Retro fridays and motorola razr phone

Ah the razr phone, in the mid 00's this phone was THE it phone. You were a big balla final boss type if you had a motorola razr. This was in the prime of flip phones and while the razr was a flip phone, it was an ultra thin sleek and sexy flip phone that still looks good today. At the time it was pretty powerful and had neat things such as a sd card slot(I think it was mini or micro sd) and a built in video and music player. These are all things we take for granted on modern phones

Motorola tried the thin look on the droid but nothing tops the original. I still want a razr even it only makes me look retro cool

Retro fridays and the ketchup song

If you were around in the early 00's you most likely have the heard the ketchup song even if you didn't realize it. It is well known for it's chorus that sounds like gibberish and to me sounds like "I said a hey a ha" It was everywhere in 2002 and parts of 2003. The song was released to be a world wide phenomenon like the macarena but it ended up more like a 15 minute wonder similar to ice ice baby or gangnam style

The song is not about ketchup and it is extremely catchy. There was a music video that introduced a dance with your fingers and that's pretty much the gist of this song. Just as quickly as it came into our lives, it was gone and forgotten about unless you blast it at a party

Listening to it takes me back to 2002 and how I wanted to get away from it, how quickly the time did go

One last thing, there are 3 versions(Portuguese,spanish and english and spanisht together) so here is the link to the english spanish version

Retro fridays and tru calling

"Wake me, wake me up inside" that is how I got introduced to the tv show tru calling by the commercial. Yes they used an evanescence song. Anyways I didn't watch much of tru calling as it seem to air on different nights each week. I imagine it was a game at the board room meeting "lol let's just confuse viewers" and that is pretty much what happened

Anyways the show revolves around tru(yes that is actually her name) who is a medical student and takes a gig at a morgue. A corpse of a woman comes back to life and I needed to change my pants. Tru finds out she can talk to dead people and she uses that power to solve murders

I only remember it for eliza dushku and apparently I wasn't alone. The show was cancelled because of low ratings, I'm surprised it lasted that long. I don't remember any episodes so I can't say if it was good or not as the show was extremely forgettable but I do remember the commercials

I keep finding even more new crystal pepsi

I mentioned in my last post how crystal pepsi is like a resident evil zombie, it keeps coming back long after it's dead or in this case off the market. Crystal pepi's shelf life was only through august and it didn't last all of august either, it was released on the 5th or 8th and was gone shortly after in the low 20's of the month. Well 9 days ago I went with my mom and sister to corner bakery, they went and I walked to a big lots that was close by

I checked the fridge like usual and found about 12 crystal pepsi's from my rough calculations. I also checked for hot wheels like usual and that was a bust. I bought 7 crystal pepsi's and a monster rojo tea energy drink(it was $1) and some dewshine and the ubermonster. I made a quick plan to come back on tuesday as on monday I was going to goodwill(where I got a minecraft creeper shirt). On tuesday my stash of 90's nostalgia soda was reduced to a paltry 5 crystal pepsi. I bought all 5 and made plans to go to another big lots the next day(wednesday)

I went early wednesday to door warm for big lots(wait outside until they open) and what kind of person door warms for big lots? maybe the mom who is dropping her kids off from school after going to a grocery store. Sadly there was no crystal pepsi or dewshine or ubermonster at this big lots. In case your wondering, these are both in my town but in different areas, I rode a bus that costs 25 cents so I only spent $1 on bus fare for both trips to big lots

The story doesn't end there, this past sunday as in 2 days ago, my mom and sister went to a grocery store close to where I found those 12 or 14 crystal pepsi's. I walked to that big lots to buy some powerade and I see one lonely crystal pepsi in the mini fridge by the registers. It was the only one in the store and may have truly been the last new crystal pepsi I see in forever unless it comes back again or I somehow find another store that sells it like I seem to do

Hm....there is another big lots in the next town over that I haven't been to

P.S. All those white cap bottles are crystal pepsi's

Yesterday's marlins game was incredibly sad

The show must go on and the marlins had a game to play against the mets as scheduled. Before the game even started there was people crying outside the stadium in front of a makeshift memorial. Everyone in the crowd had reddish eyes with some people full on bawling and others trying to hold it together. The national anthem was extremely powerful this time out with notorious robot/unemotional barry bonds shedding a tear

A local high school band played take me out to the ball game on trumpets but slowed the tempo down so it was very similar to taps. This is where many people started full on crying, I know it was very hard to not burst out and cry. Giancarlo stanton had reddish eyes the whole time and he was crying at times. Yoenis cespedes also was crying as the teams hugged each other with his hugs lasting the longest. It is amazing to see how many people this young man touched and how many players just looked like they wanted to cry

When it came time to go to the dugout all the marlins players were just sitting and staring and crying slowly. This is more of a tear jerker then any chick flick and it was real. I liked how dee gordon got into the batter's box from where jose usually bats and he had on his batting helmet and did his foot wiggle that jose used to do when he would bat. Then he switched to the other side and hit a home run. What made this more amazing is that dee gordon is not a home run hitter, in fact this was his first one this season

All the players for the marlins had number 16 jerseys with fernandez on the back among with some flowers and his jersey in the dugout. As the game went on it got a little bit easier, players were actually smiling and enjoying themselves until the end

