AntiCurrent Audio Archives Vol. 15: Waite Hoyt- In the Rain

This is the fifteenth edition of the "AntiCurrent.com Archives", a collection of rare or bootleg-albums I'm releasing through this blog. Click here to view all past AntiCurrent.com Archive Albums.

My Love of Baseball

I root for The Cincinnati Reds, but I’m not a “sports guy” by any means. I grew up in Middletown, Ohio and my uncle Bill would quite often take me out the ballpark to catch games whenever he was in town. It was there that I developed my love of baseball despite not regularly following the sport. Rather than keeping up with the latest developments in the game, I spent my youth sitting in front of my Grandmother’s TV and recorded old replays of The Big Red Machine on VHS tapes.

I value the history, the magic, and the old timey-ness of the game. As a pre-teen, I'd make my Mother drive me to Reds fan-conventions where I met every single member of The Big Red Machine (save for Pete Rose). I even have a baseball signed by the entire 1976 team. Other than shaking Johnny Bench's hand and feeling as if he was a giant, the one standout moment of these conventions was meeting The BRM's manager, Sparky Anderson. Though well into his 60's, the dirty old man's libido was seemingly unfazed as he asked my mother out to a "steak dinner" in front of me.* 

*I once told this story to my baseball loving friend Andrew and now have a Sparky Anderson bobble-head to commemorate the time the white-haired old man tried to have sex with my mother. Thanks Andrew...

Love of The Cincinnati Reds was the one thing my PTSD’d Grandfather and I had in common. Thus, he gave me his copy of "The Best of Waite Hoyt: In the Rain". Several times, we actually sat down together and listened to the album on the self-amplified turntable I had gotten after my school had discarded it. Those times huddled around the record player were as close to a bonding moment I ever had with him (outside of blowing up random toys with black powder) and I’ll always prize this vinyl for that very reason. But that wasn’t my only familial connection to The Reds.

My ancestor Edd Roush played for the team from 1916 to 1926, he even coached the team during the 1931 season. Though I’d like to say he’s famous for his amazing fielding, he’s a Roush and we’re a rather anti-authoritarian family. Legend goes that on June 8^th, 1920 there was a disagreement going on between the managers and the umpires. The argument went on for so long in fact, that Edd decided to take a nap in center field. Either he was incredibly comfortable or incredibly obstinate, because the Umpires could not awake him when play resumed and he was kicked out for delaying the game.

Waite Hoyt

For 24 years, Waite Hoyt was the voice of The Cincinnati Reds. Beyond being a legendary storyteller, the man was best known for calling games in the past tense. Rather than stating “here’s the pitch” he would say “there was the pitch”. He felt this was more accurate, quite correctly explaining, "…as I speak to you, what happened a moment ago is gone." Though he was a recovered alcoholic, he had a strong loyalty to one of The Reds main sponsors, Burger Beer. The man had such a fixed moral compass that after the team replaced Burger Beer with Wiedemann, he chose to instead retire rather than promote a new beer as he thought his credibility may be tainted. In 2007, he, Marty Brennaman and Joe Nuxhall were honored by The Reds with replica microphones hung under the radio booth at The Great American Ball Park.

Note: The documentary Waite’s World features interviews with Nick Clooney, Joe Nuxhall, and more. A copy can be purchased here and a stream of it on YouTube is available here.

This Release

As you can tell, my Grandfather didn’t keep this vinyl in immaculate shape, but it is entirely listenable audio and is likely the best this record will sound without a professional machine cleaning. I dusted off any loose debree, soaked this vinyl with cleaner, scrubbed it clean, and used a wet-dry vacuum to remove the grit and dirt from years of abuse. I ripped this on my Pro-Ject USB turntable into Audacity, capturing at 16bit and normalizing it after. Next I took a sample of the surface noise and removed it from the entire project. Afterwards, I ran a de-clicker and de-popper to remove more noise. I then exported this into 16bit FLAC files and 320mbps MP3’s.

I’ve kept this album as two full sides because though it is segregated track by track on the vinyl, there is no tracklist on the album art. This wasn’t meant to be experienced one track at a time, this was meant to be experienced as a whole.

Download the ZIP file here

AntiCurrent.com Video Archives Vol 6: Screamin' Jay Hawkins- I Put a Spell on Me

Screamin' Jay Hawkins

One of the few things that Tom Waits, Alice Cooper, Gwar, The Cramps, and Rob Zombie all have in common is that they were all heavily inspired by the music and theatricality of Screamin' Jay Hawkins. The music and persona of the man can be best explained as one part refined RnB musician, one part Bela Lugosi, and one part pure guttural opera. In the course of his career, the man broke damn near every stereotype of a musician. Though you may not know his name, you undoubtedly know his song "I Put a Spell on You", made popular by bands such as Creedence Clearwater Revival and The Animals. Though the song was an enormous hit in many versions since it's initial release in 1956, bad record-deals and contracts between him and a white dominated industry meant little of the money actually went to the man himself.

However, that didn't stop him. Though he did often have to play in less than stellar venues throughout his career, he toured consistently until the age of 70 years old. His live performances were as much theatricality as they were musicality. He would emerge from a coffin and periodically fumble through his bag of toys, dolls, and bones. But the coolest prop of all was Henry. Henry was a skull on a stick that he had rigged to smoke cigarettes, and he went everywhere with him. Many black musicians from his day went out of their way to avoid racist stereotypes such as voodooism, cannibalism, or even the slight mention of a jungle. Screamin' Jay however, wholeheartedly embraced them. So much so he often performed with a bone in his nose.

