Retro fridays and grounded for life

Grounded for life was a sitcom that ran on different networks for at least 4 seasons in the early to mid 2000s(I don't remember the exact amount off the top of my head) and is somewhat of a cult classic

It takes place in new york and the main characters is the finnerty family lead by dad shawn and mom claudia and daughter lilly and sons jimmy and henry. Uncle eddie was also a cast member among with neighbor brad

The premises is the daily lives of the finnerty family and most of the drama involves the kids getting into trouble or shawn doing something childish and it backfires on him.

Some things that happen include lilly lying about getting her driver's license,shawn catching a foul ball that costs the yankees a game, shawn getting addicted to internet porn and blaming it on jimmy, lilly and neighbor brad having sex

The show was good because of the chemistry and the acting and writing of the main characters among with some good guest stars like kelso and jackie from that 70's show(not at the same time though). I'm not sure if it's streamable but if you can find it I highly suggest you watch it

On april 29 1992 the rodney king riots started

If your not familar with them, the basis is that 4 police officers were acquitted of all charges against the beating of a man named rodney king therefore leading to widespread rioting in south central los angeles

Why such a big deal? well the beating was captured on video so it is obvious the police officers went way too far with the beating. Also at the time in 1992, racial tensions were high and the lapd was(still is) corrupt with a clear bias against blacks

The riots were a protest that it is not okay for police officers to beat up a man then get off scott free. The riots started moments after the trial ended

Officers were arresting a gang member that drew the attention of residents and quickly the lapd was clearly outnumbered and ordered to leave the area by the L.T. of the lapd

Things escalated from there with no police presence and continued for days until the national guard rolled in. It is still relevant as Baltimore had similar riots last year and police brutality still is a hot button issue

Link to the wiki for more details

Watching Craig Sager on TNT makes me sad

By tnt I mean the nba games that they air. Craig Sager used to always be at games as a sideline reporter and he is known for wearing brightly colored, usually patterned suits. He has leukemia and at first he did successfully fight it but it came back strong

Hopefully he lives a long life and he gets to retire from broadcasting and then he can have father son time but it doesn't seem like it if you have seen his last tv appearance. No one knows how long he'll live but I hope it's measured in years and not months but it's unlikely since he is in bad shape

Retro saturdays and clayfighter

The clayfighter series is a fighting game that spoofs street fighter and later on, killer instinct. Like it's name suggests, it is a fighting game involving wood ok that's a joke. It's a fighting game where all the characters and the majority of the environments are made of clay

The gameplay is very similar to street fighter 2 but with the addition of claytalities. The characters range from an elvis spoof to a oprah singer to a blob and a tough rabbit and a snowman. The 2nd game spoofs terminator 2 and the 3rd is a spoof of killer instinct 2

I have played all 4 of the games and was hoping the 5th ps1 game didn't get cancelled but oh well. Now that street fighter and killer instinct and tekken have had recent releases it would be a great time for a new clayfighter game

If you never played one then clayfighter 1 or 2 for the snes or genesis are great starting points for this lighthearted take on the fighting genre

Retro fridays and the taco bell chihuahua

If your not familar with the taco bell chihuahua, he(she actually) was a tiny chihuahua that taco bell used as a mascot in 1997 and 1998 and I think a few years after that. He could talk and he would always mention what new product he wanted

He was made famous with the 1st commercial where he walks up to a man eating taco bell and says "yo quiero taco bell" from then his popularity exploded. I got a chihuahua because of that commercial.

Taco bell made stuffed talking dogs as toys that you might still see at flea markets and thrift stores and yard sales or (rarely) in the back window of a car. I have 2 of them that I got at the heyday of the craze

Like all good things, it had to end and taco bell slowly phased out the chihuahua

Retro fridays and mighty morphin power rangers

Mighty morphin power rangers is the first 3 seasons of the power rangers saga after which it would change names every season. It is the most iconic and nostalgia filled of the power rangers story

I grew up watching reruns after school and on saturday afternoons. MMPR is responsible for my bad homework ethic when I was a little kid but I corrected that as I got older. Anyways It is a formulaic childern's tv show where 5(later 6) teenagers with attitude use their morphing powers to defeat the monsters sent by rita repulsa

