Stamps of the 80s 158
Noah Zoschke writes, "Last year the U.S. Postal Service held an online vote to see what people wanted to represent the 80s for a new set of stamps. It looks like a pretty good set, including video games, computers, Cabbage Patch Kids, and ET.
" The idea of licking ET doesn't quite appeal to me for some reason. I actually have a bunch of stamps from my younger days... it's definitely not a hobby I understand... but I can't understand collecting anything flat that doesn't have a casting cost.
Email Stamps (Score:2)
What the postal service needs to do is create email stamps! For just $.33 you can send an email anywhere in the world, guaranteed by the legendary customer service of the postal service to be delivered within three working days.
Sorry, I'm just being sarcastic. I really can't wait, though, till the day when stamps are no longer necessary.
If you can't figure out how to mail me, don't.
Breakdancing (Score:1)
Re:Email Stamps (Score:1)
Wish I could be zsarcastic but hey I got to be miserable Taxes for things that hurt me. Didnt we boycott stamp taxes over 200 years ago. Oh well money of mine for system maintanence.
I think it'd be good... (Score:1)
-motardo
get rid of stamps? (Score:1)
Re:Let it die. (Score:1)
Yeah... my late less-than-teens and early teens were in the 80s. I'd have to agree with you there. Nothing worth remembering cept for cheesy movies, cheesy rock (though it's not much better now) and loads and loads of greed.
Wait, not much different than now, huh?
If you can't figure out how to mail me, don't.
Re:get rid of stamps? (Score:1)
Funny you should mention that. Go to www.carefullysealedletterpennedincalligraphy.com and woohoo!
Hey, online greeting cards, may as well take it to the next logical conclusion.
Actually I agree with you, but romance is a dying art. I may as well get used to the times.
If you can't figure out how to mail me, don't.
Re:I think it'd be good... (Score:1)
Nah, I think if they were going to use a computer, they should use an Apple. After all, it's essentially the first PC... and set us on our way to where we are now. Computer-bound hermits with no life ;-)
Oh well, if it weren't computers, it'd be something else.
If you can't figure out how to mail me, don't.
The 80s? Making me feel old... (Score:3)
ObOnTopic Comment: The one thing I
*out*
Easy money in collecting. (Score:2)
This will make all those cheasy ET stamps worth some cold hard cash. Unlike pokemon cards these have a future.
Re:Email Stamps (Score:1)
I hope you're just kidding in that sentence. The only similarity about the stamp taxes and the postal stamps is that the stamp is presented as proof that you paid. The postal rates are payment for the service. Perhaps you'd like the books you ordered online delivered to you by email?
--
self-adhesive stamps! (Score:1)
No value????? (Score:1)
Paper money is flat, and the casting cost is the same as stamps. Since paper money has no value, I'll take it off people hands, no charge.
A long time ago? (OT) (Score:1)
Yeah, I know what you mean. I'm 24, the 80s are just like yesterday, and I find it real hard to believe that all that time's already gone by.
I do remember the 80s, or at least parts of them, but it seems like a distant memory now. I think I'm starting to feel old. :(
Yeah, when I was a boy, we didn't have an Internet, we just had PCs we used in the library... no network... 5 1/4 inch drives, little black and white macs. No windows, all dos based. Wow, and I remember that.
Scary.
Whitney Houston. The Bangles. Martika. Sigh.
If you can't figure out how to mail me, don't.
Re:get rid of stamps? (Score:2)
Steven E. Ehrbar
Stamps of the 90s (Score:4)
Any others?
--
Re:A long time ago? (OT) (Score:2)
Re:A long time ago? (OT) (Score:1)
My very first computer was a TRS-80 Color Computer 3. I also had a VIC-20 and a C-128, before I got my first.... macintosh. Yes. Macintosh. 1994.
I had lots of fun with it. I used to disassemble the VIC-20 firmware by dumping hex and translating the codes. Figured out a lot of cool stuff that way :)
And it's "tangent". But it's cool.
If you can't figure out how to mail me, don't.
I pick this one. (Score:1)
Quite an array of lovely 80's stamps. After examining each for many hours, comparing memories from one to memories from the other, analysing the benfits of each's color layout, I'm going to have to go with #33.
#33 brings out the best of the 80's while also reflecting many (more than the others, anyway) good things about the world in general. Be it communist, capatalist, or nihilist, the #33 stamp supports them all. Yes, my final vote is for #33. I think you will all agree.
