Kool Pix of Hollywood Florida at Mack's Tiki Lounge

http://tikiloungetalk.com is my site dedicated to living the retro and tiki good life. This weekend I posted a bunch of swingin' pix of downtown Hollywood Blvd, Florida. Mid-Century Modern, Art Deco and Nouveao-Retro buildings meld together into a very groovy setting, giving you the sense you're in another time, even if you're not sure what the hell time that is. Check it out, no disappointments.

Another cool Vampire Killing Kit on ebay

Attention Vampire Slayers, Demon Hunters and VanHelsig fans...If you've ever wanted a real piece of Goth art, the kind that makes your pale, black-haired friends green with envy, an authentic VAMPIRE KILLING KIT by renowned gothic artist Crystobal is for you!
His latest is featured on ebay here: CRYSTOBAL'S VAMPIRE KILLING KIT. He's started the bidding low and set the reserve low on this one so some lucky vamp hunter can get it in time for Halloween. The last one (see older post below) went for $430. This one is a little larger and should command a slightly higher price.
I've know Crystobal for a long time. The cat's as crazy as a freakin' loon. He used to make Spoon Jewelry and Sand Candles back in the 70's. He made zip-guns in the old days. He used to create all kinds of spooky stuff for theme parties & haunted castles all over south jersey back in the day. These days he sits around his home in Florida, mostly complaining about how old he's getting, and that his hot rod never runs right. In between complaints he still builds some really intense stuff, like this kit. This one, named "Jezebelle" (he names all his kits after evil women of history and literature) contains the following:

• Incredible Antiqued Chest-Style Box with Coffin-Nail cross decorations, very Gothic in style and made to look 100+ years old.
• Vintage style 19th Century Dagger for display purposes only. (Must be 18 years or older to purchase this kit due to the knife.) Knife has been antiqued to look used, with remnants of Vampire blood dried on the blade.)
• Four (4) Hand-Made Black Wooden Cross Stakes with Leather binding straps, sharpened to points and antiqued to look very ancient and well used. Dried Vampire blood appears to have stained the crosses! • Handmade Wooden Vintage-Style Rosary Beads with Cross to match the stakes. • One Unique Leather-Bound Antiqued Mirror (for Testing Vampire's Reflection) • One Vintage Holy Bible (at least 60 years old) • Two Corked and Wax-Sealed Bottles to hold Holy Water (Look as if the water has evaporated and the bottles clouded with age. You can add your own Holy Water & re-seal with candle wax) • One Corked and Wax-Sealed Bottle of Rock Salt for destroying the Vampire's resting place • One Corked and Wax-Sealed Bottle of Consecrated Earth for destroying the Vampire's resting place
• One Antiqued Box for storing garlic cloves • One Large Black Goth-style Candle • One Leather-Bound Box of Vintage Style Matches
• Six Vintage Coffin Nails in a Hand-Made Vintage-Style Leather Satchel • One Pamphlet on the Destruction of the Beast by CRYSTOBAL
• One Very Old-Looking Paper Imprinted With The Exorcism Prayer, complete with blood stains
• One 36" Length of Sterling Silver Chain for Disabling the Vampire

Anyone interested in learning more about Crystobal and his art can check out my Stardust Mysteries site at http://stardustmysteries.com.

The September 2009 Issue of Playboy Magazine Gets the Vintage Look

If you’re into finding retro goodies and don’t subscribe to Playboy Magazine, I recommend getting your hands on a copy of the September issue right away. Maybe it’s because of this season’s premier of Mad Men, or maybe it’s because they’re featuring a graphic novel version of Quentin Tarantino’s Inglorious Basterds; whatever the reasons, the already hip (and hep) kats and kittens at Playboy Magazine have returned to their Rat-Packing roots and gone retro for the issue.

It starts with the cover…unusually old-style typefaces seem out of whack yet ultra-hip next to the photo of a very dirty Heidi Montag. The promise of a previously unpublished work by Kurt Vonnegut adds to the vintage flair. Inside, the 50’s/60’s cool continues with a pictorial on Mid-Century Modern furniture, complete with pricing for the originals (ie, through the roof) and well-made knock-offs (ie, cheaper than half the price), plus some beautiful dolls to accent the furniture’s curves.

Then there’s the men's fashion section. This section, usually occupied by trendy-looking male models in $5000 wardrobes, kicks off with a vintage photo of Cary Grant, dressed to kill. The section is full of vintage pix of celebrities, including Jack Kennedy in a pair of Ray-Bans, and features tips on buying like-style threads in the modern world. (Here's the online version).

