Blue Electric Room

Paul Reubens v Jean Rochefort

Fri, 17 May 2013 00:30:00 -0500

Paul Reubens v Jean Rochefort

Billy: Dad, when will the Visitors’ space ship take...

Tue, 14 May 2013 10:33:00 -0500

Billy: Dad, when will the Visitors’ space ship take off?

Dad: The Visitors will let us know. I think it will be soon.

Billy: They promised to send another ship back to take us to their world. Do you believe them?

Dad: Yes. The first ship will take only Mommies and very small children. Then the men and boys will have their turn. You remember what they told us at the town meeting last month, right?

Billy: Are people in other towns leaving Earth too?

Dad: We don’t know what is happening in other towns.

Billy: Because the Visitors turned all the radios off?

Dad: That’s right.

Billy: Why can’t we go to another town and find out?

Dad: It makes the Visitors unhappy. They want us to stay here so we can be organized. They are just trying to help us stay together.

Billy: At the town meeting when I tried to ask about Aunt Susan in Springville I could only hear the Visitors’ thoughts in my ears, and my head hurt and I felt sick.

Dad: The Visitors want us to have nice thoughts. We should think about only nice things.

Billy: Can they hear us right now?

Dad: I can hear you, Billy. That’s what matters. And we will see Mommy and Carol again.

Billy: What about all the old people, and all the animals?

Dad: The Visitors will tell us what we need to know. They want us to be happy, remember? Let’s be happy.

Showing up after midnight to catch them will only strengthen...

Tue, 14 May 2013 03:04:06 -0500

Showing up after midnight to catch them will only strengthen their resolve. You can stand there until the sun comes up, but these mannequins won’t budge or blink until you are well out of earshot. They can outlast you. They always have.

photo: Samuel Gottscho source: Shorpy

Today’s Motivational Devotional: Winning and Losing All...

Sun, 05 May 2013 09:49:34 -0500

Today’s Motivational Devotional: Winning and Losing

All the positive-thinking gurus agree that it’s not whether you win or lose, but how you play the game. That explains why they keep track of how many errors you make in baseball.

As I mentioned last December regarding the Pacific Telephone...

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 00:20:00 -0500

As I mentioned last December regarding the Pacific Telephone Magazine, those long-forgotten phone company publications now function as indicators of what we lost. Compare this with the bill you receive next month from your phone service provider, and then stop wondering why the connections drop out so often, or why you can’t reach a human being in customer service. Sometimes you can judge a book by its cover.

Women With the Top Down update: Wouldn’t you like to know...

Sat, 20 Apr 2013 09:05:35 -0500

Women With the Top Down update: Wouldn’t you like to know what Suzy Parker, the legendary redhead from Texas, is shooting with that little camera as she scoots around Ceylon in a 1951 MG TD?

photo by Georges Dambier

Am I the only one excited about this week’s announcement...

Sat, 20 Apr 2013 08:34:09 -0500

Am I the only one excited about this week’s announcement of the iPod Retro? It’s a bit unwieldy for folks on the go, but the chunky design scheme and the music’s warm tones really do harken back to that era of the hit single. The clever thing also boasts an intriguing fragrance—a barely perceptible hint of burning wire—which I find absolutely intoxicating.

The upcoming release of The Great Gatsby got me to thinking...

Sat, 20 Apr 2013 08:20:00 -0500

The upcoming release of The Great Gatsby got me to thinking about how, even during the prosperity and all-around giddiness of the Jazz Age, there was plenty to worry about. Sure, you might be an oil baron or a stock market wizard, but as a bald, deaf guy sporting a funny-shaped nose and bad skin, you probably won’t be dancing the Charleston, at least not with those knock knees. That’s assuming you even have two knees.

image: Popular Mechanics

I’ve not kept a close eye on recent developments in the...

Wed, 27 Mar 2013 20:47:41 -0500

I’ve not kept a close eye on recent developments in the marriage equality issue, but I think I know enough to suspect that lesbian nuptials could result in the sort of activity we see in this illustration. I certainly hope so, at least.

image: Agence Eureka; artist: Gabriel Raymond Lambert, aka Raylambert

There is much to admire about LIFE photographer Nina Leen. Her...

