Uncle John's Bathroom Reader Golden Plunger Awards by Bathroom Readers’ Institute Page A

between humanity and primordial sludge while his wife watches helplessly.

THE FINAL CHAPTER
    Shortly after the release of the new video for “Take on Me,” the song became a hit around the globe. It went to #1 in the United States and became the second best-selling single of 1985. (“We Are the World” took the top spot.) At the 1986 MTV Video Awards, a-ha won Best New Artist, and “Take on Me” won the following awards:
    • Most Experimental Video
    • Viewer’s Choice, Best Special Effects
    • Best Concept Video, Best Cinematography
    • Best Direction
    • Best Editing
    Dire Straits’ “Money for Nothing,” which used state-of-the-art computer animation with some rotoscoping thrown in to tell the song’s story, won Video of the Year. Barron couldn’t have been too disappointed in that, though: he also directed the Dire Straits video.

ANOTHER GREAT MUSIC VIDEO
    “Buddy Holly” by Weezer (1994)
    The alternative rock band is seamlessly spliced into actual footage of Happy Days . In the clip, the band, dressed in 1950s sweaters and nerdy glasses, play at Arnold’s Diner as Fonzie wins a dance contest.

THE TANGLED UP IN BLUE AWARD
    Jeans We Can Live Without
    From humble origins to haute couture, blue jeans have seen it
all . . . and clothed nearly everyone—even Uncle John. But
some of the newest blue jean trends are enough to make
even a dedicated denim-wearer say “no thanks.”
    BLUE JEANS HISTORY—THE SHORT VERSION
    The Dongarii Fort in India gave birth to dungarees; the Genoese fabric industry gave birth to blue de Gênes (one theory for the original “blue jeans”), and textile work in Nîmes, France, led to a material that became known as “de Nîmes,” or denim. Then, in 1873, a tailor named Jacob Davis and a merchant named Levi Strauss teamed up and got a patent for their copper rivets sewed onto the stress points of denim dungarees. Popular blue jeans were born.
    Once used exclusively by sailors, laborers, and cowboys, jeans have become universal outerwear. But lately, some new trends in denim have emerged that stink . . . and may even have some toxic side effects.

FOREVER IN BLUE JEANS
    Jeans have been popular with everyone from California gold miners to today’s CEOs. One reason is that they continue to look clean for a long time between washings and don’t show dirt or stains as easily as other types of pants do. But one of the latest trends in blue jeans is “raw denim” jeans, which pushed the bounds of cleanliness. Raw denim is the fabric that comes right off the production line: it’s unwashed, untreated, stiff, and dark blue. The benefit of raw denim is that, if someone wears it long enough, it should completely conform to his or her body, creating a nearly custom fit. Some
raw jeans aficionados even put objects (wallets, pens, calculators) in their pockets so the outlines of the objects will remain visible in the denim as a style feature.
    But even the most devoted dirty-denim fan might balk at the recommended care instructions on raw jeans: “Do not wash for six months.” One company that makes the jeans, A.P.C., actually encourages no washing for a whole year. At the end of 12 months, A.P.C. designers recommend that you take your unwashed jeans to the ocean, give them a good dip and scrubbing with sand, and then rinse with fresh water and dry them in the sun. As for cleanliness and odor control, one fan sprinkles his jeans with baking soda and puts them in a plastic bag in the freezer—the cold kills bacteria and the soda absorbs odors.

DENIM COUTURE
    In Japan, the latest trend is custom-made jeans. Yoropiko Denim, designed by Martin Ksohoh, features tailor-made, decorated denim, complete with jeweled buttons (sometimes made of rubies, emeralds, diamonds, and sapphires) and large pieces of embroidery fashioned from ultra-soft kimono thread.
    Ksohoh’s denim jeans and jackets have become favorites of hip-hop stars like S.A.S. (brothers Sean and Melvin Williams) and Dizzee