#beatnik turtle

[haveyouheardthisband]

[romanceyourdemons]

something something the intrinsic queerness of being a beatnik. sun glass. turtled neck.

[cutthroat-coquette]

So you have the AUDACITY to tell ME that the bully of a doughnut is an acceptable breakfast item?! Nah. I don’t think so. Fuck bagels

🎶Bagel bagel, bagel bagel, I eat as many as I can finagle; Bring a pile right to the table.

With some butter or best with cream cheese, sliced and halved and toasted, yes please. On a plate or on a napkin…

Cinnamon, Poppy seed, Blueberry or sesame, Sourdough, Pumpernickel, Whole wheat, everything!

Bagel bagel, bagel bagel, Unhappy when I’m unable, To eat a pile right off the table.

Round and chewy on the outside, Soft and bready on the inside, Toaster better be a double-wide!🎶

[autumnrenaissance]

How to create 60s and 70s looks using modern day clothing items

1. Turtlenecks

Turtlenecks are one of the easiest ways to create a 60s or 70s look. They can be styled in many different ways to suit your style and aesthetic. A basic black turtleneck paired with black skirts or pants and a beret can create a beatnik look. You can also pair colourful turtlenecks with complimentary coloured mini skirts and knee high socks for the mod look. Colourful turtlenecks look great when paired with flares/bell bottoms for the 70s look. For peak winter, turtlenecks look simple but elegant with a nice coat and mini skirt. Turtlenecks were also worn under pinafores for a stylish winter look. Make sure to accessorise your turtleneck with necklaces to suit your style. For example, if you want a more hippie or bohemian look, try pairing your turtleneck with natural or handmade necklaces

2. Mini skirts

Mini skirts were the most iconic clothing piece of the 60s. They are very versatile and are easy to find. You can park a white mini skirt with a black turtle neck for the iconic Sharon Tate look. Patterned mini skirts are great when paired with a solid coloured top. When shopping for mini skirts, try looking for vibrant, unique colours or psychedelic patterns.

3. Flared Pants/Bell bottoms

Flare pants are an essential for a 70s look. They can be paired with many tops and still look retro. They look great with a low heeled boot or a cowboy boot. Wear thick patterned belts with them to elevate and accessorise the look. They can be paired with almost every top from band tees to a peasant blouse. If you’re not sure how to style flares, try denim flares before buying bright coloured pants. That way, you can learn how to style the flares and see what silhouettes look good on your body type.

4. Socks and Stockings

Socks and stockings are great for accessorising with skirts. Knee high socks in black and white are easy to find and are great with low top leather shoes such as loafers and Mary Janes. You can also purchase coloured knee high socks to match tops or skirts. If you’re wearing socks that match your top or skirt, it looks put together and thought out without even having to try. Patterned stockings are also great. Like the socks, try buying coloured stockings to create more colour in your outfits.

5. Boots

The most versatile and easy to find shoe for 60s and 70s looks are boots. Knee high boots look amazing when paired with mini skirts. Low top boots are great for bell bottoms. For bell bottoms, low heeled boots (eg cowboy boots) look the best. Black knee high boots give a more city chic European look. Brown and suede knee high boots are good for a bohemian look, especially with flowy floral dresses. One of the most iconic boots were go go boots. White go go boots are the most iconic and are the easiest to pair with outfits. They can be found on eBay, Amazon and in party shops in a variety of colours. Thigh high boots are also good too.

6. Hats

Hats are a great accessory for 60s and 70s looks. For 60s looks, try wearing a beret or a baker boy cap for a mod look. Large floppy hats were the wardrobe essential of Brigitte Bardot and are good for the summertime and the beach. Straw hats are good for 70s looks.

[longitudinalwaveme]

Flash Math

So I went through every Pre-Crisis Flash comic that I own and categorized all 195 stories by the type of threat faced in them. I divided the threat types into seven categories: Supervillains, Aliens, Random Criminals, Evil Foreign Stereotypes, Supernatural Weirdness, Nature, and The Arc That Never Ends (The Trial of the Flash). Here were the results: 

Mystery of the Human Thunderbolt: Turtle Man 

The Man Who Broke the Time Barrier: Mazdan 

The Secret of the Empty Box: Random Criminals 

The Coldest Man on Earth: Captain Cold 

Around the World in 80 Minutes: Random Criminals

Master of the Elements: Albert Desmond 

Giants of the Time-World: Aliens 

The Man Who Changed the Earth: Albert Desmond 

Conqueror From 8 Million B.C.: Alien 

The Master of Mirrors: Mirror Master

Menace of the Super-Gorilla: Grodd

The Pied Piper of Peril: The Pied Piper 

Return of the Super-Gorilla: Grodd

The Amazing Race Against Time: Nature

The Speed of Doom: Aliens 

The Super-Gorilla’s Secret Identity: Grodd

Return of the Mirror-Master: Mirror Master

Secret of the Sunken Satellite: Aliens 

The Challenge of the Weather Wizard: Weather Wizard 

Meet Kid Flash: Nature (in the form of a lion and bear), plus one Random Criminal 