I Put a Spell on Me

Jarmusch

The man only started to get the respect he deserved towards the end of his life thanks to people like Jim Jarmusch who heavily featured both the man and his music in feature movies. Thankfully, on what ended up being his last tour, filmmaker Nicholas Triandafyllidis accompanied him through part of it. Not only did this result in the capture of his last ever performance, but he was able to document some incredibly intimate moments with the man while traveling. We watch Jay regale the camera with tales of Elvis, his skirt-chasing, and eating thirty plums for Mystery Train, all the while in taxi cabs, hotel rooms, and airplanes. This is the kind of raw, genius footage that truly captures a singular moment in time.

The cast of characters interviewed for this project are astounding. We get to watch Jim Jarmusch speak about searching out Jay to personally pay him for use of his song in a movie. We witness Bo Diddley talk about Jay being one of the first to notice that Elvis was copying black musicians. Many of his friends and family retell some of his personal stories including his getting shot and stabbed when he hit on his wife's girlfriend.

Hawkins

The documentary is rough around the edges. Shot on multiple types of cameras, occasionally the footage looks completely different, even during the same interview. Throughout it, the discrepancy in quality is often jarring and unwelcome (such as the noise in the wide-shot of Jarmusch's interview). Often times the audio is of equally poor quality. However, this is true documentary cinema and has more heart than anything professionals such as Alex Gibney have ever shot. Most modern documentarians concentrate more on presenting a brilliant luster on top of their movie than showcasing the raw emotion laying beneath it. Living in a day where many major documentaries now have the budget of actual movies, this is a breath of fresh air.

Triandafyllidis

Unfortunately, director Nicholas Triandafyllidis died on June 7, 2016 in Athens, Greece. His film I Put a Spell on Me won the First Prize in the Documentary Festival of Thessaloniki and the Second National Prize Documentary Film Festival in Thessaloniki under the Film Ministry of Culture Quality Awards. The man went on to make many more movies before his untimely demise. His latest film 90 Years of PAOK: Nostalgia for the Future about Greece's multi-sports club is currently in post-production. 

This Release

The original release of this seemed to be extremely limited and quickly went out of print (though you can still buy a bootleg version of this from Asia) as soon as it was made available. It is unclear why this is, but I would assume it largely to have to do with Screamin' Jay's estate not owning the rights to his music, this however, is pure speculation on my part. For years, the only way to watch this film has been either a terrible quality 360p YouTube video or a poorly encoded two part AVI file that has long been dispersed throughout the torrent community.

A few weeks ago I managed to get my hands on a ripped DVD* of the actual release. However, even it had issues such as interlacing and dancing tracking lines atop the footage. To remedy this I ripped the original 576i, 25FPS footage and up-res'd it to 720p. From there I de-interlaced it, cropped off the top to remove the dancing pixels and added a slight sharpening filter to it. I briefly attempted to "snap the blacks" as some of the footage was washed out, but noticed I was losing too much information in the shadows and left it as is.

*Note The only bonus feature included on this disc is a trailer for the movie

Final Thought:

I cleaned this up as much as possible, however there is only so much I can do without access to the original footage. Some shots are noisy and occasionally the audio is barely decipherable. However this is an amazing documentary about an amazing subject and made with that rare kind of love and reverence that is seldom reflected in cinema. If you like this release, purchase his music, purchase his live albums. My personal favorite recording is a three track single made for a Levi's commercial which features his interpretation of the Tom Waits' classic "Heart Attack & Vine" as well as his classic "I Put a Spell on You" and the amazing track "On The Job".

Open Letter to Our Electoral College

The following letter was also sent privately to all members of the Electoral College that have published their contact information. A list of their emails can be found at the bottom.

Dearest Electors,

Sometimes the most important battles to fight are the ones you know you have no chance of winning. Do I believe that this letter will convince any or all of you to change your mind? No. But I’m not interested in winning. On this day, November 15th 2016, I can say that I did the only thing I was able to do in order to prevent this country's potential downfall. I can hold my head up high until the end of my days knowing that I made my voice as loud as I possibly could. I write this in desperate hopes that you too may choose this route, not to fight because we will win, but to fight because it’s what a rational, patriotic American should do.

I do not know what interests Donald Trump represents. Perhaps big business, perhaps Russian, or maybe it’s only his own, but I do know whose interests he does not represent and that is the American people. We have allowed Russia to influence our election. The America I grew up loving, the America I was taught about in history books, would never allow a dictatorship with opposing interests to have a hand in any decision made on our soil. We must not allow this. Trump was briefed that Russia was involved in this and willfully misrepresented the situation to the country. I consider this nothing short of treasonous behavior. 

The American President should represent the best aspects of our country and I wake up at night in fear of this man and the irrevocable damage he is capable of doing both here and abroad. It is this type of fear that is sparking protests all around the United States.  One does not need to consult any source in the “liberal media” to come to a conclusion about the dangerous character of the man, one can simply listen to his own words. I do not have the space in this letter, or the will to revisit many of his racist, sexist comments, but I never dreamed we may be looking at a president who once said the words “Grab her by the pussy”, let alone think I would have to type those words to our Electoral College representatives.

This goes far beyond party lines. John McCain, Mitt Romney, and Paul Ryan, are all decent, hardworking Americans who I do not see eye to eye with. Yet, with any of them in charge, I would not lose a moments sleep as I believe in my heart of hearts that they are good, well-intentioned people who have a deep love and respect for this country. This isn’t about being a sore loser, I personally do not identify as a Democrat. This isn’t about social issues. This isn’t about immigration. This is about a true danger to democracy and the pulling of wool over our eyes due to Russian interference.

