Hella Bus – The Rebirth

There comes a day in every blog’s life when it must leave the comfort of its WordPress home and step out into those bright lights of the interweb.  Friends, countrymen, netizens, Busridas – that time has come. THE HELLA BUS IS MOVING TO A NEW SITE.

This post marks the final time our pun-filled rants will grace this hallowed page.  But wipe away those tears blog-dwellers – a new dawn, a rebirth of sorts, lays before us.  Hella Bus now lives on the Bus’ new website – bigger, better, and more pun-heavy than ever.

We let you decide how to get to the newest iteration of Hella Bus – choose your favorite death/rebirth narrative!

The Biggie Version

The Bus Version

Sometimes you think, “health care? Not that important.” Other times you have a gaping headwound

The sequel to last week’s Babies for 1098 video has arrived! This time – a friendly message from your local bread-faced head-trauma victim about our favorite initiative -1098:

And for the sake of less clicking on your part here is the prequel – the Baby –

The Hunger. The bizarre hunger.

Halloween is approaching, meaning so is the good news: Trick or Vote.  It also means we must take a moment and savor the this music video which includes the best Anubis cameo I can possibly imagine.  Too sincere to be a spoof, too terrible to not be featured below:

Thanks to the Trick or Treats series on Consequence of Sound.  Similar to our Trick or Votes series going on everyday.

Freaky Fashion Friday Part Duex!

For all of you who ever spent one of those interminably long nights tossing and turning under the covers wondering “what, WHAT is this one-eyed-elongated blob that looks like the “arch-nemesis of Gumby” that plagues my sleepless existence?”

Well – my troubled friend –  you are in for a treat! They’re psychological manifestations of a scarring childhood fishing accident Mascots!  Indeed, the UK just unveiled the 2012 Olympic mascots: Mandeville and Wenlock (good god what were they smoking?). This is not a joke.  This is real.  This is terrifyingly real.

ENJOY!

 

Please do not poke them in the eye

 

Love Connection: Dos Equis x KAWS

Two of the Bus’s favorite things: highbrow art that purports to be lowbrow, and lowbrow beer that is appropriated by the highbrow! Jersey artist Brian Donnelly-aka KAWS-collaborated with the cerveza company Dos Equis to design some limited edition bottles, and they are purdy.

Sweet. The world finally makes sense again: booze and fashion collide.

And that’s just a taste (yuk yuk yuk) of KAWS’ work, check below for some more samples of KAWS’ work.

KAWS army

KAWS tagged

NERD x KAWS x Complex Magazine

As the primary dust settles, let’s see what we’ve got

Phew. Feels a tad like November, doesn’t it? Some primaries go softly into that good night. Others – notably our current 2010 version – go out with a bang.

So now that the returns are (in large part) in the door, what can we say about the state of the Bus, the state of you, the awesome volunteer, and the state of our state? Let us begin.

The State of the Bus: behold the rise of young politics.

Let’s just come straight out and say this first and foremost: young people have never mattered more in Washington State politics. Sure, we could quote our recent op-ed in the Seattle Times about voting trends, but there’s an even simpler metric to go by: young candidates, across the board, owned this primary election. In the three primary races the Bus was working on, Joe Fitzgibbon in the 34th Legislative District, Andy Billig in the 3rd Legislative District, and Nick Harper in the 38th Legislative District, the younger candidates came through the primary across the board. The Bus is proud that young people are headed towards elective office, and we’re glad that with each election, more and more campaigns realize that young people are a key constituency to be considered and valued. Pow!

The State of You: every door counts.

Did you know that you were the most important person in the primary? It’s true. In each of the Bus’s three primary races, the difference between the top two vote-getters was razor thin: as close as 21 votes, and no more than 246. Oooooweee! Bus volunteers knocked on thousands of doors, and made thousands of calls – more than enough to be decisive in each of these races. Your work as a volunteer is what made these races so competitive, and as we take a deep breath and look towards the general election together, know that your time and energy is going to be as important, if not more. It’s an exciting time – and you’re the reason it’s happening!

The State of the State: engaged.