At the start, giancarlo gave a peptalk and the players held up one finger, well at the end all the players made a circle around the mound and left their hats for jose. Don mattingly even kissed the dirt, it gets better, dee gordon was intertviewed and you can tell he wanted to cry and at the end when the camera shifted out to the reported well his eyes were red and he wanted to cry too

I had to watch it in bits and pieces as it was too emotionally draining and sad. Even if you don't like baseball or don't watch it, you have to watch this and you'll feel the energy and emotion from the crowd and players

Jose Fernandez and Vin Scully have they're last days today

The most saddening one is the death of jose fernandez. He is already missed and you can tell by various teams such as the mets and dodgers having a jersey with his name on it and number, hanging in the dug out. When someone hit a home run off him, he didn't get mad instead he let you celebrate and if he struck you out then he celebrated. We need more players like him, just thinking about him not being around anymore makes me want to cry. I watched the press conference the marlins had and that was incredibly touching. Everyone on the team including the gms and presidents all looked like they were about to cry and some people did. Someone was holding a jose jersey which I think was a nice gesture. He was supposed to last at 10 more years in the mlb and possibly go out on his terms

What makes this even sadder is all the what ifs. He was a popular name at the trade deadline, what if the cardinals actually went through with a trade(they asked around for him), what if his scheduled day to pitch wasn't moved to monday so he pitches today and he decides to stay in a hotel room as he has a game tomorrow(today) maybe he wouldn't have gone on that boating trip and he would still be around. It was sad to see david ortiz wipe away a tear, the only thing that makes this tragic day even sadder is the bittersweet almost retirement of vin scully

He's been the announcer of the dodgers since the 50's back when they were still in brookyln new york. He's been the voice of the dodgers for a looooong time. Today is vin's last home game he will announce then he is doing 3 more games in san francisco, after that I am not sure if he is doing the dodgers home playoff games or if he is done after the giants games. Today we lost 2 good baseball people, one is more permanent but their presence will still be felt in years to come

I can't stop thinking about the all star game back in july and how he got david ortiz out

Kevin Garnett was the last active player to play against michael jordan

By which I mean the chicago bulls mj and not the wizards one. Kg has been playing so long he even played against magic johnson although that involved some good timing. See magic was a great player in the 80's and had to retire in the early 90's as he announced he was hiv positive. Kg came along in 1995 and magic came back to play for one season and they only played one game against each other

With kevin and kobe and tim duncan retiring this offseason it represents an end of an era. All 3 have played against chicago bulls mj and come from a different time in the nba. Now the old guard is considered players like paul pierce(who hasn't said yet if he's retiring) dirk,pau gasol, andre miller(still a free agent) manu ginobilli and vince carter and zbo

Unless ray allen decides to come back, there will be no active players that played against bulls mj, I'm not sure why I talk about that so much but it feels like a passing of the torch. The early 00's allstar games always had players like dirk,tim,kobe,shaq,chris webber,vince carter,paul pierce,kg etc etc and that era is slowly coming to an end

Instead the lebron,d.wade,carmello anthony era is going to be considered the old guys pretty soon that have seen some things in the nba. Anyways onto kg, he always look pumped up and mad on the court and he liked to set dirty screens and bully players that were smaller then him. I remember the 2007-08 celtics and the intros they used in the playoffs especially against the cavaliers, it was intense and got you hyped up. Now teams rarely make playoff videos and intros

He will be greatly missed and there won't be another player like him

Retro saturdays and the drew carey show

I can't believe it's been this long without mentioning the drew carey show. It is drew's suggestion of what his life would be like if he wasn't an actor(middle management at a department store) and it is a sitcom that chronicles drew and his friend's lives. Lewis,kate and oswald are usually at dtew's house so much so that they might as well live there

Drew works at the winfred louder department store for most of the seasons with him usually being in middle management, at the time that was seen as a joke but now it's a good job. Mr wick later becomes the manager and mimi is also a great character, same with drew's crossdressing brother and his dog speedy and various girlfriends he dates. The show has some great funny moments and episodes such as the one where drew wins the batmobile or where the guys do a strip tease to save the warsaw bar or the april fools episodes

I used to watch it a lot when I was in middle school and I half wanted drew's life especially with having friends over and going with them everywhere and it's also how I pictured dating a girl would be like. The show went away for awhile then came back on laff tv which is a local southern california ota channel. Sadly, the last season went downhill with all the changes. Drew and mimi got jobs at a hip new company run by dotcom hipsters and drew's niece lived with him. The first 6 or 7 seasons are must watch. It's interesting to see the guest stars that would later become more famous such as abby from ncis(drew dated her) dave chapelle,donald trump, triple h and wayne brady. I can go on but there are way too many guests and random musical guests

The halloween club store is having open interviews on thursday

Ok a little backstory, on thursday I went to the halloween club store(I make it sound like a sub shop) to turn in an application. I got a call back about 4 hours later while I was with my sister helping her pull up her shorts as she has trouble with some of them. I would check my missed calls hours later and see the number and I realized it was from the halloween store

I figured I call the next day right when it is about to open so I can speak with whoever called me so I called the store and the other number they put up to inquire about a job their. I got no answer on both numbers so I decided to go on CL to job hunt and I came upon this.

