tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-79942742875215227262024-03-13T11:33:18.712-04:00Retro-Awesomeness (An 80s Blog)A blog devoted to pop culture nostalgia, especially for the awesome '80sLazlohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02037087843637735080noreply@blogger.comBlogger347125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7994274287521522726.post-44726990683180684782019-12-24T02:03:00.000-05:002019-12-24T02:13:22.479-05:00'70s Coca Cola Holiday Commercial<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br /></div>
<div class="tumblr-post" data-did="183716b78b688105dc5a8985f53b15ef31b790dd" data-href="https://embed.tumblr.com/embed/post/NMyySzLibJqlanVDL3yRlA/189839384915">
<a href="https://oblivionfoodcourt.tumblr.com/post/189839384915/coca-cola-70s-christmas-hilltop-commercial">https://oblivionfoodcourt.tumblr.com/post/189839384915/coca-cola-70s-christmas-hilltop-commercial</a></div>
<script async="" src="https://assets.tumblr.com/post.js"></script></div>
Lazlohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02037087843637735080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7994274287521522726.post-63431681227414703482019-12-24T02:00:00.000-05:002019-12-24T02:00:14.716-05:00'80s Kmart Christmas Commercial<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: lime; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Happy Holidays!!</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: red; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Merry Christmas!!</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: cyan; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Happy Hannukah!!</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: cyan; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></span><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: lime;">Come check out more Vaporwave, '80s Retro, and Nostalgia at my other site: </span><a href="https://oblivionfoodcourt.tumblr.com/" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: red;">Oblivion Foodcourt</span></b></a></div>
<b></b><span style="color: red;"></span><br /></div>
<div class="tumblr-post" data-did="12d98abbf3c98dec9abd35fe5f232d9563cd7657" data-href="https://embed.tumblr.com/embed/post/NMyySzLibJqlanVDL3yRlA/189782142270">
<a href="https://oblivionfoodcourt.tumblr.com/post/189782142270/kmart-christmas-1982-tv-commercial">https://oblivionfoodcourt.tumblr.com/post/189782142270/kmart-christmas-1982-tv-commercial</a><br />
<br />
<br /></div>
<script async="" src="https://assets.tumblr.com/post.js"></script></div>
Lazlohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02037087843637735080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7994274287521522726.post-35631553378754486252019-12-06T19:41:00.000-05:002019-12-06T19:41:00.690-05:00A Christmas Story (Re-post)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-AtjBO7Dksgc/TuuPn8K1y7I/AAAAAAAAAME/Xrzy7bg7X_s/s1600/acs-bunny.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="224" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-AtjBO7Dksgc/TuuPn8K1y7I/AAAAAAAAAME/Xrzy7bg7X_s/s320/acs-bunny.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i><span style="color: red;">This is a re-post of a post originally appearing on December 17, 2011.</span></i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">One of my recently acquired Christmas obsessions is the fun and enjoyable 1983 movie <i>A Christmas Story. </i>Based upon writer Jean Shepherd's semi-fictionalized account of a young boy, Ralphie, experiencing the Christmas holidays in 1940s Indiana with his parents, his younger brother, and his neighborhood friends. I love movies that convey a time period with great detail, and <i>A Christmas Story </i>clearly fits into this category. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ByFywxJRVuk/TuuPr3WBA8I/AAAAAAAAAMM/JYjuxNjZWaA/s1600/acs-pole.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="220" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ByFywxJRVuk/TuuPr3WBA8I/AAAAAAAAAMM/JYjuxNjZWaA/s320/acs-pole.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This movie contains one of the funniest scenes ever, where one of the young protagonist's friends gets his tongue stuck to metal pole in the cold of winter. The main story line, however, also full of funny moments, concerns Ralphie's ongoing quest to obtain a BB gun for Christmas, despite the objections ("you'll shoot your eye out, kid") of various adult figures, including his mother, his teacher, and a store Santa Claus. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NjkqToFOsK8/TuuPvvpYSFI/AAAAAAAAAMU/BqSxj9pG6_o/s1600/acs-ma.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NjkqToFOsK8/TuuPvvpYSFI/AAAAAAAAAMU/BqSxj9pG6_o/s320/acs-ma.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">But I think the main reason I find this movie so enjoyable is that its a rather realistic, yet fun, holiday movie that doesn't take itself too seriously. It involves a rather average family doing their best to enjoy the holidays amidst</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">dealing with everyday life. Ultimately, this movie is about having a Merry Christmas with what you have, and with those you have around you.</span></div>
Lazlohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02037087843637735080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7994274287521522726.post-28199073184507053232019-11-01T12:43:00.000-04:002019-11-01T12:43:01.625-04:00Explorers (a Re-Post)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yaJ6HmdTQPo/Tz04bjSgdeI/AAAAAAAAAOY/yKBuHFspdXE/s1600/ex-post.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yaJ6HmdTQPo/Tz04bjSgdeI/AAAAAAAAAOY/yKBuHFspdXE/s1600/ex-post.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">One of my favorite '80s movies is a somewhat forgotten sci-fi flick from 1985 called <i>Explorers</i>. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i>Explorers</i> was part of a plethora of hopeful, positive sci-fi movies that came in the wake of the original <i>Star Wars</i> trilogy (1977, 1980, 1983), and the Spielberg classic <i>E.T., the Extra Terrestrial</i> (1982).</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TyGZAL1gFGE/Tz04fqWNlWI/AAAAAAAAAOg/xQcmGfQDwyU/s1600/ex-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TyGZAL1gFGE/Tz04fqWNlWI/AAAAAAAAAOg/xQcmGfQDwyU/s320/ex-3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i>Explorers</i> was about a trio of boys, all three misfits in different ways, who become friends and go on to do something fun and extraordinary. (It is a sci-fi flick, after all). The three boys were: Ben Crandall (played by a young Ethan Hawke), Wolfgang Muller (played by an equally young River Phoenix), and Darren Woods (played by Jason Presson). They were all different from one another: Ben was a dreamer who was into science fiction and fantasy, Wolfgang was a nerdy sort who was all into science and logic, and Darren was a practical sort who was into mechanics.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uoY9W0YjG90/Tz04rkwND_I/AAAAAAAAAO4/M4TgjNpVMio/s1600/ex-ship.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="270" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uoY9W0YjG90/Tz04rkwND_I/AAAAAAAAAO4/M4TgjNpVMio/s320/ex-ship.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Yet they all found common ground in being outsiders in their school, and found a common goal when something very sci-fi-ish and remarkable happened: they started getting communications from extra terrestrials. This was the '80s, so were talking friendly aliens. Using the knowledge provided by the aliens, as well as their own various skills, they built a ramshackle spaceship.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pRv4EoKr104/Tz04jqfyL6I/AAAAAAAAAOo/GtwRql5NtZM/s1600/ex-al.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="183" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pRv4EoKr104/Tz04jqfyL6I/AAAAAAAAAOo/GtwRql5NtZM/s320/ex-al.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">You know what comes next: they go up in their ship, dubbed the "Thunder Road" (from a Bruce Springsteen song) and meet up with the alien ship.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-g866Z25bm1M/Tz04oosj5tI/AAAAAAAAAOw/5cIpsef4F_k/s1600/ex-al1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-g866Z25bm1M/Tz04oosj5tI/AAAAAAAAAOw/5cIpsef4F_k/s320/ex-al1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It all ends with a wild a wacky meeting with the aliens themselves. Of course, you have to see the movie to know the rest.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">One of the things I loved about this movie was that it was all about disparate misfits who join together, despite their differences, to overcome their problems and to do something extraordinary. It also came around at a time when some hopeful messages were very helpful, given that I was 15 at the time. And I loved sci-fi, so this movie just seemed wonderful when it came out. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: 'times new roman'; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i>Explorers</i> has gained a cult following over the years, even though it was not as well remembered as so many other '80s films. But it will always remain a favorite with me. </span></div>
Lazlohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02037087843637735080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7994274287521522726.post-79325460788324526042019-10-19T18:15:00.000-04:002019-10-19T18:15:02.288-04:00Freddy Krueger (Re-post)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pogEX9jsdr4/UIK7mZfX8xI/AAAAAAAAAZ8/r6boMNZfOaE/s1600/fre.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="224" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pogEX9jsdr4/UIK7mZfX8xI/AAAAAAAAAZ8/r6boMNZfOaE/s320/fre.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Halloween is approaching, and thoughts turn to things scary and spooky. . . and horror.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Those of us who grew up in the 1980s and were into horror movies remember Freddy Krueger. The ghoulish star of the horror flick <i>Nightmare on Elm Street </i>(1984), Freddy followed in the wake of slasher era flicks like <i>Friday the 13th </i>(1980) and <i>Halloween</i> (1978). During the late ‘70s and the ‘80s, these three movies produced numerous sequels which thrived among horror loving young people.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I first became acquainted with Freddy at an informal video-watching party among several members of my high school drama club, of which I was a member. We clustered together around a couch, munching on popcorn, and watching the first <i>Nightmare on Elm Street</i>. I always thought that, behind the blood and gore aspects of the Freddy movies, there was actually some psychological insight into all those dark thoughts and fears that young people live with. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Freddy represented the dark and scary stuff that lurked in all of our nightmares. Things that bother us. Things we run away from. The kind of stuff that we all are relieved to know doesn’t follow us into our waking lives. . . but in all of the Nightmare on Elm Street movies, they did. </span></div>
</div>
</div>
Lazlohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02037087843637735080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7994274287521522726.post-58591710508318149872019-09-21T12:46:00.000-04:002019-09-21T12:46:00.142-04:00The Last Starfighter (a Re-Post) <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wdLdi2rbJqY/Ui0Y8l0cVWI/AAAAAAAAAkU/AtFEA5UQWDo/s1600/gunst.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wdLdi2rbJqY/Ui0Y8l0cVWI/AAAAAAAAAkU/AtFEA5UQWDo/s320/gunst.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The '80s were an era full of wonderful sci-fi movies. One great little movie that has developed a solid cult following is <i>The Last Starfighter</i>, a 1984 movie which exemplified the '80s in a number of ways. It was, along with <i>Tron</i> (1982), one of the first movies to feature computer animation. It was one of many space-related fantasy movies out at the time, and it featured the '80s fascination with video games.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RKFnVkIHO5A/Ui0YCZsBn-I/AAAAAAAAAjg/H-bMH-vMU1M/s1600/game.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="134" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RKFnVkIHO5A/Ui0YCZsBn-I/AAAAAAAAAjg/H-bMH-vMU1M/s320/game.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The film's protagonist, Alex Rogan is a typical '80s teen with dreams and ambitions who lives in a trailer park with his mother and younger brother. He longs to leave for greener pastures, but in the meantime, he bides his time while engaging in that very '80s passion: video games. In particular, he becomes adept at a space oriented <i>Starfighter</i> video game located at the trailer park, where he gets very good at beating the bad guys in an epic space battle.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eDkOIwH4Ynk/Ui0YH98z0HI/AAAAAAAAAjo/ICYnhqbOO70/s1600/cent.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eDkOIwH4Ynk/Ui0YH98z0HI/AAAAAAAAAjo/ICYnhqbOO70/s1600/cent.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">One day, he is approached by Centauri, who claims to be the inventor of the <i>Starfighter </i>video game. It turn out Centauri is actually a disguised alien who is scouting for starfighters to save the universe from the clutches of an evil space bad guys the Ko-Dan Empire. The part of Centauri was played by famed actor Robert Preston, most well known for playing traveling salesman Harold Hill in <i>The Music Man </i>(1962).</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dgSJ5IEPGVE/Ui0Ycu20lWI/AAAAAAAAAj4/kcpJHS8_I0o/s1600/li2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dgSJ5IEPGVE/Ui0Ycu20lWI/AAAAAAAAAj4/kcpJHS8_I0o/s1600/li2.jpg" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-00qSqL59frc/Ui0YRxXlhjI/AAAAAAAAAjw/pp1VRe29QQs/s1600/li.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-00qSqL59frc/Ui0YRxXlhjI/AAAAAAAAAjw/pp1VRe29QQs/s1600/li.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Alex is taken to the faraway planet Rylos, reluctantly recruited into the Rylan Star League, and introduced to Grig, a friendly repitilian alien who is to be Alex's navigator.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zAvWtvV-sLc/Ui0ckUfcYdI/AAAAAAAAAkc/dze6FzK3rkg/s1600/ev.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="181" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zAvWtvV-sLc/Ui0ckUfcYdI/AAAAAAAAAkc/dze6FzK3rkg/s320/ev.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-align: center;">The Ko-Dan Empire is led by the evil Emperor Xur, who leads a sneak attack on Rylos, decimating the ranks of the starfighters, and leaving only Alex and Grig to fight for the freedom of the universe.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EkbKoMNN1Zo/Ui0Y2RgTxMI/AAAAAAAAAkI/u2wBbnNeKw8/s1600/two.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EkbKoMNN1Zo/Ui0Y2RgTxMI/AAAAAAAAAkI/u2wBbnNeKw8/s320/two.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It is now up to Alex and Grig to save the universe.</span></div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zeIDWlxzVK4/Ui0YrIWBCQI/AAAAAAAAAkA/KSXQTyr2XVw/s1600/alexgunst.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="136" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zeIDWlxzVK4/Ui0YrIWBCQI/AAAAAAAAAkA/KSXQTyr2XVw/s320/alexgunst.jpg" width="320" /></a> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Alex is trained to be a pilot and sent off with Grig to fight the Emporer Xur in a fighter craft called a Gunstar. <span style="color: red;">Caution: Spoilers immediately ahead!</span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Thankfully, the Gunstar is equipped with a powerful new weapon, called the "Death Blossom."</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hbtP6_PJk_s/Ui0cpg4PGZI/AAAAAAAAAkk/2Vfqxyc__ZA/s1600/alexgi.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hbtP6_PJk_s/Ui0cpg4PGZI/AAAAAAAAAkk/2Vfqxyc__ZA/s320/alexgi.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Suffice it to say, the universe is saved and Alex returns to Earth a hero. Here he is with his girlfriend.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: center;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The movie has quite a following, and its a fun and positive little sci-fi adventure that was truly of its time. And true to its time, it encouraged you to look to the future with hope.</span></div>
</div>
Lazlohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02037087843637735080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7994274287521522726.post-47381546678084377992019-08-09T12:35:00.000-04:002019-08-09T12:35:00.343-04:00Thank You, John Hughes (a Re-Post)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ARQQ7AfQQs8/Tng5izFfZ-I/AAAAAAAAAGk/zvjulG8Wwt4/s1600/brclub-s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" rba="true" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ARQQ7AfQQs8/Tng5izFfZ-I/AAAAAAAAAGk/zvjulG8Wwt4/s320/brclub-s.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Some of my most pleasant memories of being a teen in the '80s came from some of the better teen movies which flourished at that time. Foremost among the creators of this genre of moviemaking was the great <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hughes_(filmmaker)">John Hughes</a> whose work during the '80s was known for treating the minds and feelings of teenagers, and the situations that teens found themselves in, with seriousness and respect.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="border: medium none;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Hughes created such teen classics as <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weird_Science_(film)">Weird Science</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sixteen_Candles">Sixteen Candles</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferris_Bueller%27s_Day_Off">Ferris Bueller's Day Off</a>, </i>and<i> </i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pretty_in_Pink"><i>Pretty In Pink</i></a><i>,</i> movies which were big in their day, and have since become cult classics, and the source of much imitation in the form of subsequent teen oriented flicks. Hughes also went beyond the teen movie genre to make such films as the holiday classic <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_Alone_(film)">Home Alone</a></i> and the comedy <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planes,_Trains_and_Automobiles">Planes, Trains and Automobiles</a></i>. But Hughes' creation which, for many of us, still resonates most strongly was the teen classic <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Breakfast_Club">The Breakfast Club</a>.</i></span></div>
