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Blog Entry 28 of 44 Welcome to The Retroplex
I'm usually in full-blown reminisce mode anyway, so why not make the rest of you poor saps suffer along with me, right?

Here, you'll find no shortage (well...unless I can't think of any new material) of meaningless but ultimately harmless bits of ephemera covering the past 20 or so years of pop culture, and my occasional interactions with it. Whether you're into the iconic or the ironic, sooner or later, I'll probably get around to it.
Watch, as the hilarity ensues! Or, if you prefer, gawk like a shocked passerby witnessing a horrible accident!

Blog Url: http://denver.yourhub.com/~TheRetroplex

Memories - now delivered Monday through Friday

Contributed by: Jared Keller   on 7/12/2007

Well...OK. Since I'm starting on a Thursday, you'll have to cut me some slack, but still.

For a long time, I figured I was some kind of freak; I obsessed over the smallest nuggets of ephemera that I could find, frequently recalled stuff that most of my friends had long since forgotten, and yes, held onto many of the things that I loved most as a kid. Soon, however, I learned that - though I am, indeed, a freak, or at least a pretty pathetic geek - I wasn't alone.

There seems to be something at work in the minds and memories of lots of folks my age, for whom childhood seems mysteriously close at-hand for something that we left so very long ago. It's almost as if there's no way to account for the intervening time between the lazy days when we watched Voltron on the tube at 4:30 in the afternoon, and our current lives, when we pay the mortgage, mow the lawn, and try and find as many reasons as is possible to avoid addressing the Titanic-like mass of leaks that is my...er, our sprinkler system.

At one moment, we were safely settled in 1984; Michael Jackson was just an electric - if eccentric - performer, Punky Brewtser was on the air, Harrison Ford smiled occasionally, and on Saturday mornings, a kid could find cartoons to watch on any of the three - yes, three - networks from sunup until noon.

Then, we blinked, and found ourselves in the 21st century. It all happened so fast.

This, then, might be the phenomenon at the heart of this '80s nostalgia for so many of us: though each of us has (hopefully) left behind our childhood, its residue has stuck around in our culture in ways heretofore unimagined. Thanks to the YouTubes of the world, and the unique medium of the web, we're given a sort of living time capsule with which to work. Instead of experiencing isolated epiphanies of remembrance upon stumbling across some long-forgotten trinket, commercial, or attraction, we can toss it out there, and see who else is smitten with the great Ah-ha! of connections restored.

Some folks are all too happy to be rid of the past. Others, in the opposite extreme, refuse to vacate it. For most of us, though, I'd suspect that this reminiscing is rather more akin to visiting with an old friend who's been neglected for awhile.

Here, from today on out, you'll find at least five links a week to some obscure bit of nostalgia that I've wandered across in my geekly meanderings. These links are for those middle ground folk. If they entertain you, and bring back a memory or three, well that's awesome. If not, at least you're no worse for wear. It can be like the fluffy nougat center of your day, right?

This is a free-for-all, kids. Audience participation is a must. So, without further ado, here are today's samples from the time capsule (click the bolded text):

1984 - Where the Toys Come From -
This one was my proverbial white whale, kids. See, back in the dark ages of The Disney Channel's existence, it was a premium channel, offering more than the mass of 'tweener fare that clogs its schedule nowadays. Back around '84, they began showing this weird little film about a girl who dreams that she's been transported to a toy factory in Japan, where she sees her favorite wind-up toys taken from drawing board to store shelves. I'd long ago forgotten the name of the flick, and, until yesterday, hadn't ever encountered anyone who remembered it. After a random Google search, however, I struck paydirt. Huzzah.

1982-ish - Digital Derby - by Tomy -
Man. I'd long since forgotten this devilishly addictive little electronic game. My older brother Todd had one, and I stole it at every chance I got.

1987 - Promo for Julie Andrews' "The Sound of Christmas" -
As if my prodigious collection of toys and assorted nerdware didn't render me enough of a social pariah, you can add "sentimental holiday junkie" to my list of afflictions as well. As such, I own a videotape of the original broadcast (from 1987) of this show, complete with commercials. Actually, I recorded it because the original run of Muppet Family Christmas preceded it that night, and I didn't know how to make our new VCR record an hour at a time. Still, it's a kick to watch it even today - especially when you get to take a gander at some of the local newscaster folk in their younger, big hair-oriented days. I'll post some screengrabs from this video one of these days.

Anybody remember this stuff? If not, tune in tomorrow for a similarly obscure collection of oh-so random stuff.


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Showing 1-2 of 2 comments
Submitted By: Gladys Mercier
posted on 7/13/2007 @ 9:14:31 PM
Rated Blog Entry
I would love to see some pictures from the video. I have a Neil Diamond Christmas program that we taped years ago and it is still one of my favorites.
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Submitted By: Michael Rule
posted on 7/13/2007 @ 5:48:55 PM
Rated Blog Entry
I don't really remember this stuff ( I was 26 in 1984) but I do remember when pants covered our arse and shorts didn't go below the knees.....does that count?
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Showing 1-2 of 2 comments
CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

Jared Keller

Littleton

Jared Keller has posted 44 blog entries and 57 comments since joining on 12/1/2005. Jared Keller 's average blog rating is 5.
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