The Invasion of the Cloud Creatures: Aliens 

The Challenge of the Crimson Crows: Nature (a fire) 

The Mystery of Elongated Man: Random Criminals 

Danger on Wheels: Random Criminals 

Danger in the Air: Trickster 

The Man Who Claimed the Earth: Aliens 

The Big Freeze: Captain Cold 

King of the Beatniks: Random criminals 

The Day Flash Weighed 1,000 Pounds: Grodd

The Elongated Man’s Secret Weapon: Aliens 

The Man Who Stole Central City: Aliens

The Race to Thunder Hill: Random Criminals 

Here Comes Captain Boomerang: Captain Boomerang

The Madcap Inventors of Central City: Random Criminals

The Doomed Scarecrow: Random Criminals

The Midnight Peril: Random Criminals and Nature

The Mirror-Master’s Magic Bullet: Mirror Master 

The Elongated Man’s Undersea Trap: Aliens 

Land of Golden Giants: Nature (giants)

The Trickster Strikes Back: Trickster 

The Secret of the Stolen Blueprint: Evil Foreign Stereotypes 

Beware the Atomic Grenade: The Top

The Face Behind the Mask: Random Criminals 

The Flash of Two Worlds: Shade, Fiddler, Thinker

Space-Boomerang Trap: Captain Boomerang AND Aliens 

Vengeance Via Television: Random Criminal 

The Conquerors of Time: Aliens

The Doom of the Mirror Flash: Mirror Master

Snare of the Headline Huntress: Random Criminals 

The Reign of the Super-Gorilla: Grodd

The Mystery of the Troubled Boy: Evil Foreign Stereotypes 

The Case of the Real-Gone Flash: Abra Kadabra

The Origin of Flash’s Masked Identity: Random Criminals 

Double Danger on Earth: Captain Cold, Trickster, and Nature (Solar radiations) 

Who Doomed the Flash: Mirror Master

Kid Flash Meets the Elongated Man: Weather Wizard

 Captives of the Cosmic Ray: Aliens

The Heaviest Man Alive: Aliens

The Farewell Appearance of Daphne Dean: Random Criminals 

The Plight of the Puppet-Flash: Abra Kadabra

Secret of the Handicapped Boys: Nature

The Man Who Mastered Absolute Zero: Captain Cold

The Threat of the Absent-Minded Professor: Random Criminals 

The Secret of the Three Super-Weapons: Aliens 

The Mirror Master’s Invincible Bodyguards: Mirror Master

Barry Allen-You’re the Flash-And I Can Prove It: Random Criminal 

Vengeance of the Immortal Villain: Vandal Savage

The Pied Piper’s Double Doom: Pied Piper

Mystery of the Matinee Idol: Random Criminals

The Menace of the Reverse-Flash: Reverse-Flash

The Heat is on for Captain Cold: Captain Cold AND Heat Wave 

The Metal-Eater from the Stars: Alien 

The Mystery of Flash’s Third Identity: The Top 

Showdown in Time: Random Criminals 

Perilous Pursuit of the Trickster: The Trickster

Puzzle of the Phantom Plunderers: Aliens 

Trail of the False Green Lanterns: T.O. Morrow

Menace of the Man-Missile: Random Criminal

Lesson for a Star Athlete: Nature and Random Criminals 

The Weather Wizard Blows Up a Storm: Weather Wizard 

The Girl from the Super-Fast Dimension: Nature/Aliens 

The Mirror Master’s Master Stroke: Mirror Master

Fatal Fingers of the Flash: Nature

Our Enemy, the Flash: Reverse Flash and Albert Desmond 

The Day Flash Went Into Orbit: Captain Boomerang

The Doorway to the Unknown: Random Criminals

The Flash’s Sensational Risk: Aliens

Robberies by Magic: Abra Kadabra

Captain Cold’s Polar Perils: Captain Cold

The Touch-and-Steal Bandits: Random Criminals

Invaders from the Dark Dimension: Shade

The Trickster’s Toy Thefts: Trickster 

Case of the Explosive Vegetables: Evil Foreign Stereotypes 

The Mightiest Punch of All Time: Reverse Flash and Albert Desmond

The Day Flash Ran Away With Himself: Random Criminals 

Gangster Masquerade: Random Criminals 

The Gauntlet of Super-Villains: Captain Cold, Captain Boomerang, Mirror Master, the Top, Pied Piper, Heat Wave, AND Grodd

The Super-Hero Who Betrayed the World: Aliens 

Who Stole the Flash’s Super-Speed?: Aliens

The Day Flash Aged 100 Years: The Top 

Battle Against the Breakaway Bandit: Alien 

The One-Man Justice League: Professor Ivo 

The Flash’s Final Fling: Random Criminals 

Big Blast in Rocket City: Random Criminals 

The Case of the Curious Costume: Random Criminals

The Mirror With 20-20 Vision: Mirror Master

Who Haunts the Corridor of Chills?: Alien 

The Flash Stakes His Life-On-You!: Random Criminal 

The Day Magic Exposed Flash’s Secret Identity: Abra Kadabra 

The Flash-Vandal of Central City: Pied Piper 

The Boy Who Lost Touch With the World: Random Criminals 

One Bridegroom Too Many: Reverse Flash (plus cameo by Albert Desmond) 

