Wait, are we talking about the 1990's?

February 8, 2012 6:04 PM

The dream of the 90's 1890's is alive in Portland (SLYT)
posted by Godwin Interjection (71 comments total)

They got me with the setup when I watched this the other night. I thought my DVR had recorded a rerun. That made me laugh pretty hard. Unfortunately, the actual song didn't pay off that much for me. Still, one of my favorite shows.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 6:10 PM on February 8 [1 favorite]

The guy saying "microbrew or die" is clearly operating a still.
posted by kenko at 6:14 PM on February 8 [3 favorites]

IRFH, my wife thought the exact same thing. "Oh, a rerun?" she pouted before suddenly there were BEARDS BEARDS BEARDS.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 6:23 PM on February 8

I thought the future would have more laser guns and slick shoiny jumpsuits and now everyone is dunning socks and pickling things and shearing sheep for fun.
posted by The Whelk at 6:24 PM on February 8 [1 favorite]

The song is kind of awful (if ever the Decemberists were called for...), but the idea is brilliant.
posted by maryr at 6:24 PM on February 8

Temple of the Dog reference!
posted by Dr. Zira at 6:36 PM on February 8 [1 favorite]

I had a seriously 1890's mustache (unwaxed, thanks) in the 1990's, in Portland. Those old-timers didn't have to deal with it beating your eyes out as you crossed the Fremont Bridge on a sunny summer day.
posted by wallabear at 6:39 PM on February 8

The uploader has not made this video available in your country.
Sorry about that.

Huh. I guess the fact that I pay for IFC on cable isn't good enough for them.

Guess maybe I'll stop doing that.
posted by Sys Rq at 6:42 PM on February 8

I'm amused by the awareness of how concretely non-difficult it must have been to cast people and props for this sketch.
posted by redsparkler at 6:42 PM on February 8 [12 favorites]

Metafilter: suddenly there were BEARDS BEARDS BEARDS.
posted by joe lisboa at 6:48 PM on February 8

I'm amused by the awareness of how concretely non-difficult it must have been to cast people and props for this sketch.

Seriously, you could have just collected them in a net trap baited with charcuterie and complex cocktails.
posted by The Whelk at 6:51 PM on February 8 [17 favorites]

Charcuterie is perfect, given the amount of time it would take to decide which artisan knots to use to make the net.
posted by Dr. Zira at 6:55 PM on February 8 [1 favorite]

Damn it, it totally called me out. Charcuterie, knitting, gardening, canning. I kind of am in to the whole artisan thing.
posted by mccarty.tim at 7:03 PM on February 8 [1 favorite]

*rides to Portland on My Little Pony while listening to dupstep remixes of Lady Gaga*
posted by jonmc at 7:04 PM on February 8 [5 favorites]

Wow, I agree the song was weak, but the joke was brilliant, because it really cuts to the heart of one of two flavors of hipsterdom that I despise, best summed up by my own little 'bon mot' about how hipsters on fixies are like the Christian Scientists of transportation.

That's not to say I disagree with some of the "return to roots" trends, especially regarding food; shows like Connections, or those alternative history series like 1632 et al, remind me how important it is to keep some level of self-sufficiency and knowledge of what it takes to survive alive in yourself and your community. But the fetishism of it, and the realization I'd also had myself about how the scene was more turn-of-the-last-century, with fashion and facial hair and wrought iron stylings and local village solutions, makes this whole McKinley-esque flavor hipsterdom comedy gold.
posted by hincandenza at 7:04 PM on February 8 [4 favorites]

(also, I think that we should apply artisan to just about every occupation known to man: artisan custodian, artisan law enforcement, artisan psychaitry, what the fuck ever)
posted by jonmc at 7:05 PM on February 8 [3 favorites]

Also, how did you know I've always wanted to move to Portland?
posted by mccarty.tim at 7:12 PM on February 8

To be fair Tim, you are getting ready for driving that wagon train to Oregon.
posted by The Whelk at 7:13 PM on February 8 [2 favorites]

hipsters on fixies are like the Christian Scientists of transportation

I don't know what this means?
posted by shakespeherian at 7:17 PM on February 8

hipsters on fixies

This really needs to be worked into a parody of "My favorite Things."
posted by jonmc at 7:18 PM on February 8 [8 favorites]

I hated this show in the first season, but this is officially awesome.

(And not just because I have the facial hair of a man from the 1890s.)
posted by Matt Oneiros at 7:18 PM on February 8

What is the difference between fetishizing something and liking it a lot. I'm not being snarky, I just don't understand what that word means in this context.
posted by The Whelk at 7:26 PM on February 8 [1 favorite]

johnmc: ...artisan psychaitry....

