3rd Rock From The Sun

I've been doing a lot of DVDs recently and it just so happens that they're from the 90's.  (See Dinosaurs).  The latest has been this show:

Yes, of course 3rd Rock From the Sun!  I never appreciated the humour back in the late 90's, but watching this show now is amazing.  A lot of the humour is derived from these aliens trying to act like humans.  Ex:  Harry filling up a salt shaker by picking up the grains with tweezers.

One thing I find interesting about the two TV shows that I've covered is that they both happen to be on Cracked.com's Most Soul Crushing Season Finales.  Read all about it here.


Anyway, I leave you with one of my favourite theme shows on TV, nothing beats this 50's style guitar:

Baby Bottle Pops and The Jonas Bros.

Baby Bottle Pops had the catchiest theme song ever.  Can't remember it?  You're crazy.  But for old times sakes:

The candy, and the commercial for that matter, were both introduced in 1998.  Likely airing on Saturday morning cartoons and causing headaches for parents all across the country.

Well it's not over yet.  In 2008 the Jonas Brothers redid the song.

I can't believe they'd do this to the original.  What do you guys think of this?

Velcro Shoes

Velcro shoes.  How I miss you!

I really wish I could revert to wearing velcro shoes again.  Just think about all of the pros if everyone wore velcro shoes.

1.  No one would look like a "loser" or a "dweeb" because we'd all be in the same sticky fabric boat.
2. You'd never have to struggle with tying up shoe laces ever again.  Heck, I don't even bother tying and untying my shoes anymore, I just slip them on.  Sure, it ruins the heels, but that's the last thing i want to struggle with in the mornings.  Sorry mom, I'll promise to take better care of my shoes.
3.  If there was ever a fire, all you'd have to do is peel the velcro back, slip your shoes on, slap the velcro back together and you're ready to get out!  Peel, Slip, Slap!

So, who's with me?!

Triple H vs. The Rock (Action Figures)

When I was young, toys were a huge staple of my childhood.  Specifically action figures.  Batmans, Spidermans and Space Jams were just a few of the action figures I owned.  I had one specific passion when it came to action figures though.

I loved wrestling action figures.

I went all out too.  I had the wrestling ring, the Titan-Tron entrance with music, weapons and a large selection of wrestlers to pick from.

These things were the focus of my life for a long time.  I went as far as creating my own Federation and logging my wrestler's wins and losses in a notebook.  I'd create a list of matches I'd perform for the upcoming weeks.  Sometimes I'd even go as far and have them act out little skits and sketches, just like in "real-life" wrestling.

One day my cousin Cory was over and we were playing with the action figures.  It was a World Championship match (the belts were handmade out of paper of course) between Triple H and The Rock.

Triple H

The Rock

The Rock started out strong, gaining HUGE momentum for the crowd.  The fans hated Triple H after all.  Soon enough The Rock had Triple H down on the mat ready to deliver the ever-so-feared People's Elbow.  The crowd (aka Cory and myself) were going nuts.  But then just as The Rock was bringing down his elbow, Triple H dodged it!

Triple H took control of the match.  He was beating The Rock all the way around the ring.  Soon enough he had him up on the turnbuckle and suplexed him right onto the mat!  Triple H went in for the pin.  1..2..3!! The match was over and Triple H was the World Champion!

But that didn't go over well with my cousin.

"Little does Triple H know, he has another match for the title right now!" he exclaimed.  "Against Cory the Giant!"

My cousin then got up and stepped into the ring.  He put all of his weight onto his foot and CRACK!

My ring was ruined.  I taped it up hoping it would help, but that ring was never the same. 

Moral of the story? Don't let your cousin play with your toys.  He'll ruin them.

I eventually got creative and found ways that I could play with the toys without the ring.  We had a laundry hole in our bathroom closet.  It was a great place to throw clothes down to the washing area.  It was also a great place to have the wrestlers throw their opponents down.