The Last Stand of the Three-Time Losers: Random Criminals 

Tempting Target for the Temperature Twins: Captain Cold AND Heat Wave

The Real Origin of the Flash: Random Criminals 

The Hypnotic Super-Speedster: Random Criminals 

One of Our Green Lanterns Is Missing: Random Criminals 

The See-Nothing Spells of Abra Kadabra: Abra Kadabra 

Here Lies the Flash-Dead and Unburied: Dr. Light

Grodd Puts the Squeeze on Flash: Grodd

The Machine-Made Robbery: Random Criminals 

Doomward Flight of the Flashes: Alien

Stupendous Triumph of the Six Super-Villains: Mirror Master, Captain Cold, Heat Wave, Pied Piper, Captain Boomerang, AND Top

The Race to the End of the Universe: Abra Kadabra and Reverse Flash (plus Weather Wizard cameo) 

Death Stalks the Flash: Supernatural Weirdness 

Professor West-Lost, Strayed, or Stolen?: Random Criminals 

The Swell-Headed Superhero: Trickster

The Flying Samurai: Evil Foreign Stereotypes 

The Attack of the Samuroids: Evil Foreign Stereotypes 

The Thief Who Stole All the Money in Central City: Abra Kadabra

The Flash’s Super-Speed Phobia: Random Criminals 

The Flash’s Dead Ringer: Random Criminals

Executioner of Central City: Random Criminal 

Threat of the High-Rise Buildings: Aliens 

Time Times Three Equals-?: Reverse-Flash

The Most Colorful Villain of All: Mirror Master 

The Death-Touch of the Blue Ghost: Aliens 

Super-Speed Agent of the Flash: Nature and Random Criminals

Ten Years to Live-One Second to Die: Random Criminals 

How to Invade Earth-Without Really Trying: Aliens 

The Day the Flash Failed: Evil Foreign Stereotypes 

Captain Cold Blows His Cool: Captain Cold and Heat Wave 

The Bride Casts Two Shadows: Supernatural Weirdness 

Fugitive From Blind Justice: Random Criminals 

I Open My Mouth–But I Can’t Scream: Supernatural Weirdness

Four-Star Superhero: Random Criminals 

To the Nth Degree: Nature 

No Sad Songs for a Scarlet Speedster: Random Criminals 

Call It-Magic: Supernatural Weirdness 

Flash?--Death Calling: Random Criminals 

Heart of America: Evil Foreign Stereotypes 

The Flash’s Wife is a Two-Timer: Random Criminals 

The Great Secret Identity Expose: Random Criminals 

The Mind Trap: Supernatural Weirdness 

The Flash of 1,000 Faces: Pied Piper 

The Million Dollar Deathtrap: Mirror Master and the Top

The Slowest Man on Earth: The Turtle 

The Heart That Attacked the World: Weather Wizard and Sinestro 

Green Lantern-Master Criminal of the 25th Century: Reverse-Flash 

The Rag Doll Runs Wild: Ragdoll and Thinker 

The Death-Rattle of the 12-Hour Man: Aliens 

The Fastest Man Dead: Random Criminals 

The Last Day of June is the Last Day of Central City: Captain Cold, Captain Boomerang, Mirror Master, Weather Wizard, Trickster, Heat Wave, and the Top (posthumously) 

To Believe or Not to Believe: Weather Wizard, Trickster, Captain Cold, Pied Piper, Mirror Master, and Mazdan 

Flashback to Danger: Weather Wizard, Trickster, Captain Cold, Pied Piper, Mirror Master, and Mazdan 

Prisoner of the Past: Weather Wizard, Trickster, Captain Cold, Pied Piper, Golden Glider, and Mazdan 

Heat Wave Plays it Cool: Heat Wave

The Case of the Missing Super-Speed: Random Criminal

Riddle of the Runaway Comic: Random Criminals 

The Last Dance: Reverse-Flash and Clive Yorkin 

The Color Schemes of the Rainbow Raider: Rainbow Raider 

Dr. Alchemy and Mr. Desmond: Albert and Alvin Desmond; Supernatural Weirdness 

The Day It Rained Flash: Albert and Alvin Desmond; Supernatural Weirdness

The Good–the Bad–and the Unexpected: Albert and Alvin Desmond; Supernatural Weirdness  

Mirror, Mirror, Off the Wall: Mirror Master 

Lisa Starts With L and That Stands For Lethal: Golden Glider and the Top; Supernatural Weirdness  

The Top is Alive and Well in Henry Allen: Golden Glider and the Top; Supernatural Weirdness 

Prey for the Piper: Pied Piper 

The Good–the Bad–And the Beautiful: Random Criminal 

Colonel Computron Strikes Back–With a Vengeance: Colonel Computron and Captain Boomerang

Captives of the Boom-Boom-Boomerang: Colonel Computron and Captain Boomerang

Dead Heat for a Scarlet Speedster: Heat Wave and Fake Heat Wave 

The Slayer and the Slain: Reverse-Flash 

Down With the Flash: Pied Piper and The Arc That Never Ends

How to Trash a Flash: Pied Piper and The Arc That Never Ends

Beware the Speed Demons: Pied Piper and The Arc That Never Ends (also Captain Boomerang’s voice) 