The Bus is proud to be a part of a most excellent trend, which is a higher-than-usual turnout in a primary election. As the ballots continue to pour in (watch out this afternoon for another update), the Secretary of State’s office is predicting a primary turnout of 38 percent – enough to tie the recent (2006) record – and is crossing their fingers for the grand total to break 40. Now, we realize that means there’s much much more to do, but the fact that the dial is moving in the right direction, and that young people are a big part of it, is making us do the “high fiving my cousin” dance (fyi, there is no such dance. It simply sounds like fun).

The moral of the story? The wheels are in motion, the Bus is rolling, and you’re in the driver’s seat. Whether you’re in Vancouver, Spokane, Tenino or Tacoma, the Bus is going to be in your area this fall! We have miles to go before we sleep, so get your catnap in now, and let’s get ready to rumble!

Burt Reynolds: the man behind the mustache

So dreamy.

You might have heard about the recent news about mustaches. You know, how they enhance your power and prestige. And in a recent interview with Hella Bus, mustachioed sex symbol Burt Reynolds credited his magnificent facial hair for the vast majority of his considerable achievements, such as Deliverance, Boogie Nights and Smokey and the Bandit Part 3.

When we sat down at Bus HQ, Reynolds was wearing the sort of classy attire you could find him showing off in the late 70s: jeans, jean shirt, jean jacket, jean tie(?). The man knows how to wear a (Canadian) tuxedo.

Here’s a few selections from the interview:

Thanks for sitting down with us, Burt.

No problem.

So you’re an eminently successful movie star.

I am. I also am notably handsome.

And you’ve been in the biz for a few years, so you must have a few ideas about why you’ve made it so big.

Yeah, it’s true. I think it’s my mustache.

Really? Facial hair has that sort of effect?

Sure does. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve been propositioned by men and women who were intrigued by my mustache.

Uh… cool. I really wanted to know that. But the mustache has an affect on your business dealings too?

Yeah. If my representatives are having trouble getting my quote from a producer, they take me along to a face-to-face.

So you can show off your mustache?

Yeah. I just stroke it lovingly and glare at the producer. They usually exceed my quote at that point.

You’d think they’d just give you the quote up front then.

That’s what it’d seem like, but they gave me the quote no questions asked for the version of The Longest Yard with Adam Sandler and we all know how that went.

Oof. That’s a good point.

Yep. It’d have gone a lot better if the kid had grown a mustache like I’d said he should.

You think Adam Sandler in a mustache would have made The Longest Yard a good movie?

Ask it again.

You think Adam Sandler in a mustache… oh, man, that’s hilarious

Right?

Great talking to you, Burt.

You too. This is a great organization you got going here.

A real class act. I should mention that even though Reynolds is like the general population of mustache-wearers mentioned above in that he earns more money and gets more respect than the barefaced, he also blames it for the “painful” handsomeness he has had to endure for more than fifty years as a movie star. You feel for the guy.

It was the 70s…

…and horrific things happened as the West German charts were conquered by the ghost of Ghengis Khan.

Wait, what?

The Magic Vote Bus explores the body politic

wink wink

Pheobe: Ms. Frizzle, did you know it’s election season???

Ms. Frizzle: Why yes, Pheobe, it’s my favorite time of year! How did you know elections were going on right now?

Pheobe: I was helping my 62-year-old grandma vote just last night.

Frizzle: What a coincidence, Pheobe – your grandma is exactly the age of the average Washington primary voter! Class, this looks like the perfect opportunity for a field trip. But today, we’re not taking our normal school bus, we’re taking the Magic Vote Bus on Saturday, August 14 at Delridge Playfield and exploring the Body Politic!

Higher Education

The old school

Sometimes major events line up just so. Just think of the crazy/awesome coincidence that involved experiencing Shark Week and the Week of Joe at the same time.

A tribute to the timeless preppy style, Take Ivy, is being released in a new printing this month. The photobook, amazing showcase of Ivy League style, was produced during the 1960’s by a Japanese team of fashion writers and a photographer. It’s just in time to hit for back-to-school season.

The book was out of print until a few years back, but just a quick glance at Take Ivy proves that the preppy style transcends time and trends. The book has been scanned and blogged about a bunch on the Internet and lots of fashion watchers are really excited to see it published.

Check out breathtaking photos from the shoot in the video preview below and make sure you pick up the book when it drops on August 31- if you can. The first printing has already sold out.