Are You Nuts? (Score:1)
call me a child of the eighties
by Bryant Adkins
published in The Reflector
January 20, 1995
(here too) [tripletsrus.com]
I am a child of the eighties. That is what I prefer to be called. The nineties can do without me. Grunge isn't here to stay, fashion is fickle and "Generation X" is a myth created by some over-40 writer trying to figure out why people wear flannel in the summer. When I got home from school, I played with my Atari 2600. I spent hours playing Pitfall or Combat or Breakout or Dodge'em Cars or Frogger. I never did beat Asteroids. Then I watched "Scooby Doo." Daphne was a Goddess, and I thought Shaggy was smoking something synthetic in the back of their psychedelic van. I hated Scrappy.
I would sleep over at friends' houses on the weekends. We played army with G.I. Joe figures, and I set up galactic wars between Autobots and Decepticons. We stayed up half the night throwing marshmallows and Velveeta at one another. We never beat the Rubik's Cube.
I got up on Saturday mornings at 6 a.m. to watch bad Hanna-Barbera cartoons like "The Snorks," "Jabberjaw," "Captain Caveman," and "Space Ghost." In between I would watch "School House Rock." ("Conjunction junction, what's your function?")
On weeknights Daisy Duke was my future wife. I was going to own the General Lee and shoot dynamite arrows out the back. Why did they weld the doors shut? At the movies the Nerds got Revenge on the Alpha Betas by teaming up with the Omega Mus. I watched Indiana Jones save the Ark of the Covenant, and wondered what Yoda meant when he said, "No, there is another."
Ronald Reagan was cool. Gorbachev was the guy who built a McDonalds in Moscow. My family took summer vacations to the Gulf of Mexico and collected "Muppet Movie" glasses along the way. (We had the whole set.) My brother and I fought in the back seat. At the hotel we found creative uses for Connect Four pieces like throwing them in that big air conditioning unit.
I listened to John COUGAR Mellencamp sing about Little Pink Houses for Jack and Diane. I was bewildered by Boy George and the colors of his dreams, red, gold, and green. MTV played videos. Nickelodeon played "You Can't Do That on Television" and "Dangermouse." Cor! HBO showed Mike Tyson pummel everybody except Robin Givens, the bad actress from "Head of the Class" who took all Mike's cashflow.
I drank Dr. Pepper. "I'm a Pepper, you're a Pepper, wouldn't you like to be a Pepper, too?" Shasta was for losers. TAB was a laboratory accident. Capri Sun was a social statement. Orange juice wasn't just for breakfast anymore, and bacon had to move over for something meatier.
My mom put a thousand Little Debbie Snack Cakes in my Charlie Brown lunch box, and filled my Snoopy Thermos with grape Kool-Aid. I would never eat the snack cakes, though. Did anyone? I got two thousand cheese and cracker snack packs, and I ate those.
I went to school and had recess. I went to the same classes everyday. Some weird guy from the eighth grade always won the science fair with the working hydro-electric plant that leaked on my project about music and plants. They just loved Beethoven.
Field day was bigger than Christmas, but it always managed to rain just enough to make everybody miserable before they fell over in the three-legged race. Where did all those panty hose come from? "Deck the Halls with Gasoline, fa la la la la la la la la," was just a song. Burping was cool. Rubber band fights were cooler. A substitute teacher was a baby sitter/marked woman. Nobody deserved that.
I went to Cub Scouts. I got my arrow-of-light, but never managed to win the Pinewood Derby. I got almost every skill award but don't remember ever doing anything.
The world stopped when the Challenger exploded.
Did a teacher come in and tell your class?
Half of your friends' parents got divorced.
People did not just say no to drugs.
AIDS started, but you knew more people who had a grandparent die from cancer.
Somebody in your school died before they graduated.
When you put all this stuff together, you have my childhood. If this stuff sounds familiar, then I bet you are one, too.
We are children of the eighties. That is what I prefer "they" call it.
No Garbagepail kids? (Score:1)
Cats? (Score:1)
Is it really that good? It seems a little silly next to the Berlin Wall, but then I guess under that measure most of the other stamps do, too.
A poll not slashdotted! (Score:2)
Thank you, Rob, for not linking to the online-vote page from slashdot before the vote was over.
--
Now Totally Off Topic and MY LAST POST, Bedtime (Score:2)
GODDAMINT, that's what i typed the first time
On to the quiet darkness of slumber, to dream of yesteryear and all the promises it held.
Night!
Yes! The IBM PC. (Score:3)
The Personal Computer (in general) was Time's Man of the Year (called Machine of the Year since it isn't a man) for 1982. http://www.pathfinder.com/time/special/moy/1982.h
There's some really interesting stuff in that article.
Re:I think it'd be good... (Score:1)
---
"'Is not a quine' is not a quine" is a quine [nmsu.edu].
Hell no. (Score:1)
One learned to program efficiently. You did not need 40mb of ram for a word processor. I ran Perfect Writer 64k of ram.