Aaah, the memories.  I keep looking up pictures of these wrestling rings and it makes me want to go find a new one and relive those memories all over again.

Anyone have any toys that they remember from their childhood?  Specifically from the 90's?  I know there's a ton out there, and I will more than likely be covering some other toys of the time later on.

Girls I Found Attractive in the 90's

I surprisingly had a harder time figuring out this list.  I blame it mostly on the fact that I was only ages 0-10 in the 90's and my hormones weren't necessarily brewing.  Alas, I created this list:

Danielle Fischel aka Topanga from Boy Meets World

Britney Spears

Jennifer Aniston

Spice Girls

Edit:  Please note, this blog was published on December 2, 2011 at 4:27 pm

Dinosaurs...The TV Show

I had never heard of the television show Dinosaurs until a few weeks ago.  My girlfriend saw the TV series at Movie Village we finally picked it up this past weekend.

Dinosaurs ran from 1991-1994

The show was created by Jim Henson (you'd best remember him from the Muppets and Sesame Street).  The most amazing thing about this, was yes, Henson did create the concept of the show, but he died a year before it went to air.


According to Henson's son Brian, Henson wanted to create "a sitcom with a pretty standard structure, with the biggest differences being that it's a family of dinosaurs and their society has this strange toxic life style."


The idea was weird, especially for the late 80's, but after The Simpsons took off, dysfunctional families on TV became quite popular.  Therefore the Sinclairs were created, and Dinosaurs began.

From l-r: Charlene, Fran, Baby (top), Ethyl (bottom), Earl and Robbie

Do they look familiar to you?  I vaguely remember the TV show as a kid, but not very well.  


The show is very interesting because it's not scared to poke fun at itself.  The family is addicted to TV and Fran (the mother) always tries to get them to communicate as a family.  Instead, the characters decide to watch TV despite knowing what it does to their brains.  They will outright talk about how it doesn't stimulate the mind and why people would ever watch it in the first place.


Dinosaurs LOOKS like a children's show.  That could not be any further from the truth.  In one episode, Earl talks about watching a TV show featuring sock puppets with his child, Baby.  He loves the show because of the adult content in it.  Baby likes the show because of the fun characters.  Earl steps out of character and looks directly into the camera to talk about how there are many shows out there that feature fun characters that attract attention, but are filled with tons of witty dialogue that means more than one thing.


That couldn't be any more true.  Here are some of the issues that Dinosaurs have touched on in their four seasons:

• Environmentalism
• Women's Rights
• Sexual Harassment
• Censorship
• Civil Rights
• Body Image
• Steroid Use
• Masturbation
• Drug Abuse
• Racism
• Peer Pressure
• Corporate Greed
• Homosexuality

Earl Sinclair's boss, B.P. Richfield, on the "Happy Plant" drug.

Not so much a children's show now, is it?

Dinosaurs is a social commentary on how human's live their lives today.  They got away with a lot of issues that many TV shows weren't able to talk about in the early 90's because they weren't coming straight out with it.  They disguised a lot of the facts so that they were never mentioned, but it was still quite obvious.

For example, masturbation wasn't called that.  It was called the Mating Dance: a specific dance that a man and a woman would do together before they, well, you know.  Robbie, the son, was caught doing the Mating Dance alone, UH OH!

Drugs were not drugs.  Instead, Robbie and his friend find a plant and decide to eat it because they are hungry.  This leads to them getting high off it.  They name it the Happy Plant.  Robbie lets his dad and sister try it.  Robbie's dad, Earl, gives some to his boss.  By the end of the episode everyone is high as kites.  

I could never imagine allowing my child to watch this show.  I'm glad I discovered it now though.  I can appreciate it so much more.

So if you remember the show as a child, give it another watch.  If you have never heard of it, but are curious, please check it out.  

