Lady Omega

Soviet animation was in a way unique. There were lots of extremely weird cartoons which, i think, left a heavy impact on the psyche of the growing generation. Take “Hedgehog in the Fog“, for example - there’s no single way of interpreting of this creation. Apparently, it won the “â„–1 Animated film of all the time” at “All time animation best 150″ in Japan.
Anyway, this week i remembered that when i was a child, i used to like and was even scared by a particular cartoon - Caliph Stork (Kalif Storch) - the animation from 1968, based on the fairy tale by the German writer Wilhelm Hauff. I rewatched it and i still think it’s a great, weird, creepy and very artistic animation with a bit of Bosch / Escher vibe.

Now here’s a weirdness to be proud of.

Here are the videos in 2 parts, with English subtitles.

Part 1

Part 2

Today is the birthday of Klaus Nomi, one of my favorite artists. Klaus Nomi had an outstanding vocal range and was a pioneer of the new wave/gothic movement. He was a German singer, living in New York city, where he was discovered, and became a sensation instantaneously. Klaus Nomi was one of the most bizarre characters of the 80’s. He had a very original look, wearing white makeup and black-and-white triangular space tuxedo. There was a total concept built around him, where he was an alien from the Nomi race. He sang both new wave and also performed operetic arias, due to his amazing vocal range. People were mystified by him because of his authenticity and secluded way of life.

Klaus Nomi died in 1983, he was one of the first artists who died of AIDS. Sadly, when he was dying in the hospital, no one came to say good bye to him, because they were afraid of this disease.
Had he be around today, he would probably be performing gothic music with an operetic flavour.

Here are 2 videos of Klaus Nomi:

The Nomi Song

The Cold Song - from Purcell’s “King Arthur”

In 2004, a documentary “The Nomi Song” came out, produced by Andrew Horn, about the life of Klaus Nomi. (I own this documentary of course).

I hope that this art will not be forgotten.