Off The Wall

Just some random funny pics done for Facebook friends... granted, they probably won't make a lick of sense to anyone else... or maybe they will??...

While standing in line to get a bagel and coffee one
morning, an old woman who looked just like this
cut the line.

Dan was convinced he could outsmart
Facebook's Timeline Conversion by laying low.

I altered Mark's cover photo.
He wasn't about to blow his brains out in HIS version.

There's a LOT of cute on Facebook.
I hate cute.

Best Birthday gift ever.

My reaction after the 1,000th Bubblerock
advert from Dan.
What's a Bubblerock? ...Exactly.

Avant Garde Don.

Another Bubblerock reaction. Not good...

A somewhat controversial observation.

Someone's kid had built this bird feeder.
I added the note from the cat next door.

Mark's profile pic reminded me of Lester.

Something to ponder.

Otto, George and John Lennon!

Throughout the years I've heard the names Otto and George come up every now and then - mostly during conversations with comedians on various shows - but I never really got to fully appreciate who Otto and George were, until just recently, when Otto suddenly passed away in his sleep - and suddenly the internet was aflood with Otto and George YouTube clips. My brother Jeffrey was the first to tell me the news. He said he's been watching lots of Otto and George clips and laughing so hard he was crying. And so I did, and within seconds I was crying too.

 

In summary, Otto & George was an adult-themed ventriloquist comedy team composed of comedian Otto Sol Petersen and his dummy George Dudley. Petersen began performing with George as a street act in Manhattan and Brooklyn in the early 1970s. In the late 70s the act moved into night clubs and began to evolve into an X-rated act. Most of the clips on YouTube that you'd find are Otto from this later period. If you're easily offended I'd suggest you stay away from them - but I found his act to be hilarious. Filthy... but very, very funny...

Anyway, for THOSE clips you can do your own searching - but here's a little something I came across (a safe, terrestrial radio clip)... in which it's revealed that a young Otto Peterson during his street performing days met up with John Lennon! ....JOHN LENNON!!!

Enjoy...

Jump to 8:53

 

Otto back when he met John Lennon.
It was the bowler hat that caught Lennon's eye.

Going Psycho

A sneak peek at the Bates Motel location!

An exact replica of the original Bates Motel resides in a secret off-limits location somewhere in Aldergrove, British Columbia.... currently being used for A&E's Bates Motel mini series... but being a working set doesn't stop curious Psycho fans from finding it every now and then and snapping a few quick pictures! Heck, who could blame 'em - I would love to poke around that set myself!!!

Here are a few shots as it looks today during it's second season, courtesy of Cecilia Flaming Photography, and a couple of season one pics I came across credited to yvrshoots where evidently they matted in the top of the Bates house using CGI in post production. Sometime just before filming for season two they managed to add a real one.

Psycho buffs will tell you, the original Psycho house on the back lot at Universal Studios was built to two-thirds scale to make it appear much higher and much farther away from the Bates Motel than it really was - but this one is full scale size, done so with the intention to enable it's actors to get up close and for the cameras to utilize it to it's full potential. Just as the previous houses were - the ones used in production of the Psycho movies that came after Hitchcock's original - the house is just a facade... and inside scenes for this current production are shot in Vancouver.

Regarding the Bates Motel itself only a few rooms are used as sets, the rest of the "rooms" are again, a facade. In an interview I saw recently with Vera Farmiga (who plays Norman's mother, Nora Bates) she revealed that in-between shooting scenes on cold nights they use cabin #4 to warm up in - as it's equipped with heaters and other comforts - and she said she believes that the ghost of Anthony Perkins must be making visits - as it always locks her in when no one is around, and usually a stagehand or someone else needs to be called upon to open it for her!! How's that for spooky, eh?

Well, after the pics make sure to check out the videos below where a reporter stays the night at the Bates Motel and lives to tell about it - and a clip from A&E's Bates Motel website that shows you more of what goes on behind the scenes as explained by cast and crew members.

Season Two, the house is complete (well, at least that's what your eyes will tell you)...

 Season One, The Psycho house was topless...

 

Inbetween seasons...

