Who's Your Favorite James Bond Villain?

My four favorites or let's say my favorite two pairs of Bond villains are all from the same Bond-movie - Diamonds Are Forever. They are of course
Mr Wint & Mr Kidd...




...and Bambi & Thumper.




Both pairs are really weird, revolting, scary and both are probably supposed to be gay; at least the men (no question). As I recall, it's not far-fetched to interpret the women as being man-hating gays as well. Do these villains show the film maker's fear of everything homosexual? Be that as it may, it's the total weirdness of the characters that grabs me.









So, who's your favorite James Bond Villain?

James Bond MultiMedia | Bond Villains

And while you're at it; who's your favorite bond girl? (or spot five Swedish beauties or what's your favorite bond girl name?)

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Elevator Moods

What might take place in an elevator.
Going up or down?


Via Cynical-C Blog

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Haunted Portraits Gallery

Not scary enough?
Go to Haunted Portraits Gallery: "Zed's Haunted Portrait"


Via The Presurfer

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Movie: Schweden - Hölle oder Paradies

Eh... Ok, this seems to be a German movie poster for an Italian porno flick about Sweden. Sweden - Hell or Paradise; I've pondered on this question many times myself. At the top - translated - I think reads "Unleashed Sex in the Land of the Midnight Sun"

Anyway, it's on eBay if you're interested: eBay: Poster - Schweden - Hölle oder Paradies (obsolete)


Update #1:

Adam of Swedesres.se (Thanks Adam! Nice blog! I'll be back!) kindly points out that the English title of the movie is Sweden: Heaven or Hell (I kind of guessed it was). He also shared a great link to a review of the film (from Cinema Nocturna). I want to watch that movie! By the way, it seems to be more of a pseudo-porno selling on - putting it mildly - allusions to sex. I learned a new phrase - mondo movie, which is e term for "a type of quasidocumentary, usually depicting sensational topics and scenes" accoding to Wikipedia.

Update #2

MrDanteFontana from PCL LinkDump tells us that the "classic" song Mahnahmahna - made immortal in the Muppet Show - originally stems from this movie. The whole soundtrack was composed by Piero Umiliani.

Via Swen's Weblog

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Weirdest Music Video Ever

What the...!?!
Weirdest Music Video Ever

Creepy Susie

Creepy Susie





Update:

Anonymous points to this site by the same creator.

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Exhibition coming up

The Swedish Post Museum in Stockholm announces a coming exhibition:

Dance-band cards from the 1970's
12 October – 4 December 2005
A colorful collection of postcards from Swedish dance-orchestras.

Hålligång med bussarong och polisong
12 oktober – 4 december 2005

"Visst var det på skoj eller menade de verkligen allvar? Det undrar Johan, en 35-årig gävlekrögare som blir glad av dansbandsmusik från 1970-talet. Han fascineras av glädjen och lekfullheten i dansbandens kostymer och låtarnas texter. Postmuseum visar en del av hans roliga vykortssamling."

I guess someone has been surfing the web seeing how popular these cards has become the last couple of years. Nice going. I'm looking forward to this!

A link to more dance orchestra cards



Less important, of course, is the fact that the Post Museum has
a Garbo exhibition right now.

Hälsningar Greta Garbo
16 september 2005 - 26 mars 2006

Sincerely Greta Garbo
16 September 2005 – 26 March 2006

Garbo

You may have heard that Greta Garbo would have turned 100 years old on the 18th of September, if still alive. Here follows a few links in her honor.

Have a look at newsreel fotage (silent) from a swedish Greta Garbo look-alike contest held in 1931.
Garbotävling (utan ljud, 4 delar) (00:05:08)
Garbo contest (silent, 4 parts)

Who's the winner? I don't know...


Wikipedia on Garbo
IMDb on Garbo
In pictures: Garbo 100 years since her birth
Greta Garbo - the ultimate star
Swedes in Hollywood: not just Greta
The american/swedish Garbo stamp
Other Garbo Stamps







Another Garbo stamp released by the Swedish Postal Service (Posten) this month
Artist: Einar Nerman

I Lost My Heart To a Starship Trooper

Just a little find from a second-hand shop I visited today. Sarah Brightman, aged 18, recorded this in 1978. It's standard disco - with notes from "Also Sprach Zarathustra" and the Star Wars score - definitely trying to ride the sci-fi wave of the time.