I was raised on a PDP-11/34 with 128k of ram for 20 users.
Re:No Garbagepail kids? (Score:1)
I remember those. I was in elementary school at the time. At about the same time our drill-seargant (literally) music teacher, Mr. Curtis, decided we were going to put on a "cabbage patch kids" play.
Cabbage Patch Kids
Growing in the garden
Cabbage Patch Kids
Growing in the sun
Cabbage Patch Kids
Cabbage patch Kids!
Each one grows to be a special one
And I can't believe I remembered that.
If you can't figure out how to mail me, don't.
Re:Email Stamps (Score:2)
I wonder how forgeable they are...
---
"'Is not a quine' is not a quine" is a quine [nmsu.edu].
Re:Email Stamps (Score:1)
Whatever. The service doesn't apply to me, and I'd rather just occasionally buy a $6.60 pack of stamps at my local post office anyway. It's easier to deal with and a hell of a lot cheaper.
---
"'Is not a quine' is not a quine" is a quine [nmsu.edu].
Re:A long time ago? (OT) (Score:1)
Mine was a CoCo 1 rev D. but I got a CoCo 3 later on. Boy I miss OS-9 Level II. Wish someone would write an emulator for the 6809 for Linux, hint,hint. The way that OS windowed was _REALLY_ cool. Oh to type...
display 1b 20 02 14 0a 28 0a 01 00 00
shell i-/w2 &
Where's Optimus Prime? (Score:2)
Re:Breakdancing (Score:1)
What about the 1984 Olympics? (Score:1)
- - - -
Night sky over Bagdad during the Gulf War... (Score:1)
Re:Email Stamps (Score:1)
Actually, they categorically deny such rumours so strongly that they have a link on their website [usps.gov] to the denial [usps.gov].
- - - -
Re:Email Stamps (Score:1)
I agree with you on the point that if the government thinks it can tax it, it probably will sooner or later, but be easy the USPS...we all know how "sensitive" they can be...
A Subset of the 80's Stamps (Score:3)
Video Game Stamps... (Score:1)
Then to encourage excessive use of stamps they should make them fit like puzzles, so you can combine two stamps to make a bigger picture. They could also maybe make an extra buck that they are complaining about losing to email.
Just my 2c
Citrix
What! No PC Jr. ???? (Score:1)
Inventing the E-Stamp(tm) (Score:2)
BUSINESS REPLY MAIL
NO POSTAGE NECESSARY
IF MAILED IN THE UNITED STATES
_______________
_______________
_______________
_______________
_______________
_______________
_______________
_______________
... exactly as used by junk mailers everywhere.
Being that this was undoubtedly a violation of Federal law punishable by 95 years in jail and a $6,000,000 fine, this dude (whose name I am frankly having trouble even remembering) only had the cojones to try his E-Stamp(tm) process on a single letter.
But it worked.
Now, if only this guy had thought to apply for a patent on electronically-printed postage, he would probably be a very wealthy man today.
But that wouldn't do me any good personally, of course, because I'm pretty sure I couldn't even come up with the bright young fellow's name. Not even if asked impolitely by men equipped with sunglasses and guns.
-- jm
I Have a PCjr (Score:1)
I still have it somewhere.
cya, Andrew...
Children of the 80s (Score:5)
It's funny that this topic came up, since just yesterday I was proclaimed "Out of touch" by an 18 year-old girl (her reason was that I din't "get" the Backstreet Boys). Anyway, that event, and this reminded me of the following list I was sent about a year ago. If you're over 25, I think you'll appreciate it.
***
The people who are starting college this fall across the nation were born
in 1980.
They have no meaningful recollection of the Reagan era, and did not know he
had ever been shot. And Jimmy Carter is that guy who builds houses.
They were prepubescent when the Persian Gulf War was waged.
Black Monday 1987 is as significant to them as the Great Depression.
There has only been one Pope.
They can only really remember one president. Who's Bush?
They were 11 when the Soviet Union broke apart, and do not remember the
Cold War.
They have never feared a nuclear war.
"The Day After" is a pill to them, not a movie.
CCCP is just a bunch of letters.
No one boycotted the Olympics.
T-shirts have always had designer names and sports logos on them.
They have only known one Germany.
They are too young to remember the Space shuttle blowing up, and
Tienamin Square means nothing to them.
They do not know who Qadafi is.
Their lifetime has always included AIDS.
They never had a Polio shot, and likely, do not know what it is.
Bottles have not only always been twist off, but have always been plastic.
They have no idea what a pull top can looks like.
Atari predates them, as do vinyl albums.
The expression "you sound like a broken record" means nothing to
them. They have never owned a record player.
