Space Jam

Now if you don’t know about Space Jam, then you were definitely not born in the 90s. This was THE movie of the decade with an all star cast staring ex-Bulls Champion Michael Jordan and the legendary Looney Tunes cast. Yes you heard right, Michael Jordan and the Looney Tunes. Now a really great movie where live-action and animation meets hasn’t been successfully done, in my opinion, since Who Frame Roger Rabbit back in 1988.

Space Jam was a fictional autobiographical take on Michael Jordan’s life by 1996. He was a huge basketball icon in the 90s winning championships for the Chicago Bulls. He was a force to be reckon with and there was no stopping him. In the movie, Michael Jordan quits basketball to follow his dreams of being a pro-baseball player. However back in world where the Looney Tunes live in is being threaten by aliens who want to enslave them. Danny Devito stars as the Alien leader who owns an amusement park for aliens. Business is bad and there is a need to bring new entertainment for the customers. So the boss send 5 little aliens to enslaves the Looney Tunes after he watched a few episodes, making him laugh. The five aliens got to Looney Tune land to enslave the famous tune howeverBugs and the gang find it funny that “these puny little aliens” want to enslave. Wrong words Bugs. Did he forget that he was talking to aliens? When watching this as a kid, I remember yelling at the screen at Bugs and his stupid mistake.

The Aliens go to earth and stumble upon a basketball game where and the aliens think that since they challenged the Looney Tunes to a B-ball game where if the alines win, then the aliens take the tunes back to their home planet. Taking the talent away from 5 famous basketball players in the 90s, the aliens now are able to defeat the Looney Tunes. Bugs and Daffy decide that their only hope in not being enslave is to get the best basketball player there is to be on their team and train them: Michael Jordan.

If there was ever a mascot movie for the 90s, Space Jam was it. Michael Jordan was THE icon of the 90s and every little boy wanted to be like him. In the 90s, kids still knew who the Looney Tunes were and watched all the original cartoons when they came on TV. So mixing two famous icons with a pinch of Bill Murray and Stan Podolak, you get an inspirational movie about believing in yourself and also a movie about welcoming Michael Jordan back to Basketball.

Sabrina, My American Girl Doll

I was only 6 years old when I got my first American Girl doll. Sabrina had my medium brown complexion, brown eyes, and think black hair. She was and still is my everything. My Grandma heard about the American Girl doll store and wanted to take me to get one. At first I was confused on what American Girl was until I experienced it myself. The store was right off of Michigan Ave in Chicago and it looked like a little boutique. The colors were red, black, and white with stars everywhere. For such a small space, the store had three levels, a restaurant, and also a theatre. It was truly amazing. When I first got Sabrina, she wore a red leather dress with a black turtle neck underneath.

“Sweet heart,” grandma said to me. “You need to buy an outfit to match her.” My eyes widened and I saw the exact same dress that Sabrina was wear. We could be twins for a day, I thought.

Soon Sabrina and I were always together. We had sleepovers, we went to my other friends American Girl themed parties, I even too her to church with me a couple of Sundays. We were the best of friends and I loved her. Some went by and I got sisters for Sabrina. Her next sister was part of the Original American Girl  collection about girls from the past and not the Today Dolls like Sabrina was. Addy’s story was that she was a runaway slave who found freedom in the North. Next I got a 2000 Doll which was a new collection they started where they had a Doll of the Year where she is a limited edition  doll with a story line. She was a Jewish girl who wanted to go into Journalism. And then I received Kaya, an Native American Original Doll.

Time pasted by, and I would occasionally change my dolls clothes and comb their hair. But soon as I got older, they started to collect dust on my shelf. They watched everyday as went from 10 year old girl to a 18 year old getting ready for college. They appreciated when I would clean their faces off with warm water and brush their hair. So I did something in their honor. I bought a new doll for my little cousin. I bought her her very first American Girl Doll. She named her Today Doll Maya and when I brough her back to my house, Maya slept with my babies. The next day I could tell their smiles were brighter than ever. “I will never forget you.” I told them. “Never.”

Congratulations Newies!

Waking up was hard this morning. All I had to do was open my eyes to the shining light coming through my window and the sound of the Metra train coming into the station. I was tried and I didn’t want to get up but I had to. I opened my eyes to see that I slept with my computer on my stomach again. Working late nights to get work done just hours before they are due has become a very bad habit of mine.

Trying to wake up, I woke my computer up telling it that we had work to do. The screen turned on, blinding me with the sight of my Facebook page. I couldn’t remember why I was on there on the first place. But since I was already logged on, I looked at my New Feed. As a musical theatre geek, I love watching and celebrating the Tonys. They are everything to me. So it’s natural that I follow Broadway pages on facebook. All over my News Feed were the nominees for the Tonys. I was so excited. I clicked one of the Links and saw that Newies was nominated for 8 awards including Best Musical.

