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

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

 

I Come From The Land of Hella

Hello Hella Bus Crowd!

My name is Scott and I am oh-so proud to be the newest blogger for Hella Bus. A pleasure to meet each and every one of you! My seat on the bus has an excellent vantage of local politics and environmental issues, so I’m here to scribe what I see for the rest of you(th). Thinking about communities and ecologies is my brain food at least two meals a day, for one at the University of Washington, but also just as I meander through the streets of Seattle. I want to know what creates communities, what keeps them together, and how we can make them stronger; no matter whether we are talking about human or plant politics.

A little bit about me: I arrived here in Seattle in the Fall of 2007 to attend the Seattle Campus of UW from the land of hella (the San Francisco Bay Area). Since then I have fallen in love with this place. I’ve done my best to introduce myself to all the neighborhoods, landmarks, secret staircases and butt-kicking groups like the Bus. The Bus and I share a strong faith and excitement in our fellow young people. I believe that if we are daring, but always critical, we can kick down the door to progressive change before we are declared officially-jaded.

Along the lines of this philosophy,  another youngin and myself founded the youth-powered Our American Generation (OAG) in 2009. OAG is a social justice think-tank that helps folks get serious and get organized about social justice issues they care about. The group also throws down everything it takes to get projects published and spread all around Seattle free-of-charge. On top of this, we provide a public forum for issues pertaining to youth, American culture, and social justice on our blog, “The Youth Talks”. OAG definitely works by the Bus mantra, “of young people, by young people, for all people”. I wholeheartedly believe that everyone who gets down with the bus should get up on OAG.

I am absolutely jazzed to get so much contact with this generation of movers and shakers. I hope that everyone can enjoy what I have to share. On that note, here is fun game you can re-create at home to blow off some steam before the school year kicks into gear!

Product Placement: Jersey Style

Snooki's Gucci is the real situation. Work it girl!

What is short, furry, and orange all over? Why it’s our favorite guidette from Jersey……Snooki! Besides forgetting who she hooked up with the night before, she has become quite the fashonista.

Last season she was seen sporting  (as well as spilling large quantities of vodka in) her Coach purse. But this season miss Snooki has upgraded her goods.

She has been toting a Gucci purse from club to bar to face-planting on the sidewalk .

Designer labels usually pay celebrities millions to endorse their products, as well as give them the occasional gift of a purse or necklace in hopes of selling it to the masses. Great way to advertise. Can I get in on this as well?

Now the games have gotten dirty. Companies of exclusive products are sending Snooki free merchandise… from their competitors.

Snooki is a “pawn in a reported raging style war” — with the weapon of choice being fine leather goods. She is getting the cue from those Russian spies by becoming an unaware passed out sleeper cell for the high end fashion industry!

Lets take a flashback to 1944 and the British hoax operation code-named “Copperhead”. An Aussie actor, M. E. Clifton-James, impersonated Field Marshal Montgomery on a highly publicized visit to Gibraltar and North Africa. This was a hint to the Germans that the Allies were planning to invade Southern France. And in the famous words of Borat….. “Not!”

Yes, I still quote Borat for I think the movie is horrendously funny.

Lets take another time travel (a little less far back) to a previous post on the philanthropic initiatives of companies to sell their product. So on one side of the spectrum we have those who sell for “greater good” and on the other side we have those who give competitors’ products to less than likeable stars so the value of said product will decrease thus causing an increase in their own product’s sales. That was a mouthful.

Is this Micro-Economics for Devious Marketing 101?

Let the conniving games begin!

No hair pulling please, Snooki’s manicure might get chipped….

Philanthropy for sale

Thinking about saving a war-torned developing nation?

It all started with that yellow rubber wristband. Remember that? The Livestrong wristband we purchased at check-out counters for what…three dollars…(now you can purchase 100 for only $100-what a deal). It was the hippest thing to do.

Ever since then, stores and brands alike have been marketing the idea of not only selling a product, but selling a charitable cause.

More pictures of Bono after the jump!!

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.

breaking news: blogger wears plaid flannel shirt

local blogger peter johnson

Locals are advised to remain calm.

A post of announcement: Write for Hella Bus!

To misquote a certain internet meme of our day and age: we heard you like blogs, so we’re going to put you inside this blog so you can blog while you read your blog. Yes, that’s right, Hella Bus is looking for writers, and we think it might be you!

Head EXPLODED.

While that little internet meme above may not have translated quite as well as we’d hoped, we do want your BIG LEAGUE WRITING CAREER to go well. Didn’t catch that? You are going to have a BIG LEAGUE WRITING CAREER and it will start at Hella Bus.

Here’s how you start your BIG LEAGUE WRITING CAREER:

1. Download this job description
2. Download this application
3. Download this style guide
4. Read the job description, application and style guide
5. Use the job description and style guide to complete the application by Friday, July 30, 2010.
6. Get hired by the Bus
7. Enter the mental state of a someone with a BIG LEAGUE WRITING CAREER (winner styleez)

Nitty gritty details:

• The deadline to apply is Friday, July 30, 2010
• The volunteer position lasts for four months
• Block out the evening of Friday, August 6th for a training session – just in case!
• Writer positions are volunteer (i.e. unpaid)
• You will produce two posts per week during every week of your term, with the commensurate hours that requires
• You will have a BIG LEAGUE WRITING CAREER
• High five

Miscellany and viral video link: if you miss the deadline, you can’t apply after the deadline. That’s why it’s a deadline. But you can apply in November, when we rotate our crop of writers (so to speak.) Here is a viral video about crop rotation.

Writing for Hella Bus is rad.

this could be you

It’s true. I believe that so much, in fact, that I freakin’ work in the Bus specifically for the blog. I eat, drink and sleep Hella Bus. (Mmmm. Frosted blog flakes.) Much of my time is spent scouring the Interwebs for interesting stuff to entertain and inform myself with and Hella Bus means I can share that kind of stuff with all y’all and not just my friends. Who were on the verge of being ex-friends because I send them too many links. (Kidding.)

But for real, I love writing here. To that end I’m involved in writing a style guide for future Hella Bus writers. Indeed, I wanted to tell y’all about how much I love writing for Hella Bus not only because it’s true but because we’re going to add some powerful bats to the Hella Bus lineup. We want you, our dedicated readers, to be the first ones to apply for these prospective writing gigs. Consider this your heads up. Applications will get posted soon… be on the lookout.