They have likely never played Pac Man, and have never heard of Pong.
"Star Wars" looks very fake and the special effects are pathetic.
There have always been Red M&Ms, and Blue ones are not new.
And what do you mean there used to be beige ones?
They may have heard of an 8-track, but chances are they probably
have never actually seen or heard one. The Compact Disc was
introduced when they were 1 year old.
As far as they know, stamps have always cost about 32 cents.
Zip codes have always had a dash in them.
They have always had an answering machine and a computer.
Beepers are toys, not advanced technology.
Most have never seen a TV set with only 13 channels, nor have they
seen a black and white TV.
They have always had cable.
There have always been VCR's, but they have no idea what Beta is.
They cannot fathom not having a remote control.
They were born the year that Walkmen were introduced by Sony.
Roller-skating has always meant inline for them.
They have never heard of King Cola, Burger Chef, The Globe
Democrat, Braniff, PanAM or Ozark Airlines.
The Tonight Show has always been with Jay Leno.
They have no idea when or why Jordache jeans were cool.
They are nostalgic for corduroy jeans, wide legs, platform shoes, Candie's,
Pumas and rayon shirts - without experiencing the original versions.
Popcorn has always been cooked in a microwave.
And what's a hot plate?
They have never seen and remember a game that included the St.
Louis (Football) Cardinals, the Baltimore Colts, the Minnesota North
Stars, the Kansas City Kings, the New Orleans Jazz, The Minnesota Lakers,
The Atlanta Flames, or the Denver Rockies (NHL Hockey, that is)
They do not consider the Colorado Rockies, the Florida Marlins, The
Florida Panthers, The Ottawa Senators, the San Jose Sharks, or the
Tampa Bay Lightning "expansion teams".
They have never seen Larry Bird play, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is a
football player.
They never took a swim and thought about Jaws.
The Vietnam War is as much ancient history to them as WWI, WWII or
even the Civil War.
They have no idea that Americans were ever held hostage in Iran.
They can't imagine what hard contact lenses are.
They don't know who Mork was or where he was from.
They never heard the terms "Where's the beef?", "I'd walk a mile
for a Camel," or "de plane, de plane!".
They do not care who shot J. R. and have no idea who J. R. is.
The Cosby Show, The Facts of Life, Silver Spoon, The Love Boat,
Miami Vice, WKRP in Cincinnati, and Taxi are shows they have likely
never seen.
The Titanic was found? I thought we always knew where it was.
They cannot remember the Cardinals ever winning a World Series, or
even being in one.
Kansas, Chicago, Boston, America, and Alabama are places, not groups.
McDonald's came in Styrofoam containers?
Do you feel old now? Remember, the people who don't know these
things will be in college this year...and they can vote!
Vietnam Wall stamp (Score:1)
You don't lick ET... (Score:2)
--
But why.. (Score:1)
;)
What? No Zork? (Score:1)
Where, where, where is Zork, the defining Infocom adventure of the 80s? (Yeah, I know, developed in the 60s and 70s, but wide release was in the 80s...) Nowhere in the 60s is ARPANET. Nowhere in the 70s OR 80s is American Bell's Dataphone (the old name for these newfangled "modem" devices). Quake and DOOM have been carelessly left out of the 90s.
Now, if Al Gore or Steve Case are on the "Internet/WWW" Stamp, heads are gonna roll...
Reagan Stamp (Score:1)
Of all the influental men during the 80's I would like to point out that Ronald Reagan did the most for his country and humanity alike.
He is the greatest president we have had since the end of world war II. I would even rank him in the top 5 presidents of our country. A man of impecable morals and pure intentions.
I say we honor him and his memory by placing a stamp of his presidency in this collection. He was definately one of the biggest "movers and shakers" during this decade.
I would also like to see more stamps with a serious note of influental events or people who influenced the world as a whole in a better way during the 80's.
Nathaniel P. Wilkerson
NPS Internet Solutions, LLC
www.npsis.com [npsis.com]
Re:Email Stamps (Score:1)
This isn't true -- stamps.com provides their own software to print from. (I think you can print from Word as well, though. I don't use Word so I haven't tried.) Word is not required, but the stamps.com software is, and AFAIK it runs only on Windows (not my preferred platform, to say the least, though I did have a Win95 box available and use that for it).
Also, there was no start up charge whatsoever when I signed up, and they also gave me a $25 postage credit, which is nothing to sneeze at.
I have a small business, but we don't use enough postage to make a postage meter worth the $$. Stamps.com is a nice solution to having to run to the post office several times a week to buy odd amounts of postage for sending packages.
