This hideous creature is giving me the whim-whams. It's a total juju fetiche. I cannot imagine how any ad man thought this frightful apparition would sell towels. You just know that it's going to scoop out some housewife's eyes with the spoon and scramble her brains with the whisk, all while beating the courageous but small family dog with those wooden legs.
This scary graphic of noseless and mouthless aliens conducting an intergalactic diplomatic mission comes from Ray Charles's 1961 album, Do the Twist!, Atlantic 8054.
In Look magazine for September 9 1969, there's an article about an aspiring young singer named Lotti Golden, who wanted to be just like Dylan. Never having heard of her before, I got curious and did some research.
So far as I can tell, this famed bit of performance art is an exact depiction of what most of the WU commenters are always seeking to arrange amongst themselves.
Alex raised the topic of navels earlier, little knowing I had something of a similar nature in store!
This is of course a famous and admittedly effective commercial. But we'll include it in our series of oddities for one trivial reason: no navels shown! In a commercial focusing on several bare stomachs!
It was all part of television broadcast standards back then, just as with the famous I Dream of Jennie prohibition against showing Barbara Eden's navel.
Today we feature a guest post from that miraculous writer of the fantastical, the great Don Webb.
Take it away, Don!
Many of my generation have discovered (sometimes with the help of a certain herb) that the opening sequence of Wizard of Oz matches up with Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon. Co-incidence or happenstance? Who can say? Was Pink Floyd under the "influence" of Frank Baum?
Another strange co-incidence has come to light. The lyrics of Gilligan's Island perfectly match up with Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven."
Happenstance? Then riddle me this -- why does Gilligan's Island have exactly the same theme as Jean Paul Sarte's NO EXIT?
Consider:
Each one of the characters represents one of the 7 deadly sins:
- Ginger represents LUST - she wears skimpy outfits, is obsessed with her looks, and is a borderline nymphomaniac.
- Mary Ann represents ENVY - she is jealous of Ginger's beauty.
- The Professor represents PRIDE - he is an annoying know-it-all.
- Mr. Howell represents GREED - no explanation needed.
- Mrs. Howell represents SLOTH - she has never lifted a finger to help with their escape plans.
- The Skipper represents two sins: GLUTTONY - again, no explanation needed and ANGER - he violently hits Gilligan on each show.
- This leaves Gilligan. Gilligan is the person who put them there. He prevents them from leaving by foiling all of their escape plots. Also, it is HIS island. Therefore, Gilligan is SATAN.
Paul Di Filippo
Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over thirty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. He has recently begun blogging on many curious topics with three fellow writers at The Inferior 4+1.