It can be rented from Movie Village in Winnipeg.  Just be aware that the first disc is missing from Season 1/2.  Plus I have it rented out, sucka.  But check back soon!  Just please don't rent out season 3/4, I want to rent that one next!

The Life and Death of the VCR

The Videocassette recorder was a stroke of genius at the time.  Although these beastly machines became popular in the 70's they were still the most modern and efficeint way for people to record Married...With Children on a Tuesday night while at soccer practice and watch it Wednesday.

Some people would just record shows for the sake of recording them and then watch them right after they air.  Red Forman anyone?  That 70's Show?

My first memories of the VCR were thanks to my Aunt DeeDee.  She would record episodes of "America's Funniest Home Videos" for my sister and I.  The idea of being able to rewind and watch something all over again was new to me.  What better show to experience the joys of rewinding than watching one hilarious video over and over again? 

Also, just so everyone is aware:  Bog Saget's version of AFV is way better than Tom Bergeron.  There's no discussion...whatsoever.  I'd much rather record Bob's face than Tom's.

Other VCR memories I had as a child was recording the movie "Good Burger" off of Pay Per View.  I remember this was the first movie that my family had ever ordered off of Pay Per View.  (Remember those days when you had to wait for a certain time for it to air?  It wasn't instant back in the day)

We beat the system by throwing an old VCR in and taping the whole thing.  Would that be considered piracy??  I sure hope not.

In the early 2000's DVD came along.  I always thought DVD was pretty lucky.  You know, there was that chance that the world was going to end.  Y2K?  Anyone remember that?  Just think, if that happened DVD might have never been invented and we'd still be living in the days of VCR...I wouldn't mind though.

DVD took the world by storm.  At first it was a product for the elite (much like how BluRay is today), but as soon as it was affordable it was out with the old and in with the new.  I always liked DVDs, you never have to worry about rewinding, you can select scenes, fast forward super quickly.  The downside?  DVD get scartched WAY to easily.  I don't know how many DVD's I've had to lay to rest over the past years.

VCR will always hold a special place in my heart.  Downstairs at my Parent's home there is a bookshelf.  The bookshelf is lined with Disney cassettes. A few years ago I dusted off the old VCR and grabbed my favourite childhood movie, Toy Story.  I put the tape in the VCR and was filled with excitement.  I was going to be 7 years old all over again!

The tape made a funny noise.  Something was getting wound up in it.  I hit the eject button but it wasn't working.  The tape was getting wound up in the VCR with every second that passed.  Eventually I forced the cassette out.  All that was left was the empty black shell and yards of brown film tangled up on the floor.

Bummer.

Maybe there is a reason we don't use VCR anyone.

The Mobile Device: Then and Now

I really had to think hard about this topic.  It amazes me when I think about how far technology has come since the 90's.  One of the biggest changes had been the mobile phone.  In just a matter of years, the entire use of the phone was shifted thanks to companies like Apple and Blackberry.


I didn't receive my first cell phone until I was 16 years old.  That would have been in 2006.  However, the kind of phone I would have used in the 90's?

I legit had this exact same phone.  Mr. Dressup was getting fed up with my excessive calling.

Instead, I settled for toy phones.  I would lug it around by the cheap twine that came attached to the toy and call Mr. Dressup excessively.  He didn't return any of my calls though, so in return I'd throw the phone down the stairs, thinking that it would help.  After all, I'd watch TV and see that the best solution to fixing something was to give it a good smack.  TV not working?  Give it smack.  Fixed.  Computer? Smack. Fixed.

Toy phone only got more and more brittle.  I don't know where he's at now.

In reality this is what a cell phone from the 90's looked like:

A paper weight...errr.....cell phone from the 90's.

These bad boys started in the late 80's and continued into the 90's.  They...uhh...called people?  Hard to believe that people can still actually do that with phones today.  All of the fancy apps and gizmos have seemed to distract us from that fact.  