Before winning, Donald Trump cast doubt on our great nations’ democratic system by claiming it rigged. It is truly frightening to consider that he may have been telling the truth, but not in the way we thought. We are putting a man into power that stated he may not accept the outcome of an election unless it benefited him. What is stopping this man from claiming the exact same thing if he is voted out in 2020? Only this time, he will have the power of a military behind him. 

Do you have the ability to change that? Perhaps yes, perhaps no. But by either voting for another party or abstaining your electoral vote you could at least know that you didn’t contribute to it. You could look at your children, grandchildren, sons, daughters, neighbors, and strangers and know in the depths of your soul that it wasn’t because you didn’t do anything. I am standing up and fighting a battle I have no chance of winning. 

Please join me.

Josh Roush

Click Read More for Contact Info for our Electoral College

Build an Authentic Evil Dead Chainsaw for Under $200

My Chainsaw

As a fan who's purchased three copies of The Evil Dead, five copies of Evil Dead 2, and three copies of Army of Darkness (thanks to Anchor Bay's multiple double dip releases) I'm ecstatic about the resurgence of this franchises popularity. For years I perused sites such as Deadites.net and EvilDeadNews.com looking for any nugget of information about the potential of a new movie. I purchased a PS1 just to play Hail to the King, I mainlined games such as A Fistful of Boomstick and Regeneration. Hell, I even re-edited all three movies (with game audio) into a very well received four hour edit that was covered by Yahoo Movies. Now that Ash vs Evil Dead is out, one would assume that my thirst for the franchise should be quenched. Well, I suppose it has not.

For the last few years I've been collecting screengrabs, lists of materials, and scouring the internet for any information I could find about how to build my own screen accurate chainsaw. About two weeks ago, I pulled the trigger. Building it from start to finish took me about five, eight hour days and about $200 in parts. In this article I'll take you from start to finish through the process of building your own version of one of the most iconic movie props of all time. Be sure to read through the entire article and get a feel for the process before spending the money and time as this is not the easiest of ordeals. Below is a list of materials and tools needed to complete this project.


Tools Required: 
Grinder (with cutting wheel, grinding wheel, and wire wheel), Dremmel (with cutting & sanding wheels), drill, handsaw, screwdrivers, adjustable wrench, trigger clamps, normal clamp, vice grips, a vice, toothbrush, & safety glasses.

Materials: 
Homelite XL Chainsaw, 3D printed grille, 20 inch chainsaw blade and chain, 3 1/2 inch T-Bolt Clamp, 3 1/2 inch metal door kickplate, a 1 inch wide aluminum flat bar, a 1 inch diameter oak rod, two 90 degree metal brackets, three 2 inch metal brackets, Bondo, sandpaper, JB Weld, wood filler, two 1/4 inch carriage bolts one inch in length w/nuts, two 1/4 inch bolts 1/2 inch in length w/nuts, two 1/4 inch Phillips head bolts 2 inch long w/nuts, five 1/4 inch bolts 1 inch in length w/nuts, one wood screw.

Paint:
Rust-Oleum Satin Paprika Paint+Primer, flat black primer, red acrylic, silver model acrylic, and ebony stain.

The Body:

Chainsaw Before

The base object in this build is obviously the chainsaw itself, which is a Homelite XL Chainsaw*. I suggest searching on eBay. Since you only truly need the materials, feel free to purchase a dirty, non-working model. I got mine for $53 after shipping.

*If you have industrial tools, time, and wish to make a version of this that is metal instead of the screen accurate plastic version, you could purchase the Homelite Super XL 2 Chainsaw. Yes, it results in a much sturdier product, but from all accounts it is a nightmare to work on, and is so heavy you will not want to wear it.

The first thing you want to do is take it apart and clean it up as these have a tendency to be caked in oil and grease both inside and out. Remove the sawblade with an adjustable wrench, and take out all external screws holding it together. Be sure to place all of your nuts, bolts, and screws into a magnetic catch tray as this will assure you don't lose them when reconstructing it.

The Wife Hated Me for This

After, you'll notice that the engine is now floating inside the body. Take off the exhaust (one long screw) and set it aside for later. Remove the spark plug and throw it away. This will free the engine to be released. Take it aside and place it in the bucket as it is likely disgusting with years of built-up grease. Now it's time for the least fun step: cleaning. You could use some type of industrial degreaser, but many of these tend to harm the plastic body, so I heavily advise against using them, Get yourself a high-quality dish soap and prepare to wash it a dozen times with the toothbrush. If necessary, take a flat head screwdriver and scrape the grime off. Repeat this process until clean.

Cut Guide

Now it’s time to actually get to work. To the right of this are the lines of which you want to use to cut along, but if you pay attention to the natural seam of the body, it's quite self-explanatory. Use the Dremmel cutting discs to do this. Be quite careful as you do and wear safety glasses as this will produce liquid plastic as you cut (I got hit in the eye doing this, don't be like me). Cut slowly and don't rush as you have one chance at this. Once you're through, take the sandpaper (or a sanding Dremmel bit) and knock down the rough edges that you've created. Up next is attaching the kickplate, which will act as the top of the chainsaw.