The Revenge of the Rogues: Pied Piper, Mirror Master, Captain Boomerang, Weather Wizard, Captain Cold, Trickster, Big Sir, and The Arc That Never Ends

Warday: Mirror Master, Captain Boomerang, Weather Wizard, Captain Cold, Trickster, Big Sir, and The Arc That Never Ends

Trial and Tribulation: Mirror Master, Captain Boomerang, Weather Wizard, Captain Cold, Trickster, Big Sir, and the Arc That Never Ends

Smash-Up: Mirror Master, Captain Boomerang, Weather Wizard, Captain Cold, Trickster, Big Sir, and the Arc That Never Ends

Betrayal: The Arc That Never Ends (This issue is 90% reprint) 

The Secret Face of the Flash: Abra Kadabra and the Arc That Never Ends 

Dead Man’s Bluff: Pied Piper and Abra Kadabra; The Arc That Never Ends 

And the Truth Shall Set Him Free: Mirror Master, Captain Cold, Rainbow Raider, Trickster, Weather Wizard, and Captain Boomerang; Abra Kadabra; the Arc That Never Ends 

Good-Bye, Flash: Mirror Master, Captain Cold, Rainbow Raider, Trickster, Weather Wizard, and Captain Boomerang; Abra Kadabra; the Arc That Never Ends 

And here are the totals: 

27 alien stories- 14% of the overall total 

51 Random criminal stories-26% of the overall total 

11 Nature Stories -6% of the total 

10 Supernatural Weirdness Stories-5% of the total 

7 Evil Foreign Stereotype Stories-4% of the total 

12 Stories in the Arc That Never Ends- 6% of the total 

95 Supervillain Stories-49% of the total 

Dr. Light: 1

T.O. Morrow: 1

Professor Ivo: 1 

Sinestro: 1

Vandal Savage: 1 

Ragdoll: 1 

Fiddler: 1

Clive Yorkin: 1 

Turtle: 2

Shade: 2 

Thinker: 2 

Colonel Computron: 2 

Rainbow Raider: 3 

Big Sir: 4

Alvin Desmond: 3

Golden Glider: 3 

Mazdan: 4 

Albert Desmond: 7; 8 if you count the cameo in Flash #165 (2 solo outings; 3 with Alvin; 2 with Eobard) 

Silver Age Grodd: 7 

Silver Age Kadabra: 7 (6 solo outings, 1 with Reverse Flash) 

Bronze Age Kadabra: 4

Total Kadabra: 11

Silver Age Reverse Flash: 6 (5 solo outings, 1 with Kadabra) 

Bronze Age Reverse Flash: 3 

Total Reverse Flash: 9 

Silver Age Weather Wizard: 4 

Bronze Age Weather Wizard: 11

Total Weather Wizard: 15 

Silver Age Heat Wave: 5 (2 with Rogues; 3 with just Capt. Cold) 

Bronze Age Heat Wave: 3 

Total Heat Wave: 8 

Silver Age Pied Piper: 5 (3 solo outings) 

Bronze Age Pied Piper: 10 

Total Pied Piper: 15 

Silver Age Top: 5 (3 solo outings) 

Bronze Age Top: 4 

Total Top: 9 

Silver Age Trickster: 6 (5 solo outings; 1 with Captain Cold) 

Bronze Age Trickster: 10 

Total Trickster: 16 

Silver Age Captain Boomerang: 5 (3 solo outings) 

Bronze Age Captain Boomerang: 9

Total Captain Boomerang: 14 

Silver Age Captain Cold: 10 (5 solo outings; 3 with Heat Wave; 2 with Rogues) 

Bronze Age Captain Cold: 10 

Total Captain Cold: 20 

Silver Age Mirror Master: 11 (9 solo outings; 2 with Rogues) 

Bronze Age Mirror Master: 11

Total Mirror Master: 22-11% of the total! 

There were actually considerably less alien stories-and more random criminal stories- than I was expecting. Also, of the comics that I own, Captain Cold and the Mirror Master are the two villains who appear the most. 

Obviously, this is not an exact count, as there are a number of Bronze Age Flash stories that I do not own (though I basically own the entire Silver Age run, since I have Showcase #4-Flash #199 in trade). 

[shedontlovehuhself]

Waiting for beatnik kitten Misha in a turtle neck or beatnik kitten Cas in a turtle neck fan art now.

[hiranomiyako]

🌼ビートニクの女の子みたいに 最近ジャズの歴史の授業みたいなのを受けてみたり、踊る昭和歌謡って本を読んでいたりして、音楽の歴史って楽しいなぁと思っています。んで、ビートニクいいなぁと思って黒タートルの子を描きました。背景は全くビートニクっぽくないが！ 個人的に音楽は50年代後半くらいから60年代後半くらいまでの音が一番好きですね 🌼Like a Beatnik Girls Lately I've been taking some jazz history classes and reading books on dancing Showa songs, and I've been thinking that music history is interesting. I thought beatniks were great, so I drew the girl black turtle. The background doesn't look too beatnik-like, though! Personally, I like the sound of music from the late 50's to the late 60's the best. https://www.instagram.com/p/CH2XeMcJ28N/?igshid=ciggklh27pzw

[kvetchlandia]

Art Frisch     Beatnik Hangout, the Co-Existence Bagel Shop, North Beach, San Francisco     1958

Shadow people, projected on coffee-shop walls Memory formed echoes of a generation past Beating into now.