Now we have smaller and more powerful phones.  Phones that record voices, text, let you play games, surf the Internet (the InterWHAAAAA?!) have face to face conversations, catch up on the news, you can even close and open a virtual zipper on your phone!  If you're into that kind of thing...I won't judge you.

Close and open a virtual zipper, use it as a flashlight or just check your email...you know.

As I said, I have had a cell phone since I was 16.  I've never owned a smart phone, I've always had your basic call, text and SUPER SLOW Internet plan.  I think MTS should consider changing the plan name to that.  

It scares me to think that some children are getting these smartphones, or phones in general, at ages as young as 9 or 10.  What are these parents thinking!?  Your children don't need these phones at this age.  Texting and calling is not necessary when they're likely under the parent's supervision for a large part of the day.  Timmy doesn't need to call Mary to ask her out on a date at the age of nine.  Timmy won't be able to drive her anywhere for another 7 years.  

Regardless, mobile devices have helped improve our world.  Yes, some people rely on these devices, which is too bad, but when used in moderation it's one of the best tools to keep you informed and smart.  Just download the apps you need: news, sports, stocks, weather and anything else relevant.

And Zombie Highway.  Everyone's allowed at least one guilty pleasure.

Do you have Power Ranger gloves? I'd like to borrow them this Halloween

The Power Rangers was based off of a Japanese (who would have guessed?) series called Super Sentai.  It was created by Shotaro Ishinomori in 1975.  However, the show wasn't a huge success until the late 80's where it was aired in countries like Brazil and the U.S.A.

Saban Entertainment saw huge potential in the show and created an American version of it in 1993.  Thus, The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers were created.  19 television seasons, 16 different series and 2 theatrical releases later the Power Rangers are still in full function.  The latest series, Power Rangers Samurai, debuted in February of this past year.

I remember Power Rangers as a staple from my childhood.  I'd only be able to watch it on the clearest days of the year since this was the only way our TV could pick up even a snowy version of FOX.

Looking back at some of these clips, I can' help but wonder if the Rangers were heroes or dancers.  Their moves are great, but I think the dance show they but on just after they morph could rival any contemporary dance program out there:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1UtsY0uZVk

(My apologies for not embedding this, youtube seems to be giving me some trouble)

This Halloween I'm going as a Red Power Ranger.  I picked up my costume this past week, and it comes with almost everything.  Helmet and a jacked up suit.  All I need are boots and some gloves.

I know for a fact that I had some Power Ranger toy gloves when I was a kid.  Well I didn't have it, they were my sisters, they were pink.  But I wore them.  But that's besides the point.

If you happen to have a pair of red ones, or know a place I could pick some up, let me know!  In the meantime though, feel free to comment and let me know some of your Power Ranger memories.

Furby Toys...Yeah, You Remember Them

I recently got my hands on a Furby doll from the late 90's.  I don't think I could put into words just how excited I was for this!  I was never one of those lucky children who had a Furby doll when I was kid, but when I think back to my childhood, I never really had a strong urge to have one.  Thank god I didn't either.  The thing is demented.

Don't know what I'm talking about?  Let me boost your memory:

Yeah, that little guy.  Furby was a huge craze, especially in 1998 when they were first introduced.  They were THE toy to have that holiday season and prices would range on these little guys from $35 - hundreds of dollars depending on how rare they were.

When your first purchased your Furby doll, he would not be able to speak any English.  He would speak a language called Furbish.  But don't be alarmed! Furby would come with a dictionary so you could understand what he was saying.  Why don't women have one of these!?!  The more time you spent interacting with your toy, the quicker he would learn English.  Soon enough you raised a full fledged and completely fluent psycho path killer in your own home.  But he was cute, so that was all that mattered right?

