Flashback Friday: catchphrases

What were my favorite catchphrases or words in the 1980s? They were as follows:

• Rad
• Grody to the Max
• Gnarly
• Psych
• No Doy

I will now use them in one long 1980s rambling stream of consciousness: 

"So we like went to the arcade at my dad's bowling alley and played this rad game called Paperboy, afterwards we went to eat pizza and we saw this kid eating his booger right in front of us and it was like totally like grody to the max. We so like decided to leave and go to the movies and watched this movie called Sixteen Candles which was like totally gnarly and that guy who plays Jake was like so ugly...Psych! He was like a total hunk...no doy."

Do I use any of these words or phrases currently? Absolutely not (psych!)

(photo via)

Flashback Friday: Atari

Remember this?

Remember this?

If you don't, then get the hell outta here you little punk! I want only us old-timers who remember Atari and Pong to reminisce. Who needed Candy Crush or Angry Birds when you can hit a slowly moving pixel square back and forth for hours. Graphics, smaphics...two small vertical lines, a pixelated dotted line and a tiny white square was technology at it's finest. Our pre-mobile devices brains could only handle so much back then.

Our medulla oblongata started developing beyond the simple concept of trying to get a square past your opponents vertical line and we progressed to more complex games like Breakout and my personal favorite - Pitfall:

Eventually we began thinking we were expert video gamers by trying to trick the system. Case in point, the game E.T. The Extra Terrestrial, has gone down in history as one of the worst video games ever. People found it hard to understand. Falling into those damn pits was monotonous and virtually hard to get out of them. But you know what? my siblings and I figured that game out so fast that we got bored with it and started finding ways to have E.T.'s space ship get stuck on earth (basically kill E.T. on the landing spot and have Elliott go to E.T. to revive him right when the space ship lands, the space ship will get stuck and the game crashes - genius right?). 

I'm sure when my kids are old enough they will see what their parents used to play back then and laugh uncontrollably, but I know that we were revolutionaries back then and that little simple Pong game started the whole app craze that we all get obsessed about now.  So thank you little white pixelated dot for making it happen.

Flashback Friday: Warm Fuzzies

Remember these guys? When I was a kid in the 1980s, I used to love to collect these adorably cute fuzzy fellas. They were called Warm Fuzzies - they were meant to be given to people because you wanted to make them feel "warm and fuzzy" inside. They were basically just a colored pom-pom with googly eyes, antennas and large feet with adhesive.

So simple a concept expressed with such a simple toy.  Maybe we should bring these fellas back and just stick them randomly around to spread the love. 

Warm Fuzzies for everyone!

Flashback Friday: "Happy little trees"

I used to watch The Joy of Painting not to learn about painting, but to be completely entranced and zen'd out by the calming voice of Bob Ross. He with the white man's afro and the ability to create a paint-like numbers landscape in 26 minutes. 

I found his words absolutely soothing with his talks of "happy little trees" and creating a "little friend over there." He quite literally put me in a "happy little" coma. I've never smoked a doobage in my life but I can imagine watching The Joy of Painting while being all Snoop Dogg (or is it Snoop Lion?) would be a perfect pairing.

I continued watching his shows on PBS not even realizing that Mr. Ross passed away from lymphoma cancer in 1995. It's sad to think that he would not be painting his happy little worlds anymore, but I'm sure up there in the clouds he is painting for the big man in the sky and making him go into a sleepy lull.

I'll end this post with a famous Bob Ross quote: "We want happy paintings. Happy paintings. If you want sad things, watch the news." Well said, Mr. Ross, well said. 

Flashback Friday: Swatch watches

When I was a teenager growing up in the 80s I had no idea what a Rolex watch was and quite frankly could not give a flying fig about it. It was all about the rad Swatch watches back in my day. These watches were first manufactured in 1983 and they were colorful graphic watches you would wear as the ultimate 80s accessory - so casual, so cool, so colorful (that should be the motto of the 1980s and I'm sticking to it). 

Your personality was defined by what type of watch you had: for me the simple nerdy gal I preferred the solid colors with of course my Swatch guard. What's a Swatch guard? well, it's like a pocket protector for your Swatch watch. Have no freaking idea if it actually protected your plastic Swatch, but it looked cool and that's all that mattered in the 1980s (some poor souls who were desperate to protect their Swatches resorted to using a twisted rubber band instead to protect it. I'll give them points for ingenuity, but no points for style).

You know what makes me feel old? Is when they sell Swatch watches that I used to wear on the Internet and classify them as "vintage" - if I only had a Back to the Future Delorean to go back in time and save my watches - found out some of these babies go for over $1000 now. 

I loved my Swatch watch. Radical.