<div style="border: medium none;">
<br /></div>
<div style="border: medium none; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="border: medium none; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="border: medium none; text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vIS7YpgcNyc/Tng9dScGz_I/AAAAAAAAAGo/KtNoQY-RdZI/s1600/brclub-floor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="220" rba="true" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vIS7YpgcNyc/Tng9dScGz_I/AAAAAAAAAGo/KtNoQY-RdZI/s320/brclub-floor.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></i></div>
<div style="border: medium none; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">An account of several teens from very different cliques bonding with one another during their stay in detention, <i>The Breakfast Club </i>served for many of us as a protest against the walls that separated us from our fellow teens. It also had an unusual depth for a teen flick, allowing its characters to express the complexity which lay behind the facades of various teen stereotypes. Kids who were as different as a nerd, a stoner, an arty outsider, a jock and a preppie suddenly seemed more than just one dimensional. I remember getting great pleasure out of the way this movie made you think, as you chewed on the dialogue going on between the characters on the screen.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wE16sqRy4aM/Tng_cwroJDI/AAAAAAAAAGs/YKtjoRnKXV4/s1600/brclub-amh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" rba="true" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wE16sqRy4aM/Tng_cwroJDI/AAAAAAAAAGs/YKtjoRnKXV4/s320/brclub-amh.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">But the thing that made <i>The Breakfast Club</i>, and all of Hughe's movies, so wonderful for a teen loner like me, is that Hughes had a particular soft spot for the outsiders, the individualists, and the misfits, and he had a great way of exposing their dilemma through his movies, and ultimately empowering them in the process.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">For example, there is this scene in the Breakfast Club, where the jock character, played by Emilio Estevez, tells about an awful thing, a pitiless prank that he played on this nerdy kid. He had done it to impress his fellow jock friends, but in the movie, he was expressing how bad he felt over his part in such a cruel prank, and how awful he must have made that hapless boy feel. At the conclusion of the jock's account, the nerd character, played by Anthony Michael Hall, quietly mentions that the boy who was the target of the prank was one of his friends. The scene is powerful, and there is this painful awareness as the nerd and the jock realize how close this awful prank struck each of them.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">Thank you, John Hughes, for moments like that, which exposed the pain of being an outsider, and brought home just how much we had in common as teens from different backgrounds.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wi-YzNO4FLY/TnhChgJiSqI/AAAAAAAAAGw/Qf9_mgpffJo/s1600/hughes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" rba="true" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wi-YzNO4FLY/TnhChgJiSqI/AAAAAAAAAGw/Qf9_mgpffJo/s320/hughes.jpg" width="274" /></a></div>
<br />
<div align="center">
<b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">John Wilden Hughes (1950-2009)</span></b></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: orange;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">A Follow Up To The Above:</span></span></h4>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I've been enjoying reading a book called <i>Don't You Forget About Me: Contemporary Writers on the films of John Hughes</i>. Its a collection of essays where different writers describe the effect that John Hughes movies have had on them as teens. Very often this effect is quite strong, and ground-breaking, causing an effect on the consciousness of those observers.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I, too, have found the teen films of the '80s to have had a significant and important effect on society, much more so than would be acknowledged by those who would casually dismiss them. One such essay described an experience the writer had which shows this effect. In the essay "A Slut or a Prude: The Breakfast Club as Feminist Primer," writer Juliana Baggott wrote about the following incident which happened after watching that seminal Hughes movie.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> A few days after I saw the movie, I was in the cafeteria with my people- a group of field hockey girls, a few with eating disorders. Some idiotic football players were spitting spitballs at some band geeks. But they weren't just football players and band geeks, not after The Breakfast Club. We were all trapped in the same ugly, dying organism: high school.</span></span></i></div>
<div style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></i></div>
<div style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I walked over to the football players and said,”C'mon, knock it off.”</span></span></i></div>
<div style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></i></div>
<div style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">One said,”Knock what off.”</span></span></i></div>
<div style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></i></div>
<div style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“The spitballs. Just grow up a little.”</span></span></i></div>
<div style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></i></div>
<div style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Don't I look grown up to you, little girl.” He had me by a hundred pounds and more than a half foot in height.</span></span></i></div>
<div style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></i></div>
<div style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Listen, asshole, just stop it with the spitballs.”</span></span></i></div>
<div style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></i></div>
<div style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Oh, she's angry now.” He put his arm around me, rubbed my back. “Isn't she cute when she's angry?”</span></span></i></div>
<div style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></i></div>
<div style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Cute” was my trigger word- often true for short people. “Don't call me cute again.”</span></span></i></div>
<div style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></i></div>
<div style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“What's wrong cutie. You're so cute!”</span></span></i></div>
<div style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></i></div>
<div style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“I mean it. Call me cutie again and I swear it won't be pretty. . . ”</span></span></i></div>
<div style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></i></div>
<div style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">He paused and looked at me deeply in the eyes. “You're so cute.”</span></span></i></div>
<div style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></i></div>
<div style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I slapped him. He had a big head and a thick rubbery cheek. He was fair, and the skin went red fast. Friends told me later that my small handprint was on his cheek for the rest of the day.</span></span></i></div>
<div style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></i></div>
<div style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The long term result was astonishing. All of the boys at that table seemed to fall in love with me and treated me with enormous respect. They addressed me politely in the halls. I'd feel someone watching me, and when I turned around, it would be one of them- all agaze.</span></span></i></div>
<div style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></i></div>
<div style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It made no sense. It only encouraged me. To what? Refuse to accept a definition – a prude, a slut, a . I knew that definitions wouldn't work for me, that I was volatile, unwieldy, and that was the only way I'd survive.</span></span></i></div>
</blockquote>
<div style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></i></div>
<div style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This wonderful movie by John Hughes caused a typical American teenager to feel closer to the other teens in her school, to literally stand up for other teens who were different than herself, to confront a blustering bully, and to see her own self in a different light. Thank you, John Hughes, or your remarkable work. </span></div>
<div align="center" style="font-family: 'times new roman';">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
</div>
</div>
Lazlohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02037087843637735080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7994274287521522726.post-40922928236628609602019-07-26T18:13:00.000-04:002019-07-26T18:13:09.014-04:00When Crue Were Glam (Re-post)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MX7UdQf3luU/UGgokhnGYnI/AAAAAAAAAZA/K6RzXC8UQBA/s1600/glamcr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="316" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MX7UdQf3luU/UGgokhnGYnI/AAAAAAAAAZA/K6RzXC8UQBA/s320/glamcr.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The 1980s was a great time for music, in part because there was just so much of it. So much variety... music of all kinds, and usually with a quirky and fun twist: New Wave, classic rock, Springsteen and Mellencamp roots rock, dance music, synth-pop, ballads, etc. etc. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Heavy Metal was one of the main aspects of '80s music, a kind-of mutant genre that created loud, aggressive, rebellious music. At a time when boundaries of all sorts had already been broken, and audiences had already been thrown everything except the kitchen sink, '80s metal groups were there to break that final barrier and throw you that kitchen sink. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0qgO4_X6bF0/WbW4VTrehCI/AAAAAAAABDY/1Q6u4AK7dnkEYzsxFkOuZEbmxHegico2wCLcBGAs/s1600/Crue-early.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="240" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0qgO4_X6bF0/WbW4VTrehCI/AAAAAAAABDY/1Q6u4AK7dnkEYzsxFkOuZEbmxHegico2wCLcBGAs/s320/Crue-early.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Motley Crue first broke into '80s popularity with a gruesome leather-clad appearance, and an album with a black cover and an ominous theme, <i>Shout at the Devil </i>(1983). Although a case could be made that the concept was as much as anything <i>against</i> the devil (after all, the albums' intro exhorted its listeners to "rise up . . . and <i>shout at the devil</i>"), Motley Crue were at the time the group that parents and censors loved to hate.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-H9k2PwbktTA/WbW4dxha_fI/AAAAAAAABDc/duFVOXneMJcd62H12IGh-RO8xdOxwkckgCLcBGAs/s1600/crue-later.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1334" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-H9k2PwbktTA/WbW4dxha_fI/AAAAAAAABDc/duFVOXneMJcd62H12IGh-RO8xdOxwkckgCLcBGAs/s320/crue-later.jpg" width="266" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Then, in 1985, a change. At the time, Crue adopted a more glam (but I'm sure they would tell you, a still rockin) image, with their album <i>Theatre of Pain</i> (1985). Crue during this time were among a growing number of spandex clad, makeup wearing groups into what was known as glam metal, a genre that adopted the colorful, eye-popping glitter/glam rock styles which hearkened back to the early '70s, but added the ear-bursting heavy metal of the '80s.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It was during this time that Motley Crue's audience grew to include teens that may not have gotten what they were about during their earlier period. And they were capable of adding a soft ballad alongside their heavy rock. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Glam Metal spread far and wide... I always thought it fit well with the fun-loving, color-filled atmosphere of the '80s. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-N8o4fVhr-3w/UGgyB_N2XsI/AAAAAAAAAZU/G2PKVWsx0oM/s1600/glampo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-N8o4fVhr-3w/UGgyB_N2XsI/AAAAAAAAAZU/G2PKVWsx0oM/s320/glampo.jpg" width="253" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Heres Poison, another of '80s big glam metal bands.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It shows how </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">interesting a decade the '80s were, that such an overtly "macho" style as metal adopted such clearly androgynous styles without anyone even commenting. It was macho with makeup and eyeshadow. And it was perfectly and un-ironically accepted as such.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-N1BQuI_gwZc/UH3w3ZBA91I/AAAAAAAAAZo/0BUjmNGLQBM/s1600/cind.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="171" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-N1BQuI_gwZc/UH3w3ZBA91I/AAAAAAAAAZo/0BUjmNGLQBM/s320/cind.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">And, of course, this metal ball would not be complete without another big glam metal group, Cinderella.</span></div>
</div>
Lazlohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02037087843637735080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7994274287521522726.post-49210896245642927512019-07-20T11:01:00.000-04:002019-07-20T11:01:04.915-04:00Duran Duran Celebrates Apollo 11<div class="tumblr-post" data-did="cd32fe70bdae7dd801f31db89fde85794ffa0ce3" data-href="https://embed.tumblr.com/embed/post/NMyySzLibJqlanVDL3yRlA/186422954040">
<a href="https://oblivionfoodcourt.tumblr.com/post/186422954040/john-taylor-daily-duran-duran-introthe">https://oblivionfoodcourt.tumblr.com/post/186422954040/john-taylor-daily-duran-duran-introthe</a></div>
<script async="" src="https://assets.tumblr.com/post.js"></script>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Check out the Duran Duran concert at the 50th Anniversary celebrations of the Apollo 11 moon landing at Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, Florida. Posted on my new blog project <a href="https://oblivionfoodcourt.tumblr.com/" target="_blank">Oblivion Foodcourt</a>.</span>Lazlohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02037087843637735080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7994274287521522726.post-72906399355342348472019-07-19T06:37:00.003-04:002019-07-20T11:02:39.870-04:00Apollo 11<div class="tumblr-post" data-did="da39a3ee5e6b4b0d3255bfef95601890afd80709" data-href="https://embed.tumblr.com/embed/post/NMyySzLibJqlanVDL3yRlA/186396521445">
<a href="https://oblivionfoodcourt.tumblr.com/post/186396521445">https://oblivionfoodcourt.tumblr.com/post/186396521445</a><br />
<bk>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></bk><br />
<bk><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></bk>
<bk><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In honor of the Apollo 11 moon landing anniversary, I re-posted some moon landing photo montages onto my other blog, <a href="https://oblivionfoodcourt.tumblr.com/" target="_blank">Oblivion Foodcourt</a>. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://oblivionfoodcourt.tumblr.com/" target="_blank">Stop by</a> and visit for '80s, Vaporware, and '80s mall content.</span></bk></div>
<script async="" src="https://assets.tumblr.com/post.js"></script>Lazlohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02037087843637735080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7994274287521522726.post-53719399810237396292019-06-23T10:15:00.000-04:002019-06-23T10:15:53.140-04:00My New Project: "Oblivion Foodcourt"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-usQItsFdGG8/XQ-FXS1DvuI/AAAAAAAABI0/wCIxLZH_3zE_luTYeRzkAlbDzu3COYrTwCLcBGAs/s1600/OF-medium.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="537" data-original-width="750" height="286" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-usQItsFdGG8/XQ-FXS1DvuI/AAAAAAAABI0/wCIxLZH_3zE_luTYeRzkAlbDzu3COYrTwCLcBGAs/s400/OF-medium.jpg" width="400" /></a>I</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I've developed an interest in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaporwave" target="_blank">Vaporwave</a>, a 2010's music and cultural genre which is inspired by the styles of the 1980s and a sense of retro nostalgia. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I recently put together a Vaporwave inspired blog entitled <a href="https://oblivionfoodcourt.tumblr.com/" target="_blank">Oblivion Foodcourt</a>, and invite my readers to check it out. Here are a few samples of the new blog's content:</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="tumblr-post" data-did="354a6548593a843e2a063c4bb6d13629200dcfc6" data-href="https://embed.tumblr.com/embed/post/NMyySzLibJqlanVDL3yRlA/185599165360">
<a href="https://oblivionfoodcourt.tumblr.com/post/185599165360/juiceboxkids-blog-the-older-ones-looked-way">https://oblivionfoodcourt.tumblr.com/post/185599165360/juiceboxkids-blog-the-older-ones-looked-way</a></div>
<script async="" src="https://assets.tumblr.com/post.js"></script>
<br />
<div class="tumblr-post" data-did="3b91a929e707b1a3cb4bdc1a1c24a5477bc329c4" data-href="https://embed.tumblr.com/embed/post/NMyySzLibJqlanVDL3yRlA/185692064320">
<br />
<a href="https://oblivionfoodcourt.tumblr.com/post/185692064320/retroetic-grace-jones-by-jean-paul-goude-for-a">https://oblivionfoodcourt.tumblr.com/post/185692064320/retroetic-grace-jones-by-jean-paul-goude-for-a</a></div>