Top of Chainsaw
This is one of the harder aspects of creating the chainsaw. You could just attach a metal plate and call it a day and that would indeed be a screen accurate version of the first chainsaw seen in Evil Dead 2 (as he assembles it) but I don't like the look. Furthermore, that's not the chainsaw seen in the rest of Evil Dead 2, Army of Darkness, or Ash vs Evil Dead, so it wasn't an option for me. Also, I wanted to construct as much of this as possible, but if you'd like, you can purchase this piece pre-built for $75 from Evil Dead Workshed, but that's not the way I wanted to go.

Kickplate Position

The kickplate ($11 at hardware store) will have two pre-drilled holes which are perfectly placed to attach it to the front of the chainsaw. If the lip of the front of the chainsaw doesn't let it sit perfectly, just grind it down with the Dremmel. Place the plate where you intend to mount it, mark your holes and drill them. Attach them with the two 1/2 inch length bolts w/nuts you've purchased. Once mounted, this is where your eyes need to take over in lieu of directions. You'll want to bend this metal by hand to resemble the arc of the original, you can see in my picture the arc I settled on. When you're content with the design, bend the end to meet the natural bend of the saw where your hand will eventually be. Cut the metal there and you can use a clamp to keep it in place for now. Make yourself a little piece of JB Weld (mixing a piece of the epoxy substance) and place it between the saw and the metal where your clamp rests, this will help temporarily hold it in place.

Now that we have the plate in place, we need to take the on/off switch we previously removed from the saw and drill a hole from it on top of the saw where you feel it should be. Throughout the course of the movies and the episodes, many chainsaws are used and the placement on this switch varies (sometimes shot to shot). Watch some of the franchise and decide where you want to place your switch, drill a hole for it and mount it because once we do the next step, it would be a pain to add it afterwards.

Pour Walls

Filling in the top is where growing up working in car bodyshops came in handy for me. It was there where I first learned to work with Bondo (fiberglass filler). You will need to create walls to pour against, and bondo will stick to nearly every surface, but, it will NOT stick to wax paper. Cut yourself two pieces of cardboard that roughly match the walls of what you want to pour and trim them to match the natural contour of the chainsaw top. Next, wrap them in wax paper and tape it to itself, these will act as the walls you pour against. You can hold the walls in place as I have in the picture with several clamps.

While Filling

Mix yourself some Bondo. If you've never worked with the substance before, I suggest you make a small amount of it and play with it. See how long it takes to dry, when it becomes too solid to use. Get comfortable with it before attempting this. Hold the saw upside down, and pour the Bondo into the makeshift mold. Some will come out the sides and the top will not look pretty. All of this is fine and we will deal with it shortly. If you're worried about making too much or it starts to harden, don't worry, throw away what you've made, make more and pour over top as it will attach to the existing Bondo as it hardens. Note: The drying chemical process will become extremely hot as it's a lot of Bondo on metal, do not burn yourself and have an area prepared to be able to sit the object safely down.

Once throughout dried, remove the false walls. It won't be pretty, don't worry, it's not supposed to be. Sand down the sides with 80 grit sandpaper until the sides are smooth. Some pores and holes will remain, simply make yourself a small amount of Bondo and use a plastic scraper to fill it in. Let it dry, sand it back down and repeat this process until you are happy with the look. Use this time to also fill in any remaining screwholes on the plate. Congrats, you've made the bulk of your saw.

Optional Step
I chose to primer my chainsaw, sand it back down and primer a few more times. This allows you to fill in tiny holes, knicks, and issues with the body and make it look a little prettier. Simply use the flat black primer, spray, sand with 220 paper, and repeat until happy.


Oil and Gas Chambers
This part is easy, simply clean them and cut the tops off of the chambers. Afterwards epoxy them back into place and you're ready to go. Just be sure to tape them off before you're ready to spray paint them.



The Wood Handle:

Top Handle

This is where the vice comes in handy, however it can be done by using the hard edge of a table. This is pretty self-explanatory, but I will go into as much detail as possible. From studying miscellaneous images of the screen used saws, it seems that most of them stand about two and a half inches above the saw itself and the top of it is 7 3/4 inch in length. Again, if you're feeling lazy, this finished part is available on Evil Dead Workshed for $30.

Top Handle Diagram

The 1 inch aluminum bar cost me $7 at a hardware store. First is the bend that attaches itself to the top of the chainsaw, which is one inch. So measure one inch from the beginning of the aluminum plate and bend it at a 90 degree angle. The next bend will be the actual handle, so two and a half inches up, bend again at 90 degrees. From that bend, measure over 7 3/4 inchs, and bend again at 90 degrees. Place this on top of the chainsaw where you will mount it and see where it naturally falls to the edge of the chainsaw where you place your hand into. Mark the metal at the lip of it, and that's where you cut it off.

Once you're happy with the shape of the metal, grind off the edge of the handle where it mounts to the chainsaw as on screen it's not a square, it's an oval edge. Drill a 1/4in hole into the center of the mount. You now have the metal section of the handle.

Sanding Handle

For the wood (the rod was $3), the length of it should be 7 1/4, but in case you haven't nailed it 100%, simply measure the handle you've made and make adjustments if need be. Cut the wood accordingly. Next, you'll need to split the wood in half. Be sure to measure and mark very precisely as the smoother this is, the better it will look in the final product. The cutting of this can be accomplished by either placing the wood in a vice or cutting it by hand, or by using the cutting disc of the Dremmel. Once cut in half, you'll want to either cut off the corners at a 45 degree angle, or this can be accomplished by sanding.

Once finished, sand with 80 grit sandpaper until smooth and then final sand with 220 paper afterwards. When you're happy with the handle, mark in on inch from the sides of each piece and drill a 1/4in hole. Place them on the metal handle and mark the whole marks with a sharpie on the metal where you will mount it. Afterwards, drill 1/4in holes into the top of the metal as well.