Oh Doctor Strange won't you be my lover?
You're the best thing that I've ever discovered
Flash Gordon's left me, he's gone to the stars
And evil Darth Vader he's been banished to Mars
Tell me, Captain Strange do you feel my devotion?
Or are you like a droid devoid of emotion?
Encounters one and two are not enough for me
What my body needs Is close encounter three!!

I guessed I wouldn't be the first one on the web to have spotted this - and I wasn't. Over here you can learn everything about the song; check out the different sleeves, read the fantastic lyrics, and look at still-frames from the video and also listen to a few seconds of the song. That's enough.


I would like to be able to digitize vinyl on other occasions. I have a few things I'd like to share. If anyone has any nice tips on how to go about it, technically that is, I would be grateful. I guess that what I need to know is: do I need any extra equipment, what cables and plugs do I need and if there's a simple free recording program out there, that you would recommend. And also, in these matters, please talk to me as if I was a child - I'm no "tech-guy".

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Toad

C'mon, touch the Toad. Don't be a chicken - touch it!

The Lemon Pipers

The Lemon Pipers performing Green Tambourine (mov).
Man, what a far-out show!





Via Bedazzled!

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Did You Ever Have A Dream Like This?

"When we go after anything we get it"

"(William H. "Dad") Martin began using trick photography in 1908, producing a series of wildly exaggerated post cards. These were so popular that he sold his studio the next year to concentrate on the post card business"

Did You Ever Have A Dream Like This?
Fantasy Photographs -- American Museum of Photography(SM)

Via Hedonistica

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Oh no! It's Mr. Creosote

Monty Python: Mr. Creosote

Via MilkandCookies

They Come In a Box

Where do all these people come from? A box?
Nice music.


Box Transformer

Martin Klasch Has a Favicon

As of today Martin Klasch has a favicon.



"So?" you might ask and I wouldn't really have any good answer. But I think it's pretty nice and they are kind of useful in the "favourites"making it easier to find among all the other Blogger icons.

Wide Angle Puppies

Yes, it's true - I'm very fond of dogs.
And what's better than puppy dogs? Wide angle puppy dogs?

In the galleries there are a few wide angle kittens for the cat-lover too.

Wide Angle Puppies gallery


Via the J-Walk Blog

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Skeleton

Ever wondered who's pulling the strings? Well, you are.

Wire Frame Skeleton

Liquid Sculpture

Yeah, yeah - I know. The web has been drowning in this lately, so you've probably seen it already. Anyhow, it has finally trickled down, working it's way like drops on a piece of rock, finally soaking even the Martin Klasch blog. Drop in:
Liquid Sculpture - High-speed and Fine Art Photography of Drops and Splashes




Via Cynical-C Blog and others

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Gridlock

Wanna play Gridlock ?

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Preetzer Paper Theater

I don't know anything about this and honestly I don't really care. I just happened to stumble upon it googeling for something else. It looks nice I think.

Papiertheatertreffen Preetz

UPDATE: Obsolete link

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www.iiiiiiii.com

There's nothing to add or subtract so I'll just quote The Presurfer who wrote:

"There's nothing to see at all at this site. Absolutely nothing.
But you'll soon realize that the site does exactly what the url says.
You'll need sound."

Visit the Presurfer!

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Humanoid Robotics

"The HR-2 robot was constructed during a period of three months at Chalmers University in Sweden. It has 22 degrees of freedom which enables it to easily move around imitating human motions. The robot is also equipped with stereovision giving it possibilities to perform hand-eye coordination. For that task an artificial neural network is evolved. Furthermore, the artificial brain is capable of tracking faces as well as recognising them. The HR-2 is also able to speak."


This is a nerdy but very charming little thing. You will find a movie presentation of the robot (35.5 Mb) which I found well worth downloading. Maybe you do too.

Humanoid Robotics, Almir Heralic


Sorry, don't remember where I found it. But thanks.

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ACME

Yes, oldie. But goldie. I'm not explaining this:

The ORIGINAL Illustrated Catalog Of ACME Products

Poster Art: Swedish Posters

There is a poster collection at The Royal Library (National Library of Sweden) in Stockholm. Unfortunately only a smaller part of it is available digitally. Luckily, though, there are some good ones to see and a large portion of the site is in English. There's also other interesting stuff on the site, like swedish ephemera. I haven't checked it all out but this handbook in black magic was pretty funny.

These are the poster links you shouldn't miss:



"Artistic posters" In Swedish. A lot of beer ads (!)