The windows and doors get all boarded up, fences go up around the house and the property, plastic tarps cover the motel, the steps and the neon sign, a security guard polices the area - and Hitchcock watches over everything! (Note the silhouette!)

 

A candid shot...

Alfred Hitchcock and Anthony Perkins, without whom none of this.......

Twelve cabins, twelve vacancies...

And last but not least,

Freddie Highmore (Norman Bates from Bates Motel) visits the original Psycho house at Universal Studios Hollywood for the first time...

What's an Out Of Bodies?

Found this old band description from the now long defunct IUMA Underground Music Archive... the explanation given as to why the OOBS have never bothered to take their act further than their own bedrooms deserves some sort of spin doctor reward!

_______________________________________________ 

The Out Of Bodies began when two aspiring young artists, Donald Jefferes and Dan Banic, met while attending the High School of Art & Design in the late 70s. Throughout the 80s they were joined by Don's long term buddy Lloyd Goldfine, Don's cousin Joe Vento, and another A&D artist, Mark DeGross. Traveling back and forth to each others homes in the Bronx and College Point, Queens they recorded all of their music on a beat up portable 4-track Fostex recorder, and occasionally a boom-box they dubbed "the wheezer".

A creative group of artists/film makers/horror buffs - The Out Of Bodies have worked on many projects both on their own and in collaboration with each other - but their most notable body of work continues to be their music. As diverse as their own personalities their music has been compared to, foremost, The Beatles (as a group and solo artists) - but they also share a particular interest in the diverse musical and vocal styles of Harry Nilsson, Cat Stevens, Sting, Paul Simon, Randy Newman, Stevie Wonder, Prince, Jeff Lynne and the Electric Light Orchestra, Beck, Squeeze, Radio Head, Neil Innis, David Bowie, Motown artists, Michael Penn and Sly and The Family Stone - to name but a handful.

None of them professional musicians, with the possible exception of Dan - who has self taught himself to play virtually anything - one can easily find themselves perplexed on why, throughout the years, the Out Of Bodies have never bothered to cut an album for themselves or to record any of their material in a studio. It is only their close friends and relatives that can tell you how they've witnessed themselves, that unlike your average band, the OOBs prefer to commit their bursts of creativity to tape spontaneously and without obligation. In short they will tell you that they do it "just for fun."

Whatever the reason, it is perhaps this "quirk" that makes the OOBs so appealing rather than being the nemises that holds them back. Within their vast collection of their music on cassette tapes, many of their songs are sandwiched between comedy skits, impromptu takes, and a whole lot of laughing. They're a silly bunch. Individually and a little bit older the OOBs are still drawing a curious audience.

For more on the Out Of Bodies including more photos, songs, fan commentary, bios and up to date OOB information, make sure to visit their external website. Submit your own commentary to their recently added "OOB TALK" page and read what others are saying.

Thousands Show Up For 50th Anniversary of Worlds Fair

NYS Pavilion Named 1 Of 44 'National Treasures' In United States

APRIL 22, 2014 - - CBS NEWS

Fifty years ago, the New York World's Fair opened in Queens. Many who were there returned Tuesday to mark a very happy anniversary. They lined up by the thousands, just like they poured onto the grounds on this day back in 1964. They carried their World’s Fair identification cards, and so many memories.

“It brings chills to me because it was a very special time in my life,” Gail Fiorelli told CBS 2’s Dick Brennan. “I grew up dirt poor in Brooklyn, and this was like beyond Disney World to me,” Sheldon Lapidus added.

In an age before theme parks, there were exhibits and rides at the World’s Fair. “To ride the monorail was like the new subway, I thought,” Tom Piragnoli said.

Hans von Rittern said he attended the fair and told Brennan he became obsessed with the “It’s a Small World” exhibit. “Yes and it can’t leave your head, and it’s still in everybody’s head today,” von Rittern said.

“Everybody my age remembers the Pieta,” Maureen O’Connor said, referring to the famed Michelangelo sculpture that was brought to the fair.

The fair also brought the introduction of a breakfast revolution, including the Belgian waffle, and the unisphere, which, despite being a target of destruction in the movies, still stands 140 feet tall.

