In Defense of Miscellany, Pt. 1

This will be the first post of an ongoing series of "special feature" posts, in which I will introduce and discuss a variety of items that have made the little hipster man inside of me raise an eyebrow in interest or unintentionally slacken his mouth in amazement.

 

Number One: The Trophy Pot
I thought this was pretty good. Using a trophy as a pot. It satisfies so many things inside of me, I don't even know where to begin...

Well, first of all, it shows a sense of irreverence to sports or competition (I guess trophies can come from things other than sports, although let's face it - I would be using a sports trophy). I would happily buy an old track & field trophy from the thrift store and fill it full of dirt, just to show a lack of appreciation for physical competition. But it's more than that.

By planting something in it, you are replacing the intended function of a trophy - to reward a person for their dominance or superiority over another person, or to brag about that superiority - with an alternative one: to house and support another living thing.

Number Two: Vinyl Record Wedding Invitations
Found this one by accident when trying to learn how to cut my own vinyl records... This company takes 7" 45rpm records ("45s" or "singles") with generic square dance music on them, and just prints custom sleeves and labels to turn them into wedding invitations. If my prospective wife doesn't agree to this, I am boycotting my own wedding.

http://www.customrecords.com/wedding_save-the-date_invitation_records.html


Number Three: Every Single Thing About This Video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkcGuZHPbKk

It's the music, the colour, the fashion, the segregation, the inversion, the editing... I could go on, but the drool on my keyboard is beginning to pool.

In Defense of Halloween

Now, you might say to me, "Jacob, everyone loves Halloween."

To that I would say, "That is a gross generalization, and I won't stand for it." However, you would be mostly right. Halloween is widely loved and celebrated by many people, not just hipsters.

For hipsters, though, Halloween holds a special appeal. It is an opportunity for them to express themselves without saying any words. Similar to nerds in many ways, a hipster will often plan his or her costume for months in advance, and aim to have the most clever costume at whatever sad, ironic event or obscure concert they plan on attending.

On Haloween, I attended a concert featuring a few obscure bands at a small local venue. Aside from a couple of punks dressed as zombies, the vast majority of attendees were hipsters sporting meticulously crafted costumes depicting obscure cultural references, visual puns, or ironic stripper outfits. Vintage sci-fi characters, 80s police officers and Wayne & Garth from Wayne's World were among the most accessible costumes.

So the next time you go to criticize a hipster for being apathetic or having a lack of whimsy, consider what the effort they likely put into their Haloween costume. Then chuckle in amusement and let the feeling pass.