Tag: Brand Names

Lorelai and Rory’s Movie Night Junk Food Blowout

pizza with everything (from the delivery service)

mystery dessert (brought over by Sookie – maybe cake?)

microwave popcorn

spray cheese (to put on the popcorn, I think)

potato chips

corn chips

Cheetos puffed corn snacks

marshmallows

jelly beans

Nestle’s Willy Wonka Fun-Dip Lix-a-Stix

Red Vines red licorice sticks

prepackaged cookie dough (with a spoon to eat it)

peanut butter (maybe to use as a dip with chocolates?)

M&Ms

Hershey’s chocolate kisses

Hershey’s Cadbury Caramello bars

 

Dean’s Favourite Musical Artists

LANE: He likes Nick Drake and Liz Phair and The Sugarplastic

Nicholas “Nick”Drake (1948-1974) was an English singer-songwriter known for his acoustic guitar-based folk music. He produced three albums between 1969 and 1972, none of which were a commercial success, partly because Drake was reluctant to perform live or give interviews to promote his work. Suffering from major depression, he committed suicide by overdosing on prescribed antidepressants at the age of 26.

He remained somewhat obscure, although his work was re-released after his death, gathering him new fans as a doomed romantic hero. By the 1980s he was cited as a musical influence by artists such as David Sylvian and Robert Smith, and had gained critical appreciation; a “best of” compilation album was released in the 1990s. His career had a posthumous revival after his song Pink Moon was used in a 1999 Volkwagen Cabrio commercial, aimed at young people. Since then he has sold more than 2 million albums and downloads.

We can assume that Dean was one of the young people who became instant Nick Drake fans after seeing the VW commercial. As we later disover Dean is a car fanatic, it makes sense that he would discover a favourite singer through a car.

Liz Phair (born Elizabeth Phair in 1967) [pictured]  is an American indie rock singer-songwriter. Her first album, Exile in Guyville, came out in 1993 to critical acclaim, and was hailed as a landmark in alternative rock. Her 1994 second album, Whip-Smart, brought her mainstream attention, and is her most commercially successful album. In 2000 her most recent album would have been Whitechocolatespaceegg (1998).

Liz Phair was born in New Haven, Connecticut, but grew up in Winnetka, a wealthy village just outside Chicago – it was a favourite film location for director John Hughes, as seen in movies such as Home Alone, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, The Breakfast Club, and Sixteen Candles. Liz Phair may have been chosen as a favourite singer for Dean because she is connected with both Chicago and Connecticut, his birthplace and later home.

The Sugarplastic is an alternative rock band founded in 1989 by Ben Eshbach and Kiara Geller. Their first album came out in 1995, and their third album, Resin, in April 2000. The most genuinely obscure of Dean’s choices, he may have become a fan quite recently. His indie/alternative tastes in music make him seem like a worthy beau for Rory. For now …

Members Only

Lane gloomily points out that amongst Patrick Cho’s other drawbacks, he wore a Members Only jacket on their date. Members Only is a fashion brand known for their men’s jackets; they were popular in the 1980s, making poor Patrick Cho seem a bit dated in his fashion choices.

The brand is now having a bit of a resurgence, with 1980s Members Only jackets kind of hip and retro. Hopefully Patrick Cho still has his.

Holiday Inn

LORELAI: Oh, no, Mom, you’re going to need one [a drink] and I have wine glasses that say Holiday Inn on them.

Holiday Inn is an American chain of hotels, founded in 1952, and one of the largest hotel chains in the world. They were named after the successful 1942 musical Christmas film Holiday Inn, starring Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire. Lorelai presumably stole the glasses from a hotel while on vacation.

Rory’s Present

Lorelai’s birthday present to Rory is an indigo iBook Apple Macintosh laptop. The iBook line of laptops first came out in 1999, and were discontinued in 2006. The model Rory has was released in September 2000, and cost about $1500 at the time. Lorelai most likely bought it from the Apple store in Hartford, located in the mall. Throughout the show, Rory was shown to have remained loyal to Apple products.

So Lorelai bought Rory a hip $1500 Apple Mac laptop that would be helpful for school for her birthday, and somehow convinced her wealthy, generous mother Emily that it would be a great idea to buy Rory a junky useless $12 bracelet for her birthday. Well played Lorelai, well played.

Clorox

LORELAI: And I said something at the table about the pâté smelling like Clorox and one thing led to another and I wound up here. I hadn’t told anybody yet about me. And you.

Clorox is an American brand of household cleaning bleach, made by the Clorox Company, founded in 1913.

The pate would have smelled unpalatably bleach-y to Lorelai because she was pregnant; pregnancy can change the way you perceive odours and flavours. As Emily and Richard didn’t know she was pregnant, they probably thought Lorelai was being a rude brat, and sent her upstairs. Could this help explain Lorelai’s disdain for pâté?

Denny’s

RORY: So do I look older?
LORELAI: Oh, yeah. You walk into Denny’s before five, you’ve got yourself a discount.

Denny’s is a chain of American diner-style table-service restaurants that are open all the time, not closing at night or on holidays unless forced to by state or local regulations. Founded in 1953, there are more than a thousand Denny’s restaurants in the United States. There is a Denny’s in Hartford that Rory could walk into before five o’clock.

Some Denny’s restaurants do give senior discounts, but as they are franchised there is no across-the-board senior discount program. I can’t find anything about them giving senior discounts before 5 (is that am or pm?). They do have a 55+ menu though, which is cheaper and with smaller portions.