1st day of summer

when nick was getting his hair cut this evening i noticed an ad for a hair product.  nothing remarkable about an ad at a hair salon but what caught my attention was the icon on the poster.  a pic of james dean.  dean died in a car wreck in 1955, 60 years ago.  he was a very young, hyper cool dude and i suppose his staying power in the agora can be attributed to the fact that the absolute coolness of james dean is without time.  even his dress, and his hair, stays in style, so that one wouldn't look out of place on any mall or street in the u.s. dressed like dean.  but then again, we live in odd times, brothers and sisters, a time when nearly everything ever recorded is available at a few clicks of a mouse.  therefore, perhaps nothing ever goes out of the popular imagination and fashions recirculate.  and some particulars of fashion, as personified by james dean, are timeless.    

today is the summer solstice.  the longest day of the year.  we are in a bit of a heatwave.  the crickets are chirring as they are wont to do in the heat of summer.  the sky is an electric blue.  and to celebrate the first day of summer i am watching bits and pieces of those classic beach movies i love so much.  the first one, Beach Party [1963] looks a little clunky, the humor is stupid, the leads are likable, and the girls are pretty damn sexy.  if these flicks are not as cool as james dean they are, in my estimation, like dean, timeless bubbles of goofy innocence and wild play.  these are flicks for the drive-in, a place to bring your pals and your girl, or guy, have a few beers, eat a crapload of junk, and partake in the summer joys of really bad movies and good friends.

i wish you, brothers and sisters, an endless summer.