Wed, 27 Mar 2013 02:33:08 -0500

There is much to admire about LIFE photographer Nina Leen. Her early work (and personal life) revealed a deep affection for the world’s non-human creatures; she could capture in a few shots the essence of teenage behavior (at a time when the very concept of teenage subculture was a new idea); Leen kept an ever-alert eye for the playful side of feminine beauty. Her least-appreciated but most intriguing contribution is a small, yet wonderful, notion: a pretty girl is most appealing when she’s in her bare feet.

Movie Haiku of the Week: Monty Python and the Holy...

Wed, 27 Mar 2013 01:22:00 -0500

Movie Haiku of the Week: Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Medieval England

defined by a single line:

‘tis a silly place.

Another teachable moment from the Golden Era of Advertising. The...

Tue, 19 Mar 2013 11:53:00 -0500

Another teachable moment from the Golden Era of Advertising. The ballyhoo boys at Kraft are attempting to convey the notion that the product in question is more than good cheese, and not strictly with their tag line. Notice that this couple is only just now emerging from the gray, flavorless realm that was their life before they tore into the Cracker Barrel cheddar. The coffee is slowing brewing from gray into rich brown; the cheese is already lending its blazing Technicolor yellow to the crackers on the newly red-rimmed plate—this is how Dorothy exited monochrome Kansas to enter multi-hued Oz, please recall. Better still, the fairer half of this couple is offering a bright smile, while the gentleman raises an eyebrow in contemplation of that “real pleasure” he’s about to enjoy. So it’s proof positive that Kraft cheese actually does make life better; the change is like switching from black and white to full color.

image: The Saturday Evening Post

Top image: a romantic interlude that bears an uncanny...

Fri, 15 Mar 2013 15:55:00 -0500

Top image: a romantic interlude that bears an uncanny resemblance to the evening I met my sweetie. Bottom image: our wedding ceremony, largely speaking. That turban still fits me.

When Things Were Special

Mon, 11 Mar 2013 21:31:49 -0500

I remember when Coca-Cola tasted good. Really good, because it was always in a glass bottle, or poured from that bottle over ice into a glass that was made out of glass, too. It was better that way, and truly refreshing. But the best part was that Coke was free. That’s right. Anywhere you went (restaurant, gas station, drugstore, the state fair) Coke was like water—it occurred in nature, so they couldn’t charge you for it. Sometimes a uniformed driver for the Coca-Cola Company would pull up to the curb in a big shiny truck and leave a free case on the front porch. Coke was special then. Today it comes in plastic jugs and they charge you for it.

Going to the hospital used to be a real treat. When we went to the pediatrician for our vaccinations, we got to wear tiny doctor or nurse uniforms with our names on them. Not only could we play with the stethoscope, we could take it home. Because it was ours, too. There were no needles; all vaccinations were delivered via sugar cube, which was appropriate, because Walt Disney was usually on the premises with Julie Andrews, who remained in character as Mary Poppins while singing “A Spoonful of Sugar.” It was a huge event. Sometimes Mickey Mouse would make an appearance, and you always went home with a year’s supply of movie tickets, a summer pass to Disneyland, and a box of bubble gum. One hundred pieces, I think it was.

I remember when TV game shows meant something. What they meant was that everybody was a winner. The studio audience got one each of whatever the contestant won that day. The first ten callers to the local affiliate station got the same prizes. You didn’t even have to dial to reach the station, because back then the operator just patched you through: “Cora, get me ‘Let’s Make a Deal.’” Better still, answers to next week’s “Jeopardy” always arrived in the mail on Fridays. Games were fun then. Today they’re all about eating bugs.

Elementary school was fun back in the day. The buses were actually hovercraft, and our playground was a petting zoo. Classes started at about 10 in the morning, and you could leave anytime after the second arts and crafts class, unless you were a seventh grader and had to stay until one o’clock for darts or table tennis. Homework? What’s that?

I remember when going to the ice cream parlor was special. Twenty-five cents got you a lifetime, unlimited pass for hot fudge sundaes with extra whipped cream. Plus, they smothered them with nuts and cherries. That’s cherries, plural. Not “a cherry on top.” Think about it.