Nightfall creatures, eating each other Over a noisy cup of coffee.

Mulberry-eyed girls in black stockings, Smelling vaguely of mint jelly and last night's bongo drummer, Making profound remarks on the shapes of navels, Wondering how the short Sunset week Became the long Grant Avenue night, Love tinted, beat angels, Doomed to see their coffee dreams Crushed on the floors of time, As they fling their arrow legs To the heavens, Losing their doubts in the beat.

Turtle-neck angel guys, black-haired dungaree guys, Caesar-jawed, with synagogue eyes, World travelers on the forty-one bus, Mixing jazz with paint talk, High rent, Bartok, classical murders, The pot shortage and last night's bust. Lost in a dream world, Where time is told with a beat.

Coffee-faced Ivy Leaguers, in Cambridge jackets, Whose personal Harvard was a Fillmore District step, Weighted down with conga drums, The ancestral cross, the Othello-laid curse, Talking of Bird and Diz and Miles, The secret terrible hurts, Wrapped in cool hipster smiles, Telling themselves, under the talk, This shot must be the end, Hoping the beat is really the truth.

The guilty police arrive.

Brief, beautiful shadows, burned on walls of night.

--Bob Kaufman, “Bagel Shop Jazz” 

(Kaufman’s poem, “Bagel Shop Jazz,” was written about, and possibly while hanging out in, the Co-Existence Bagel Shop).

[ktbensondc]

Subculture and the meaning of style

The term ‘subculture’ dates back to the 18th and 19th centuries and was often used to describe deviants of society - thieves and vagabonds. The word ‘sub’ refers to something of a lower rank.

Post World War 2, ‘subculture’ refers to youthful groups i.e. Mods, Rockers, Teddyboys, Skinheads, Punks etc... Subcultures are typically formed to resist the mainstream culture but they remain (at least at the start of formation) a minority group. They share beliefs and values, as well as lifestyles that oppose the norm of the mainstream society.

Mainstream is about hierarchy. It is the dominant culture shaped by popular/prominent political, media, social and corporate interests. It is found across all parts of society - wherever there is a structured entity, the structure follows. Subcultures questions these structures.

“A subculture ... signals a breakdown of consensus” - Dick Hebdige 

Subculture is the refusal to participate in the mainstream. Most look to subvert, parody, or disrupt the mainstream, for example, the popular family cartoon The Simpsons ran through the 90′s as a black stain on society. The Simpsons shows a dysfunctional family, an idea not common on television back at the time when shows such as The Brady Bunch or Full House aired. However, the influence of The Simpsons boosted it into the mainstream, and eventually, that is what it became. Once The Simpsons hit the mainstream, it came down to other such TV cartoons - South Park, for example - to mock the mainstream as The Simpsons became consumed by it.

Empowerment & Impotence.

Case Study 1: The Beats Subculture Elite - mostly male, young, educated, middle class, sexually ambivalent, white. Key people in the movement included Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg. They were Post World War 2, lived during the 1950′s in America (Eisenhower’s America), and alienated themselves from mainstream society. The subculture was named after the idea of being ‘broken down’ by society.

Beat themes:

Anti-mainstream (Straight culture)

Anti-1950′s materialism

Anti-censorship

Opposition to the military-industrial machine

Emphasis on the individual - freedom, the journey counts not the destination

Underlying spirituality/ecological consciousness - Eastern religions such as Buddhism

Don’t alter or edit what comes from their heads as they write on the page

Square Values VS Beat Values: Square values:

Avoid Beat values

Deferred gratification - buy into capitalism and materialism

Conform to bureaucracy

Comfort in routine

Strong work ethic

Family is the moral centre - the nuclear family

Defined gender roles

Deference to religious beliefs

Beat values:

Hedonism - leads to personal enlightenment and shakes the cage of mainstream culture

Spontaneous action against the mainstream clock

Distain for work ethic

Anti-materialism

Looked to eastern cultures

Non-binary relationships

Non-comformity

Beat culture was seen as very dangerous to conservative values. The mainstream absorbs subcultures. Subcultures become mainstream. Beats were vilified in America - ‘beatnik’ was a derogatory term used against them but Beatnik itself also became a subculture - a caricature of Beat subculture and were typically categorised as:

Sloppily groomed

Turtle neck and sweater

Nonsensical slang

Furthermore, Beatchick became its own subculture:

Oversized sweater

Weird and spacy

Deviant/morally suspect

Sexually available

Beatniks became synonymous with the criminal underworld. Films were made with a story involving criminal Beatniks. Subcultures are cyclical. Through the decades, Hollywood became sympathetic towards the Beats and kinder depictions of the forefront individuals of the subculture began to be released on film. Moreover, the rise of the Hipster subculture has been described as ‘Beat caricature’.