Restoring The New York State Pavilion

Best known as the centerpiece of the World's Fair, The New York State Pavilion has been designated as a “National Treasure” by The National Trust For Historic Preservation.

Officials made the announcement during a special celebration marking the anniversary of the fair. The famed pavilion in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park is now one of 44 “National Treasures” in the entire United States. The designation is given to “structures that are built to our architectural, social and political history. The kind of buildings we cannot imagine being without,” said Paul Goldberger of The National Trust For Historic Preservation. The pavilion was designed by renowned architect Philip Johnson.

It closed following the World's Fair, though was occasionally used as a concert venue and a movie set. Through the years it fell into a state of disrepair and has been rusting away for decades. Recently there has been a push by activists to preserve the pavilion. Volunteers have even taken to painting the lower level of it red, white and yellow to spruce it up, CBS 2's Scott Rapoport reported. Now with it's newly minted designation as a National Treasure, many are hoping that talk of preserving and restoring this special structure will turn to action.

Tuesday was the first time in decades that visitors were allowed to go inside an tour the pavilion.

“I hope they fix it up and make it nice for the future generations to see,” said Tom Robinson, of Lindenhurst, who was first in line to take the tour. “I grew up here, I saw this back in ’64, I rode with the Mustangs in the Ford pavilion, I had my first Belgian waffle here.”

It will cost about $40 million to restore the pavilion, preservationists said.

Haunted Barn closes (for now)...

A couple of days ago Joey packed up the last remaining artifact of wonder from his garage-turned-museum "The Haunted Barn". On his Facebook page he announced "...today, it is just a barn again" - in which I replied, "Joey, it will never be JUST a barn again..."

Good luck my friend, on your eventual move - and wherever the NEXT Haunted Barn ends up...

The Royd's release their debut album, Royd Rage!

Hey friends, please check out (and purchase) my nephew Andrew's debut album, The Royd's "Royd Rage", now available for download at theroyds.bandcamp.com Share it, pass it around, shout about it - I was very much impressed with their sound - my personal favorite song being "Rebound Girl"... reminded me a bit of something Mike Nesmith might've done with The Monkees, sort of... kind of... but the many sounds on their album here (while no doubt influenced by many) is very much their own. I was drawn into all their songs immediately, and with each listen I notice something else that makes me smile... and there's a sense of humor on there too - I almost spit out my coffee when I heard "My Boots Give Me Street Cred" and "Divinity Of Mr. Johansen"... those silly guys... oh, and "The Park Is Closed" - I wonder how many people besides myself have caught THAT innuendo!

Jump back a few months from now... I was happily surprised when Andrew and Robb asked me to do their cover art, asking (almost apologetically) "really? You know my style, right?" and Andrew answered flatly "yeah, that's what we want!" - so I was really glad when after sending the fellas the art Andrew called it "brilliant" - that was really quite nice!! The guys already had a color scheme worked out in their heads, and they knew exactly what they were looking for.

The finished album cover.

Thanks guys for helping bring me out of a sort of lazy, somewhat semi-retirement - it seems to be a nice match to the album's contents and I'm already envisioning it on promo cards and t-shirts!... this was a great experience and I think you guys are really going to get some really cool feedback!!....

The pencil sketch. 

Incidentally, Andrew's other band "Swear To Me" just played Mulcahy's last night - sorry I missed it, I will have to catch you guys the next time!

The New York Grimpendium features the Out Of Bodies most cordial member...

The New York Grimpendium - The Haunted Barn Movie Museum in the Hudson Valley town of Monroe feels like the room of the coolest 12-year-old boy on the planet. Located in a shed behind the house of its owner and curator, Joey Vento, the museum is filled top to bottom with monsters of every sort, all jumbled together in a glorious hodge-podge like somebody took apart every Creature Feature ever shown and threw them haphazardly about the place. The only difference is that most of the things in the museum are actual costumes and masks and props (or pieces of props in many cases) from movies that range from the original Planet of the Apes; to the not-original I Am Legend. 