The system does have its flaws, though. It's Windows only, and you can't just print postage on plain paper and slap that on the front of an envelope -- to use stamps.com with normal business-size envelopes, you have to buy special approved stickers with a fluorescent border, or print directly on the envelope itself. The special stickers aren't yet available at office supply stores, so you have to order them from stamps.com.
On packages you don't have to use the fluorescent stickers, but you still have to use an approved brand and type. At least the package stickers are carried at office supply stores.
When you misprint postage (which happens relatively often, since my printer is a little touchy and doesn't much like the sticker paper), the process for getting a (partial) refund is a pain in the butt, but I can sort of see why.
Lastly, you still have to keep some of the regular postage around for international mail (e-postage is currently domestic only), and for spur-of-the-moment mail. You can't just print out some stamps and carry them around with you. Each stamp is encoded to work only with one particular piece of mail on a particular date.
All in all, though, I really kind of like the product, and if they'd come out with a version on a platform I like better, and if I could print the postage on any white paper instead of the special stickers, I'd have no complaints.
Re:Reagan Stamp (Score:1)
Didn't I (Score:1)
What our are options? (Score:1)
Bill Clinton holding a cigar? Give me a break.
Admittedly Reagan had his faults and sure maybe he wasn't Albert Einstein but what makes a great man is what he stands for what he trys to portray. I say that Reagan's morals do make him a "great man". Because in the end that is really all we have to evaluate a person on.
We have no control over our IQ, or are financial situation in life, among other things. But we most certainly have our own beliefs and free agency... and Reagan chose these well. What he exemplified was great and he brought a sense of pride and ownership back to the United States that was lacking after the Vietnam era.
I could go on and on but I think you get my point.
Nathaniel P. Wilkerson
NPS Internet Solutions, LLC
www.npsis.com [npsis.com]
Moderate this UP!! Way UP! (Score:1)
Nathaniel P. Wilkerson
NPS Internet Solutions, LLC
www.npsis.com [npsis.com]
Re:Minix Re:Yes! The IBM PC. (Score:2)
Re:Stamps of the 90s (Score:1)
David Koresh compound in Waco on fire
The lobby scene from the Matrix
Rodney King getting beat up by the LAPD
Andrew Wiles in front of a chalk board
Icons (Score:1)
Re:Vietnam Wall stamp (Score:2)
Re:The 80s? Making me feel old... (Score:3)
Where else can you get pictures of cabbage patch clones throwing up and urinating everywhere, for only $.25 a pack? (not to mention a FREE stick of gum!) Just amazing stuff, those garbage pail kids. It's too bad they stopped making them after four years. Oh well, all fads must end. And be thankful for that; for if they didnt, we would still have Pogs, Shrinky-Dinks, and Tamagochis everywhere.
And besides; the GPKs found a new form: the Magic card. The fad that's been going on for 7 years now, and doesnt show signs of stopping. I guess they finally found the secret to keeping fads around... or is it really a fad? all to be determined.
Transformers (Score:1)
<p>"You've got the touch"
<p>(guitar riff)
<p>"You've got the power"
Re:Email Stamps (Score:1)
If I recall correctly a company charged for a service where you'd email them and they'd print out the email and mail to someone. Not sure the point of this but I think this was in the early days of the Internet when not everyone had a connection.
How the Swiss Post copes with computerized reality (Score:3)
I know this is quite off-topic, but I like this kind of getting lost customers back better than the "if all our ex-customers are now using e-mail, we'll just tax that" approach. After all, one significant advantage of e-mail (next to speed) is the time you save in preparing messages for delivery. With this new printing/packaging service, writing 200 letters is just as easy as writing 200 e-mails - it's just a matter of saving a digital document, and taking the disk to your local post office is akin to pressing the send button in your mail app.
I really hope the Swiss Post succeeds with this strategy. It might even help start-ups who would usually need at least eight hours to mail out invoices to 3000 customers for example..
They also offer UPAQ, a system that 128-bit encrypts sensible documents and provides authentification of both parties involved - in e-mail. You can even track your message and see exactly when the recipient opens and decrypts the file.
And you can even get stamps online - a huge collection. They really treat the electronic world well for a government-owned company. You can check out their English website here [www.post.ch].
Re:Are You Nuts? (Score:1)
But you forgot LEGOs, but hell, they still rock.
Sotaku
This shows History has stopped (Score:1)
What seems to have stopped completely, besides politics, is popular music. If you think how it evolved in about ten years, from Buddy Holly to Pink Floyd, for instance, one feels the last new band was Alice Cooper. The first time I became aware that the Rolling Stones existed was when Satisfaction came out in 1965. They are still playing it at their shows.
In 1965, Glenn Miller had been a hit for less time than the Rolling Stones have been now. Why is it that no new music styles are invented anymore?
