I’m planning to not post for a while. Everything’s fine, I’m just focusing on other things. In the meantime:
Category Archives: Popular culture
Excuse the mess! Here’s some smurfs
Leave a commentHello everyone! I will be transferring my blog to a different server very soon and I’m not sure how it will look once it’s transferred so bear with me until I get that sorted out.
In the meantime, here’s a single I found in the free bin outside Enterprise Records recently. you can bet I had some fun using my limited German to try and read the front cover of this to my husband when I brought it home.
Our record player isn’t hooked up so I can’t play it for you, but here’s a video of it that I found on youtube (with bonus smurf puppets!).:
And lest you think this is a one off sort of thing, here’s a video from 2012 of Vader Abraham singing the song in front of a live audience. I kind of teared up a little when they stop they music around the two minute mark and the entire theater is singing along. I’m a sucker for shared joy like that:
All Alone at the ’64 World’s Fair
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The Unisphere at the 1964 World’s Fair (from Wiki Commons)
There’s a line in the They Might Be Giants song “Ana Ng” that goes “all alone at the ’64 World’s Fair, 80 dolls yelling ‘small girl after all’. Who was at the DuPont Pavilion? Why was the bench still warm? Who had been there?” That line plays in my mind sometimes (okay, a lot of the time) and it sparked my interest in finding out more about the 1964 World’s Fair.
World’s Fair souvenir charm bracelet from Unrehearsed Kickline
The fair opened in Flushing Meadows, Queens, New York in April, 1964 and ran through October, 1965 with a break during the winter months. This was the third World’s Fair to be hosted by New York City and had the dual theme of “peace through understanding” and “Man’s achievement on a shrinking globe in an expanding universe.” The Unisphere, a 12 story high sculpture of the earth that still stands today, represented this idea. In reality, “man’s achievement” was largely represented by corporations with their own pavilions to showcase their products and revel in the optimistic future of the space age. I’ll admit that’s one of the many reasons I love the idea of the fair. The relationship between consumers and corporations has changed dramatically in the years since the fair and I love the idea of getting excited to go to a corporation’s pavilion to see its upcoming products and hear how my life would be improved by owning them. It’s a form of advertising that doesn’t exist in the same way anymore, and things like that always catch my interest.
Who wouldn’t love visiting a fair with a big dinosaur? (from Gorillas Don’t Blog)
The name “World’s Fair” is a bit of a misnomer since many countries chose not to participate in the event for reasons you can easily look up elsewhere. Still, there was a legitimate international element to the fair as a handfull of nations like Japan, Ireland, Spain, and Austria had a presence in both exhibits and concessions. Some of the more fun exhibitions from the United States included a dolphin show from Florida, a scale model of New York City, and the world’s largest cheese which was, of course, provided by Wisconsin. The commercially run pavilion to gross the most money during the fair’s run was, believe it or not, the Gay New Orleans Night Club which put on a show headlined by Go-Go dancer Candy Johnson (who would become the subject of the Strangelove’s song “I Want Candy” and who is also known for appearing in ’60s Beach Party movies).
A scene from Disney’s Carousel of Progress (source)
A notable influence at the fair was none other than Walt Disney. Many of what are now considered classic experiences at Disneyland were created for the 1964 World’s Fair, including the Carousel of Progress, Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, and the infamous It’s a Small World ride. The audio animatronics perfected for the fair would later contribute to the development of other popular rides at Disneyland, like the Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean. Walt showcased his company’s exhibits at the fair in a broadcast called “Disneyland Goes to the World’s Fair.” If you want to see that, some kind soul has uploaded it online for your enjoyment:
And now, to bring things to a fun end, here’s Miss Perpetual Motion herself Candy Johnson dancing during the closing credits of Beach Party to give you an idea of why her appearance brought in so much money. Damn that girl can dance:
Blog Hoppin’
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You may have noticed a new banner on the side of my blog that says I’m part of the Totally Awesome Blog Hop. If you’re wondering what that is, here’s the scoop!
The blog hop is hosted by a handful of excellent blogs like Chantilly Songs, The Curious Pug, Charlie Foxtrot, Tigerlily Quinn, Everyday is a Holiday, Pulp Sushi, The Shades of Monet Chronicles, Rachel the Hat, Gentri Lee, and friend of Saturday’s Child Kitty and Buck! Each of these sites have a list of everyone participating in the blog hop and as I’m writing this there are 203 people listed on the blog hop roster– isn’t that amazing?