It's a link to a posting by the store and it says they will have open interviews on thursday the 29th. All the 'views are at different times and I will go to the whittier one and nail it. 

I had a dream it was my grandpa's death anniversary

and it was being celebrated at a local mall in a private room that I didn't know existed. But 1st my mom dropped off my dad at golf n stuff for reasons I don't know. I think he was going to withdrawal money from an atm. It was similar to a wake in the room and my mom's cousins that live in the valley were all there among with her sisters from the mid west and one of them hugged me crying while saying she wished he lived a little bit longer. I remember it got dark and I went to get my friend from target then we went in a rented kia soul to pick up my dad and that's where the dream ended

It was weird and my grandpa did in February earlier this year

Retro saturdays and toy story 1

When toy story 1 was released it was awe inspiring for it's cgi 3D graphics. Everyone was predicting video games would look like the movie. At the time it was just a movie about toys that come to life when humans aren't watching them. Anywho the main characters are woody(voiced by tom hanks) and buzz lightyear(voiced by tim allen) with woody being jealous of andy's(his owner) new toy buzz lightyear

What's neat is all the toys andy has such as mr potatoe head and the nervous rex and a slotted pig and a springy dog and a bo peep and some troll dolls and a rc car. There's more of them but anywho the movie is a classic for all ages. My favorite part is when the shark puts on woody's hat(I'm woody howdy howdy howdy) and when buzz says to woody (you are a sad strange little man). I can not recommend this movie enough times, you seriously must watch it. The plot is about andy's new toy buzz and how the family is moving to another house so woodie gets the idea to leave buzz behind by knocking him over. Things don't turn out that way and they end up next door at sid's house

Since this is a a disney pixar movie it does have a happy ending and sets up the sequel which I had to wait 4 long years, It feels weird to me that there is toy story 2 and 3

Retro saturdays and the spice girls

"Yo I'll tell you what I want what I really really want" that is the spice girls most famous song that is still well known today, don't believe me? try blasting it at a party and see how many people remember it and start dancing

Anywho the spice girls are(were) a 5 girl boy band only they are british and have a nickname and the last name of spice. The most famous of them now is victoria beckham aka posh spice. My favorite is baby spice, They were huge especially in 1997, you could not escape spice girls fever. I wasn't too keen on the music but I tolerated it as it was EVERYWHERE. Think beatlemania to give you an idea of how enormously popular the girls were

Just how quickly they came into our lives, the girls went out of it but for those of us that grew up in the 90's, we hear the famous intro and can't help but smile. Sure the songs can be sweet bubble gum pop but they give me nostalgia; Here's the link to wannabe

Retro fridays and tv guide

Today's kids have it easy with guides and time slots and being able to look up the time of a tv show on a phone or on the internet. Say it's 1995 and you want to watch home improvement but your not sure what time it's on and you don't remember the commercial that aired the day before that showed the time slot. Well if you don't have cable like how I did, you would buy and then check the tv guide magazine. It was more of a subdued gossip rag with tv listings

Those were the main draw and made up 80% of the magazine although it's the size of a goosebumps book. The mag had listings for all the channels including cable for about 10 or 14 days based on my memory. Of course tv programs are scheduled to change but it did give you an idea of what is on at what times

Today tvguide.com exists and you can check the listings on the site or see what times and days a certain tv show will be on. The magazine itself still exists only it's the size of a normal magazine now. I like how I can buy a little piece of nostalgia even if it's not quite like how it was in my childhood

I used to collect them in 1997 through 2000 but I stopped as they slowly take up a lot of space, I still miss my tv guide collection and the covers give me a lot of nostalgia

Retro fridays and tiny toon adventures

Marketed as a new age loony toons for edgy 90's kids, tiny toon adventures was a cartoon show that ran in the late afternoon (usually after school) in the late to mid 90's. I remember the catchy theme song and buster bunny having a scratchy grating voice. I don't remember much of the episodes as they seem to run together

Oh wait, I remember there was a mmpr and a star wars and star trek spoofs but that's literally all I remember. But if I were to watch some episodes it would give me long lost deja vu, it's funny how that works

It's funny how nostalgia works, tiny toons were a new show I would not watch it a lot but since it's not I can <3 it

Yes all the characters are thinnly veiled spoofs of loony toons such as taz and daffy duck and bugs and lola bunny

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/17/Tinytoons.jpg

Retro fridays and the legend of zelda:the ocarina of time

My memories of this game go back to the early days of the n64. I remember reading about zelda 64 in nintendo power and gamepro magazines where it was expected to be released on the DD(disk drive) as an n64 cartridge could not handle the space the game needs. Well the DD got delayed then canceled in the usa so zelda 64 was ported to the n64 and re titled the ocarina of time

I had a subscription to nintendo power magazine in 1998 and literally every issue hyped up Oot big time, when it was finally released it was branded the game of the cenutry. The very 1st time I played Oot was at best buy where the music of kokori forest decided to permanently embed itself in my brain(I can still here it now) I wanted this game but I didn't have a nintendo 64 so you can see the problem