Carriage Bolt Diagram

To mount the wood to the metal you will use the one inch carriage bolts you've bought. This requires drilling half inch holes halfway into the top of the wood. Note, these holes DO NOT go the whole way through, they simply allow you to "sink" the head and nut of the carriage bolt into the wood. Do this process incredibly slowly and allow the drill to eat into the wood, DO NOT force it. If you force it, you could possibly make the drill catch too much hold and it will crack the wood in half. I went through two of these making mine. Next, align the wood to metal, place the bolts in and tighten. Congrats, you have the handle*.

*If you're not happy with the smoothness of the metal to wood contact, or if you have chipped the wood, simply apply wood-filler and sand back down until smooth, the wood-filler will accept stain and look fine.

Stain the handle with ebony stain by rubbing on a small amount over the entirety of the wood (and filler) and wiping it off. Repeat this process until the desired color is obtained.

The Metal Side Handle
The longer piece of the handle needs cut. What is handy about this is it is incredibly easy to measure, simply make both overhanging sections the same size. In essence, cut off the longer end to be 1/2 inch longer than the end that is inserted into the chainsaw. Now, you'll want to fill in the cut off piece to be screen accurate. Simply mix some Bondo (or JB Weld), and stick it down the neck of the metal stem to create a cork about an inch in. Allow that to dry and repeat the process, but this time form an overhanging ball on the top of it. All you need to do is sand it down afterwards and paint it with black primer.


The Motor/Exhaust Mount

Motor

This is arguably the most difficult section of the process and requires a lot of patience. First, use the brake cleaner on the engine and get most of the grime off. Next, you're going to want to slowly, carefully, and safely cut off 3/4 of the engine. What you will leave is where the blade attaches to the motor, and where the exhaust attaches as well. To accomplish this, use the grinder with both the grinding and cutting wheels. Cut accurately according to the picture I have provided and you will be fine, but be sure to not remove the hole for the bolt that mounts the motor into the body.

The center spindle which spins the motor will have to be cut which will cause the blade mount to fall off. Simply cut the rod to fit and glue it to the motor in the correct place with JB Weld. When finished, paint with black primer. Use this opportunity to primer the exhaust pieces as well.

Make Room
Since you're almost ready to paint, we need to make sure we're done sanding/cutting the body and have room for your hand. Temporarily bolt the engine in, and the body back together. Does your hand fit in? Probably not. In order to make it, we're going to take the sanding attachment for the Dremmel and slowly eat away at the exposed hole until you can easily insert your hand. Simply work in circles around the opening of the hole (while not grinding away any of the screw mounts) until you can comfortably insert your hand.

Paint:

Painted Body

Take the body back apart and spray the pieces separately. If you've never spray painted, practice on another object first. Once you feel comfortable, we'll be using the Rust-Oleum Satin Paprika Paint+Primer spray paint, which is the closest to screen accurate pre-made spray paint that exists. If you want to get 100% accurate paint, take the handle you cut off to the local automotive paint store and have them computer match it. The problem is that will require you to have both a paint-gun and an air compressor.

The best advice I can offer when painting is to get a complete coat on the entirety of both pieces. This is best accomplished by screwing the removed bolts from the chainsaw body, reattaching them while leaving half of the bolt exposed, and hanging them in suspension by the bolt. This will allow you to get total coverage on the pieces.

The Saw Blade

Once again, throughout the franchise many blades were used, but the one that resembles most all of them is the 20 inch chainsaw blade from Oregon (Got mine for $32 on Ebay). The only thing really to do here is to remove the paint. For this, I personally grinded it off, then polished it with the wire-wheel attachment. However, any way you get the paint off is fine. Other options include airline paint remover (nasty stuff, use heavy duty gloves), sanding, or perhaps you've bought a blade that doesn't have any paint. Additionally, use the grinder on each razor tooth of the chain in order to dull it to touch.

Optional step
I personally don't care for the blade to look shiny. We'll get to aging the saw towards the end of the article, but if you want to age the blade, the time is now. I tried several means of this, but I landed success after heavily priming the blade in black, and then using the wire-wheel attachment on it afterwards to make it look used.

Install Internal Handle

Internal Handle

First, bolt the motor back into place through the bottom of the body and put it in its permanent place. Next up is installing the internal handle which you will hold on to while wearing the chainsaw. To do so, simply measure inside the saw from the bottom to the Bondo top and cut a section of the oak rod to fit. Mark on the bottom of the body where that will go and run a woodscrew through the body and into the bottom of the wood. To secure it, press together a good chunk of JB Weld and form it around the top of the rod and the bottom of the body, essentially creating a base around the top and bottom of the internal handle. Allow this to dry for about 20 minutes.

Install Aluminum Handle
Next up, place the top handle where you wish to mount it and mark the hole in the bottom of the aluminum handle with where the hole will be drilled into the top of the body. Since you'll be drilling through both metal and Bondo we need to take sever precautions. We don't want the bondo and the steel on the top to separate due to the force, so use the trigger clamps to hold the piece solid while we drill. To accomplish this, you'll want to drill a series of guideholes, working up to the 1/4 inch hole you need in the end. Then, install the two inch Phillips head bolt through the top and loosely secure it with the nut on bottom.

Mount Diagram

For the loose side of the handle, you'll be using the two 90 degree brackets, one to attach the handle to the body, the other to attach both to the arm-cuff coming up soon. The bracket that attaches to the body will need to be bent in order to fit, so squeeze it with the vice grips until it's the appropriate size. Once it fits, use a marker to mark where you'll drill the hole on the body as well as where you'll drill into the aluminum handle. Once marked, take the handle back off the body.