Click the blog hop image above to be taken to the post about it on Chantilly Songs where you can explore other blogs and list your own.
And, to keep things on an awesome note, here’s a gif of Paul and Trudy from Mad Men doing the Charleston
(I can’t for the life of me remember where I got this gif. If you know who made it tell me in the comments, please!)
How to Do Mad Men Women’s Hair and Makeup
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The new season of Mad Men is premiering this weekend (hooray!!!) and whether you’re going to a viewing party or just want to dress the part at home here are some tutorials to help you do your hair and makeup for this Sunday! P.S.– this post is for the ladies, but if you’re looking to get your Don Draper style on check out this guide from ManMade.
The Hair
If you’re going for Joan’s bouffant style here’s an easy to follow tutorial:
If you’re more in the mood for an easy curl like Betty has this tutorial will show you how:
This video will give you the instructions you need to replicate Peggy Olson’s bouffant and flip:
The Makeup
Megan Draper’s bold makeup is fabulous and this youtube video does a great job showing how it’s done:
Interested in a more classic look? Here’s a tutorial inspired by Joan’s 5th season makeup:
1970s Hair Styles
Leave a commentI recently got a big stack of vintage Teen magazines from 1970-1976 and as you’d expect they’re a wealth of style inspiration and style warnings. Some of the most interesting fashion tips are in regard to how to do your hair, so without further ado here are some hair styles from the 1970s! Which is your favorite?
Cult Films: The First Wives Club
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If you squealed like I did when Jennifer Lawrence proclaimed that her new golden globe award had an inscription that said “I beat Meryl” odds are good you are already well acquainted with today’s cult movie. The First Wives Club was released in 1996 and is such a glorious ’90s film that at one point Goldie Hawn brings a cigarette up to her recently collagen-injected lips and actually says:
(source)
The movie stars Goldie Hawn as a washed up sexpot actress panicked by being middle aged, Bette Midler as a slightly overweight single mother who works part time for an interior decorator, and Diane Keaton as a neurotic emotional doormat obsessed with the idea that therapy will bring her husband back to her. It’s a pretty grim beginning, even more so when we learn that all three of them have husbands who left them for younger women. After being brought together by the suicide of a college friend, they decide to band together to get revenge on their former spouses. In the best tradition of late twentieth century chick flicks this involves zany situation set-ups, biting one liners, cringe-worthy misunderstandings, and a good old fashioned sing-along. Damn I love a movie like that!
The thing I love most about this movie is how it teeters (and sometimes…okay, often falls into) stereotypes. Diane Keaton’s on screen daughter is a lesbian who vehemently hates men and through her we get to see the movie version of a ’90s gay club which, as you might expect, is funny for perhaps not the right reasons. And I can’t help but love that when the characters get their act together and renovate a building to create a space to help women in need it’s in a montage to the song “Sisters Are Doin’ It For Themselves.” I hate to say I expect a certain amount of stereotypical scenes in movies like this but if I check my political correctness meter at the door (not an easy task) I think any possibly cringe-worthy moments are balanced by the sincerity of the characters, the wit of the script, and how much the three main characters care for each other. At the end of the day (which is when I usually need to watch a movie like this) it’s a feel-good “chick flick”, but the absolute best kind because it leaves you with a feeling of hope without killing off any characters or giving anyone cancer. For the most part even the bad guys have happy endings, which is more generous than most movies with a similar theme. And so, to celebrate the ’90s movie idea of feminism, here’s a song to play us out:
Google Reader is disappearing in a few months! Follow Saturday’s Child on BlogLovin or FeedburnerAnd the song of the moment is…
1 CommentDaily Nightly by The Monkees
I’m a green wool hat owning fan of The Monkees so it was bound to happen sooner or later that one of their songs would be the song of the moment under the “music” tab at the top of this blog. It was hard to narrow it down, believe me!
Daily Nightly is from the 1967 album Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn, & Jones Ltd. and was written by Mike Nesmith. The music video above was created for their TV series and was shown at the end of the episodes “Monkees Blow Their Minds” and “Fairy Tale.” It’s thought to be the first use of a Moog synthesizer in a pop song, which is not surprising since Mickey Dolenz was one of the first people to own a Moog. Below are the lyrics, which wikipedia plausibly suggests are inspired by the Sunset Strip curfew riot of 1966.