Newies cam out in 1992 staring a young Christian Bale. The story takes place around the turn of the century. The way the news got around in the morning, was through the Newies, a group of boys who sold the newspapers. When the head of a newspaper company raises the money for how many papers the Newies could sell for, they were outrages. They basically had to give back whatever they were paid. So they decide to strike the head of the company.This movie, made by Disney, is on of the best musical movies that came out during the 90s. It had great music, great dancing, and a wonderful storyline.

So congrats Newies for going to the Tonys. You have come a long way since just being a movie with a young Christian Bale.

Newsies-Poster

Newsies

The Time I Met Nathan Lane

Sitting at a fish restaurant that I could never afford, my eye caught a little girl standing by our table and giggling. I then saw her run up to a man who was sitting right next to us and said “Did you have a good dinner?” The little girl was silent until the mother said, “She just loves you in the Lion King.” Then my two friends freaked out. It wasn’t just a normal “Oh wow that’s so cool!” kind of freak out. It was a “HOLY BIRTHDAY CAKE BATMAN. NATHAN LANE IS SITTING AT THE TABLE NEXT TO US. I FORGOT HOW TO BREATH!” Freak out. Me, being me, didn’t believe them until he spoke a little louder. All my life I grew up to Nathan’s voice as Timon from the Lion King. Whenever I saw a picture of the character, I heard him. To be actually sitting next to him not only a foot away from me was amazing. My little 90s kid came out with a huge smile and the case of nerves. My two friends were crying at this point and I had to keep my cool. After we finished dinner and Nathan and his friends were eating dessert, we asked for a quick photo. (Honestly thank my friend for crying when she saw him. Because if she didn’t, I don’t think we would have gotten one.) And I meet the voice of my childhood.

The Spice Girls

May I just say that when I was growing up, I didn’t really know a lot about the Top 40s. I listened to Jimi Hendirx, Louie Armstrong, Harry Belafonte, and of course Motown hits. I grew up in a house where my parents listened to good old hits from their time that they knew was safe and fun for their only child. Music where I was able to dance with my father in the living room without curse words coming out. Music that touched the soul.

I learned a lot about the Top 40s from friends who would bring their CD players to school and let me listen in on the music. 3LW, TLC, N’SYNC, Aaron Carter, Lil’ Bow Wow, Monica, these were some of the artiest that I learned about at my school. But nothing grabbed my attention more than The Spice Girls.

Pose, Sporty, Ginger, Scary, and Baby Spice.
Spice up the World!

I loved the Spice Girls. Not only were they British, but they all had great vocals and style. During recess, my friends and I would always play Spice Girls by pretending to be one of the members. At my majority black catholic school, all of my friends insisted on being Scary Spice since she was the only Black member. Me? Well I always choose the wonderful Pose Spice now known as Victoria Beckham. I always had this sort of connect with her whenever I saw her in a music video. She had style and attitude which proved to me she was able to make her own decisions; That she was a strong creative person.

Listening to the Spice Girls’ songs, they always had meaning to them. Friendship, living life, and having fun. They were never negative and they were never about snapping your fingers in a Z formation because another girl took your man. No. Their hits were pure, fun, and great to dance to. they were about empowering women and having fun in life which every girl that was my age needed to know and listen to.

Lessons on Being Patient: A Guide for Every Generation

No matter how you look at it, everyone will always say that their generation was better.

When I was at C2E2 about a week ago, I was waiting in line for John Cusack’s panel. There I met this lovely 31 year old who told me that the 90s sucked and that the 80s were so much better. Surprising her, I agreed with her comment and said, “Although I was born in the 90s and grew up in the 90s/the early 2000s, I will always love that era. However I will always be a fan and respect the 80s because that was a wild decade.” Which is true. Anyone who loves the 80s like I do will agree that the 80s was a crazy decade. We had Hair bands, Metallica, John William’s films, crazy hairdos and don’ts, The rise of the Valley Girls, MTV, and so many more things that I can’t think of right now. It was a different time and much different place. It was a decade and generation that made the people of the 70s say that their decade was better. That the 70s had everything, not the 80s. And every decade/generation will say that about the time they grew up in. Yet everyone should practice patients when talking to someone who doesn’t know a lot about the time you grew up in.

That is where my short little story begins. Doing interviews of people for this blog, I came across a 15 year old girl who was born in ’96. I figured, hey I could ask her a couple of questions for my project. She should know some of these references. Boy was I wrong or what. I asked her what was the scariest toy she could remember coming out in the 90s/early 2000s and she said the Furby was. That was a common answer to most of the people I interviewed. However when I asked this next question, I felt like punching a hole in the wall. I asked the girl who did she like better: Britney Spears or Christiana Aguilera? She responded, “Who are they? I don’t know how to answer that question. They sound familiar though…”

What I wanted to say to this girl was, “Where have you been to not know who either of these women are? Even though my mom doesn’t know much about them, she still knows the names and she would say that she prefers Christina since she is a judge on the voice. But you should be able to answer this question with no hesitation.”