Anyway, my girlfriend and I  found her old Furby doll in the basement of her mom's home.  We immediately took it home and fuelled it up with 4 AA batteries (that seems like a lot, doesn't it?).  The thing started flapping its ears, blinking its eyes and opening its mouth violently.  The mechanical gears inside the beast were spinning like mad, but there was no sound coming out of his mouth.  We took the batteries out and left the little guy on the top of the bookcase, figuring we would leave him as a creepy token of our childhood.

We had a few friends over and decided to try the thing out again.  This time he decided to speak.  There's nothing more scary than sitting there in silence and then hearing a muffled voice from the corner of the room proclaiming "Furby loooooves you! Heh. Heh. Heh."

Currently Furby is broken because I had fed him too much.  I think he's full.  However, I'm still fascinated by this little devil.  I think it's because I never had one as a child.  I plan to get him back into working condition soon. Although part of me would love to get a brand new one and explore what it's like to develop one of these things from "birth" so-to-speak.

Or maybe I'm just carzy.

Until next time!

Or as Furby would say "Night, night! Heh. Heh. Heh."

Page One: Inside The New York Times

Last week the first year Creative Communications students went to see a documentary called Page One: Inside the New York Times.  The film was an incredible insight into what life as a journalist is like.  The pressures of deadlines, finding the right stories, how to ethically present those stories, staying on top of social media and how important our daily papers are.  These are just a few issues that Page One touches on in 88 minutes. 


I really want to go see this film again since I think there's so much more that can be picked up on.  I don't think we give journalists enough appreciation for what they do for us.  In the movie the point was made that after the Internet, people started to believe that the news was free.  Yes, it's true, most didn't need to buy papers anymore since it was all accessible online in a way never thought possible before.  But in reality it is not.  The money to cover these stories is important, because transportation, wages for our journalists and so many other things need to be taken into consideration in order to figure out if news it really free or not.  Page One does an excellent job of making the audience think about these issues and why a Paywall makes sense for newspapers to use.

It will be interesting to see if other papers, even our own Winnipeg Free Press or Winnipeg Sun, use these formats in the future.  These groups, just like most others, will probably wait to see how it works out for the New York Times first, in order to determine if it's a good move or not.

You've got to respect the guts of the Times to try a move like that.  But then again, that's what they're known for.

Welcome to Slammers and Pogs

I am Kyle Jahns.  Born on June 12th of 1990.  Ever since I was put on this Earth I have known no time period better than the 90's.  After all, this was where I spent the first 10 years of my life.  I made friends in that era.  I learned to walk, talk, speak and even poop in the toilet in that era.  It was in the 90's where I (like some others reading this blog I presume) developed their voice, their innocence, their pride and so many other things that have been essential to who we are today.  I feel that it's important (for myself anyway) to keep these thoughts and reminders of my childhood alive.

On this blog I am going to discuss many different aspects that I can remember from my childhood, as well as many others.  Music, movies, TV, toys and many other aspects of pop culture will be discussed too!

I hope that this blog will allow you to look back and think about the 90's.  I hope you will be reminded of some things that might have slipped your mind over the past years and bring you back to some moment of time that was distinct and awesome.  It doesn't matter if it was the first time you slammed a pile of pogs, or even if you were one of the lucky people to receive (or even purchase) a Tickle-Me-Elmo doll from/for a loved one.  If it's awesome in your mind, it's awesome in mine.

Until next time! (That's when we're going to get to the good stuff!)

BLOG UNVEILING

Hey everyone!


I've finally decided what my blog is going to be about.  Unfortunately it will have to wait until next week because I don't have any Internet connection at the moment.

Note to self:  Call MTS about Internet.

Anyway,  I'm really excited about the topic and I think you will be too.  Keep in touch and you will know early next week!

Have an awesome weekend, everyone!

Twitterville

This week's blog post is part of an assignment for Creative Communications.  Please note that every now and then I will sometimes be posting blogs about things that have happened in class.

