Vintage TV Tuesdays

I visited my parents this weekend and had a great time. My dad made yummy egg rolls and a delicious dessert he used to prepare when I was younger. It was blast from the past, and my brother was there, too, to share some of our memories from growing up.

My dad said he found a portfolio of my drawings from college and brought them out. It was fun to look through them. Inside the portfolio was a book, which I hadn’t seen since the 1980s. It was called More Sniglets. Have you heard of these? If you’re a product of the 80s, then you know what I’m talking about. My nine-year-old had fun reading through the book even though a number of the words are a bit antiquates (i.e., references to pay phones and Polaroid cameras).

So I went to my handy-dandy friend, YouTube, to look them up. And what do you know?

Enjoy!

Flashback Fridays: Smelly Stickers

I went to the toy store with my kids yesterday. Not the toy department of one of the Marts or the chain stores. This was an independent toy store in town. I had a blast, living vicariously through my kids.

As we ventured to the back of the store, I spotted these babies.

It's not the best photo in the world, but I'm writing this at almost-midnight so I'm giving myself artistic license to post it anyway. 

Instant flashback!

I owned stacks upon stacks of these things when I was in middle school. They were all the rage. The packaging was different and I’m not yet sure if the smells are comparable since we haven’t opened them up yet and they're now called Scratch and Sniff Stickers, but they evoked old memories for me nonetheless.

Popcorn and pizza were by far my favorites.

Did you ever collect smelly stickers? Ever heard of them if you’re in the young-ish category of people? What was/is your favorite scent?

Flashback Fridays

 

Things have been crazy this past week.

 

• Sick kiddo
• Sick husband
• Another sick kiddo
• Two trips to the doctor (35 minutes away)
• Working on manuscript revisions
• Volunteering at my sons' school
• And the other stuff that goes with life (laundry, cooking, you know the drill)

 

So, this seemed like the perfect flashback song from 1983. Enjoy. Happy Friday!

 



 

RIP Greg Ham.

Dog Days/Flashback Fridays Mash Up

Today starts the Dog Days of Summer Blog Fest, hosted by Jeremy Bates. In order to participate, sign up at Jeremy’s site here and write about one or all of the following:

1) Describe your favorite summer activity thus far.
2) What activities do you plan before summer is over?
3) If you could have the ultimate vacation ever, where and what would it be?

I considered writing about one of these 2012 summer activities:

·         Rock climbing with hubby in Idaho.

·         Our trip to Phoenix where my dad and I took my eight-year-old son to his first Major League Baseball game (Diamondbacks vs. Cubs).

·         My trip with my youngest to Aurora, Colorado only days after the tragic shooting (because my son had eye surgery only a mile away).

However, today is also Flashback Fridays for me, so I decided to bend the rules a bit and create a mash up of the blog fest with my weekly posting.

Back in the 1980s, my mom drove from Wisconsin to Arizona with my younger brother and me to visit our grandparents. They lived in a mobile home park for senior citizens, and the place had a pool. If you’re familiar with Phoenician summers, you know they are extremely hot. We’re talking 100-degree weather (often reaching 115 or so). So, needless to say, a pool was important to us. Unfortunately, the manager of the mobile home park was a bit of a grouch, so he only allowed children (us) to swim in the pool from 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM. My mom took us there for the entire two hours. When we returned to my grandparents’ place, we ate our sandwiches outside in the baking Arizona sun while we drip-dried. We also played Name That Tune. This was a game show that ran from 1974-1981. We had a blast with it, cracking ourselves up. It is such a wonderfully imprinted memory I have of time spent with my brother that I even incorporated it into my current YA contemporary novel, SUPERSTITIONS (which happens to release on August 17th).

 

If you’ve not seen the show, here’s your chance! Check out the prizes and the awesome fashions on the model!

You can find the other participants in today's blog fest here.

Flashback Fridays

Get out your Aqua Net and tease up that hair.

Put on your Izod alligator polo and flip the collar all the way up.

It’s time for Flashback Fridays.

Since the summer has been unseasonably hot in many areas of the United States, I thought this would be a suitable tribute to the sole-burning temps.