<script async="" src="https://assets.tumblr.com/post.js"></script>Lazlohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02037087843637735080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7994274287521522726.post-4738651914527209972019-06-07T14:10:00.000-04:002019-06-07T14:10:00.345-04:00Where Everybody Knows Your Name (Repost)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: red;">This is a re-post of a post which originally appeared September 29, 2011.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: red;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nIF22W-eCVk/ToP_MSdttDI/AAAAAAAAAG4/ZsNGAQ_rBbo/s1600/cheers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" kca="true" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nIF22W-eCVk/ToP_MSdttDI/AAAAAAAAAG4/ZsNGAQ_rBbo/s320/cheers.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">When I was a teen, growing up in the '80s, one of my most comforting memories was of the opening credits to the popular TV show <em>Cheers</em>. Although I sometimes watched the show, and enjoyed it, I was never as big a <em>Cheers </em>fanatic as so many other people. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">But the opening credits were always a must see for me. The theme song itself was part of the attraction. It begins by noting the taxing nature of modern life (in the '80s), which "takes everything you've got," and then segues into the catchy refrain about wanting to be "where everybody knows your name."</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-y0nEk4qVTo8/ToP_R-oiT0I/AAAAAAAAAG8/2c6XAi8GOZY/s1600/Opening-Sequence-Cheers-WEWIN.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" kca="true" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-y0nEk4qVTo8/ToP_R-oiT0I/AAAAAAAAAG8/2c6XAi8GOZY/s1600/Opening-Sequence-Cheers-WEWIN.JPG" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">But just as appealing were the montage of images which appeared along with the song, a series of pictures of people seemingly enjoying the pleasures of being at a pub, with its drinks and social life. The pictures all have a historical quality to them, lending the sense that such activity has occurred through time, and continues to the time of the program . . . the '80s and early '90s.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">There is one photo, for example, which has people in a bar with drinks, with one man holding up a newspaper which reads "WE WIN" in all captal letters. Growing up, I had thought that the headline referred to the end of World war II, but it in fact refers to the end of Prohibition. In restrospect, this seems all the more appropriate given that the show takes place in a drinking establishment. </span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eviXCAJuvU4/ToP_VzotKFI/AAAAAAAAAHA/cBHtvAW_J4o/s1600/cheers_opening_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" kca="true" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eviXCAJuvU4/ToP_VzotKFI/AAAAAAAAAHA/cBHtvAW_J4o/s320/cheers_opening_1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Another photo shows a group of young males of another era, perhaps college kids, all trying to look dapper and sophisticated.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I always thought that the combination of words and music put forth the idea that time passes, but certain things remain the same. That so many things have come and gone through time and history, and that here we were, in the '80s, taking our place in time. Yet, some things were constant, through it all. Through it all, don't we all really want to sometimes go to a place "where everybody knows your name."</span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><em>Making your way in the world today takes everything you've got.<br />Taking a break from all your worries, sure would help a lot.<br /><br />Wouldn't you like to get away?<br /><br />Sometimes you want to go<br /><br />Where everybody knows your name,<br />and they're always glad you came.<br />You wanna be where you can see,<br />our troubles are all the same<br />You wanna be where everybody knows<br />Your name.</em></span></div>
</div>
Lazlohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02037087843637735080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7994274287521522726.post-2004556488808042252019-05-03T14:12:00.000-04:002019-05-03T14:12:09.206-04:00St. Elmo's Fire & Friends (Repost)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-reSJTfn3kqA/TvqJ0ZNT06I/AAAAAAAAAM0/uxPomucYQGk/s1600/stel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="163" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-reSJTfn3kqA/TvqJ0ZNT06I/AAAAAAAAAM0/uxPomucYQGk/s320/stel.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">One of my most enjoyable movies from the '80s is <i>St. Elmo's Fire</i>, the 1984 brat-pack ensemble account of relationships among disparate friends. The movie has sometimes been criticized as being indulgent, and highly unrealistic. . . and truthfully, at times it is. However, I still get a lot of '80s retro pleasure out of watching this movie. Its one of those films I can put on and just let it run, knowing exactly what the next scene is, and what most of the dialogue will be.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I guess two things that I find so appealing about it are: First, that it is so very '80s, and '80s in a rather appealing way. The cinematography is actually quite beautiful at times, making use of the natural colors and beauty of the scenery of the Georgetown section of Washington, D.C. And secondly, the positive and hopeful way that it presents post-college age youth. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Of course, there are some</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> highly unrealistic aspects of the movie. For example, just how did the Judd Nelson and Ally Sheedy characters, supposedly recent college grads, afford such a spacious apartment? But at its best, <i>St. Elmo's Fire</i> resembled a hazy '80s dream of friendship, inhabited by quirky '80s personalities, soundtracked by catchy '80s music, and colored with vivid '80s colors. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tAKY3JWzS4I/TvqJ3sHqH6I/AAAAAAAAANA/kHofPJS45eg/s1600/friends.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="255" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tAKY3JWzS4I/TvqJ3sHqH6I/AAAAAAAAANA/kHofPJS45eg/s320/friends.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The '90s had its own version of the "group of cool friends" scenario, in the '90s TV show <i>Friends</i>. I've enjoyed watching <i>Friends</i> in part because it seemed to so resemble <i>St. Elmo's Fire, </i>and because <i>Friends </i>came along at just the exact time that I myself was going through the experience of being in my post-undergrad college years. It was good to see (again, however unrealistically) my own generation being portrayed as cool and hip.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> I must admit that, being the loner that I have often been, the notion of having such a close knit group of cool friends has been more of an ideal for me than reality. (I mean, don't get me wrong... I've had friends, but not many as close as these characters are portrayed to be.) But I still found it enjoyable to buy into the concept of being young, and hip, and able to come up with witty one liners during animated conversations at a college coffee shop.</span></div>
</div>
Lazlohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02037087843637735080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7994274287521522726.post-9607858247611730012019-04-20T17:05:00.002-04:002019-04-20T17:08:28.162-04:00'80s Mall Memories (Repost and New Material)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<i style="color: cyan; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I was looking at <a href="https://mashable.com/2014/12/02/80s-shopping-malls/" target="_blank">this excellent collection of photos</a> of American shopping malls in 1989, and got inspired to re-post my own blog tribute to the American shopping malls of the '70s and '80s, called "Mall Memories," which originally appeared on this blog in January 12, 2018. I've added some additional material at the bottom. A Happy Easter, or Happy Passover, or otherwise a great weekend to all my visitors.</i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<h3 style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Mall Memories</span></h3>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Zy2eTatZySo/UNsfVZB1vSI/AAAAAAAAAdc/snOXNWq4yhQYHiUqhBCjZ5JTvoOF4cYiACPcBGAYYCw/s1600/ct-mall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="513" data-original-width="800" height="205" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Zy2eTatZySo/UNsfVZB1vSI/AAAAAAAAAdc/snOXNWq4yhQYHiUqhBCjZ5JTvoOF4cYiACPcBGAYYCw/s320/ct-mall.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Some of the best memories of my '70s childhood and '80s adolescence took place in shopping malls. Nowadays there is talk that the age of the shopping mall is passing (although you couldn't tell it from some of the malls where I live, where there are several thriving), but in the '70s and '80s the mall was at its height as a center of commerce and popular meeting place.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I have so many good memories of being in these climate-controlled, air conditioned shopping centers, and here are some.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Hg3GTT7jJoA/WTyiHGjiqJI/AAAAAAAAA_o/9mLlvOdQpvEH_x8b5_yj7ph2xOfc1uLtgCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/5681102729_4671fd92a0_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="638" data-original-width="1024" height="199" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Hg3GTT7jJoA/WTyiHGjiqJI/AAAAAAAAA_o/9mLlvOdQpvEH_x8b5_yj7ph2xOfc1uLtgCPcBGAYYCw/s320/5681102729_4671fd92a0_b.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The Style. Malls in the '70s and '80s had such a different style than today. Back then the typical mall aimed for a futuristic style that resembled the city in <i>Logan's Run</i>. Modern sculpture, water features, and lighting were common. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xbuZW0WNR3M/WTyiMhuFZ_I/AAAAAAAAA_o/NudIOzTyHIEcC0X7nfcIakgpuf_y4PoKwCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/K026232.