Hot summer nights, mid July
Von Dutch, Gaga demo, Polly Pocket vs. Bratz vs. Barbie vs. AGD, VHS collections 📼
Happy Thursday! Looks like it’s that time of year again – Hot summer nights, mid July, when you and I were forever wild.
What else I’ve been up to: I wore an emotional support cami that gives 2007 energy in the best way possible, made some jewelry, drank a Brat-themed iced pistachio shaken espresso, went to a wine tasting, had way more fun riding full-speed in a golf cart than I thought was possible, and beat the heat in NYC by watching the Euros in an extremely niche Canadian bar with pictures of Celine Dion, Avril Lavigne, Pamela Anderson, Shania Twain, et al. on the wall.
In this lovely issue, I have links for you! 🫶 Can you please answer the poll question below? Thanks!!
ICYMI, last week’s issue included Nicole Richie and Hilary Duff working it out on the remix, overdue independence for Kesha, and the layers of irony in depictions of the American flag motif, as exemplified by Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, Lana Del Rey, and Katy Perry.
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Huge thank you to Nicstalgia supporters who I will love forever: Janine, Marie, Liv, Mitra, CY, and Aleena! 💐💐💐
📲 I’m just a simple girl in a high-tech digital world
With a New Owner, Von Dutch Plots a Comeback. My favorite quote from this article is, “Our goal is to tone it down” lmaooooo loves it.
Speaking of Von Dutch, *Addison Rae auto-tuned scream* Addison’s song, “Nothing On (But the Radio),” is actually an unreleased Lady Gaga demo from 2010!
Nobody Is Having a Better ‘Brat’ Summer Than Kyle MacLachlan. “Once I understood “babygirl” then everything fell into place.” How do I get on his social media team?
Welcome to the Hannah Montana Generation of Pop Music. I do agree and am excited about this sentiment! This article left a lot to be desired for me though. It’s stated very matter-of-factly and isn’t as deep, thorough, compelling, or fun as it could be. That being said, it’s a fun parallel to explore!
Shoutout to Marie Claire for these very Nicstalgic headlines, Macy Gray Says Britney Spears Once Skateboarded Into Her Recording Session and In a Wild Turn of Events, The Voice Actress for Bart Simpson Is Sabrina Carpenter's Aunt.
People are talking about how girls and major pop stars alike are either Polly Pockets, Bratz, Barbies, or American Girl dolls. To me, this is like the zodiacal earth, air, fire, water, or Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte, Miranda archetypes. I’ve been working on a larger archetypal project because I am fascinated by our ever-evolving human need to categorize people, especially girls and young women.
Speaking of Polly Pocket, Lena Dunham is no longer directing the Polly Pocket movie. She said her vision for a Mattel-produced Polly Pocket film did not align with the powers that be and “what the world wants.” That last part is a skill issue tbh. Isn’t being a good artist making something that people are so intrigued, inspired, and taken aback by that it becomes what they want? Btw if you’re sick of all this Mattel IP, buckle up. There are at least 14 films in development.
Critics AT THE TIME called the 2004 plastic surgery reality show The Swan “hurtful and repellent” and “one of the most sadistic TV shows of the decade.” Looking back on it now, have times really changed all that much?
Redbox Is Now Deadbox. It’s no surprise that – due to a variety of reasons, including a “possible” misappropriation of funds – Redbox, the DVD renting box that was inside of grocery stores when Netflix still shipped out physical DVDs, has filed for bankruptcy. That’s not interesting. What IS interesting is that Redbox’s parent company is Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment. Yes, THAT Chicken Soup for the Soul!
Internet Archive fights to preserve digital libraries in Second Circuit hearing. I side with Internet Archive, not the big publishers whose existing structures already more so exploit than benefit the grand majority of artists and writers for the maximum amount of profit. We need libraries! We need digital libraries! We need literacy! We need media literacy!!!!!!!
The short, happy reign of CD-ROM. I think when people talk about ‘the good old days’, this is what they mean.
A TikTok Titanic superfan, who has the largest collection of Titanic VHS tapes (3000+), set up a speakeasy-style museum in the back of a smoke shop in Dunedin, Florida. This is so unhinged and I love it. You know if they brought this to NYC, I’d be there in a heartbeat wearing the Heart of the Ocean
This Netflix series creator wants to own every movie—on VHS.
is the midst of a Physical Media Renaissance™, and I love to see it!!
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