Dark and rolling figures move through prisms of no color.
Hand in hand, they walk the night,
But never know each other.
Passion cast in neon lights light up the jeweled traveler
Who, lost in scenes of smoke filled dreams,
Find questions, but no answers.
Startled eyes that sometimes see phantasmagoric splendor
Pirouette down palsied paths
With pennies for the vendor.
Salvation’s yours for just the time it takes to pay the dancer.
And once again such anxious men
Find questions, but no answers.
The night has gone and taken it’s infractions,
While deadened eyes hope there will be a next one.
Terror signs look down upon a world that glitters glibly.
And mountain sides put arms around
The unsuspecting city.
Second hands that minds have slowed are moving even faster
Toward bringing down someone who’s found
The questions, but no answers.
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Cult Movies: Clue
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The VHS cover of Clue (source)
It’s an odd idea to translate a board game into a movie and it doesn’t always work (Battleship, anyone?). However, the game Clue (Cluedo if you’re not in North America) benefits from the fact that there’s already a full plot line in the game that needs little more than a bit of character development to turn it into a full fledged film. It was the first movie to be based on a board game and while it didn’t do particularly well at the box office it’s become a cult classic for, among other things, its campy nature, consciously ridiculous plot, and expertly acted characters.
The plot revolves around the idea that all of the film’s characters were brought together because they were being blackmailed by a man named Mr. Boddy. After they’re served dinner, each of them is given a weapon by their blackmailer. Suddenly, the lights go off and when they’re turned back on Mr. Boddy is lying still on the floor and is pronounced dead. This sets off the movie’s events which, as the tagline for the film says, amounts to “seven suspects, six weapons, five bodies, and three endings.”
A title card from the end of Clue
One of my favorite things about Clue is that it has three different endings to reflect possible outcomes of the board game. In its initial release, each theater was given a different version of the film so that the ending would be different depending on where you saw the film. In syndication and home video release, however, there’s a version of the film that includes all three endings and shows you how it could have happened a few different ways (which is the version I prefer since it references and makes fun of the movie being based on a game with variable outcomes).
The cast of Clue (source)
The casting for this movie is also excellent. Madeline Kahn, Christopher Lloyd, Martin Mull, Tim Curry, everyone fits their roll so well and knows how to make it funny by playing it straight, which is the best way to play it in this kind of movie. And Madeline Khan’s description of jealousy is one of my favorite ad-libs ever:
Bonus: as I write this in March, 2013 “Clue” is on Netflix, so if you have an account go and watch it!
Three ways to lose weight in the 1960s
Leave a commentThe pressure for people to lose weight is timeless, but the methods people use to do it vary from decade to decade and from the reasonable to the ridiculous. Here are three of my favorite methods for weight-loss from the decade that gave us Twiggy, sauna suits, and amphetamine fetishism.
The sleep cure
(source)
This is a favorite of mine because it plays a minor part of the plot of one of my favorite novels, Valley of the Dolls. The idea behind the treatment is that you’re given drugs to sedate you into a deep sleep that lasts a week, during which time you’re given enough food to sustain you but not enough to cause you to gain weight. At the end of the week you’re meant to awake refreshed and a little bit lighter. In Valley of the Dolls, Jennifer North undergoes the sleep cure and loses 12 pounds over the course of 8 days.
The Trim Twist
(source)
Do you like dancing? Do you want to lose weight? You might think you can simply combine your love of dance with your desire to shed a few pounds but you’d be wrong! This is the 1960s and you have to wear a cute outfit, do your hair, and use a special piece of exercise equipment to do the twist. Trust us, you need this 10″x9″ piece of pastel styrene or you won’t get anything done.
Diet food
(source)
This is a bit of a cheat because diet food isn’t limited to the 1960s, but the decade did have an influx of specially marketed diet food that I find quite interesting. For example, sacharine, an artificial sweetener discovered in the 1800s, began showing up in everything during this time, particularly diet soft drinks. The forerunner of the SlimFast shake, known as the Metrecal Diet Shake, also hit the market in the early 1960s and in Betty Friedan’s 1963 book The Feminine Mystique she notes that “[women] ate a chalk called Metrecal, instead of food, to shrink to the size of thin young models.” Sounds delicious.
