Sometimes I forget how weird the culture of the Seventies was...

...and then things like this bring it all back.

Great Tie Alert

Well played, Lee Hazlewood!

A History of Men's Hairstyles, starring Robert Redford

1847 (Jeremiah Johnson)

1900 (Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid)

1909 (Tell Them Willie Boy is Here)

1945 (The Way We Were)

It's amazing how men of these time periods had the same hairstyles as men from the 1970s!

Good Book Cover/Bad Book Cover

There ya go!

What the hell...?

The Architects of Blah

I can't afford to buy a condo in my neighborhood (or anywhere), but that doesn't stop me from idly, and regularly, checking the Redfin listings in my area zip codes.  I have a few pet buildings where I'd like to live, but since the Seattle market is still in the doldrums, there's not a lot of stuff coming onto the market.  Expanding my circuit a little more, I found this uninspiring place today.

It's dull but serviceable on the outside, but the thing that really kills it for me is this half-hearted attempt to put in a jazzy window.  It's a dumb, pointless octagon, and then it has a dull, dull square mini-blind to cover it.  They should have at least just made it some ersatz stained-glass thing, since it's so pointless as a window.  Or better yet, this window should have been allowed to be its real self--a rectangle.

Happy Friday!

FOULARD: sign of quality

Crabby New Year to you!

Shouty!

Foulard HATES lifestyle manifestos!   Foulard likes people who quietly do exactly want they want to without having to stick it on their wall or share their trite, generic, middle class lifestyle tips with others.

The "manifesto"  above has apparently been circulating on "the internets" for a while.  I've seen a lot of similar things in blogs like Apartment Therapy--people with trendy apartments/condos often have some sort of quaint print on their wall that says something like "LOVE EVERY MOMENT OF LIFE." in an archaic/industrial typeface.  They're really just a reincarnation of this oldie, from the Jonathan Livingston Seagull/Listen to the Warm/Love Is era:

Pros: Not in ALL CAPS
Cons: Looks like it was hand-written by hobbits

I don't have an issue with new year's resolutions, and I really don't have a problem with being self-aware and self-determinitive.  The thing I like most is to be doing what I want to do (while being a nice person, of course).  The thing I hate is anyone telling me what to do or think--and these "prescription for happiness" things do just that.  It's like being hectored by a bullying hippie or someone who's just tumbled out of an EST retreat*.

*or Tom Cruise

Last minnit tree and cat

Holy infant, so tender and wild

"Thank you for this new toy"

Foulard got a late craving for an Xmas tree last weekend, so we got a fake one (discounted) at the drug store a block away from our apartment.  Now our place is very jolly!

***
And here's a little Christmas song:

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Summat and Nowt

I'm currently fascinated by Yorkshire accents. This sketch is a pretty good representation of what they sound like, though they occasionally slip up and say "the", which is not used in region.

Save Greendale!

R.I.P. Harry "Bill Gannon" Morgan

Now he's busting hippies in Heaven.  

Harry Morgan was quite funny on Dragnet, and one of the things that makes it watchable.  The characterization is actually more subtle than his turn as Col. Potter in M*A*SH.  There's a running joke about his character's obsession with wallpaper that's particularly rewarding...

More Xmas picks

I watched all 81 minutes of this last year, despite a stuttery video feed on the cable channel where I DVR'd it.  Luckily for Foulard readers, it's now available on Netflix--in HD, yet.

More normativity than you can shake a stick at

It's the story of an implausibly quaint small town in Alaska that does Christmas big time every year, until the heaviest Baldwin, Daniel, comes to town and starts cramping their style by invoking a little thing called separation of church and state.  What a cad!  He's a local boy who moved to the big city and has now returned to town to corrupt them with his "cosmopolitan" ways.  Ted McGinley plays the mayor, a solid family man who is weirdly fixated on setting up elaborate holiday displays in the town square, or any place that's city property.  He has a colorless wife, son, and daughter (she's the angel on the poster).  My favorite character is the guy played by "christian comedian" Brad Stine.  I originally thought he would turn out to be Jesus, because of his beard, but instead he's just some doofus brother-in-law to McGinley who does a "hilarious" rant against "the PC police" which was the highlight of the movie for me.   (He also has a concert video called "Tolerate This", which should show you where he's coming from)

Manic for Jesus

SPOILER ALERT:
It turns out that Daniel Baldwin is just causing all this trouble because he doesn't have a family to spend Xmas with.  That's right, he's the grinch.  And then he changes his mind and lets them put up their giant manger scene, or something like that.

Recommended for:
Masochists and people with an irrational paranoia about "the war on Christmas".

Foulard's holiday gift giving suggestions

You will be astonished at the looks on your loved ones' faces when they unwrap these little goodies on the holiday of your choosing.

Grow up, kids!

Is anyone else tired of seeing those dumb Guy Fawkes/V for Vendetta masks in all the photos of Occupy Wall Street etc. demonstrations?

I get it--you're a mysterious masked avenger striking fear into the heart of the corporations/fascist government etc.  Can't you pick something new?  Maybe something that's not from an overrated comic book turned into an overrrated movie starring Natalie Portman...expand your cultural literacy, posturing boy-men! (and girls)

It is jolly to go to the cinema!

Boring Headlines of Our Time

Rolling Stone names Hendrix best guitarist ever

Legendary musician Jimi Hendrix was named the greatest guitar player in history on Nov. 23 by Rolling Stone magazine in a list compiled by a panel of music experts and top guitar players.

I would have voted for "I.Q." from the Bugaloos, myself.

 

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Beating a Dead Objectivist

Okay, here's my third and final post on the terrible Atlas Shrugged movie.  But this is funny:

Atlas Productions LLC announced today its plan to replace more than 100,000 title sheets appearing on the Atlas Shrugged Part 1 DVD and Blu-ray versions sold through major retail outlets. These retail versions were packaged with an inaccurate synopsis of Atlas Shrugged. Not affected were the “Special Edition” versions sold online at AtlasShruggedMovie.com. 

The 1957 novel, Atlas Shrugged, is known in philosophical and political circles for presenting a cogent argument advocating a society driven by rational self-interest. On the back of the film's retail DVD and Blu-ray however, the movie’s synopsis contradictorily states “AYN RAND’s timeless novel of courage and self-sacrifice comes to life...” 

“It’s embarrassing for sure and of course, regardless of how or why it happened, we’re all feeling responsible right now.” says Scott DeSapio, Atlas Productions’ COO and Communications Director “You can imagine how mortified we all were when we saw the DVD but, it was simply too late - the product was already on shelves all over the Country. It was certainly no surprise when the incredulous emails ensued. The irony is inescapable.” 

DeSapio continued “Ultimately, the responsibility falls on us, Atlas Productions. We are putting policies in place now to ensure we avoid these types of unforced errors in the future.” 

Harmon Kaslow, CEO of Atlas Productions and Producer of the film stated “As we all well know, the ideas brought to life in Atlas Shrugged are entirely antithetical to the idea of ‘self-sacrifice’ as a virtue. Atlas is quite literally a story about the dangers of self-sacrifice. The error was an unfortunate one and fans of Ayn Rand and Atlas have every right to be upset... and we have every intention of making it right.” 

Here's my request--Instead of replacing the cover insert, can they just replace the DVD with a movie that's about the value of self-sacrifice?   Something a normal, well-socialized adult human being can relate to?