Having no idea what it was about, I was surprised to find actual Nazis at the link instead of people called Nazis for their views about fat.
I didn't realize they actually used the old uniforms. It's like some twisted version of SCA.
I'd want to listen to a band called "Fat Nazis," but I'd be afraid what people would think.
2: I don't think they've got the sponsorship deals worked out for the new one yet.
2: What I don't understand is, if you've going to violate all human decency by wearing a Nazi uniform anyway, why not wear one of the ones that actually look impressive? Not that these fat fucks could have pulled off the SS officer uniform for shit, but still.
Don't the actually impressive ones require actually spiffy tailoring? I think an ill-fitting SS officer uniform would just look sad and costumey.
We need Alameida's little sister to come show these guys what for.
7: Yeah, it's kind of creepy, but doesn't everyone admit that the Nazis were pretty good with iconography? I mean except for Brian Ferry.
Actually, until awareness of the Nazi trimmings kicked in, my first reaction to the visuals of people like that wearing the whole Brownshirt getup was basically "geek squad at Best Buy". Which is pretty much exactly who they look like. Way to go, ubermenschen.
7 made me completely laugh out loud.
Way to go, ubermenschen.
Still laughing.
12: <emoticon!>
I probably shouldn't speculate on anything Nazi related due to the particular fuckedupness of my family in regard to that era of history, but is there seriously a Nazi SCA? Like, are these guys all Brownshirts because they haven't won enough tourneys to be Schutzstaffel yet? Or is it more like seven year olds arguing over who gets to be Batman? "Damnit, you were Goering last time! It's my turn!"
9: In general, the bad guys and gals always have the best outfits. Ming the Merciless vs Flash Gordon? Princess Aura vs Dale? No contest.
Be glad these guys didn't decide to adopt the SS sport uniform.
15: I'm not authorized to view that page. Must have a Jewish ancestor or something.
Just click in the url field once you're there and hit return. It only rejects links in.
13: There are WWII reenactors, and Alameida's little sister got in a bar fight with some once and kicked serious mock-Nazi ass. (She, also a WWII reenactor, but not a mock-Nazi.) (And I assume that mostly mock-Nazis aren't doing it for political reasons, but that if you're going to reenact WWII, someone's got to be the Nazis.)
18: I should have stuck with the Jewish ancestor. Now my eyes hurt.
A friend of mine was just a nazi extra for Tom Cruise's von Stauffenberg movie. They tailored his jacket to him and gave him a nazi haircut. (So he reports. I have yet to see what this "nazi haircut" is.)
Dude, the SS rolled down their sweat socks? No wonder they lost!
Holy shit. Actual Nazis? I'm finding myself to be pretty freaked out.
Oh man, that site linked in 15 is awesome: Nazi Advent Calendars!
Does the whole "pathetic clowns" factor make it less disturbing?
6: Say what you will about the tenets of National Socialism, but at least it's an ethos.
The link in 28 gives me a great idea for the next meet-up....
I'm shocked, shocked! that none of you people seem to have ever watched The Blues Brothers.
I'm shocked, shocked! that none of you people seem to have ever watched The Blues Brothers
Well, we never positively identified their location, so there was no opportunity to say "I hate [state] Nazis." Believe me, I wanted to!
Really just suffering a bit from my son's current addiction to Animal House, which, though I love it dearly, is not meant to be watched multiple times in a single week.
Ah. So glad I haven't introduced PK to Animal House yet. The Blues Brothers, I can stand watching any time.
Oooh, opposite reaction. Watched the Blues Brothers recently for the first time in years and was surprised at how poorly it held up.
I actually am pretty sure I've never seen Animal House in its entirety. Certainly not beginning-to-end in one sitting.
I'm sorry, is this the thread for pop culture confessions?
I have seen neither Animal House nor Blues Brothers.
I'd say they're both worth it, but haven't seen either for a decade. Belushi was a force of nature, though -- he didn't really need material, he was just funny being there.
39: Yes, yes, we know. Sesame Street is on the other thread somewhere.
No, this is the thread for mercilessly mocking those who inadvertently reveal their pop-cultural ignorance, you uneducated philistine!
The Blues Brothers is wonderful for the performances, but it's a dumb plot. And the half-hour car chase is boring.
it's a dumb plot. And the half-hour car chase is boring
What, as opposed to watching the Little Mermaid over and over again instead?