Flashback Friday: Mom

I don't know why I love this photo so much. I think I might be digging the whole vintage 70s look to it: that shag carpet, that floral sofa, that faux baroque looking lamp in the background. Or could it be our cute matching gowns (I'm the one on the far left rocking the ponytails) or my mom's muumuu with slippers look. 

But what really resonates with me now is how TIRED my mom looks in this photo. For gosh darn sake she has four little kids 6 years and younger! (and she doesn't yet realize she'll soon be pregnant with her fifth child). 

Being a mom is tiring work...period. I struggle with two and my mom was able to raise five fairly well-adjusted individuals in a time with no mobile devices. 

So I just wanted to wish a Happy Early Mom's Day to the most awesome mom I know.  And even though it has been proven that watching TV too close to the screen does not make you blind and eating watermelon seeds will not cause a branch to grow out of your belly button, I still think you are a wise mother who has taught me some of my most valuable lessons in life.  

I love you mom. 

Flashback Friday: Jude Law

True story. In October of 1995, my sister and I visited New York City and saw Jude Law's private parts. Let me back track...

We went to see this off-Broadway play called Indiscretions because the actress Kathleen Turner was supposed to be in it. When we got to the play, we found our Kathleen Turner was ill and her understudy was taking her place. We were a bit disappointed, but we decided to watch the play anyways (turned out to be a good decision).

The son was played by a young actor named Jude Law, whose first scene was in a bathtub talking to his girlfriend (trivia: the girlfriend was played by Cynthia Nixon, who would later play Miranda in Sex and the City). It was your normal chit-chat scene until Jude Law came out of the bathtub in all his morning glory! His bits and pieces, twig and berries hanging out for all to see! (I can go on and on with the euphemisms but you get my drift). My sister and I were literally gob-smacked and soon noticed the majority of the audience were women and most of them were using opera glasses (obviously not their first time watching this play, they came prepared). 

Anyhoo, what happened after that I can't really recall - the play was quite boring, but I remember that actor later when his first starring role in a motion picture came out - Gattaca. No nudity in that movie, but Jude was gorgeous and eventually reached his gorgeous apex with The Talented Mr. Ripley (Jude had a bathtub scene in this movie too - perfect). 

My dear Jude is now showing his age, with the bags under his eyes, the receding hairline...but back in the days he was so gloriously beautiful:

* Sigh * Hey Jude indeed.

(photos via Pinterest)

Flashback Friday: My Favorite Smurf

When I was a kid one of my favorite Saturday morning cartoons was The Smurfs. For those not familiar, The Smurfs was about these little blue creatures, who stood "3 apples tall" and lived in mushroom houses in the forest. They wore white pants and hats and lived as a community sharing chores. They were mostly male, except for Smurfette (later, she was joined by Sassette and by Nanny and Clockwork Smurfette [although, I have no idea who the last two were]). There were of course more nefarious characters who wanted to kill the smurfs, most notably the evil Gargamel. 

There were supposedly more than 100 Smurfs in the village, but of course as a kid you gravitate towards a favorite one. 

This post is dedicated to my favorite Smurf of all time:  Clumsy Smurf. 

Why was he my favorite? These are the reasons:

• He had no agendas, he was lovable and is basically the most amiable of the bunch.
• He had the loose fitting hat (that always seemed to hang a little too low over his eyes) which made him even more adorable
• He was accident prone
• He loves collecting rocks and has a fondness for cute animals - he is a hippie smurf
• He has no apparent job in the village, but he is everyone's friend
• He has that southern accent
• He was best friends with Brainy Smurf, who is inarguably the most annoying Smurf, which goes to show you that Clumsy was the friendliest and most patient smurf

If you grew up watching The Smurfs, who was your favorite blue guy?

Flashback Friday: Milli Vanilli

I'm going to just throw it right out there...I was a big fan of Milli Vanilli back in the days. Like the rest of America, I was mesmerized with these two guys with perfect hair, tight bicycle shorts singing great songs like Girl You Know It's True and Blame it on the Rain. Those of you not familiar with this group, here's what they looked like:

Perfect for the '80s right? All style and what many of us didn't know was that there was basically no substance. It was eventually discovered that they were a fraud. Rob and Fab were a well-oiled lip-syncing creation.  They were stripped of their Grammy for Best New Artist, tried unsuccessfully to prove their singing abilities, and most tragically Rob died of a alcohol and drug overdose in 1998.

As much as I hide in shame saying I loved this group and even went to their concert, I am not ashamed many years later to say I still think Girl You Know It's True and Blame it on the Rain  are damn good songs. It doesn't matter if it was sung by two good looking European guys or two out of shape guys hiding in their mom's basement, these songs are just as singable and enjoyable as they were back in 1989.

Okay, I got that off of my chest, now back to our regular schedule programming...