When I looked at my Twitter account this past week I was really surprised.  I've had my account open since August 1, 2009.  That's quite a long time.  However, I only have 161 tweets at the moment.  I created my profile and let it sit around for a bit.  It wasn't until I had two friends who started tweeting like crazy that I finally got into it.  One is a second year CreComm student and the other is a social networking junkie.  They had their iPhones and Blackberries so it was pretty easy for them to keep the updates coming.  I only had (and still have) an old phone that isn't so smart.  I now have an iPod Touch which is great when I'm around the school though.  It's helped me keep in touch with everything in the news and my fellow classmates.

I love how Twitter really helps you feel like part of a community that I like to call "Twitterville."  I've never felt so connected to friends and classmates and I'm also up to date on everything I need to know.  For example, did you know that individual Winnipeg Jets tickets are only available to those who win them in a lottery?  Thanks to Twitter I found that out right away.

Most people who haven't tried Twitter don't like it because of the reputation that it has earned from a small percentage of users.  They believe that Twitter is all about people updating what's going on in their daily lives.  I agree, I wouldn't want to hear about someone eating a sandwich and how good it tasted, or if someone got their hair cut.


However, when Twitter is used in a professional matter it's a great tool to stay informed and connect with other people.  With a simple reTweet, your post will not only go to your followers, but the followers of the person who has reTweeted.  Isn't that powerful?  It's so easy to get your message out to the masses and so many new opportunities can come about when you just simply pursue them.  Twitter will only help each and ever CreComm student in their professional career.

I can't wait to see what it does for me.

Fifth Time's the Charm?

Hello everyone, my name is Kyle Jahns!  Let me give you a brief little intro so you know who I am and what you can expect from this blog.

I am a first year CreComm student and much like everyone else, freaked out but super excited to be in this program.  I already know that I'm perfect for the program.  Why?  Just the other day in Journalism class while doing personality profiles I was freaking out because with three minutes left before the deadline I couldn't find a stapler to bind my two pages together.  Thankfully Joanne Kelly was understanding and realized that there were many of us in that position and let it slide.  I now carry a stapler with me at all times and I can tell we're going to be great friends.  A friendly second-year (shout out John Gaudes) told me on Twitter that staplers can be found in W302.  Keep that in mind all of you first years.

I've blogged on and off since I was about 16 years old and it's been something that I've always enjoyed doing.  For some reason my interested waned off and all of these blogs have gone onto a better place.  I'm sure to visit the graveyard every now and then to pay my respects to their lives, but nevertheless I need to move on.

This will be my fifth blog (that I can recall).  There's the chance that some blogs have been supressed because they were started when I was 16 and were simply nothing more than a public diary for everyone to read.  How horrendous is that?  Needless to say, I will not be sharing any of the links of these former blogs since I'm trying to erase them from the pits of the Interweb.  But as Melanie Lee Lockhart has been stressing to our class, once you hit the Enter key, it's pretty much there forever.

Blogging is an excellent thing.  Two years ago I had written a post on my blog about Curve 94.3's morning show with Sarah and Jay.  I had given them some criticism and stated my displeasure about listening to some segments of their show.  Now, I'd like to state that I have great respect for what they do in their careers.  Jay Richardson has gone onto some great things and is even a DJ with Sports 1290 which I think is a perfect fit for him.

They had found my post online and started a "Convert Kyle" initiative on their show.  Little to my knowledge, they had been talking about me on the air and how they'd love for me to come into the studio and talk with them on air for a while.  I graciously accepted and had an amazing time in the studio with them.  This was my first chance to experience radio and I absolutely loved it!

So Sarah and Jay, if you happen to be reading this, I'd love to thank you for that opportunity because it has given me a good idea of what I'd love to do after graduating from CreComm.  And hey Jay, if you ever need a helping hand this year, just let me know!

I don't know what my focus of the blog will be this year.  But after I get a feel for this again I'll be sure to centre my attention on it.

I'm looking forward to comments and getting to know each and every one of you as well.  After all, that is the best part about having a blog.