And the half-hour car chase is boring.
I haven't seen it since at least my mid-20s. But I did see it sober, and it was funny when I was both sober and more than 14 yrs old. So I suspect it's still reasonably funny.
I wonder if Smokey and the Bandit retains any merit.
Silver Streak?
The half-hour car chase is awesome.
9: re: the Brian Ferry story
When I was in elementary school we did some sort of lesson about WWII. A friend of mine and I thought the Swastika was really cool looking and in the following weeks were doodling it in our notebooks and book covers.
I don't remember this very clearly, but a teacher very tactfully explained to us that it wasn't in very good taste to do so. I don't remember my initial reaction, but we definately stopped doodling them.
It's interesting to try and imagine a time when the subtext of Swastikas had to be explained to me.
On the plus side, I wasn't fat at the time.
Yeah, I remember drawing swastikas b/c I thought it was a cool doodle I'd just made up, until my folks explained it to me. Oops.
Blues Brothers definitely has good stuff in it. It just doesn't, IMHO, hold up as well when I'm old, boring, and sober.
If I had been there, I don't know how I'd keep from hurting those guys.
Oh, yes, btw, on re-enactors. WWII re-enactors actually have a hard time finding enough people to play the Allies, it's kind of an issue. There's a surprising number of folks who want to be the Axis, and many of them are not Nazi-wannabees like the dumbfucks in these photos. Many of them are more like Rommel-groupies.
many of them are not Nazi-wannabees ... more like Rommel-groupies.
You split a mean hair.
I wonder if Smokey and the Bandit retains any merit.
I watched this, I dunno, as recently as 10-12 years ago, and thought it was pretty funny.
54: Well, there goes "urbane," anyway.
Yeah, I remember drawing swastikas b/c I thought it was a cool doodle I'd just made up, until my folks explained it to me. Oops.
Omigod. Repressed childhood memory emerging. We were maybe 9 years old and me and a buddy made a kite out of some wire and a black trash bag. We painted a white swastika on it. His mom told us it probably wouldn't be a good idea to fly it because (my friend explained) there might be some Jews in the neighborhood.
You split a mean hair.
Naah. While it was the trying to take over the world part that provoked the most outrage (and actual war) at the time, it's the "Aryan Master Race" part that provokes outrage today. Compare to Napoleon, for instance. Rommel did a pretty good job in North Africa given what he had. Too bad he was working for some of the most morally reprehensible fuckheads the world has ever seen.
Oddly enough, I've had a few people who grew up in India and came to college in the US tell me that it was quite a shock to learn that the rest of the world didn't view Hitler as basically on the side of good in the world but with a few unfortunate ideas about Jews. One had a poster of him up on the wall when his roommate arrived.
58.2: Wild guess here: Hindu nationalists?
Belushi was a force of nature, though
I like Belushi just fine - and certainly he was the best of the Chubby Sketch Comics Who Died Before Their Time (Farley and Candy being the other members of that club.)
But I never got the whole Belushi-worship thing. He was okay, but there were many better comics in his era.
Wild guess here: Hindu nationalists?
Racist.
59: Not really sure. But Hitler helped them against the British, so...
62: Maybe that's the source of it, or maybe it's the whole Aryan myth thing. It's just that the RSS, for instance (right-wing Hindu nationalist group) is notorious for its Adolfolatry.
I've never heard of the RSS, so I guess you can be the Apostle today.
Wait, Hindu nationalists are responsible for blog syndication?
we had a little nazi rally in Raleigh, a fwe years back. i got a few pix. the only really fat ones were the KKK guys, though.
Somebody needs to get going on organizing the Hare Krishna militants.
For the Blues Brothers chase scene, they mocked up a mall in an abandoned shopping center near my childhood home. I wasn't born yet when they did that, but every time we drove by, my mom would tell us about it. It was like our little local slice of pop culture history.
70: Fat meshback American flag print hat Nazi. Seriously, just... damn.
I love Bull Durham because they filmed extra scenes in the old War Memorial Stadium in my hometown. They dressed the whole place up, and then people (including my parents) stood in line for hours to be crowd extras.