Flashback Friday: Me

What's more appropriate for my Flashback Friday than ME! Today is my 42nd birthday. Should I look at it as a day of aging? No, I should celebrate it for what it is: the day of my birth and the wonderful memories and experiences I have had over the years. 

Here's looking at you kid with the homemade haircut and the cute yellow dress - hope you have many more years of memories and grand adventures.

Flashback Friday: Grimace

In the grand old debate on what Goofy was (man or dog?) and what Gonzo was (bird or insect?), when I was a kid I wondered what Grimace was (must be something with the letter "G" that makes things ambiguous). 

Those of us ol' timers remember when McDonalds had McDonaldland. McDonaldland was McDonald's marketing tool which began in 1971. The fantasy world was inhabited by Ronald McDonald and his cast of supporting characters (Officer Big Mac, Hamburglar, The Fry Kids, Mayor McCheese, Birdie the Early Bird, to name but a few). Most of these characters traits were easily correlated to who they were: Ronald was a clown, Officer Big Mac and Mayor McCheese were a hamburger and cheeseburger respectively, Hamburglar was a guy who steals hamburgers.  

(via Flickriver)

But what was Grimace? He was a big purple, blobby thing with big round eyes and bushy eyebrows. He originally began as a bad guy who stole milkshakes, but by 1972 he was changed into a good guy and his appearance was made less menacing. 

McDonald's described Grimace as such: "He is a big fuzzy purple fellow and Ronald's special pal."  Thanks McDonalds for making things as clear as mud. 

You know there are just some mysteries which shall forever remain a mystery - like Stonehenge, crop circles, UFOs - I should come to accept that the big purple blobby thing called Grimace shall remain that big purple blobby thing called Grimace. He was officially retired from McDonalds in 2003 - RIP Grimace.

Flashback Friday: The Outsiders

I remember the exact moment my girlish hormones went from "I'm too shy to say I'm crushing on this guy, because I'm still not sure what this is all about" to "Hello cutest guy on the planet! Please become my boyfriend!!!!!!" (had to add all those explanation points, because pre-teen girls say everything excitedly). That moment was 1983 when the movie The Outsiders (based upon the novel by S.E. Hinton) came sauntering into my life. Literally that movie was a living, breathing, Teen Beat magazine, but it had a certain grown-up feel to it because Francis Ford Coppola directed it and there was no cheezy '80s music montage moment (which BTW there is nothing wrong with those '80s music montage moments - The Karate Kid wouldn't be what it is without them).  

Check out this cast:  Patrick Swayze, Rob Lowe, Matt Dillon, Ralph Macchio, C. Thomas Howell, Emilio Estevez and Tom Cruise. All of them in their youthful beauty back then. My particular crushes were on C. Thomas Howell (Ponyboy Curtis) and Rob Lowe (Sodapop Curtis). And when I say "crushes," I mean like your typical over-obsessive teen crushes: plastering my bedroom walls with their posters, buying every possible Teen Beat, Bop, etal magazines, watching subsequent movies made by them...the list goes on and on.  And to be honest, even though my teen crush on C. Thomas has faded, I still find Rob Lowe (who is almost 50 years old) smoking hot. Need proof:

But I digress. The movie does not feel dated either (maybe because the movie was set in the 1960s, but filmed in the 1980s and therefore is hard to pinpoint the look of this movie) and it's score was done by The Godfather's Carmine Coppola and Stevie Wonder did the title track "Stay Gold" (inspired by Robert Frost's poem "Nothing Gold Can Stay"). There is too much cool attached to this film. Those that were disappointed the original film did not include additional scenes based upon the book, Coppola did release his "director's cut" with 22 additional minutes in 2005. 

Want tidbits?

• This was Rob Lowe's first major film role.  He was 17 years old
• The majority of the main cast were under 20 years old, except Patrick Swayze who was in his 30s and Ralph Macchio who was in his 40s (I kid! He was 20, but looked the youngest)
• Director/writer (and Francis Ford Coppola's daughter) Sofia Coppola had a cameo as the girl who kept pestering Matt Dillon for a dime
• The author of The Outsiders, S.E. Hinton, had a cameo as a nurse in one of the hospital scenes
• For those who probably have GIFS or Tumblrs of Tom Cruise running in his movies, he does have a very brief running scene before they fight the Socs in the big rumble scene (also Cruise has the least amount of screen time than the other main cast members)
• Blooper fans? When Matt Dillon (Dally) falls off the chair in the drive-in theatre it was really an accident, but they kept the scene in the movie
• Blush moments for a pre-teen girl: (1) Rob Lowe (Sodapop) coming out of the shower; and (2) Matt Dillon (Dally) in his tightie whities

Yeah, I still love The Outsiders. *Sigh*