It was a revolutionary game that holds up today especially the 3ds port that I own and love. The 1st time I got Oot was in the gamecube zelda collection disc. My friend beat most of the early parts for me and he got to jabu jabu's belly where I quickly got stuck and lost interest in the game. I would later own it on my wii and the same thing happened

The 3ds version is where I finally made progress and have moved onto goron's mountain.Every time I hear the music I think back to 1998 when I would play Oot at best buy

Today is the first rams home game in los angeles this season

The last time there was an LA Rams home game was in anaheim stadium on dec 24 1994. Yeah some christimas present that was, maybe it was the grinch that took away the rams considering how ugly things got that last season and how low attendance became. Things from the 90's find a way to come back with most recently crystal pepsi and ecto cooler returning and now the rams have returned to los angeles

Compared to those last days in Anaheim, this game and all the home games will be packed. Simply because it's been too long and many of us missed having a football team, you know something to root and cheer for and talk about. Sure there are the lakers and dodgers and angels but football is a different sport. There are still many diehard raider fans that wear la raiders shirts and the attendance at the preseason games is proof that southern california loves football

The bad part is that the proposed stadium is still under construction so the rams play their home games in south central los angeles which attracts gangbangers and sketchy people. If you seen the movie boyz in the hood or baby boy or poetic justice, then it would surprise you to know that those movies take place in south central

I been a rams fan since I was little and i look forward to this game especially while I drink an ecto cooler or crystal pepsi, it can be just like 1994(they were also bad then)

Retro saturdays and goof troop the video game

Goof troop the game was based on the hit tv show goof troop(yeah way to title a game) for the super nintendo and possibly sega genesis. I just remember it being a super nintendo game and that's what I have my fond memories with. I have only seen a few half ass glances of the show so I am not sure if the game is faithful to the series or if it's a total departure

Anyways it's 1 or 2 player puzzler/adventure game in a similar manner to the bomberman games. You can control goofy or max and you work co op to solve the puzzles of a room, think like a zelda game only more complicated puzzles and less enemies(who respawn frequently) For example, look at this picture and visualize how your going to get the gem. It seems easy until you realize you need at least 3 keys and a raft to each it(usually you can't get every item) I rented this game frequently from a video store that was about 500 feet away from me(more or less) and I should do a retro friday about that video store

I never beat it as it get's repetitive about 40 mins in but it is still a fun game that brings me back a lot of nostalgia. Yes it is worth a play especially 2 player mode with someone sharp and trustworthy(they could cover your back from enemies) I think I'll bust it out and teach my sister how to play

Retro saturdays and tech deck

Tech decks like it's name suggest, are mini skateboards. That's all there is to them. They are very similar to a professional skateboard only smaller, they have the same parts such as bearings and grip tape and bushings and risers and wheels with cool designs on them

Sure there was other brands but the tech deck name is the one that had the officially licensed boards and designs which is a big difference maker. Released in the early 00's at the height of skateboarding's resurgance, these tiny boards were a hit. I had 2 or 3 and the smaller mini versions. Yes tech deck came out with an even smaller version of the skateboards. These are still sold in target but no one buys them as they have gone up in price by a lot

I remember getting one for $1.49 at kb toys and now it's $4.99 for one from what I last remember. Tech deck also released mini ramps and quarter and half pipes to make you feel like a mini tony hawk. The best part is you could do actual tricks with your fingers on the board. I learned how to do an ollie and kickflip and pop shove it and darkslide

I think I'll bust out my tech decks and do some kickflips off some folders just like how I did in middle school

Retro fridays and sobe mr green

Surge isn't the only soda from the late 90's to early 00's that was good although people seem to only remember surge. Anywho, mr green by sobe is a soda with more caffeine similar to surge or mountain dew but it was dark. It tasted very similar to dr pepper but sweeter and with less carbonation. I used to get it from food 4 less every time we went as a family which was every week. I would also get a powder to make salsa(it came in an envelope and cost 40 cents) and chips

I would frequently watch world's wildest police videos and family guy(they came on in prime time on weekdays) and eat my chips with my yummy salsa and wash it down with my mr green. It didn't stay on the market for long but I would give almost anything to drink one. Sadly surge got all the nostalgia and it came back but I won't forget mr green

Retro fridays and batman returns the video game

This was released for the nes,snes and sega genesis but I'll focus on the snes version as that's the one I have played and grew up with. It is a side scrolling beat'em up similar to the streets of rage or final fight games only you play as batman and you have to stop the penguin. Interesting in theory if only batman didn't move around like he had too many tacos from a taco truck. He is slow to move for someone that comes off as graceful. The enemies can be cheap and gang up on you, they can also attack you seemingly at will

This is a hard game on even the easiest settings, I got as far as the batmobile mode 7 stage(itself pretty neat) after months of memorization and game overs. Yes there is a level where you control the batmobile on the streets of gotham as the penguin's minions throw flaming juggling pins at you and ram you with clown cars and vans. There's even a boss van but the limitations of the snes hold it back, the track is very similar to pole position so there is little to no draw distance and you can only fire what appear to be peas

Batman returns should be remade as the graphics in the side scrolling areas still hold up well among with the gameplay. If you play this game use game genie cheats for unlimited lives/health/continues as these make it a lot more enjoyable compared to my childhood days where I wrote down hard spots to remember. Also the music and cutscenes are great and really enhance the gameplay