Pull top cans! (Score:1)
I remember a friend of mine going out and collecting a few of these when the new cans were introduced, he said just to remember. Back then I thought he was nuts. Now I wish I had some.
I don't know why, but pull top cans are so way much cooler. The lid thing you pull of has a thousand useful appliances, I want my pull top can back. Damn them jerks who littered the lids all over the place. You just put the lid inside the can when you're done and throw it both away, no sharp lids lying around..
Enough incoherence for today :P
Re:Hell no. (Score:1)
And Borland's Turbo Pascal 3.0 had an editor, debugger, and compiler all together in a 40 kbyte .COM file. I used to love .COM files, wrote a lot of them in assembly. Bloatware began when people forgot about .COM and started compiling programs to .EXE files.
Re:Vietnam Wall stamp (Score:1)
Robotech SDF-1 Stamp! (Score:1)
Before Apple ][ (Score:1)
We had a Texas Instruments Home Computer. If I remember right, the thing hooked up to a TV, and was entirely cartridge based (no disk drive whatsoever). I can barely remember it, but it did have a tape drive (of sorts). Something where we hooked up a tape recorder (standard run-of-the-mill) and somehow it read a program off of it, some simple jousting game (but not Joust(TM)). It died of a critical error when three of the keys on the keyboard weren't being recognized as keys anymore.
Later on, my parents bought a couple Apple ][s. They were neet, but I hated the disk drive noise when you didn't have a disk inserted when it tried to read, or when it was having trouble reading the data.
With the risk of making this topic just a grabbag of 80's crap, The one thing I wish I could remember out of the 80's better was The Great Space Coaster. I loved that show, but I can't remember a lot of it. Wish I could find it on tape....
-----
Re:Email Stamps (Score:2)
The Internet hasn't been the government's network since the early '90s, at least. It's all phone companies now.
...phil
Re:What video game is that???? (Score:1)
Don't forget (Score:1)
Neon Pink and Green clothing.
Big Hair.
Miami Vice.
The Countach.
TRON.
Oliver North.
The Macenzie Bros.
Buckwheat T-shirts.
The Ayatollah.
IRON F*CKING MAIDEN.
Top Gun.
The Mockingboard.
Hi-top Nikes (I OWNED a pair of black and silver Vandals!)
And "foreign legion" caps.
Re:Cats? (Score:1)
The point isn't really whether or not it was any good (I thought it was...). The point is only that it was the world's most widely-visited, longest-running musical.
Re:Don't forget Vol. II (Score:1)
Ferris Beuler (Anyone?).
Purple Rain.
WHAM!
Velcro Shoelaces.
Stonewashed Denim.
Rambo.
Feeeeeed...theeee.wooooorrrrllldd. (sing it with me.)
Nibble Magazine.
Duck Hunt.
Front Wheel Drive.
Skittles.
Back to the Future.
Boomboxes bigger than my car.
Grenada.
Wine Coolers.
"You don't know. You weren't THERE, man!"
Re:What video game is that???? (Score:1)
Re:Let it die. (Score:1)
Music Stamps (Score:2)
For those who have no idea what I'm talking about, the PMRC (Parent's Music Resource Center) was an attempt at censorship of the music industry by bored Washington housewives (Tipper Gore was one of the leaders) which was sparked off by Tipper hearing her child listening to Prince and the Revolution's song Darling Nikki (song about a woman masturbating for these purposes).
--
Re:A long time ago? (OT) (Score:1)
Re:Children of the 80s (Score:2)
Except for one thing:
They can't imagine what hard contact lenses are.
I'm wearing some right now
Re:Don't forget Vol. III (Score:1)
Izod shirts (remember? with the little fucking alligator?)
deck shoes
"London Fog" jackets with the sleeves pushed up
your first walkman
They got an XT which makes em kinda OK in my book (Score:1)
Good opportunities missed (Score:2)
* Quasi-metal pretty boy bands?
* The return of the miniskirt (esp. in denim)?
* Intellivision commercials starring George Plimpton?
* Weird Al?
* Tight designer jeans?
* The death of UNIX (it was generally assumed to be dying out by the end of the 80s).
Overall, it's a strange assortment. It's depressing in a way that the 1980s will be remembered for pop culture commercial fads more than anything else. I mean, really, those people who paid $100+ for Cabbage Patch Kids look back on it fondly? I'd be embarrassed.
Hip Hop Culture (Score:1)
Hip Hop Culture [stampsonline.com]
This one is just too classic not to point out.
Recalling the days of breakdancing on pieces
of cardboard on the sidewalk--that's just a
hallmark of American history that we can't afford
to miss.
Bravo, USPS!
