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Saturday Night Retro

Saturday October 02ND 2010
Volume 3 / Number 4 / Edition 101

Let’s take a ride back 14½ years ago to the Spring of 1996. Back then I was not quite 29-years-old and living in the same home that I’m living in now and working at the same place that I’m working at now. In fact I was sitting at my computer (a different more primitive one back then) and working from the same home computer workstation that I’m working at now. All of the furniture here in my living room is the same furniture that I had back then. The more things change over the years – the more things stay the same.

Back during the Spring of 1996 my Mom, Dad, 21-year-old brother Danny, and our two cats Fluffy and Barney (born in the 1980s) were still living up in the Washington D.C. area. They were living in our McLean Virginia house that we moved in to back in November of 1980 when I was 13 and my brother was 5. Later that year (in November of 1996) everyone would move down to Jacksonville Florida. I got to visit the old house (built in the 1950s) one last time in May of 1996 when I drove up for a visit. I didn’t really know at the time that it would be my last visit. The move down to Jacksonville just 5 months later was a bit on the low-key side. My family lived in that house for 16 years – the longest tenure for any one home. I only lived in that house for 4½ out of those 16 years until I began my USAF career. Now I’ve been living in my current home for over 15 years. It’s hard to believe that I moved in to this place back when I was in my late-20s, and now I’m in my mid-40s. There’s a lot of history of me in this home of mine. Back in 1996 a young black cat by the name of Boots was loaded with energy – running all over the place and loving me. Today I have a little memorial set up for him at the edge of one of my living room couches where he enjoyed relaxing. This home of mine is indeed ‘Retro’.

On the radio back during the Spring of 1996 me and my brother listened to this song as we drove southbound on I-95 in Virginia en route to Kings Dominion to spend a fun May day at the park in the chill, fog, and drizzle. My brother won free tickets to the park by winning a radio contest on the rock station DC-101. Here’s Spacehog – “In The Meantime”:

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Saturday Night Retro

7 years ago during the Autumn months of September, October, and November of 2003 remember when these 7 notable events occurred:

– Once Cat. 5 Hurricane Isabel strikes N. Carolina causing $4 billion in damage.
– Arnold Schwarzenegger is elected Governor of California.
– 11 die and 71 are injured in the Staten Island New York ferry crash.
– The Concorde flies for the very last time.
– Wildfires ravage San Diego County in California destroying over 2,200 homes.
– The Florida Marlins beat the New York Yankees in the World Series.
– Americans pay $1.40 to $1.60 for a gallon of gas.

European dance music had a spot on the South Florida radio dial via Party-93.1, and this was one of the hottest songs of the year on that memorable station that was an integral part of my life for two years. It’s a dance remake of the clasic Duran Duran # 1 smash “Ordinary World”. Here’s Aurora with Naimee Coleman:

Next week it’s the remarkable 100TH edition of my ‘Saturday Night Retro’ – now my only remaining original weekly blog series from the 2008 heyday. I’m not planning anything out of the ordinary for the milestone edition. It will all be routine standard fare. How ‘Retro’ of me. We’ll flashback to 39 years ago to the Autumn of 1971. I want you to meet an Uncle. He knows this Admiral.

See ya next week !

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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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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 !