The backstory is that rita was in a space dumpster for 10 thousand years then was freed by her goons meanwhile ancient arch rival zordon gives powers to 5 teenagers to help combat the evil rita. Her method to destroy the rangers is to have a goon build some more goons from clay(they are baked) called putties

They are quickly destroyed by the rangers then rita sends a monster that quickly gets in way over it's head so rita makes it grow huge. The rangers then call on their zords and join them together to form the megazord. They always destroy the enemy and everyone is happy

Later on lord zedd joins rita and they get married(he's also jewish and wore a yamica) and they fail as a couple so rita's brother joins too(the evil lair gets pretty crowded). Meanwhile 3 rangers leave the team and 3 new ones join and eventually a 4th one joins the cast while one departs. The zords change throughout the series

By season 3 I felt like this show had too much change and I barely recognized it so I didn't watch much of that season. Even the bullies(bulk and skull) become jr policemen and the rangers pick up some power cycles. Only the theme song stayed the same and a few minor characters and 2 rangers throughout the whole 3 seasons

The theme song is incredibly cool and I have it as a ringtone, the green and red rangers are the coolest ones and I even went as the red ranger for one halloween. The green ranger became the white one and he was the leader of the group even though the red ranger was the previous leader

The show became an instant pop culture hit and it still is today but it went out of style in the late 90's and I got made fun of then for liking mmpr. It's funny that those same people now compliment my mmpr shirts. I still have a childhood red ranger and black ranger action figures I got for christmas one year

I went to a yard sale on saturday that was retro

By saturday I mean last week on saturday just to be clear. The yard sale had only hot wheels. Most of them were from the early 90's(my favorite time period and hw period) to the early 2000's. I was only interested in the early 90's ones though

I like the sleek clean look of the card art and the rims on a lot of the cars and the cars themselves. This yard sale was like my dream yard sale(another would be if I see one where a mom is selling her son's box of micro machines for $5) as there was a lot of older hot wheels

I got some I have loose and my favorite is the wienermobile and the bmw 323 and the corvette stingray and the '57 chevy and the jeep(trailbuster) and the red SL500 and the 850i

Today is the 17th anniversary of columbine

The one thing I most remember about 4/20(besides my bday being 4 months away) is the columbine shootings. I remember being confused over why would someone do this and what if it happened when I was in school

The sad part is that school shootings still happened and continue to happen(such as sandy hook and shootings in mexico) no matter what kind of control is placed on guns. The 2 shooters also had home made bombs that failed to explode so that day could have been a lot more tragic

It is easy to blame video games however the shooters had serious mental issues and snapped, it's as simple as that. Whenever I am at a school and the fire alarm goes off I half expect it to be for a shooter on campus and that scares me a lot

I have usually being in bathrooms when alarms go off so if the unthinkable were to happen, I would hide behind the door and wait for a shooter to come in and crouch low then trip them and hit them with their gun

I went to the swap meet on wednesday

and I figure I post some of my finds and I went to the swap meet last month too but I didn't post those finds either. I been busy editing random pictures and activating my phone and searching for phones on ebay

Anyways on wednesday I got 2 cracked magazines from the 90's(one from 1997 and spoofs goosebumps and the other from 1994 and spoofs mmpr) yes cracked used to be a magazines before it became a comedy website

I don't remember what else I got(seriously) except for the packaged early 90's hot wheels. Oh wait I did get one loose hot wheels car but I don't remember(I think it's still in my backpack) oh and I got a usb optical mouse that was new for $1

I love early 90's hot wheels and those were easily the best hw finds I had in awhile. I got 14 of them(I had 3 others the seller was selling) and because I'm OCD, I got packaged versions of loose cars I already own

Ok the loose car wasn't a hot wheels and it was a bmw 325 station wagon with rubber tires with 1 single screw holding the body together

Today I got even more early 90's hws at a yard sale and I will post pics on another blog post that I will get to tomorrow

My mom's taurus

Throughout my childhood my mom owned a 1st generation ford taurus. I remember how smooth the ride was and how much leg room it had too(although I was a child) and how round it was(cars were still boxy at that time) and I still miss it

