tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30571276407216447372024-03-13T23:58:16.862-07:00Golden Age 4 Kids<b> Looking Back with Wonder on the "Golden Years" of the '80s & '90s</b>StarfireChampionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01894643882506120207noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057127640721644737.post-64755485687585620382013-01-13T20:07:00.000-08:002013-01-13T20:09:40.799-08:00Top 10 Wrestling Themes of the Golden Age<br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Greetings fellow
Golden Agers!</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Hope the new year is
treating you well thus far.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">This week, we’ll
take a look at the Top 10 wrestling themes of the Golden Age. For anyone who is new to the blog, “The
Golden Age” is a period stretching from the mid 1980s through roughly the mid to late 1990s.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Only one
restriction for this list—the song must be composed specifically for the
wrestler(s) using it. So for example The
Sandman’s use of Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” was excellent, but that song
existed long before he ever used it.
Ditto Ricky Steamboat and “The Alan Parsons Project” song. Unfortunately this rule also nixes some
classics like Randy Savage’s “Pomp & Circumstance” or Ric Flair’s “Also
Sprach Zarathustra”, but on the bright side there are plenty of great themes even without those classics.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><b>Honorable
Mentions:</b> Bret Hart, Harlem Heat, Razor Ramon, Ted DiBiase, Kurt Angle</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>10. New World
Order</b></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Hulk Hogan’s
joining of The Outsiders in 1996 created the greatest stable in the history of
the wrestling business. The nWo’s theme
became synonymous with the brash, bad boy attitude that made them hated by many
in the ‘90s. Who could forget the
Hulkster, beard dyed black, sauntering out to this theme and playing the spray
painted championship belt like a guitar?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>9. The Fabulous
Rougeau Brothers</b></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">One of the most
overlooked tag teams of the era, Jacques and Raymond Rougeau were one of WWF’s
top heel teams in the 1980s. The real
life brothers from Montreal used a gimmick where they’d pretend to support
America, even waving tiny American flags as they came to the ring, but they
clearly did not have real allegiance to the USA. A fun fact about their theme music is that
they pretend to be patriotic “All American Boys” while singing in English, but
when they switch to French they are actually dissing the USA.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><b><span style="font-size: large;">8. Strike
Force’s “Girls in Cars”</span></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Tito Santana and Rick Martel were among the WWF’s most exciting wrestlers in
the late 80s. When they combined to form a new tag team called "Strike Force", a hip, flashy entrance theme was needed. In 1987, Strike Force got just that with Robbie
Dupree's “Girls in Cars” off of the WWF Piledriver album. They typically entered arenas to an
instrumental version, but the version with lyrics and the song’s music video
are so deliciously ‘80s that they must be savored in their original
brilliance. If you’re anything like me,
you’ll never forget <span style="background-color: white;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyzA1C4BVEE" target="_blank">the 8-bit version of the song </a></span>which served as Ted DiBiase’s theme (Ted didn’t have
entrance music in those days) in WWF Wrestlemania for the NES. It would get stuck in your head for hours.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><b><span style="font-size: large;">7. Goldberg</span></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Storming onto
the scene in a big way in the late 1990s (the twilight years of the Golden
Age), Bill Goldberg had maybe the hottest stretch of months that any wrestler
has ever had in the entire history of the wrestling business. Crowds packed arenas and tuned in to Nitro
week after week to watch this new phenom destroy his next victim and build his
undefeated streak. A large part of the
Goldberg mystique was his entrance, complete with sparks flying and Bill
snorting smoke out of his nose like a bull.
His theme had a distinctly military influence with all those drums
pounding. It got everyone in the arena
psyched up and ready for battle.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">6. Demolition</span></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">One of the greatest tag teams of the Golden Age, Demolition’s thundering “Pain & Destruction” was one of the heaviest, hardest rocking wrestling themes of all time. Sung by rocker Rick Derringer, the track’s heavy drum sound, electric guitar and raspy vocals formed an intimidating soundtrack as the face-painted and spiked leather-clad Ax and Smash made their way to the ring. Perhaps better yet were the foreboding lyrics—“Run and we’ll find you”, “There’s no place to hide”, “Pain and destruction is our middle name.” Demolition looked like a cross between bad ass bikers and clowns from hell, and Deringer’s theme contributed to what every wrestling fan thought upon seeing them—“Wow, I wouldn’t want to mess with these guys…”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><b><span style="font-size: large;">5. The Crow
Sting</span></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Probably my
favorite WCW angle of all time, Stings journey from a blonde, happy-go-lucky
babyface to a dark, silent, and mysterious figure of the shadows was a central
storyline in 1997. He’d appear in the
rafters, wearing a trench coat and carrying a baseball bat, face completely
expressionless. Occasionally he’d come
down from the rafters, lay out one wrestler or several, only to disappear again
into the darkness—and he never said a word.
The enigmatic nature of the character was captivating, and fans couldn’t
wait to finally get some answers on what had happened to Sting, what he was
thinking and what he would do next. When
he finally did wrestle, Sting used this theme, which was a great fit for his
character’s dark and mysterious persona.
It is a simple piece of music, but a perfect fit.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>4. The Ultimate
Warrior</b></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Has there ever
been a more fitting wrestling theme than the Warrior’s “Unstable”? The pounding drum and blaring guitar form a
simple but frenetic entrance theme, perfect for Warrior’s “sprint to the ring
and shake the ropes” routine. In recent
years it has become common for fans to make fun of Warrior for (a) not being a
great wrestler and (b) being a little bit crazy, but you can’t knock his
success. Crowds went wild for him and his
gimmick was actually interesting. The
moment you heard those drums hit “DUN…DUN DUN DUN….” you knew you were going to
be entertained. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">3. Hulk Hogan</span></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">You knew it was just a matter of time before we got to this, right? Arguably the most iconic entrance theme in the history of wrestling “Real American” was the theme song of Hulkamania, a movement which took wrestling to heights it had never seen before and which created the business as we know it today. The guitar work is great, but the lyrics are what make Real American special. They nicely summed up what Hulkamania was all about—patriotism, courage, persistence, justice, and doing the right thing. Like much of what Hulk said and did in those years, Real American gave Golden Age kids some values to believe in.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><b><span style="font-size: large;">2. Jake the
Snake</span></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Jake Roberts was
one of the best talkers in the history of the industry. I tend to remember his work as a babyface
(though he was a great heel too), feuding with the likes of Andre the Giant,
Rick Rude and Ted DiBiase. But Jake
wasn’t just your run-of-the-mill good guy.
He had an edge, and a mystique—a sort of “dark charisma.” His theme seems to capture that same
essence. It has a distinctly 80s sound,
resembling </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif;">something out
of <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WP_TuRVTqM" target="_blank">Miami Vice</a></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> or even a slowed down version of the theme from Knight Rider,
but with an element of mystery mixed in for good measure. It was a great tune and a great fit for the
Snake, who will go down in history as one of the greatest characters of all
time. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><b><span style="font-size: large;">1. Mr. Perfect </span></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">A classic. By the first note, everyone in the arena knew
that Mr. Perfect was on his way to the ring—and therefore, that they were about
to be treated to an excellent match. The
base drums and cymbals conjure up images of ancient Greece or Rome, perhaps the
Gods and Goddesses. It was an excellent
fit for Mr. Perfect's gimmick—a man who was infallible and who possessed
athletic ability beyond that of the mere mortal. You might even say it was the Perfect theme song for the Perfect wrestler (yea, that was cliche but I had to do it).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Would love to hear from you about who we underrated, who overrated or who we missed altogether. Leave a comment or tweet us @GoldenAge4Kids.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
StarfireChampionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01894643882506120207noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057127640721644737.post-24693169311597832552012-12-21T21:07:00.000-08:002013-01-13T20:07:44.591-08:00Golden Age Christmas<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">The official soundtrack
for this entry--MUST be played while reading: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><b><u>Somewhere in My
Memory</u></b><span style="font-size: x-small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">Candles in the window,</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">shadows painting the ceiling,</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><span style="background-color: white;"></span></span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white;">gazing at the fire glow,</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><span style="background-color: white;">
</span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white;">feeling that gingerbread feeling.</span></div>
</span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white;">Precious moments,</span></div>
</span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white;">special people,</span></div>
</span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white;">happy faces,</span></div>
</span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white;">I can see.</span></div>
</span>
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><span style="background-color: white;"></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white;">Somewhere in my memory,</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><span style="background-color: white;">
</span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white;">Christmas joys all around me,</span></div>
</span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white;">living in my memory,</span></div>
</span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white;">all of the music,</span></div>
</span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white;">all of the magic,</span></div>
</span>
</span><span style="background-color: white;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">all of the family home here with me</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">It’s impossible
for me to hear this song—originally from the Golden Age classic “Home Alone”--
and not be immediately consumed with warm fuzzy memories of the Christmases of
my childhood. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">There were
certainly a lot of great ones. I
remember the trips to cut down a fresh tree, then bringing it home and
decorating it with my parents and my sister.
I remember spending Christmas Eve with my Dad's family and Christmas Day with my Mom's. Delicious food, elaborate desserts, warm
houses, lots of people laughing, lots of relatives who have since passed on.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">And, the
presents—oh, the presents! Lego sets. Wrestling figures. Video games.
Board Games. Bicycles. Any toy you could dream of. One year, I even got a swingset. As a kid, Christmas morning represents all
that you’ve worked for over the course of an entire year—affirmation that you
were, in fact, a good boy or girl, and that Santa noticed and was rewarding you
for it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GhXiaHi02Z4/UNUq-pg3mHI/AAAAAAAAAD0/bJrqzM23hos/s1600/Lego+Ice+Planet+90s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GhXiaHi02Z4/UNUq-pg3mHI/AAAAAAAAAD0/bJrqzM23hos/s1600/Lego+Ice+Planet+90s.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Early '90s Lego "Ice Planet" Set</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NsFB1Op6L4s/UNUrM99jAJI/AAAAAAAAAEE/vERfNkp5FZc/s1600/hasbro+hogan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NsFB1Op6L4s/UNUrM99jAJI/AAAAAAAAAEE/vERfNkp5FZc/s200/hasbro+hogan.jpg" width="175" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">WWF Hulk Hogan Hasbro Action Figure</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xRWvPCEyHAU/UNUsJeTHB3I/AAAAAAAAAEQ/TsZ4SaLZG7w/s1600/Gameboy+1990s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xRWvPCEyHAU/UNUsJeTHB3I/AAAAAAAAAEQ/TsZ4SaLZG7w/s320/Gameboy+1990s.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Original Gameboy (via
<a href="http://danielvol4.blogspot.com/">http://danielvol4.blogspot.com</a>)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XB2vtDrx0ZM/UNUs3HGfMgI/AAAAAAAAAEc/P29z9-vpeLk/s1600/MyPal2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XB2vtDrx0ZM/UNUs3HGfMgI/AAAAAAAAAEc/P29z9-vpeLk/s1600/MyPal2.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My Pal 2<br />
<br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MyCl3hAkxAI/UNUtZagZenI/AAAAAAAAAEk/EDCKRPIaN5M/s1600/crossfire.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="242" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MyCl3hAkxAI/UNUtZagZenI/AAAAAAAAAEk/EDCKRPIaN5M/s320/crossfire.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCwn1NTK-50" target="_blank">CROSSFIIIIIIIIRREEEEEEEE</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">I received so
many great Christmas gifts in my childhood that it’s impossible to pick a
favorite. But perhaps the one that
stands out most in my mind is when I got the original Nintendo Entertainment
System for Christmas in 1990. I’m not
sure that I appreciated how big (or expensive) a gift it was at the time, but I
do know that I spent countless hours playing it throughout the rest of my childhood.</span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_vsOPxgcnNc/UNUrF4f9FEI/AAAAAAAAAD8/RdDpXlOjdSQ/s1600/NES+Box.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_vsOPxgcnNc/UNUrF4f9FEI/AAAAAAAAAD8/RdDpXlOjdSQ/s320/NES+Box.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Six years later, when I WAS old enough to
realize that a gift was expensive and difficult to obtain, I got another of my
most memorable gifts—Nintendo 64. That
Christmas N64 was flying off the shelves, and selling for almost 4x MSRP on the black
market. But I guess I was just a lucky
kid, because Santa somehow found one for me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(Not me of course, but another young Golden Ager celebrating getting his n64 for Christmas)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">For her part, my
sister scored both a Tickle-Me-Elmo and a Furby during the Christmases that
those items were all the rage. My
parents certainly weren’t paying more than retail price, but we do have an
uncle who “knew some people.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_YmGaLAiH_I/UNUxTFeShCI/AAAAAAAAAE0/cDFEKwxEYSQ/s1600/telmo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_YmGaLAiH_I/UNUxTFeShCI/AAAAAAAAAE0/cDFEKwxEYSQ/s1600/telmo.jpg" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-j4v3aw2z7lo/UNUxWqwwwJI/AAAAAAAAAE8/RF_HMYUD770/s1600/furby.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-j4v3aw2z7lo/UNUxWqwwwJI/AAAAAAAAAE8/RF_HMYUD770/s320/furby.jpg" width="259" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Christmas was
just a wonderful time. There were more
great gifts than I could ever remember, but I know I’ll never forget the
anticipation leading up to Christmas Day and the pure joy and excitement that
we felt running downstairs on Christmas morning. It was magical.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Sadly, as I got
older, that magic wore off. The air came
out of the Santa balloon. The toys and
games turned to boxer shorts and tube socks.
The family gatherings that used to be so fun began to feel repetitive
and boring, and all the good food we used to eat became a downer because I knew
it would make me fat. All the things
that I used to look forward to, I became indifferent about. And after a while, indifference and apathy
gave way to an active dislike. By my
college years, I thought the whole thing was a commercial fabrication, and I
actively told people that it was “a stupid holiday.” A number of factors in my life had made
me a lot more cynical about a lot of things, and Christmas, which had once been
my favorite day of the year, became an object of scorn.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rIqV18FX9ac/UNU2SQcz9JI/AAAAAAAAAFM/x9QqMRg7Y6A/s1600/groupxmascop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rIqV18FX9ac/UNU2SQcz9JI/AAAAAAAAAFM/x9QqMRg7Y6A/s200/groupxmascop.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Then in early 2007 I
took a service trip to Honduras that changed my perspective on a lot of things
in life--so much so that I decided to spend Christmas that year at a Honduran
Orphanage with some friends. My mom was
pretty sad that I wouldn’t be home for Christmas for the first time ever, but I
think we both knew that it was the right thing to do. The kids in Honduras had really never
experienced Christmas the way I knew it. As it turned
out, Santa didn’t visit orphanages in Honduras—until 2007, at least. We made a small stocking full of school
supplies and candy for each kid, and gave each a toy or other fun present, many of
which we’d brought with us from donors in America. The excitement on Christmas morning was off
the charts. You would have thought
they had won the lottery. This was
Christmas in its purest form, and it reminded me of the magic of the day.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ftcjUPgCxoE/UNU2aVp9ZrI/AAAAAAAAAFU/Y8fb8GP78YY/s1600/juan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ftcjUPgCxoE/UNU2aVp9ZrI/AAAAAAAAAFU/Y8fb8GP78YY/s200/juan.jpg" width="200" /></a> <a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RwK6x8JvPzk/UNU2iDuFNpI/AAAAAAAAAFc/FBxh1K1_svs/s1600/daniella.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RwK6x8JvPzk/UNU2iDuFNpI/AAAAAAAAAFc/FBxh1K1_svs/s200/daniella.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Here’s why I
tell you this story, on this blog for children of the '80s and '90s: as a generation, it is now our responsibility to ensure
that every kid can experience the unadulterated joy of Christmas the way we
did. Many of us who grew up in the
“Golden Age For Kids” have countless wonderful Christmas memories—“precious
moments, smiling faces, happy people we can see—somewhere in [our]
memories.” We had loving parents and
families who created those beautiful memories for us--the memories that we still carry with us today and that we'll carry always. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Unfortunately,
many children aren’t as lucky.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">They may
not have parents in their lives, or they may be in families without the means
to provide gifts or elaborate meals or parties.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">That’s where we come in.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Whether
it’s spending Christmas at an orphanage in a place like Honduras (or anywhere else) or it’s adopting an angel and buying a gift for a child that
would otherwise be disappointed, or maybe it’s just doing some other act of
kindness that benefits a child at this time of the year…. The responsibility is
ours now.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">God knows we had enough
joyful Christmas moments throughout our childhoods—let’s make sure that the
next generation has those same moments.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Because every kid deserves to experience the magic of Christmas—and if
you can bring happiness to a child on Christmas, you just may be reminded of that
magic yourself.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Merry
Christmas and Happy Holidays to all of our readers and their friends and
families. </span>StarfireChampionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01894643882506120207noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057127640721644737.post-13048730946348459262012-11-09T21:11:00.000-08:002012-11-09T21:11:38.057-08:00Unsolved Mysteries<br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><i>(EDITOR'S NOTE: This post was originally written and intended for posting during Halloween week. However, due to Hurricane Sandy-related power outage, we weren't able to get it posted until now. Tried to update it to reflect the fact that we are now in November, but it was written with an October state of mind. Hope everyone had a safe and happy Halloween). </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Autumn is
probably the scariest season. It starts to get dark early, all the plant life shrivels and dies, and
on the 31<sup>st</sup> of October we have the scariest night of the year in Halloween. It is against this backdrop that we bring you
this entry on perhaps the scariest Golden Age television show: Unsolved
Mysteries.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Overview</b></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">First airing in
1987 and running throughout the 1990s, Unsolved Mysteries used actors to
recreate stories of real-life unexplained events. Each episode would feature 3-4 segments
telling different stories, each ending with lingering questions. Topics covered included everything from missing
persons and murders with peculiar circumstances to UFOs and supernatural
phenomena. Unsolved Mysteries had a
dark, eerie feel to it—kind of like a toned down scary movie, only all the
stories portrayed were based on real events.
