Saturday, June 22, 2013

Hey, North West, greetings from the Northwest

Pop culture

June 21, 2013 at 2:20 PM ET

Image: Kim Kardashian and Kanye West

Eric Ryan / Getty Images file

New parents Kim Kardashian and Kanye West.

Northwesterners are a proud lot. We actually like being 3,000 miles from everything. We like our music. We like the rain. We're not big on attention -- especially the kind that comes with a major celebrity couple naming their new baby after the region we call home.

Seattle, where this story is originating from, is hardly a backwoods outpost devoid of celebrity intrigue. We've got our own hip-hop royalty in Macklemore ... you know, the "Thrift Shop" guy. (Tired of that song? At least his album, which went gold in April, isn't called "Yeezus.") We've got memories of Elvis singing under the Space Needle and the Beatles fishing from a hotel window. Frasier Crane lived here and the "Grey's Anatomy" doctors worked here; so did Tom Hanks in that movie we don't need to name.

We were all a little "Sleepless" Thursday night when Twitter started pointing at us. Actually, Twitter started pointing at a little girl whose new name is North West. Her parents, rapper Kanye West and reality-er Kim Kardashian, bucked weeks of K-name rumors, it seemed, and went in a new direction. We wish they'd used a different kompass.

For a little girl who will likely grow up in Los Angeles and New York and Miami and Paris, being saddled with a soggy moniker will take some getting used to. Kind of like getting used to being the daughter of Kim Kardashian and Kanye West. Nori, as she'll reportedly be known, should be aware of some of the stereotypes associated with the Northwest, even if she never lives here.

Forget the coffee thing and the grunge thing. Two companies, through relatively recent advertising campaigns, get at the heart of the Northwest mystique with a little more humor. A SoCal/Miami Beach girl should be aware of Northwest beach culture, so check out this ad from Henry Weinhard's beer, a one-time Oregon brewery:

And Pemco Insurance has a campaign aimed at nothing but Northwest stereotypes. Socks with sandals guy, excessive recycling lady, the roadside chainsaw woodcarver ... as the slogan states, "We're a lot like you. A little different":

The couple will certainly turn a fashionable eye toward their daughter. Kim and her K-named sisters have a line for Sears; Kanye has a line for people who don't walk in the rain. People no doubt still associate Northwest fashion with flannels and fleece, but who better to outfit the little girl than The North West Clothing Co.? The Seattle-based T-shirt, hat and hoodie maker needs to start a onesie line before the girl is wearing nothing but Rob Kardashian's socks.

Through it all, we hope North West the girl grows to love Northwest the destination, even if Northwest the airline isn't around anymore to fly her here. She wouldn't be the first or last Californian to ditch all that for all this.

But she may have trouble finding us if she Googles "north west." As Buzzfeed pointed out Friday morning, the search was already returning pictures of her parents among the images of maps. Yeezus H ...

Source: http://www.today.com/entertainment/north-west-should-know-thing-or-two-about-northwest-6C10411618

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