# Episode - 29 - GenX Core Memories

- Podcast: GenX Adulting Podcast
- Published: 2025-04-20T03:00:00.000Z
- Audio: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2398379/episodes/17007440-episode-29-genx-core-memories.mp3
- Page: https://genxadultingpodcast.com/transcripts/podcasts/genx-adulting-podcast/episodes/episode-29
- Source: https://genxadultingpodcast.com/episodes/genxadultingpodcastepisode29.html
- People: Brian Barker (host), Nicole Barker (host)

## Summary

In Episode 29 of GenX Adulting, the hosts discuss their core memories from growing up as part of Generation X. They share nostalgic stories about childhood experiences, favorite candies, TV shows, and cultural phenomena that shaped their formative years.

## Key takeaways

- The hosts compare their contrasting upbringings on the East and West coasts.
- Favorite childhood candies included Tangy Taffy, Charleston Chews, and Jolly Ranchers.
- MTV was a significant cultural milestone, changing how music was consumed.
- Saturday morning cartoons were a cherished part of childhood.
- The hosts reminisce about iconic TV shows and movies from their youth, including 'The Breakfast Club' and 'Red Dawn'.
- They discuss the evolution of entertainment and how it differs from today's media landscape.
- The importance of shared experiences in shaping GenX identity is highlighted.

## FAQ

### What were some popular candies during Generation X?

Popular candies included Tangy Taffy, Charleston Chews, Hubba Bubba, and Jolly Ranchers.

### What was the significance of MTV for GenX?

MTV revolutionized music consumption by providing a platform for music videos, which became a central part of youth culture in the 1980s.

### What were common childhood activities for GenX kids?

GenX kids enjoyed activities like playing outside, watching Saturday morning cartoons, and participating in school plays and sports.

### How did GenX view the media and entertainment of their time?

GenX viewed media as a unifying force, with shared experiences from TV shows and movies that shaped their cultural identity.

### What are some iconic TV shows from the GenX era?

Iconic TV shows included 'The Breakfast Club', 'Little House on the Prairie', 'Star Trek', and 'The Dukes of Hazzard'.


## Referenced links

- [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8Q22GefT3g)
- [Listen on Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-29-genx-core-memories/id1764838823?i=1000704162793)
- [Listen on Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/episode/21mZy3Zxnm1QlcG5xO3OaL)
- [Listen on Buzzsprout](https://www.buzzsprout.com/2398379/episodes/17007440-episode-29-genx-core-memories)