The show’s producers were masters at drawing you into a plot only to
leave you scratching your head, and when applicable, feeling sorry for the
victims and their families. Viewers were
prompted to call in to the “Unsolved Mysteries Call Center” if they had any
information on any of the cases profiled, and occasionally UM would provide
updates that gave closure to mysteries shown in prior episodes. But the updates were few and far between, and
most times UM left its viewers captivated and bewildered.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>The Music</b></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Unsolved Mysteries’
famously ominous vibe was set at the beginning of each episode by the show’s
theme music. </span></div>
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<object width="320" height="266" class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://2.gvt0.com/vi/qa7Hnkmq_po/0.jpg"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/qa7Hnkmq_po&fs=1&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/qa7Hnkmq_po&fs=1&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">With a sound that may
remind listeners a bit of the theme to “<u>The Exorcist</u>”, Unsolved
Mysteries’ theme became synonymous with paranormal activity in the Golden Age.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Often forgotten
but perhaps even more chilling than the intro theme was Unsolved Mysteries’
closing theme:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">And not to be outdone,
the “UPDATE” music was pretty scary in its own right. Unfortunately a cut of this track in its original form does not seem to have made it to YouTube, but this "8 bit Remix" gives you a taste:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>The Stack</b></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Unsolved
Mysteries had a couple different hosts in its early years, but the show really
took off when Robert Stack took over in 1987.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">A television and
movie actor dating back to the 1950s, Stack’s stoic demeanor and cold delivery
were a perfect fit with UM’s storytelling style. He was often shown wearing a trench coat,
slowly walking along a foggy and dimly lit street or in some other isolated and
eerie film location. Affectionately
known to the show’s diehard fans as simply “The Stack”, Robert Stack’s presence
on Unsolved Mysteries was an important part of the show’s mystique.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Favorite Stories</b></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">First, it is
important to note that a number of officially licensed Unsolved Mysteries DVDs
have been released. They’re <a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=unsolved+mysteries+dvd">available onAmazon for a pretty reasonable price</a>—everything from “The Ultimate Collection”
to a number of “Best of” compilations featuring segments on similar topics. There are also a number of segments available
on YouTube, which should be viewed solely to get a feel for the show, and NOT
to substitute for purchasing the DVDs.
GA4K has no relationship with the makers of the DVDs or with the
uploaders of the YouTube content. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Unsolved
Mysteries told so many compelling stories through the years that it’s virtually
impossible to narrow it down to any kind of “Top 10” list or anything like
that. Still, I’ll offer a few of my
favorite segments to give a taste to any newcomers or remind the old-timers of
just how enthralling this show could be.
Personally, I never took much interest in the episodes about aliens,
ghosts or the supernatural, so I won’t highlight anything in those areas. For me the most compelling stories were
generally the unexplained deaths and the missing persons stories, which felt
much more authentic.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><b><u>Anthonette
Cayedito</u></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">A young girl is
abducted from her home late one night, but signs persist that she is still
alive.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><b><u>Friends 'til the End (</u></b></span><b style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><u>The Boys on the
Tracks)</u></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Two teenage boys
in Arkansas go out hunting one night and are found dead the next day. The circumstances around their death are
shrouded in mystery, leading some to believe that a major conspiracy may be at
hand. This one in particular is worth
watching, as it will apparently be the <span style="background-color: white;"><a href="http://www.arktimes.com/ArkansasBlog/archives/2012/05/09/the-boys-on-the-tracks-heading-to-the-big-screen">basis of a full motion picture</a> in the next
few years.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><b><u>Hyun Jong
(Cindy) Song</u></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">A
Korean-American Penn State student spends Halloween night partying with
friends. A friend drops her off at her
apartment, and she is never seen or heard from again.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><b><u>Tommy Burkett</u></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">A college
student is found dead in his home, and it is ruled a suicide. However, evidence mounts that a homicide and
cover-up may be the real cause of death.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><b><u>Kurt Sova</u></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">A teenage boy
goes to a party on a Friday evening. He
then goes missing, but is seen around town by an eyewitness. Three days later his dead body is discovered
in a local ravine, but it is determined that he had been dead for only a short
time, and an autopsy cannot determine a cause of death.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><b><u>Blind River Rest
Stop</u></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Maybe one of the
scariest re-enactments in the show’s history, this case tells the story of two
cold-blooded murders at a secluded Canadian rest stop late one night in
1991. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Miscellaneous
Thoughts</b></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Growing up in
the late 80’s and ‘90s, my parents used to let me watch this show, but I’m
honestly not sure why. It was—and is—one
of the scariest television programs I can ever remember. It may not have had the shocking moments of a
horror movie (ie. killers or monsters jumping out from behind stuff), but
knowing that these REAL murderers and kidnappers were still out there was
enough to give any youngster nightmares.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.remotepatrolled.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Matthew-McConaughey-Unsolved-Mysteries.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="243" src="http://www.remotepatrolled.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Matthew-McConaughey-Unsolved-Mysteries.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Matthew McConaughey in a UM re-enactment, sporting a '90s denim vest</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">One thing I
really enjoy when going back to watch the show now is the distinctly ‘80s/’90s
vibe that’s evident in so many episodes.
The real people telling their stories and the re-enactors both have a
distinctly Golden Age fashion, and there are many times when a prop or
something else in the storyline will make you say “Oh yea, I remember that…” It’s a fun side-plot to the otherwise dark
and mysterious re-enactments of often horrible events.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Horrible, but
completely captivating. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Once I start
watching Unsolved Mysteries segments on YouTube, I find it very difficult to
stop. One advantage that we have over
those who viewed the original UM telecasts is that we have the internet at our
disposal. If you watched an original
episode on NBC in the early ‘90s, a segment would grab your attention, you’d
hope for resolution, and then the episode would end and that was it. You were entirely dependent on Unsolved
Mysteries to provide you any updates on the cases profiled. Today, you can just throw the person’s name
into a search engine and find all sorts of articles and updates. A number of fan websites have popped up as
well, most notably the <a href="http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/forumdisplay.php?f=322">Sitcoms Online Message Boards </a>where you can interact
with other diehard fans of the show, get updates on any new leads in any of the
cases or exchange theories with others who have put a lot of thought into
them. In short, the show never stops—for
better and for worse. It’s great that
now you can see a case and be able to get a heck of a lot more information than
just what the Unsolved Mysteries producers provide. But getting so involved can make it even more
frustrating when you run into dead ends.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://v025o.popscreen.com/Q2FodVRIbmU5elUx_o_unsolved-mysteries-after-death-communications.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://v025o.popscreen.com/Q2FodVRIbmU5elUx_o_unsolved-mysteries-after-death-communications.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Probably the
most frustrating types of cases on UM are the ones where everybody knows who
did it, however there is no body and/or not enough evidence to press charges,
and so the killer gets away with it.
Probably the most egregious example of this is <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ed687RVS0kQ">the case of Wendy Camp</a>. It seems pretty clear to me that
she, her daughter and her sister-in-law were the victims of foul play by her
ex-husband and/or his family.
Unfortunately—despite seeming like a total buffoon in the segment—her
husband Chad apparently was smart enough to dispose of the body well, and
without a body or any other evidence it’s impossible to file charges against
him even though everyone knows he did it.
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yomeJ5wDWg">The case of Jeremy Bright </a>is another tragic example, where everybody in
town seems to know who did it, but without a body, justice cannot be served.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Another frustrating
aspect of Unsolved Mysteries are the situations where law enforcement is
clearly negligent in its duties—either due to incompetence, or deliberately
because they have some agenda. That’s a
more common theme than you might expect, found in a number of segments,
particularly when you research them online and hear from local people who had
first-hand knowledge of the situations.
It’s a valuable lesson for all of us—in the event that something terrible
does happen to a loved one, don’t trust that law enforcement will do everything
they can. Monitor everything yourself
and don’t trust anyone to have your best interest at heart.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Watching
Unsolved Mysteries really makes you appreciate some of the changes for the
better in modern culture. I can’t tell
you how many segments I’ve watched and thought, “Wow, this death could have
been so easily prevented if the victim just had a cell phone…” Mobile phone technology is universally
applauded for making our lives more convenient, but it’s also hugely valuable
for enabling people to contact someone if they’re in a dangerous or vulnerable
situation. Another important advancement
is the development of ubiquitous surveillance technology—security cameras
everywhere. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWB9M8_zGgQ">In the case of Deborah Poe</a>, it
may seem crazy to a modern viewer that a convenience store that was open
overnight and that was staffed only by a woman in her 20s did not have any
security cameras, but that’s how things were in the ‘80s. Today, situations like that are extremely
rare. DNA testing is another technology
that is omni-present today that may have been extremely useful in many of the
cases on UM, but that didn’t gain widespread popularity until recent years.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Also, there have
been some societal changes in behavior that are for the better. In <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMnyFBIkXUA">“The Orange Sock Murders”</a>, we see the
violent rape and killing of two women in their 20s who tried to hitchhike home
from work. To the modern viewer it seems
like these two women must have had a death wish to hitchhike at night with a
strange man, however in many parts of the country in the 1980s that was just
what people did. As society has become a
little wiser to the habits of predators and sociopaths over the last few
decades, we’ve realized that things like hitchhiking with strangers are dangerous
activities and we avoid those situations.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Takeaways</span></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">If you’re
looking to watch something legitimately scary with a Golden Age flavor, look no further than Unsolved Mysteries. The true fans watch it late at night, all
alone in a dark house. Bonus points if
you live in a rural or isolated area, in a house far from a population center.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.sitcomsonline.com/photos/robertstack-unsolvedmysteries5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.sitcomsonline.com/photos/robertstack-unsolvedmysteries5.jpg" width="256" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Unsolved
Mysteries was a long-running program that held the attention of viewers for
over a decade. In the process, it was
responsible for the capture of several murderers, child abductors and other criminals. In some cases it helped reunite children with
their families. In other cases it helped
families to find some closure on a lost child or loved one. For these valuable services, the show should
be applauded.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">But sadly, a
majority of the cases profiled on Unsolved Mysteries through the years remain
unresolved to this very day. People who
went missing 20, 25, 30 years ago still remain missing today. In many cases the family members profiled on Unsolved
Mysteries, desperately seeking answers about their loved ones, have moved on or
passed away themselves. In some cases
the search for the truth persists, now with social media and the internet as allies. But if secrets have been kept this
long, chances are they may never come to light barring a deathbed confession or
some miraculous recovery of a corpse.
For the sake of the poor victims’ families, I hope that one day they
find that type of closure and that justice is served. Until then, we can all continue watching the
videos, surfing the blogs and message boards and checking Google News for
updates. There’s always that glimmer of
hope that one day there will be a breakthrough.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Until next time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
StarfireChampionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01894643882506120207noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057127640721644737.post-55639847165286412482012-10-07T15:41:00.001-07:002012-10-07T15:41:19.241-07:00Dungeons & Dragons: The Animated Series<br />
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</div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Cartoons in the ‘80s
were a bit of a mixed bag. The cynics
will tell you that ‘80s cartoons were just elaborate advertisements created to
sell action figures and other merchandise—commercials with commercials. But while marketing toy lines was certainly a
consideration, the idea that ‘80s cartoons had no substance is false. Many—nay, MOST—of the cartoons from the 1980s
were enjoyable to the kids who grew up on them—and a number of them are still
great to watch today. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">For this entry,
we’re going way back to the mid-1980’s—really the dawn of “The Golden Age For
Kids”—to remember a cartoon that helped pave the way for a lot of the best
cartoons and kids shows of the next 15 years.
I didn’t watch Dungeons & Dragons in its original run, as I was only
a small child when it first aired, and I’ve never played the role-playing game
either. But after hearing some good
things about the show and realizing that the entire 27 episode series was <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Dungeons-Dragons-Complete-Animated-Series/dp/B002DH20Q0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1349551298&sr=8-1&keywords=dungeons+and+dragons+the+animated+series">available on Amazon for less than $10,</a> I thought I’d give it a shot.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">And I’m very
glad I did.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61oB1-8pmJL._SL500_AA300_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61oB1-8pmJL._SL500_AA300_.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Overview</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">On a trip to an
amusement park, a group of 6 kids (5 teens, 1 pre-teen) decide to check out a
Dungeons & Dragons ride. However,
something goes wrong on the ride and they are unexpectedly transported to a
strange and mysterious realm—the realm of Dungeons & Dragons. There they meet fierce opponents, including
the evil sorcerer Venger and the 5-headed dragon Tiamat. Their guide to the realm is the wise and
powerful but enigmatic Dungeon Master, who grants each of the six kids a role
and a power: Ranger, Barbarian, Thief, Magician, Cavalier and Acrobat. The kids use their powers/weapons to defend
themselves and fight against evil as they move through the realm trying to find
a way back home.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Principle Characters</span></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;"><u>Hank</u></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-70zw_E_j-4g/TjahEmKJcKI/AAAAAAAAIb0/wyuHJX3di_Y/s1600/magic_bow.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="151" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-70zw_E_j-4g/TjahEmKJcKI/AAAAAAAAIb0/wyuHJX3di_Y/s200/magic_bow.png" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">dungeonsdragonscartoon.com</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">The
blonde-haired, blue-eyed Hank is the group’s natural-born leader. It’s never specified, but Hank is your
standard “captain of the football team” type.
He’s decisive, level-headed, principled and courageous. Dungeon Master makes Hank the Ranger, meaning
he has a longbow that shoots energy arrows.
There is no central protagonist in D&D, but Hank is probably the
closest thing. I imagine that young boys
watching the show would look up to Hank the most. Hank is voiced by Willie Aames who many
Golden Agers may remember as Buddy Lembeck from Charles in Charge. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;"><u>Sheila</u></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_AepshExxZBg/TFuGgvuJVdI/AAAAAAAAAEI/WnZUsmPCd98/s320/sheila.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_AepshExxZBg/TFuGgvuJVdI/AAAAAAAAAEI/WnZUsmPCd98/s200/sheila.jpg" width="195" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">nightmarefuelpodcast.blogspot.com</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Blue-eyed, red-haired
and freckled, Sheila is the group’s most emotional member and at times provides
a mother-like presence. Dungeon Master proclaims
her to be the Thief—which apparently does not carry a negative connotation in
the realm of D&D. Her “weapon” is a
cloak that makes her invisible when she puts on its hood. While it’s probably not the coolest weapon of
the bunch, it helps the gang escape from a number of difficult situations. Many hints are given that Sheila’s feelings
for Hank may go beyond just friendship, but nothing is ever confirmed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://i928.photobucket.com/albums/ad129/WatcherMark/HankSheila.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="264" src="http://i928.photobucket.com/albums/ad129/WatcherMark/HankSheila.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More than Friends? via thatguywithglasses.com</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;"><u>Bobby</u></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.absoluteanime.com/dungeons_and_dragons/bobby.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://www.absoluteanime.com/dungeons_and_dragons/bobby.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">absoluteanime.com</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">The group’s
youngest member by several years, the impetuous Bobby is Sheila’s younger
brother. Playing the role of Barbarian,
Bobby wields an oversized club that shakes the earth when he slams it
down. Like his sister, Bobby is an
emotional character, a little bit temperamental and very protective—especially
of Uni, the group’s unicorn mascot. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;"><u><br /></u></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;"><u>Presto</u></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b259/baroness01/toyblogs/1030887132_e08851fe41_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="136" src="http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b259/baroness01/toyblogs/1030887132_e08851fe41_o.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">via DeviantArt</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">A bumbling
amateur magician known for botching card tricks in the earth realm, Presto’s
role in the realm of D&D isn’t all that unfamiliar as Dungeon Master
conveniently decides that he will be a magician. Unfortunately for Presto, his difficulties
performing magic tricks persist in the new realm too. This leads to Presto lacking in
self-confidence. His hat has magical
powers, enabling him to cast spells and pull key items from it to help the crew
in times of peril. The only problem is
that Presto rarely gets it right and more often ends up pulling something
ridiculous from his hat, providing a little levity. Once in a while though, Presto comes through
and saves the gang with his magic.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bftzNResTV4/T9YoQfkZ_4I/AAAAAAAAFWs/MPmhtR4fQWA/s1600/Diana.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bftzNResTV4/T9YoQfkZ_4I/AAAAAAAAFWs/MPmhtR4fQWA/s200/Diana.jpg" width="136" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">darkhorde.blogspot.com</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;"><u>Diana</u></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">The tough but
friendly Diana is given the title of Acrobat, which works well since in the
earth realm she was an all-state gymnast.