Radio used to be cool. That’s because stations played any song you wanted to hear the very moment you tuned in. Whatever you were thinking, or humming, or whistling to yourself, it was somehow the next song. For example, think of Burt Bacharach, and suddenly “Walk On By” came out of the speaker. (Or it might be “Do You Know the Way to San Jose?” It wasn’t a perfect system.) Say “Neil Young” or “Peter Frampton” out loud, and you instantly got two FM classics back to back. You could actually whisper the names and it still worked. Even cooler, anytime I thought of James Bond, the theme from Goldfinger was immediately blaring from my FM portable. I still don’t know how they did that, but it was better than what radio stations do today.

Breakfast cereal was, at one time, a wonderful thing. The prize was not stuffed into the box, but a receipt for your prize was. Then you took that receipt back to the store to get your real pony or your real helicopter, or your real circus tent. Complete with circus, by the way.

I’m old enough to recall when high school was extra neato. Pizza Hut operated the cafeteria; a special effects crew from MGM handled senior proms. Every sophomore was issued a low-mileage used Mustang or Beetle, and on graduation day seniors received brand-new Pontiacs. Best of all, demands for excellence weren’t being crammed down everybody’s throat. For example, if a teacher gave a pop quiz, he or she was brought to the auditorium for a student assembly, and a tribunal of the most popular seniors decided how the “educator” was to be punished. Sometimes students hurled old fruit and vegetables (or wet paper towels from the restroom) at the guilty teacher. Guess who had to clean up the mess? The jocks. It was awesome.

I liked it better when all the sidewalks, streets, and highways were made out of marble. It was a little risky on rainy days, but it sure was pretty.

Speaking of rain, I actually remember when the weather didn’t suck. We couldn’t exactly control the seasons back then, but we did get to choose the average temperature. Everyone had outdoor thermostats linked to the local weather station. Dial up 71 degrees on a May afternoon and you had yourself a pretty nice day. Picnic plans? Let the weather guy know in advance and he handled it. Today it’s all about tsunamis and F-5 tornadoes and random crap.

Not so long ago, for their 19th birthday young men were taken to the home of the hottest single woman in the neighborhood. That very evening she introduced the lucky lad to physical love, its nuances, and its rockin’ possibilities. Then the two went out for pizza, and she paid for everything. That was back when things were special. Today, the young guy has to take the hot woman out to dinner, and he might not even get lucky.

Women With the Top Down update: The darkly mysterious and...

Wed, 06 Mar 2013 21:42:17 -0600

Women With the Top Down update:

The darkly mysterious and reclusive Vogue model Anne St. Marie draws our attention to—and from—a 1958 Chrysler Crown Imperial convertible (Ermine exterior with Ritz Red interior). I have only five things to say about this car and this woman: Wow.

Seduced and Abandoned (Pietro Germi, 1964) Reservoir Dogs...

Wed, 27 Feb 2013 15:20:22 -0600

Seduced and Abandoned (Pietro Germi, 1964)

Reservoir Dogs (Quentin Tarantino, 1992)

Draw your own conclusions.

Girls at Roosevelt High in L.A. training in marksmanship, circa...

Tue, 26 Feb 2013 15:54:50 -0600

Girls at Roosevelt High in L.A. training in marksmanship, circa early 1940s. Not such a new idea after all, I guess. The payoff during those years was nifty; the spring break trip to Paris afforded an opportunity to join La Résistance Française. Or so I assume.

Photo by Alfred Palmer

source: Shorpy

Today’s Motivational Devotional: New environs; new...

Fri, 22 Feb 2013 13:27:01 -0600

Today’s Motivational Devotional: New environs; new ideas!

Retreating to a new space for a brainstorming session allows you and your team to escape the rigid office confines, the emails and phones, and the tired atmosphere of the same-old same-old. After all, it’s not your creative energy that has fallen behind; it’s the office space. Keep telling your team that.

photo: LIFE

My best guess as to why the classic science fiction and fantasy...

Sun, 17 Feb 2013 23:43:00 -0600

My best guess as to why the classic science fiction and fantasy publications vanished? Such literature clearly calls for an emphasis on mammary and phallic imagery, and the illustrators of the era were reluctant to take matters too far.

artist: Earle Bergey

For Valentine’s Day, I have in mind some grand gesture....

Wed, 13 Feb 2013 11:53:00 -0600

For Valentine’s Day, I have in mind some grand gesture. Something unexpected, and yet instantly recognizable as an effort guided by both romance and Romance.