In late 1989, I was reading the Toronto Star and they were asking folks what they thought were the best albums of the 1980s. Somebody picked The Clash's London Calling, despite the fact it was actually released in 1979. That very next Saturday, I headed downtown to Yonge and Dundas
There's not a lot of blogs left that go back 9+ years. Plenty of bloggers were writing 9 years ago, but most disappeared long ago. My archives go back 9.5 years, so I can read what I wrote about SARS exactly 9 years ago today. Here's the entry: SARS
I just saw a tweet about someone considering getting a season's pass for Canada's Wonderland. I haven't been to Canada's Wonderland since the mid-80s. My kids have gone, but not with me. I hear it's changed a little. This is the Canada's Wonderland I remember (click to embiggen): Smurf Forest,
We had the old 8-bit Nintendo Entertainment System growing up. We didn't have R.O.B. (Robotic Operating Buddy), however. As you'll see from this NES ad, initial marketing efforts put a lot of focus on R.O.B., the robot you play with. Despite loving my NES, I barely
During my web travels last night, I stumbled upon a clever and simple Lego ad that brought back flood of memories. Here's that ad. I saw the ad and instantly saw my old friends Asterix and Obelix. When I was a kid, I would save my allowance until I had
Foo-Foo was given to me on the day of my birth way back in 1974. It was a gift from Nanny, my great-grandmother. His name is Foo-Foo and he's still with us.
This is my home entertainment centre in the mid-90s. Judging from the parquet flooring, I'd say this is 1996. Fifteen or so years later, five integral parts of this set-up are dated. There's a VCR on top of the television - the VCR was buried long agoThe stereo has a
If you're around my age, you learned a lot about sex by listening to Q107 on Sunday nights. That's when the Sunday Night Sex Show aired, featuring Sue Johanson. Sue Johanson told it like it was, without fanfare. It was an open and frank talk about sex and it was
When I was the age my son is now, I wanted an Omnibot 2000. I don't think I bothered asking for it, I just passive aggressively yearned for it. Watching the new Muppet movie with the kids the other night, I saw a new character called 80s Robot. 80s Robot
Check out what's hot in 1983. [via Retrontario]
As a kid, I loved Happy Days. And if you love Happy Days, you love Fonzie, or The Fonz as I prefer to call him. Here's a great split-screen of Fonzie, then and now. Here's Fonzie jumping the shark then... And here's Fonzie jumping the shark now... Aaay.
I subscribe to Retrontario's YouTube Channel's RSS feed, and days when he mass uploads new retro treats for us nostalgists feels an awful lot like Christmas morning. I call it Retrontariomas. Yesterday was Retrontariomas, and the following gems were shared with us lucky SOBs. There's this 1984 ad for Hubba
When a classmate brought one of these Coleco Mr. Arcade games to school at St. Pius X, he was instantly anointed Radical Dude. The only thing cooler was the digital watch with Pac-Man built into it. it even had a joystick! The early 80s were pretty awesome.
You don't need me to tell you what happened ten years ago today. I wasn't going to write a "where were you ten years ago today" entry, but here it is. I'm sincerely curious what you remember about that day and where you were when you found out. Below are
Will Lee passed away in 1982. You likely don't know the name Will Lee. I didn't, either. I knew him as Mr. Hooper. Mr. Hooper's is the first death I remember. Here he is, if you're too young or too old to know who I'm talking about. This scene when
In the late 80s, I played Paperboy on my Nintendo Entertainment System. It first became one of my favourite games in the arcade where me and my buddy Chris would spend countless hours and quarters delivering newspapers along a suburban street. As I recall, Paperboy was our go-to game until
My fascination with the WWF peaked in 1987, just in time for WrestleMania III at Michigan's Pontiac Silverdome. My favourite match in WrestleMania III was Macho Man Randy Savage vs. Ricky The Dragon Steamboat. Here's a great little synopsis of the match, in honour of the Macho Man's premature demise.
The "Pomp and Circumstance Marches" got a lot of play this week, with the royal wedding and all. I can't hear a note of Sir Edward Elgar's March No. 1 in D without thinking about "Macho Man" Randy Savage. An arrangement by Jim Johnson was used as his most excellent
I love this. From Retrontario: To celebrate the 3rd anniversary of Retrontario, I've pulled out some dusty 45s and made a thirty minute mixtape of sun-stained Ontario floor fillers with the odd vocal sample thrown in for good measure. Listen out for cameos from Retrontario luminaries like John Delazzer, Mark
About five years ago, I wrote a thank you letter to Degrassi. As a kid, I watched "The Kids of Degrassi Street", "Degrassi Junior High" and "Degrassi High". It was appointment viewing for me and I watched every single week. When "Degrassi High" was done, everything was wrapped up in
We had a great discussion a few years ago about Consumers Distributing. Consumers Distributing is where I'd go, armed with my Consumers Distributing catalogue, with my wishlist circled. Inevitably, most of what I'd want would be out of stock, but once in a while that coveted Citizen boom box would
YouTube user Retrontario frequently uploads fantastic retro-Toronto-centric gems. These clips never fail to bring back a ton of memories for me, so I feature them from time to time. I don't think a month goes by that I don't reference the Whisper 2000 at least once. These Whisper 2000 ads
25 years ago today, the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded on its 10th flight during mission STS-51-L. I once ranked it #3 on a list of world events that affected me. I was 11-years old, and the Challenger disaster gave me a recurring nightmare. I was in grade five when the
YouTube user Retrontario frequently uploads fantastic retro-Toronto-centric gems. These clips never fail to bring back a ton of memories for me, so I feature them from time to time. I loved this ad as a kid. It got plenty of airplay, and seemed so clever. Even watching it now, I