You know that they boil hooves to make the glue?NT (Score:1)
Re:Children of the 80s (Score:1)
one other thing (Score:1)
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People think that I hear little voices inside my head telling me what to do. That's ridiculous. It's more like a movie, with these little hamster guys that hold up charts and maps and other visual aids. You know, whatever they have to use.
i have an idea for an 80's stamp (Score:1)
seriously, how about a fishbone stamp? then you can party at ground zero for $.33.
and btw - fishbone has a new record coming out next month and if you liked their 80's stuff you will really like it. trust me.
raz
------------
DJ Raz
raz@wfnk.com [mailto]
8-bit Atari (Score:1)
Naw, they had the 32XE, 64XE, and the 130XE, i had the old 32XE and recently found an 130XE at salvation army, i love it :)
I've never heard of a 32XE, and have been using Ataris since the early 80s (though this was in the US -- I think that Atari may have released one or two different models in Europe. Where did you get yours?). The progression of 8-bit Ataris (roughly chronologically) that I'm aware of is: 400, 800, 1200XL, 600XL, 800XL, 130XE, 65XE... The XEs are pretty much the same as the XLs only they were pale grey instead of black & silver. The 130XE had 128K RAM, and the 65XE had 64K (so it was functionally identical to an 800XL).
At one point I had an 800XL with 256K RAM - that was ELITE at the time (circa 1984), even though you could hardly do anything with the extra memory, since the 6502 processor could only address 48K of main memory and the rest had to be bank-switched in 16K blocks... So basically it was just like any other Atari except you had like a dozen virtual RAMdisk devices that were only 16K each... After that machine died we bought a 65XE which is still at my parent's house... My dad still plays "MULE" and "River Raid" all the time on it.
Heh, how cool... (Score:1)
So Taco plays Magic? How excellent, I imagine with his millions he's managed to collect all the nice jewelry and everything. Go Taco! >:)
Stamps of the 80's (Score:1)
Re:Don't forget Vol. II (Score:1)
Re:get rid of stamps? (Score:1)
Re:Children of the 80s (Score:1)
Call me a child of the eighties (Score:2)
Don't call me "Generation X," call me a child of the eighties
by Bryant Adkins
published in The Reflector
January 20, 1995
-----------------------------------------------
I am a child of the eighties. That is what I prefer to be called. The nineties can do without me. Grunge isn't here to stay, fashion is fickle and "Generation X" is a myth created by some over-40 writer trying to figure out why people wear flannel in the summer.
When I got home from school, I played with my Atari 2600. I spent hours playing Pitfall or Combat or Breakout or Dodge'em Cars or Frogger.
I never did beat Asteroids. Then I watched "Scooby Doo." Daphne was a Goddess, and I thought Shaggy was smoking something synthetic in the back of their psychedelic van. I hated Scrappy.
I would sleep over at friends' houses on the weekends. We played army with G.I. Joe figures, and I set up galactic wars between Autobots and Decepticons. We stayed up half the night throwing marshmallows and Velveeta at one another. We never beat the Rubik's Cube.
I got up on Saturday mornings at 6 a.m. to watch bad Hanna-Barbera cartoons like "The Snorks," "Jabberjaw," "Captain Caveman," and "Space Ghost." In between I would watch "School House Rock."
"Conjunction junction, what's your function?"
On weeknights Daisy Duke was my future wife. I was going to own the General Lee and shoot dynamite arrows out the back. Why did they weld the doors shut?
At the movies the Nerds got Revenge on the Alpha Betas by teaming up with the Omega Mus. I watched Indiana Jones save the Ark of the Covenant, and wondered what Yoda meant when he said, "No, there is another."
Ronald Reagan was cool. Gorbachev was the guy who built a McDonalds in Moscow. My family took summer vacations to the Gulf of Mexico and collected "Muppet Movie" glasses along the way. (We had the whole set.)
My brother and I fought in the back seat. At the hotel we found creative uses for Connect Four pieces like throwing them in that big air conditioning unit.
I listened to John COUGAR Mellencamp sing about Little Pink Houses for Jack and Diane. I was bewildered by Boy George and the colors of his dreams, red, gold, and green.
MTV played videos. Nickelodeon played "You Can't Do That on Television" and Dangermouse."
HBO showed Mike Tyson pummel everybody except Robin Givens, the bad actress from "Head of the Class" who took all Mike's cashflow.
I drank Dr. Pepper. "I'm a Pepper, you're a Pepper, wouldn't you like to be a Pepper, too?" Shasta was for losers. TAB was a laboratory accident, Capri Sun was a social statement. Orange juice wasn't just for breakfast anymore, and bacon had to move over for something meatier.
