First off, the whole Michael Jackson thing. Never mind the Michael Jackson of the late 90's and early 2000's. I am talking pre-Neverland Ranch slumber party Michael Jackson. The true King of Pop and the era that earned him that title. His death today took me back to the day when I use to stay up late watching MTV hoping to see his Thriller video
but always seeing Take On Me by Aha instead. MTV was such a cool channel when it played music and the VJ's were cool. Remember downtown Julie Brown, and Dr Dre (not to be confused with the Dr Dre from NWA!) and Ed Lover were the hosts of MTV Raps? Pauly Shore was a favorite, and I had a crush on Martha Quinn. I still laugh when I think about John Norris with MTV News! He looked like such a dork! But, mmmm, Martha Quinn!
I was also reading a post by Bill Simmons on ESPN.com. (you can click that to be taken there) His article is about why 1984 was the greatest year ever. Regardless if you agree with him or not, he has some good points, and it was fun to read his article. (I disagree with him though about Night Court and some of the influential people he mentions.) Reading his article reminded me of a few other things that he didn't mention, mostly because he has no idea these things occurred, but also because he is a little ignorant! It wasn't 1984, but it was the 80's nonetheless. Rewind back to junior high and collecting sports cards. Have I mentioned this before? Anyway, my buddy Jazey advises me to buy every Michael Jordan rookie card
I can get my hands on. At that time they were going for about 10 bucks. 10 bucks was a lot of money to me then, and Jordan played basketball, a sport I didn't collect. So I laughed in his face and said no way. Instead I spent the money on Mark McGwire rookie cards, which were about 5 bucks. This was a great investment to me. McGwire broke the home record for a single season and his cards skyrocketed....until the steroid news broke.
Now they are worth about 3 bucks, and I still have a pile of them in a box. Don't even ask me what the Jordan's are worth.
He mentions Night Court and Hot Rod Rowdy Roddy Piper, but left out the Ultimate Warrior
and the Junkyard Dog. Two classic wrestling phenoms!
I loved George Orwell's 1984, but I loved Van Halen's 1984 better.
It seems like I woke up to "Jump" every morning on the radio. (What is the deal with the cover to that album though? A tot smoking a pack of Camels?) When I read 1984 in Jr High, I didn't realize it would be prophetic to today. Back to Night Court, I think Mr Simmons mentions he hated it, but I will overlook that typo because I usually enjoy his writing. Who could ever hate Night Court? I own seasons 1 and 2 on DVD and can't wait for them to release the remaining 4 seasons.
I didn't intend this to be a book report on that article, but he brings up so many things. His linked article about the Karate Kid is so entertaining. It also stole an idea I had for a future post here... but go read it.
Moving on...
So that's my Nostalgia continued. I was hoping my last article here about sports and book club would elicit more responses from my male friends and readers, to help with the argument. I know this is suppose to be a sound off between the wife and I, but it is becoming a place for me to post whatever I want because she never writes here. Sorry about that. I honestly thought my cliff notes research of Twilight would shock her into writing. I keep promising a post about my job, and I promise it is coming... but it requires the right approach and the right timing.