Case Study 2: Punk (1970′s Britain) Hebdige described Punk with the thought that no subculture has tried with such ‘grim determination’ to detach itself from the norm. Punk articulated frustration of the young working class - the alienation of this group from mainstream society. Youth unemployment was high during this time and there were constant strikes. With no money, no job, and a boring day to day life as a result, Punk subculture began to rise. The mainstream told the public what to do with their time, but youths had no way to conform to these ideas with no money and no way of getting money.

The Visualisation of a Subculture Cultural Capital - the creation of stuff - zines, for example. People who make and do things.

The influence of the subculture elite - alternative ‘codes’

DIY culture

Detourenment

Demystification

Vivian Westwood and The Clash were part of the elite of Punk subculture. A manifesto on a t-shirt of what you should be into and what you shouldn’t.

Straight Culture (in the opinion of Punk):

Television

Clockwork souls

Dumb Popstars

Good fun entertainment that isn’t good or funny

Dress Code:

Very original

Took elements from cultures that came before - collage to create something new known as Bricolage.

Safety pins kept their clothes together and were a practical solution to real, working class problems. They became an aesthetic.

Anti-taste

Cross gender dress

Provocative imagery on t-shirts

Original and non-uniform

Pushed the boundaries for what censorship should be

Subculture Rituals:

Nihilism

Speed logic

Participation in the spectacle - blurring of audience/performer dynamic

The ‘Pogo’ - up and down dancing because it was impossible to move

Sarcasm

Demystification

Iconoclastic - destroy your idols

Anti-corporate - anti-elitism

Amateurism as a virtue - Debunked the idea of needing specialised knowledge in music, graphics, and image to create music, graphics, and image

Desire for authenticity -> The Slits were an all-female punk band who didn’t know how to tune their instruments

Production of zines

DIY culture:

Cassettes and tapes, music, fashion etc

Creative control, not going to a middle person

The primacy of the punk 45 single

Development of visual lexicon

Punk cultured differed locally and was encouraged by fury and spontaneity.

Semiotic code:

Anti-aesthetic

Urgency and energy

Cheaply printed

Deliberately crude (but well composed)

Photo-montaged - the photograph is clearer than the illustration

No rock star posturing - no one posing on the cover with their guitar

Random note style lettering. Stencilled

Themes:

Class and suburban (irony)

Anti-consumerism

Urban decay

Criminality

Subversion of the mainstream

Punk reached America.

Detournement - interference subversion:

The aping of parent culture

Appropriation and altering already lasting media artefacts

Situationalist International - Situationalism in 1960′s Paris was short lived but held the idea that if you can interfere with capitalism, you can influence things. Drawing on bill boards and graffiti, for example. King Mob in the late 1960′s London were a situationalist group, and pranksters. Jamie Reid - The Sex Pistols and his lexicon of ‘Do it yourself’. Punk graphics came from his worldview.

Punk gear became mainstream. They had to change it to retain it. Punk is reframed over the decades on television, in books, and graphic novels. It is now possible to cherry pick the best parts of the subculture for mainstream consumption. It is no longer dangerous or edgy - it can now be contained, monetised, and commercialised.

The art becomes curated.

[kinga-illustrations-blog]

Session 8: Subculture and the meaning of style

Subculture refers to an urban underclass.

Associated post ww2 youth culture, rise of the teenager, economic fortunes, teenagers have disposable income. Mods, rockers, teddy boys, skinheads, punks etc. It refers to any minority group that have a shared belief or lifestyle that resists mainstream culture. Parent culture, the establishment shaped by political and social interests. It can be found anywhere, universities, government, authorities, media etc

Mainstream reflects the interests of dominant social groups, it can only operate through general consensus. We need to go along with it.

The Beats: sub cultural elite: mostly male, young, white, educated, middle class etc

Frame of reference: post ww2, 1950s America, alienation from mainstream society

Anti-mainstream ‘straight’ culture, anti-materialism and censorship, opposition to the military industrial machine. Put emphasis on individual autonomy, iconoclastic in form

Square is to be avoided:  

Deferred gratification, you go to work, you save money, to get a mortgage

Fatalism, comfort in routine

Strong work ethics

Consumerism reveals the statue

Family as moral centre, that what everyone should go for

Defined gender roles, no room for other sexuality

Deference to religious beliefs

Beat:

Counter cultural

Hedoism, leads to personal enrichment, short term

Spontaneous action, new experiences, adventuring. Disturb the routine

Non-conformity

Belief in self autonomy  

Distain from work ethics

Anti-materialistic

Spiritual, interest in other belief systems

Non-binary relationships

Subcultures at some point in their circle shine brightly, and at one point it becomes absorbed by the mainstream

Beats, can be found In Europe and were widely welcome

Beat then turns into Beatnik: becoming a character, sloppily groomed, turtle neck, sandals, sunglasses, prone to nonsensical slang

Beatchick: oversized sweater black stockings, lots of eye make-up, weird and spacey, deviant suspect, sexually available

Beat exploitation in 60s, a criminal undertone. Gangs

They all go through a cycle, there is a recent interest in the beat history by the Hollywood

Another Subculture group we can have a look at is Punk in 1970s Britain.