Once removed, drill into the body the same way as you drilled the previous hole, using a series of guideholes and using clamps to assure the bondo doesn't separate from the metal. After, drill a 1/4in hole into the back of the handle so that you can place a bolt adjoining all threel. Install the bent bracket as well as the 90 degree bracket onto the handle, then reattach the entire piece to the body (you may need to mess with the order of placing in the bolts due to space). Tighten the handle onto the top of the body, if excess bolt remains inside, simply use a grinder or the Dremmel to remove it.

Add the Grille and Pull Start

From Thingiverse

First, you can either purchase the 3D grille for $20 online, from Thingiverse or download the blueprints for free and print it yourself. The grill is cake to paint, just order it in black and paint the outside with either the silver model paint, or a chrome Sharpee marker. Mix a small amount of glue epoxy and glue it on, the 3D model provided is the exact perfect size. Allow to dry for 15-25 minutes.

Pull Start

While that is drying, take the remaining oak rod and cut a three inch section from it. Drill a 1/4in hole through it, and then, much as you did the handle, drill a 1/2in hole through half of it, this is so once the cord is fed through it, you can tie and it will rest in it. Again, do this slowly as you risk the pull start cracking and chipping. When finished, stain just as you did the handle. Feed the cord through the wood, tie one end, and pull tight. Feed it through the hole in the body and glue it to the inside.

Once both are dry, bolt the entire body and black metal handle back together using the original bolts. We're in the homestretch now!

The Armcuff

Armcuff Closeup

Take your 2 inch metal brackets and grind the corners off, one of each of these will be attached to the existing screw hole of the body of the chainsaw, so make sure you take an adequate amount off. This is most easily done using the grinder while either holding the piece with the vice-grips or in the vice. Next up is a tough one, drilling the holes into the T-bolt clamp.

Your clamp should have the adjustable end placed directly upwards to the right of the back of the saw (see picture). First we will drill the hole for the 90 degree bracket, so place it in place and mark the clamp with a marker where the hole should go. It is important to remember while drilling that this is hardened metal and is not easy to drill. Therefore, hold the clamp in the vice, and drill a series of guide holes. I suggest again drilling guide-holes, starting with a 3/32 bit, a 1/8th bit, 3/16 bit and finally the 1/4in bit. Once finished, loosely bold the cuff to the 90 degree bracket with a 1/4in bolt one inch in length.

Now, unscrew the two bolts in the back of the body of the saw and install the two inch brackets. Use your vice-grips to bend them into roughly the place they line up on the T-Bolt Clamp and mark the hole with a marker. Take the cuff off, and using the previously described means, drill the holes necessary for install and bolt them using the other 1 inch long bolts.

Optional Step:
Many people make two more brackets and install them at the bottom of the chainsaw to the cuff, however I couldn't find sign of them actually existing in the movies so I did not. The three bolts in mine are far more than enough for it to be bolted securely, but to each their own.


Final Touches

Non-aged Chainsaw

Bolt the chainsaw blade back on and reattach your chain. Additionally, reattach your exhaust to the motor. If you need to touch up any red paint, spray it into jar and use a brush. Also, take your silver model paint and apply over any bolts that you've painted red.

CONGRATULATIONS YOU'RE DONE! KINDA!
Well, mostly. Yes, you're finished, but it doesn't look that cool if it's clean. Feel free to keep it that way if you wish, but wouldn't it look way cooler with some blood and grime?

Aging

My Chainsaw

Aging is a process that's half delicate work, and half pure slop. Arguably, the best ever done video on the subject was done by Adam Savage from Mythbusters and should be considered required viewing on the subject. The process I used was taking black enamel and dry brushing (YouTube tutorials on the subject) the corners where the saw would throw dirt, and miscellaneously around the body. I also took the silver model paint and "weathered" the corners. This is accomplished by using a small brush and aggressively using small strokes on the edges to simulate chipped paint. Repeat this process until you are happy.

Blood

After Blood Effect

I researched and tested many various forms of blood before I came upon what I used. Most of what people suggested resulted in sticky, dark substances that I did not want near my hard work. What I ended up using is an epoxy. Take your clear drying, two part epoxy and cut the handle so that they can be pushed separately. Empty one tube into a dish. Next, add red enamel paint until you reach your desired color. Then add the second tube of the epoxy and stir quickly.

This will set fast, but the thing to keep in mind is that the sooner you apply it, the more liquidy it will be. So the longer you let it dry before applying, the more coagulated it will appear. Place your chainsaw on newspaper, dip a dry stiff bristled brush in the red substance, and then fling it at the chainsaw from a few feet away. Concentrate on the blade, but don't shy away from the saw itself. Attack both sides of the chainsaw equally and if you do it in stages, the blood will build on itself in layers. This should dry to touch in 25 minutes (longer than normal due to the additional enamel).



In Conclusion

Final Product

Congratulations, you're the proud owner of a screen accurate Evil Dead chainsaw! Yes, you could purchase one online for $350, but doesn't it make your fanboy pride swell that you've accomplished the task all by yourself? There are several variations you can place on this as the chainsaw is ever evolving in the franchise (for instance, the wood handle now has electric tape on it in the show). Customize it, make it your own. If a part doesn't fit? Hack away on it and make it, just do it slowly. There are not rules in this process and this article is only a guide to the way I constructed mine. Have fun, make it your own, and long live Ashy Slashy!