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="600" height="213" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xbuZW0WNR3M/WTyiMhuFZ_I/AAAAAAAAA_o/NudIOzTyHIEcC0X7nfcIakgpuf_y4PoKwCPcBGAYYCw/s320/K026232.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Fountains. Most Malls of the '70s and '80s featured fountains, usually with the same modern style. Lots of them too, often in different locations of the same mall. I loved those, and the fun ambiance they created. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IkxXMugdRks/WllXxAXhacI/AAAAAAAABF8/5QnTBKsoxFgxagTllR_W510Dd4DyIv4SgCLcBGAs/s1600/mall%2Bstores.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="421" data-original-width="564" height="238" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IkxXMugdRks/WllXxAXhacI/AAAAAAAABF8/5QnTBKsoxFgxagTllR_W510Dd4DyIv4SgCLcBGAs/s320/mall%2Bstores.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The Stores. I remember the specialty stores that you sometimes found only in malls, where you found them in abundance. Food vendors like Fanny Farmer Candies and Hickory Farms. Bookstores like Waldenbooks and B. Dalton Books. Record stores like Camelot records. Big department stores, some no longer in existence, like Burdines, Robinsons, Maas Brothers, and Jordan Marsh. There always seemed to be a store selling electric organs, featuring someone hired to play it and attract customers. Chick Fil-A was, at that time, found almost always in malls. Some of those names and experiences are now forgotten, others continue as much cherished establishments.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/UjWaLNQrTR4" width="560"></iframe></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="text-align: left;">Growing up, my family used to eat at York Steak House, a family restaurant commonly found in malls. The decor at York often had the dark wood style so often found during that era, with a certain "Olde English" decor. We would then walk over to Doctor Pet Center, a typical mall pet shop where we would look at the various animals they had on display. And then we would go through the mall to enjoy the various sights and sounds of the mall. As a teen, this would involve bookstores and record stores, where I would indulge my musical and reading tastes as a nerdy teen.</span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-G2hlGhc7MMc/WllmLNvx1GI/AAAAAAAABGM/5mO0PKJhCjo_Vpx-YSZCcCF1jycf4KTbQCLcBGAs/s1600/Columbia%2BMall%252C%2BColumbia%252C%2BMD%2B1980s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="647" data-original-width="455" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-G2hlGhc7MMc/WllmLNvx1GI/AAAAAAAABGM/5mO0PKJhCjo_Vpx-YSZCcCF1jycf4KTbQCLcBGAs/s320/Columbia%2BMall%252C%2BColumbia%252C%2BMD%2B1980s.jpg" width="225" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Now, it is said that internet shopping and outdoor shopping centers are eclipsing the old malls. But I will always remember fondly the ways malls used to be. They were a safe place where you could stroll, get the latest record, and get something to eat. Here's to malls of the '70s and '80s.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iGkasw-0ZMY/UNsfUR1yVAI/AAAAAAAAAdU/5IfRFzQ3QSE_MwYNs3g4I2cBS03lql5qgCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/altmall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="393" data-original-width="620" height="202" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iGkasw-0ZMY/UNsfUR1yVAI/AAAAAAAAAdU/5IfRFzQ3QSE_MwYNs3g4I2cBS03lql5qgCPcBGAYYCw/s320/altmall.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">More Mall Memories</span></h3>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Here are a few more memories of the shopping malls of the '70s and '80s:</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YmWTHCHHzZY" width="560"></iframe>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Here's an interesting 1983 documentary prepared by a college student where he interviews people at random at a New York state shopping mall. Its really quite a time capsule of the era.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dPx3qIXvQu8/XLuH6nL0kJI/AAAAAAAABH8/5QsmJP8aR2MaYVLjdIlKA2Hmyz8Gvm4xgCLcBGAs/s1600/skaterOFS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="640" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dPx3qIXvQu8/XLuH6nL0kJI/AAAAAAAABH8/5QsmJP8aR2MaYVLjdIlKA2Hmyz8Gvm4xgCLcBGAs/s320/skaterOFS.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">And here are a few personal memories. When I was growing up in the '70s and '80s, my family often frequented a mall called the Orlando Fashion Square, in Orlando, Florida. My elementary school even took a field trip there during the late '70s. It certainly was a source of some of my best mall memories during the '80s. Here are some photos of '80s era skaters using the rounded sides of the mall's exterior to perform tricks. I never skated, but I do remember how that mall exterior looked, so sleek and '70/'80s modern.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DdlE07m5dS4/XLuHylpvRVI/AAAAAAAABH4/75snVLaGOso5XA-4lzDHCqwloyUH9tvoACLcBGAs/s1600/skaterOFS2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="604" data-original-width="401" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DdlE07m5dS4/XLuHylpvRVI/AAAAAAAABH4/75snVLaGOso5XA-4lzDHCqwloyUH9tvoACLcBGAs/s320/skaterOFS2.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">And here below are some more pictures taken by an individual of the same mall, and some of the stores. I do remember fondly all of these.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<blockquote class="imgur-embed-pub" data-id="a/cuHsy" lang="en">
<a href="https://imgur.com/cuHsy">Fashion Square Mall</a></blockquote>
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//s.imgur.com/min/embed.js"></script>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
Lazlohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02037087843637735080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7994274287521522726.post-43811923626715922412019-04-05T14:08:00.000-04:002019-04-05T14:08:16.389-04:00Heavy Metal, the Movie (Repost)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-we_gHy-WC_0/Vk_S7TsO3pI/AAAAAAAAAys/QW4xvldChdI/s1600/spaceship.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="222" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-we_gHy-WC_0/Vk_S7TsO3pI/AAAAAAAAAys/QW4xvldChdI/s320/spaceship.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Back in the early '80s, an animated movie came out based on the adult comic magazine <i>Heavy Metal</i>. The 1981 movie, also called <i>Heavy Metal</i>, ultimately would develop a cult following and become a favorite of the late night movie circuit. Heavy Metal consisted of anthology of several animated stories, all with a style clearly geared to teen males. I love it because it serves as a wonderful time capsule of the era, in particular of the rock-oriented culture of that era, and a remembrance of what was considered cool among early '80s teens, especially males.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HiopquaYsQ0/Vk_TFKw_4NI/AAAAAAAAAy0/O2SNWSGob9Q/s1600/loch%2Bnar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="210" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HiopquaYsQ0/Vk_TFKw_4NI/AAAAAAAAAy0/O2SNWSGob9Q/s320/loch%2Bnar.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Heavy Metal starts with an animated space sequence, with a space shuttle (a form of space transportation then new and exciting) opening its cargo bay and releasing a corvette, which slowly descends back to earth.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">A space shuttle releasing a hot sports car into space... an odd sequence that seems so obviously cool in an early '80s context, which I think would appear odd to today's youth.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The initial story involves an astronaut bringing a gift from space to his young daughter: a strange glowing orb which turns out to have great power, and which serves as a central figure in all the movie's stories.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bptp_UqZ1uQ/Vk_TQBPugXI/AAAAAAAAAy8/cmuYBLDsynw/s1600/canyon.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="168" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bptp_UqZ1uQ/Vk_TQBPugXI/AAAAAAAAAy8/cmuYBLDsynw/s320/canyon.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">One story features a taxi driver named Harry Canyon living a very rough, distopian future version of New York City . . .a reminder that New York of the late '70s and eraly '80s was facing its own issues of crime and decay. Canyon's story </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">contains a pulp fiction style with a gritty story line. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OsIbnyV0L0U/Vk_TrxgJ4EI/AAAAAAAAAzc/mRbc6UHAOR0/s1600/plane.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="183" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OsIbnyV0L0U/Vk_TrxgJ4EI/AAAAAAAAAzc/mRbc6UHAOR0/s320/plane.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Another story involves a zombie laden account of horror encountered by a World War II bomber crew. As with all the stories, very teen-male oriented.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6UOGCBK8lRk/Vk_Tad_6zII/AAAAAAAAAzE/uyF9OLPCuM0/s1600/nerdyden.