What We All Can Learn from 80's and 90's TV

Born in 1980, I have developed extremely deep nostalgia and a passionate love affair with classic television. Particularly mid-80's to late-90's TV shows.  Before the reality boom, before digital media. A time-capsuled snapshot of a fascinating era in history. I feel very lucky to have been alive during those pioneering stages, a medium that has morphed greatly in the past 20 years. Yet no matter how people choose to get their entertainment, television will continue to shape the landscape of human evolution until the very end of times.

Television started as three networks. That's it. Only three ways for our government to pass on news and information to it's people, to instill it's country with moral values and life lessons and of course, tell us what to eat, where to go, and what to buy. And as the phenomenon caught on, more channels developed. MTV for music. HBO for movies. I was addicted. The whole country was. My whole family was. I was raised by a television set.

Television was a third parent to me.  Sesame Street taught me how to spell, count, and introduced me to the various people in my neighborhood.  Mr Rogers taught me how to socialize and treat others with kindness. Reading Rainbow, Square 1 and 3,2,1 Contact taught me how to read, do math and appreciate science.

The Cosby Show helped show me that a person's race doesn't matter. If not simply for the fact that my father, a man raised in a different time, looked up to Bill Cosby and thought he was one of the greatest entertainers of all-time.

Different Strokes and the great Gary Coleman taught me that families didn't always have to be related biologically and above all else, black people can be hysterical.

Nancy Reagan's cameo on Punky Brewter taught me that drugs are bad.  Mr. T taught me that moms are good.  Pee Wee Herman taught me to take pictures, simply because they lasted longer.

Who's the Boss taught me that men could also have female roles and vice versa.  Plus. I had no clue at the time what Mona was talking about, but I knew she was one dirty old grandma... and that was funny to me!

The Golden Girls taught me that old people can be awesome. Also, I believe Dorothy, Blanche, Rose and Sophia helped my mother learn that after spending her entire life in New York City, moving to Florida wasn't so bad after all. Those USA Network and TBS repeats were a mainstay on my family television set throughout the years.

Married with Children, Roseanne and The Simpsons taught me that we were all middle class. Silver Spoons, Benson and The Fresh Prince of Bel-air showed me how the other half lived.
And Home Improvement had my entire family walking around the house grunting for at least a year.

Full House taught me that babies are cute, Family Matters taught me that family matters, and Perfect Strangers showed me that foreigners can be lovable and hilarious. Let's also not forget the greatest dance I've ever known, The Dance of Joy.    

The Wonder Years made me interested in our generations past, and Alf made me fantasize about space and the future. I can't be the only kid who ever dreamed of going to Melmac, right?

Knight Rider made me want to drive. Wings made me want to fly. Cheers made me want to drink, but only until Blossom came along and I found out what a drunk really was. Stupid Tony.

As a teenager, ABC After School Specials, 90210 and Saved By The Bell taught me about the dangers of drunk driving, steroids, date rape, cocaine and of course, caffeine pills. They made me feel so excited, so excited, so... scared!

Last but not least, Friends and Seinfeld made me want to move to New York City, where I felt magnetically inclined to move shortly after I graduated college.

You see, without TV during these formative years, I never would have known that outside my own little bubble existed a wondrous world of possibilities. This beautiful medium taught me life lessons that I never could've learned from a textbook.  Trust me. I didn't retain much information from textbooks, however I can recite almost every line from almost every theme song from the shows listed above, all without having to google the lyrics.

TV made me daydream. TV made me wonder. But above all else, TV kept me from being bored.

Quote Of My Day

"You can't control other people's actions/feelings, but you can control your own, so get the fuck over yourself" ~ unknown. and I threw in a fuck and changed it from "it" to "yourself". I like to curse and I like to give myself reality checks every now and then.

Too much work for a Friday. Too much work for my own good. Good weekend to all and to all a Good Weekend.

If you remember this short-lived Growing Pains spinoff that aired almost all day on USA for the following years in syndication, you get a brownie. God bless those "Lubbock Babes" when you're a 12 year-old boy (they're last name was Lubbock and it was the name of their quartet pop singing group... I'm not misogynistic)

Selfish People

I'm convinced that 99% of our population has narcissistic personality disorder. Definition, Wikipedia, I know I know, but Wikipedia kinda rocks the shit now: a pervasive pattern of grandiosity, need for admiration, and a lack of empathy. The narcissist is described as turning inward for gratification rather than depending on others and as being excessively preoccupied with issues of personal adequacy, power, and prestige. Narcissistic personality disorder is closely linked to self-centeredness."

