Although modern times are full of convenience, there is still something almost inexplicably charming about certain eras past. And thanks to pop culture and the windows it provides us into the past, even many who were born not so long ago might find themselves longing for the “good old days” of simpler, “golden-era” western culture. And the James Bond franchise can inspire these longing feelings...
A long time ago when I was a lot younger I used to feel sorry for people in the southern hemisphere who never saw snow, much less a white Christmas. I thought to myself, “how could they possibly get into the holiday spirit when it was still warm enough to wear shorts and t-shirts?” I truly felt bad for them not knowing what a “true”...
I love Halloween. Ever since I was a kid, Halloween has meant an exploration of my most personal Jungian archetypes wrapped in a gloomy shroud of adventure. All the tropes of gothic horror and Halloween – haunted houses, gothic cemeteries, werewolves, ghosts, vampires – have tapped my subconscious in ways I’ll probably never fully understand. Of course, I didn’t know that when I was eight....
Unless you’re an Angeleno, you’ve probably never heard of Pacific Ocean Park. Even then, you’d have to be of a certain age to remember it. However, if you’re a fan of vintage American TV, you’ve probably seen it: You saw it when Martin Milner’s character took a job at P.O.P. on Route 66 (“Between Hello And Goodbye;” 1962). You saw it when Jack Klugman chased...
Lounge Revivalists dream of romantic mystery. It’s why we buy all those Exotica and Space Age Pop records. We dream of idyllic unexplored islands or far-flung planets away from problematic modern lives. It doesn’t matter that those places couldn’t possibly exist. We need them to exist. And, with a dream and a good stereo, we hope to will them into existence. Korla Pandit was the...
Watching a modern cartoon and then watching a vintage Looney Tunes cartoon is like eating dinner at burger stand in a town full of steak houses; there’s no comparison. In 1930 Warner Brothers Pictures released the first Looney Tunes cartoon. A decade later or so, Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck are fighting the axis and playing on African-American racial stereotypes. But let’s start from the...
“I’ll see you at the luncheonette” is not a phrase most people hear anymore in America and most people wouldn’t even recognize the term luncheonette. A luncheonette is similar to a diner, but is not a diner – the biggest differences being that a diner has a larger range of food and is a full restaurant. The main focus of a luncheonette was to serve...
