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Drunk History Vol. 6: NIKOLA TESLA!

Been a while since I watched one of these, and this one rocked. Features John C. Reilly and Crispin Glover!

A defense of hipsterism

I found this on urban dictionary of all places, but it's a really smart and well written short essay on hipsterism and it's virtues. Thought I'd share.

Hipsters are a subculture of men and women typically in their 20's and 30's that value independent thinking, counter-culture, progressive politics, an appreciation of art and indie-rock, creativity, intelligence, and witty banter. The greatest concentrations of hipsters can be found living in the Williamsburg, Wicker Park, and Mission District neighborhoods of major cosmopolitan centers such as New York, Chicago, and San Francisco respectively. Although "hipsterism" is really a state of mind,it is also often intertwined with distinct fashion sensibilities. Hipsters reject the culturally-ignorant attitudes of mainstream consumers, and are often be seen wearing vintage and thrift store inspired fashions, tight-fitting jeans, old-school sneakers, and sometimes thick rimmed glasses. Both hipster men and women sport similar androgynous hair styles that include combinations of messy shag cuts and asymmetric side-swept bangs. Such styles are often associated with the work of creative stylists at urban salons, and are usually too "edgy" for the culturally-sheltered mainstream consumer. The "effortless cool" urban bohemian look of a hipster is exemplified in Urban Outfitters and American Apparel ads which cater towards the hipster demographic. Despite misconceptions based on their aesthetic tastes, hipsters tend to be well educated and often have liberal arts degrees, or degrees in maths and sciences, which also require certain creative analytical thinking abilities. Consequently many hipsters tend to have jobs in the music, art, and fashion industries. It is a myth that most hipsters are unemployed and live off of their parent's trust funds.

Hipsters shun mainstream societal conventions that apply to dating preferences and traditional "rules" of physical attraction. It is part of the hipster central dogma not to be influenced by mainsream advertising and media, which tends to only promote ethnocentric ideals of beauty. The concepts of androgyny and feminism have influenced hipster culture, where hipster men are often as thin as the women they date. The muscular and athletic all-American male ideal is not seen as attractive by confident and culturally-empowered hipster women who instead view them as symbols of male oppression, sexism, and misogyny. Likewise, culturally-vapid sorority-type girls with fake blond hair, overly tanned skin, and "Britney Spears tube-tops" are not seen as attractive by cultured hipster males who instead see them as symbols of female insecurity, low self-esteem, and lack of cultural intelligence and independent thinking. Hipsters are also very racially open-minded, and the greatest number of interracial couples in any urban environment are typically found within the hipster subculture.

Although hipsters are technically conformists within their own subculture, in comparison to the much larger mainstream mass, they are pioneers and leaders of the latest cultural trends and ideals. For example, the surge of jeans made to look old and worn (i.e. "distressed"), that have become prevalent at stores such as The Gap, American Eagle, Abercrombie and Fitch, and Hollister, were originally paraded by hipsters who shopped in thrift stores years before such clothing items were mass produced and sold to the mainstream consumer. The true irony here is that many of the detractors of hipster culture are in fact unknowingly following a path that hipsters have carved out years before them. This phenomena also applies to music as well, as many bands have become successful and known to mainstream audiences only because hipsters first found and listened to them as early-adopters of new culture. Once certain concepts of fashion and music have reached mainstream audiences, hipsters move on to something new and improved.

Because of the rise of various online photo-blog and social networking sites, insights into urban hipster culture is reaching sheltered suburban audiences at an exponential rate. Cultural "norms" have been deconstructed by hipster culture as a whole. Hipsterism is often dismissed as just an image thing by some, but the culture as a whole is effecting changes in society, leading to feelings of insecurity and resentment in people who are no longer a part of the cultural ruling class. For example, a lot of anti-hipster sentiment evidently comes from culturally-clueless suburban frat boy types who feel that the more sensitive, intelligent, and culturally aware hipster ideal threatens their insecure sense of masculinity. Anti-hipster sentiment often comes from people who simply can't keep up with social change and are envious of those who can.

by Trey Parasuco

Randy Told Me to Use the Blog Hog Tag

I've got a showing at Bennu through April. It's on the wall now! Go get your ass down there and check out some of my work on the wall! Ya know, if you want to.

It's for sale too. Hint, hint. Just kidding... Kinda... Maybe...

how get there?

D3, did you eat a bowl of sugar?

I think you ate a bowl of sugar.

And speaking of Star Wars...

...let's talk about the epic Phantom Menace video review making the rounds.

Yes, it's 70 minutes long. 70 FOOKIN' MINUTES!!

But here's the thing. After I decided to watch a few minutes on a whim the other day, certain it'd be overkill. I was wrong. I became addicated and watched the entire thing in one fell swoop. I found it to be one of the funniest, most awesome things I've seen all year. It builds and builds on itself and the editing is amazing. It is, without a doubt, the most hilarious, insightful overview of the prequel trilogy ever.

Here, then, is the review in its entirety. I highly suggest giving it at least an episode or two if you've got some Star Wars love (or hate).

Microsoft's Zune = Morality Police?

What I'm Thankful For:

Internet Snark

Muppets

Zooey Deschanel (and to a lesser extent, Joseph Gordon Levitt)

"Smells Like Teen Spirit" finally on Rock Band (I'd be thankful for Night Ranger, too, but they left off "Sister Christian." What. The. Fuck. I'm not paying for Night Ranger's other songs, I'm only paying to play their cheesiest anthem ever.)

Happy Thanksgiving, everybody!

And now for some Disney horror

Disney's the last place you'd look to for horror, but it seems like they're going there. There's a new Wii-exclusive game coming out under the working title of EPIC MICKEY. It features dystopian Disney settings and eerie, steampunk versions of their characters. I'm posting early concept art for it, and here's the game's premise:

Before Walt Disney created Mickey Mouse, there was Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. That's actual history, not just some made-up shit, but the game's using his obscurity as its springboard. The conceit is that once upon a time, Mickey inadvertantly spilled paint thinner onto the magical model of Oswald's world, unknowingly leaving it scarred and twisted. Mickey goes on to fame and fortune, but Oswald and his people languish in this hellish Disney World, culminating in the kidnapping of Mickey to take revenge on him in their world.

Here are some glimpses of that world...

(click to enlarge)

12 oz roll of sausage? Fuck that.

When Jimmy Dean Sausages went from 16 ounces to 12 ounces, this man had a problem. Listen, won't you, to the call he made to their consumer feedback line...

(the coda, after he thinks he's hung up, is priceless)

More Bad Music News

Lynyrd Skynyrd is re-re-uniting with a new comeback-again album. Bad, why? I'll tell ya. The new vocalist has a Chad Kroeger-esque singing style, and the album sounds like a mix of Nickleback and Brooks & Dunn. And people wonder why I stopped listening to the radio.

On a side note, I hope Dave has more positive music news to make me feel better about this one.

Zombieland!

New movie coming out, zombie comedy with Woody Harrelson. Looks like fun, and these teasers cracked me up.

THE CORPS

Since a number of us took the "Which Lantern Corps Are You?" quiz a few weeks back, I thought I'd provide some follow-up visuals. Here're pin-ups of all the factions, taken from an upcoming Free Comic Book Day special:

(sorry for the biggie post)

THE GREEN LANTERNS - straight up heroes