Economic recession- youth unemployment, not a good time to be young

Alienation of the young working class, articulated frustrations

Punk style:  

Subcultural elite, alternative codes

Dress and body image

Subcultural rituals

Demystification

DIY culture and cultural capital

Detourment

The rise of the London subculture elite,

Early punk was very original, taking elements from previous subcultures and collage their own. The safety pin, punks have no money so in their falling apart clothes. Cross gender dress, anti-taste not dressed like other people, provocative imagery, subversion take something that has a particular meaning and give it another,

Swastika, the symbol of enemy. Very provocative

Subcultural rituals: sarcastic patois, nihilism, speed logic, the ‘pogo’ dance move, participation in the spectacle, gobbing etiquette instead of clapping

Engage the signer with the audience, it’s all one thing.

Demystification, destroy your idols, anti-corporate, amateurism as a virtue. Debunking the myth that you had to have knowledge to create music and graphics

[leonismaior]

I was tagged in this cute thing by the darling loves @holdmesamthatwasbeautiful ​ and @alexa-alcantara . thank you!♥

Nicknames: ruthie by my friends, mary by my family

Gender: it’s um... complicated. but i currently go for female

Star Sign: leo 

Height: 5’3 

Sexuality: hoo boi. again, complicated. queer most definetely

Hogwarts House: hufflepuff. down to the eternal love for food

Favorite animal: oh nooooooo okay ALL KINDS OF DOGGIES, ALL KINDS OF KITTIES, bunnies and almost any kind of rodent (i mean, have you SEEN CAPYBARAS??!), turtles, ducks, hippos, whales, birds. I just love. all the animals. so much.

Dogs or Cats: i’m a both-person, but i’ve only ever had dogs so i’m kind of biased towards them. (btw my baby Pepper is about to go to surgery to have a kidney stone removed. please, send her all the love. i’m super worried </3)

Number of blankets I sleep with: two, and it’s still summer. you can imagine when it’s winter. and mexico’s not even that cold, but i’m perpetually freezing

Where I’m from: mexico city

Dream Trip: oh god, don’t even get me started. roadtrip all over america, music blasting out and taking millions of pictures, inspired by my boys sam&dean and the 60s beatniks. amsterdam. anywhere and everywhere in italy, la toscana and napoli most of all. those are the ones i daydream almost every day

When I created this account: okay, i just checked and i was sure it had been around 2015. it’s not. february, 2013. i’ve been here for what feels like forever what in the fuck

Why I created this account: ooohhhh well i think i was into all those new pixar and disney and dreamworks movies at the time and i was just so happy to enjoy all the content here? also i think i was beginning to get into doctor who. and obviously, all the harry potter gifs made made me real happy

Followers: 340, and i’m sure most of them are bots hahaha. but i also have so many incredible people following me. i honestly can’t believe you put up with my ass, like, ya’ll are famous!! and amazing!! i love you!! and don’t deserve you!!

i’m tagging @ornaments8 @scandinavianskies @almaquinzel @jardadalecki and @twinksammy if they feel like answering some cute things ♥

[thejadedjewel]

1987

Mikey fell in love with an alien girl, Kala, who was from Dimension X and was part of a group called Neutrinos, who all dress like they’re from the Jetsons and talk like beatniks and hippies.

Shredder blew up the Channel 6 building.

Shredder’s MOM showed up.  He also had a little brother that was a police officer

Splinter proved he was the true sensei of the foot clan to a ghost by performing the “Cur-Li” maneuver on Shredder... which was Three Stooges Esq slapstick.

April was turned into a Cat Woman

Mikey got turned into a human by eating tainted chocolate chip cookies given by Bebop, who was dressed as an old lady.

Mikey, Raph, and Leo were drugged with a love potion and fell hard for Irma.  Rocksteady also falls in love... with April.

That time Shredder kept switching from his normal personality... and thinking he was Mikey.

Kraang has an Alien version of the American Express card.

A bonk on the head makes Leo think he and the Turtles are Musketeers.

Casey Jones is like an even crazier version of Dirty Harry and his comic counterpart.

Shredder calls up Kraang on the communicator... only to get him in his robot body after he had a shower, towel wrapped around the robot body’s waist, dripping wet, and all.

90s Live action movies

Ninja Rap.  Just, Ninja Rap.

If I can think of more, I might add some.

The greatest thing about a franchise that is as long-running as TMNT (Almost 40 years at this point!) is that some of the most batshit insane things will happen at some point. My favourite examples:

At the end of the first 90's movie, Shredder gets thrown off a roof and into a garbage truck. Casey Jones pulls the lever that sets the trucks machinery into action, therefore crushing the Shredder.

In one episode of the 2012 series, Mikey has to rescue his brothers from a Mutant pizza that is zombiefying people. At the end of the episode, it is left unclear whether this actually happened or if it was just a dream caused by eating too much pizza.

Also in the 2012 series, Raph can talk to pidgeons. It is never explained how exactly this works.

