While I am on the subject of awesome teenagers from the 1970s I happened upon the website for photographer Joseph Szabo.(The url is photosofteenagers.com he must have been a serious internet pioneer to score that one)This image must be his most famous at least among grunge fans who know it as the cover of the Dinosaur Jr. Green Mind album. His other photos are also very amazing. He seems to have several books of his photos Almost Grown, Teenager, Jones Beach and Rolling Stones Fans but they seem to be out of print. I am going to keep an out for them on ebay.
I watchedOver the Edge this weekend and am now prime for teenage rebellion. Apparently it was Kurt Cobain's favorite movie and was an inspiration for the Smells Like Teen Spirit video, though that must have been just another in the series of many disappointments for ol' Kurt since that video has nowhere near the amount of awesome anarchy and destruction as the movie. The movie was made in 1979 based on "Mouse Packs: Kids On A Crime Spree" a story from the San Francisco Examiner by Charlie Haas about trouble making teens in 1970s Foster City, California. There doesn't seem to be a copy of it anywhere online and it seems people have been trying really hard to find it. I found this Foster City message board looking for anyone who remembers the original incidents. The film never had a theatrical release because it was deemed to violent and incendiary but played on HBO in the 80s.The basic premise is that this planned community in the middle of nowhere forgot to put in a bowling alley or skating rink and now the teens have nothing to do. Guess what they turn to? Drugs! Sex! Violence! Vandalism!
Over the Edge was Matt Dillon's film debut. I guess tough guys were really pretty and wore mid-drift bearing cut-off sweatshirts back then. The teachers call an emergency PTA meeting is held to discuss what to do about the crazy kids but the children all band together and lock the adults in the cafetorium. (I think the use of the word cafetorium was one of my favorite parts of the whole movie.)They then proceed to blow up all their cars and destroy the school.It's probably the most amazing depiction of teenage anarchy of all time. It's not all mindless destruction and guilt pleasures though. I have a feeling someone was reading some heavy theory due to quotes like this: "Seems to me like you all were in such a hopped-up hurry to get out of the city that you turned your kids into exactly what you were trying to get away from." All these images are from the amazing Tribute Site which includes tons of gems including photos of a scale diorama of the entire set that some genius made.Oh also, this kid is mute for some reason. (Maybe because 'any kid who tells on another kid is a dead kid")
Okay so maybe Marc Jacobs hasn't named a bag after me yet, but my google alert led me to several designers who are obviously inspired by my effortless grace and glamor. Helena de Natalio 'Leti' Bag. $356 It's made from "buttery leather from Argentina" of course. Taryn Rose 'Leti' Shoes. $465
bBoss Hugo Boss 'Letizia' Jeans $189 Miss Sixty 'Letizia' Boots $131.10
Little Miss Sunshine was on cable the other day and it solidified my intense girl crush on Abigail Breslin. For some reason she just makes me wish I could be a little girl again and be best friends with her. I remember a few months ago Jezebel posted a photo of her in a normal jeans and t-shirt outfit with the caption "Dear Abigail Breslin: Don't Ever Change" and I was like YES! Remember when she presented at the Oscars with Will Smith's son when he messed up and she totally saved him. She is just the best. I know White Lightening agrees.
She is just everything that is awesome about being a little girl with out any of the grossness that makes Bratz dolls a thing that exist. Please, please don't let her turn into Tatum O'Neil, or LiLo. I mean don't get me wrong I LOVE Tatum but she has been through the ringer.
So the Kit Kittredge movie has brought up a lot of American Girl nostalgia for me. Personally, I was a Samantha girl (the Victorian girl with brown hair and bangs, big surprise). I never had any of the outfits or accessories but I remember pouring over the catalog swooning over the accessories and the little fake food for her birthday party.
Her school stuff! Birthday party stuff Her lunch. My sister was a Molly girl. Molly was from 1944. The school stuff gets me every time. I have a weakness for fake food. Now for those of you that might not understand an American girl doll are around 2 feet tall which means all this stuff is like 10 times bigger than any of Barbie's stuff. By some weird loophole in laws of cute this stuff, although way bigger than Barbies stuff the American Girl stuff is somehow a million times cuter. Don't ask me to explain because there are super complicated equations involved. We need a 10 hour mini-series about the making of the American Girl dolls from the first spark of an idea to how they designed and styled the fake food and notebook. I would Tivo that for sure.
There are a bunch of new dolls that didn't exist when I was a girl that I am drooling over. A seventies girl from San Francisco, a Mexican girl named Josefina, and a Nez Perce girl growing up in 1764, she has a teepee and everything.
I wrote a review of this Alistair Gordon's book about crash pads and crazy hippie dwellings for Cool Hunting. Click here to read it. Keren and I went to the release party at Ramscale this insane penthouse on the West Side Highway. It had the feel of being at a California graduation party, with proud old hippies mingling happily with the younger generation.
I nearly died when Keren presented me with one of these peace sign cookies. They are made by Flour Power Bakery in Livingston Springs. I doubt they deliver, so I might have to make the trek to wherever that is to get more. Oakley Munson of The Rondelles and The Witnesses fame played and of course I heard more than one of the older guest murmur something about Bob Dylan. He played some Velvet Underground for the old folks and then his band Puddintang! played and the old hippies danced. We didn't get a photo but we did get the cute mini-groupies. The bathroom. You can't see the huge spa tub with a crazy view of the river but trust me it was epic. Also you can't tell but I was talking on the telephone that was conveniently installed there. Is that Julian Schnabels Palazzo Chupi I spied from the window? I think the unit that Bono and Maddona rejected is still on the market.
