Science Friday: Groupies edition

Noble sweater girls of yore using their chests … for science.

via.

Boy’s Life, February 1965. Girls Like A Boy Who Reads — physics books.

I would totally have been right there.

The Girls of Summer: DeDe Lind, Miss August 1967

The lovely and talented DeDe Lind has come up several times before, and I am totally pumped that she gets her own post! She is an amazing woman who is sweet, funny, and deservedly popular.

Photographed by Mario Casilli.

This picture has been to Vietnam and the moon and its friendly, upbeat subject just keeps on truckin’. Read on and find out more about the single most popular centerfold model in the history of Playboy!

How did she get that gravity-defying figure? Spaghetti, of course.

Early in the evening, DeDe turns to the kitchen and her principal avocation, with a flair and success in cooking that does the Swedish and Italian roots of her family tree proud. “Like Mom’s, my best main course is a spaghetti dish,” DeDe says.

(“DeDe Girl.” Playboy, August 1967.)

For a quiet woman, DeDe is not without opinions. “I don’t see how we can get out,” she says of the war in Vietnam. “But — perhaps because I’m a girl and I’m young? — The thought of losing our young men way over there is awful.”

(Ibid.)

Maybe it was that anxious empathy, her sunny spirits, confession of shyness, or maybe a little something to do with the sweet rack and all these adorable girly-girl pictures? — Whatever the cause, DeDe Lind holds the honor of being the undisputed most popular Playmate of all time. She received more mail than any other Playmate before her time and since. Get it, girl!

This popularity was out of control with the soldiers serving overseas in Vietnam. I think a large part of it was her genuine, outspoken empathy for their plight. Dudes seriously flipped out over DeDe Lind, begging relatives to send multiple copies of the magazine in case something happened to their first copy, and writing DeDe truckloads of fan letters. I think that’s actually really cool and a unique and touching cultural phenomenon.

Similar to the pinups in WWII, when young men are far away and fighting for something that 90% of them probably only realize when they get there is far more huge, truly random, and more complex than they possibly imagined, and their comrades are dying around them, I know it’s cliched, but I think it is very valid to get the idea that you have something to fight for. And if that comes from a centerfold of a plucky young gal smiling sweetly in a men’s cardigan, yellow hairbow, and nothing else, then I say go for it!

Ms. Lind’s popularity was such that she has even been to space! True story, non-fiction — on NASA’s Apollo 12 mission in 1969, the nine astronauts who performed the second manned lunar landing in the history of humanity, thank you very much included DeDe’s centerfold in the Yankee Clipper command module. They labeled it “Map of a Heavenly Body.” Hilarious, true, and freaking AWESOME. Nous allons a la lune!

What’s intriguing is that Playboy really massaged the facts of Ms. Lind’s truly interesting life at the time. Yes, everything she says is true, about loving horses and Catalina Island, etc, and all her sweetness and good cheer are genuine, but it was more like a sin of omission. They sort of didn’t mention she was married and had a child.

That often gets thrown around like it is some type of evidence of the magazine’s hypocrisy, but I don’t believe Playboy has any obligation to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth about anything, let alone the private lives of the Playmates. Hef was striving again and again with the centerfolds for the Girl Next Door who happens to be naked, and it was a great opportunity for a lot of these women, like marvelous Ms. Lind, to get a jump on their careers — why bum out all those soldiers, for example, using Ms. Lind as an ideal woman in their minds for whom to survive, with all the details?

sidebar: I don’t know if this is an outtake or an airbrushed elaborate fake or what, but that is pubic hair like two or three years before that actually made its wispy, hinted-at debut in Playboy magazine, and almost four years before a Playmate of the Month fully flashed the carpet. If you have knowledge of this shoot and know what’s up, please explain, because I’m pretty surprised.

Says Ms. Lind in a more recent interview about having been in Hollywood during the swinging late 60’s but not being much of a participant:

“I did marry very young. I had a baby. I was a mom. I never got into the hippie or drug scene. … I dated Bobby Fuller. I also knew Jan and Dean. I wouldn’t go so far to say I dated Jan, but, I was friends with him. So, those are the kind of pop stars I liked. They were a little bit cleaner-cut. More American, Apple Pie.”

(“De De Lind Interview.” James, George. Undated.)