I believe the proper term is "bartender".
posted by AzraelBrown at 7:26 PM on February 8 [5 favorites]

also "My Fixie Things" something something something "Shirts of raw cotton that tie up with string!"
posted by The Whelk at 7:27 PM on February 8

....and selvedge jeans
These are a few of my favorite things!
posted by mandymanwasregistered at 7:29 PM on February 8

Sorry to rain on the parade but I feel like the show has run out of ideas. The first season was brilliant but I read that its skits were fine-tuned over the course of several years, while this season is more rushed.
posted by timsneezed at 7:31 PM on February 8

"When the beards itch
When the knitting fails
When the pickles go bad..."
posted by The Whelk at 7:32 PM on February 8 [2 favorites]

I think they are on to something here.
posted by carter at 7:32 PM on February 8

The dandy hobo speaks the truth.
posted by Dr. Zira at 7:34 PM on February 8

It's funny cause everyone is unemploymed and thrifty! /laughingontheinside
posted by The Whelk at 7:35 PM on February 8

The men remind me of this infamous NYtimes Men's Tea Party piece.
posted by melissam at 7:35 PM on February 8 [1 favorite]

What is the difference between fetishizing something and liking it a lot. I'm not being snarky, I just don't understand what that word means in this context.

One is something done by people that are your inferiors.
posted by shakespeherian at 7:41 PM on February 8 [3 favorites]

Handlebar mustaches, Bushwick-raised chickens
Bright copper kettles and crocheted wool mittens
Shirts of raw cotton that tie up with string!
These are a few of my favorite things

Cream churned to butter inside my apartment
Cocktail night with the English department
Native American dance party themes
These are a few of my favorite things

Hipsters on fixies collect unemployment
Watches with nixies for vintage enjoyment
Beer from Milwaukee that's fit for a king
These are a few of my favorite things

When I'm laid off
When the rent's due
When I call my dad
I simply remember my favorite things
I liked before they were fads.
posted by The White Hat at 7:47 PM on February 8 [60 favorites]

I smell a Metafilter chorus project.
posted by The Whelk at 7:49 PM on February 8

you're welcome.
posted by jonmc at 7:50 PM on February 8

hincandenza: hipsters on fixies are like the Christian Scientists of transportation

shakespeherian: I don't know what this means?

Really? Okay, well compare Christian Scientists distrust of medical innovation with hipsters on fixies apparent distrust of mechanical advantage.
posted by hincandenza at 8:00 PM on February 8 [1 favorite]

They're the Amish of gears.
posted by maryr at 8:01 PM on February 8 [3 favorites]

The song is kind of awful

Be glad it wasn't chap-hop.
posted by eddydamascene at 8:12 PM on February 8

Really? Okay, well compare Christian Scientists distrust of medical innovation with hipsters on fixies apparent distrust of mechanical advantage.

That's probably not how it works.
posted by shakespeherian at 8:13 PM on February 8

I loved the sketch, and a girl I know did the costumes (I gave her props for it - get it), but yeah, this and the first one are just really flat musically.
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 8:27 PM on February 8

The guy saying "microbrew or die" is clearly operating a still.

Metafilter, I love you.
posted by benito.strauss at 8:32 PM on February 8 [1 favorite]

My roommate not only wears a waxed mustache, but dresses in shirts with puffed sleeves, and vests. Sometimes he wears a top hat.

He owns a pirate-themed herb shop.
posted by darksasami at 8:50 PM on February 8 [7 favorites]

Jonmc, Artisan Podiatry exists in Brooklyn.
posted by cushie at 8:55 PM on February 8

At this point I assume shakespeherian is either a hipster on a fixie, or a Christian Scientist. Because that line killed among the Seattleites with whom I brunch.

Technically, that's just molybdenum and his wife, but these are not people who laugh easily.
posted by hincandenza at 11:12 PM on February 8

Seriously, you could have just collected them in a net trap baited with charcuterie and complex cocktails.

Very funny.





Now help me get out of this net.
posted by louche mustachio at 12:44 AM on February 9 [1 favorite]

i liked the song
posted by minifigs at 1:26 AM on February 9

i liked the song

Before it was cool?
posted by codswallop at 2:42 AM on February 9

I'm a hipster Christian Scientist and I'm on my fixie right now.
posted by shakespeherian at 5:15 AM on February 9

hipsters on fixies are like the Christian Scientists of transportation

This is really not getting it. And I say this as a dude who has never ridden ride a fixie. In fact, I don't ride anything anymore (getting crushed under a car will do that to you, I suppose.)

Road bikes, especially nice road bikes, are light, fast, and have a lot of moving parts that could potentially break. They're also incredibly expensive.