My mom put a thousand Little Debbie Snack Cakes in my Charlie Brown lunch box, and filled my Snoopy Thermos with grape Kool-Aid. I would never eat the snack cakes, though. Did anyone? I got two thousand cheese and cracker snack packs, and I ate those.
I went to school and had recess. I went to the same classes everyday. Some weird guy from the eighth grade always won the science fair with the working hydro-electric plant that leaked on my project about music and plants. They just loved Beethoven.
Field day was bigger than Christmas, but it always managed to rain just enough to make everybody miserable before they fell over in the three-legged race. Where did all those panty hose come from?
Deck the Halls with Gasoline, fa la la la la la la la la," was just a song. Burping was cool. Rubber band fights were cooler. A substitute teacher was a baby sitter/marked woman. Nobody deserved that.
I went to Cub Scouts. I got my arrow-of-light, but never managed to win the Pinewood Derby. I got almost every skill award but don't remember ever doing anything.
The world stopped when the Challenger exploded.It is to us what Kennedy's assasination was to the children of the 60's.
Did a teacher come in and tell your class? Half of your friends' parents got divorced. People did not just say no to drugs.
AIDS started, but you knew more people who had a grandparent die from cancer.
Somebody in your school died before they graduated.
When you put all this stuff together, you have my childhood. If this stuff sounds familiar, then I bet you are one, too. We are children of the eighties. That is what I prefer "they" call it.
It's just the end of the century (Score:2)
Things should be clearing up on this front fairly soon, if history repeats itself. I for one am more than ready to start looking forwards.
Jon
Re:Children of the 80s (Score:3)
First, I've grown up with reel-to-reel and 8-tracks, cassettes, vinyl, etc. etc.. In fact, I own a record player here in my apartment.
I definitely have a recollection of who Reagan was, the Iran-Contra affair, Gulf War, etc. etc. Contrary to popular belief, we do learn about a lot of that stuff in school, as it's going on. I would bet that we were probably more informed about these things than many adults. To prove my point, my 5th grade teacher's son was in the gulf war, so we heard a little about it every day -- from her son's letters.
I clearly remember the Berlin Wall falling.
And don't think that I didn't see the Challenger explode. I was standing outside (in Orlando, FL) that January 28th, 1986 (YES, I remember the date) and saw the damn thing blow up to pieces.
Bottles have not always been plastic to me -- I learned at a very young age what the little "bottle opener" thing was on the machine for glass bottles.
I also own an Atari 2600 and grew up with it. I have many games for it and still play it to this date. People think I'm a loon for it, but I'm quite proud that it still works. Same goes for the NES I have. I also own some other Radio Shack garbage, but we won't mention that.
Pacman is my god (next to Linus Torvalds).
I have feared Nuclear War -- did you read "Alas, Babylon" in high school?
I have not always had an answering machine and a computer. I have never had a beeper, and I am more interested in their technical characteristics than their actual use.
I've seen TVs with 13 channels -- I used to have one. VHF and UHF are acronyms that are still embedded in my head.
I do know what Beta is. In fact, I just made a joke about it the other day in German class.
Roller skating has not always meant inline. Inline didn't seem to be a trend until the early 90s.
I have seen Larry Bird play. The aforementioned teams are still considered "expansion teams" by me.
I've seen Jaws. All of the shows you mentioned I've seen (many when they were really on the air).
Of course I remember "Where's the Beef?".. I parody her and the "I've fallen and I can't get up" lady occasionally.
..Mork is none other than Robin Williams!
I've eaten a lot of McDonalds that came in styrofoam containers, and I'm quite familiar with bands that are named after cities.
Well, anyway, point proved. Maybe I'm just different than everybody else my age, but I clearly remember a lot of the stuff that this list said that I didn't.
-- Does Rain Man use the Autistic License for his software?
Re:Cabbage Patch Kid important as Challenger Progr (Score:2)
I should hope not. Columbus "discovered" the Americas in 1492. Remember that whole 500-year anniversary thing way back in the 1990's?
Stamps of the '90s too! (Score:2)
I want my Atari stamps!!! (Score:2)
Isn't that what the 80's were all about?
Heck, I still *collect* ATari 2600 carts, and XL/XE disk images. Those're some of the BEST games ever 'made for Linux'...
So marketing people do know what they're doing! (Score:2)
In a way, the quick changes in fads make time seem like it's just flying by much faster than it is (nostalgic relativity?). If you're in college, then just three years after you graduate you can go back to campus and see that everyone is wearing something different that you never would have expected. And it probably will be something that seems really dumb, like comically oversized pants or Herman Munster shoes (both of which are now soooo 90s).
Re:Email Stamps (Score:2)
---
"'Is not a quine' is not a quine" is a quine [nmsu.edu].