Her weapon is a magical staff, which she often uses in more of a pole
vault fashion. Diana is amicable, courageous,
and very independent. Other than Hank,
she seems to be the group’s strongest leader.
Overall, Diana is a good role model for female D&D fans and is
probably the character who would be most fun to hang out with in real life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;"><u><br /></u></span></span></div>
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<u style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: x-large;">Eric</u></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CbEvdhTixfw/TqgwkF0niwI/AAAAAAAAAbU/t8FxZUizhuY/s1600/eric.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CbEvdhTixfw/TqgwkF0niwI/AAAAAAAAAbU/t8FxZUizhuY/s200/eric.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">kazimskorner.blogspot.com</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">The
ultra-sarcastic Eric fills the “wise-cracking sidekick” role for the group. A spoiled child of wealthy parents in the earth
realm, Eric is prone to whining about the group’s situation. He’s also famous for acting tough but
cowering when facing a dragon, monster, or other enemy. Though his friends tend to view him as a
complainer and a general pain in the butt, Eric’s cynicism is very accurate at
times and his frequent questioning of Hank’s leadership provides the group with
an important voice of dissent. He also
brings some comic relief—many times the whole group will get a good laugh out
of watching Eric freak out about some harmless creature chasing him. Dungeon Master makes Eric the Cavalier,
meaning he has a protective shield.
Despite acting cowardly at times, Eric steps up and uses his shield
admirably to defend the group from attackers on more than one occasion. Eric is voiced by Don Most, famous for his
role as Ralph Malph on Happy Days.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;"><u>Dungeon Master</u></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://cdn102.iofferphoto.com/img/item/128/619/903/bJPpr6UwQzDAW7T.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://cdn102.iofferphoto.com/img/item/128/619/903/bJPpr6UwQzDAW7T.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">The mysterious
Dungeon Master presents himself to the kids as their guide to the realm of
Dungeons and Dragons. Appearing as a
very small and bald old man, Dungeon Master is also a supremely powerful wizard
and is very knowledgeable about the realm.
He tends to communicate in riddle form, often befuddling the
children. There is a certain Yoda-like
quality to Dungeon Master, but at times it seems like he is deliberately
withholding information from the kids, and his true motives are hidden. Dungeon Master seems to have an interesting
relationship with Venger, the realm’s most dangerous sorcerer and most feared
villain, but details are scarce.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;"><u>Venger</u></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BAeGV9LcuJg/TuLH62ozQMI/AAAAAAAAIqs/ecmE5ClZnGU/s1600/venger_%2526_nightmare.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BAeGV9LcuJg/TuLH62ozQMI/AAAAAAAAIqs/ecmE5ClZnGU/s200/venger_%2526_nightmare.jpg" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">dungeonsdragonscartoon.com</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">If Dungeon
Master is the realm’s Yoda, Venger is its Darth Vader. An evil Sorcer, Venger is known for his
fangs, his bat-like wings, and his iconic one-horned helmet. He rides a black stallion that can fly
through the sky. In addition to his own
powerful magic abilities, Venger is in control of an army of orcs and has a
shadow demon as his right hand man. The
only force in the realm more powerful than Venger is the dragon Tiamat. Venger seeks the 6 weapons that the protagonists
possess, for if he can obtain them he will be strong enough to defeat Tiamat
and control the realm. Venger is voiced
by Peter Cullen, most famous for voicing Optimus Prime throughout the
Transformers series and Eeyore in Winnie the Pooh.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Episode
Structure</b></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Episodes of
D&D:TAS tend to follow a pretty standard pattern. The group will be meandering aimlessly or working
toward some forgettable task when Dungeon Master will mysteriously appear from
nowhere. He’ll provide them with a
cryptic clue of how they might get home, often using puns and riddles rather
than simply telling the kids what to expect.
Then, just as quickly as he arrived, Dungeon Master seemingly vanishes,
and the heroes are left to try to decipher his directions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.the-trades.com/pictures/D/DungeonsAndDragonsStillcap.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.the-trades.com/pictures/D/DungeonsAndDragonsStillcap.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">via thetrades.com</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">They’ll set out
in whatever direction Dungeon Master told them, but on the way they will run
into some other person or group who is either imprisoned in the realm or
somehow being victimized by a monster or a spell.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">The heroes will nobly put the interest of
this person/group ahead of their own and free them from their captors.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Somewhere along the way Venger gets involved
but he is fended off.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">It’s a happy
ending for the victims, but Hank, Sheila, Bobby, Presto, Diana and Eric are
still stuck in the realm without much direction.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Dungeon Master tends to show up again near
the end, and it will become clear that helping the helpless and/or freeing the
oppressed was his ulterior motive all along.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Most episodes end on a light note, often times with Eric getting himself
into a sticky situation to the amusement of the others.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Miscellaneous
Thoughts & Analysis</b></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">It took a few
episodes for me to fully latch on to D&D.
It started a bit slow, but once you got a little more familiar with the
characters it was really an engaging cartoon.
By the time I got to the last episodes, I was really sad to see it end.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">There are a lot
of “surface” things to like about D&D.
It’s set in a colorful realm that provides all of the necessary
ingredients for a good story. The main
characters are fairly well-written and generally likeable in their own way. Also, many of the characters that the heroes
encounter in their travels have compelling backstories.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_vt749aV4Y7Q/TQ5m7OGnuZI/AAAAAAAAF64/UD1_zLO0xi4/s1600/venger+castle+%2528dragons+graveyard%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="246" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_vt749aV4Y7Q/TQ5m7OGnuZI/AAAAAAAAF64/UD1_zLO0xi4/s320/venger+castle+%2528dragons+graveyard%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Venger's Castle, via dungeonsdragonscartoon.com</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">But probably
what stands out most about D&D was that it had a little bit more depth than
its predecessors.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">In the ‘70s most of
the cartoon offerings on television were pretty sanitized, like Super Friends,
Scooby-Doo, or Yogi Bear.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">D&D was
one of the first cartoons to really step outside of that space and show that
kids could handle action and slightly more mature plots, and that animation was
an acceptable way to deliver that content.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">The show was not without controversy though—the National Coalition on
Television Violence demanded that the FTC run a warning before each episode and
claimed that it had been linked to real life violence and deaths.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">D&D treated
its viewers like they were capable of handling more than the same old formulaic
kid stuff. One of the ways that that was
manifest was by having storylines that wove through multiple episodes. For instance there are many allusions
throughout the show that there is more to the relationship between Dungeon
Master and Venger than what meets the eye.
This subtext persists for a while, until the final moments of the
episode “The Treasure of Tardos” when DungeonMaster says sotto voce (at a time
when no one except the viewer can hear him): “There was good in Venger once—a
long time ago. Everyone makes
mistakes—Venger was mine.” The true
nature of their relationship isn’t revealed until the series’ (unaired) final
episode.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DrOlgnTYZdM/UHH3nWp_OAI/AAAAAAAAADQ/qhTecPlSYhI/s1600/DungeonMasterVenger.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="262" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DrOlgnTYZdM/UHH3nWp_OAI/AAAAAAAAADQ/qhTecPlSYhI/s320/DungeonMasterVenger.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The true nature of Dungeon Master & Venger's relationship<br />is clouded. via thatguywithglasses.com</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">The show also
delivered some more mature themes at times.
Maybe the most popular episode among the show’s fans is Season 2’s “The
Dragon’s Graveyard”. For the first time
the heroes voice their frustration with Dungeon Master for using them to fix up
other problems in the realm. They end up
in the home of Tiamat—the mysterious “Dragon’s Graveyard”—and Hank is faced
with a decision of whether he should kill Venger if it helps the gang get home. One of the show’s writers, Michael Reaves,
suggested that that episode and scene “caused a battle royale with Broadcast
Standards and Practices.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_vt749aV4Y7Q/TQzzAltCWJI/AAAAAAAAFk0/je1w134e0uw/s1600/josef+mueller.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="153" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_vt749aV4Y7Q/TQzzAltCWJI/AAAAAAAAFk0/je1w134e0uw/s200/josef+mueller.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jossef Muller, the Nazi who finds redemption<br />in the realm of Dungeons & Dragons </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Another great
episode that was far more mature than you’d expect was Season 3’s “The Time
Lost”. In this episode Venger uses his
“Crystal of Chronos” to warp space and time, and he pulls both a futuristic
fighter jet and World War II Luftwaffe plane into the realm of Dungeons &
Dragons. Venger’s goal is to send the
Nazi pilot—a man named Josef Muller-- back to the earth realm to win World War
II for Germany, thereby altering Earth’s timeline and preventing the kids from
ever entering the realm of D&D. But
after meeting the heroes, the Nazi pilot has his eyes opened and eventually
finds redemption. This particular
storyline was so mature that I almost couldn’t believe what I was seeing when I
watched it. It’s not every day that you
see a Nazi as a central character in an 80’s kids cartoon.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">D&D:TAS
actually has a lot of similarities to one of my favorite post-Golden Age tv
shows: LOST. In both shows, a group of unwilling
passengers crash land in a strange and mysterious place, and the plot of the
show revolves around their quest to find a way back home. In both shows the protagonists encounter a
number of different inhabitants of this strange new place—some good, some bad,
and some who have elements of both. In
both shows the person or entity that is portrayed as being the source of all
evil (or “big” bad guy) turns out to not be, and both shows force you to
question whether the person/entity portrayed as the defender of all that is
good and righteous is really so righteous himself. Heck, both shows even feature nameless
pillars of smoke that have existed for thousands of years and that embody true
evil. The similarities are so numerous
that it makes me wonder whether or not the creators of LOST watched and were
influenced by D&D:TAS.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hFSazMffPWg/UHH7_CfC-PI/AAAAAAAAADg/KYo7nrmeD_0/s1600/Nameless_One.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="245" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hFSazMffPWg/UHH7_CfC-PI/AAAAAAAAADg/KYo7nrmeD_0/s320/Nameless_One.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dungeons & Dragons' "The Nameless One"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20100905051255/lostpedia/images/8/85/2x10_MonsterApproaching.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="176" src="http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20100905051255/lostpedia/images/8/85/2x10_MonsterApproaching.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lost's "Smoke Monster"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_vt749aV4Y7Q/TQvrMd9kYUI/AAAAAAAAFRk/yD33ld0d65g/s400/two-horned+statue+of+venger.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="247" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_vt749aV4Y7Q/TQvrMd9kYUI/AAAAAAAAFRk/yD33ld0d65g/s320/two-horned+statue+of+venger.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This giant statue inside Venger's castle appears to show Venger<br />with a 2-horned helmet. Or, perhaps this statue is not OF Venger<br />but instead someone he idolized. Since we only see the statue from<br />behind, we'll never know.<br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://mycrazylosttheory.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/2312-wtk_lg_lost_statue.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://mycrazylosttheory.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/2312-wtk_lg_lost_statue.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A giant statue seen only from behind? Hmmmmmmm.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Perhaps the
coolest D&D plot is one that never really happened. The show’s final aired episode, The Winds of
Darkness, was good but did not bring the plot to a satisfying conclusion. One more episode, known as Requiem, was written
but never aired. Over the years there
was much discussion about the plot of Requiem, particularly among diehard fans
who used the internet forums to communicate.
One of the most popular theories was that Requiem revealed that the kids
had actually died on the amusement park ride, and that they weren’t truly in a
different realm but in Hell, tortured by Satan in the form of the Dungeon
Master. It’s one of those endings, kind
of like “The Sixth Sense”, that just makes you say “Whoaaaaaa”, because it
would make so much sense if that really WAS what happened. Also, reminds me of more than a few “LOST
theories” I read through the years.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rwmW1ls7NVk/T97rLfS0NXI/AAAAAAAAASw/wnfvPfq5op4/s1600/Dungeon+Master.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rwmW1ls7NVk/T97rLfS0NXI/AAAAAAAAASw/wnfvPfq5op4/s320/Dungeon+Master.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Of course, it is
just an urban legend, as confirmed by Michael Reaves on his personal
website. To clear things up, Reaves went
so far as posting a <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20110720142014/http://www.michaelreaves.com/pdf/requiem_sec.pdf">PDF version of Requiem’s script</a>. While it doesn’t truly wrap up the plot and
it’s not quite as shocking as the Hell reveal would have been, it’s still a
pretty neat episode in its own right.
Some creative folks in the youtube community did a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBOCBSlxLRQ">dramatic reading ofthe script</a>, complete with voices that sounded pretty similar to the real
characters. If you watched the show but
haven’t seen the video, it’s definitely worth checking out.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Final Thoughts</b></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br /></span>
Maybe
in some cases there is some merit to the idea that ‘80s cartoons didn’t have a
ton of substance. But Dungeons &
Dragons, to me isn’t one of those cases.
It has its plot holes and a few other issues at times, but overall it’s
a pretty good story that was well ahead of its time in a lot of ways. IGN, which ranked it the 64th best animated
show of all-time, described it as “truly a mature soap opera with swords and
monsters.” I think that’s pretty
fair. The show did a lot of things that
were previously off-limits for kids cartoons and was influential in shaping
what cartoons would look like in the later years of the Golden Age. For that we owe it a debt of gratitude—and
for less than $10, a watch or re-watch.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Special thanks to <a href="http://www.dungeonsdragonscartoon.com/">DungeonsDragonsCartoon.com,</a> an awesome resource for fans of the show.</span>StarfireChampionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01894643882506120207noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057127640721644737.post-61096838564602571892012-08-30T20:45:00.001-07:002012-08-30T20:45:22.827-07:00Golden Age ('80s and '90s) School Supplies<br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This week, as millions of children across the
country go back to school, I thought it might be fun to revisit some of the
most essential school supplies of the Golden Age.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Notebooks,
Folders & Binders</b></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In the Golden
Age, organization started and ended with the Trapper Keeper. It was the one stop shop for all of your
folders, notes and paper assignments.
The Trapper was great once you got to middle school or high school
because you didn’t have to remember which classes had homework (and therefore
required you to bring home the notes) and which didn’t—just keep everything in
your Trapper and throw that in your bookbag at the end of the day.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In the '90s
Trappers started to feature some futuristic and psychedelic cover designs. Like just about everything else in that
decade, bold and vibrant colors were essential.
The Trapper was more than just a useful school supply, but a way to
express yourself.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Even Aunt Beckie
from Full House loved them!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Like Trappers,
folders were a popular way to show off a favorite team, character or something
else personally significant. And also
like Trappers, they came in a variety of bright colors and designs. Particularly
popular among the female crowd in the ‘90s were folders and notebooks featuring
the artwork of Lisa Frank. Frank’s
products and artwork were easily identifiable by their bright neon and rainbow
colors. They generally featured
female-favorite animals, including unicorns, puppies and dolphins. Eventually Frank diversified away from
folders and stationary products into related goods like pencils, stickers and
lunchboxes. Lisa Frank products were
certainly girly, but I have to admit that the bright, vivid colors were quite
sharp and distinctly ‘90s. </span></div>
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<a href="http://www.okaygreat.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/lisafrank.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="197" src="http://www.okaygreat.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/lisafrank.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_Xw4NDOGZWM/UEATo9QE0LI/AAAAAAAAACY/KIBEFzL4p4E/s1600/yikes+pencils.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="236" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_Xw4NDOGZWM/UEATo9QE0LI/AAAAAAAAACY/KIBEFzL4p4E/s320/yikes+pencils.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Of course in
order to write in all these nifty notebooks and binders, we needed some writing
utensils. Like most everything else in the
Golden Age, the loud and vibrant were preferred over the mundane. The ultra-flashy Yikes! pencils became popular
in the 90’s, featuring bright colors and sometimes holographic designs. When you sharpened the pencil, the wood
portion was dyed a different color, giving the pencil a louder, multi-colored
look. It’s pretty rare to see a
successful branding campaign for a product as cheap and commoditized as
pencils, but Yikes! was able to pull it off in the ‘90s.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A number of
other pencil trends came and went in the Golden Age. In my elementary school, very popular among
the guys were football pencils, which featured an NFL team’s name and/or logo. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Popular with many girls was the push-up style pencil, where instead of sharpening it down, you removed the top piece, put it in the bottom and pushed up a new sharp piece. Of course, if you lost one of the pieces, you were done for.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Just
having flashy pencils was not enough for us.
