Category: History

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Saturday Night Retro

Saturday September 04TH 2010
Volume 3 / Number 1 / Edition 98

Although it certainly wasn’t as wild and crazy as the legendary Summer of 1990 this past Summer of 2010 will certainly be a memorable one for my own personal historical archives.

In June I stepped foot in New England for the very first time ever. I flew in to Hartford Connecticut, and I spent the better part of a work week up in ‘West Mass.’ as the natives refer to it. I enjoyed my short visit, and I can see myself returning for an encore visit on a future vacation. I wish to explore Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine as well.

In July I spent the long Independence Day holiday weekend out west in the Dallas Texas area with my family. I got to see my favourite Uncle and Aunt for the first time in about 7 years, and I also got to see another favourite Uncle and Aunt while I was there. It was like a ‘Day Family Reunion’ in Texas for a few hours on the 05TH of July, and as it turns out it would be the final time that my Dad got to see everyone together. He passed on to Heaven just 13 days later. He died of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (better known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease). I got the news just a few hours after returning home from a road trip up north and west in the rural panhandle of Florida.

I haven’t taken any trips since then, so I’m really looking forward to this upcoming vacation of mine that begins tomorrow. I’ll cap off the memorable Summer of 2010 on a high note out on the high seas as I visit Grand Cayman Island, Isla Roatan Honduras, Belize City, y Cozumel Mexico via the Carnival Valor. I’ll actually have a camera with me on this trip (for the first time ever), so I’ll try to take some pictures of my adventures on and off the ship and then post them on here and on Twitter upon my return back home.

This weekend’s ‘pick-hit video’ is from Milli Vanilli. It actually features LIVE footage from the “Club MTV” tour of 1989 that stopped over in Miami on June 30TH of that year that I was in attendance at. This was their 5TH and final smash hit in a row before the bottom fell out on their short yet extremely successful worldwide hit music career. From the Spring of 1990 I present to you the final song of ‘The Awesome ’80s In August International Dance Party’. It’s “All Or Nothing”. It’s ‘Retro’.

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Saturday Night Retro

Saturday August 28TH 2010
Volume 2 / Number 48 / Edition 97

I’ve got a lot of hobbies and skills that you may or may not be aware of. Some of them I think I’m pretty good at (of course others may disagree). Some of these hobbies and skills I wish I could be better at and spend more quality time with. Some hobbies consume a lot of time, and some just occur naturally without much effort at all. Some hobbies have developed over time – while others have faded (thankfully and regrettably). Hobbies come and hobbies go – as we grow.

One of my lesser-known hobbies over the past 25 years of my adult life that pretty much came out of nowhere but has developed quite nicely over the years is that of a personal historian. It goes along with my fascination with dates and numbers, and it fits right in with my organizational skills. Nowadays my blogs and my tweets serve as the public recorded history of this new Life of mine. Previously my web site fulfilled that role during the latter portion of the 1990s into the new millennium. Before the evolution of the web I recorded the significant events of my life via pen and paper. Now that’s what I call ‘Retro’ !

Because of this hobby I can tell you that on Friday June 30TH 1989 I was at the original Miami Arena in downtown Miami to see ‘Downtown’ Julie Brown host a LIVE concert featuring The Information Society, Lisa Lisa And Cult Jam, Milli Vanilli, Tone Loc, and Was (Not Was). They were some of the biggest hit music artists of that era. I can also tell you that 21 years ago this weekend on Sunday the 27TH of August of 1989 I was at the Sunrise Musical Theatre for 8 hours for Y-100‘s Sweet 16 Birthday Concert featuring all of the Y-100 deejays at the time and their musical artist guests Bandera, K.C. And The Sunshine Band, Roxette, Cyndi Lauper, Michael Damian, and Buster Poindexter.

Another HUGE pop artist at the time was Ms. Paula Abdul – back during her heyday. She stormed onto the pop culture scene with 5 HUGE smash hits and videos in a row in 1989. Here’s one of them – originally a miserable flop in 1988 before anyone knew who she was. It was reissued during her 1989 pop chart explosion, and it was MASSIVE the 2ND time around !