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="174" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6UOGCBK8lRk/Vk_Tad_6zII/AAAAAAAAAzE/uyF9OLPCuM0/s320/nerdyden.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">My favorite story involves a nerdy teen boy who finds the glowing orb, and takes it home to run scientific experiments on it.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ssv4DQZkgig/Vk_Te7Of7mI/AAAAAAAAAzM/KKFr0rxh-6c/s1600/den.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="178" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ssv4DQZkgig/Vk_Te7Of7mI/AAAAAAAAAzM/KKFr0rxh-6c/s320/den.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The boy soon finds himself transformed into a bald, muscle-bound hero, and transported to a strange mythical land where the orb is an object of worship called the Loc-Nar. As his new self, he calls himself "Den", and embarks on a series of adventures involving the Loc-Nar and the inhabitants of the new world to which he has been brought.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--fTv8-psQIY/Vk_Tl5aTp4I/AAAAAAAAAzU/lB5dpUx88Is/s1600/trial.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="172" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/--fTv8-psQIY/Vk_Tl5aTp4I/AAAAAAAAAzU/lB5dpUx88Is/s320/trial.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The stories in <i>Heavy Metal</i> includes accounts taking place in space and in strange new lands, and involving odd aliens and mythical animals. Altogether an enjoyable combination, but not too deep or complicated in its content. Its practically made for late night, leisurely viewing.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-L27RtAJXq9s/Vk_T5Igot2I/AAAAAAAAAzk/bm6U3aFBI98/s1600/2-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="173" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-L27RtAJXq9s/Vk_T5Igot2I/AAAAAAAAAzk/bm6U3aFBI98/s320/2-2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; clear: both; color: black; font-family: Tinos; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">As noted, there is always a reminder of the early '80s era (with lots of leftover late '70s) which produced this flick: as in the sequence featuring drug snorting aliens, and a swinging sex-addled robot. </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Heavy Metal </i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">is not for everyone, but if youre into science fiction told with a pulp style, mixed with early '80s teen rock n' roll sensibility, its worth a watch.</span></div>
</div>
Lazlohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02037087843637735080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7994274287521522726.post-15331092685421996612019-03-01T14:13:00.000-05:002019-03-01T14:13:20.278-05:00Remembering E.T. (Repost)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9u6zbSTrBxM/Te5nrRRw5VI/AAAAAAAAAA8/YpmxaSZafR0/s1600/et.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9u6zbSTrBxM/Te5nrRRw5VI/AAAAAAAAAA8/YpmxaSZafR0/s320/et.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: red;">This is a re-post of a post originally appearing in 2011.</span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I remember when my parents took me to see <i>E.T.</i>, '80s sci-fi classic from Steven Spielberg.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The movie came out in June 1982, so this must have been mid to late late '82. I was a somewhat nerdy, awkward 12 years old loner, often in living in my own odd dreamy world. The fact that I was also an only child added to my solitary nature, I suppose. But I was quite close to my parents, although sometimes I even felt misunderstood by them as well, and this would occasionally lead to conflict in my teen years. But this memory was one of being close to them, and I treasure it now as I sit here writing about it.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">We went to see the film at a small, one theater cinema in the downtown of our small home town. It was an old theater that had been there seemingly forever, and was still there in the '80s. It was in the very midst of the fan mania that developed over the film, and there was a long line that stretched around the entire front of the small theater and around the side to the parking lot out back. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">We took our place in line, and when we got inside the theater was packed to capacity, with every seat filled. At that age, I was not yet used to going to see movies at the theater, so the whole thing was quite new to me. I remember we got some popcorn and Coke, and took our seats in the crowded theater. I also remember that in the midst of the movie, someone spilled a drink a row behind us. But I remember the experience fondly.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CpKzs1RgLmY/TptyPzJB4MI/AAAAAAAAAIM/99tMwXkP2l8/s1600/et-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="221" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CpKzs1RgLmY/TptyPzJB4MI/AAAAAAAAAIM/99tMwXkP2l8/s320/et-4.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I remember the pleasure I got in seeing this beautiful film. There was a tangible warmth about it, there were so many different details that seemed to shine through about the film. I remember the funny scene where E.T. inspires the young protagonist, Eliot, to come to the rescue of the frogs which were to be used during his school's science class, and he proceeds to cause havoc by freeing all of them in the midst of class. I also remember that my mother cried when E.T. briefly appeared to die, and I remember the joy that came when he miraculously revived and was alive. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3ycnAFRJtjs/Tptxn898HEI/AAAAAAAAAH8/HZFF_2p6k0E/s1600/et-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3ycnAFRJtjs/Tptxn898HEI/AAAAAAAAAH8/HZFF_2p6k0E/s320/et-2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It felt like I was part of some wonderful phenomenon that all of America was participating in, and maybe beyond our borders to the world. I somehow felt like I identified with the young protagonist Eliot, played by actor Henry Thomas. But then, didn't we all identify with young Eliot at that young age, befriending this wondrous being from another world. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-w3glKAYhef0/Tptxs4jU5kI/AAAAAAAAAIE/yd1PAVDE5F4/s1600/et-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-w3glKAYhef0/Tptxs4jU5kI/AAAAAAAAAIE/yd1PAVDE5F4/s320/et-3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<div style="font-family: tinos; line-height: normal;">
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;">
</div>
</div>
<br />
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Tinos; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Tinos; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
</div>
</div>
Lazlohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02037087843637735080noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7994274287521522726.post-29253013357276597552019-02-18T20:03:00.001-05:002019-02-18T20:06:46.494-05:00Depeche Mode: "People Are People" <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="344" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MzGnX-MbYE4" width="459"></iframe><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">From Depeche Mode, a quintessentially '80s group with a devoted following, a 1984 song with a message. </span>Lazlohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02037087843637735080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7994274287521522726.post-68315782297112149012019-02-10T20:22:00.001-05:002019-02-10T20:24:51.909-05:00An '80s Valentine: "Sea of Love"<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="344" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2BoUzzFXuVU" width="459"></iframe><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The Honeydrippers were a band put together by former Led Zeppelin lead singer Robert Plant, who scored a major hit in 1984 with their version of '50s classic "Sea of Love." A suitable retro-'80s valentine.</span>Lazlohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02037087843637735080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7994274287521522726.post-90615043500310944682019-01-31T16:37:00.001-05:002019-01-31T16:37:23.329-05:00The Traveling Wilburys: "End Of The Line"<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/UMVjToYOjbM" width="480"></iframe><br /><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Traveling Wilburys were a late '80s supergroup that included several rock legends: Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Roy Orbison, </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">ex-Beatle George Harrison, and ex-ELO Jeff Lynne. Here they are with "End of the Line."</span>Lazlohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02037087843637735080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7994274287521522726.post-1500177007914349002019-01-12T10:32:00.001-05:002019-01-12T10:35:52.053-05:00The Story Behind Suzanne Vega's "Luka"<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/sKGoqpqJ-MM" width="560"></iframe><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Here's the story behind one of the 80's most relevant songs, "Luka" by folksinger Suzanne Vega. Some very poignant comments.