In the Golden Age, kids loved to accessorize and jazz up their writing
utensils. “Pencil Toppers” were little
decorations that had a hole in them so that we could sit them over-top of the
erasers on our pencils. Pencil Toppers
came in a number of forms, but the omnipresent-in-the-90s Troll Doll was a
favorite.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Pencil grips, or
“grippers” as many kids called them, were also a popular accessory. Even though the gripper theoretically should
have been a stigma, since you generally only got one if you weren’t holding
your writing utensil properly and needed a device to help you correct that, it
was instead viewed by most kids as a cool way of jazzing up otherwise boring
pencils. The triangular prism gripper
was common in the early years, but seemed to give way to a smaller, gel-ier
style of gripper as the years went on.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://banksschoolsupplycatalog.com/images/edu/big/CE/0166_15702.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="141" src="http://banksschoolsupplycatalog.com/images/edu/big/CE/0166_15702.gif" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.pencilgripsplus.com.au/communities/3/004/007/089/353/images/4527855137.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="216" src="http://www.pencilgripsplus.com.au/communities/3/004/007/089/353/images/4527855137.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As we got a
little older and our teachers gave us the go-ahead to move from pencil to pen,
we had a wide array of new directions to go in for our writing needs. One trend that emerged among '90s girls was gel pens. Structurally
similar to a regular pen, gel pens were distinct for suspending their ink in a
water-based gel which was usually visible through a clear pen barrel. Gel pens came in a variety of colors and were
almost never confined to the standard black and blue. Colors like mint green, pink, lavender and
sky blue were favorites.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I’d be remiss if
I didn’t mention multicolor pens, which let you select a different color by
pushing down a little lever. You could
easily change colors mid-assignment (even though I can’t really imagine many
situations where you’d want to). I am
pretty sure every Golden Ager had at least one of these pens, and I’m pretty
sure all of us did the same thing—try to push down more than one of the colors
(or all of them) at the same time to see what would happen. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Of course to
carry all of these spiffy writing utensils, we needed some sort of case.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Soft pencil cases were popular, but in the
‘90s Spacemaker pencil boxes managed to overtake them.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I tend to think that the pencil box was good
if you had a desk to store everything in, or if you were using itat home.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">If you were trying to carry it from class to
class, it was a little too big and cumbersome.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">But it certainly caught on, as most Golden Agers seem to have a clear
recollection of the Spacemaker box.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Crayons &
Markers</b></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The standard
bearer for crayons in the Golden Age was the Crayola 64 box. Everybody knew that you couldn’t <i>REALLY</i> draw a good picture with an 8 or
10 pack. The full compliment of 64
colors was essential. Crayola really
outdid themselves when they installed a sharpener right into the back of the
box. If your crayon was getting a little
bit dull, all you had to do was peel back the paper a bit, sharpen ‘er up, and
you were back in business. I have no
recollection at all of where the shavings went.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In the early
1990s, in conjunction with the release of their colossal 96-crayon “Big Box”,
Crayola decided to introduce some new colors to the world in a way that only
they could. 16 new fluorescent crayons
were added, and a contest was started to name these brand new colors. As best I can tell, this contest actually ran
for over a year, with the winners being announced in 1993. Some of the new color names included “Robin’s
Egg Blue”, “Macaroni and Cheese”, “Timber Wolf” and “Razzmatazz”. Congratulations Golden Agers, these were your
contributions to the world of color. For
a full list of the winners and a really neat history of Crayola through the
years, check out <a href="http://www.crayoncollecting.com/ccolor21.htm">CrayonCollecting.Com.</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.supermart.com/images/Product/large/071662081393.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://www.supermart.com/images/Product/large/071662081393.jpg" width="154" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As we got older,
it became clear that crayons were for little kids, and if you really wanted a
vibrantly-colored picture, you had to go with markers. Crayola again was the market leader, and
their standard 8 pack was usually enough to whip up something “fridge-worthy”
in Art class. But Crayola rocked the
marker world in the ‘90s when they invented “Changeables”. You could write in one color, then a few
seconds later you could rub a clear “magic wand” marker over some portion, and
the places that were wanded would change to a totally different color. It might seem ho-hum now, but in the early </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">90’s this literally seemed like magic and was pretty much the coolest thing
ever. A short time later, Crayola
introduced a cousin to the Changeable—the Overwriter. You could write something in a dark
color—say, black--then write on top of it with a lighter color, and it would
actually show up! Again, mind-blowing in
its time. Some nice girls on YouTube
provide <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTKu-jhS7T4">a little demonstration to jog your memory. </a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">But Crayola
wasn’t the only marker maker in town.
Who could forget the scented goodness of Mr. Sketch brand markers? Each marker had a distinct scent that usually
smelled like a food item of the same color.
The complete list was: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Red: Cherry</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Orange: Orange</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Yellow: Lemon</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Green: Mint</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Dark Green: Apple</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Light Blue: Mango</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Blue: Blueberry</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Purple: Grape</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Pink: Melon</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Magenta: Raspberry</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Black: Licorice</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Brown: Cinnamon</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I was partial to
the citrusy yellow and orange myself, but most all of them were pretty
terrific. Mr. Sketch markers were also a
particular shape that made them easy to connect to each other, which was great
for building a marker-tower or a marker-sword—you know, if you were so
inclined. All these years later you can
still grab a 12-pack of Mr. Sketch <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Sanford-Sketch-Assorted-Markers-20072/dp/B00006IFH0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1346384393&sr=8-1&keywords=mr.+sketch+markers">on Amazon for less than $7</a>, if you want to
make a picture for your mom, build her a marker tower, or just sniff them
“sketchily” while she looks on with concern.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Lunchboxes</b></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And finally, who
could forget the lunchbox, probably the most fun item to select on your back to
school shopping trip. It was (at least)
a year-long commitment, so you had to choose carefully. Being a huge Ninja Turtles guy, they were my
lunchbox of choice (me and a few million other kids my age). My big sister, on the other hand, opted for
New Kids on the Block. There were so
many great lunchbox designs in the Golden Age that you almost couldn’t go
wrong.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">What were your favorite school supplies in the 80’s and 90’s?</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Which are kids still using and which have been forgotten by time?</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Tweet us @GoldenAge4Kids or drop us a comment. As always, a big thank you to those whose old photos we've borrowed for this entry.</span></div>
StarfireChampionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01894643882506120207noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057127640721644737.post-37448173702830887642012-08-09T21:06:00.000-07:002013-01-13T20:08:23.702-08:00Top 10 Movie Themes of the Golden Age<br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">We grew up in a
great era for film.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Regardless of the
genre, movies in the 1980s and 1990s more often than not delivered with solid acting,
well-written plots and tons of memorable moments.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">But one aspect of great films that is
sometimes underrated by the general public is a great soundtrack.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">The Golden Age produced some of the most
memorable movie scores and themes of all-time, and in this entry, I’ll weigh in
with my Top 10.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><u>A disclaimer</u>: As
usual with a Top 10 list, please remember that there is room for differences in
opinion. I’m sure there are some awesome
themes that I’ve left out here. Also, while I
typically consider the Golden Age to be the Mid 1980s through the 1990s, the
“boundaries” of the age are pretty fluid, and for the purposes of this list
I’ve gone a little further back into the 80s for a few tracks. The idea is to catch themes from movies that
our generation grew up on—even if those films were released a little
earlier. That said, I have deliberately
left out the themes from movies like Star Wars, Rocky and the Godfather. Even though those series had movies come out
during the Golden Age, they all certainly started in the 70s, and so their
music belongs to that generation.
Finally, I tried to keep the list to songs that were either composed
specifically for the film they were featured in or songs that were designated
as the movie’s “theme” music. There were
a ton of good songs that played in Golden Age movies, sometimes in very
memorable scenes, but for this list we’re just looking at movie themes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Honorable
Mention: Axel F (Beverly Hills Cop
Theme) </span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Ok, so I
couldn’t quite find a spot for this one in the Top 10, but it’s definitely
worth remembering. Starring 80s Icon
Eddie Murphy, the Beverly Hills Cop series was one of the best action comedy
series of the era, helping bring popularity to the genre that would later give
us quality Golden Age films like Lethal Weapon, Bad Boys and Rush Hour. The heavy synth/techno vibe still sounds
pretty slick 20-some years later, like you could still throw this track on at a
party today. To kids today, it’s
probably better known as “The Crazy Frog Song”, since it was covered by the
computer-generated Crazy Frog character and made into a ring tone in the early
2000’s.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="font-size: x-large;">10. Forrest Gump
Theme</span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">In a movie full
of great music, including tracks by Buffalo Springfield, CCR, Bob Seger and
Fleetwood Mac, Forrest Gump's orchestral theme still manages to stand out as a brilliant
composition. Composed by Alan Silvestri
(who we will see again a little later), the Forrest Gump theme sets the stage
for what is, in my opinion, one of the greatest stories ever told in a motion
picture. In particular the part of the
score around 2:50 in the video above brings about a flood of emotion and
reminds me of the beauty of this terrific film.
Also, the part that begins around 6:55 reminds me of Forrest’s time
returning kicks for the Crimson Tide, one of the most memorable parts of this
epic movie.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Theme</span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">So, this is my
first (and biggest) bend of my own rules, as Raiders of the Lost Ark came out
in 1981, a few years before I’d typically say the Golden Age began. That said, RotLA and the Indy Sequels are
distinctly 80s in nature, and many of us grew up on them, so why get hung up on
technicalities? Plus, who could say no
to this brilliant piece of music? It
sets the score perfectly for the action and adventure that Harrison Ford’s
Indiana Jones character would encounter.
The song also serves as our first reminder of a simple rule that will be
proven right time and again in this list: John Williams and the London Symphony
Orchestra are amazing and everything they touch is gold.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Theme</span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">This is an
example of a movie theme that grew to be almost as big as the movie
itself. Ray Parker Jr.’s Ghostbusters
theme not only set the stage for Dan Akroyd and Bill Murray’s 1984 box office
smash, it reached the top of the Billboard Top 100 chart the summer the film
came out and stayed there for 3 weeks.
Every kid in the Golden Age knew the tune and of course the memorable “I
ain’t afraid of no ghost!” slogan. On a
personal level, every Halloween my elementary school would have a little
mini-parade in the school parking lot for all the kids to show off their
costumes, and the Ghostbusters theme was always played at least once each
year. It’s a warm-fuzzy Golden Age
memory for me, and every time I hear the theme I’m reminded of it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="font-size: x-large;">7. Top Gun
Anthem (theme from Top Gun)</span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">I’m not sure
that there was a cooler movie made in the 80s than Top Gun. The film features a lot of great music but
only one title theme, and it certainly delivers. Featuring Harold Faltermeyer (who was also
responsible for the Beverly Hills Cop theme) on piano and a big-haired Steve
Stevens absolutely rocking it on
electric guitar, the Top Gun Anthem took home a Grammy award in 1987 for Best
Pop Instrumental Performance. Well
deserved, I’d say—this song rocked pretty hard and contributed to many Golden
Agers wishing they could feel, even for a moment, as cool as Tom Cruise’s
“Maverick” in Top Gun.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">On first listen,
you might think that the theme for Braveheart seems very gentle and beautiful
for a movie that’s best known for (Mel Gibson as) William Wallace’s rousing
pre-battle speech. But at its core,
Braveheart isn’t just about war, it’s about a man who is as brave and noble as
they come, who loves his wife, who remembers what his father died for, and who
loves his country so much that he is willing to give the last full measure of
devotion. The soft wind instruments
mixed with the bagpipes give the song a very sentimental and distinctly
Scottish sound. It was composed by James
Horner and performed by—you guessed it—The London Symphany Orchestra.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Once again I’m
stretching the bounds a little bit, dipping into 1982 for this one. But is there any more classic 80’s kids movie
than E.T.? John Williams did it again
here. Empire Magazine (and a
number of other film critics through the years) once proclaimed Elliot and
E.T.’s flight to the forest as “the most magical moment in cinema” ever. High praise, but difficult to argue with, and
this theme song is inextricably linked to (and is a big part of) the magic of
that scene. The soaring melody, starting
at the 0:13 second mark, mirrors Elliot and E.T. soaring over the forest and
past the moon. As kids, we all watched
that scene with a sense of magic and wonder, and listening to the theme now
brings those feelings rushing back. If
interested, there is also <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFWCjHFNEZ4" target="_blank">video on youtube of John Williams conductingthis song live</a>, and the crowd literally cannot help but gasp and applaud when
the melody soars at the :07 second mark.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="font-size: x-large;">4. Don’t You
Forget About Me (The Breakfast Club Theme)</span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">An absolute 80s
anthem. The Breakfast club is the
prototype for a teen movie, telling the story of 5 high schoolers with
completely different backgrounds who are all brought together by having to
spend a winter Saturday in detention.
The song is awesome by itself, one of my favorites from a decade filled
with amazing music, and it topped the charts in more than one country. But its association with a classic movie like
the Breakfast Club makes it truly unforgettable. You can’t think of one without the other, and
they’re both top-notch. As an aside, any
time you walk underneath a goalpost, it’s obligatory to mimic Bender’s fist
pump at the end of the movie and sing or hum this song.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Perhaps more
than any other song on this list, this theme transports me back in time to my
childhood. I remember it like yesterday:
it was field day at our elementary school, a Friday afternoon about a week
before school let out for summer, and a friend’s dad offered to take a bunch of
us to the movies to see the new movie called Jurassic Park. Needless to say, all of us were completely
blown away by the film and the (at that time) state-of-the-art special effects
that made the dinosaurs seem so real. Of
course, when you watch it back now the effects don’t seem nearly as impressive,
but the music has held up wonderfully, maybe even gotten better with age. Like Forrest Gump, the main theme really
contains a few different movements—one which is the most epic and which plays
as the helicopter arrives and a bit later when the old guy says “WELCOME… to
JURASSIC PARK!”; another more gentle piece that plays when the main characters
first see the island’s dinosaurs; and a final piece which plays during the
movies more tense scenes. John Williams,
you have done it again sir. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="font-size: x-large;">2. Promontory
(The Last of the Mohicans Theme)</span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Holy crap this
theme is epic. Crank the volume up in
your headphones and enjoy this beautiful piece from Trevor Jones and Randy
Edelman. Based on the 19th Century novel
by James Fenimore Cooper, The Last of the Mohicans was one of the most
critically acclaimed films of 1992 (and still has 97% positive at Rotten
Tomatoes). Starring Daniel Day Lewis as
Hawkeye, the movie is set in 1757 during the French and Indian War, when
America was almost entirely a vast and untamed frontier. “Promontory” was actually based on a tune
called “The Gael” by Scottish songwriter Dougie MacLean, and I think you can
certainly hear the Scottish influence in the violin sound. It sets the perfect tone for the movies tale
of love and war, very similar to Braveheart’s theme. In the last decade the track saw a bump in
popularity: first it was featured in a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHWTLA8WecI" target="_blank">viral video about the changing globalsocio-economic picture</a>, then shortly thereafter in <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55BZ2gSsSmY" target="_blank">a Nike commercial featuring Steven Jackson and Shawn Merriman.</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="font-size: x-large;">1. Back to the
Future Theme</span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><i>“<b>Roads?</b> Where we’re going, we don’t need <b>roads.</b>”</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Topping our list
is the classic theme from my favorite movie of all time (though I tried to not
be biased), Back to the Future. Composed
by Alan Silvestri, the film’s score plays many times throughout the movie, but
perhaps most memorably during the scene where Doc slides down from the clock
tower to ensure Marty’s return to 1985—for my money, one of the best scenes in
any movie ever made. There’s a very
magical quality to this film, and every single time I hear this theme it makes
me want to immediately drop everything and go watch it. It will never get old or tired, it will
always be a classic, and for me it’ll always be the #1 theme in a Golden Age
for movie themes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">So, that’s our
Top 10. Who did we overrate? Who did we leave out altogether? We’d love to hear your list—post a comment or
hit us on Twitter @GoldenAge4Kids<o:p></o:p></span></div>
StarfireChampionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01894643882506120207noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057127640721644737.post-34992672471711661482012-07-04T12:05:00.000-07:002012-07-04T12:05:41.145-07:00Lex Luger: My Hero, 1993<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif;">Happy
4</span><sup style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif;">th</sup><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif;"> of July to all those in the US celebrating.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif;">Hope you’re having a great day of cookouts,
swimming and fireworks with the people who matter most in your life.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">On
this Independence Day I wanted to look back on one of the most memorable
wrestling storylines of the Golden Age, which kicked off exactly 19 years ago
today. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="font-size: x-large;">The
Slam Heard ‘Round the World</span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">In
the summer of 1993, Yokozuna was on top of his game. He was the WWF Champion, and he was fresh off
of beating Hulk Hogan and sending him packing from the company at the first
King of the Ring pay per view. Feeling
supremely confident in himself, the 550+ lb champion and his manager Mr. Fuji
scheduled an open challenge onboard the historic USS Intrepid aircraft carrier
in New York for any athlete, wrestler or otherwise, to try to slam
Yokozuna. If they could do it, they won
a new Chevy pick-up truck. A number of
football players, hockey players, basketball players and wrestlers tried to slam
the mammoth champion, but nobody could. Yokozuna
taunted the contestants and the crowd by taking time out to eat rice. Then, one final contestant stepped up to the
challenge: Macho Man Randy Savage. The
crowd thought he might be the guy to do it—but it wasn’t meant to be. The champ was just too big, and he and Fuji
had succeeded in proving Japan’s superiority on July 4<sup>th</sup>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">But
just then, as the dejected crowd began to accept that it was over, a helicopter
appeared and landed onboard the Intrepid.
