Western European perspective, this may be compared to American culture. Alternatively, "pop culture" can be defined as an "authentic" culture of the people, but this can be problematic because there are many ways of defining the "people." Storey argues that there is a political dimension to popular culture; neo-Gramscian hegemony theory "... sees popular culture as a site of struggle between the 'resistance' of subordinate groups in society and the forces of 'incorporation' operating in the interests of dominant groups in society." A postmodernism approach to popular culture would "no longer recognise the distinction between high and popular culture'

Storey emphasises that popular culture emerges from the urbanisation of the industrial revolution, which identifies the term with the usual definitions of 'mass culture'. Studies of Shakespeare (by Weimann, Barber or Bristol, for example) locate much of the characteristic vitality of his drama in its participation in Renaissance popular culture, while contemporary practitioners like Dario Fo and John McGrath use popular culture in its Gramscian sense that includes ancient folk traditions (the commedia dell'arte for example).

Popular culture changes constantly and occurs uniquely in place and time. It forms currents and eddies, and represents a complex of mutually-interdependent perspectives and values that influence society and its institutions in various ways. For example, certain currents of pop culture may originate from, (or diverge into) a subculture, representing perspectives with which the mainstream popular culture has only limited familiarity. Items of popular culture most typically appeal to a broad spectrum of the public."

...Hmmm, I thought it was just cool people, cool clothes, cool movies and stuff.... who knew?

I think we'll just stick with the concept of cool stuff, thanks anyway Wiki......