Sitting outside on a warm evening, looking at the forecast: one “European model,” whatever that is, has ten inches of snow on Halloween. Well. Best get the snowblower put together, I guess - but it’s too soon, no? I mean, I just mowed the lawn. Didn’t I?
No. No, I did not. But it sits in the garage as if I will take it out any day now, as if it’s still summer. It seems like just the other day I did it for the first time, before the DAMMIT, I missed the Fall Postcard Show! Just realized that. The first time I mowed was the day of the Spring show. Now I’m screwed. I haven’t any cards fro 2027. Well, the site will come to a shuddering halt, topple over into the ditch, and exhale its last.
Doesn’t look cold enough for snow, but it does look cold. Too bad for the kids. Nothing ruins Halloween like rain and cold. It may put a damper on the late shift of Youts, the ones who show up smelling of Mom’s cigarettes and grab fistfuls and slouch off without saying thank you. I don’t look forward to any of it. The little kids are cute, but it all jars the dog’s nerves, and one of us has to hold him back every time the doorbell moans. I have the Ring set on Halloween sounds and I always forget to change it, only to be surprised when howls and moans issue from a small plastic box in April.
I was scrolling through the Daily News of 1939 today. Had some time to spare, and was looking up coverage of the Nazi rally in MSG. To my surprise:
Why my surprise? Because I bought this a long, long time ago.
Volez and Yolanda. Famous dancers who toured the country, did movies. There aren’t any such things anymore. This era just evaporated. You can’t say “ah, a more civilized era,” because it’s 1943 and the worst of the worst is clawing the world apart. There’s a story on the top of the page of appalling child abuse. Another story discusses a legislator in Massachusetts who wants to bring back horse whipping to combat the scourge of car thefts.
It’s always both at the same time.
It seems as the effect was undercut by her heavy gown, no?
Interesting comment. (Emphasis mine.)
BTW, this film was nominated for an Oscar in 1943 for the short film genre. It was shot in one afternoon at Warner Brothers studio, mostly using my mom's own then very famous collection of gowns, most designed by my dad, some weighing up to 18 pounds and containing hundreds of thousands of sequins. The gown in the final Rhumba sequence is a rich deep bronze color, the very one weighing a huge eighteen pounds, costing untold thousands.
One of their children commented on their video. It’s not that far away, not at all.
I also looked through the papers of 1939 for Halloween ads. There weren't any. The culture the paper served was apparently indifferent to the holiday. Oh, the grown-ups might get together and have a party, and it's possible someone might show up as a . . .
No, I think I'll save that for Thursday. Trust me: you're going to learn something. And you'll be among the very few who know what it means.
Also, it will never come up in conversation, and the information will be of no practical use - but when has that ever stopped us from caring?
Chewing through the last few unwatched Alfred Hitchcock Presents. I don't know what pressures were on the producers in the last few seasons, but they're A) Grittier, and B) Better. In this one, an unethical sleazy traveling salesman comes to down. The rural folk could be from the 19th century, except they have soft drinks . . .
“Bubble-Ola Cola.” Also, DRINK RO! You’ll love the clean, snappy taste of RO
Inside the bar, a pinball machine. I zoomed in:
No, not the sci-fi movie. Something else entirely. BUMP-DE-BUMP
How do we know it is about BUMP DE BUMP? This:
Okay, friends: What are the four words (five syllables) that set up this picture?
This is information specific to my generation, and my parents. I don’t think 1% of people under 50 would get this today.
It’s 1987.
The peak of the 80s.
You have to understand that Bozo, for a while, was cool again. Just like Gumby. Although the red makeup made it hard to conceal the coke dust.
Boomer kids growing up and taking the reins. I gather that MCA was regarded as a joke label, but after all these awards, who’s laughing now?
Also, is that Ronald? Because it looks like Ronald.
Brick wall, spray-painted letters, RayBans - it’s all there. And it’s all a cliche by now, but still useful.
Wonder who the winner was.
TKD was regarded as a premium brand, I guess. There wasn’t a lot of brand loyalty if you were watching your dollars. More:
TDK was founded in Tokyo, Japan, on 7 December 1935 to manufacture the iron-based magnetic material ferrite, which had been recently invented by Yogoro Kato and Takeshi Takei. In 1952 and 1957 they began production of magnetic tapes, with compact cassette tapes following in 1966; it is for these that the company is most widely noted.
Looking at her Wikipedia page, I was surprised to see her career was, and is, longer than I thought.
Produced by Andre Cymone, so you have the Minneapolis Sound in there.
Not ringing many bells, I have to confess:
Dame Kiri Jeanette Claire Te Kanawa[1] ONZ, CH, DBE, AC (/ˈkɪri təˈkɑːnəwə/; born Claire Mary Teresa Rawstron, 6 March 1944) is a New Zealand opera singer.
The crossover success was “My Fair Lady,” coming on the heels of her work doing “West Side Story” when Lennie decided to rerecord it in an operatic style.
Here it is!
A perfect example of 80s techno-minimalism in ads. We were really in the high-tech future of our dreams.
Philips and DuPont? It’s like the Supergroup of CD makers!
You do wonder what Leo was telling Dick, eh? And was it in Russian?
A compilation album? No, an agency ad, telling you who they repped.
The retro-style of Spy was incredibly influential.
The only problem: you can’t tell who this ad is for. A talent agency? No, it’s Warner Brothers pushing their comedy stable. Jackie Mason and . . . Tom Lehrer? He hadn't cut a notable track since forever. Not that anyone cared. Three albums secured his rep.
Working off his “stuff” routine, George pauses from excoriating everything about modern society to cash in:
And good for him; he’d be a fool not to take the money. But spare me any of the anti-consumer screeds from this guy.
Wut, as the kids say, referencing a Botero picture of a pope, neither of whom they know anything about
Home Video is the last frontier of entertainment based on personal taste...enjoy this freedom now before the forces of evil take it away!
The marketing execs were begging the art director to put something, anything in there that says who the artist is. Please. I know he’s into all this anti-marketing stuff. He wants to make art. But I’m begging you. We want to sell records. Doesn’t he want to sell records?
