XMAS HK Style

My very good friend and great female writer Redy emailed me an Xmas pic of a wall painted in HK. I am a big supporter of oriental writers not writing in the traditional Romanised letter fonts and experimenting with their own language's typefaces. Bring on more Chinese characters! The first four characters on the left say "Merry Xmas".

Best of Ekosystem Pics 2007

These are just some of the best pics from the latter half of 2007 on Ekosystem's wonderful st.art gallery. I could have filled this blog with dozens of pictures and choosing the best was difficult.


Blu in Palestine.


Escif & Hanem in Spain


Eine in London, UK


Orticanoodles in Brighton, UK


Chu, Tec, Blu, JR & El Tono in Berlin, Germany


Duster132 in Paris, France


Aorta in Croatia

Sauna Pants Updated!

Thanks to a comment left by reader Gryphon Hall in the original post of SaunaPants, I can now give you important info and an update on the contemporary version of the pants of heat.


According to the "inventor" Young-whan Yu of Saunapants.com, (how messed up is that!)
"DIDN'T YOU TAKE YOUR TESTICLES ROUGHLY WHEN YOU ENJOYED HOTBATH, SAUNA, HOTSHOWER, FAR-INFRARED RAYS? NEWSPAPER SAYS THAT THE TESTICLES OF THE WORKERS AROUND THE KILM, FURNACE, OVEN AND MELTING TANK ARE WEAKEN SLOWLY DAY BY DAY.Men who work or drive for a long time on chair can make their Scrotum hot, so it can do harm to their Spermatozoa. It is more possible that the men who drive long time can be barren, comparing to the men who don't.


THEREFORE, I STRONGLY SUGGEST THAT ALL MEN, EXCEPT A HOLY FATHER AND A REVEREND, SHOULD WEAR SAUNA PANTS WHEN THEIR TESTICLES ARE FACED WITH HEATING.
PLEASE, LISTEN TO THE SEED'S CRYING CAUSED BY PAINFUL THERMAL SHOCK!
IT'S A VERY NICE THERMAL INSULATION TO WEAR COOL AND CHILLY PANTS, WE CALL "SAUNA PANTS", FOR EVERY MEN WHO WANT TO PROTECT THEIR TESTICLES FROM THERMAL SHOCK WHILE THEY ARE TAKING A HOT BATH, SAUNA, HOTSHOWER, FAR-INFRARED RAYS AND WORKING IN THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF HIGH TEMPERATURE."

We should all take notice of Mr Yu's statements. Apparently, men in Russia, Iran and Korea all do! Who wants to help me set up the British branch of SaunaPants?!!!!?


The original product from the 1970's

The Lost Frankenstein

Some readers may remember a while back when I provided a link to a site that allowed you to watch the Vincent Price classic The Last Man on Earth in its entirety, thanks to the fact that the film is in the public domain. Well, today, I'm proud to present another, much rarer horror classic, which you can view in its entirety without leaving this page. Below, broken up into two parts, is the original, 1910 Frankenstein, a production of Thomas Edison's movie studio. Believed lost for decades, the silent short was discovered in a private collection in the 1970s. So if you have about 15 minutes to kill and are in the mood for a genuinely creepy old flick, have a look:
Part 1:

Part 2:

Want Some Rare Dawn of the Dead Music?

We all know and love the Dawn of the Dead soundtrack by Italian prog-rockers Goblin. But for real undead-in-the-wool Romero fans, it's the incidental tracks from the DeWolfe Music library (i.e. "The Gonk", etc.) that represent the real holy grail of DOTD tunes.
Three years ago, independent label Trunk Records put out a CD of most of that highly sought-after stuff. That CD has since sadly gone out of print, and although a handful of used copies are still available through Amazon, it will soon become a perversely pricey collector's item.
Luckily for you, I happen to own the CD. And out of the goodness of my heart, I've decided to post a bunch of the tracks (about half the CD.) Click below to take a listen, or right-click to save the tunes for yourself! I plan on uploading the other half of the CD at some point down the road, so keep checking back...

1. The Gonk
2. Sinestre
3. Scarey 1
4. Scarey 2
5. Mask of Death
6. Dark Earth
7. Barrage

Raimi Returns to His Roots

After helming three mega-huge Spider-Man movies in a row, Sam Raimi will officially be going back to the genre that first put him on the map. That's right, Variety reported yesterday that Mr. Raimi's next project will be a low-budget flick called Drag Me to Hell (IMdb still lists Jeffrey Lynch as the director), to be financed via his Ghost House production company.
Sam and his brother Ivan penned the screenplay shortly after collaborating on 1993's Army of Darkness, the last of the famed Evil Dead trilogy that made Raimi a god to horror fans. Drag Me to Hell is reported to be a "morality tale about the unwitting recipient of a supernatural curse."
Raimi has produced several horror films in recent years through Ghost House, including The Grudge, Boogeyman, The Messengers and 30 Days of Night. Ghost House will also be producing a remake of Raimi's seminal 1981 masterpiece, The Evil Dead.