If you don't believe me that so much of our population is riddled with this disease, just go on Facebook. I've never actually done this, but would be interested to see someone who dared to try. I just see so much narcissism on Facebook, it supports my claim ten fold. You should try it. The next time you see someone reaching out, feeling so bad about themselves that they feel the need to share it with their world of friends/co-workers/ex-schoolmates/adquaintances, whether it's in an update or just hating how they look in pics and fishing for compliments. Pick up the phone and call that person. Tell them you knew they were sad and wanted to know if they want to talk. Listen to them bitch, they will really appreciate you care enough to pick up the phone and call them, trust me. Then, contact them when you have an issue, even if it's made up, just do it, see if they care, do they listen to you? probably not. They'll more than likely just wait until it's their turn to talk, cut you off a few times in the process and then give some story about how their baby is waking up from a nap, they need to do some work or that they're "hubby" will be home soon from work and they need to finish dinner. "Hubby". Who knew that people still referred to their husband as hubby until Facebook came along? And if they do comment on your situation direct, they'll find a way to tie it into their situation after you're done speaking. These people should not procreate.

I have NO IDEA how this ties into what I just wrote. But I just stumbled upon this and can't believe I forgot about this cheesy ass sitcom. "Be Good To Yourself... and Each Other" ~ Jerry Springer.

Stress and the Economy

So what's the deal yahoo?  One day after our day off because we all work so hard, you decide to remind me that shit's about to go down?  Just like the youngsters head back to school, after Labor Day our country decides it's time to put us back to work after having the summer to relax, go to the beach, sip iced tea and snooze in hammocks.  Now it's time to buckle down and accomplish.  I guess.   Here are the two top links that appear when you go onto the yahoo home page.  My opinion, the largest ranging "news" source in America.

1. http://realestate.yahoo.com/promo/americas-most-stressful-cities-2009.html.  Stress.  Are you stressed? Are your bills too high and your job sucks?  Ever feel like jumping off a building or driving head first into traffic.  Don't fret, you don't live in the most stressful city in America according to this article.  What's that? You're still stressed? Well fuck you because I do live in the most stressful city in America so I don't want to hear yous bitchin'.  The factors for making Chicago stressful are crowding, poor air quality, a high unemployment rate and free-falling home values.  Luckily for me, I like being able to disappear into a sea of people, I smoke cigarettes, I have a job and don't own a home yet because I'm too much of a gypsy drifter.  So, I guess I can't get mad at you for bitching if you want to.  Feel free to vent.  I do possess the trait of empathy so pass the tissues, we all got issues.

2. http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090908/bs_nm/us_competitiveness_report.  What's up America? Losing a competitive competition with the Swiss?!?! Your economy used to be competitive as shit, what's happening? Losing your game USA?  We've always been the most competitive nation in the world according to this competitiveness (is that even a word?) report.  So what's the deal?  Turning soft?  You'll never make it into the NFL with that attitude.  I feel this article is offered to us to inspire us to get those competitive juices flowing; That race to get promoted between you and what's his face; That rush to the other security lane at the airport cutting off at least 10 people while doing so but who gives a fuck because I got places to go mother fucker!;  That massive brawl at Walmart between hoards of baby boomers at the crack of dawn the day after Thanksgiving to get little Johnny that video game that he wants so badly, and if he gets it, he'll be the coolest kid in class and you will be a good parent.  Come on America!  Quit being a bunch of fucking pussies!  Get competitive!  

I hate yahoo news.   This is fitting and I do like Dolly.  4 Day work week this week. Holla.

Movie Review: 500 Days of Bummer

Okay, this movie wasn't that bad, but who could resist such a quirky title for a movie review?  Perhaps it was the buildup, the anticipation, the being told by more than one movie-opinion-trusted friend how '500 Days of Summer' was the best movie of the year; the "When Harry Met Sally of our generation".  Who would not be disappointed when the movie that was pitched in the trailer as an anti-fairy-tale romantic comedy still turned out to be a fairy-tale romantic comedy?  A cleverly masked one to reel in the gents, but still a typical boy meets girl, girl meets boy, boy and girl live happily ever after.  It's just done differently.

I am making this a point to write a movie review for the flicks I see because the new site will be launched soon and there will be an entire section devoted to "Movie Reviews".  This is my first attempt... and it's taken me awhile strangely.  Just in case anyone is interested on my take.  I will do my best not to spoil anything major about the plot, therefore if I mention something in depth about the movie, it means the information was either already revealed in the trailer or the information will not ruin your experience of a movie unfolding before your eyes.  That being said, if you're like me, you avoid reviews until after you see the movie.  If that's you too, please feel free to comment on your take, even if you strongly disagree with my assessment, I want to understand why or why not particular movies resinate with some people and not with others.

Quote of the Movie: Narrator: "There are two different types of people in this world: men and women."

First off, while I didn't walk out of this movie with the "OMG, like I'm gonna go Twitter everyone to see this movie" type attitude (I don't tweet by the way, that was a joke), I want to acknowledge that the strong direction of Marc Webb handling Scott Neusdadter & Michael H. Weber's script was both imaginative and original.  Set in Los Angeles, we are immediately introduced to two characters, Tom and Summer, by a narrator who stays with us the entire movie as an omniscient observer.  Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) grew up with the belief that he would never truly be happy until he meets "the one".  Although his parents consistently fought in front of him, they stayed married throughout his "happy" New Jersey suburban upbringing.  Summer (adorably & aggrivatingly played by Zooey Deschenel in her best performance yet) grew up in the suburbs of Michigan.   Having a hard time dealing with the divorce of her parents at age 10, Summer  never quite bought into the unrealistic Disney-esque fairy-tale expectations of "the one".  Summer developed an obsession with cutting off chunks of her hair after realizing that it didn't hurt her and that the hair will eventually and always grow back.  She grew up being spoiled by both parents, being showered with love, gifts and money on both sides.  She grew up pretty, a cheerleader, popular, the kind of woman who has always gotten things for cheap or nothing at all because people just naturally want to help her.  This is all displayed to us from a narrator before the credits ever roll, and when they do, we're greeted with a clever creative montage after being told flat out : This is not a love story.  These two people do not wind up together.