Retro fridays and razor scooters

I'm not sure how the fad started but the late 90's to early 00's it was extremely cool to own and ride a razor(or offbrand) scooter. Looking back at it, LOL I looked like a dork riding one and I still would(I still have my scooter) but it would come in handy. If you seen back to the future 1 or 2 then you picture something like the things marty breaks to make his skateboard/hoverboard only thinner and more metallic in appearance

There isn't much to a scooter, just a board with 2 wheels and a fender cover that doubles as the brake and fold able handlebars. They were low to the ground and with the small wheels it was easy to fall over thanks to even the smallest crack in the sidewalk. They don't keep momentum well and are easily stolen but they were popular and I'll forget the 1st time I rode a scooter. Even to this day when someone mentions the word scooter, I don't think of the motorcycle but the razor scooter which is the cool brand

Hey look you can buy one for $19.99 or $29.99 on target.com, a far cry from the $100 to $150 when the fad was raging

I started retro fridays aka flashback fridays

Ironically enough I was going through my on this day posts on fb earlier this morning and 1 post from 4 years ago stood out to me. I gave a fair warning that tomorrow I was going to go on a nostalgia trip on fb by posting lots of 90's things. That is how I started retro fridays, as a nostalgia trip I would do by myself then I moved it to fb then my blog when I started it in 2014, every friday since sept 15 2012 I have been retroing on fb without stopping(well there was my almost year long fb absence)

Now it's become a thing that's posted on twitter and espn and mtv every friday. I can imagine some studio exec was looking for a themed day and stumbled upon my blog posts and called it flashback friday. Well I hope that slowdown saturday becomes a thing as I also have retro saturdays and have been doing it for years

It's weird knowing something I started is extremely popular, Anyways what's better about this picture is that someone could have easily said something and I would have stopped retro fridays before it even started in the 1st place. Yes I like my own statuses on fb and yes you can add me, I have the same profile pic as here on blogger/google plus

The halloween club is hiring

I saw the CL ad early sept 10 and I applied online at the link they gave out(or you can visit halloween club jobs) and that was that, there is also a link to a pdf on the hc site so I printed that out then filled out. Since tc I made plans to go in person to turn the application in but I feel like life is taunting me

The halloween club does not have posted hours on the windows, not even a handwritten "we are open from__ to __". I have waited until 10:30 am and nothing, although I did go by at 3pm yesterday and they were open(someone walked in) sadly I was with my dad and he was going to a clinic so I couldn't just stop and turn it in no matter how brief it would have been as my dad needs me to do mostly everything for him

My next plan of attack is to go in person on thursday after I come back from twin pine mall(it's not called that but it's the actual mall used in the movies) where I plan to turn in resumes at places I already applied online. I want potential employers to get a look at my clean shaven non threatening looks and my talkative persona

Like always I hope I get a call soon and I'll keep checking CL for jobs

Today is sept 11

I vividly remember that tragic day on 2001. My 1st ever flight was on june 31st then I came back on august 30th. I remember my dad being able to go all the way to the boarding gate even though he did not have a ticket, I also remember that ever since I saw home alone 2, I wanted to go to the twin towers like kevin did and look up in amazement

Sadly terrorists had to ruin that dream, I was getting ready for school that day and eating cereal while watching tv on my 13 inch small tv. I didn't understand why the building was smoking or who this bearded man was and why it was on all the channels. I went to the school and I had a full day however all the teachers sounded like they wanted to cry, some explained what happened and answered questions. Others just pretended it was a normal. It wasn't and it would be awhile before things felt normal again

The whole day and the next few days was full of news about the twin towers. I couldn't understand why someone would do this, then there was the benefit concert and wwe smackdown and the mets game. Slowly things drifted away from the news and onto our normal lives. I remember getting a never forget shirt that I still have and I have never forgotten. I spent the days playing ps1 and tony hawk's proskater 2 wondering how things would change

It is sad that people think the government did it as those people will believe anything and I can use their own logic to "prove" the twin towers never existed, but 9/11 did happen and the twin towers did exist and they went down by terrorists. I will tell my sister what happened on that day as she was born on 2012 and has no idea what 9/11 was like. I will share my experience and the ones of others. The memories will live on

Retro saturdays and space jam

Welcome to the space jam, with those words the infamous intro song pumped you up and got you ready for the action. Space jam like it's title suggests, is about a basketball game played in looney toons world which is the gist of this movie. The loony toons are happy being their cartoon selves when aliens from another planet invade the cartoon world. Said aliens are about 2 feet tall and get mad by being short and challenged to a b b ball game by the toons. Rather then take steroids (which wouldn't help in basketball) or get stilts, they decide to steal the talents of: charles barkely,shawn bradley(why not shaq?) mugsey bogues, patrick ewing and larry johnson who all at that the time were all stars and great nba players

Michael Jordan movie wise was retired from the nba and playing minor league baseball so his talent didn't get stolen, therefore bugs bunny steals him during a game of golf with bill murray and larry bird. He quickly joins the loony toons to help the team and instantly becomes their best player. One thing I don't get is why didn't the monstars steal alonzo mourning or shaq or david robinson's talent instead of shawn bradley. In 1996 or 1995 or 1994 when this movie was most likely made, those 3 players were much better then shawn(sorry) and looking back at it now it looks like a silly choice

