By Dante Murphy
Welcome, friends, to your bi-monthly update of goings-on in our beloved Café. It's been a long, hot summer, full of fun, so read on and see what's new around your favorite online retro town!
The Anything Goes forum masqueraded as a support network as Lost Soul strove to quit smoking while Deja Voodoo sought advice on starting an acting career from fellow student swingkidlydi, elder statesman Three Piece Suit, and every thespian in between. Perhaps the biggest topics were folks checking in on friends in London as the madness of modern life came barreling into our (mostly) peaceful little enclave. Thankfully all are well, including the recently co-habitating MissRoulette and Lost Soul. New mother KittenWithaWhip found advice on classic lullabies, and retroruby66 shared stories of welcoming two more teenagers to her home. Sounds more dangerous than London!
Talk around the jukebox has been brisk as always, a lot of it centered on favorite bands and trends from the neo-swing craze of the late 90s. Dr. Swankenstein asked folks what it was they liked about bands like Big Bad Voodoo Daddy and Royal Crown Revue, and plenty of folks answered—though some chose to answer with what they didn't like about revisionist interpretations of their favorite musical forms. Different strokes for different folks, I guess. New member Kitty de Havilland found advice on vintage music for her upcoming wedding, and somebody kicked over a rock and found Noble Sissle and his Orchestra living under it. The things you learn while watching TCM.
The recent spate of movie remakes has provided plenty of fodder for discussion, with mixed reviews of Beyond the Sea but mostly positive feedback on Bewitched. Apparently everyone had the good sense to steer clear of the Ashton Kutcher/Bernie Mac twist on Guess Who's Coming to Diner…apparently everyone prefers TCM, NetFlix, and their local revival cinema. With good reason.
There's been seasonal talk of straw boaters and canvas peep-toe shoes, and the ever-present din of cries for help with hair. We've celebrated some new pin-up photos from friends Laura and Amanda, and relived some wardrobe gaffes from our past. NJ SWING 1 reminisced about polishing shoes, and lucky66 and lindydivaus continued to inspire us with frequent recountings of their vintage attire.
Talk continues as anticipation builds for the upcoming Gatsby Picnic and Queen Mary Art Deco Festival, perhaps the two best reasons to brave the earthquakes, wildfires, and mudslides of California. Her Majesty's subjects Lost Soul and MissRoulette will be dropping in on the Festival of Flight at Blenheim Palace, while in Boston retrostan is calling all hepcats for a night out at Lucky's.
The Pulp Addiction forum is abuzz with a couple of serial stories written by a host of members, most notably the_librarian, retroruby66, Lost Soul, and others. What will become of Mac? Will he end up with Portia, Jessica, Bridgette? Nobody knows, 'cause they're making it up as they go along! Talk continues about pulp authors, TMBC is still reading Winston Churchill's history of WWII (he's on volume 6, though), and MissRoulette has joined lindydivaus in praise of author Dorothy Parker.
Car-collector 66FordFalconClubWagon has undertaken a new project—to build a replica '34 BMW roadster…using parts a needed from his not-quite-so-vintage 1972 BMW. The idea of using parts from a (relatively) new car to build a replica of an old one is positively delicious—best of luck with the project, friend!
As the temperature crept ever higher (apologies to our friends in Australia and New Zealand), much talk centered on ice cream flavors, summer pastimes, and of course, tall cold things from the bar. But if it's not too hot for you in the kitchen, be sure to check what lindydivaus is cookin'—every dish sounds better than the last! After dinner, perhaps a jaunt down to rubyredlocks; place to see what she's pouring from her lovely Art Deco bar—after all, drinking alone is only the second-best way to do it.
Two new forums have debuted since our last update—Show and Tell, where members show off their latest finds or their favorites collections, and Cheers!, where everybody knows your name…or, at the very least, your birthday. Best wishes to all who celebrated birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, or just the simple joys of a well-made Singapore Sling. Bottoms up!
Longtime Halcyonite Jumpin Jim has returned, and made a splash with snaps of his Kustom Sousaphones. If anyone ever doubted that tuba's are cool, let's just say the evidence is in. pink_satin_heels and TheItGirl extolled the virtues of cat-eye glasses, and Garden State friends Deja Voodoo and davew showed off pictures of classic Hollywood posters.
As so often happens with the inevitable march of technology, there've been some gripes about the new Café, and we don't pretend they're unwarranted. We're just waiting for a call back from former Vice President Al Gore…we hear he's a whiz with all things internet-y.
Lest we forget, a hearty welcome to our newest contributing members—howdy misch, aloha Frisky, greetings ilovemypuppy, welcome hilderouge, salutations MissAbi, ahoy there Swillbilly, hello EileenMacBride, pleasedtomeetya Vitameatavegamin, welcome DieZel, hi-de-ho madeincarolina, g'day RockabillyGal78, 'tis a pleasure piggirlee, put your hands together for lenny lounge, what's cookin' birdiepie, and let's roll out the red carpet for the LovelyLibrarian. Most felicitous salutations, all!