Collector Joey Vento is not a 12-year-old boy, but that's probably the worst thing I can say about him. He’s a genuine and enthusiastic monster movie fan, as well as a genuine and enthusiastic person. He runs an entertainment business called Movies to Go that is basically a portable movie theater for events and functions, and his museum also doubles as a venue, so that you can watch a movie while the bug creature mask from the film looks over your shoulder...

more...

Delicious News - OOB site adds SIDES!

Website UPDATE: A keen eye would notice... gone is the old "contacts" tab, and in it's it's place "SIDES", which in a nutshell is going to be a page devoted to whatever things we may have worked on - individually or collaboratively - that WASN'T what we'd refer to as an Out Of Bodies project.

First up is a very silly bit of nonsense culled from our vast collection of recorded comedy bits, featuring my buddy Lloyd (as Bud Abbott, and other cast members of the old Abbott and Costello TV Show) and myself (Donald) as Lou Costello - or as it's eventually explained, not the REAL Lou Costello, but a cheesy Hanna-Barbera cartoon voice actor filling in for him. Listening to the ten tracks assembled from the many comedy cassettes where these impromptu bits would appear sporadically - you can clearly hear us remembering bits and pieces of the REAL Abbott and Costello story and working them into the premise.

Lloyd and I had always thought it a bit tragic (and yes, funny) that in the sixties the real Budd Abbott was nearly broke and suffered from poor health and several addictions - making it impossible to refuse the offer from the undisputed kings of limited animation - Hanna-Barbera - when they asked him to supply the voice for his own character in the Abbott and Costello cartoon series, which was produced from 1965 to 1966. By this time his comedy partner Costello had already been dead for 6 years, having passed away in 1959. The guy who filled in for Costello was horrible - and predictably so was the whole cartoon.

One day while Lloyd and I were playing around, recording our improvisational bits - we somehow found ourselves mimicking the old Abbott and Costello TV show, whistling the theme song - but for some unknown reason instead of placing ourselves in 1952-1954 when these shows took place - we catapulted the situation to the Hanna-Barbera years - hence the opening lines...

Bud Abbott: "By the way, I know you're not Lou - I just CALL you Lou..."
(Not the real) Lou Costello: "Well I'm JUST GONNA HAVE TO DOOOOOO!!!!!"

Out Of Bodies SIDES: Wow Ink-corporated's Abbott and Costello

The What Song?

Many Out Of Bodies recordings happened without planning, without lyrics and without any real sense of purpose! Hah hah!! Well, here's another Out Of Bodies 4-Track recording that Dan recently uploaded to YouTube, a song without planning, words, or purpose - other than to make you smile... called "The Bam Bam Song"!!

Don't question things!! Just enjoy it...

Another Lost Track from the Vaults

Another rare find from Dan's extensive 4-Track library of Out Of Bodies jams, demos and impromptu takes...

I like when Dan asks, "Why do we always gotta stick a Beatles chord there at the end?" Hah hah!! ...Enjoy!!

More Tracks from the Vaults

Dan digs up another track from the vaults, this time not a jam with the other fellas - but an unpolished Beatles cover he recorded on his own using his Fostex 4-Track recorder...

...and there's more where this came from, stay tuned!

Jam Tracks from the Vaults

Dan unearths yet another couple of jam session tracks and turns them into a delightful video in which you can watch as you sip your morning java...



...more to come!!...

Look At It!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Joe's hilarious phone message response - to a disturbing photo of Lady Elaine Fairchilde that I put up on his Facebook wall...


Click HERE to hear the message To Donald

Veteran's Day - November 12, 2013

Roadside America Features Joey's Haunted Barn!

Joey Vento's link to classic monster movies was forged before he was born -- much like an ancestral curse -- when his father briefly appeared in the 1953 film Beast From 20,000 Fathoms. "My father was a longshoreman," said Joey. Someone on the New York film crew handed him a broom and told him to sweep while the cameras rolled. "He was 'the sweeping guy'," said Joey of his father's uncredited role. "He was paid with a bottle of scotch."

Fast forward 60 years and Joey is mysteriously compelled to own and curate the Haunted Barn Movie Museum, his personal shrine to horror, science fiction, and fantasy films.