Our New Animated Short, Other Fish!

Two weeks ago we completed work on our newest project, Other Fish. The 4:39 movie was animated/co-directed by Josh Stifter, produced by my wife Olivia Roush, and features sounds by Mike Hallenbeck. It follows a recently divorced woman who attempts to swim a channel of shark infested water in order to prove to herself that she is now truly independent. We were incredibly fortunate to score an amazing cast for this project including Michael Parks, Harley Quinn Smith, and Jacqui Duncan. Since the movie is now stuck in film fest submission hell (the process of submitting to film festivals means that you must sit on your hands for the better part of 6-9 months before you can release it) I wanted to take a little time to talk about what the project is, who was involved, and the lengthy process of bringing an animated project into fruition.

Deleted scene in Tusk

I first heard of Josh Stifter while working on the set of Tusk. Kevin Smith is a one in a million filmmaker who is such a work-hard nutcase on set that his rough cut of a project is typically assembled before principal photography is even over. One day about 3/4 into production in North Carolina, Kevin put Mewes and I in charge of assembling a TV and sound system in order to screen the rough edit of Tusk to the cast and crew during lunch. There is something truly magical about watching a crew actually see a version of the art that they are currently working on. It was this cut that included a few select animated sequences, one of which included the backstory of Michael Parks' character Howard Howe done by Josh Stifter. I was taken aback by the visceral animated visuals on screen. I'm not sure whether he or I reached out to one-another first, but ultimately less than a year later we were looking for a project to collaborate on together.

In February 2015 my Mother-in-law was about to swim a race that actually took place in shark-infested water. This lead to my wife waking me out of sleep one night, telling me about a nightmare of her mother actually getting attacked while in the water. The next morning I wrote a 7 page script inspired by the story she told me. However, I wanted to tell something bigger, something with a moral, a very twisted moral. One about the dangers of following your dreams.

James Gunn once wrote a blog about the dangers of following your dreams in Hollywood. It is a genius and thought-provoking article that should be considered mandated reading to anyone wishing to become a master in any career. The fact of the matter is that it is extremely irresponsible for people that have "made it" to blindly regurgitate the phrase "follow your dreams" when talking to those contemplating attempting to make art for a living. 

The film, TV, and music industries are extremely over-crowded by people who are attempting to break into it thinking they are special. If you are in fact one of the people truly dedicated to making it, you have to be so absorbed and obsessed with your craft that there is nothing else that matters. In many cases, this leads not only to the breaking of hearts, but the decline of relationships, finances, and even your own health. My point is that if you are so hell-bent that you are willing to sacrifice everything in pursuit of your dream, there are deep, horrible ramifications that may come along as a result. I'm only using my own experience here as an example. I'm sure if you ask a painter, sculptor, carpenter, luthier, or those that have mastered any other trade, the same applies to some degree. This film is my little fable about the dangers of following your dreams.

Parks and I

Once I had the script finalized and sent it off to Stifter, we were off and rolling. We floated around some casting ideas but I knew exactly who I wanted. Though I traveled to North Carolina for Tusk as a behind the scenes videographer, Kevin immediately assigned me to Michael Parks as his assistant. During that time I'd drive him to set, go out to lunch, and the things one typically does in the role. However, the time I'll always value is sitting on the steps of his trailer with him in the doorway as we both shared cigarettes and he regaled me of tales of his days hanging with Elvis, Lenny Bruce, Johnny Cash, Richard Pryor, Miles Davis, etc. While talking about his music career, Parks would even occasionally break into song. So of course, when it came time to approach someone to play Grandpa in Other Fish, he was my natural choice and just like the class act he is, he immediately said yes.

HQ as Sandy

After we wrapped on Tusk I went back to my humdrum life at Sony (working 20 hour days and sleeping under my desk for the other 4... but that's another story). One night, out of the blue I got a call from Jen Schwalbach who invited me to come work for her family as a driver/bodyguard of sorts. That one call saved me from my cubical bound life and I will always be indebted for it. For the next year and a half I drove around the youngest of the Smith clan. I'd drive Harley and her friends to malls, parties, the movies, all sorts of teenage girl stuff. This allowed me ample downtime while waiting on them to concentrate on my writing and allowed me the flexibility to complete my movie Rodney Redbottom, write, shoot, and edit The Mission, as well as finish my first full screenplay (an adaptation of an F. Scott Fitzgerald short story). One day while driving the family to the set of Yoga Hosers, I approached Jen about asking Harley to star in Other Fish and she was incredibly supportive. I recorded Harley Quinn the next week and she of course knocked it out of the park.

Jacqui on TV

That only leaved the role of the mother to be cast. We mulled over many options, but it was Liv who mentioned her good friend Jacqui Duncan. She had met the aspiring actress in Sydney while working for a wine dispensary and the two moved to Los Angeles at damn near the same time. I of course was offish about an Australian playing such a dominant role in an American, animated movie, but Liv was confident she could handle it. After reviewing several productions Jacqui had been involved in, I was sold as well and we recorded the following week. She is one of the most professional actresses I've ever witnessed.* While recording sounds of being attacked, she almost hyperventilated three times due to giving it all she had. Looking back there is no one that I would have rather had in the role. It saddens me that our friend has returned to Australia, but she's now on to bigger and better roles for doing so.

*Side note: She played all three witches voices in Kevin's short Hallow-Ian, his contribution to the movie Holidays.