Q – Do you remember any film roles you turned down that maybe later you were sorry you turned down?
A – Yes. There was a movie called ‘Candy’. I actually turned it down. I pretty much had the part. The idea of me at the time portraying a young girl sleeping with all actors — it didn’t sit well with me. (Laughs). Because of that I really didn’t want to do the movie.

(Ibid.)

I was just thinking about doing a Movie Moment on Candy. This clinches it. A famous piece of well-shot, mostly-failed camp, the sort-of-satire’s cast includes Ringo Starr, James Coburn, Sir Richard Burton, and Marlon Brando. And Ms. Lind was right, it was mainly a scandal and flopped, to boot, so good on her for deciding against it. I can’t see someone so sweet and shy having been happy to be part of that glorious and vulgar, hot mess. You’ll see what I mean when I do the Movie Moment. Look for that sometime this week or eventually, maybe! I know myself too well to make promises with actual dates in them. Lord, I am such a lazy person.

Besides hanging out with good pal the lovely and talented Lisa Baker at their place in Boca Raton, Florida, DeDe continues to model and appear at Glamourcon and related events. And I’m happy to say she definitely retains that sunny sense of humor that is clever enough to send up the genre in which she models. Dig that shot above, which comes from her dedelind.com: “Look, Ma, no gag reflex!” Very funny.

You may see more of Ms. Lind’s present doings on her official website or hit her up any ol’ time on the myspace (current mood: amused ), on which some of her top friends are Janet Lupo, Julie Michelle McCullough, and naturally Hef.

Special edit from Ms. Lind: “My Centerfold did not go to the moon. My 2nd. Calendar Photo (Nov. 1969) holding a que stick topless went to the moon and back with Dick Gordon. That photo sold at auction for $17,511.00 this Jan. 2011.” Thanks for the clarification!

Liberated Negative Space o’ the Day: En francais edition

Rue de Coutance, Geneve. Photographed by biphop on the flickr.

“In the black hole, no more assholes.”

Daily Batman: Blinding you with Science

Can Beach Bunny Batgirl get Scientific with you?

On this date in 1981, the space shuttle Columbia completed its first successful orbit, landing safely at Edwards AFB in Antelope Valley, CA. In 1932, the atom was split by Cockroft and Walton in the Cavendish Labs. Like, dang. Those are some incredible scientific landmarks of just the sort that Sir Isaac Newton was speaking in the above quote.

My god, what a century of achievements. What will we do next? Keep your mind open and don’t be afraid of advancements — the only way to prevent a dystopian future run by cyborgs and genetically enhanced a-holes is to stay ethically invested in the coming leaps of technology. The only way to guarantee Bizarro Robocops and sentient microwaves stalking your cloned stem-cell baby with iPod implant neck shunts and laser gun wristwatches is to not care and not keep up with change. Cell phones freak me out and I don’t even know how to begin to use touchscreen notebooks, but I’m determined to learn this year. No burying my head in the sand (or clouds, more likely) and hiding from Change for me — not anymore.

Because I look at that quote from the freaking father of physics, thank you very much, and think of all the science that has rocked our world through the years, and each time a new advancement came along, there were frightened people, shellshocked Luddites like myself waving their arms around and crying “We’re all gonna die! Apocalypse now!” but it never happened, because humanity’s better nature has inevitably prevailed, and we’ve assimilated as best we could each new challenge to keeping the lid on our growing godlike powers. As fearsome as that is, if I am concerned, that’s exactly why I should not give up on the Future, right? If I’m so worried about it, why don’t I put my money where my big scared mouth is and stick around to defend it? Ought we not fight for the future to be a brave and conscience-guided good one instead of cringing in the corner, wringing our hands and refusing to look growing technology square in the eye?

I believe that great changes at which, like Sir Isaac Newton, we can not even possibly begin to guess are going to come in our lifetimes but we can make it a safe and morally-centered time with the potential to better the lives of everyone on Earth, so long as we try and don’t give up or get overwhelmed. I believe this is possible. I really do. I’m in a new and more positive place than I’ve ever been.

Okay, so I guess in addition to getting Scientific with you, I also got a little Hippie. I have those kind of tendencies. Thanks for loving me anyway. (My providing you with all kinds of softcore porn has I’m sure nothing to do with it.)