Swastikas in a Buddhist context (in Japan, in my case) definitely took some getting used to. It's only recently I learned how common the symbol was even in the West before the Nazis co-opted it; I know of a house in Portland (1915-1920ish) with one built into the chimney brickwork. Distinctive detail, but probably a difficult selling point for a realtor.
I have seen two such houses in Portland. I imagine that the swastikas were covered over 1941-1950 or so.
The one I remember was on Clinton Street SE.
The one I'm thinking of is in that neighborhood (Lincoln-Harrison area). Painted over, but still easily distinguished.
That would be #3. On I saw was in N / NE.
Naah. While it was the trying to take over the world part that provoked the most outrage (and actual war) at the time, it's the "Aryan Master Race" part that provokes outrage today.
Would you say Rommel hastened or slowed the end of the "Aryan Master Race" part? This is no different from the neoConfederates who like to say that Robert E. Lee was an honorable man who had nothing to do with that slavery stuff. He was a traitor to the U.S. And Rommel actively assisted crimes against humanity.
Bull Durham is objectively likable. Or does that go in the "untenable opinions about baseball" thread?
Or does that go in the "untenable opinions about baseball" thread?
In your heart, you know the right answer.
I certainly tiens that opinion, definitely.
I am feeling an irrational desire to move to Kansas City. It seems like Kansas City would be a good place to move to and will become very popular in a couple decades. Have I gone mad?
Thanks for the love, ogged! Those photos are from a rally on the statehouse grounds that took place last April (I just never got around to uploading them). The rally was for J/o/h/n T/a/y/l/o/r B/o/w/l/e/s (Fuck him. I'm not making him any easier to Google) a neo-nazi Presidential candidate. SPLC summarized the event, but I can't find the summary there--and I'm a little drunk--, so Brad Warthen's summary will have to do.
LB gets it right. The "pathetic clown" factor did make it a lot less disturbing. I was even a little sad for the old nazi. Look at that picture. The guy A) looks like he should be working at a hardware store somewhere and B) even looks just a little embarrassed to be where he is. And I thought, "Dude. You look old enough to remember WWII. What do you tell yourself when you put on that uniform? What do you tell your grandchildren?" That made me sad more than anything else.
Also, what was a little bizarre, was that the "protesters" were herded into gated areas a good distance from the rally, but "spectators" were permitted to walk right up to the police line. In fact, spectators were permitted to shout and jeer at the nazis as much as the protesters were, so I don't know why someone thought the official "protesters" needed to be separated.
But as I've remarked before, it's pretty easy to jeer at nazis; we just can't put that Treason-in-defense-slavery flag in a museum.
It's disappointing that there are people like these nazi-wannabes out there in our country walking freely.
Sorry to attempt a hijack right before Populuxe actually showed up. Never mind.
I do think we have the luxury of laughing at these guys. Some terrible things might happen here, but I don't think resurgent Nazism is going to be among them. I saw Al Sharpton speak at that statehouse, and there was a big crowd and one guy who showed up with his confederate flag. People laughed.
It's disappointing that there are people like these nazi-wannabes out there in our country walking freely.
Well, actually, that's supposed to be the greatness of our country. I understand that in European countries that actually suffered Nazi occupation they have special laws about these things. But here in Amerikay, if you're a fat redneck who wants to dress up as a brownshirt, well, that's your right.
Ned, Kansas City is great. You'll like it. Or, if you don't, there are a lot of different areas to check out before you can say you totally do hate it.
Pre-1933 Nazi photos, of leaders like Himmler, Goering, or Rohm, actually have a similar schlemiel-like quality. Power and control of the media images gave us a lot of what sticks in the mind, that stylishness that those of us who grew up with WWII souvenirs and memorabilia have never been able to ignore. Kiss of The Spider Woman is only one example of where this appeal has been acknowledged.
Aren't we glad that kind of media domination is a thing of the past?
88: And I think that not forcing it underground serves a purpose. In the light of day, you see the "pathetic clown" factor so easily. Force it underground, it gets all shrouded in mystery and starts to seem all rebelious and stuff.
These guys are their own case against Nazism. It's really great. Deustchland uber alle donuts.
