The Cereal Project: Movie Buttons

A Frye Family tradition

We liked to cover jean jackets with small buttons in the 80s, so for my birthday, let's give away some buttons! 

One of the endearing qualities of John Hughes' movies was that they were highly quotable. Even to this day, you could say, "Neo-maxi zoom dweebie," and another Gen Xer could tell you who said it, what movie, and in what context. 

But the movie is fictitious, no script is written, and thus far I've only imagined abstract plotlines and madcap scenarios. A basic plotline, told in buttons? 

Save Gord! 

She needs to get from Detroit to Miami ASAP!

For the Battle of the Bands competition! 

To perform her song, here's a quote! 

Lipstick on the Mic: Maria McKee and Lone Justice

 Press pic - they were on the verge, what happened?

When I get in my rockabilly mood, I inevitably trot out my two Lone Justice albums and get weepy over the lyrics to Don't Toss Us Away. Back in the 80s, they were a band on the verge, opening for U2, an appearance on Saturday Night Live, and respectable radio and MTV airplay. Linda Ronstadt was a fan and personally advocated for Geffen Records to give them a chance. Maria's beauty was likened to the era's other It Girl, Madonna, and her vocals were blessed by Dolly Parton, who said she was "the greatest vocalist any band could ever have." They were a rock critic's darling, their self-titled debut album among the decade's greatest. 

So what "didn't" happen? 

One theory is that as industry favorites, those two albums were held in such regard that the band could not meet the exceedingly high expectations, and any result outside world domination would be a letdown. 

Thinking of what was going on in pop music at the time - Duran Duran new wave, Prince's funk, Madonna's dance pop, salsa pop from Miami Sound Machine, Billy Ocean's sax-heavy light rock, light metal from Bon Jovi - was there any room on the charts for their brand of country rock? I know I loved it, but I can name only one other friend, Liz, who dug it. 

Then there was the fact that music in the 1980s was highly visual. This band was heavy on groove but a little light on teenage girl crushable faces. Maria, while beautiful and feisty, resisted becoming a cover girl to sell her music. The record label rebuilt the band around her in search of a more radio-friendly sound and MTV look. 

It didn't work, and the band broke up in 1987. Maria pursued a solo career, landing on a few soundtracks, including Pulp Fiction. The rest of the band went on to other acts and session work. There was a record released in 2024, well after two band members Dan Heffington and Gregg Sutton passed away, serving as a sort of reunion/swan song. 

I consider my taste to be pretty mainstream but I'm a sucker for acts like this. I have recently started listening to Little Steven's Underground Garage again, and my body seems to crave more of this. I wonder what another indie group from that era, Tommy Conwell and the Young Rumblers, is up to? 

The Fifth Monkee, Julie Newmar

Gorgeous

Appearing in only one episode, I present the head-in-the-clouds laundress April Conquest, as portrayed by Julie Newmar. That each of the bandmates fell in love with her is no surprise. 

Reviewing her stage, screen, and film credits shows she started on stage in 1940 in a production of Alice in Wonderland, and her most recent was in 2019, playing a doctor in the series Dark Shadows. That's 79 years!

She has always been an outspoken advocate for LGBTQ rights, becoming a cultural icon and object of affection in the movie To Too Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar. 

Fun facts!

In the early 2000s, she settled a feud with her neighbor Jim Belushi by appearing in his sitcom to poke fun at the argument.

She is a classically trained pianist. 

She was involved in community real estate and gardening, improving property values and enforcing noise ordinances in her Los Angeles neighborhood.

Circling back to her role as April and her love of fabrics, she holds two U.S. patents for improvements on pantyhose and bras. 

At the time of writing, she is a healthy, 92-year-old living with her son. 

Also at the time of writing, I am contemplating pulling the program I choreographed back in 2021 to The Girl That I Knew Somewhere to revisit it. My polka dot dress is ready to go and I will be a Class IV skater very soon.

Typing Out Loud: Fit and Fashion

Maybe in 1991…?

Went shopping for a few niceties today and, as per usual, exited through Macy’s. Of course, there was a detour through clearance, where I found this pure sweetness on clearance for $5.

Five bucks!

But since I’ve resisted impulse purchases - thanks to binging on Hoarders - I wanted to be sure it fit before I spent a dime. 

It reminds me of the bid dresses the girls at colleges across the country are wearing while they hit Tik Tok while rushing Delta Gamma, AOPi, DZ’s, ZTAs, and others. The dress was sweet, flirty, flouncy, but also…

Young. Too young. It fit great - oh, what it did to my waist! - but it just isn’t who I am anymore. I could have gotten away with it for Phi Gamma Nu bid night when I was 22, but not a run to Aldi at 55. 

I don’t know how I feel about it other than kind of sad. I wanted to feel pretty, and it just felt like a costume. Like I was trying too hard. Definitely not dressing my age. But I’m not ready to swing the other way toward heavy double knits and old people's clothes.

I’m just saying there's a reason I’ve never skated to Disney either. 

