The hippest school in the land, cat.

[Cadaverous Pallor]

Ok hipsters, here's the crux of it.

I love this theme. I've never been a hipster. Never dug the beatnik thing. I've gone through many transformations in my life and learned to walk many walks. This is new for me and it's absolutely grand. Thanks to certain someones that introduced this to us.

At the library Jack Kerouac's On the Road, a cultural landmark in beatnik history, crossed my desk. Fate, man. I grabbed it and have chewed through half already. It's music to me, and I really am a picky reader. (Ironically, he keeps mentioning how much he loves Hemingway, whom I can't stand.) Now I'm thinking in his style, and want to write in it. This always happens when I pick up on a new groove.

Tonight GD and I watched the original Pink Panther. Nice bit of swank culture in there. I've already been shown some incredible Bob Fosse choreography and couture. I dig Frank Sinatra. I had a minor schooling in big band swing back when it made a minor comeback. There are so many facets to "swank", mainly because it encompasses so many eras and styles. Beatnik or Lounge or Twist, 1947 or 1955 or 1962?

So here, here we'll get together. We'll pool our resources. Tell us of your encounters with vintage swank from the 40's, 50's and 60's. Books, movies. I want to soak this up.

So yeah, I'm starting with Beatnik, at its most basic. Kerouac's book chronicles his journeys with his mad friends across the country and back again and across again and back again.....for no reason, really. With no money and no goal, no stability and no point, they just go and see what happens. They steal and hunt for girls and try everything that they stumble over. "Swank" is used in the book but to describe pricey places. Stealing a loaf of bread because you haven't eaten in 30 hours or disappearing on a girl you just married definitely isn't swank. I can't say I endorse what they do, or that I would ever follow them on such a path, but damn, what an eye-opening perspective on the world. Highly recommended reading, cats.

So, spill. What movies should I put in my queue, what books should I get from the library? I'd love to expand my mind in all things hip.