In Rise of the TMNT, the turtles are trapped in an 80's movie makeover montage by a hippo magician. They escape it by smashing a speaker that plays the hypnotising music keeping them trapped there.

In the first episode of the '87 iteration, a woman pulls out a gun from a baby carriage and tries to shoot the turtles.

This is all I have for now, but feel free to add on!

[psychsounds]

The Graduate

Sound of silence. Hello darkness, my old friend - such a beautiful song, I think I may have overlooked it.

Why would Elaine with a kind, funny, gentle spirit even consider dating Ben Braddock?

Katherine Ross as Elaine. I want to talk about her hair, how her curtain fringe is long and slightly parted sometimes wispy, sometimes more pronounced, her hair is clipped back in a bit up and a bit down with volume in a silver or tortoiseshell clip. It’s lovely. Her face is lovely. Her eyes are sea green, with long lashes I think are falsies as it was the 60s. She has this style I like and it’s basically black turtle neck sweaters and brown jackets. Green army jackets. I have tried to recreate this 70s beatnik look sometimes successfully and mainly unsuccessfully at various points in my life.

Anne Bancroft is a dream. Every scene she is in is captivating. She presents upmost femininity and sexual assertiveness. I liked the scene in particular where she says she wouldn’t want Ben Braddock to date her daughter. (I feel like the book is more critical of Ben’s behaviour and you gain more of an insight into why he is unsuitable - lacking responsibility, emotionally immature, bourgeois, lazy, critical, misogynist?)

Also physically, she is so graceful and poised and toned. Her clothing, her expressions. You empathise with her. When Ben is asking about her marriage you see how uncomfortable she is talking about it.

Mrs Robinson and Mrs Braddock are styled similarly, although I almost forgot Mrs Robinson is a peer of his parents as she seems more interesting. I don’t condone adultery but I think she’s going through a crisis too - which possibly parallels Ben’s crisis, and I would have liked it if the film provided more detail and nuance about this. At times she is depicted as kind of lunging towards Ben, whereas there are more stages in the book.

The scene where Ben takes Elaine to the club and the stripper bounces her tassels in Elaine’s face. In the book this made me cringe and almost hate Ben. It was horrible seeing Elaine cry but I guess there needed to be some dramatic event that stops Ben from acting weird towards Elaine. Dan thought that Ben was trying to purposely alienate Elaine due to the warnings from Mrs Robinson. I thought the book depicted this but also presented Ben as having internal conflict about his lack of direction in life and looming responsibility of adulthood and is therefore pushing boundaries.

Aqua marine pool scenes where Ben is living it up on a lilo. Lovely colorisation. Hoffman looks ace, so lean and tanned next to the water.

I guess I was being mean and didn’t want Elaine to be with either Ben or the person she been set up with.

(Also, as I read in the book, did you hear I read the book, yada yadda yadda)

[angel-in-oils]

A Gallery Opening

Armand stood in front of a large black and white photo of a rubber duck with a scarf on top of a block of ice. There was some meaning to this photo, he was sure, but he would be damned if he knew what it was. “A profound piece,” commented other onlookers. The vampire raised an eyebrow and said nothing. He hadn’t spoken all night. He was much too interested in the relationships of the gathering of people around him to speak just yet. 

They were beatniks, a bohemian conglomeration of plaids, stripes, turtle neck sweaters, and cat suits. He remembered the start of this movement back in the 60′s. It made a bit more sense then, but he dressed the part either way. He wore tight grey pants he could hardly get on without ripping the belt loops and large black sweater that was probably meant for a woman. He also tied his hair in a low ponytail that did not hold any of the coppery hair that framed his face. 

A man with his hands in his pockets stalked closer and closer to Armand throughout the event until he was standing beside the fresh faced vampire looking at the duck through purple lensed glasses. Armand felt the desire in the man’s mind and was silently pleased. “A profound piece,” the man said, and Armand agreed. “There’s some coffee over there,” the man said turning to the vampire, “and a craft brew the artist’s husband made. I also heard a rumor of some chocolate wine. Would you like to check it out with me?”

“Chocolate wine, you say!” The night had just become more interesting. “How can I resist?” The two figures strode through a wave of houndstooth to the refreshments table and both took a glass of wine that was a smokey purple.

“My name is Andre,” the man said, offering his hand. Armand took it with his own jeweled hand and answered, “So is mine. It’s a pleasure.” 

[momgothic]

HEY HEY HEY YOU WANNA KNOW SOMETHING!!!!!??!?!?

THIS IS FUCKING E X A C T L Y what they did to the Beatniks. 

now, the beatniks weren’t the perfect counterculture (their track record with women wasn’t great) but they were a anti-consumerist, pro-communist, literary counter-culture that most of 1950s culture thought was incredibly dangerous to the order of things

and then they were reduced to turtle necks and berets and bongos for some reason instead of being taken seriously as culture

basically what i’m saying is that reducing a culture to a fashion statement is EXACTLY what people do when they want to invalidate beliefs and turn it into something digestible 

AND DON’T LET THEM FUCKING DO IT

you people really need to rethink what you think is punk rock