History – It’s always occurring, and it’s always expanding. Recording it some way some how allows you to look back at it fondly from a different era in the future. It’s your ‘Retro’. Treasure it.

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The Major’s Weekend Blast-Off

WEEKEND GRAB BAG O’ THOUGHT:
It’s the 4TH weekend of the month of August of the year 2010, and we are here to kick it off with this weekend’s much-anticipated edition of the ‘Blast-Off’. It actually felt weird working all day today since I enjoyed half of yesterday off. I spent some quality time up at The Falls Shopping Center. It’s where I grew up. It’s the single place here in South Florida that I’ve been going to longer and more frequently than any other place (other than my workplace). I remember strolling through The Falls as a young lad of 21 and 22 back in the late-1980s. Nearly a quarter of a century later I feel right at home at that occasionally jumpin’ joint. I don’t feel that way at various other shopping centers and malls. But The Falls has that ‘something special’ feel to it. It’s not perfect. They are missing a book store, a music store, and some more fine dining establishments. The movie theatre there is definitely showing its old age, but then again it’s still much nicer (and surely more modern) than our own 4½-year-old movie theatre here in Homestead. The Falls. I belong. Happy 30TH Anniversary !

BEST LUNCH OF THE WEEK AWARD:
P.F. Chang’s – I dig this jumpin’ joint. I don’t get to eat there very often, but I always enjoy every visit. On Thursday (at The Falls location) I enjoyed the hot egg drop soup, the tasty beef with broccoli lunch bowl (with brown rice), and for the grande finale – the scrumptious banana spring rolls. I’m talkin’ 6 warm and crispy banana bites with coconut-pineapple ice cream that’s drizzled with caramel and vanilla sauces. Yeah !  Come On !

THE FORTUNE COOKIE MESSAGE OF THE WEEK CLUB:
– New and rewarding opportunities will soon develop for you.
– A small gift can bring joy to the whole family.

OVERHEARD RIDICULOUS STATEMENT OF THE WEEK:
‘Yeah get used to record cold and record hot and droughts and floods and tornadoes and hurricanes and earthquakes. It’ll be like that from now on because of global warming / climate change.’

THOSE CRAZY CRAZY CATS:

BLATANT PROMOTION:
TOMORROW on an all-new ‘Saturday Night Retro’ I’ll take you back with me to the end of the 1980s and the last-half of 1989 here in the land of the 3-0-5. Find out what I was doin’ one Friday night – downtown with Julie Brown. After that the blogging continues next weekend on Friday and Saturday night with more ‘Blast-Off’ and ‘Retro’. In-between the blogging it’s the tweeting. You can follow me @majorhitwaves. Have a wonderful weekend my friends !

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Saturday Night Retro

Volume 2 / Number 47 / Edition 96

On this 96TH weekly edition of my ‘Saturday Night Retro’ it’s time to continue my month-long-plus celebration that is ‘The Awesome ’80s In August International Dance Party’. After this edition I’ll have two more on the 28TH of August and the 04TH of September. I also begin the 3RD year of the ‘Retro’ here on this blog on that 1ST Saturday of September. Who would have thought back in 2008 when this blog was peaking that ‘Saturday Night Retro’ would outlive all of the other weekly blog series at that time. I mean – besides me ?

ON to this week’s ‘Retro’ and back during the Spring of 1989 Time, Inc. and Warner Communications merged to become Time Warner. It was the beginning of the end for Eastern Air Lines, as it went bankrupt after over 60 years in the air. The Exxon Valdez ran aground off the south coast of Alaska, and it created an environmental disaster at sea. My favourite theme park at Walt Disney World – The Disney-MGM Studios – opened its doors for the very first time. Gas prices were right around $1 per gallon as I drove all around South Florida in my sparkling new 1989 Geo Spectrum.

On the radio the U.K.’s Fine Young Cannibals scored BIG with back-to-back International pop and dance smash hits. Here’s one of my favourite songs of all time. It’s “She Drives Me Crazy”. It’s RETRO !