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VZt7J0iaUD0" width="560"></iframe><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Here's the song, Suzanne Vega's "Luka." Vega, along artists like Tracy Chapman, the Washington Squares, Michelle Shocked, and The Indigo Girls, formed the late '80s <a href="https://retroawesomeness.blogspot.com/2017/05/the-80s-folk-music-revival.html" target="_blank">folk music revival</a>.</span>Lazlohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02037087843637735080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7994274287521522726.post-8334930430392423332019-01-01T10:12:00.001-05:002019-01-01T10:12:35.851-05:00Brian May's "New Horizons" New Years Message<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/j3Jm5POCAj8" width="480"></iframe><br /><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Brian May, guitarist for Queen, is also an astrophysicist who is involved in NASA's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Horizons" target="_blank">New Horizons</a> probe to Pluto and the outer solar system. New Horizons is scheduled to be passing by an object in that region of space during new years, and <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/28/world/ultima-thule-nasa-new-years-flyby/index.html" target="_blank">sending back information</a>. May created a song celebrating the New Horizons mission, and I can't think of a better way to ring in the new year! Happy New Year to all my readers, and keep your dreams high!!</span>Lazlohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02037087843637735080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7994274287521522726.post-53448091418552480172018-12-25T09:54:00.001-05:002018-12-25T09:54:27.061-05:00Apollo 8's Christmas Message (1968)<iframe frameborder="0" height="234" src="//fave.api.cnn.io/v1/fav/?video=us/2018/12/19/christmas-on-the-moon-orig-qc.cnn&customer=cnn&edition=domestic&env=prod" width="416"></iframe><br />
<span style="color: red; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The year 1968 was one when the Vietnam War was raging at its height, there were protests, riots, assassinations and unrest throughout the West, the Soviets invaded Czechoslovakia, and the US presidential election was one of the most tumultuous. Amidst the unease and unrest, a remarkable event occurred on Christmas eve: U.S. astronauts became the first humans to circle the moon, and while there, delivered a hopeful Christmas message. Its a message we would do well to be aware of as we deal with the uncertainty of the present age</span><br />
<span style="color: red; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">. </span><br />
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/cDHrdq2AJw0" width="560"></iframe>
<span style="color: red; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Here's the full inspiring message.</span><br />
<span style="color: red; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Wfd0oC3eFWw" width="560"></iframe><br />
<span style="color: red; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The voyage also produced the iconic "Earthrise" photo, which showed Earth amidst the darkness of space.</span><br />
<span style="color: red; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: lime; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Merry Christmas, and Happy Holidays to everyone on "the Good Earth."</span>Lazlohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02037087843637735080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7994274287521522726.post-62503376480350206642018-12-20T10:49:00.001-05:002018-12-20T10:50:16.029-05:00Hall & Oates' "Jingle Bell Rock"<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="344" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5vyMuxxLsD0" width="459"></iframe><br />
<span style="color: lime; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">A very '80s Happy Holidays to all.</span>Lazlohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02037087843637735080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7994274287521522726.post-52416181402511245862018-12-13T22:17:00.001-05:002019-01-06T22:22:05.524-05:00'80s Holiday Cheer<span style="color: lime; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Here's some '80s holiday music memories.</span><br />
<span style="color: lime; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/j3fSknbR7Y4" width="560"></iframe><br />
<span style="color: red; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Band Aid, "Do They Know Its Christmas":</span><span style="color: lime; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">A multi-musician effort to raise funds for African famine relief made up of some of the most well-known '80s musical acts.</span><br />
<i style="color: cyan; font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">(Note: I initially mistakenly placed above a video for a subsequent version of "Do They Know Its Christmas" which was not the original '80s version. I have corrected this, and now the original 1984 version of this song is posted above.)</i><br />
<div>
<br />
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DQDMnZGxRl0" width="560"></iframe>
<span style="color: red; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The Pointer Sisters, "Santa Claus is Coming To Town"</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: red; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/E8gmARGvPlI" width="560"></iframe>
<span style="color: red; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: red; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Wham, "Last Christmas":</span><span style="color: lime; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">One of the most "stylistically 80's" Christmas songs</span><br />
<span style="color: lime; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: lime; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/BoraVkKtKzY" width="560"></iframe>
<span style="color: red; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: red; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Eurythmics' "Winter Wonderland"</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: red; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: red; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/QPf2snTB2wo" width="560"></iframe>
<span style="color: red; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: red; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Billy Squire, "Christmas Is The Time To Say I Love You"</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: red; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/zsat4e8jgHA" width="560"></iframe>
<span style="color: red; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: red; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">John Cougar Mellencamp, "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus"</span></div>
Lazlohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02037087843637735080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7994274287521522726.post-58006889345789880712018-12-07T15:18:00.000-05:002018-12-07T15:18:56.874-05:00U2: "Happy Xmas" (And Some Thoughts)<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/n1JTBG1fa_c" width="560"></iframe>
<span style="color: lime; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Here's U2 in 1988 performing John Lennon's 1971 classic "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)." Its indeed the holiday season again, and a time for joy as well as introspection. I love looking back nostalgically at the past, especially a hopeful moments. As typically nostalgic as this may sound, it does seem to me that things were more genuinely joyful and hopeful in times past. Of course, there was obviously still pain and sadness then too (after all, there were wars, and crises, and problems, and crime back then too). But it honestly seems to me as if those moments when joy and hope were present seemed more real and full back then. There was a greater space for things like genuine happiness, without irony. Today, there seems to be a harshness in the air, and happiness just a little more circumscribed.</span><br />
<span style="color: lime; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qxZInIyOBXk" width="560"></iframe>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: lime; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Here's a song I enjoyed listening to back in the '80s, Pat Benatar's "We Belong." Its not a Christmas song, but one that maybe invokes a spirit that is applicable year round, including the holiday season. </span><span style="color: lime; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I guess I'm taking this time to ask that we think about whats going on, and what we can do. M</span><span style="color: lime; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">aybe we can reach out to one another. Maybe we can reach into our faiths and beliefs. Maybe we can listen to one another better. Maybe we can all give thought to how to make the world less bitter, and more hopeful.</span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">To all my readers:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Merry Christmas!!!</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: cyan; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Happy Hannukkah!!!</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: lime; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Happy Holidays!!!</span></div>
Lazlohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02037087843637735080noreply@blogger.com0