by The show ended eight years ago and they still crowd Perry Street every day, taking pictures of Carrie’s apartment. Oh wow, check out red shirt guy’s hair.
Is anyone watching Newsroom? In the first episode, the main character reacts to a bunch of people saying America is the greatest country on earth. He says:
“We’re seventh in literacy, 27th in math, 22nd in science, 49th in life expectancy, 178th in infant mortality, third in median household income, number four in labor force, and number four in exports.”
I was wondering which to address first and it’s almost impossible to decide. You need to be literate to improve in math and science, which would lift the last three, but more than anything else, you need to be alive to do any of those things.
Check out his ears, too!
I can’t look at his ears. There’s a guy on So You Think You Can Dance, and he has ears like that and I want him eliminated so I can stop having to not look at his ears!
When I was in my teens in the 1970s my mother used to look at my outfits (esp. the jeans that I’d patched up to look exactly like Neil Young’s on After The Gold Rush) and she’s say, “It’s like you’re trying to look ugly on purpose!” And of course I thought I looked incredibly hot and artistic and interesting and deep.
Now I see these kids with these ear plugs and their nose bars and I think the same thing. And that makes me feel old, oh, so old. So yeah, I hate these kids too.
Haha. Stupid kids.
I’d like to think that if more of us actually knew the stats about infant mortality, literacy etc, there would be mass public outrage, marching in the streets, demands that the “richest country in the world” do better. Then I listen to the current politics and see the line-ups for Chic-Fil-A and that hear that “The Jersey Shore” has spawned a spin-off called “Snookie & Jwoww” and I lose all faith. Not to mention that most people don’t want to hear it. They just want to shout “We’re Number One!” and if you dare to argue the facts you are unpatriotic.
sigh.
I’d like to think that if more of us actually knew the stats about infant mortality, literacy etc, there would be mass public outrage, marching in the streets, demands that the “richest country in the world” do better. Then I listen to the current politics and see the line-ups for Chic-Fil-A and hear that “The Jersey Shore” has spawned a spin-off called “Snookie & Jwoww” and I lose all faith. Not to mention that most people don’t want to hear it. They just want to shout “We’re Number One!” and if you dare to argue the facts you are unpatriotic.
sigh.
Vivian, you probably did look at least somewhat hot, artistic, and interesting, although needless to say, not even a little deep, given that it’s hard to come up with anything more superficial than fashion accessories, like tears in your jeans. Obviously I’m biased, being of the same era, but that look still works; you can see lots of kids wearing it; it has even become institutionalized. You can buy jeans that look exactly like that now. Of course, that dilutes the impact, but the culture as a whole has absorbed that fashion idea and it has lasted, what?, fifty years?
Distended earlobes are not the same thing. Back then, everybody in the extended, commercialized hippie culture recognized the “meaning” of artfully torn jeans. Not so the gauged earlobes (that’s what they’re called, btw, I assume because you use progressively larger gauges of steel objects to achieve that look).
While anybody can see, at least theoretically, even if you don’t appreciate them yourself, how piercings and tattoos can be sexy/cool, I have the impression that most of the kids in the body-modification culture, people with piercings and tattoos, think the earlobe thing looks ridiculous too.
So, no, those earlobes are not like torn jeans. They are neither hot nor sexy; they are the clown shoes of body modification.
And also, of course, you can’t really change out of them when you get a little older, look in the mirror, and realize you’ve made a huge mistake.
Some piercings still freak me out, although I’ve come around on tattoos. I love how Anthony Ervin’s tattooed arms look (Olympic swimmer, I’m still watching them all day long, not sleeping).
I didn’t know these extended earlobe things had a name, so thanks.
I wonder if these kids are either a)B&T crowd or b) tourists or c) kids whose mommy and daddy support their NYC life.
Funny how what used to be signs of rebellion evolved into fashion…
But it was both fashion and rebellion at the beginning. For instance, in the sixties/seventies, we were rebelling, but we also thought we looked great (as Vivian said).
Nadine, I didn’t mean to comment around your comment. I agree. I blame the news media in part. They pound us with election coverage all the time now, not just around election time. If they pounded us with stories about this, I believe it would have an effect.
Yes, some piercings make me shudder too, but still, I appreciate them theoretically. There are lots of subcultural looks that don’t speak to me, but I still sort of admire people who go full-on goth, say, or even a contemporary dandy (of either sex) who goes to a lot of trouble to create a perfect look. I might think they’re idiots for devoting their time, effort, and money to their appearance, but they make cool background details.