The crowd buzzed with excitement wondering who would step out of the
chopper to potentially save the day. It
was---Lex Luger…?!? Up to that point,
Lex had been a self-absorbed bad guy.
But on this day he was dressed in red white and blue, walking toward the
ring with a purpose, throwing long-time supporter Bobby Heenan out of the way
as he went.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PmwBH7l976o/ThIGhbhdxEI/AAAAAAAAA0A/mSLn2cQmEvk/s1600/Screen+shot+2011-07-04+at+1.28.53+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PmwBH7l976o/ThIGhbhdxEI/AAAAAAAAA0A/mSLn2cQmEvk/s320/Screen+shot+2011-07-04+at+1.28.53+PM.png" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">When
he got to the ring, Lex had a few choice words for Yoko and Fuji, telling them
that bloodsuckers like them were the only thing wrong with America. Despite their assertions that the contest was
over, the crowd wouldn’t let the day end without Lex getting his shot. They squared off and Yoko charged, which Lex
dodged like a matador sending Yoko into the turnbuckle. As he turned around, a bit staggered, Lex
picked him up and bodyslammed him. The
crowd went wild and Luger celebrated like a mad man. Other wrestlers picked him up on their
shoulders as he waved American flags. It
was quickly dubbed “The Slam Heard ‘Round the World”. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif;">And
with that, the Summer of Lex Luger was officially kicked off.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="font-size: x-large;">The
Call to Action Campaign</span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Lex
immediately challenged Yokozuna for the title at Summerslam, but Yoko and Fuji
declined the match. So, Lex did what any
warm-blooded American would do—he took his campaign to the people. Dubbed the “Call to Action Campaign”, Lex
spent several weeks in the Summer of ’93 traversing the country on a bus called
“The Lex Express”. He was shaking hands,
kissing babies, signing autographs and making his case to the American
people. Now, why exactly he needed to
make his case to the American people when the challenger for the title was not
decided by popular vote is not completely clear. But it doesn’t matter. What matters is that the Call to Action
Campaign produced the single most epic montage video in the history of
professional wrestling. I present to
you, “I’ll Be Your Hero”:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif;">There
are so many great things about this video that it’s difficult to list them all.
But a few of my favorites include:</span></div>
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<li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif;">the
80s-esque soundtrack</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif;">the
“dramatic” camera shot of the Lex Express in the distance, gradually getting
closer</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif;">Overlaid
images of great Americans like a soldier, the Iwo Jima Memorial, George
Washington and Abraham Lincoln</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif;">Lex
wearing lightweight “stars and bars” sweats seemingly everywhere, including while
sleeping on the Lex Express, hugging an American Flag pillow</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif;">Lex
flexing in front of Niagra falls</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif;">Lex
standing on top of the Lex Express and posing in front of Mount Rushmore</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif;">Lex’s
expression at 3:15</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif;">Lex
posing with a number of disabled kids</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif;">Lex
wearing a fanny pack seemingly everywhere</span></li>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif;">Eventually
the campaign accomplished its goal, and Lex was awarded his title shot against
Yokozuna at Summerslam 1993.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">The
stipulations indicated that it would be Lex’s one and only shot at the WWF
tile. As the crowd at the Palace of
Auburn Hills waved flags and chanted “U-S-A, U-S-A”, Lex battled it out with
the monstrous champion. Lex eventually
slammed Yoko once more, slightly less cleanly than the Slam Heard ‘Round the
World. With his patented running forearm,
Lex was able to knock the behemoth out of the ring and win the match via
count-out. Unfortunately, the title cannot
change hands via count-out. As balloons
fell from the ceiling and “The Stars & Stripes Forever” blared, Lex
celebrated the win with other wrestlers, but it was a bittersweet victory as he
was not able to win the title.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Lex
went on to captain a team of “All-Americans” to a victory over The Foreign
Fanatics at Summerslam 1993. At the 1994
Royal Rumble, he was named co-winner along with Bret Hart, which set up a
rematch with Yokozuna for the championship at Wrestlemania X. While Luger clearly outwrestled Yokozuna and
had him pinned, special guest referee (and former Luger nemesis) Mr. Perfect
disqualified Lex for putting his hands on an official. Lex would never reach his goal of winning the
WWF title. After feuding with Tatanka
and the Million Dollar Corporation through the rest of 1994 and briefly teaming
with the British Bulldog in early 1995, Lex left the WWF to return to WCW.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Miscellaneous Thoughts</span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">This
is one of my favorite wrestling angles of all time, because I feel that it
really captured the essence of wrestling in the Golden Age. All of the patriotism, the oversized and
seemingly unbeatable heel, the muscle-bound face, the flag-waving, the cheesy
montage… others may sneer at that paradigm for wrestling, writing it off as “wrestlecrap”. But in its time it was awesome, and I love
going back to watch it. It was an era
when wrestlers were larger than life, giants among men. And wrestling matches weren’t just contests
to see who got to wear a piece of gold around their waist, they were clashes of
the titans to determine who was the best in the world. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Conventional
wisdom among the internet wrestling fan community is that the All-American
storyline was a major failure for the WWF.
I wouldn’t deny that maybe it wasn’t exactly what they thought it would
be. From the moment the chopper began
its descent onto the Intrepid, fans clearly thought it was going to be Hulk
Hogan coming out to slam Yoko and save the day for the USA. That was perfectly logical since after all,
Hulk had wrestled at WWF King of the Ring just 3 weeks earlier, and back then
nobody had the internet to clue us in when wrestlers were changing
companies. When it was Lex who showed
up, people were clearly a bit disappointed; and since he had up to that point
been a heel, fans were not as quick to latch on to him. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">WWE
put the full strength of their hype machine behind Lex, and I personally
enjoyed it. But in truth, they were
clearly trying to make Lex their new Hulk overnight which was simply impossible. Lex may have been good, but nobody can walk
in Hogan’s footsteps. You can’t just
recreate Hulkamania in the span of a month or two, no matter how good your
marketing people are. I think the summer
of 1993 probably made that clear for Vince McMahon, who prior to that liked to
think that his creativity and marketing were what really made Hulkamania
explode.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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by 1993, it wasn’t really what fans wanted anymore. It was still a few years before the formal
beginning of the Attitude Era, but by '93 fans had had enough of
super-faces. The crowd may not have been
ready for the full-out anti-hero like Stone Cold Steve Austin yet, but they’d
had enough of muscle-bound, flag-waiving, baby kissing good guys and they
wanted something different. Lex, in his stars
and bars sweatpants and fanny pack, represented more of the same. To that extent, I think WWF/Vince McMahon inadvertently
set Lex up to fail by failing to realize that consumer preferences had evolved
from the late 1980s.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">But
overall, I still think that angle went fairly well. If you listen to the crowd at Summerslam
1993, they’re still very solidly in Lex’s corner. A good portion of the fans were rooting for
him to be crowned the winner of the Royal Rumble the next year and fans were
solidly behind him again at Wrestlemania X.
Whatever his reasons were, Vince decided not to go through with the
title change at Summerslam 1993, giving the fans a very unsatisfying count-out
finish instead. The common refrain about
the storyline has thus become “Well, Lex just wasn’t getting over enough. It just wasn’t working. So they couldn’t give him the title.” I disagree.
I don’t think giving the title to Lex at Summerslam 1993 would have been
a disaster at all. I think it would have
been met with a favorable reaction from the crowd, just like Bret’s title wins
in 1992 and 1994 were. The decision to
not give Lex the belt has changed most people’s perspectives on how the
storyline actually went, in my opinion.
People assume that Lex must not have been too well-received if Vince
didn’t give him the title, but in truth, the casual fan was very much behind
Lex in ‘93. I certainly have my issues
with Lex Luger, particularly around his treatment of Miss Elizabeth in the
weeks and months leading up to her death, and he doesn’t seem to have the
greatest of reputations among other wrestlers of the era. But I think his performance in the All
American role was as much as you could have asked for, and I certainly have
fond memories of what I consider to be a great summer for wrestling.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Until
next time, enjoy the musical stylings of "Rappin'" Randy Savage and M.O.M.:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Happy 4th!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>StarfireChampionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01894643882506120207noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057127640721644737.post-14549346678034583732012-06-14T21:18:00.000-07:002012-06-14T21:18:39.456-07:00Books We Loved, Volume 1: Goosebumps<br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Note: This is the first of several entries I’ll do on
different books or book series that were beloved by kids in the Golden
Age. They won’t be in consecutive order,
just done sporadically.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-large;">Reader Beware: You’re in for a Scare</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In the early 90’s, kids loved a good scare. Whether it was our weekly date with the
Midnight Society on Are You Afraid of the Dark, staying up past our bed times
to sneak a peek at “Tales from the Crypt”, or scaring ourselves silly watching
Chuckie or Freddie Krueger, we couldn’t get enough scary stories. But perhaps no “horror” franchise was more
successful in the Golden Age than R.L. Stine’s line of Goosebumps books.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">With their trademark title font and vivid cover illustrations,
Goosebumps books grabbed your attention right away. When the book case opened at your school’s
book fair or you stepped into the kids’ section at your local bookstore,
you were instantly drawn to the Goosebumps books. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Goosebumps were a winner for everyone. Kids thought it was cool to read “horror”
stories and liked the bizarre story lines and plot twists. Parents liked the fact that their kids
actually wanted to read rather than just play Genesis or Super Nintendo, and
the fact that Goosebumps books didn’t have any graphic violence or death
earned them the parents’ seal of approval.
It was the perfect recipe for success for Stine, Scholastic and the series, as
Goosebumps sold over 350 Million copies worldwide. On <a href="http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/print/20011217/31866-all-time-bestselling-children-s-books-.html" target="_blank">Publisher’s Weekly’s list of the All-Time Bestselling Children’s Books</a> (as of 2001), 45 Goosebumps Titles were in the
greater than 1 Million copies sold category (Welcome to Dead House was tops at
over 2.1 Million copies sold, Say Cheese and Die was just behind). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">Structure</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Goosebumps books followed a pretty simple formula. First, Stine started with an experience that
kids could easily relate to, like spending a summer at camp or taking a trip to
an amusement park or dealing with a bully at school. He then added a protagonist who was a kid,
around the same age or perhaps slightly older than the reader. He also almost always threw in a supporting
character that was the opposite gender of the protagonist. That way, regardless of whether the reader
was male or female, they had a character with whom they could identify. Finally, Stine almost always framed his
stories by putting the characters in some new setting—whether they had just
moved to a new town or were visiting a relative on vacation, there was
generally some plot device used to make the character unfamiliar with his or her surroundings, making the events that
were about to unfold all the more frightening.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">As any Goosebumps reader can tell you, the real hallmark of
the series was plot twists, both at the end of a chapter and at the end of the
book. Each book had many short
chapters, and at least a half dozen times there would be chapters with
cliffhanger endings. The ending of a
chapter might go something like:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i><b> “ and then I turned
the corner and shrieked at the top of my lungs.
There it was—the monster, charging right at me!”</b></i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Of course, within the first paragraph of the next chapter,
we learn that it wasn’t really a monster at all, but the protagonist’s friend
playing a trick on her, or a dream, or some other cheap plot device. Nevertheless, I don't ever remember feeling angry
at the books for pulling a fast one on me.
What I do remember is always telling my mother that I’d go to bed “just
as soon as I finish this chapter”, only to be unable to stop at the
cliffhanger.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Stine also loved to throw in a major twist at the end of
most of his books, some of which were totally out of left field. For instance, revealing that all the events
of the book took place on another planet in preparation for a trip to a strange
planet called Earth (Welcome to Camp Nightmare) or revealing that all of the
characters are not actually humans but dogs (My Hairiest Adventure). But even though some of the endings were
completely absurd and might make you say “WTF?” when you think about them now,
as a kid it was more of a “Whoa... Cooooooool!” reaction. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Even though they were supposed to be scary, Stine kept the
Goosebumps series pretty light-hearted on purpose (as contrasted with his Fear Street series for older readers, which was not
silly or playful like Goosebumps). Sure
some of the twists may seem over-the-top in retrospect, but really that was the
whole idea. Goosebumps was not a realistic fiction series, so why not take advantage of that and really stretch the imagination?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">Top 5 Goosebumps Titles (Title only, not plot)</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>1. Monster Blood</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The first Goosebumps book I ever read, and always one of my favorites, Monster Blood was good enough to inspire 3 separate sequels. Monsters = scary, Blood = scary, so "Monster Blood" naturally piqued a kid's attention. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">2. <b>Welcome to Camp Nightmare</b></span>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Just by coincidence, this happens to be the second Goosebumps book I ever read, and arguably the biggest "WTF" ending of the series. Summer camp themes were a Stine favorite, but "Camp Nightmare" has a great ring to it.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">3. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The Scarecrow Walks at Midnight</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This title had a unique sound to it, a little longer and more eerily declarative. Sounds like something a crazy old man would tell you in an ominous voice. Creepy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>4. A Night in Terror Tower</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Have to think that this title was inspired by the popular Twilight Zone-themed ride at Disney's MGM Studios, "The Tower of Terror". It was pretty popular around the time this book came out, and Stine has admitted he borrowed a lot from The Twilight Zone. Still, the title sounds cool and is vague enough to make you curious--"What is Terror Tower? What happens in a night there?" </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">5. The Headless Ghost</span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> With a tip of the cap to The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, "The Headless Ghost" combines the horror of decapitation with the spookiness of an apparition. Seems like a winner to me.</span></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">Top 5 Goosebumps Cover Illustrations</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>1. The Haunted Mask</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Probably one of the most iconic books in the series, The Haunted Mask's glowing eyes and ferocious teeth in front of a little girl's face instantly grabs your attention.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>2. One day at Horrorland</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">There's a real eeriness to this cover, something uncanny about a theme park--which should be a happy, lively place--set against a foreground of desolation and death. Not to mention the Horror looming ominously. Also, bonus points for use of the "Charlotte Hornets" colors that were so popular in those years.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>3. The Beast from the East</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">No, this one does not involve BamBam Bigelow, but apparently some sort of Koala bear crossed with a sloth and injected with steroids. I have no idea actually because I had pretty much stopped reading the series by the time this one came out, but it looks pretty intriguing and surreal with a strange creature against a lush background. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>4. Calling All Creeps</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Again, I have no idea what this one is about because I had stopped reading them by this point, but it looks like a bunch of velociraptors dressed like street toughs and crammed into a phone booth. How could anyone NOT be interested in that storyline?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>5. The Curse of Camp Cold Lake</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://onefolder.info/R.L.%20Stine/56-%20The%20Curse%20of%20Camp%20Cold%20Lake%20(836)/56-%20The%20Curse%20of%20Camp%20Cold%20Lake%20-%20R.L.%20Stine_resizedcover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://onefolder.info/R.L.%20Stine/56-%20The%20Curse%20of%20Camp%20Cold%20Lake%20(836)/56-%20The%20Curse%20of%20Camp%20Cold%20Lake%20-%20R.L.%20Stine_resizedcover.jpg" width="219" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I will say this for Goosebumps: By the latter years of the series, Stine may have been really stretching for storylines, but Tim Jacobus and whoever else was drawing the cover art were really hitting their stride. Some of the cover art after book 40 is really excellent. I love the color scheme of The Curse of Camp Cold Lake, and a skeleton with hair emerging from (or sinking into) a fog-covered pond is as scary as it'll get for a Goosebumps book.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">Legacy</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">About 2 and a half years ago, around Halloween, in a fit of
nostalgia for the Goosebumps books I once held dear, I decided to buy one off
of eBay-- for old times sake. It was
only a couple dollars for a used one, and I thought it would be fun to walk
down memory lane. "One Day at Horrorland" was my choice, and I was able to get through it in just a few hours.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem that Goosebumps books hold up
well over time. Sure, since I’m an adult
now, the books are not really aimed at my demographic; but poor writing is poor
writing, and Horrorland was laden with it.