I came close last month to buying one but I won't make an impulse buy on a car no matter how good the deal is. If I ever own one I'll blast smells like teen spirit and ice ice baby and other early 90's songs

This picture was taken by mom with a polaroid, yes back then it was the cheapest way to take pictures and it was still expensive because film was around $4(I wish polaroid film cost $4 for a pack of 10) but my mom decided to take this pic and I thank her for it

Retro fridays and pokemon the tv show

Yes pokemon is still on tv but the one that brings me the most nostalgia is the 1st season. It premiered in the usa before the games were released

It's what introduced kids like me into the world of pokemon and the 1st episode is still a classic. I remember seeing that mysterious bird and thinking it was a fearow which would later turn out to be a ho-oh and from that moment there was already more then 151 pokemon

New episodes were on saturdays and I had saturday school usually(for 1st communion) so I would record each episode

I stopped watching about 2 or 3 episodes after togipi hatched as by that point(mid point of season 1) I felt like the show lost a lot of steam. I still haven't watched any newer episodes but I hold the 1st half of season 1 in my heart

Today is kobe bryant's last game

As a huge lakers fan since birth(my middle name is kareem after kareem abdul jabbar) I will miss him and I will record it to have it and rewatch over and over

I went to the last 2 lakers championship parades(one with my dad and the other with my friends) and I wanted to go to the 3peat parades but I was in school at the time. Kobe has been playing for more then half my life(he's also spent half his life in the nba)

I remember when he wore the jordan bulls jersey before a game and when he wore a wayne gretsky jersey too. I miss the fro he had in the early 2000's

He was dominant since then and still in his early 20's. I remember watching all the early 2000's laker playoffs games and how they were a beast

I have a picture I took of kobe at the parade that I'll post another time but for now I already miss kobe

I'm already going through the people vs oj withdrawals

I enjoyed tuning in every week to catch a new episode. It was something you would plan your whole day round and now it's finished. Sure it would have been hard to extend the series so I am aware it had to end. That time sure did go by fast

I got used to living in 1994 and 1995 each week

Retro saturdays and the frosted tips fad

Tips as in hair tips. In the late 90's to early 2000's it was cool to frost your hair tips usually by some sort of hair bleach although there was also gels that made it easier. It was usually done in orange or white and paired with fubu jeans and/or baggy t-shirts regardless of race

Drew Carey, Slim Shady, Justin Timberlake and George Clooney are some of the big name celebrities that took part in the fad. I wanted to frost my tips but my mom wouldn't let me and I'm glad she didn't

I don't have any embarrassing pictures from my childhood and now people that took part in the fad like to pretend that time in their life didn't exist

Retro fridays and the kurt angle you suck chants

If your not familar with the chants, former wwe wrestler kurt angle used to have a catchy theme music. Around 2002 or 2003(I'm not sure on the exact date) wwe wrestler edge, made fun of kurt angle and started a you suck chant in kurt's theme music

That became instantly popular and every time kurt came out people would chant the you suck. Even after kurt turned babyface(good guy) he was still serenaded with the you suck chants. Fans really got into it and he knew it was in good fun

It's even in wwe smackdown here comes the pain. I miss kurt angle and the chants
Here's what you would hear when kurt angle would come out

Retro fridays and the hyundai scoupe

Your probably thinking what is an scoupe and is it a real car and yes it is a real car. It is a 2 door version of the hyundai excel and is the 1st sporty car made by hyundai

Sold from the late 80's to the mid 90's, it was a 2 door 4 cylinder sporty car as a competitor to the toyota paseo and ford tempo. I have yet to see one in person as they weren't that reliable and many of them went to the crusher

So why is it retro? I can imagine someone in 1990 or 1992 or 1991 driving one of these and blasting ice ice baby. They would have thought they were the coolest with their zubaz pants and chicago bulls hat and pump up shoes

The people vs oj part 10 aka the last episode

It's no secret what the verdict would be in this trial so it's come to this. I don't remember that much of the episode since it was 90 minutes long and I had work today so I was focused on providing great customer service. Anyways what I do remember is that everyone is happy to finally see the ending of the trial

There is a scene where oj is in jail and a guard asks him for his autograph and tells oj from what he hears from his guard buddies at the jury hotel, that it looks like oj will be free soon. Marcia clark and chris darden and johnny cochran all give a closing statement