The basis is a winner take all game in loony toon world which of course the toons win although not without some drama and funny skits among the way and even a bill murray cameo. At the end mj decides to go back to the bulls and we seem him playing against the magic(you can even see shaq) and we all have a happy ending

At the time of it's release MJ was and still is a huge superstar and this was a great move to do this movie. It was extremely popular and I even had a toon squad and monstars jerseys, I also had a space jam backpack I carried everywhere. It came with a small plush bugs bunny and had a little fold down hoop with a foam ball. I used to carry my goosebumps books in it among with disney adventures magazines and egm2 and gamepro magazines and my taco bell stretch armstrong toys

For a generation of boys it was cool to see mj and bugs bunny team up

Retro saturdays and mission impossible 1

I saw this movie on accident when it was in theaters. How? well I was with my family at the movie theater in what I believe is montebello but is actually east LA. The movie theater on whittier blvd near atlantic, anywho 1996 was a pretty big year for movies especially for kids. The one I really wanted to see was flipper, I can still picture the title and rating and movie times on the marque. However my dad decided we were going to watch mission impossible

Only he didn't tell us and I had no idea until almost the end of the movie. I assumed this kid's movie about a happy dolphin was a dark film that pushed the limits of the PG rating. I also kept saying to myself "when is the dolphin going to show up" well no dolphin ever showed up, what I got instead was a cool action movie that placed a heavy emphasis on gum that doubles as an explosive device

I don't remember much of the plot or what the film was about even though I owned it on vhs and watched it a few times. I only remember the subway scene involving ethan hunt fighting on top of a train and jean reno being a bad guy

It's still a good movie

I found even more crystal pepsi

I thought wednesday(I hope it's wednesday) at the mexican grocery store vallarta market, was the last time I would see crystal pepsi in stores for ohh 20 years or so but no I found another store. Crystal pepsi has more lives then resident evil 1. Just when I think it's gone for good, I find another store that has it. On thursday I was at family dollar checking for hot wheels like I usually do. Only this time I also checked for crystal pepsi, there is a small cardboard standee of hot wheels near the register(it was a bust hw wise) and a mini fridge of soda as the norm for stores

Well I thought what the hey I'll give this a glance just in case. My hunch turned out to be correct as there was 6 crystal pepsi's (pepsii?) and I purchased 2 of them because I already had a powerade in my backpack(I got that at a 99 cents store) with plans to come back tomorrow(friday) for the rest of them. It is now friday and on this retro friday I returned to family dollar this morning and my precious was still there(my crystal pepsi) although I lucked out on hot wheels again, I got my crystal pepsi and it might be the last ones I buy in a store in forever or 20 years. I don't know any other family dollar or vallarta market locations or ones that are close by

Retro fridays and nintendo power magazine

Among with the santa fe springs swap meet, nintendo power gives strong nostalgia on fridays especially if you combine the 2. Nintendo power was a nintendo only magazine made from 1988 to 2012 with what I consider the prime years of the 90's. Why it gives me very strong nostalgia is certain issues mostly from 1995 through 1998. I used to go to the swap meet with my mommy a lot on fridays and besides tgif, the other thing I looked foward to was np magazines

At that time in the late 90's they were cheap(usually $1) and plentiful and usually in great condition. I remember getting the 1st issue twice and one of them ended up being ripped by me not knowing it was the 1st issue of np(I have my other copy) I also got one that has donkey kong country 2 on the cover and another that has buster bunny that also gives me fuzzy memories. At a young age I loved reading and I couldn't wait to go home to read my newest issue or issues of nintendo power magazine

In 1998 I had a subscription to np with the one with stone cold on the cover being my 1st issue I got in the mail. I also remember buying the February 1998 issue at toys r us and for the longest time I would read and re-read that issue. The june 1998 issue with banjo and kazooie on the cover still gives me warm memories and I still have most of my childhood issues especially the ones from 1998 that have a mini pokemon magazine insert called pokemon power

Sadly the magazine got thinner and thinner in the late 00's and it finally ended in dec 2012. I have 2 copies of the last issue, it pays homeage to the 1st issue and has retrospectives of the whole decades. I have all the issues from 1996 through 1998 and most of 1995,1999 and various ones from 1990-1994 and they are going to stay in possession until I can't see the magazines

Retro fridays and home improvement

Another show from tgif that is my inspiration for retro fridays, Home improvement usually ran on a friday night tgif block,sandwiched between sabrina the teenage witch and boy meets world.It was a sitcom starring tim allen as tim taylor and his wife jill and 3 kids, brad,randy and mark. He had a neighbor named wilson and a best friend name al who is also his co-host in the show within a show tool time

The show revolves around tim's life and he is a great and funny character, he usually tries to enhance something that jill told him not to and/or he finds a way to screw things up. For example one time he was supposed to fix the kitchen fans above the stove, rather then simply making them work, he upgraded them to turbine speed. Jill's spaghetti got sucked up. There are a lot of running gags such as tim messing up al's introduction on tool time, tim always going to wilson for advice(who always has his mouth covered) and getting his quote mixed up in a funny way as he explains it to jill