Forgettable characters, cheesy dialogue and totally ridiculous twists
and cliffhangers were there in abundance.
And it just wasn’t really a fun read, even for nostalgia’s sake—so if
anyone out there is considering re-reading a Goosebumps book for kicks, my
advice would be to leave the memory alone.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">For those interested, a blog called <a href="http://www.bloggerbeware.com/" target="_blank">Blogger Beware</a> has some
really detailed summaries and criticism of the series. He’s WAY too negative and sarcastic for my
taste, but I was glad to have some reminders of how some of the stories
unfolded, and you may be too.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">But overall, I don’t want to denigrate the series the way
Blogger Beware does. If you enjoy cynics
who like to lambaste books/shows/games etc. from their childhood, you’re in
luck because the internet is full of those types. But this blog isn’t for that—this blog is to
remember why we loved those books or shows or games in the first place.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It has been almost 2 decades since R.L. Stine started
furiously cranking out Goosebumps books.
But all those years later, I still remember the excitement of seeing a
new Goosebumps book on display in a bookstore or at a book fair. Picking it up, seeing the bright colors and
the colorful illustration, reading the teaser and perhaps just as importantly,
checking the back cover to see what the next book was going to be called. I remember lining my book shelf with them, as
many as I could talk my parents into buying for me, and displaying the
collection proudly to friends. I
remember staying up late, trying to get to the end of the book before my mom
caught me. And though the writing may
not have been Newbery Medal-worthy, I remember thinking it was totally awesome
as a kid and loving the far-out plot twists.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">So, nearly 20 years later, Goosebumps books are still
remembered fondly by me and many others Golden Agers. Maybe Stine isn’t such a bad writer after
all. </span><o:p></o:p></div>StarfireChampionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01894643882506120207noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057127640721644737.post-74363212261598955972012-05-31T21:19:00.000-07:002012-05-31T21:19:11.630-07:00The Top 10 Episodes of Boy Meets World<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">One Man's Opinion</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Growing up in the ‘80s and ‘90s, we were lucky enough to
enjoy the greatest era of family television ever. There were countless memorable sitcoms in
those years, but for me, one stands out above the rest: Boy Meets World. The show’s charm came from its simplicity—no
gimmicks, just your basic <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bildungsroman" target="_blank">bildungsroman</a>
story with a lovable cast of characters and a lot of laughs along the way.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This blog will feature lots of BMW content as we go,
but in this post I’ll take a look at my Top 10 episodes. I subtitle it “One Man’s Opinion” because our
other blogger (debuting soon!) will likely provide his take at some point in the
future. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>Disclaimers</b>: First, the post contains spoiler content, so if
you haven’t seen every Boy Meets World episode, stop reading now (then RUN,
don’t walk, to a store that sells the dvds and immediately buy them all). Second, cutting this list to 10 is EXTREMELY
difficult. I did a first pass and ended
up with close to 30 episodes-worth of “favorites”. I then considered making this a top 25 list,
but didn’t want to water it down. As a
result, some great episodes and true classics are left off—I hate it too, but
that’s the price you pay. Also, all writing is my own but all pictures were found via Google Image, are borrowed and not being used for profit. Thanks to those who provided them. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Anyhow, let’s get down to it!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Honorable Mentions</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">(Limiting myself to 10 because otherwise I could list them
all): Boy Meets Girl, Danger Boy, City Slackers, The Grass is Always Greener,
Brother Brother, Wheels, A Long Walk to Pittsburgh, Heartbreak Cory, Torn
Between 2 Lovers, Brave New World</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>What Happens</b><span style="font-weight: normal;">: After overhearing some of the popular girls
referring to him as “Brillo Head”, Cory becomes self-conscious about his
hair. When his attempt to uncurl it
crashes and burns, he finds sanctuary with some of the other outcast kids in
class, including the free-spirited Topanga.
Eventually he comes to understand and respect the kids who are
“different” and joins them in a protest.
When they succeed, Cory and Topanga share a first kiss.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span><b>Why I love it</b>:<span style="font-weight: normal;"> This episode marks the debut of Danielle
Fishel as Topanga, and she completely steals the show. According to Michael Jacobs on the Season 1
DVD extras, another girl was originally pegged for the role of Topanga, but
when it wasn’t working out, Danielle was given the role at the last minute. She made the most of it by completely
lighting up the screen, and the chemistry between Cory and Topanga is clear
from the very beginning. I suspect that
Jacobs and the producers didn’t have firm plans for the Topanga character
beyond this episode, but it was so clearly a perfect match that they ran with
it later in the season and throughout the rest of the series. The plot teaches valuable lessons about
self-image and about respecting others who march to the beat of a different
drum. It also provides several iconic moments for the series including Topanga’s
performance art routine with lipstick, the kiss with Cory’s Don King hair, and
my favorite of all—Topanga donning Cory’s beloved Phillies hat at the close of
the show as a sign of the enduring connection between the two. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">What Happens:<span style="font-weight: normal;"> Cory and Shawn find themselves in a tough
spot: They committed to help their new friend, Frankie “The Enforcer” Stechino
by attending his father’s wrestling match and providing insight. Since Frankie doesn’t know anything about
wrestling, yet has realized that talking about it is the only way he can connect
with his dad, he’s desperate for Cory’s help.
Unfortunately, Cory and Shawn learn that Topanga’s Sweet 16 is scheduled
for the same night and time as the wrestling match and she’ll be crushed if
Cory isn’t there. Shawn hatches a plan
to make Cory seem to be in two places at the same time by running back and
forth between the two events. In all the
chaos Cory eventually misses a key part of Topanga’s party but is able to make
it up to her.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Why I love it: <span style="font-weight: normal;">Simple, light-hearted fun. This episode illustrates the formula that
made the show very successful in its early years: Cory and Shawn find
themselves in some crazy predicament, hatch an absurd plan that has virtually
no chance to succeed and that will have humorous consequences, and end up
failing but learning something along the way.
Most of the other episodes on this list are a little more “serious”, but
the vast majority of Boy Meets World episodes were light-hearted and fun. This one is included in the Top 10 not just
because it was very entertaining but also as a proxy for all the other
not-so-serious and lovable episodes through the years. Also, Danielle Fishel as Topanga is really at
her finest here. I think if you were an
adolescent boy in the ‘90s it was almost impossible not to love her,
particularly in Season 4 and this episode.</span></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">What happens<span style="font-weight: normal;">: Cory naively assumes that teaching is easy
because you have the answers, prompting a bet with Mr. Feeny: Cory will teach
one class (History) for a week, and if more students than normal pass the test,
Cory gets 1/5 of Feeny’s paycheck.
However, if less students than normal pass, Feeny gets Cory’s new
bike. Cory at first takes his
responsibility lightly, inviting the class to call him “Hey Dude” and letting
the students do whatever they want. But
when a racial incident affects Eric’s Asian girlfriend, Cory’s eyes are opened
to the realities of racism in the world even today, which helps drive home the
message of the book the class is reading—The Diary of Anne Frank. He takes a new, serious approach to his
teaching, but comes to realize how difficult it can be to get through to
students. In the end, the number of
students that pass is the same as usual and so the bet is a draw, but some
students—including Shawn—score much better than usual. Not only does Cory get a valuable lesson on
discrimination, but he also gains a new respect for teachers and all the
challenges they face.</span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="font-size: small;">Why
I love it:<span style="font-weight: normal;"> In my second post on this blog, <a href="http://goldenage4kids.blogspot.com/2012/05/tv-in-golden-age.html" target="_blank">“Television in the Golden Age”</a>, I
waxed poetic about the ability of ‘80s and ‘90s shows to make you laugh but
also teach you an important lesson.
“Teacher’s Bet” is a perfect example of Boy Meets World’s ability to
strike that balance. A viewer can’t help
but crack up at the sight of stodgy old Mr. Feeny walking into the classroom
dressed like a teenager and saying “Hey Dude, sorry I’m late. I was chillin’ with my homies.” But then, just a few moments later, the mood
is completely changed when Cory directs an ethnic slur at Shawn to prove a
point about racial and ethnic bias. The
absurdity around Cory teaching the class and his classmates’ behavior in a
classroom without rules provide a lot of levity to this episode. But the real beauty of it is watching a young
Cory acquiring a life lesson about racial and ethnic bias, both from reading
the Diary of Anne Frank and from Eric’s girlfriend’s experience. The ability to seamlessly blend serious and
comedic storylines into a single lovable and memorable episode is a hallmark of
Golden Age tv, and Teacher’s Bet is one of Boy Meets Worlds finest
contributions.</span></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="font-size: x-large;">7.
A Kiss is More than a Kiss (s3)</span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">What
Happens:<span style="font-weight: normal;"> After a mutual breakup a few weeks earlier, Cory and Topanga have
maintained a close friendship, including planning to appear at a school fashion
show together (which they had signed up for while they were still dating). At Shawn’s behest Cory begins to date other
girls, but he is hesitant to make any physical contact because his heart is
still with Topanga. Just when Cory
decides to tell Topanga how he really feels, he finds her at Chubbie’s making
out with another guy from school and is devastated. Feeling jealous, alone and frustrated by his
inability to do anything about it, Cory then tells Topanga that he doesn’t even
care to be friends with her anymore. But
when the time comes for the big fashion show, Cory shows up as promised and he
and Topanga agree to stay friends.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Why
I love it<span style="font-weight: normal;">: There are a number of BMW episodes that do an excellent job of
conveying the pain that can come with being young and in love. I just as easily could have put the break-up
episodes in this slot, either season 3’s “The Grass is Always Greener” or
Season 5’s “Torn Between Two Lovers”, and both would have been worthy Top 10
picks. But I’m particularly fond of this
one because I think Ben Savage does a great job conveying the pain of seeing
someone you love sharing something that feels like it should be “yours” with
someone else. When he asks “Why doesn’t
Topanga just rip my heart out and stomp on it?” and when he later makes his “I
don’t want this!” speech, I think it shows how painful it can be to have your
heart broken while growing up. Of
course, by going to the fashion show with Topanga , Cory shows a lot of
maturity. Like many people with broken
hearts, Cory can’t necessarily forget or immediately get over the pain, but he
can act like a gentleman and try to go on with his life—a hard, but valuable lesson
that many teens learn.</span></span></span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="font-size: x-large;">6.
Resurrection (s6)</span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">What
Happens<span style="font-weight: normal;">: The newest member of the Matthews clan, baby Joshua, is fighting for
his life. Born premature, he has a bad
respiratory infection that keeps him in an incubator. While Alan and Amy hope and pray, Cory works
to convince himself that everything will be alright. Topanga grows frustrated with Cory’s
unwillingness to acknowledge or prepare for the possibility that Joshua may not
make it, leading to a disconnect between the two of them. Cory wants Topanga to make everything all
better, but Topanga thinks it’s unreasonable for Cory to expect her to change
the reality of a potentially terrible situation. Just then, Shawn makes a surprise return,
after taking to the road to find himself several weeks earlier after he lost
his father. Shawn does what Topanga
won’t and assures Cory that everything will be fine and lightens his mood by
talking about how much fun they’ll have with Joshua as he grows. Soon, Alan refers to Shawn as a part of the
Matthews family, and Shawn makes an impassioned speech to Joshua in the
incubator, telling him that he needs to stay here with all the people who love
him—a lesson that Shawn learned on the road.
Joshua makes a full recovery, and Topanga makes a return to her
free-spirited and optimistic roots.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Why
I love it:<span style="font-weight: normal;"> This is one of the best episodes for Shawn in the series. “We’ll Have a Good Time Then”—the episode
where his father Chet passes, which aired one month before “Resurrection”—was
such an emotional episode for Shawn and a major tear-jerker for viewers. When he took to the road to find himself, you
didn’t know what might happen to him but you knew he was in a very dark
place. Seeing him come back to the very
same hospital, in good spirits, and make a powerful speech to Joshua about
living and growing with the Matthews family is a beautiful moment. It shows that he’s found some closure and
that he realizes that even though his biological family is mostly gone, the
Matthews are his family too. In
particular, my favorite moment of the episode (and one of the best of the
series) is when Topanga angrily tells Cory that “NOBODY can make this better”,
and just at that moment the elevator opens and Shawn arrives and does just
that. It’s like Cory is on the brink of
a bad place, and as his oldest friend, Shawn knows exactly what to do to rescue
him from that place. At the same time,
by welcoming him into their family and supporting him completely through tough
times, the Matthews family rescues Shawn from the bad place he had fallen into
after Chet’s passing. The “circle of
life” aspect, with Joshua entering the world in the same place where Chet
passed on just a few weeks earlier is very cool. Also, I’m a big fan of “throwbacks” where the
writers give a wink and nod to the fans who’ve been around from the beginning,
and the homage to “Cory’s Alternative Friends” with Topanga’s lipstick bit and
Shawn’s “Use a mirror babe” line were the cherry on top of a great
episode. As Topanga says, “No matter how
difficult life gets, the important thing is to live it with hope.”</span></span></span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<h2>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="font-size: x-large;">5. The Eskimo (s5)</span></span></h2>
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<a href="http://images.wikia.com/boymeetsworld/images/2/27/Eskimo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://images.wikia.com/boymeetsworld/images/2/27/Eskimo.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>What happens</b>: As
graduation approaches, Shawn and Cory have caught a classic case of
“senioritis”. Shawn in particular is
slacking off on his assignments and has come to believe that it’s impossible
for him to go to college, even though Cory filled out his applications for him. Frustrated by their apathy, Mr. Feeny gives a
unique assignment: Shawn must get 2 tickets to the Super Bowl by the end of the
week, Topanga must butt out of other people’s lives, and Cory must help them
both. Shawn enters a contest where he
has to stand atop a billboard in the freezing cold and outlast 9 other people
to win tickets. He makes it to the last
2, but gives up because the other finalist is an Eskimo who is completely
comfortable in the cold. Eventually
Shawn comes to realize that the Eskimo is a metaphor for all the things that
stand in the way in his life, like being poor or having a dysfunctional
family. He decides that he is his own
worst “Eskimo”, and that people like him don’t go anywhere because they don’t
believe in themselves. He resolves to
get into the Super Bowl, despite not having tickets or a way to get there. Cory reluctantly gets out of Shawn’s
way. In the end, Mr. Feeny gives both
Cory and Shawn A’s, because they learn the lesson at hand—that Shawn needs to
want things for himself, and that it isn’t enough for Cory to want them for
him. While watching the game, Mr. Feeny
spots a boy in the crowd holding a sign that reads “Hey Feeny—Nothing’s
Impossible.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Why
I love it</b>: The very last scene, after the final commercial break, is one of the
show’s best. Knowing that despite all
the adversity Shawn found a way to get into the game is definitely a warm-fuzzy
moment. This episode is also vintage Mr.