Instead I said, “Do you watch Glee?”

“Yes.” She responded.

“Do you remember the Britney/Brittany episode?”

“Kinda.”

“You know all the songs they sang in that episode was from Britney Spears right?”

“Oh really? That is so cool! I didn’t know that!”

“Do you watch The Voice?” I asked her.

“No, if a Glee member isn’t on it then she hasn’t seen it.” Her friend said. “It’s either Glee, Gossip Girl, 90210, or Vampire Diaries.”

At this moment I took a deep breath and smiled. I nodded my head and proceeded to ask the friend her opinions on my questions which she was overly happy to answer. She was a big fan of the 80s and 90s and respected everything about it unlike her friends.

Patience is key when you are talking to people who are uninformed about a whole decade. Yes you could yell or scream at the person. And you have every right to judge them. But you have to be the bigger person and tell them that it is not always good to be ignorant of other generations.

So what are my key points again?

• Deep breathing
• Smile
• Keep all homicidal thoughts to yourself
• Remain Calm
• Explain

Clueless

AS IF!

Oh Clueless. This has to be the best modern day tellings of Jane Austin’s Emma. I love this movie long before I knew what it was based off of. Clueless was one of the teen 90s movies of our time. It was in every way perfect.

Clueless is about that girl from Beverly Hill named Cher whose dad is a big time lawyer. She lives a life of shopping, parties, and popularity. Her life is basically perfect. Having almost everything you ever wanted can be boring at times though. And when the new girl Tai from New York comes along, Cher sees a new project on her hands. Along with her best friend Dionne, Cher wants to make Tai into the perfect popular girl and set her up with one of the most popular guys at their school, Elton. Now you might be wondering why Cher doesn’t go after Elton herself. Well that’s because high school boys are diguesting with their baggy jeans and unwashed hair. I mean hello? That’s not what Cher wants. It takes her long enough to pick out her shoes because she is so overly picky. Cher likes the sophisticated type and nothing less.

Cher soon find herself in the presents of her ex-stepbrother Josh who is hiding out at Cher’s house and helping her dad out with work. Cher finds Josh annoying with his college boy ways and but he is one of the few people who tolerates her and her crazy ways. Soon the movie ends up with Cher realizing that the person that she always loved was Josh and that he was the only guy worthy of her because he liked her for herself. If you read Emma, you would notice all the similarities this movie and the book has. It is on my list for best modern version of a Jane Austin book.

Clueless is not know only for the story line, but for the clothes as well. When you have a movie that is based around rich kids in Beverly Hills, of course there is going to be a focus on clothes.

If you haven’t seen Clueless, I recommend you watching it. It’s a good laugh and a great blast from the past.

A Memory in Pictures of Clothes in the 90s

We all wore them either when we were a kid, a teen, or adult, they were the styles of the 90s.

Overalls

Fanny Pack

Bright and Baggy (Yeah baggy was a style name. What in the world?)

Belly tops to show off that awesome belly ring or maybe a nice floral dress. See through was also very popular.

DENIM (Yes that’s the Cast of Beverly Hills 90210)

I don’t even want to ask.

Fashion in every decade is different. And although some might argue that the 90s was the time of simplicity, I would have to say it was the time of making everything loud yet simple.

 

1 Saturday Morning

I don’t even think there is one anymore to be honest. 1 Saturday Morning was on ABC every Saturday morning starting around 6 or 7 o’clock in the morning. I remember waking up at around 9 on Saturdays, getting myself a cup of yogurt and fruit, and running back t my room to watch Saturday Morning cartoons just like my dad trained me to do.

Recess

The House of Mouse

Pepper Ann

The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh

The Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show

And let’s not forget everyones favorite School House Rock!

For years this was what was on on Saturday mornings followed by the Power Rangers. I would always relax on my bed until my parents got up and enjoy a morning with no school. It was refreshing and fun. And once Monday came along, I was able to talk to my friends about the awesome cartoons that was on that day. Now there were other channels that had Saturday morning cartoons. Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, WGN or now know as The CW, CBS, and NBC. When I turned 11 o 12, Saturday Morning Cartoons went from Cartoons to watching live action shows or even the news. The demand to watch cartoons in the morning was soon pushed to cable channels where you could watch cartoons all day. But it wasn’t the same. Saturday Morning Cartoons was a special moment in a child’s life. And to watch the new episodes of shows that come on in the morning on different channels was a real treat. But sadly they hardly do that any more. It’s 2012 and last week, Nick started airing their newest cartoon The Legend of Korra Saturday mornings at 11/10 EST. This gave me hope and a since of nostalgia. Having to get up excited over watching cartoons in the morning is how being a kid is suppose to be.