Kickin' it old school

Fall is usually my more my nostalgic time - it's the start of a new year, friends seem to come out of the woodwork and there's something kinda exciting about fresh school supplies (if you ever doubted my geekiness - doubt no more).

But like everything, nostalgia is quickly become a 24-7 commodity. Pop culture seems to be trolling through its high school yearbook, trying to answer the age old question of "Where Are They Now?" (And really, that question is almost an age old - the show premiered in 1998). Just look at our movies - the comic book characters we could only dream of seeing in real life are now on their third or fourth sequel (Geoff and I went to see "Superman Returns" Saturday night, mom and I saw X-Men III a few weeks back). Even the Transformers are coming back with a live-action movie directed by Michael Bey. I doubt they are going to include the universal greeting, though (and if you Google Transformers and universal greeting you get "Bah Weep Granah Weep Ni Ni Bong" - gotta love it!)

And to put it in print to my ever-lovin' husband, Geoffrey - you were right, babe - we should have bought stock in Marvel when we had the chance. I'm very sorry about that.

I am finding increasing evidence on the web of people I would have been in high school with (who would now be anywhere between 28 and 35), posting pieces of their childhood online, demanding their favorite songs on iTunes and writing tributes to their glory days of eating Froot Loops and watching He-Man (or She-Ra). From IMDB to TV.com to the growing number of TV series available DVD, we are cataloging to an amazing extent the things we grew up with and loved. We're not waiting for the experts to remind us of what life was like growing up in the 80's and 90's. We're basically making fun of ourselves and celebrating the best and worst of it all before someone else gets the chance to. There are pros and cons to this, of course, but I'll leave that to another time.

On Friday, rather than working on work (too obvious), I was digging up the following list of songs I loved to dance to, but I either haven't had the cash or inclination to buy a bunch of dance compilations or the original cds and they haven't yet shown up in iTunes. And not only could I finally look up the lyrics without having to buy a copy of "Song Lyric" magazine (I am not kidding, and I think it's still in publication), I could listen to 30 seconds of it, or watch the video on YouTube and remember if it was actually a good song or just the pixie sticks talking:

Come on and Get My Love
Cathy Dennis and D Mob - Cathy's solo career didn't last, though this track was quite popular. She's more known now for writing hit singles (such as "Can't Get You Out of My Head" with Kylie Minogue) and co-writing the "American Idol" theme song.

It Takes Two and Joy and Pain
Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock - Blame my brother for these two. He had 12" LPs of both of these. If someone says they hate rap, they very well might still dance to either of these tracks.

Show Me How to Dance
BingoBoys with Princessa - The video for this is on YouTube. We didn't get cable in my house for a really long time, so I didn't see it when it first came out in 1991. Did you know that this year's incoming freshman class was three years old when this song came out? THREE YEARS OLD!

Ditty
Paperboy - This song that went platinum in the US in 1993, and the reviews for Paperboy's first album are actually pretty funny (I can't tell if they're serious or not). All I will say is this: when you find yourself in a sports bar type place in the middle of a seriously suburban outlet mall and you think you're there to dance, know your audience before you place those requests at the dj booth, kids. You may find that you and your friend are the only ones on the floor. Props to Becky for not leaving me alone on that dance floor!

If all five of these songs were to be played in a row, I would need to sit down and catch my breath, so I think I'll stop here for now. Have a great weekend and hopefullly you don't have to work on Monday!

^_^