Beanies: I hate 'em!

When I was a kid, if you said the word 'beanie', it meant something like this (with or without propeller):

(not a photo of me, though I did have a propeller beanie in 1976)

Some time in the last 10-15 years, the word has come to mean a sort of snug sock cap, popularized (I think) by snowboarders and the like, and then adopted by people who want to look like snowboarders:

("Me and my bros are hittin' the slopes and then doing an interview with Leeza Gibbons")

Now it's become a default part of the wardrobe of men under the age of 50.

(the watermarks were included free with this clip art!)

I have friends who wear them, so I know I'm probably treading on some toes here, but I just don't like 'em! I don't like their ubiquity, over-casualness, or the way they often make the wearer's head look too small. The default position seems to be to pull the beanie all the way down to the wearer's eyebrows, which reduces facial expressions down to one look of blank surliness:

(I know, I cheated by using a photo of Eminem to demonstrate that point)

(but still, they're not that great-looking)

In conclusion, bring back the bowler!

How to look deadpan

Now something nice to replace the gross 'Bodies' post

Oh no

My least favorite "exhibit" has returned!

Trans-Siberian Express

(click to expand)

...as featured in the film Horror Express:

This tour sounds like fun--but I really like trains. I might be disappointed if nothing horrific happened, though.

Admirably dorky

The Evil Eye

I just got (from Ebay) a great American movie poster for this Italian film directed by Mario Bava. Beebo doesn't remember the movie (though she liked it), so I'm posting the trailer above. It has a nice b-movie cast: Leticia Romain, John Saxon, and Valentina Cortese. Here's a version of the poster that is hanging proudly in our living room (at least through Halloween):

The original Italian version is translated as The Girl Who Knew Too Much. Oddly, the trailer for the American version includes plot elements not found in the original.