Sunday, October 14, 2007

Ode to the Mullet


Since I blogged about Izzy's slow recovery from his surgery a couple of weeks ago, many of you have continued to ask me about him. I'm glad to say that Izzy is almost back to his old self. But notice that I did say "almost."

One thing that has been slow to change is that his hair hasn't grown back where it was shaved, right on top of his little head. Now that it is coming back in little by little, he looks like a dog version of Billy Ray Cyrus complete with a doggy-mullet!

Which reminds me of 1984, when I - yes, I - had a mullet. But wait, wait.......if you're old enough, you probably had a mullet too! When I look at pictures of my teen years, I sometimes see my hair short and sort of spikey on top and longish in the back with a curl around my left ear. And before you ask, no, I won't be posting pics of that. ;-)

I was 12 in 1984, and I thought I was cool. I mostly wore tank tops or muslce shirts to show off my lanky arms and skinny upper body. I even wore cut off blue jeans now and then. But I also had a fascination with Panama Jack. I think the other difference in me that year was that I carried a pocket knife in my front pocket. It was a gift that I hadn't asked for. Nevertheless I walked around with it, along with my plastic comb handle sticking out of my back pocket.

I was thinking of Izzy's doggy-mullet this week and telling this same story to a girl that is 20 years old. It suddenly saddened me to realize that my mullet PRE-dates her existance!

Okay, now that I've given you an unpleasant visual, and perhaps rekindled some memories for you, it's important to remind everyone that even celebrities and sex symbols wore mullets. Soap stars, movie stars, sports figures, pin up girls and hunks, you name it and they had it.

Even fashionable women like tennis champ Chris Evert had one. I remember when she cut her hair off, perm fried it, and dyed it blond in a trashy, vampy sort of look so unlike the previous pristine Prissy Chrissy look with the long hair in a pony tail complete with bow. It was a part of her 80's power look, which she came up with when she switched from a wooden racquet to graphite and took up weight training in order to catch her great rival (and fellow mulleteer), Martina Navratilova.

By 1987, Chris' mullet did something quite scary. It grew wings! She curled her bangs over her forehead and created a tall dome on top of her head that extended down to her shoulders. Exactly what kind of hair products it took to perfect that look, I have no idea. Thankfully, my mullet never looked like it could fly away or knock down low flying planes like her's did.

So thanks everyone for asking about Izzy. Know that he's doing well and keeping me on my toes. As I look across the room, he's lying in the sun on his back tanning his pinkish belly. He looks comfy, so I may go over and do the same thing. However, we won't be sharing hairstyles!

11 comments:

PoliShifter said...

Get well soon Izzy!

I remmeber the mullets...

I am seeing them around more...

I think they are making a come back.

For the record, I never had one.

Anonymous said...

I only had one for a very brief period of time, thank God. I actually have a picture of it. I was 14 I think.

I also remember that they were called (circa 1982) "bi-levels."

Ugh

Larry said...

Haven't seen a mullet in years, but it was once the wave.

Eddie said...

Great post!

David Webb said...

I had forgotten/blocked out the Evert mullet. That was one damn scary mop of hair. And I had never put together the confluence of her hair and her (then) new-found power attitude towards the game. Did the mullet drive her forward, or did her new strength make the mullet necessary. These are questions that need not be answered. Which is why we have blogs. And Mandlikova was fantastic. If a bit flaky.

Button Gwinnett said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Button Gwinnett said...

Hey David,

Maybe the mullet does have secret powers? Who knows?

I guess I'll always prefer Mandlikova with long hair, head band, and dressed in pastel Ellesse clothes. But I have to admit, she did win the US Open in 1985 right after she went to the mullet!

Makes you wonder.....

David Webb said...

I'm with you on your Mandlikova preference, in fashion as well as game. Could she play or what? Sadly, my short-lived mullet did not help my game that much. But it made me feel cool to wear big headbands.

Button Gwinnett said...

Hana, along with Evonne Goolagong, was absolutely my favorite shotmaker to watch. Even when her mullet became really short in 1986 which gave her a Peter Pan look. ;-)

But, man, could she hit a string of winners? I'll never forget the Wimbledon semi where she won 14 points in a row from Chris, mostly on pure winners. The Brits dubbed it "the purple patch."

EHT said...

Hey, some of my best buds had mullets....I say as I shudder.

I've tagged you for something. You'll have to show up over at Georgia On My Mind to find out what it is because I don't have your email.

Button Gwinnett said...

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy, something for lil ole me? I can't wait to see.

Oh wait, I suddenly feel that I may have gotten into trouble with my teacher.......

I'll be reporting to your office today!

;-)