Uta Would have Frowned
If you have ever watched television in your lifetime, you have probably noticed that hard liquor is just not something you see much of being peddled in commercials. That is because for the past fifty years, makers of hard liquor have operated under a self imposed ban of advertising on tv. Then, there were actual rules put in place that someone cannot be shown in a commercial actually drinking wine or a beer. They can have it on the table to advertise it, but no one takes a sip.
In the movies, there were codes in place after the 1930s which regulated the portrayal of smoking and drinking. When the codes were lifted, smoking returned in fits and spurts. What I think that the old studio heads would roll over in their graves about are the goings on in films today. The film Pineapple Express not only discusses or implies drug use, but portrays it. Unlike many movies portraying addicts who “pretend” with baking soda, sugar, and other props, the actors in the movie are actually smoking. (?)
Okay, there is a technicality here. What they are smoking are scientifically altered hybrids from International Oddities. So TECHNICALLY they are legal as they are not the actual plants that are banned. Seth Rogan had mentioned it was used in every scene.
I subscribed to the Uta Hagen school and got “drunk” on stage drinking apple juice and flat ginger ale. There was also a famous encounter between Sir Laurence Olivier and Dustin Hoffman. Hoffman had stayed up all night in order to appear he had stayed up all night for the film “Marathon Man.” I do not want to hack up the words of Olivier, so will paraphrase that he mentioned to Hoffman that they used to “just act” in his day.
As a Stanislavski, method trained actor, I wag my finger at this. Perhaps this is a stalemate. They have the world on the technicality that its not scientifically real, and they have me on the technicality that it technically ISN’T anything illegal and may smell slightly different, so they TECHNICALLY are acting.
I would like to see them use sliced carrots and let’s see them use their acting muscles. Touche’
Always on a Monday
Quotes from the Archives:
Harriet, of TastyVintage presented the following quotation from “The Art of Window Dressing” on the public forum at Vintagefashionguild.org that we found rather interesting…
“A certain draper in a large provincial town had for very many years alays changed the neckwear window on Mondays, and it was not until recently that, on account of his window dresser being called away, he had occasion to leave his display in over Monday.
He then discovered that he sold more better-class neckwear on that particular Monday than of any other day of the display. Monday is now the best day for neckwear, and the window display is never changed that day.” Have mondays been “mondays” throughout time and they could use a new accessory to lift their mood, just like it is said more stereotypically of women? Are men more “refreshed” on mondays? Were more men “in town” on mondays reporting to the office before the rest of the week took them away to meetings uptown or in another city? What are your opinions?You may not live near a place like that, but do you find yourself in a buying mood out of necessity or fancy any particular time than others? I think it would be an interesting discussion.
A Little Bit Sunk
You know what Grandpa did when Grandma went into the hospital to deliver your Aunt Sally? What about when Grandpa knocked himself in the head at the mallet factory? The answer to both: They paid the bill. Nowadays, we are all so maxed out on everything that the emergency response is to put something on the credit card. Even though Grandma and Grandpa weren’t rich, they probably didn’t have a credit card, so they could only spend what they had. That was the old fashioned way. The downside was that when they were down on their luck, they couldn’t “charge” groceries, but the upside is that their income was used for necessities in a higher percentage and they just didn’t need the same kind of Debt relief.
I thought I had a pretty good idea about how to manage myself until I took the quiz at Bills IQ and boy was I in for a surprise. I practically flunked! Okay, I didn’t, but I came from a family that didn’t accept “D’s” from me. If someone did a poster advertising Debt consolidation, I would apparently be on it. I am not maxed out any worse than anyone else, but surely the old fashioned values and sensibility about money I thought I had just isn’t there. Because of some medical setbacks, we lived off of credit cards for awhile when we should have been scaling back our lifestyle. Of course, I could have sold off the vintage collection instead but always thought the situation was temporary. If anyone out there thinks that their retirement fund is in their closet, they should be very sure about researching what they have bought or are buying.
My grandparents had big plans of raising a family and seeing them through school if they chose to go on to college. They all either went to trade school or college. It is sad that my big plans involve paying down some debts. What a different life. I can see now, that if I decide to start a new project, or adopt a kid someday, I am going to have to get some serious Debt help.
I am going to go get the violin out now. Actually, I am going to get out the keyboard that has the violin setting on it and go have myself a pity party while I sort this out. The BillsIQ Quiz actually gave me a few helpful suggestions that I am going to try a lot harder on. I am proud for renegotiating a credit card rate, but I just have let other expenses get away from me. Take the Quiz and see if you beat me!
Shrunk Trunks - Jantzens sell for $77
Yesterday, I uncovered a disturbing footnote in swimwear history. I fully intended to surprise you all with actually finding the ghastly “wrap front” swim trunks online (the term “trunks” used very loosely here). Alas, I am not surprised that I came up empty.
One item of note is that these Jantzen Swim Trunks were recently sold on Ebay to the tune of $77.00. They are very similar in “coverage” but infinitely apropriate for the man who is going to the beach or the pool to actually SWIM, albeit a bit more modest then what some Olympic divers wear for the aerodynamic qualities. Michael Phelps doesn’t mess around with boarder shorts, afterall.
1950s, 1960s | Comment (0)Pump Your Ride
Last week, I saw a Ford Escort that was tricked out to the hilt (Note to self: Does anyone say ‘tricked out’ anymore?). It had a all sorts of turbo power. Outwardly, it also had a spoiler, big pipes, and racing stripes, as if no one told the car it was an Escort. I was asked the other day what I thought about this phenomena. Was it just improper to be so loud or was putting a lot of cash into an inexpensive car a good investment?
Whenever I am asked that question, I remind people of the days of the “classic” cars. Don’t you remember the guys in Grease working on their cars, getting the hand-me-down from sis, brother, or dad to be the sweetest ride in town? The same desire is alive and well today.
However, not everyone is so blatant about it. A turbocharger uses the “wasted” energy in the exhaust stream, so getting one for your underpowered car may be a good bet. If you can’t or don’t want to sink money into a new car, the young guys may just be on to something in making the best of what they have.
(P.S.: Drag racing in the 50s was just as dangerous as drifting is today, if not more. Don’t let the old movies fool you!)
1979: Slippery Sleepwear
RollerKaty brought up a (not so) fond memory of laying on the living room floor, Sear’s Christmas Wishbook spread out on the floor. I always used to skip the “boring” section (the clothes), and started out somewhere before the toys where the “novelty gifts for adults” were (Namely, gumball machines and chess sets with scifi characters) and I studied every page from there on out. I always was glad that Sears left the back supporters and the support hose out of it, but was sometimes a little weirded out by adults in sleepwear.
RollerKaty offers forth this selection from 1979. I like the “family portrait” at far left. The pose is so natural and believeable. The gentleman in the main photo looks like he is ready for a strange boxing match. Isn’t there something just a little wrong about that?
I vaguely remember liking to look at the bedding section of the catalogs, but wondered to myself if someone bought satin sheets and satin robes and satin boxers, they would either sweat to death or slip right out of bed and end up somewhere between the threshold of the bedroom and the guest bathroom way on the other side of the house.
For purists, there is silk satin, rayon satin, and artificial satin. These are actually Arnel triacetate, but I would argue they fall neck and neck with rayon satin and just above silk satin in the slip and slide department.
1970s | Comment (1)