When Summer starts a job as an administrative assistant at the greetings card company that Tom writes for, Tom instantly falls in love the second they meet.  Summer doesn't believe in love at first sight and due to a few mutual traits they share and the "idea of Summer", Tom falls in head over heels.  Due to an infatuation with how Tom sees love, and skillfully revealing that Summer deep down wants to feel that too, she enters the relationship and the two are a happy domestic couple for the next few months.  Then Summer gets bored and that's how the dissolution of their relationship plays out over the following days, months, and almost two years.  The director plays with time so we are constantly switching days as we switch scenes so we really get to see every stage of a breakup, this time seen more through the emotional rollercoaster that is Tom.  This is where it's different from other romantic comedies, it's seen from a guy's perspective.

We see funny and entertaining interactions between Tom and his two best friends, Paul (Matthew Grey-Gubner) who has been in the same relationship with the same woman since high school and Paul (Geoffrey Arend) who has never been in a relationship in his life.  The two offer the best advice to help their friend out, but it's essentially Tom's adolescent sister Rachel (Chloe Moretz), she is my favorite character in the film, who is the only person to get through to Tom as he breaks down as Summer slowly pulls away from him.

The only thing I didn't like about this movie was Tom's character and Gordon-Levitt's acting. While obviously written as a semi- autobiography by the writers, I believe Levitt's portrayal goes too over the line of pathetic-ness, so over that line that you start to lose respect for his character.  I think he did the best he could do with that role, however it made this 90-minute movie seem way too long for me.  I also was disappointed with the ending.  I will not spoil that because well, it's the ending and that's kind of the reason you see a movie; to find out what happens. However for me, the ending turned this anti-fairy tale romantic comedy into just a regular romantic comedy.  It didn't really teach me anything, it merely just pointed out how happy, sad, romantic, angry, grief-stricken, depressing emotionally draining and rejuvinating a failed relationship can be.  Unfortunately, the dissection of failed relationships is a very relatable theme for people.  While I don't quite agree with their take on the mystery of love, partly because I have nothing but failed relationships to compare this movie to, I am however excited to see what Webb, Neustadter, Weber and especially Deschenel do next.  I've liked her since Elf.

Best Song on the Soundtrack: Regina Spektor "Us".

Please check out other Regina Spektor songs if you like, she's got skills.

Horoscopes

So when I am connected to myself, I feel a certain connection to tides and currents.  and yes, I read my horoscope every morning.  Perhaps it's a bit hippie-ish, a big stoner-ish, or just a bit gay-ish.  But thats....okay.  This is mine today, and I can't agree with it more pertaining to how I've been feeling lately.  I had a restful yet fun weekend, and this week shall be an easy-going one with no bullshit drama; only real ideas, people and exchanges.  I'll make god damn sure of it.

Pisces:

"Every now and then, you need to get emotionally intense, experience a tender exchange of sentiments or just sit down and have a heart-to-heart with someone. This is definitely one of those times. You won't settle for anything that even remotely smacks of a surface encounter. You want depth, intensity and passion -- and if you don't get them, you'll take your toys and go home."

I'm sick of superficial bullshit.  I live in a region of the nation that thrives off of superficial bullshit encounters with one another.  I'm done with it.  Bring it deep or take it to the streets people.  Life's too short to play games.

Chaos!

Okay, I feel terrible.  I just realized that I have only posted ONE entry in the month of August.  To the few people who actually read this, I'm sorry, but really I'm not sorry to you, but to me.  Because I have discovered that writing on this site is very therapeutic for me and today, well every person I've met has been in chaos, unravelled, ready to explode.  I'm overseeing the taping of two Judge Mathis cases today and the weather is miserable so people are miserable.  I'm listening to a lot of Tupac.  

Has anyone watched an episode of Punky Brewster recently?  It's about an orphan who meets an old lonely man and he becomes her foster parent.  Real topical for it's time.  I saw an episode last night.  Really, it's much better when you're five, however it's an interesting show nonetheless.  Makes me wish I lived in Chicago during the early 80's.  Is that possible?  Has anyone invented a time machine yet damnit!?  The show only lasted a few seasons because Soleil Moon Frye grew up and grew enormous boobs, she needed a breast REDUCTION surgery.  I had never heard of that procedure before Soleil Moon Frye came along.  Thanks to the daughter of hippies for introducing me to a plastic surgery I would have to say "NO!!!!" to if ever approached by someone saying "I think I should get a breast reduction surgery."