I have a funny memory of going to a KKK rally in a little southern IL town that had been devastated by coal mine shutdowns. Big crowd, lots of teenagers, lots of state troopers. I was with my brother, who had a big mouth (he's dead now). The KKK dudes were all from IN, historically a center of white supremacism in the US. The KKK leader was some fat cracker in a brown shirt. Every time he and his guys did their Hitler salute thing, my brother would yell, "Raise your hand if you're gay." Like I said, he had a big mouth, and his voice carried across the whole crowd. Eventually he got under the speaker's skin to the point where he stopped his ranting and looked at my brother and said, "No, YOU'RE gay." Whereupon my brother cackled and said something like, "Ah-hah, made you look," or something equally witty. A treasured memory...
I saw Al Sharpton speak at that statehouse
I did too. Was that in 2000? Or was it that day everyone marched on the statehouse to take the confederate flag off the dome in, what, '97, '98?
You know what was amazing? Watching Clinton speak on the statehouse steps in '92. Half a dozen godawful speakers preceded him, then he took the mic and delivered a barn-burner of a speech. It was Labor Day weekend and he must've been exhausted, but he spoke for an hour or more. Then he turned to everyone who was standing behind him (I was one of them), shook our hands, looked everyone in their eye, and thanked them for being there. It was electric. The charisma rolled off that man in waves.
Yeah, yeah. Intellectually, there was a lot I didn't like about Clinton, too. But I didn't comprehend the power of pure charisma until that day. I went back home, told my roommates, "Yep. Clinton's got it all sewed up." And I wasn't at all surprised when I learned about Monica.
The charisma rolled off that man in waves
Yet in '88, at the convention, he was a dud. First time I'd ever seen him.
I was enthusiastic about him in '92, because after the '88 campaign I wanted a winner, and he had it that year. But I like him less and less the more I know, and no longer feel proud of having supported him.
3: when i listened to a song that had the lyrics "swastika eyes," i got lots of looks
no longer feel proud of having supported him.
Eh. By 2000, I was pretty angry with him. (Which is one of the reasons why--to my eternal chagrin--I voted for Nader that year.) In retrospect though, I'm not sorry I campaigned for him. As far as I knew at the time, he was the best available candidate. (Though in fact, I was a Tsongas supporter at the start of that season.)
Was that in 2000?
No, '04. Apparently Al is there a lot.
Apparently Al is there a lot.
He is. But, yeah. '04. I remember that. He was there that day with Carol Moseley Braun and a few others I don't remember (Kucinich? Clark?). Imagine that.
Braun and Clark I remember; if Kucinich was there, I've forgotten.
It's funny. When I was visiting the Folger this spring, one of the docents I met was on the Clark campaign in '04 and was at the Law Library when Clark spoke there (and where I met him). Small world.
Bull Durham is completely awesome.
Blues Brothers is cursed. After years of not seeing it, I finally put on a tape of it on on October 17, 1989 and settled in to watch. The opening credits ended at 5:04.
I don't understand these guys. What makes you wake up one morning and think: "you know, our message of race war and white power is not going so well, so we should dress up in nazi uniforms, that'll make sure our ideas will be well received in the American heartland".
KKK, Confederate groupies I can understand, but American nazis?
I was accused of doodling swastikas at school, too! Finally I have something in common with that Bitch!
BTW, SCA does have an analogue with real Nazis; when I lived in Austria, the Kameradschaft IV in Salzburg was still active. It may be still. It is, or was, a second world war veterans' association, with the twist that it specialises in former SS men, and they're not sorry!
I was accused of doodling swastikas at school, too!
Alex admits nothing.
and they're not sorry!
Yep. Confederate re-enactors often fit in the same category. And they have trouble finding enough people willing to dress in blue.
75: There's a synagogue in the Bronx, built in the 20's sometime, with beautiful inlaid marble floors. Big, big swastikas. They cover them up with rugs.
Also, could people shoo me away if I comment? I really need to focus today.
And they have trouble finding enough people willing to dress in blue.
What does that mean?
107: The Confederates have better uniforms.
107: Tim, at these shindigs there tend to be a surfeit of Confederates and a shortage of Union soliders.
108: They're grey, aren't they?
109: Thanks.
You had a fat Nazi, too.
hah. guess i did.
Hey, we've all had a fat Nazi. College is for experimenting.
Conversation between a roommate and me a few years ago, as he played a videogame with a WWII theme:
Me: "What the fuck are you doing playing a Nazi?"
Him: "I always play the Nazis. That way, if I win I get to feel good about beating the game and if I die then I get to feel good about the Nazis losing the war."