I have other thoughts on the phenomenon that is currently rush week at all those southern schools, but that's for another problematic time. I hope all of this is for your own empowerment, ladies, and not exclusively for the approval of the male gaze. Remember how they felt about the Barbie movie. 

Post #800 - Project 3867: The Crock Pot

Raise a tureen to post #800! 

I love making soup with fresh ingredients

This summer has been hot AF, but as summer is winding down, my brain shifts from salad to soup. 

I may not be the greatest cook, but I am pretty good at soups and stews. So why not open a soup bar similar to the dearly departed Applegate's in St. Louis?

From a visit in 2011, the beloved Applegate's soup bar

Offer a buffet of crockpots serving a variety of soups. You have your standard everyday soups, like chicken noodle and chili, but rotate in seasonal fare: something lighter for summer and heavier for winter. On Fridays, you might offer clam chowder and lobster bisque, and in the fall, a hearty vegetable soup. 

Step it up on the cracker/crouton selection, as I'm snacking on Schuler's rye chips. Why wouldn't you offer Cheez-Its with cream of tomato or wheat thins with beef barley? 

And for those on the go, soups that are sippable and snackable while driving. I bet I could get a soup-to-go food truck for late-season football and winter sports.  

And a nod to the original inspiration - always have tomato basil ravioli soup on hand. 

The Cereal Project: Puzzle Book

Cover inspired by tagger art from the rail yards in St. Louis

I loved the activity books my aunt and uncle would give us annually for Christmas, which featured word searches, coloring pages, mazes, trivia, and more. Mini versions were also available in cereal boxes, sometimes accompanied by a small watercolor "paint box" featuring dried pigment that would activate with a drop or two of water. 

I envision an 8-page booklet, the first spread is music trivia about Detroit (pp 2-3); the next spread is a coloring page and a word search (pp 4-5); the next spread is another color page and a maze (pp 6-7); and the last page would include The Free Stickers! sticker glue dotted on (artwork featured last month), with a promo for the movie and all the boring copyright stuff that needs to be included. 

Here's the fun stuff:  

How well did you do at trivia? The key should go on page 8, but answers are below!

color page, page 4

word search, page 5

coloring page, page 6

fun maze, page 7

Pulling together a mockup should be fun and easy.  

Key: 1. B; 2. A; 3. D; 4. A; 5. A, B, C; 6. B; 7. E; 8. A; 9. False, the fans were from South Africa; 10. D; 11. A

Lipstick on the Mic: The Andrews Sisters

 

Maxene, Patty, and Laverne - putting the woo in boogie-woogie

Drama from The Spice Girls? Tabloid fodder about Blackpink? People still sore that Beyonce split from Destiny's Child?

Girls, please: in-band drama isn't anything new, take it from The Andrews Sisters.

Laverne, Maxene, and Patty got their start in vaudeville and became successful during the Big Band era, performing their mix of pop, swing, and jazz but also introducing audiences to jump blues and calypso. They had huge hits with Bei Mir Bist Du Schön, Beer Barrel Polka, Beat Me Daddy (Eight to the Bar), Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree (with Anyone Else but Me), Rum and Coca-Cola, and of course their biggest hit, Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy. Their style and energy are influential to this day, and can be seen generationally from the likes of Bette Midler, Christina Aguilera, and Sabrina Carpenter.

They were the most popular female vocal group of the first half of the 20th century. Some notable achievements, from wiki:

• 100 million records sold;
• 113 Billboard hits, including 46 top-10 hits;
• 17 Hollywood films;
• Record-breaking theater and cabaret runs across North America and Europe;
• Successful radio programs from the 30s to the 60s;
• Television show appearances through the 50s and 60s.

But then, there's the backstage drama.

Shortly after their parents died in '48 and '49, Patty decided to go solo but didn't tell Laverene or Maxene. Her motivation, while mourning her parents, may also have something to do with her husband leaving her for Doris Day.

Maxene, a closeted lesbian, also left her husband in 1949 to discreetly enter into a relationship with her business manager Lynda Wells.

Patty then sued Maxene for a greater portion of their parents' estate, which led to Maxene's suicide attempt. But not before Laverne and Maxene appeared on the Red Skeleton Show, performing a diss track - in 1954! - entitled "Why Do They Always Give The Solos to Patty?"

Oh no, you didn't!

Patty then sued everybody, including Skeleton, for that stunt.

They tried to make nice in 1956 with a new record but were up against Elvis and rock and roll. They tried to rock with their bobby socks out, but they were labeled last year's news and sent off on the big band/nostalgia circuit.

Then, peacemaker Laverne died in 1967 of cancer.

Maxene and Patty continued to perform separately after Laverne's death, appearing on sitcoms, game shows, concerts, and Broadway. Maxene tried to reconcile, but Patty kept her distance, even joking that the earthquake that occurred the morning they received their star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame was the aftermath of a phone call she had had with her sister.

Maxene mourned the lack of relationship with her sister until she died in 1995. Patty did not attend the funeral.