It's funny seeing the length the producers went to keep wilson's mouth covered, usually he's covered by his fence but over times he has a mask on or a guitar blocking him or a tea cup. The show covers some legitimate serious teen issues such as brad getting a gf and him getting his license and smoking marijuana and mark becoming a goth. It was a family show but it covered mature issues in a friendly manner without seeming too "adult" or too "nice" or too cheesy

They don't make shows like home improvement anymore, it is well worth a view with the only thing dating it is the technology such as the tv and the new gameboy

Retro fridays and sabrina the teenage witch

Sabrina the teenage witch is one main reason why I started retro fridays in the 1st place(which has now become a thing and people call it flashback friday) as the show gives me strong nostalgia. Every friday evening, abc used to have a block aimed at kids and teens and people in general called TGIF. I like the 1996 to 1998 version as it has some of my favorite shows. Among them is sabrina the teenage witch

Every friday I would tune in to abc to watch sabrina. Well boy meets world and home improvement also but sabrina was my main squeeze. Sometimes I would go to the santa fe springs swapmeet and buy some nintendo power magazines and pokemon cards and then come home in time to catch sabrina. Those are my strongest memories and from those 30 mins or less, I did not stress out about home work

The show itself is pretty good and holds up well too well actually, the only thing that dates it is the clothes and the guest stars such as britney spears. The premises is of a teenage girl that gets raised by her aunts and one night she discovers she has magical powers. Then her world gets turned upside down and it's revealed she is a witch and her cat can talk and that's all I remember from the pilot episode or the movie. Other then that the only major plot twist is when sabrina gets the assignment of figuring out the family secret

Since this is a sitcom, she gets herself in situations where magic comes into play and she goes to college and there is somewhat of a happy ending to the show but I never seen it since I stopped watching after she left high school

It's worth a watch even if you don't get nostalgia from it like I do and you will understand and mark out at the halloween episode of melissa and joey

Retro fridays and boy meets world

One of my inspirations for retro fridays is boy meets world, simply because every friday on tgif I would try to tune in and catch bmw. It became part of my life just as much as going to the santa fe springs swapmeet in the 90's. So whenever I hear the intros to bmw I get taken back to my childhood

Boy meets world is a coming of age sitcom about a little boy who grows into adulthood. He lives in philly with his parents and his teacher is his neighbor, he has a best friend named shawn and later a girlfriend named topanga(named after the canyons). The show starts off in middle school and ends at the very end of college

Cory matthews is the main character and he is the reason the show is great. He loves(mostly topanga) he strikes out with women, he works for the mob, he gets his driver's license, he and shawn get drunk. There are way too many good episodes to list as I highly suggest you watch it

The later college seasons have a different feel compared to the middle school/high school ones and the show was jumping so many sharks, they were jumping whales but it is also good tv. Sometimes you laughed and other times you cried(especially the last part of the last episode) but bmw is good wholesome tv for almost all ages

For the longest time there was only boy meets world however now there is a sequel called girl meets world on the disney channel. Viewers like me appreciate all the little cameos and references to boy meets world such as the current opening of girl meets world being very similar to boy meets world

I half expect tgif to be on tonight but it's not meant to be

Just when I missed crystal pepsi, I found some

Based on my rough calculations and by which I mean me going to various stores last week, I assume that stores simply took crystal pepsi off the shelves and threw it away or sent it to pepsi or to be destroyed. Most likely that last one

Well on tuesday I went to a mexican grocery store and like it's been my habit the past month, I check every mini refrigerator by the registers to see if they had crystal pepsi. Just my luck that on the 2nd to last fridge there was some crystal pepsi in between the normal pepsi. It had an almost heavenly glow, this soda was thought to be extinct but here it was in front of me, similar the red sox winning the world series in 2004, this was real and not a mirage

So for some reason I grabbed 2 instead of the 3 that were in stock. I still don't know why I didn't grab all 3 but I came back the next day and there was the last lonely possibly only crystal pepsi you could buy in a store in probably a 500 mile radius

Just like that, I may have bought my last crystal pepsi

I already miss crystal pepsi

It was in stock and in stores for about a month but it feels like it was much shorter then that. Maybe because I got comfortable seeing it on shelves and in the refrigerators or maybe I had some long shot hope that just maybe it would stay on the market for months

But no, it was gone last week just like that, with no word or warning. I was on my way to 7/11 to buy 2 of them at a reduced price and instead there was a big gap where the crystal pepsi should be. So I went to
stater bros and smart and final and target and cvs and ralphs. It was all gone just like my hopes and dreams

I have around 6 or 10 crystal pepsi's however it isn't enough and now it's gone.  My new hunt is 1893 which I seen the cheapest at albertsons followed by cvs. Hopefully that doesn't go away soon as it would be too much

Retro saturdays and back to the future the ride

Back in the 90's, there was a ride at universal studios hollywood called back to the future the ride. It was also at the orlando park but I'll focus on the hollywood one since that's the one I been to. The 1st and only time I have gone to universal studios hollywood was in 1997. My favorite ride was back to the future and I am still a fan of it and the movies