Remember this group? They had so many hits throughout the 80s: Venus (which is now used as the tune for the Gillette razor commercial, though the song did not originally belong to Bananarama); I Heard a Rumour; and this one…CRUEL SUMMER.

There’s a little bit of Madonna and Boy George action happening in the video. Don’t you think? Also, is the guy in the hat supposed to look like Boss Hog from the Dukes of Hazzard? Hmmm...food for thought.

Flashback Fridays

I remember it like it was yesterday. I have it vividly pictured in my mind. It was 1982. My brother snatched the Working Class Dog album from his bedroom, took it out onto our cul de sac, and broke it on the pavement in an act of defiance. His friends had teased him about owning the record album. Instead, he should have given it to me. After that day, my brother’s musical tastes turned toward bands such as Ratt, Queen, and even The Doobie Brothers.

So in memory of that day, I’m flashing back to that day with a YouTube rendition of Jessie’s Girl. Enjoy! (Check out the fashions in the audience--not to mention Rick's choice of attire).

ZZ Top

Okay, so they weren't one of my favorite bands back in the day, but they were popular among many. Still are. Their signature beards made them stand out from others. And perhaps their music did, too. I mean, they've been around since 1969. I must give props to any band that can span 4+ decades.

Other Zs from the 80s:

Well...I just don't know.

Yaz (or Yazoo)

Does anyone remember this band? The only song I am familiar with is Don't Go. Probably because of its play on MTV. Yaz was a synthpop group from the 1980s started by keyboard player, Vince Clarke, from Depeche Mode. The group had a pretty short run. Clarke later went on to create Erasure.

Other Ys from the 1980s:

Yes (the reformed then reformed again and again band)

What am I missing?

Generation X

I took this from Wikipedia (citations available through the link) since it sums up what I've come to know of Generation X.

Those associated with Generation X have cultural perspectives and political experiences that were shaped by series of events. These include the 1973 oil crisis, the 1979 energy crisis, the 1980 election of Ronald Reagan, the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, the 1986 Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, the 1987 Black Monday, the 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War, the elections of George H.W. Bush, William (Bill) Clinton and the savings and loan crisis that preceded the early 1990s recession. Generation X saw the introduction of the home computer, the beginning growth of video game era, cable television and the Internet. Other attributions include the AIDS epidemic, the War on Drugs, the Iran hostage crisis, Iran-Contra Affair, Operation Desert Storm, the Dot-com bubble, alternative rock, and the global influence of the hip hop culture and music genre. They are often called the MTV Generation. When compared with previous generations, Generation X represents a more heterogeneous generation, exhibiting great variety of diversity in such aspects as race, class, religion, ethnicity, and sexual orientation.

Change is more the rule for the people of Generation X than the exception. Unlike their parents who challenged leaders with an intent to replace them, Generation X tend to ignore leaders and opt to work for more long term institutional and systematic change through economic, media and consumer actions.

The US Census Bureau cites Generation X as highly educated, statistically holding the highest education levels when looking at current age groups (bloc): US Census Bureau, in their 2009 Statistical Abstract. (Also see Education Statistics Canada, 2001 Census.)

Other Xs from the 1980s:

XTC

Know any more? Because I don't seem to.

Wham!

As a pre-launch and pre-birthday celebration, My Life as a Misfit currently is free on Smashwords until May 1st. Just use coupon code YD77J at checkout. And don't miss the virtual book tour for Fractured starting May 1st.

Onward...to the A to Z Challenge post.

I definitely owned this record album.

Wham! was super popular back in the 80s. At least for the pop crowd. In fact, there were people at my high school who wore those t-shirts that you see in the video. Not me. I sported the Duran Duran-type shirt instead.

Other Ws from the 1980s:

Weird Science

Who's the Boss

Weird Al (lots of weird back int he 80s, apparently)

What am I missing? A lot, I'm sure.



Violent Femmes

Before I launch into my "V" post for the A to Z Blogging Challenge, I have something I want to share. Next Tuesday is the launch of my first novel, Fractured. There's a blog tour and everything. Also Tuesday is my birthday (though I'm not sharing what number that will be). So in celebration of both, My Life as Misfit is now FREE on Smashwords, but only until the big launch and b-day (May 1st).  Just use coupon code YD77J. Enjoy!