Before fixies became an accessory, they were reasonably priced, and they are also light and fast (usually). The difference is that the upkeep is substantially reduced by the fact that it's just two axles and a chain. No break lines, no multiple cogs. You don't really even have to grease your chain. So long as you don't leave it out in the rain, it always works.
posted by to sir with millipedes at 5:46 AM on February 9 [1 favorite]

I can't think of any time I've heard of a freewheel breaking on a bike and going without brakes on a fixie just says you value your bike's uptime more than you value upkeep on your knees.

That leaves us with the argument that fixies just feel more natural and zenlike for some people, which is fine, but let's not pretend that they are somehow mechanically superior or even all that different than a single-speed bike.

Heck, the zoobombers leave single-speed kids' bikes out in the rain with limited upkeep and commit murder on the coaster brakes and they're still super hardy.
posted by Skwirl at 6:59 AM on February 9 [1 favorite]

I had thought that fixies very quickly had become about looking good/interesting. Because I have no desire to ride something without gear and with those stubby handle bars, but I love looking at the one I see around Boston.
posted by benito.strauss at 8:23 AM on February 9

Anybody got a link for those of us who cannot view it because we don't live in the right country?
posted by msali at 8:24 AM on February 9

The other thing about fixes is that if you're riding around in say, midtown Manhattan, the level of control you get makes them dramatically more safe. If you're never going to go very fast, and you have to bob and weave and stop constantly, fixes really are best.

Even in Brooklyn, the fact that you have to ride your bike right next to randomly opening parrallel-parked car doors makes coasting with hand brakes terrifying.
posted by Threeway Handshake at 8:34 AM on February 9

You know fixies have become more about style than substance when you see people biking in San Francisco with them. Not a city to do without gears...
posted by maryr at 8:54 AM on February 9

It's hosted right here on IFC's own website, there they post other Portlandia skits as well.
posted by mrzarquon at 10:29 AM on February 9

maryr: You know fixies have become more about style than substance when you see people biking in San Francisco with them. Not a city to do without gears...

Exactly, same thing here in Seattle.

I get that fixies have value in certain areas- such as flat, hectic Manhattan- but riding them up and down Seattle hills? No, that's just hating on mechanical advantage because it looks "cool" and seems more authentic. Harumph.
posted by hincandenza at 11:02 AM on February 9

... and don't even get me started on these hipsters now tooling around town on their penny-farthings. Fuckin' poseurs...
posted by hincandenza at 11:02 AM on February 9

hincandenza, why do you care so much about other people's choice of bicycle? It's like you take it as a personal affront.
posted by ultraviolet catastrophe at 11:23 AM on February 9

It's hosted right here on IFC's own website, there they post other Portlandia skits as well.

That doesn't seem to be working in Canada, either. Well, fuck you Portlandia- you're not on IFC Canada at decent times, you're not on youtube, you were on Netflix Canada for, like, two seconds before you were taken down again, and I can't even watch you on your own site.

I'm going to steal your fucking content, and I don't care who knows it.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 12:25 PM on February 9

I never cared about hipster use of fixies until the third time I almost nailed one of them while they were frantically trying to stop their bike in the middle of an intersection on a hill after having run a stop sign.

Now I just see them as a threat.
posted by Seamus at 12:30 PM on February 9

There's a guy in my (hipster) neighborhood with a bike to which he's mounted a huge like 6-foot diameter partial wheel that allows him to do bike somersaults and he'll do it for beers on busy weekend nights.

Sometimes people have different priorities than you do when it comes to purchasing bicycles, so stop griping.
posted by shakespeherian at 12:40 PM on February 9

If we can't gripe about hipsters in a Portlandia thread, where can we?
posted by maryr at 12:41 PM on February 9 [2 favorites]

After some consideration, I'm going to recommend Cleveland.
posted by shakespeherian at 12:44 PM on February 9

people keep trying to tell me Cleveland rocks but I' have doubts
posted by The Whelk at 12:58 PM on February 9

ultraviolet catastrophe: hincandenza, why do you care so much about other people's choice of bicycle? It's like you take it as a personal affront.

If you must know... hipsters on fixies killed my father.

I'll always be haunted by the sound of their maniacal, yet jaded, laughter as they rode away on their bikes- knees pumping far harder than really should be necessary- while they twirled their handlebar mustaches with a malicious glee.
posted by hincandenza at 1:06 PM on February 9 [4 favorites]

Everything finally makes sense.
posted by shakespeherian at 1:11 PM on February 9

everything finally makes sense
posted by The Whelk at 1:12 PM on February 9

If I wanted to show people one clip that I think represents Portlandia, it might be this one. Incredibly funny premise, so-so implementation, goes on for too long.
posted by Betelgeuse at 1:16 PM on February 9

can someone explain to me the rationale behind using fixies?
posted by timsneezed at 1:37 PM on February 9

can someone explain to me the rationale behind using fixies?

There helluva fun to ride.
posted by tallus at 7:40 PM on February 9

They're even, gah.
posted by tallus at 7:44 PM on February 9