Feeny, giving an assignment that makes little sense on the surface but that
ultimately illustrates a point that’s bigger than the classroom. I love the message too—if you believe in
yourself, you can do anything you want to.</span></span><br />
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<h2>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-large;">4. What I Meant to Say (s3)</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>What happens</b>: Cory gets caught up in the moment and tells
Topanga that he loves her, even though they’ve only been formally together for
a few weeks. Topanga is afraid of such
feelings considering their young age, and breaks up with Cory as a result. Meanwhile, Shawn, Eric and the guys at John
Adams High are angry with Cory for being so open, as their girlfriends will now
expect an “I love you.” Cory and Shawn
try to figure out why Topanga reacted the way she did, but it isn’t until he
has a pep talk with the new teacher Mr. Williams that Cory decides to go ask
Topanga for the real story. When he
explains to Topanga what he meant when he said he loved her, she realizes she
feels the same way. Cory lets Topanga
keep his jean jacket as a sign of their love.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>Why I love it</b>: This episode has so many good things going
for it and really highlights Boy Meets World’s ability to blend comedy with
sentimental moments. Three funniest
scenes (and there are many):<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Shawn talks about getting
hit in the butt by a dart and Cory replies simply, “Lot of sick people out
there man…” (Cory had thrown the dart, but wasn’t aware that it hit Shawn)</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Mr. Williams concludes his
introduction speech by saying “There’s a difference between what they say
and what is real.” Mr. Turner asks
Shawn what Mr. Williams just said and Shawn guesses “….something about
Israel?” <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Shawn takes a bouquet of
flowers from Cory and to get rid of them, hands them to a big jock in a
varsity jacket who smiles with appreciation. Later, when Cory and Shawn are
recreating what happened on the night Cory told Topanga he loved her, the
jock sees them together and is jealous that Shawn is being so intimate
with another man, and throws the bouquet down in disgust.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In addition, this episode
introduces one of my favorite secondary characters in the series, Mr.
Williams. Despite having a limited run,
he’s probably one of the funniest characters on the show. Finally, this episode has a really nice
storyline for Cory and Topanga, culminating with the jean jacket toss which is
one of the iconic moments of the great Cory/Topanga relationship.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="font-size: x-large;">3. The Happiest
Show on Earth (s3)</span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><b>What happens:</b> Cory
is still in love with Topanga and resigns to win her back. When Topanga wins an essay contest and gets
to go to Disney World, Cory fears that she’ll end up falling for Ronnie “Lips”
Waterman, a smooth talker and heartbreaker from class. Shawn and Cory hatch a plan to get to Disney
World while Eric covers up for Cory’s absence.
In Florida, Topanga resents being chased so hard by both Cory and
Waterman. She thinks Cory really came to
Disney to be with another girl, Kristin.
When Topanga overhears Cory having a heart-to-heart with a visiting Dana
from Step-by-Step and then a dolphin in the aquarium at Epcot, she realizes how
he truly feels. They share a dramatic
kiss in front of Epcot’s iconic “Spaceship Earth” and get back together.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://images.wikia.com/boymeetsworld/images/6/65/Happiest01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://images.wikia.com/boymeetsworld/images/6/65/Happiest01.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><b>Why I love it</b>:
Ah, the Disney episode. All of the great
family sitcoms on ABC in the Golden Age had their Disney episode, but Boy Meets
World’s was really a classic as it had so many of the elements of a great BMW episode. You’ve got Shawn and Cory teaming up to go on
a wild goose chase through “The Happiest Place on Earth”. You’ve got big brother Eric supporting and
covering for Cory by using a dummy look-a-like which is good for a lot of
laughs. Most of all, you’ve got the
moment that we’d been waiting for all season as Cory and Topanga finally get
back together. It’s a great scene and a
classic moment in the greatest tv relationship of the era, and
serves as the capstone to one of the most memorable episodes of the series.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<h2>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="font-size: x-large;">2. Things Change (s5)</span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><b>What happens</b>: As
senior year draws to a close, Cory’s world teeters on the brink of chaos. He, Angela and Topanga are all accepted to a
local college called Pennbrook, but Shawn gets waitlisted. Cory tries to convince other kids at school
to turn down Pennbrook to increase Shawn’s odds of being admitted, and it
works. But Shawn shocks Cory and
everyone by saying that he intends to turn Pennbrook down in order to pursue a
job as a photographer’s assistant. Cory
tries to talk Shawn out of it, recruiting Jack and others to help, but to no
avail. While Cory is distracted with
Shawn, Topanga wrestles with a decision of her own: she received an acceptance
letter from Yale, to which she applied when she and Cory were broken up. Cory had been so preoccupied with Shawn that
he is blindsided when Topanga tells him she is considering going. For their part, Alan and Amy Matthews have
recently announced that they’re having a fourth child, and they’re making plans
to redecorate Cory’s room for the new baby.
Feeling that everything around him is falling apart, Cory seeks advice
from Mr. Feeny, who then tells Cory that he is retiring to Wyoming at the end
of the school year.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Feeling scared
and alone, Cory finally finds some solace in the form of his younger sister
Morgan, who seems to be the only person in his life not changing. They head to Chubby’s for a burger, but Cory
quickly finds out that his childhood hang out has been sold and is now a pirate-themed
family restaurant. Near the end of his
rope, Cory has a talk with Eric and starts to come to grip with his
situation. While he may not agree with
everyone’s decisions or like their consequences, he understands that it may be
impossible for things to stay the same forever, and he can’t live in fear of
change. The episode ends with Eric going
to visit Mr. Feeny, his mentor, to plead with him not to go.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://images.wikia.com/boymeetsworld/images/e/e7/Chubbie's!.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://images.wikia.com/boymeetsworld/images/e/e7/Chubbie's!.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><b>Why
I love it:</b> To me, this episode is the show in a nutshell. Growing up is change. You’ll make close friends, you’ll fall in
love, you’ll have family members and teachers who care for you and give you
everything they possibly can. But eventually
there comes a day when—through no fault of your own—fate throws a monkey wrench
into everything that was comfortable and everything changes. Naturally, this can be very scary, but in
time we usually come to realize that everything happens for a reason. Change is inevitable, but if you have family
and friends who love you, everything will be alright in the end. To quote Cory
himself 2 seasons later, </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><i>“Even though it may seem that the world is going out
of its way to teach you these hard lessons, you’re going to realize, it’s the
same world that gave you your family and your friends… and you’re going to come
to believe that the world is going to protect you too.” </i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Boy Meets World at its finest.</span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"> </span></div>
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<h2>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-large;">1. Starry Night (s5)</span></h2>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ea/Van_Gogh_-_Starry_Night_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg/300px-Van_Gogh_-_Starry_Night_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ea/Van_Gogh_-_Starry_Night_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg/300px-Van_Gogh_-_Starry_Night_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>What happens</b>: Cory and Topanga have been broken up for
several weeks after Cory’s feelings for a girl named Lauren changed Topanga’s view
of their relationship. A new exhibit has
brought Vincent Van Gogh's art to Philadelphia, most notably a piece
called “Starry Night”. Topanga was
supposed to see the exhibit with Cory, but since they broke up she goes with
Angela instead. While there, the two
meet a smooth-talking artist named Ricky Ferris who knew Topanga many years ago
and who walks the gallery with Topanga before asking her out. Intrigued but confused about moving on,
Topanga finds Cory and takes him to see Starry Night, needing to know how he
feels about it before she can decide on Ricky.
But all that Cory can see in the painting is pain and despair, since
that’s all he feels inside. Topanga
clues him in that Starry Night is a masterpiece, but all Cory can think about
is their relationship, and so he replies “No, WE’RE a masterpiece!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.glamour.com/entertainment/blogs/obsessed/2012/04/20/0420_cory-topanga_ob.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://www.glamour.com/entertainment/blogs/obsessed/2012/04/20/0420_cory-topanga_ob.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Topanga decides to go on the date with Ricky, and when Shawn
finds out, he too thinks it’s over for Cory and Topanga. This makes Cory the last man on earth to
still believe it will work out—a position that he embraces, since he is so sure
he is correct. Topanga goes to dinner
with Ricky and enjoys it; but when she kisses him at the end of the night, she
feels nothing and realizes that Cory Matthews is the man for her. She and Cory meet under the stars on the
playground, where they first met as small children, and profess their undying
love for one another once more. The
episode ends with Shawn and Angela, who look at several paintings only to give
each other passionate kisses, before coming to Starry Night and stopping to
ponder its beauty together.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>Why I Love It</b>: Call
me a softy, but I’ve always loved this episode of Boy Meets World as much as
any episode of any television show.
After a very compelling breakup storyline over the previous few
episodes, we finally see the reunion of Cory and Topanga. The use of Van Gogh’s Starry Night gives the
episode a unique artistic quality that you don’t find in many other Golden Age
sitcom episodes. The "<i>magnum opus"</i> of
Vincent Van Gogh, one of the greatest painters in history, the painting
provides a magnificent backdrop and a sort of symbolism for the events of the
episode. While no one truly knows what
Van Gogh was thinking as he looked out his sanitarium window at the village
below and painted Starry Night, I think Topanga’s interpretation that it
represents a village where the people live in peace and where they look up at
the sky and know God’s love for them is as valid as any.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Ultimately the episode stands as a testament to one of the
greatest relationships that a generation ever knew. Maybe they weren’t quite Romeo and Juliet,
but for our generation, Cory and Topanga were the epitome of true love. Even though he made mistakes, Topanga never
gives up on Cory, and for his part, Cory never loses faith in his relationship
with Topanga, even when everyone else had given up on them ever getting back
together. The scene on the playground—where
it all began for Cory and Topanga—is set under the stars, paralleling the theme
of Van Gogh’s painting. And as Cory and
Topanga reunite, they look to the stars above and they know that everything
will be alright.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v304/punk_teen07/new/boymeetsworld-5x20starrynight_0001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v304/punk_teen07/new/boymeetsworld-5x20starrynight_0001.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">There
is only one word that can accurately describe this “magnum opus” of Boy Meets
World—masterpiece.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">So, there it is--GA4K's Top 10 Boy Meets World episodes.... Well, my opinions at least. </span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">Even though it was tough to cut so many episodes,
writing this post has reminded me how amazing these 10 episodes were, so no
regrets.</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">That said, we’d love to hear
which of these were your favorites or which episodes that were left off should
have made it.</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">Comment here or tweet us
@GoldenAge4Kids.</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></span></div>
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</div>StarfireChampionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01894643882506120207noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057127640721644737.post-56919439761322317672012-05-19T11:38:00.000-07:002012-05-19T11:39:16.329-07:00Birthday Parties in the Golden Age<br />
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<a href="http://www.tumbleandteacafe.com/Pictures/birthday_party1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://www.tumbleandteacafe.com/Pictures/birthday_party1.jpg" width="175" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">For kids in the Golden Age, few social events were more
important than a good birthday party.
You’d walk in proudly, wearing one of your “nice outfits” that your mom
picked out for you that day, and carrying a present that she had picked up on
her most recent trip to the department store.
Next, you had the chance to run around and play with your friends for a
while, expending some energy in the process.
Then, you’d eat some pizza and watch the birthday boy or girl open their
gifts. Finally, you’d have some birthday
cake and/or ice cream, grab your goodie bag, and head on your way.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Here are some of our favorite Golden Age birthday party
locations and activities:</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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The Arcade</span></h2>
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<a href="http://stupidevilbastard.com/Images2/LunaCityArcade.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="195" src="http://stupidevilbastard.com/Images2/LunaCityArcade.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The arcade was a social hub throughout the 1980s and
through most of the '90s as well. Just
about every mall had one, and in those days it was a lucrative enough business
that there were many standalone arcades too. Walking into an arcade could be sensory overload. Most were dark rooms with the bright neon
lighting that was so popular in the Golden Age.
The carpet was patterned with color-splashed designs that were also very
popular in those years. And all around,
coin-ops and other arcade games flashed and beeped, each competing for your
attention. This video does a pretty good job of capturing the look and feel of the classic arcade: </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Some arcades were of the “play to collect as many tickets as
you can and trade them in for a prize” variety; others just offered coin-ops
where you played a game with/against a friend or against the computer, and the
only prizes were bragging rights and/or high scores. If you were at a birthday party, most likely
you were given a set amount of tokens to use as you saw fit. As a younger child I liked to use my tokens
for ski ball and hoop shoot, which were cash cows for tickets. But as I got older and realized that I’d
never get enough tickets for the big prizes (like a bike!), I opted instead for
whatever was the most popular coin-op at the time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/2011/08/mortal-kombat-arcade-kollection-due-out-next-week.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><img border="0" height="204" src="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/2011/08/mortal-kombat-arcade-kollection-due-out-next-week.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.techmynd.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/wwf-wrestlefest-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://www.techmynd.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/wwf-wrestlefest-1.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Today, arcades still exist in some markets, often appealing
to niche markets (ie. the Dave & Busters phenomenon, appealing to grown up
Golden Agers). But for the most part,
the industry has died out. The rapid
advancement in technology used in home video consoles like Playstation or Xbox meant
that kids didn’t need to make a trip to the arcade for a technically-impressive
video game experience, and the proliferation of online gaming over the last
decade meant that kids didn’t need to leave their house to put a whoopin’ on a
stranger. While the growth of video
games into the main stream has been welcome, the loss of the arcade experience
is lamentable. No home video game
experience can compare to the excitement of walking into an arcade as a kid in
the '80s or '90s.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-large;">The Roller Rink</span></h2>
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<a href="http://a4.ec-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/99/8c8413024a6b4667bdc0f7bd814fe049/l.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://a4.ec-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/99/8c8413024a6b4667bdc0f7bd814fe049/l.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Roller rinks are certainly not something unique to the
Golden Age—in fact, their greatest popularity may have been achieved in the
decades prior. The late 1960s and 1970s
turned the roller rink into a popular hangout spot for kids and teens, and the
disco boom of the mid to late '70s dovetailed nicely with the roller rink
experience.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">But in the early 90’s the rise in popularity of in-line skates,
better known to most as Rollerblades (the name of the most popular in-line
skate manufacturer), breathed life back into the roller rink business. The rink again became a popular hangout spot
for teens and in many places, a popular location for kids to have their
birthday party.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m29uh9BddM1rsclmyo1_1280.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><img border="0" height="197" src="http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m29uh9BddM1rsclmyo1_1280.png" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Unlike the arcade, where just about anyone could fit in and
have fun, the roller rink drew clear distinctions between the cool kids who had
the coordination to glide around the rink gracefully and the not-so-cool kids
who struggled to stay upright.
Personally, I didn’t have my own rollerblades and birthday parties were
the only time I went to the rink, so learning to skate was a definite
challenge. I did a lot of grabbing the
wall and flopping around on the ground while my friends and classmates got a
kick out of my clumsiness. However, once
you got the hang of it, skating was a blast.
And if you got to the point where you could glide around effortlessly,
someone might even ask you to hold their hand and be their partner for the
all-important “couples skate”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://stratumhq.com/images/tour/stratum-laser-tag-arena11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><img border="0" height="241" src="http://stratumhq.com/images/tour/stratum-laser-tag-arena11.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In the mid 1990s, a new birthday party craze swept the
nation in the form of Laser Tag.
Combining those same 90’s bright neon lights from the arcade with some
bass-bumping techno music (think: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-_Wuv8ZJXM" target="_blank">Mortal Kombat Theme</a>), laser tag had a futuristic,
outer-space type of vibe that was the epitome of cool to kids in the '90s. I think the atmosphere could aptly be
described as a cross between Tron and a '90s rave party, with some super-fancy
toy guns thrown in for good measure. It’d
be very difficult to come up with a better recipe for awesomeness.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://216.92.103.209/images/laser-tag.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><img border="0" height="186" src="http://216.92.103.209/images/laser-tag.gif" width="320" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Different venues had different house rules for laser tag and
different spins on the game. I remember
that the first time I ever played, at a birthday party around 1994, the game was in
essentially a big bouncy castle with curtain-like walls to divide “rooms”. It was every man for himself, and each player
wore a vest that would light up if you were “alive” and that would go out when
you were “dead” (you came back to life after a short stint as “dead”). There was no scoring and no real objective other
than just trying to shoot at other kids—though it was still a blast. As the years went by though, the game got a
bit more sophisticated. Elaborate arenas
were built, looking and feeling like something off of the Nickelodeon show
GUTS, but with more darkness and mystique (and of course, more techno beats). Also, a capture-the-flag-like set of rules
emerged. Players were split into 2
teams, and you only aimed for players on the other team. For each player you shot, you were awarded
points. The real points though came from
making it to the enemy’s base and shooting that. At the end, the score was tallied and a
winner determined, plus individual stats were posted. Some laser tag arenas even added in a
storyline to the game, taking the players to a room before the game started and
showing a movie or having an employee deliver some message that explained the
reason for the game. Post-apocalyptic
storylines were a favorite.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It always felt like the game was over too soon, but it didn’t
matter. 10 or 15 minutes of laser tag
was still the best 10 or 15 minutes you were going to have in a given
week. Today some laser tag arenas are hanging
around, but the game is not as popular as it once was. Here’s hoping it makes a comeback so that a
new generation experiences the thrill of the kill while the bass rattles the
neon lights of the arena.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1E_wro1Pp68/TsJdj-jHg3I/AAAAAAAAB8A/lvJM3Wd6r8A/s1600/laser.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><img border="0" height="291" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1E_wro1Pp68/TsJdj-jHg3I/AAAAAAAAB8A/lvJM3Wd6r8A/s320/laser.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-large;">Discovery Zone</span></h2>
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<a href="http://forgottenadvertisements.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/discoveryzomes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><img border="0" height="149" src="http://forgottenadvertisements.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/discoveryzomes.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Much of our early childhood education is focused not just on
reading, writing and arithmetic, but on socializing behavioral norms into kids. Stay in your seat and sit still. Raise your hand when you have something to
say. When you play with your friends,
maintain your best behavior. There’s a
strong emphasis on structure, order and decorum. But deep down inside of every kid lies the
true, human instinct—to jump around and play wildly and crazily! And it was this desire to let loose that made
Discovery Zone one of the most fun places on earth for kids in the Golden Age.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Ball pits. Big
slides. Tunnels to crawl through. Ropes to swing on. Bouncy rooms and trampolines. DZ had them all and more. It was kind of like the biggest and best
playground you’d ever experienced, but it was indoors and seemingly everything
was cushioned or foam-padded. The extra
padding and bounciness made you feel totally safe at all times, and with that
feeling of safety it felt ok to be as wild and crazy as your heart
desired. Want to pretend you’re a pro
wrestler coming off the top rope as you jump into the ball pit? Go ahead!