There are subtle retro hints throughout the magazine, from the more-classic-than-usual party jokes to the cartoons. But just when you least expect it, you get slammed in the face with Quentin Tarantino’s graphic novel version of Inglorious Basterds. Set in WW2, the panels look like they were hand drawn in 1943 and sealed in a time capsule. The colors, style, typefaces all scream 1940’s…or at least the way they would have done it in the 40’s with better printing technology and no censors.

I’m sure the art director would have loved to have the entire issue go retro, keeping the theme throughout. Last month they magazine even featured a new twist on the old Playboy Bachelor Pad, and there've been numerous spreads showcasing the magazine's covers and models of the last 50+ years over the last few months. Unfortunately advertisers can’t always accommodate a theme, and pictorials of the models are shot way in advance. They might consider coordinating an all-retro issue in the future, as a special limited edition issue. I’m sure it would be at home on Tiki Bars bachelor pad coffee tables all over the world.

Vampire Killing Kit by Crystobal

Vampire Killing Kit by Crystobal

A long time ago I discovered a very strange, yet very talented artist. He went only by the name of Crystobal. Crystobal did a lot of set pieces for my Dinner Theater Company (Stardust Productions) back in the 90's, and although he's basically a recluse, I still keep in contact with him.

Crystobal is a "Gothic Artist". That means he creates really wacked-out stuff, gorey, bloody Halloween body parts, dead things, slanted crosses, and Vampire Killing Kits.

He got the idea years ago when he was visiting a Ripley's Believe it or Not museum in St. Augustine, Florida. They had an original, turn-of-the-century Vampire Killing Kit on display, and being the morbid SOB he is, he wanted one. When he found out how rare they were, and that the price tags flew into the thousands, he decided to make one himself.

Now, years later, under the request of friends and collectors, Crystobal makes one or two kits a year and sells them for the Halloween season. He just finished his latest kit, "Drucilla", and will be posting it for sale on eBay soon. He sent me some photos which I'll post here.

It's very groovy. He makes the kits to look like they were made 100+ years ago, including antiquing all the items. This kit, he says, is one of his most elaborate ever, and includes

• A combination flintlock pistol/dagger, in the shape of a cross (replica, of course)
• Six black wooden stakes
• A large black wooden cross
• Black Rosary Beads
• A vintage-style Holy Bible
• Leather satchels of gunpowder and silver balls (bullets) for the pistol
• Six vintage coffin nails
• Leather-clad box of vintage matches
• Antqued mirror
• Large black candle
• One bottle of garlic cloves
• One bottle of rock salt
• Two bottles of Holy Water
• Custom designed case











It's a great item for anyone who appreciates vampires, horror films and novels, or the occult in general. He's decided on a starting bid of $500. His kits have sold in the past to private collectors for as much as $3000, and have sold on eBay for as low as $150 for simpler, smaller kits. Anyone who would like more information can visit his web page on my Theater Site at http://stardustmysteries.com/vampirekits.

Misty

Wow, i just took a crazy, wild ride through "Misty" on the tenor sax. Sort of Coltrane meets Sonny Rollins style, way out there but landed back where it belongs. I don't usually play like that. Not sure how I did it this time but it felt good. Sometimes I just gotta let loose, let whatever's in me flow out like liquid melody. This time I hit it right on, right in the groove, took that horn somewhere way out in space and brought it back in for a 3-point landing. I wonder if I could ever do it again.

A Sax in the Night

Rich in the night he slays,
Dreaming, weeping.
Echoing riffs through artificial valleys and alleys
While torturing the living and the dead
With his soul.

Long sounds, blue tones bobbing on the moist city air,
Yesterday’s raindrops dancing with each.
A run; 30 notes fly, brass demons taking their shot out of hell.
No one notices.

Lone, lonely he stands, back pressed rough against the cool brick,
Beaten hat slid to the side and a pocket full of emptiness.
His road is at its end, down to his last reed and last rites.
Another fifty cents could get him a last drink, but that luxury is denied.

Sorrowful lament in D minor, sixteen off-tempo bars ’til the last ghost note sways.
His breath shallow, his fingers weak.
One last wail into the darkness.
Crescendo…sweet, high and red on black, his best ever,
Desperately reaching out to a million ears.
None will hear.
With the final high G, the reed splits.
And so does he.

Murder Mystery at the Mai Kai Fort Lauderdale

You can't go wrong when you mix the world's greatest Tiki Bar, Tropical Drinks, Florida weather and an old-fashioned who-dunnit murder mystery. That's what they're doing at the Mai Kai, this Friday, July 24. They don't have any info up on their site, so if you want to know more I posted it on my Tiki Talk site http://TikiLoungeTalk.com

I used to own a traveling murder mystery theater company, StarDust Productions. I met my wife when she auditioned for one of our shows. We traveled all over south Jersey, from Cape May to Atlantic City, doing retro-themed mysteries with live music and audicence interaction. For more on that, see http://stardustmysteries.com