This week, Americans celebrate our independence by grilling burgers and hot dogs, drinking domestic beer, and setting off explosions in the sky. I don’t quite get it either, but it’s the American Way. And I do love me some ice cold Miller High Life! I could descend into a lengthy rant about the current state … Continue reading Marilyn, Fireworks, and the Fourth
Category: Vintage
From the Vault: Video Killed the Rental Store
This post originally appeared at my old blog in 2016 and appears here in slightly sofferent form. Did you appreciate the video rental store while you had it? Probably not. Instead, you simply spent nearly every Friday and Saturday night wandering around inside its walls, looking for VHS treasures to rent. You'd browse intently, as … Continue reading From the Vault: Video Killed the Rental Store
Random Image Dump #10
For the tenth edition of this series, I’ve gathered together a cornucopia of vintage photographs and art to celebrate. This post is positively sizzling hot and worthy of being the tenth in a series that allows me to look at pretty pictures and (mostly) take a break from writing! In that spirit, and without further … Continue reading Random Image Dump #10
Super Threads: Five Best Live-Action Super Costumes
When lifelong comic book fans get together they are prone to go down rabbit holes, like, “Name the best X-Men artists of all time” or, “Give me your best Batman stories ever.” I’m as guilty as any comics geek when it comes to this tendency to go list-crazy. Recently I was thinking about a comics … Continue reading Super Threads: Five Best Live-Action Super Costumes
Calendar Girl: Julie London for May
For May’s Calendar Girl track, Julie London sings wistfully of how “People Born in May” love deeply, consequences be damned. They’re also apparently always searching for someone born in July. Why? Your guess is as good as mine, but it’s another delightful tune made memorable by Ms. London’s trademark smoky, sexy vocals. Her May pinup … Continue reading Calendar Girl: Julie London for May
Play Ball
Before the Super Bowl I waxed nostalgic about growing up watching football with my father and how the sport doesn’t hold a lot of appeal to me since he passed away. The same holds true for “America’s pastime,” baseball. In 1951, Marilyn Monroe, know as “the Blonde Bombshell” batted a stellar .327 with 28 home … Continue reading Play Ball
Queen Bettie: The Artist’s Muse
As I’ve mentioned previously, fine artists and comic book artists in the 1970s and 1980s were largely responsible for rediscovering Bettie Page’s modeling work, decades after she’d retreated out of view. Comic book folks really elevated Bettie to the iconic status she’s enjoyed ever since. Artists Robert Blue in Los Angeles and Olivia de Beredinis … Continue reading Queen Bettie: The Artist’s Muse