Josh Stifter,
Self Portrait

Having the voices in the can, Stifter took the next few months nailing down the look of the animation. This was a trying time, after all, this wasn't your typical comical cartoon, this was a dark, dramatic animation. The style he eventually settled on is an amazing take on the look of the 1990's Liquid Television while adding incredibly refined texture, colors, and shading. This project is unlike any cartoon I've ever seen and I genuinely say Stifter's name in the same sentence with the greats like Bill Plympton, Don Hertzfeldt, and Mike Judge. As he started delivering me these gorgeous scenes, we began the talk about who was to do sound.

Mike Hallenbeck

As with all of the projects I've done thus far, I am a control freak. Normally I am actively involved with every single aspect of every project I do. So when Stifter suggested that Mike Hallenbeck, not I, do not only the sound-design, but the actual score to the movie, I freaked out. Being the insane asshole that I am, the concept of not having an active role in a movie after I have wrote and directed the actors is not something I'm comfortable with. However, Stifter assured me of Mike's work and I eventually relented.

I'm happy to say that Mike Hallenbeck turned in an auditory experience that I couldn't come close to approximating on my best damn day. The dude is an absolute genius with sound. Listen to the trailer. Hear the waves, the splashing, the dog, the grumbles, the little nuances in just that trailer alone are perfect. You're going to have your mind blown by what he did with the actual score, it's pure perfection.

Olivia Roush

But that's not the only people that helped make this project what it is. Much of the tension derived from the movie is largely thanks to the editing work of Jeremy Wanek. The score wouldn't be nearly the same without the lap-steel guitar of Ben Connelly and the electric guitar of Ben Glaros. Even our good friend Matt Rowbottom kicked ass as co-producer in the final stages of this project. However, as always, the biggest reason that this was made is due to the support of my amazing wife and partner Olivia Roush. If it wasn't for her, none of the projects I make from the podcast, to the shorts, to the writing, to the scripts would ever be possible.

So until film festival submission-hell ends, this is as much as I can show/tell you about our new little project. Check out the trailer below, check out Stifter's work at FlushStudios.com, hear Mike's auditory asskickery at JuniorBirdman.com, and watch AntiCurrent.com for all things me.

An Open Birthday Card to my Cousin

My cousin's and I

I remember a cute, diapered little girl who would isolate herself in a room of photographs, just staring at pictures of her family. Anytime we would come in to talk to you, your fiendish little hands would grab ours, and escort us back out the door. Sharlene, Granny, and I would hide around the corner and marvel at the weird little psychopath who was enamored with the pictures of all of her family, yet wouldn’t walk into the next room to see them. It was pretty obvious from an early age you were either destined for great things, or would end up atop a watchtower with a rifle, wailing about the numerous sins of man. Although the winds are currently blowing the direction of the former, I still keep a wary eye for signs of mental degradation. After all, we can sense our own.

Christmas

My Mother and I were so smitten by what a strange creature you were that we flew down to Florida just to hang with you. We didn’t go to Disney, Universal, or Sea World, we sat in front of your TV with you and watched Arthur for hours at a time. When we packed up to drive to Key West, we stopped after two hours and decided we didn’t want to continue unless your mother and you came with, so we parked at a strange attraction called Monkey Jungle as we waited for your Father to drop you off. We sat there for four hours in the dark, listening to the horrific sounds of monkeys either mating or killing one another until 2am just to spend an extra few days with you. When the vacation was over, we would still watch Arthur and talk about returning.

Angry from a
young age

As the years went by you slowly became more fun. You and I first smoked weed when people your age were playing with Barbie dolls. At thirteen years old, you and I were attending theatrical screenings of literary documentaries while your friends were likely watching (lame) cartoons. I vividly remember you choking on my Jack and Coke at your parents’ house in Florida when they went out on a date and if I’m not mistaken, I believe we even snuck you into your first bar at 17 years old. I won’t even go into your exploits atop the trailers in Hicksville as you ran wild with the local lesbian population while I was forced to tune out the shrieks and get some writing done. It’s been a wild, weird road we’ve shared.

Simpsons!

Thanks to your parents I’ve had the opportunity to travel the US with you. We’ve spent time in Ohio, Florida, Washington, California, and more. Hell, after spending two weeks with each other in Hawaii, we decided that wasn’t enough and you came back to Los Angeles with me for two more. As if at that point it still wasn’t enough, I then boarded a plane with you and hung out at your house in Florida for another week. Even when you were a child I was in awe of your mind. You’ve always demonstrated an uncanny ability to cut through adult’s bullshit and have since maintained a precise radar for avoiding the idiots of this world.

Hicksville 2015

We come from hearty stock. We’ve got Ireland coursing through our hearts and brains. We’re fighters, and the only enemy that can come between us and any task in the goddamn world is ourselves. I won’t be around to see the great mark you leave upon the Earth by the time your body gives out, but I’m sure the path to it will be decorated with the mutilated corpses of your enemies. You’re destined for greatness, and if anyone speaks to the contrary, send them directly to me for a violent and speedy indoctrination.

My sister.

It’s good that you live so far away, I truly worry that if we were to live in the same city we may attempt a Coup d'état and institute a sympathy-free marshal law. You’re my family. You’re my cousin, but I feel like that isn’t a precious enough word for it. You’re my sister. I’ll always be here to bail you out. I’ll always be here to hurt boys. I’ll always be here to dig holes in the desert if hurting boys isn’t enough. You’re an old-soul who takes no prisoners. You’re a badass and even though you get really fucking annoying on occasion, I’m lucky to have you around.

Thank god I can finally stop making you fake ID's. Happy 21st birthday.
-Josh