Pack Brats.

I have been leading up to the 80's pinnacle of Pack-men (& women) and they are none other than: Emilio Estevez, Anthony Michael Hall, Rob Lowe, Andrew McCarthy, Demi Moore, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald and Ally Sheedy, the Brat Pack. (Definitely click there if you want bios of the Pack, it saves me the trouble of linking.)

I'm not going to bother going on about these brats but perhaps I should clue you in on why I've gone off tangentially on these Pack-posts in the first place. Dave, Rob, Alex and I popped into this bar called St. Elmo's Place last Friday. Maynard & Blaise of Monkey Majik fame also made an appearance and jocularity ensued.

A cool little sports bar with Darts and a Foozball game (the first I've seen in Japan) AND the walls were plastered with posters of the Brat Pack (et al.) These BP movies, St Elmos Fire/ The Breakfast Club/ Pretty In Pink/ Sixteen Candles/ Weird Science/ Class/ About Last Night and The Outsiders were all represented, as well as a few Lea Thompson & Matthew Broderick posters (whom I always considered to be honourary Brat Packers, if not canonical.)

Only guys seemed to frequent the joint, but there was a lovely waitress, named Yoshie who joined us in darts and spoke a smattering of English. WooHoo! We have now found a new place to hang out!















Everyone split up and most went home, except Dave & I. Dave moved on to Shaft to listen to this infamous DJ from Germany, who just happens to be a Pron star over there. I hooked up with the gang at 305 and went bowling with them on Sunday. But that's a post for another day...














(A brief aside...According to their website, MM have sold out of their summer tour promoting their new cd. Thank goodness, Blaise's friend wrangled us some tickets. Should be a blast...)

Leader of the Packs!

Since the Rat Pack was named by Lauren Bacall at Bogey's home, that alone puts them at the Top of the Heap. But there are other lesser important Packs out there. Here's a few...

The Frat Pack: core members include...Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, Will Ferrell, Owen Wilson, Luke Wilson, Jack Black, and Steve Carell. Coined by USA TODAY a few years back, this outdated chart outlines the various criss-crossing of careers for your convenience. I've seen many of their efforts and find them more amusing than annoying, but a fine line does get tread there occasionally. The only movie of theirs that I own is Dodgeball, which I picked up for a mere fin on St. Patrick's Day at a flea market.

The one member, whose career I've followed the longest, is Ben Stiller's. I first remember him in an eponymous Fox show called The Ben Stiller Show that only lasted a short time when Fox was still in its infancy. But I was aware of his parents for decades prior to that from appearances on Ed Sullivan, Tonight Show, etc. Their marriage has lasted over 50 years...a milestone by Hollywood terms! Jerry Stiller is best remembered as George's dad, Frank Costanza on Seinfeld and I have fond memories of Anne Meara from her days on Archie Bunker's Place as the nasty waitress. If the pack can be considered a Fraternity, than these two can be considered their Den Parents for they've made several cameos in Frat Pack movies (my favourite being Zoolander! Maury Ballstein: I've got a prostate the size of a honeydew and a head full of bad memories.)
Here's the Gas Fight...



The Power Pack: cheesy kids comic from 1984 that lasted 60ish issues. I bought the first couple of dozen and enjoyed their innocence. After one two many Wolverine x-overs, I gave up on them. I understand they've been revamped a few times, but I don't know anything about that.
















The Scat Pack...Head up by Mr. Hankey, it also includes Winnie the Pooh and this trio from Japan...ウンチ (unchi). I'm not serious about this last one, but it'd be cool!





Coming up next, the iconic 80's Pack (and the reason I'm posting this stuff in the first place.)

Pack Rats

First it was the Rat Pack: consisting of the quintessential quintet of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop (I liked him on password, I was too young to see him on the Tonight Show.) The first three are the only ones with musical talent, but they all contributed to the Pack (such as Lawford's connection as JFK's brother-in-law and the guy who introduced Marilyn for his birthday tune.)


Precognitively, he introduced the tardy lass as the "late" Marilyn. She died soon after.

I frequently channel Frankie during karaoke bouts and click here if you'd like to learn to talk like him. I have a couple of his cds and this one is my favourite.














As for Sammy, I only have this cd but it is really swinging, baby. I loved him on All in the Family. An all-time classic television moment:





















And the only Rat Pack movie I own is this one. Bing replaced Lawford in this one (because Peter didn't hook Frank up with JFK, he was given the boot!)

I love Dean in this movie and every other movie he shows up in, especially those with out Lewis. (Though those are good too, but a bit too sober for my tastes.)














Tomorrow I'll talk about a couple of other influential packs, but for now, I can't get started!