The 80s Club

Anne McCaffrey started writing her Pern novels in the late 60s, and has continued to release new books set in this world of Pern ever since. (Dragon’s Fire (Dragonriders of Pern, The) release date 11th June 2006 in hardcover). If you are a Dragon Lover, you may own a copy of the 1st Edition of The DragonLover’s Guide to Pern, which was released in hardcover in 1989. If you missed out on the book, do not despair! There is a 2nd Edition available.

Whether you want to know more about dragons, or learn about the customs of …read more

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 The word “excellent,” usually pronounced, “ex-cell-ent,” pretty much means the same thing in the English language as it does in 80s lingo: In much better than average condition with virtually no significant flaw. It is just used differently, and it’s used a lot:

She is so excellent, dude.
Excellent, rock on!
That is a most excellent meal, dude. 

photo from dogstar.  

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If you are a fan of Prince, as many people are, then last night’s American Idol finale was one show you didn’t want to miss. Not only were we graced with some great music, but several guest performers. And who was that? Prince! Still rockin’ it after all these years.

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After writing about an old 80s movie staring Keanu Reeves, I thought it might be fun to track some his biggest movies starting in the 80s. Though he also did a good amount of TV, the mid-80s were a time that Reeves was sort of cutting his teeth in the movie biz and getting a name for himself.
In Youngblood – 1986 – he played Heaver. Huh?…Not his most memorable role, obviously.
 In 1986 he shows up again in River’s Edge, a weird movie about a murder and bunch of teens who have to deal with it. In this movie, Reeves …read more

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Ah, Scott Baio, how the girls loved thee!
Charles in Charge of our days and our nights
Charles in Charge of our wrongs and our rights
Scott’s first memorable starring movie role was as Bugsy, in Bugsy Malone (excellent movie). From that point on, he made appearances on a variety of tv shows, with recurring roles on Happy Days. 1984 brought him to our television screens as the teenaged male babysitter on Charles in Charge. Since the show ended, he has made appearances mostly on tv. Scott Baoi, an actor the girls all thought was cute, but …read more

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Though the film, Kramer vs. Kramer, came out in 1997, it won a whole slew of awards the following year during the Academy Awards including: best picture; Dustin Hoffman for best actor; Meryl Streep for best supporting actress; and best screenplay based on material from another medium (whatever the heck that means).
It’s a story of a family who is struggling with divorce, a subject that is still (sadly) timely today. It was a sappy movie, but it did give hope to the audience. But, even the toughest cookie cried during this movie! 

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More specifically, ten speed bicycles. A sign that you had passed a milestone in growing up was graduating from a banana-seat bike with long handlebars, one speed, and back-peddling to brake; to a ten speed, ten different speeds and braking power at the hand grips! Ten speeds were ubiquitous, and while you can still find them, other road bikes have gained in popularity (most notably the mountain bike). I imagine with the oil prices higher currently than they were in the 80s, we’ll see a resurgence in the number of people riding bicycles. Perhaps you still …read more

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In 1980 the first all news network – the Cable News Network – became a reality thanks to Ted Turner. Say what you want about the guy, this move was brilliant. Though, at the time, I remember more than a few people thinking he was nuts. News? All the time? All news? How boring could you get?
Of course, now lots of people tune in daily not only via TV but also on line at CNN.com.
From Infoplease.com: Turner, Ted (Robert Edward Turner 3d), 1938–, American television network executive, b. Cincinnati. After inheriting his father’s billboard company, he founded (1976) a …read more

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It is with not a small measure of sadness that I am touching upon this 80s comic strip. Calvin & Hobbes when it appeared in our local newspaper quickly became one of my two favorite comics (the other being The Far Side). Unbeknownst to me prior to C&H, I had an empty space. A void left unfilled. This wacky kid and his stuffed tiger danced across my paper every day, evoking memories of my own inner world as a child. Imaginary friends. Monsters under the bed. Make-believe world that was wildly alive. …read more

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 After Star Trek made it to the big screen, it moved back to the little screen of our TV sets for Star Trek: The Next Generation. Staring Patrick Stewart as Captain Jean-Luc Picard this new series was super successful and began production in 1987 and continued into 1994. Amazing!
For more info, check out a few web sites I found:

http://stng.36el.com/
http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/series/TNG/
http://www.trekweb.com/tng/

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