Werewolf Women of the S.S.: The Movie?

A post made by Rob Zombie on his blog yesterday has internet fanboys all a-tingle. You see, Zombie, that sly devil, posed the question, "How many of you would like to see a full length movie of Werewolf Women of the S.S.?" For those who didn't see it, Werewolf Women of the S.S. was the fake trailer that Zombie contributed to Grindhouse, along with other directors such as Eli Roth. Rumor has it that Sybill Danning, who appeared in the trailer, had also alluded to a possible feature film a few months ago. Could be interesting. Personally, I'm still holding out hope for Machete: The Movie...
Check out the original WWOTSS trailer below:

* 12/21 UPDATE * Rob Zombie has made an official comment to Bloody-Disgusting that he is "seriously considering" this project.

Noien: To Your Other Self

Hello fellow ESPV readers I thought I would start to review some new anime for a while. For those of you that were waiting for me to review Boogiepop phantom and Paranoia agent I still intend to review them but later.

Noien: To your other self is a science fiction anime that is 24 episodes long it was directed by Kazuki Akaen and Kenji Yasuda. Noien first aired on Japanese TV in October 2005 and was released in the West in September 2007. I need to point out that in the US you can buy all five volumes separately BUT in the UK you can only buy the first three separately the last two you will have to buy it as part of the series collection to you have been warned.

Noien jumps from present time to fifteen years in the future. In the future a violent battle is taking place between two dimensions: La’cryma which from the main characters perspective is the future, and Shangri’la a dimension intent on destroying all other dimensions. In La’cryma a group of warriors known as the Dragon Knights are sent through space and time to other dimensions to find the Dragon Torque; a mysterious object that will stop Shangri’la destroying La’cryma. In the present, Haruka, Ai, Isami and Miho (all friends aged 12) go out to see the “ghosts” that have been seen throughout their town. When they run into one of the Dragon Knights; scared they run away and are chased by the Knights. In an attempt to save her friends Haruka runs in a different direction from her friends. She ends up in a graveyard with Yu (also a friend in their group). When they meet Karasu a member of the Dragon Knights, he believes that Haruka is the Dragon Torque. Karasu taunts Yu about him being very weak and how he is disgusted by Yu, we then find out he is Yu only fifteen years in the future. In a strange twist Karasu decides to save Haruka at all costs and turns his back on the Dragon Knights and La’cryma.

This is a very good series and there is something for everyone if you like lots of fighting and action this has it and if you like a love story this has is as well. The animation is not the normal animation you get in most anime out these days. The character design is simple (but it really works) and in the fast action fighting scenes the animation looks hand drawn and very unfinished. This rough animation works because it gives you the feeling that things are happing very fast so everything gets blurred. The storyline is really well thought out and the writers explain multi dimensions and what is going on in both the past and future without confusing you. I would really recommend Noien to anyone that wants something different you will really enjoy this anime.

Photos via Photobucket

Insa's Whole Car

I forgot to mention earlier that we had the honour of hanging out with Insa whilst he painted the last touches to his amazing high-heeled tube train! For those of you know who aren't familiar with this famous east-end of London landmark...These are decommissioned tube trains (Jubilee Line trains for any railway connoisseurs) that sit on the top of a four storey building. They have been converted inside to act as offices for those lucky enough to have the hook-ups!




This is what the roof first looked like 9 months ago.


I'm not allowed to show you what it looks like now as "Gone" (our good friend and incredible artist) who was one of the first to move in keeps it top secret. So for now, all you can see is the potential of the place.....trust me, it's the best office I have ever smoked in....I mean...been to.


The Insa Pics are from Irieman's collection.

What a Way to Go!

Now I love me a good list, and over the years the boys at Maxim have come up with some pretty cool ones. Yesterday, this horror-related list over at Maxim.com came to my attention.
It's their take on the top ten "Best Horror Movie Deaths". The coolest part? You can actually watch each cringe-inducing scene on their site. The list is pretty solid, I must say--I'd only find fault with one rather weak demise from one of the Friday the 13th films. Other than that, you've got some pretty unforgettable moments here, including this classic scene (above) from The Evil Dead, just to give you a taste.
So check it out, let me know what you think. You can send me your own favorite horror movie death scenes, either via email or via comment, and I'll publish the top vote-getters in a future post.