Dance, Mothra, Dance!

Bryce Digdug just called me from Ibiza where he's been for a little getaway before they start shutting things down for autumn. Our little number "Mothra Remixed & Remastered" is now #1 on all the dance floors of Europe and slated for a U.S. release by this weekend. While Bryce informs me that Mothra herself cannot dance, her spirit gets those fine Mediterranean feet moving non-stop with this new hit.

Look for it here in a few days.

We also hope to soon release a third Mothra collaboration in which Bryce and I have a high minded interview about the meaning and moral import of Mothra, perhaps the most enduring feminist insect icon of all time. She destroyed to make the world safer. Boy do we need her now!

JTTV - Season 2, Episode 3 - Mothra Dissected

Blog superstar Bryce Digdug makes his JunkThief TV debut by giving us insights into the classic Japanese monster movie, "Mothra". Vivian Valvoom lends her talents for our new opening credits.

UPDATE: A few people have asked about the aspect ratio on this episode. Yes, it was shot in Cinerama. Yes, we are planning to show it on a big screen. Details are being ironed out, but if all goes right Bryce and I hope to be in Hollywood for the big gala screening during Thanksgiving weekend. We'll be wearing acrylic sweaters just to be on the safe side.

Up, Up with Cats

Fellow writer/blogger/stand-up comic Bryce Digdug has an amusing reference to Up with People, that really, really bizarre group that promoted the American Way and patriotism back in the late 1960s and early 1970s. I'd not heard or thought of them in decades until a few years ago I had a booth for my non-profit organization at a conference in Indianapolis. One evening I heard over the PA system "Don't miss tonight's headline entertainment -- Up with People!" Egads, they're still around, but they now had an international cast, still promoting something on the order of patriotism. In response to Bryce's post, I suggested that I'd been a member of the cast of Up with Cats! back in the 1980s and spayed myself with cat nip and danced around in a mouse costume to put those felines in a frenzy. Bryce made me aware of a good/bad movie called Eye of the Cat which features cast members who also appeared in Beyond the Valley of the Dolls.

Bryce is the only person I know with an encyclopedic knowledge of the monster flick Mothra, a film I know in legend only but long to see. I think Bryce should do the DVD commentary or be filmed doing his comedy routine that heavily references Mothra.

Eye of the Cat was shot in San Francisco which further tempts me to check out this tale of a crazy old woman in a mansion protected by a group of cats. Of course, I know who I'd cheer for. I especially have a weakness for movies that have a poster with a woman screaming. I
just hope nothing bad happens to the kitties at the end!

Junk Thief TV - Second Season Premier

Judy singing the words of Dory Previn that have been called the worst lyric ever written, a brief history of the shopping addiction movement, a 55 second musical tribute to Zasu Pitts, a Mothra sighiting. It's all here in the gala premier episode of the second season of Junk Thief TV. It starts somewhere in the 1950s and ends in Egypt in the year 2015. DISCLAIMER: The Vogue cover is not from the U.S. or French edition but the Finnish Vogue, circulation 385.

Have a Pluckin' Good Yom Kippur

On what day do rural Haitians and Upper East Side Jews have a great deal in common? Why, today, Yom Kippur, the day of atonement, when traditional rabbis often hold a chicken above their heads for sacrifice.

In personal ads, I often note that I am religious but not spiritual. That's the handy thing about being a Unitarian with its Piccadilly Cafeteria approach to religion. You can pretty much pick whatever you want and never have to go to confession or hear sermons about sin. I love all the pageantry, costumes and rituals of various religions provided I don't have to get all spiritual. Give me costumes, sets and lines and I'm always up for a performance. However, I draw the line when it comes to killing chickens.

In addition to being one half Jewish I am also an amateur juju man. My powers are great, but like Mothra I only destroy to save the word. So if you're a fire breathing lizard, consider yourself warned. Otherwise have a jolly, holly Yom Kippur and atone like it's 1999!

JTTV - Season 2, Episode 4 - MOTHRA - reMixed and REmastered

Beginning with the haunting, hypnotizing counter tenor of Bryce Digdug, Junk Thief takes you on a trip you will not soon forget.

Now you too can enjoy the hit that topped all the dance clubs in Europe this summer. Though this is just a short sample of the 42 minute extended dance track that was tearing up the floors in Ibiza and Mykonos, it gives you an idea of this marriage of the best of the best -- the greatest Japanese Monster of all time meets the greatest bass riff to ever make the disco ball spin. There's nothing like dancing to this while a few hundred sweaty Spanish boys scream out like girls "Please give us back the egg!!!

We thought this mystical, magical journey was the perfect vehicle as we come to the end of the Yom Kippur fast and approach the fall equinox (oh, and prepare for Junk Thief's birthday).

Editorial Note: There's some bugaboo with posting direct from YouTube, so if you want to see it over there (essentially the same thing but you can view it full screen there) go here.

Now in Production

Principle photography for episode 2 of Junk Thief TV has wrapped, with a few inserts still to be shot before we edit and upload. It won't be quite the big production of our premier (sorry no dance numbers this time, but music provided by our favorite singer named Nancy). Not to disappoint too many of our fans, but the Mothra episode has been delayed, but we hope to have it sometime in September. Just a few scheduling challenges in booking the talent. Junk Thief just hasn't been the same since the glory days when he relied on Sue Mengers and Swifty Lazar to handle such things.

This episode will be primarily a tour of the Mission District (which several of our viewers asked to see more of) and possibly a little reflection on the impact of gentrification (and the lack there of).

We hope to have it uploaded sometime over the holiday weekend, but no promises since we also have the big Noe Valley garage sale.

I'll Be Heading Off This Afternoon to ....

...my annual pilgrimage to Burning Man.
JOK-ING! Though apparently Mothra will be there. Va-va-voom!
With all the hoopla over the closing of the Bay Bridge a 8 p.m. tonight, you'd think it was the last chance and only option to exit the city. I actually hope everyone leaves. One of the oddities of Labor Day is that San Francisco can often feel vacant. Not a bad thing.