The actual ride is a stationary delorean that could seat up to 6 people and it moves up and down and sideways thanks to well...I'm not sure what tech was used to make it move, for all I know I really did time travel. There was a screen that displayed all the action such as flying over towns and getting eaten by a trex(the view was in 1st person). Doc brown showed up on a little tv screen inside the delorean for mission briefings and generally to advance the "plot"

I wish the ride was still around so I can go on it and experience it as an adult compared to as a child. It wasn't scary and it was pretty tame but I did like it

Retro saturdays and push pops

If you have a somewhat dirty mind then push pops can easily be full of innuendo. Ok onto the blog post, push pops had their hey day in the 90's and I think they have been around before that but anyways, a pushpop is a lolipop in a tube similar to lipstick. Actually that's a good way to picture it if you picture the lipstick as hard candy and the lipstick tube had a hole at the bottom for your finger that you pushed up to push the hard candy into your mouth

It's main gimmick was that you could save it for later thanks to it's lipstick like design. Unlike say a blowpop that once you unwrapped it you had to be committed to finishing it, you could open a push pop and take a few quick licks and save it for later

Now I want one or 10 so i can pretend they are monster fingers

Retro saturdays and baby bottle pops

I think these have been around since the 80's but I believe their prime was in the 90's or at least it feels that way because of the commercials that I still remember the jingle. "It's baby bottle pop!" Anywho this candy was extremely popular especially among the rave community and goths and cyber goths and internet goths and whatever other cyber and goth sub cultures existed at that time

Like it's name suggests, it is a bottle shapped like a baby bottle only instead of a rubber nipple it has a lollipop nipple and the inside of the bottle had powder very similar to a fun dip or pixie stick

I remember them costing 50 cents and the powder would dye your tongue different colors and it always ran out quickly. The more daring kids wouldn't bother dipping their lollipop nipple and instead they would down all the powder in their mouths like a little beer chugg for kids

Baby bottle pops are still made or maybe they aren't, I don't pay much attention to modern candy but I sure could go for one

Retro fridays and teenage mutuant ninja turtles: turtles in time

The last part is what should draw you(turtles in time) for anyone that has played the arcade or super nintendo game already knows that is a great game and easily the best tmnt arcade or home console game. This post focuses on the super nintendo and yes there is a difference between the 2 games

For example the snes version has more levels and better music in my opinion and more bosses, a versus mode and the cool announcement of the technodrome level, Other wise the graphics and gameplay is very similar to the arcade which is another plus for the super nintendo version. The only bad thing about the snes version is that it is limited to 2 players only instead of 4 like the arcade

I frequently played this with my brother when he was here and we would always play in the evenings. It was our tradition for years and now he's gone but that is a different story. We were a systematic team with who got what power ups

I highly suggest you play tmnt turtles in time no matter which version you play. It is a great game that still holds up today

Retro fridays and highlighs magazine

Despite the fact that it is still in production today, I consider highlights magazine a product of my childhood. Maybe because it was a simpler time but that magazine seemed bigger and packed with more content

Anyways highlights is a magazine for kids and it has random facts and comics and things to do and make and puzzles and some informative articles such as black bears. I mostly read it for the goofus and galant comics

Which are 2 boys and one is always doing everything by the book aka a square and the other always does things in a hurry and half assed. You can tell which one is goofus and which one is gallant

I don't remember if I had a subscription or not or if I simply read the newest copy at the school library but I do remember that I read a lot of issues of highlights. I may have checked the bill me later box and kept that for a year or 2. Even though it's for kids, it still is a quick fun read as an adult and it always takes me back to my childhood

Retro fridays and the rocketeer super nintendo game

This post is not about the movie as I have never seen it and the only thing I know about it is that james bond stars in it. No this is about the ill fated quickie cash in, super nintendo game released some time shortly after the movie

This one is a specific kind of nostalgia that everyone may not have experienced but if you were one of the unlucky few to have played the rocketeer game in the 90's then you understand my anguish and frustration. Yes a game made me that mad I haven't forgot about it lots of years later

Give it a try if you don't believe me, anyways like most kids, I got the rocketeer because it was a cheap game I could afford with my semi kind of allowance. I believe it was $7 which to a jobless kid is a lot of $$ on a game you know nothing about. Seriously it just had the cartridge and no box so I was in the dark about what type of game it was

Once I put it in my super nintendo I quickly realized how cruel life can be. Yes I remember this vividly as it changed my life. Yes it is possible for a game to do that to a man or boy in my case. Since there was no manual with the game I was on my own(I couldn't look up the controls) about what button does what. Many years later I still have a vague idea of what the A and B button do

The 1st and only level I played is an airplane race, I have never seen the movie so I assume there is a plot device where james bond crashes an airplane and dons a metallic suit and I base this off the rocketeer cover. Anywho because it is a super nintendo game, the view is from the side in a 2D platforming manner

This is a huge problem as the race takes place above a field therefore making it hard to turn your plane for the curves. The AI is incredibly cheap and cheats often and simply has a faster airplane then you. I have spent many hours of my youth trying to beat it but it always ends the same

Even now I still can't beat it and if my friends knew it would bring me shame. I have no desire to see the movie thanks to the game and it's frustrating 1st level