## Transcript

[Music]
Welcome to GenX Adulting and today Brian
and I are going to talk
about GenX core memories
unlocked. So I've made a list of things I
remember from my GenX childhood. Brian's
made a list, but we
have not shared that list.
Even though sometimes throughout the week
Brian would start to talk to me about his
list, I would tell him to stop that we
need to save it for this episode.
So is that why you've not
engaged when I brought them up?
Yes.
Okay.
I have a feeling my list is not as good
as yours because I've been struggling. So
I'm curious to hear what yours is and
then that may make my list evolve.
I think that there may be a lot of
similarities, like probably some things
on my list you'll say, "Oh yeah, you
know." And you'll be
like, "Yeah, me too."
But I didn't want to know it was on your
list and I think that it's better just to
kind of surprise each other because I'm
curious how many we have are the same and
how many are different.
We're from the opposite coasts. I grew up
on the west coast in Oregon. Brian grew
up on the east coast in New Jersey. I
don't know if that's going
to have any bearing on it.
I spent actually my younger formative
years preschool through second grade in
Northern California. So I was more in a
very much hippie vibe, Northern
California especially in the
70s. You certainly were not.
No, I spent anything in my formative
years. It's Northern New Jersey outside
of New York City and then in Jersey City,
which is right across the river from New
York, but then I spent
summers in West Virginia.
Right.
I had a very contrasting upbringing.
You did. And I would spend part of my
summer in Michigan where my dad lived
because my parents were divorced.
I had a very different
vibe of California and Oregon.
And New Jersey. The Midwest has its own
completely different vibe. So yeah, so
we'll see. So I'm just going to start.
Yeah, you go first because I have a
feeling my list sucks.
Okay.
But you go and we'll.
Yeah, I already know there's a couple of
things on here. I just know. So the first
thing that comes to mind for me when I
made this list and
it's going to be weird.
But it was my favorite candy
and it was called tangy taffy.
And you can't get it now.
And so really? Yeah.
So it was like it was like a stick.
When did that stop? Because I could have
sworn we I'd have recollection of it.
So there's laffy taffy. Yeah.
And laffy taffy has small squares, I
think. And then it has like a bigger
stick. That's like, I don't know, maybe
seven inches long by like
two inches wide and it's flat.
But then tangy taffy was my absolute
favorite candy and all
through my childhood.
And I think that's what I bought.
I bought a $7.11, any convenience store.
That's what I bought when I told the
story on the other episode where I would
go and pick up trash
at the baseball diamond.
Yeah. Yeah. And she would give me candy.
That was one of the things she would give
me. I would eat that
walking home. Interesting.
Like holding it just like a particular
flavor. Cherry. Cherry.
It was so good. So and I think the last
time I had it was honestly, I think we
were first married. So
I was probably like 23.
And then it just disappeared.
Do you think it's still available on the
West Coast? Someone has to chime in
because we haven't
been back in a few years.
So did you not have tangy taffy?
I don't know. I recall us having some
type of taff. Well, we had so growing up
in New Jersey, we
used to go to the shore.
Well, yeah, that's different. That's salt
water. Salt water taff. Yeah, we had that
in Oregon at the coast.
Yeah. Yeah. At the beach.
I do recall some like really sugary,
tangy, chemically flat type of shit that
you would eat. But I.
That's probably it. Yeah. But I wonder if
that's from when we met and.
You tried it. Yeah, maybe. I don't know.
So I also like Charleston. Shew.
That's funny. That was going to when you
said, would you say, laugh here, tangy,
tangy, taffy. I thought of Charleston.
You Charleston. I love those. Yeah.
Charleston. She was so good. Yeah. So
those were. And then a bit of honey.
Yeah, those are good. I liked a bit of
honey. I don't know. I think that a honey
you can get like
places like Bass Pro Shops.
I feel like that shows up for Halloween
only. Maybe like. I don't even know the
last time I saw a bit of honey. I feel
like at least when Nathan and Kai were
younger, throwing their candy out on the
carpet. Yeah. Going through it. That's
like. That was almost 20
years ago. They're older now.
And then I loved hubba bubba. Hubba bubba
was awesome. That was my bubble yum.
Bubble yum and hubba bubba. Yeah. Those
were my gums. What about big league chew?
Nope. You didn't. I mean, I know.
I knew of it. Yeah. But I was not
interested in that. No, I love that.
Because as a baseball player, as a kid,
yeah, mimic the big league. Of course.
Yeah. Because they chew tobacco. Yeah. It
was completely accepted back then. Yeah.
It was. I used to chew too. And we were
in high school. So yeah. So I think that
was more back then. I think it was a
gender thing. I didn't know any girls
that chewed big league chew. Nobody did.
So that's. Yeah. So
what's something on your list?
Um, well, let's stick to the candy. Okay.
I would say my favorite candies as a kid
were jolly ranchers. Okay. And then red
Twizzlers. Yeah. You're not. Red vines.
Red vines. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I don't
know if that's a west coast thing or just
because we did have Twizzlers. But I
never, I rarely
twizzlers. I liked red vines.
I do recall going to the movies, ordering
like a Pepsi or a Coke, the big bag of
Twizzlers or actually we got to the point
where you'd sneak them in, right? You go
to the store and buy them and sneak them
in. Yeah. And then drinking your Pepsi or
Coke through the Twizzlers. Yeah. Right.
Would you ever do that? Red vines. Yeah.
Okay. Yeah. No. So good. Yeah. And then
what was the first thing you said? You
said Twizzlers and then what? Jolly
Ranchers. Jolly Ranchers. And didn't you
sell those at school?
Yeah. I had a nice little racket going.
I'd go to the Acme, which they don't
really exist too much anymore. I don't
think so. Go to the Acme. You could buy a
bag for 79 cents. And then I would pack
them up in my pockets and go sell them
for like a quarter each in junior high. I
had a lot of money on me at the, you
know, relatively speaking, I had bills.
What's crazy is that if those kids had
even a quarter or two, they could have
bought their own bank for 79 cents. Yeah.
So I think it was a convenience thing.
I had access. I lived kind of. Yeah. You
walked across the street. That's right.
Where you lived. Okay. So did you ever,
did you ever wear wide leg pants? What
are wide leg pants? Like bell bottoms?
No. No? No way. Not even in the 70s. No.
When we were younger. Okay. I picked on
people if they did. No. No. Okay. So. I'm
on the east coast. That wasn't cool. Oh,
that's so funny. Okay. So when I. Maybe