Take-Two Tuesday: Be the light in the darkness

Originally posted September 4, 2009 @ 9:09 am

“We can destroy ourselves by cynicism and disillusion, just as effectively as by bombs.” –Kenneth Clark

When I read that Kenneth Clark quote, I thought right away of this picture and quote from Carl Sagan.



I think we often catch sight of our cosmic tininess and we grow despairing. I often have. Like, why does it matter, what’s the point, I’m dust, I’m nothing, on and on. But I think I’ve been on the wrong track, and there is positivity to be mined here. There is no reason at all to let this beautiful picture and quote by Carl Sagan discourage you or make you feel like giving up. Like Clark said, we mustn’t let cynicism destroy us. You are not insignificant — you are incredible. What a phenomeon you are, and what a short time you have to blaze like the miracle you were intended to be. Light up a dark place today!

Take-Two Tuesday — Believe the Impossible

Originally posted September 10, 2009 @ 11:48 am

The Gentleman just linked me to this. The Butterfly Nebula as imaged by the repaired Hubble, brief article.

“We are an impossibility in an impossible universe.” –Ray Bradbury

Believe it. We are extraordinary. How can I focus on my tiny, insignificant problems and feel beat down when I am moving through this beautiful, miraculous universe? I will try to stop staring at the ground and scuffing my feet when I could be gazing at the stars. Thanks for the perspective, Christo!

Take-Two Tuesday — Advice: Of stars and not giving up hope edition

Originally published Jan 10, 2010 @ 23:06

I’ve had a kind of crap time of it lately, even though I strive to stay upbeat, and I know several of my friends are feeling the same. As I find my words are not adequate to really comfort myself, I certainly wouldn’t inflict them on you, so I thought I’d turn to better sources.

I guess the one thing I would try to impart is that it’s a blue time, and I empathize so deeply, but we are so small in the breathtaking scope of the universe that, for me, it helps to look up and remember that just my being alive is, itself, a stroke of fortune greater than I could possibly begin to grasp, and I ought savor that miracle instead of bemoaning where it fails to meet the mark — even when it doesn’t seem terribly miraculous or deserving of thanks, life is still a gift. Dearest friendohs who are hurting tonight, I hope these better words of wisdom below put the grace and hope that you deserve in to your heart.

“Adventures in Space” by aaliyeh on the flickr.

Advice: Of stars and not giving up hope edition

I’ve had a kind of crap time of it lately, even though I strive to stay upbeat, and I know several of my friends are feeling the same. As I find my words are not adequate to really comfort myself, I certainly wouldn’t inflict them on you, so I thought I’d turn to better sources.

I guess the one thing I would try to impart is that it’s a blue time, and I empathize so deeply, but we are so small in the breathtaking scope of the universe that, for me, it helps to look up and remember that just my being alive is, itself, a stroke of fortune greater than I could possibly begin to grasp, and I ought savor that miracle instead of bemoaning where it fails to meet the mark — even when it doesn’t seem terribly miraculous or deserving of thanks, life is still a gift. Dearest friendohs who are hurting tonight, I hope these better words of wisdom below put the grace and hope that you deserve in to your heart.

“Adventures in Space” by aaliyeh on the flickr.

Believe the Impossible

The Gentleman just linked me to this. The Butterfly Nebula as imaged by the repaired Hubble, brief article.

“We are an impossibility in an impossible universe.” –Ray Bradbury

Believe it. We are extraordinary. How can I focus on my tiny, insignificant problems and feel beat down when I am moving through this beautiful, miraculous universe? I will try to stop staring at the ground and scuffing my feet when I could be gazing at the stars. Thanks for the perspective, Christo!

Be the light in the darkness

“We can destroy ourselves by cynicism and disillusion, just as effectively as by bombs.” –Kenneth Clark

When I read that Kenneth Clark quote, I thought right away of this picture and quote from Carl Sagan.



I think we often catch sight of our cosmic tininess and we grow despairing. I often have. Like, why does it matter, what’s the point, I’m dust, I’m nothing, on and on. But I think I’ve been on the wrong track, and there is positivity to be mined here. There is no reason at all to let this beautiful picture and quote by Carl Sagan discourage you or make you feel like giving up. Like Clark said, we mustn’t let cynicism destroy us. You are not insignificant — you are incredible. What a phenomeon you are, and what a short time you have to blaze like the miracle you were intended to be. Light up a dark place today!