#tim noah

I grew up with that movie, and I'm pretty sure it fundamentally influenced the person I grew into.

This was one of my favorite films growing up. Tim was local, so I even got to meet him once. I’m sure there are still pics hidden somewhere in my Dad’s house of me as a poof, permed ‘80s dork.

I hadn’t even thought about it since I was about twelve when this song showed up in a dream a few years back. Lyrics, voice, the whole nine yards. I knew who it was and where it was from and woke up damn near crying from the nostalgia to the gut.

Fortunately the ‘net had my back....and the .mp3 album.

So, the set of the new Old Spice commercials was reminding me of this thing I watched as a kid, but I couldn't really remember the name of it. Long story short, a quick search of vaguely similar syllables brought me to exactly what I wanted, which was 1985's In Search of the Wow Wow Wibble Woggle Wazzie Woodle Woo. I think a lot of you might have been too young for this, but if you watch it I'll probably make more sense as a human being. 

Over at the New Republic, Tim Noah has a bit of fun with Joyce Maynard’s breathless account (for the New York Times) of the quasi-countless benefits this fifty-something gal has derived from her brand-new $800 haircut: “It’s only hair, of course,” Joycie tells us. “Still, two weeks later, I observed in myself a marked elevation in energy, optimism, ambition and confidence. Last week, I set about learning to perform a cartwheel and tackled my first soufflé. Three nights ago, I scored six points in a basketball game. Tonight I go line dancing. As for any possible links between sexuality and hair, I will simply say, a good haircut can definitely put a person in the mood for showing it off.” It’s a little funny that it takes Joycie two fucking pages to tell us about her ab-fab do, and perhaps a little more funny that the NYT illustrates the article not with a photo of Maynard but rather the cut’s inspiration, a 2002 glamour shot of Wynona Ryder, but when Tim sneers at Joycie for being “onetime amuse-bouche to J.D. Salinger” I feel I have to put my foot down. It’s true that Joyce has been ticking people off for a long time, ever since the early seventies, when, at the tender age of 18, she published a “talkin’ ‘bout my generation” piece for the New York Times Sunday Magazine,* complete with her picture on the cover, thus giving about one million unpublished self-hating neurotics a severe case of spiritual heartburn. One writer who wasn’t so affected was notorious recluse J.D. Salinger, who propositioned Joycie, who promptly accepted. Tacky, you say? Maybe so, or maybe no, but listen to this: While Joyce was staying with J.D., he made her listen to Tommy Dorsey records!† I’m sorry, but the girl has suffered, and attention must be paid. So lay off, Tim! She’s paid her dues!