Dearest Darkling ‘Fiends’ & Loved Ones,

Merci beaucoup/FANG you for making 2008 such a wonderful year for moi and being so receptive towards my ‘Sonic Frankenstein’, Polka Haunt Us: A Spook-tacular Compilation.

I feel that we are well on our way to becoming a perennial favorite for The Season of The Witch, and beyond. For me, spookiness is not a seasonal thing, however, and since the word “Halloween” is not once mentioned on any of the tracks, please feel free to indulge in listening to PHU any time of year.

And speaking of indulgences, I just had to share one of my favorites with you. And please consider this my gift to you. It’s info about my very favorite Internet radio station- ever!

RadioDeliro.net– It is the brainchild & labor of love (commercial free!) of smart-chip innovator, Roland Moreno, and the play list consists of his personal music collection, which is not easily describable in ten words or less, but suffice it to say, it is an extensive play list that rarely repeats anything very often. He has a full time programmer named Sylvain Robert, who is also a professional horn player.

Between these two men, there is such a vast array of fantastic offerings that I know I won’t be able to do it justice with my paltry list, that follows. Suffice it to say that you must hear it to believe it.

Just a few examples of artists I’ve heard at one time or another:

Hank Williams, The Andrews Sisters, Julia Lee, Rose Murphy, Fred Astaire, The Beatles, Billie Holliday, Bob Bozman, Django Rhinehardt, John Lee Hooker, Miles Davis, Edith Piaf, Maurice Chevalier (yeah!), Tommy Dorsey, Cheryl Crow, Eric Clapton, Dinah Washington, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Mel Torme, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Louie Prima & Keelie Smith, Rosemary Clooney, Julie London, many other wonderful French, British, American and other artists, etc, etc, etc.

And musical styles:

Country, both American & French (Oui! country musique is most popular in France!), Baroque, Blues, Jazz, Pop, Rock, Rockabilly, Big Band, Swing, Acapella, Folk, Cabaret, Lounge, Brazilian, Boogie Woogie, Reggae, R&B, Arabic, Rap, Polka (yay!), Fusion, African, Gospel, Barber Shop, etc, etc, etc.

Again, all I can say is tune in yourself and give it a spin. And tell ’em Veronique sent you!

Viva l’RadioDeliro.net! And enjoy your 2009!

Today is the anniversary of the Natal Day of eternal screen icon Marlene Dietrich. She was a bright star in the entertainment firmament, and one of my dearest inspirations.

I shall never forget the delicious, yet naive frisson I experienced when gazing upon her timeless, and gender-bending image from the film “Morroco”. Depicted was this enchanting and yet obviously very female creature, sporting a sensuously pluming cigarette with such insouciance, and most delicious of all, with her legs crossed in the most decadently unladylike manner.

I might have been only a kid at that moment (I think I was like 11), but I knew instinctively that whatever it was that she was doing, I wanted to do the same…

Of course there will never be another Dietrich, but her trailblazing ways will be with us always…

Marlene, Dear Goddess, if you still have awareness of we mere mortals down here on Earth, I hoist a slipperful of champagne in your honor!

RIP Marlene Dietrich, Siren of Cinema
Born: December 27 1901 & Died: May 6 1992

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Well, Boils & Ghouls, I just stumbled upon this little photographic gem, and thought it would be good for a guffaw. The moi you see was just a wee tot of five at the time of this underwhelming Kodak moment. Notice how my spindly little fingers, poised to morph into claws, are attempting to repel the perverted pseudo-elf’s covert advances, just as my saucer-like eyes dialate in abject fear, and my lower lip curls to its lowest position before issuing forth with a pathetic gutteral yowl.

That year, my parents figured out how to keep my Xmess demands to a minimum, for I was apparently so grateful to escape this encounter with my life that I completely forgot to want anything…And the image also proves that I am really undead, for the sign above Santa’s shoulder attests to the fact that the year was 1500. I’ve aged well, don’t you think?

😉

‘Yule’ be safe with this Santa’s ‘slay’, and there’ll be no reindeer poop on the roof either!

Ho! Ho! Ho!

Artist: Danny Hellman

Veronique Chevalier’s Polka Haunt Us: A Spook-tacular Compilation was featured in the November 2008 edition (Issue No. 84), page 73, of Canada’s premiere horror publication, Rue Morgue Magazine. Deepest thanks to the author, Liisa Ladouceur for her astute article. (Click on the image below to view a readable enlargement of the article).

^ CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO VIEW A READABLE ENLARGEMENT ^

Here is the first incarnation of HELL-ga related promo. Feel free to post this banner far & wide and link back to: http://MySpace.com/PolkaHauntUs .

We’d be pleased to post your banner on our MySpace page, as well as on our Official Website- PolkaHaunt.Us, which is currently under construction:

Veronique as ‘HELL-ga’, shot by Justice Howard