"The Big Brewery's Beer is the best" Caleb Althin



Posters by artist Wilhelm Kåge In English
(Ceramics by Kåge here)






"Midnight Cabaret, at Berns" Wilhelm Kåge




Posters concerning referendums In Swedish



"No! Crawfish crave these beverages! You will have to refrain from crawfish if you do not vote NO on the 27th of August" Albert Engström (referendum on wether or not to limit sales of alcohol by quotas. We love crawfish by the way. And they do crave certain beverages.) A classic!

Grow Cube

If you are into puzzle games maybe you should have a look at GROW CUBE. I like the look of it at least. If you get tired there is a solution here. It's, however, debatable if there's any logic to it... There are a few more games to try, among them the original Grow.

Nishant Choksi

Nishant Choksi - Astonish Illustration

Also check these galleries out: one and two.


Thanks to Smidigt.se!

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The Bottom Of The Sea

Are you feeling stressed? Try this soothing game.
Orisinal.com - The Bottom Of The Sea

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Fortunato Depero

Web Site of the futurist artist Fortunato Depero

Go to the Virtual Musem.



Via A best truth

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Matchbox Packaging - a photoset on Flickr

Wow! This really takes me back even if it was my brother who was building the stuff.

Matchbox Packaging - a photoset on Flickr




Via NIBLOG

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Poster Art: Swedish Concert Posters

Selected posters from the amusement park and concert scene Gröna Lund in Stockholm. All of the posters above are designed by Nils Sture Jansson.

"The two persons that probably have meant the most for the concert poster art in Sweden are Nils Sture Jansson, the man who designed the concert posters for Gröna Lund during the period around 1970-2000, and Leif Illernäs, Illernäs Screen AB. During the 70, 80- and 90-ties, regardless if you look at a Gröna Lund poster or an Ema-Telstar poster, this is the only name you´ll see. The reason for this is that Illernäs Screen printed the posters for both Gröna Lund och Ema-Telstar."

Thus writes Thomas Jonsson, a poster collector. Here's his interesting collection of swedish concert posters. One of Sweden's largest he says. I for one hope it will grow and that he manages to collect every Gröna Lund poster there is. And there are many for sure. Most great swedish acts have performed there and big international artists play Gröna Lund every year.

Poster artist Nils Sture Jansson's style was distinct and he stuck to this great concept during the years. However he was replaced a few years ago by artist Kristian Russell (Agent Form). Russell's style, I guess you could say, is a modern variation of Jansson's and with clear referrences to his predecessor's work.

SexySlumberParty.com!

SexySlumberParty.com!

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Creature Comforts

This is sort of an update to the post I made the other day about Aardman Animations. Bountiful Brazilian Bibi of Bibi's Box has found the best of the Ardman productions which is the one where the animals at a zoo are interviewed. Here it is: AtomFilms - Creature Comforts or if it doesn't work for you try this (mov.). There are more Aardman at AtomFilms - look here. Also there is this little piece of government information.


UPDATE! Here's the first and original Creature Comforts - the one that won Nick Park the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 1990. Also there's quite a lot of other Creature Comforts clips to watch on YouTube.


UPDATE! A clip from the upcoming new Wallace & Gromit movie can be seen here. Thanks again Bibi.

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George Grosz

A collection of works by the german artist George Grosz (1893-1959). Read about the artist here.

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Fly Me On a Goose

Have you ever heard of Nils Holgersson? The little boy who flew across Sweden on a goose. The book was written over a hundred years ago by swedish nobel prize laureate Selma Lagerlöf.

Take a look at an interpretation of Holgersson's flight and listen to a classic swedish song celebrating the county of Skåne (or Scania)*. It contains aerial photography, trick filming and some animation.

Impressive? Well, it's from 1939. What can you expect? The heavy set artist is Edvard Persson, one of the biggest (!) movie stars in Sweden at that time. Check the video out: bigger and smaller.

Here's a sing-a-long version of another classic Edvard Persson song "Jag har bott vid en landsväg". Probably nothing for the non-swedish or even the non-scanians. But be my guest - have a go!


*By the way that's where PCL LinkDump resides.

We Are the Robots

ROBOpolis Robot Collection




Via Wee Wonderfuls

Underwater Photography

Take a deep breath and dive in. Enjoy the spectacular marine life in the photos of David Doubilet.

Doubilet Doubilet - Underwater Photography Portfolio





Via Smidigt.se

Fetish: Erotic ABC

Sufferware: Erotic ABC




Via Bibi's Box and Agence Eureka

Benjamin Marra

Benjamin Marra

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Kitty Cannon - Flash Game

Kitty Cannon - Flash Game














Via Hedgehog in a storm