Miscellaneous up to 88's

Power Walking

Thursday, August 19th, 2010

Power Walking was an exercise fad that peaked around 1996. It fell somewhere in between a real workout and wearing an electric ab belt.

Power walking was particularly popular amongst the elderly. They must have gotten bored of water aerobics.

Probably the best part about power walking was actually seeing people do it. I remember the power-walkers on the track at my high school. They’d be pumping their arms feverishly, with a look of total Lance-Armstrong-Determination on their faces. All this while being passed by joggers in sweatsuits.

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Pluto

Wednesday, October 28th, 2009

2006 was a sad year for astronomy: it was the year astronomers ruled that Pluto is not planet.

Putting Pluto ‘up to 88’ makes me want to cry, but Pluto is really no different from any celebrity. In the 60’s-80’s the space race put Pluto in limelight. It’s fame trickled off but it still had a nice B-list stint in the 90’s. Pluto was never as big as the Moon or Mars or the Sun, but it was right in there with Jupiter and Saturn in that second tier of cool planets, and an an untouchable lone-wolf.

And now that I think about it, the wackest planet is probably Neptune. Who the fuck cares Neptune? Your spot is weak next to Jupiter’s and Saturn completely pwns your rings. You’re not even good for jokes like your neighbor Uranus. You may be the farthest planet in our Solar System, but you are definitely no Pluto.

Check out astrophysicist Michael Brown argue with the great Neil DeGrasse Tyson on whether Pluto is a planet

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Air Phones

Saturday, September 26th, 2009

Remember “air phones”? These used to be on every plane in the 90’s. They were so 90’s too – they looked like the Zach Morris cell phone. And remember the place to swipe your card? That was almost 80’s…

Well air phones haven’t gone completely “up to 88”, I saw them on a plane last week.

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Saying “Phat”

Tuesday, September 15th, 2009

How could you forget “phat”, it seems like everyone was saying this in the 90’s: yuppy record executives, kids from the hood, even my parents.

There was also that clothing label Phat Farm which apparently still exists. I see a lot of collared shirts on their website, so I guess they wound up closer to their true demographic: snotty rich kids who want to look tough. (I was one of these :))

Here’s someone who is even more into early 90’s slang than me (not work safe)

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The Power Glove

Tuesday, August 25th, 2009

The Power Glove was so super awesome in the late 80’s/early 90’s. (I mean just look at this guy)

But my friend actually got a Power Glove and it was a big let down. It didn’t really work that well and all you could play was one boring game where you bounced a ball around.

Check out a power glove commercial

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Dial Up Modem Noise

Tuesday, August 18th, 2009

Don’t you miss dial-up modem noise? EEEEEEEE-OOOOOO-EEEEEE-GHGHGHGHGHGHHGHGHGHG

Did you ever wonder why they made it sound like that? (It was coming out of a speaker after all) It’s like they picked the most annoying sounds possible and played them at random. And at max volume.

Listen to some dial-up modem noise

(Sound clip thanks to Jlew)

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Magic: The Gathering

Sunday, July 26th, 2009

Tons of nerds used to play Magic: The Gathering, but now they must all be playing WoW because it’s nowhere to be found. Must have gotten up to 88.

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