Now it's up to the jury so they all go to a meeting room while the lawyers and everyone else involved in the trial think it is a mini vacation and the verdict won't be for awhile. Surprise! we see the jury argue amongst themselves with one juror stubbornly admitting he will only vote not guilty and nothing can convince them

Another juror suggests everyone pay attention to the facts like the blood evidence. The verdict is reached in 4 hours which seems to be really fast(even if they also had lunch) so the lawyers have to rush to the courtroom where the decision is announced

He ends up being not guilty in case you didn't know and then old news footage of the real reactions from various people in 1995 is shown. Robert Kardashian is sick to his stomach that a guilty man is innocent and he throws up in a bathroom sink

He has a "I knew he did it" glance with marcia and they both understand each other. Marcia, chris and gil give a press conference that ends with chris crying. I don't remember much of the episode and I believe there was 30 mins left but I am drawing a blank. Oh there was a part at the end where it shows the real picture of that person such as robert kardashian and it tells them what they did after the trial

I half expected for oj to be guilty in this show as a way to draw interest

Tonight is the last episode of the people vs oj simpson

It seems like yesterday it started and now the show is coming to a conclusion. It's pretty obvious what happens next courtroom wise but what matters is how it happens. This show has a knack for creating drama thanks to it's writing and acting and atmosphere

What if the show takes a complete turn down the rabbit hole and decides that oj is guilty and he goes to jail. That would create a huge chatter among the internet. I hope there's an american crime story series about the black dahlia murder or joseph mengal

Today is the 22th anniversary of kurt cobain's death

It's hard to believe it's been that long but it has. I wish he was still around to make music but it's not up to me. I remember when you know your right came out and it was a huge deal because it was a new actual nirvana song that was made by the band in a studio

Smells like teen spirit still has a strong impact today since it's always on various radio stations. However my favorite nirvana song is serve the servants among with the whole in utero album

He may be gone but he certainly isn't forgotten. Looks like teenage angst has paid off well

Quick update on me

Ok my 1st day at my new job was this past saturday and I did okay. Obviously I could be faster and more efficient but it's not like I over charged someone or gave them extra change. The locations of certain cigarette brands still throw me off

 Anyways I return on wednesday then I'll find out the rest of my schedule. I plan on keeping this job for ahwile(pronounce like in family guy) as I like the atmosphere and location and co workers

My mom is proud of me for once(she's still in mexico) and that's pretty much all that's been happening in my life. Well besides the fact that I been building a huge skyscraper like house on minecraft pe and I found out that ned's newt(a childhood show of mine) is on qubo

Retro saturdays and street fighter alpha 3

I believe that sfa3 is the pinnacle of the alpha series. Gameplay wise it is similar to most street fighters except you can choose to have 3 level specials or a custom combo gauge via varous -isms. It has a big roster of fighters with my favorites being ken and akuma

The playstation and dreamcast versions have a world tour mode that lets you increase the stats of your fighter. Since this is a street fighter game it's all about the gameplay. It is tight with great feedback and a smooth framerate

I didn't play this much in the arcades but I played a lot of the ps1 port when it was released. It's one of my favorite playstation games that I treasure highly

Street fighter alpha 3 is a game you must play even if you have never played a street fighter game, it's that good.

Retro fridays and tmnt turtles in time

It's unofficial name is tmnt IV but a lot more people know it as turtles in time. If your not familar, turtles in time is an arcade beat'em up game that was also ported to the super nintendo(gaining an extra level in the process) and it is the sequel to the original tmnt arcade game

The graphics are in the style of the cartoon show and I believe the sound effects and voices are also faithful. The levels have a big variety with my favorite being the pirate ship level. The addictive nature among with the co-op gameplay make this a great must play game

Sure it's a little sure but you will have fun during the experience and it's not too cheap(the enemies) or too hard

 

Retro saturdays and jurassic park

Unlike some kids I did not see jurassic park until a lot later. I'm not even sure when I did see it(probably right before the lost world came out) but I do remember it being an extremely cool movie

I like any other little boy, loved the trex scene especially when he chases the jeep wrangler.The idea of living dinosaurs intrigued me and the effects are great too