Want to flop around like a fish out of water in the bouncy room? Go for it!
Just want to run around, arms flailing, screaming as loud as you
can? You got it! There were a few rules and regulations around
using the equipment at DZ, but for the most part you could, as the commercial
promised, “let loose and be on (your) own.”
For kids in the early and mid 90’s, that was a great feeling.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lnkp8aN8N11qacl57o1_500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lnkp8aN8N11qacl57o1_500.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Sadly, Discovery Zone did not survive for even a
decade. After its founding in 1990 and
IPO in 1993, the company was acquired by Blockbuster Video in 1994. By 1996, the company had fallen on hard times
and was forced to file for bankruptcy.
By 1999, several hundred former DZ locations had been acquired by and
turned into Chuck E. Cheese restaurants while the rest were shut down. Many of DZ’s ideas were co-opted by McDonalds
as they expanded their PlayPlace business.
Though DZ is no longer around, it lives on in the memories of all those
who “let loose” there in its heyday. And
if they ever open up something similar for adults, I know many Golden Agers
will be first in line to try it out.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">What were your favorite birthday party activities and locations in the Golden Age? If you'd like to reminisce about any of the above or if you have any that we've forgotten, let us know by commenting or tweeting us @GoldenAge4Kids. We'd love to hear from you!</span></div>StarfireChampionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01894643882506120207noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057127640721644737.post-67907145816092765332012-05-10T20:59:00.000-07:002012-05-10T20:59:45.008-07:00Iconic Sports Teams of the Golden Age<span style="font-family: inherit;">The Golden Age of the '80s and '90s were a great time to be a sports fan. Below, our Top 5 (in no order) most iconic sports teams of the Golden Age:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">In the 1979 NCAA finals, one of the great individual sports
rivalries of all time was born. On one
side, a country boy from Indiana, “The Hick from French Lick” Larry Bird. On the other side, a city boy from Lansing
whose game was so electric to watch that he was called “Magic”. Ultimately it was Earvin “Magic” Johnson who
won the NCAA crown, but the story was just beginning.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">In the NBA, both Bird & Magic joined teams that had
solid talent bases. Magic teamed up with
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and later James Worthy as part of the 80’s “Showtime” Los
Angeles Lakers. The team played with a
flair for the dramatic and a great deal of style, mirroring the city that they
represented in many ways. Bird,
meanwhile, went to Boston to play with the likes of Kevin McHale, Robert
Parrish and Dennis Johnson. They were a
tough, gritty team that won with a lot of hustle, and in many ways represented
the blue collar, lunch pail attitude of the people of Boston.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The Lakers/Celtics battles throughout the 80’s were
epic. Each side won its share, with
Magic’s Lakers winning 5 rings and Bird’s Celtics taking home 3. The rivalry was intense, physical, and still
persists today. The charisma of Magic
and Bird—in different ways—made the Lakers and the Celtics iconic teams in the
80’s. It even inspired a broadway
musical!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">In the early 1980’s, a fledgling sports network called ESPN started
to gain national attention by broadcasting games from the newly-formed Big East
basketball conference. Though many of
the teams were compelling, one stood out from the crowd—The Georgetown Hoyas.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Head Coach John Thompson was a polarizing figure. An outspoken African-American at a
prestigious (and mostly white) university, Thompson rubbed many fans the wrong
way by bringing in a roster full of players from the inner-city. Opposing fans accused Thompson of being a
racist or a bigot, and at times hurled racial invectives at him and his
players. On the other hand, the Hoyas
were enormously popular across the country with fans who related to their rebellious
attitude and take-no-prisoners approach to the game. Stores across the country couldn’t keep the
famous Hoyas Starter jacket in stock.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Thompson and the Hoyas went to three Final 4’s in the 80’s,
defeating Hakeem Olaujuwon, Clyde Drexler and “Phi Slamma Jam” for the
championship in 1984. With the success
of centers like Patrick Ewing, Dikembe Mutombo and Alonzo Mourning, Georgetown
earned the nickname “Big Man U”. But it
was a diminutive guard who became perhaps the most popular player to ever don
the blue and gray—“The Answer” Allen Iverson in the mid-90s.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">#3. “The U”—The University of Miami</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The 1980s were a time of great change for the city of
Miami. Cocaine trade brought an influx
of money into the area, and racial tensions between blacks and whites flared
over a number of incidents. To top it
off, a wave of Cuban prisoners landed in Miami in the early 80’s, helping the
city earn a reputation as a dangerous and lawless place. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Enter, Hurricanes:</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">In a city that in those years only had one professional team—the Dolphins,
whose connection with the city had waned—the ‘Canes became the rallying
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“The U” (as they came to be known) recruited the Miami-Dade area heavily, and the
players who wore the green and orange had a definite edge. The U became known for over-the-top trash
talk and demonstrative touchdown celebrations.
They also earned a reputation for finding trouble off the field
including gangs, drugs and violence.
Standing in stark contrast to the “choirboys” at schools like Notre Dame
who had dominated college football for so long, The U was either loved or hated
by every college football fan—there was no in-between.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The U became a factory for top NFL talent, including Michael
Irvin, Vinny Testaverde, Cortez Kennedy, Warren Sapp and Ray Lewis. They laid claim to 4 National Titles between
1983 and 1991 with a 5<sup>th</sup> in 2001.
Today “The U” is still synonymous with a brash and edgy approach to the
game, even if the on-field results haven’t compared to the Golden Years.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">#4. The Chicago Bulls</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Dynasty. There’s no
other way to describe the Chicago Bulls in the 1990’s. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Arguably the greatest player of all time and certainly the
most popular, Michael Jordan was as famous as any human being in any walk of
life during the 1990’s. He captivated
the imagination of a generation with his ability to seemingly fly through the
air. Yet Jordan wasn’t just an athlete
and a dunker, but a great passer, shooter and defender as well. His competitive drive willed his teams to
victory and brought out the best in his teammates. The Bulls won back-to-back-to-back titles
from 1991-’93.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">After the murder of his father and for a variety of personal
reasons, MJ walked away from the game in 1993.
But by 1995 he was back in action, and by the 1995-96 season he was back
to his old form. With some new players
around him, including the very colorful Dennis Rodman, and some familiar old
faces like the greatest sidekick in NBA history Scottie Pippen, the Bulls
re-found their old ways. They again won
back-to-back-to-back titles from 1996-’98 and set an NBA record for wins with
70 in ’96-’97.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Whether rooting for them or against them, basketball fans in
the Golden Age knew they were privileged to watch the greatness of the Chicago
Bulls in the 1990s. This list isn’t in
any order, but if it were, the Bulls would be the clear #1.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">#5. The Dallas Cowboys</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">How ‘bout ‘dem Cowboys??!?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">It’s difficult for dynasty’s to emerge in the NFL, where
parity is so prevalent. But in the 1990’s
there was one team that clearly stood head-and-shoulders above the rest—the Dallas
Cowboys.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Led by Jimmy Johnson (formerly of The U) and the Big 3 of
Troy Aikman, Emmit Smith and Michael Irvin, the Cowboys were a force to be
reckoned with. This was no small feat
after going 3-13 in 1988 and 1-15 in 1989.
But through smart drafting and patience by owner Jerry Jones and Johnson’s
ability to motivate his players, the Cowboys very quickly grew into a team
that seemingly had all-pro talent at every position. In January of 1993, just 3 years after going
1-15, the Cowboys blew out the Buffalo Bills to win Super Bowl 27. The following year, with the same core team,
the Cowboys once again beat the Bills to accomplish the repeat.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Later in 1994, Johnson and Jones had a falling out leading
to Jimmy’s resignation and the installation of Barry Switzer as head
coach. The team lost in the conference
championship that season, but the following year, buoyed by the addition of the
ultra-confident “PrimeTime” Deion Sanders, the Cowboys once again won the Super
Bowl, the 5<sup>th</sup> in franchise history.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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With
many of the great players of the Golden Age donning the lone-star of “America’s
Team”, the Cowboys were certainly one of the most iconic teams of the era.</span></span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 17px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Thank you to all those websites who have let us use their photos for the purpose of this post. </span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 17px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Who do you think were the most iconic teams of the Golden Age (80's & 90's)? We'd love to hear from you in the comments section or on Twitter!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>StarfireChampionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01894643882506120207noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057127640721644737.post-58647901789148494562012-05-08T20:25:00.000-07:002012-05-08T20:25:05.657-07:00TV in the Golden AgeSometimes, I feel bad for kids growing up today. They have no idea what they're missing.<br />
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In a world where most houses have access to hundreds of cable channels and just about everyone has a DVR, our tv watching habits have changed. Channels have specialized, and no matter what time of the day your favorite program airs, you can watch it at your own convenience. Most homes have multiple tv sets, not to mention video game systems, computers, ipads/iphones and a number of other entertainment options. In the modern household you might see, for example, the younger kids watching a DVR'd Disney Channel show in one room while the older/teenage child FaceTimes a friend in her own room and a parent channel surfs in the living room. As the modern family has changed, so has the tv programming--hardly any shows try to cater to everyone, and each show has a clearly defined "target demographic" as network executives try to maximize their ad revenue.<br />
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But it wasn't always this way. There was a time--not too long ago--when at around 8pm (7 central), after all the homework and dishes were done, that a family would gather around the tv set and enjoy an evening of tv programming <b><i>together.</i></b><br />
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And we were treated to some of the greatest shows in the history of television. Lovable characters that are still talked about today. Hilarious situations that had us in stitches. Food fights. Ridiculous dancing. Men in drag. You name it, the primetime tv shows of the 80's and 90's had it.<br />
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But it wasn't all just fun and games. Television in the Golden Age always taught us something too. Take a look at the following clip:<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pWhxN3KuHA"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Family Matters Scene on Racism</span></b></a><br />
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Does anyone think ANY tv show or network would have the guts to take on a scene like that today?<br />
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TV in the Golden Age was extremely entertaining, but that wasn't all. It had substance, and more often than not it taught us something--about growing up, or about the world, or about ourselves. The shows of our childhood weren't afraid to take on big issues--whether it was Family Matters with racism, Fresh Prince with gun violence, Saved by the Bell with drug use, Boy Meets World with teen drinking, Full House with child abuse, or any of dozens of other powerful storylines taken on by these great shows and others. Golden Age shows took on relevant issues of their time and gave us some insight on how to deal with them. No issue was too big. And it was all done tastefully, so that the entire family could watch and understand without anyone feeling uncomfortable.<br />
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And beyond the contemporary issues, Golden Age shows taught us about the real world problems we'd face in every day life--peer pressure, drama with parents or best friends, the delicate emotional balance of young love. I can't tell you how many times in life I've faced a tough personal issue only to realize that Kevin Arnold or Cory Matthews or some other great Golden Age character had faced a similar issue and ended up ok.<br />
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We'll never forget the tv shows of the Golden Age for the memorable characters, countless laughs and warm-fuzzy moments. But for me, the fact that they were "real" made them so much more relatable and is the reason why they still resonate today. While today's television programs go for cheap laughs with adult humor--even in the 8/7c timeslot--the programs of the Golden Age made us laugh, and cry, AND taught us something and made us better people. For that, we'll always love them.<br />
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<br />StarfireChampionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01894643882506120207noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057127640721644737.post-61291429897669519572012-05-06T20:56:00.000-07:002012-05-06T20:56:14.079-07:00What is "The Golden Age 4 Kids"?Thanks so much for checking out our blog. If you've come this far, hopefully you'll stay a while, bookmark us, add us to your feed and/or follow us on Twitter (@GoldenAge4Kids). We'll do our best to make it worth your while. You may have some questions on what the blog is all about, so an attempt to answer them here:<br />
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What exactly is "The Golden Age 4 Kids"?</h3>
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Like many of you, the authors of this blog were born in the 1980s and grew up in the '80s & 90's. We feel that there was a certain magic to those years that made it a very special time to grow up--a "Golden Age" for kids. In this blog we intend to remember and celebrate the popular and cultural forces that were so integral in shaping our generation.</div>
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What's up with the name?</h3>
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The name is inspired by the opening monologue of the pilot episode of "The Wonder Years". Daniel Stern, voicing the grown-up Kevin Arnold, recalls:</div>
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"There's no pretty way to put this. I grew up in the suburbs. I guess most people think of the suburbs as a place with all the disadvantages of the city and none of the advantages of the country, and vice-versa. But in a way, those really were "the wonder years" for us there in the suburbs. It was kind of a <b>golden age for kids."</b></blockquote>
Of course, Kevin was talking about the years he grew up in--the 60's and early 70s--and to be sure, this was a great and interesting period to be a kid. However, we think of the 80's and 90's as a great era to be a kid too, capable of matching up with any other, and worthy of celebration in its own right.<br />
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What's the goal of this blog?</h3>
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We have 3 main goals in mind:</div>
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<li><b>To memorialize the popular and cultural forces of the 80's and 90's:</b> We'll hit on some things that you're sure to remember and some others that you probably forgot. Overall, these are the people, places, shows, movies, artists etc. that we loved growing up, and we don't want them to ever be forgotten.</li>
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<li><b>To celebrate all these things</b>: In addition to just keeping memories alive, we want to detail exactly what made these things so great. Maybe in the process readers will learn about a show or a movie that they never watched but that sounds interesting, and buy a copy on Amazon or eBay. Maybe they'll learn about a band they weren't familiar with and download a track on itunes. In recent years a lot of websites have cropped up that talk about 90's life or 80's pop culture, but many of the folks running these sites have a distinctly sarcastic and cynical tone. You won't find much of that here-- we're interested in looking back on the golden years with a smile, even when it wasn't perfect.</li>
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<li><b>To be an advocate for "golden age" culture elsewhere</b>: There are so many great tv shows from the 80's and 90's that aren't available on DVD that it's a tragedy. I can get 1000 television channels, but a lot of the classic shows of yesteryear are nowhere to be found. Today, many "golden age" kids are growing into professionals with careers, salaries and money to spend. We're becoming a powerful consumer group. Many folks in the media have noticed, and you've started to see a trend toward bringing 80's and 90's content back to the mainstream, such as the "90's are All That" block on Teen Nick, Boy Meets World and Saved by the Bell coming to MTV2, or the glut of blockbuster movies like Transformers or GI Joe based on Golden Age content. But it isn't enough. We want more and better content prominently featured. We want all the great shows of the era on DVD and on-demand, so that younger generations can appreciate them too. We want reunion shows, bonus features, and more. Hopefully, this blog will gain enough popularity that we're able to be a strong advocate in making this "wish list" a reality.</li>
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Who are we?</h3>
Just a couple of now-grown kids from the suburbs--we grew up in houses like a lot of other houses, on a street like a lot of other streets, in a town like a lot of other towns. We cherish the memories of our childhoods and lament the direction that popular culture has taken over the last decade-plus. We frequently find ourselves reminiscing about the old days, and have now decided to take our memories to the internet to reminisce with others. We hope you'll enjoy our take on the Golden Age, and we look forward to hearing your thoughts as well.<br />
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With any feedback or ideas, please feel free to contact us at <a href="mailto:GoldenAge4Kids@Gmail.com">GoldenAge4Kids@gmail.com</a> or tweet us @GoldenAge4Kids. <br />
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Hope you'll continue to check us out--the best is yet to come!</div>
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<br />StarfireChampionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01894643882506120207noreply@blogger.com0