Now on to the Challenge...

The Violent Femmes were hugely popular in the 80s. They're originally from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, which was a huge deal to the alternative crowd in our area. We were only a half hour or so from the city. As if we went into town, we'd see them walking around (right). I never owned an album, but did like some of their singles. Including this one:

Some of the lyrics are as follows:

Beautiful girl lovely dress

High school smiles, oh yes

Beautiful girl lovely dress

Where is she now I can only guess.

Very apropos given that fact that I'm looking back on my old junior high and high school days.



Other Vs from the 1980s:

Valerie's Family (yikes!)

All right, I'm at a loss. Can you think of other 1980's Vs?

U2

Sakes alive! They look like kids here. Although, I was a kid myself back in 1980 when this first came out. Race ahead to the early 1990s when I was in college. This song played at an event at our school (just the song, not U2 themselves) and hearing it takes me immediately back to that night. I love how music does that.

Other Us from the 80s:

Um....help me out. I'm drawing a blank.

Twisted Sister and That Hair

Look at all that hair! I was not into the hair bands, but my brother certainly had all those albums. And my husband did, too.

Other Ts in the 80s:

Tears for Fears

Thompson Twins

Three's Company

Tylenol scare

Tootsie

What Ts do you remember from the 80s...or learned of after the fact?

Square Pegs

I absolutely L.O.V.E.D. this show back in the 80s. It seemed to truly capture who I was: an outsider.

Other Ss from the 80s:

Shoulder pads
Sea monkeys
Sixteen Candles
SCTV
Spandau Ballet
Solid Gold

Do you remember any of these things from the 80s? Or have you seen or heard of them if you weren't a part of that fab decade?

Ryne Sandberg

In 1982, I had a sudden fascination with the game of baseball. That was all because of this man: Ryne Sandberg. In fact, I wrote about him (and my one-season love of America's pastime) in My Life as a Misfit. Thank you, Ryne, for a great year :-)

Other Rs in the 80s:

Rubric's Cube

Record Player

Rick Springfield (who also has a cameo, so to speak, in the book)

Rad (as in: "those legwarmers are totally rad")

Return of the Jedi

Rosanne

Romantics

Risky Business

What or who am I missing?

Quarterflash

Honestly, this was the only Q I could come up with for today's 1980s post. But it was also an easy entry because I used to pop Quarterflash's cassette tape into my player and stand in front of the mirror, practicing to be a rock star.

Other Qs from the 80s:

There have to be others. Right?

Psychedelic Furs "Pretty in Pink"

The epitome of the 80s...for me.



Other Ps from the 80s:

Prince

Parachute pants

Perms

Any others? Bueller, Bueller?



The Outsiders

By far, this had to be my favorite book and movie in the 1980s. Typically, I do not like movie adaptations of books, but there was some real eye candy happening in this film. Plus, I think Francis Ford Coppola did a fine job of staying true to the novel.

I was such a misfit back then that I actually carried stacks of S.E. Hinton books around with me throughout school.

Other Os in the 80s:

Oingo Boingo
Olivia Newton John
OMD
Ordinary People
One Day at a Time

Any other Os?

New Order

My friend, Vicky, and I saw New Order at Summerfest in Milwaukee along with PIL and The Sugarcubes. The concert was amazing! We even had our t-shirts signed by the band.

This video is horrid, but the song is still great.

Other Ns from the 80s:

Nena
New wave
Night Court

All right, help me out here. There have to be more.

Madonna, MTV, and My Life as a Misfit

Lots of 1980s Ms to share today.

Madonna was a defining music figure in the 1980s, and many girls tried to copy her look:

MTV was huge! I mean, it was a total phenomenon. The 80s was the true dawn of music videos, and you had a real edge in the social world if your parents paid for MTV (mine did):

That said, my book of four memoirs (My Life as a Misfit) takes place in the 1980s:

Other Ms from the 1980s:

Men at Work

Men Without Hats
Mommie Dearest
Motley Crue
Modern English

I know I'm missing some. Can you think of any more?