The large, weathered shed sits next to his family's home, much like any other house in the woods until you spot a Victorian hearse and fake cemetery. Duck your head under the shed's decorative cobwebs at the door and enter a space filled with monsters (along with twinkly Christmas lights and eerie music played over hidden speakers). Giant spiders hang from the ceiling; props from films and TV series fill the walls, pack the shelves, and crowd the floor......

Check out the rest of the article here!!!

Joey and Donald in Joe's haunted yard, posing in front of his giant inflatable screen!
August 2012

Congrats, Joey on your article in Roadside America - and the
best of luck wherever the barn ends up next!!!

Night Of The Living Dan

Oh the HUMANITY!!!

Like those movies where someone wakes up from a nightmare only to find himself in ANOTHER nightmare - apparently I'm stuck in a similar vortex... just noticed one day recently that the YaHoo Media Player stopped working. No warning - no notices from YaHoo - just went to look at the Out Of Bodies music page and noticed all the little yellow play buttons were missing. That was just the beginning of a series of ongoing nightmares.

In the following days every message board on the internet which announced a "fix" turned out to be a temporary tease - as YaHoo seemingly yanked their player pages altogether, throwing millions of music pages, blogs and other media pages into a flaming heap of OH NOOOO!!!...

Now this has happened once briefly before only to resurrect itself without explanation - but I smell long term abandonment this time, don't ask me why. YaHoo, once the king of the internet could very well be headed straight for the shitter this time - so what do I do? Do I scramble around for an alternative music player script, or do I wait things out - like our own partial government shut-down - and hope somebody out there has a brain - a sense of decency - some compassion! Do I wait for the powers to be at YaHoo to walk into their offices one morning, hoping they decide to flick their switch back on? Or are they all too busy throwing nooses over their ceiling fans? I don't know.

I know I'm not the only one out there stuck in this very same conundrum... just as in every story about the beginnings of a zombie apocalypse, I'm the guy who creeps out of his basement with his transistor radio - desperately hoping to catch another news report about his chances of survival. Until then, until they find a cure - the Out Of Bodies music page will no longer play non-stop streaming Out Of Bodies radio - - but instead play one selected song at a time. No fancy player, just your default - and you'll have to hit "back" each time just to return to the music page.

Any techies out there with helpful alternative solutions, I'm all ears...

Looking For Yul

The Companions
Joe Mendoni (left), Mike McLaughlin (center), Richie Green (right)
and my uncle Gilbert Cruz (crouching down with the bongo)

Many years ago my Uncle Gil had a Doo Wop group and they called themselves The Companions. Just the other day I decided to look for them on the internet - hoping to find some digitized versions of the two songs I remember he played for my family and I off a 45rpm record in his living room. I remember hearing that they may have enjoyed some modest airplay with their two novelty songs "Dorothy My Monster" and "I Want A Yul Brynner Haircut". They might have even recorded other songs, I'm not sure - but these two seemed to stick out in my head - and so I set upon trying to find them.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find the Yul Brynner song (which is what I was really looking for - I recall being quite amused by that one!) but I did end up locating and purchasing a Doo Wop Halloween novelty-song compilation on CD called Halloween Is A Scream, which features "Dorothy, My Monster"! Someone had even uploaded the "Dorothy" song to YouTube - which my cousin Lisa pointed out to me - but oddly enough, no "Yul Brynner" - go figure!

Super rare... "Dorothy My Monster" b/w
"I Want A Yul Brynner Haircut" by The Companions
Dee Dee Records #1047.
I just noticed the record credits The "Campanions",
not The "Companions" with an "o"....
yet ANOTHER mystery...

UPDATE!! UPDATE!! UPDATE!!
 

Yul Found!!!

A little something for Flashback Friday!

Joe Vento discovers a surprise guest (Donald Jefferes) clawing at his front door.

I'm imagining Vento up there, swinging from a grappling hook...

Even my buddy Joe, who absolutely LOVES all things World's Fair related, would NEVER go quite as far as THIS guy did. I can't imagine risking breaking and entering charges as well as bodily harm (and perhaps death) just to get a peek at what things look like today from the decaying decks of the World's Fair Observation Towers ...