LATFH (Look at these facebook Hipsters)

Indie job perks

I work at an independent bookstore. Now that may SEEM like the hippest job ever (beat only by working at an independent bookstore in Brooklyn), but I'm going to bust that myth. Perhaps it's because I spend my days on the phone with teachers and publishers...but on a daily basis, my job is anything but hip. In fact, I'd come to the conclusion that the only hip thing about my job is the hepcatmosphere created by the employees, their conversations filled with obscure music and movie references, talk of late night comedy and local vegetable and dairy farms, and many, many book discussions.

Yet yesterday I became aware of a job perk even more heptastic than my new urban outfitters oxfords. I get free book advances! Books written by great authors that still have grammatical mistakes in them! How crazy is that? And amongst the many books I schlepped home, the absolute best was a book of short stories. Shorts stories are my favorite kinds of stories, by the way. But not just any short stories, unpublished short stories by the late Kurt Vonnegut. The best part? The foreward is written by none other than the indie-beloved Dave Eggers. Be jealous. Or, be lucky enough to be my friend and I'll let you borrow it before the book's tentative release date in late January.

Molly Ringwald is such a fucking hipster

Just now I turned on the TV and decided to watch the Ringwald classic ("classic" is used loosely here) Pretty in Pink while waiting for Modern Family to start. Now I don't remember much about this movie except when Ringwald makes her own prom dress out of a few hideous pink dresses (how hip/DIY of her!), but I just HAPPENED to flip to the right channel (Women's Entertainment...) at the exact right moment. Molly is working in a store (record store, perhaps?) and in walks this preppy boy she's in love with, hereafter referred to as Chip because I can't remember his name.
Chip: I didn't like that album
Molly: What?
Chip: The record. I thought it was a little too..
Molly: Too hip, maybe.
Chip: Yeah, a little too hip.
Molly: Well..
Chip: Think you can recommend something else? A little less political?
And the conversation continues briefly to artists like Lionel Richie and Madonna, but look how hip Molly Ringwald is! She's so hip that she can say an album is "too hip" ironically. Plus, you should see some of her outfits. If only she weren't currently starring in "The Secret Lives of an American Teenager", it's really cramping her style.

Is this Real Life?

Just thought I'd share some news items I discovered on my bus ride this morning that made me wonder what planet I'm on:

An armless pianist won "China's Got Talent".  In other news, America is screwed.

Lil Wayne will be packaging his album "I am Not a Human Being" with Defjam's new Rapstar videogame, which will only be available at BestBuy.  I guess his jail time has reformed him into a sell-out.

Speaking of sell-outs, Florence and the Machine will perform tonight on "Dancing With the Stars". I guess her hep days are over, her hip days are done.

Marisa Miller is the NFL's newest spokesperson. That's not really that unbeliveable, more awesome.  Plus it gives me an excuse to post this.

Malaysia's Islamic opposition party are demanding that an Adam Lambert concert be cancelled for "promoting gay culture". He's not gay, he's just a hipster.

For all you WannaBiebers out there (I'm talking to you Magnus and Tom Brady), now you can be just like Justin with Biebs' new line of nailpolish.  Seriously?

Rolling Stone Magazine

Rolling Stone Magazine Sucks. Does anyone even read it anymore? I flipped through it the other day and thought I was reading a campaign ad for Obama. Jesus Christ on a Cross it was horrible. The mention of music has gone way way way down, not to mention rock music in general. The state of rock is in such disarray its depressing. I remember when being on the cover used to be a big deal. Now I think they raffle it off the third Sunday of every month at the local bingo hall. Its disheartening for a number of reasons. First, the number of quality bands out there is anemic. The ones that are still worth a spin either haven't come out with material in half a decade or simply aren't touring to reach their fans. I know Weezer is doing a tour playing their two greatest albums, Blue and Pinkerton from cover to cover in back to back nights. However when I went online to pick up tickets I found myself shortchanged when the total price per ticket ranged from 75 to 90 dollars. Thats a lotta beans and it only further distances the band from their audience of fans as many of them don't have the necessary currency to fork over. Maybe I'm nostalgic but perhaps rock music is not what it once was. The likes of MTV have cornered it in an alley and sodomized it, leaving it to walk among us in shame.

Vintage Hep Cats/Hipster of the Moment

VINTAGE!

Hipster of the Moment:

BLOSSOM DEARIE

Who: American Jazz Singe/Pianist; popular during Big Band/Bebop era

D.O.B.: April 28, 1924

How Hip is She:

The song says it all. She's always on the scene. She gets her kicks watching arty French flicks with her shades on (no doubt, they were the ubiquitous Ray Ban wayfarers). When it was hip to be hep she was hep.

Dearie, known for her uniquely girlish voice, was a fixture in the jazz scene of the 1960s. However, among today's hep cats, she's probably best known for her single "I Won't Dance" or for her contributions to School House Rock (like the song, "Unpack Your Adjectives"). While Dearie passed away in 2009, she was still performing live up until 2006. There's no doubt that she was one hip lady.

Being a Dickhead's HIP...

Courtesy of my V-neck wearing brother.