Monday, September 7, 2009

Labor Day, with a hi-di-hi-di-hi, and a ho-di-ho-di-ho!

It is supposed to be a major fashion "don't" to wear white after Labor Day, the reasons being unclear. As a Fashion Club reminder to the less fashionably aware, we give you Ms. Li, the principal of Lawndale High, in a white tuxedo. She will be today's Labor Day icon. (No representative student from Holiday Island High was available.)

Notice that Ms. Li is on a stage in front of a curtain, singing into an old-time microphone. Ms. Li actually appears here as Cab Calloway, the world famous jazz singer, dancer, orchestra conductor, and guest star in the 1980 movie, The Blues Brothers, where he sang one of the songs for which he is best remembered: "Minnie the Moocher." (Click the link and the white tuxedo-and-tails thing will become immediately obvious). He was also famous for "Hi Di Ho Man," which he sang with the Muppets (again in his white tux).

This is one of the older alter egos used on Daria for which no description was given, so it is up to extremely aged people like me to figure out what the secret cultural reference is. Those MTV animators were clever little devils, weren't they?

Speaking of Labor Day, Kara Wild noted in the introduction to one of her DWU fanfics that "All But Forgotten" and "Memory Road" take place during the Labor Day weekend. In another fanfic, Quinn Morgendorffer offers the following quote: "IF I were Jesus, I'd wouldn't wearing ANYTHING florescent this soon after Labor Day, that's just as blasphemous as wearing white shoes." Love that.

What would the HIH student known as Labor Day be like? Hmmm...

On another topic, while checking some of the links at left (in "The Daria Directory"), I found a few that were extinct. I've managed to recover them using the WayBack Machine and relocate them in the Blasts from the Past section. Version Daria, one of the great old supersites, has finally vanished. Few of the AOL ones that disappeared can be recovered, however. The Web is ephemeral. All things come and go. Alas! Anyway, if you notice a broken link, just let me know.

New PPMB Iron Chef: Sick, Sad Worldisms!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

tag wrote: He was also famous for "Hi Di Ho Man," which he sang with the Muppets (again in his white tux).

In Life in the Past Lane, Retro Nathan's yellow Zoot suit was very similar to one worn by Cab in several famous photos.

As for a HIH student to represent Labor Day, who knows? You could just use one of those blindingly white Saint's Days.

gene