it's me though. But it's. So
well, when I was in second, no.
First and second grade specifically, I
remember wearing this is in Northern
California. Wide leg. We call them wide
leg pants, but I think bell bottoms was
the official name. And when you'd walk,
they were so wide that it goes swish,
swish, swish, like the quarter. Oh, yeah.
Yeah. Quarter right. They're quarter
rights. So the quarter wide leg pants
would like you'd hear it as you're
walking. That was a
huge thing. So we all were.
I feel like
I would have to say almost my earliest
recollection of bell bottoms might be
like older girls in town. But maybe it's
like the bad news bears watching the TV
show. That's how I dressed. Yeah. Yeah.
Not like that show. Like that was, I
think you probably didn't you were like,
we would wear knee high socks with the
stripes. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And like
with shorts. Yeah. Sometimes I'd wear
nylon shorts. The girls did. It'd be like
nylon. Like the blue.
Like satiny. Like that.
Like satiny shorts. Like satiny short
shorts, even though I was young and then
the knee high socks and sneakers. Yeah.
Like, like blue Nike's or something.
Well, I don't even know the brand. It
wasn't a thing. Yeah. I mean, once I got
to fourth, fourth, no fifth grade, the
preppy handbook came out sixth grade, the
preppy handbook came out.
Was that a thing for you?
I don't recall ever hearing that. So we
had a very preppy face. Well, I don't
recall the preppy handbook. That was
huge. At least that was when I was in
Oregon and Portland. Beaverton, to be
exact. The preppy handbook came out. And
we all were penny loafers. And we put
pennies in our loafers. Wearing pink and
green, like a certain color pink and
green, like Kelly green. And like, not
like a hot dark pink, but
like a bright light pink.
Eyes on or now they call it Lacoste. I
mean, I think it was Lacoste them, but
everyone called it eyes on. Popping the
collars. Oh yeah. Pop the collars. Yeah.
That was girls and boys were that. And
that was the whole thing. And then jeans.
What was that for you? That's like sixth
grade. So that's why like 80 82.
80, that was like eighth grade or ninth
grade, seventh, ninth grade type of
thing. I remember going into my freshman
year of high school dressed up like
dressed up. Yeah. Like preppy. And then
for the first day, second day of school,
I think I was in sweats. Yeah. And the
team, you know, logo type of thing. Yeah.
You're playing sports. But I think
because you lived, I lived in a fairly
metropolitan area. And I think because
you lived in a small town in a rural New
Jersey, I think in towns like that, you
guys got things a little even though
you're outside in New York City. I think
you still got things a little bit later
than people lived in, like in more
suburbia. Yeah, because we got things
like, like that. Like we got MTV. That
was on my list. MTV, I think
it came. It came August. Like,
August something 1981. I can't remember
exactly the day we got MTV the day it
premiered. I remember coming home from
school or whatever day that was and
watching the premiere video killed the
radio star was the first video ever
played on MTV. I remember watching that.
And I was addicted. And that's what I
did. Like after school, after I get my
chores done all that, I'd watch MTV. But
I think you guys got it after us.
Well, what's interesting is I have a
cousin who grew up in Jersey City. Yeah.
And I remember her telling us about it.
And we didn't to your point, we didn't
get it. I don't think we got it to like,
I don't know, seventh or eighth grade,
maybe six. Yeah, whenever it was, but it
was after the fact. I remember her saying
you don't have MTV. And she was shocked.
Yeah, you know, you you country people.
Yes. Yeah. So I think but MTV was, that
was everything. And it
was just videos. It was just
music. We had VJs like Martha Quinn and
good one. Mark Goodwin was one Martha
Quinn. It really drove the music scene
back then. Even the Grateful Dead came up
with videos. Yeah, right. Everybody got
sucked into it changed everything because
it gave us access to to seen who the
music live. But without having to go like
before that, you always had to go to a
concert to see them. Well, or if
they performed at a variety show on TV,
it wasn't even that it was creative
artistic videos, like just creative
stuff. Remember the Michael Jackson
thriller video? Oh, yeah. They were
watching that Christmas dinner with the
whole family glued in for like 20
minutes. Michael Jackson thriller changed
everything for sure. That was like a mini
movie. That was a masterpiece. There's no
question about it culturally changed
landscape. But MTV in general, in any
musician you liked any
band you liked to be able to have access
to them like that to be able to watch a
video of the songs you like on repeat.
And it was constant. It was 24 seven
music videos. And nothing shocked me more
than when MTV stopped playing music
videos. And it went into TV shows. I was
shocked. Yeah. Well, aren't there like
three or four MTV stations? Or isn't
there like a classics? And
I think if you pay extra for
that, but I don't even think that one
plays all music. It's weird. Like VH1
used to be music videos that it went to
be different genre though writers. Yes. I
don't even know what it was. But it was
more like soft rock stuff. Michael
Bolton. Well, MTV kind of got taken over
by rap. I remember Friday and Saturday
nights. It was all rap. Yeah. Run DMC.
Yeah. I don't even remember. They would
have like metal night. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Just like a metallic
gun. They had the headbangers headbangers
ball. Yeah. It was awesome. And then it
like kids that don't know. There's you
know, there's whole generation that's
watched MTV as like a TV channel to watch
shows. That's weird. And they have no
idea that that was not it at all. It was
music television. Yeah. So MTV was really
is dear and dear to my heart was a huge
part of my I think I know some musicians
still do videos like Billy strings just
did one. He's done a couple right.
But I don't think it's really a thing per
se like the Red Hat Chili Peppers. They
had great videos. Yeah. No, I think that
I think that they still make videos. But
it's it's weird. I don't know where you
watch them. So that's that's one MTV. We
sound like boomers. I know. What the
hell's going on. Right. Your your turn. I
was thinking. Okay. So on my list. Do you
remember frozen dinners? TV dinners. Is
that what they're called?
Well, I call them TV dinners. My mom
probably we'd go to the grocery store and
we walked the aisle and I always picked
mine based on the dessert.
That's so funny. I think I did. Most
people did. Like I like that red stuff.
Whatever the hell it was. Oh my god. I
forgot was that wasn't like a cherry pie.
Was it something well for me? You know,
like for me today. I don't really
microwave anything. Yeah. I honestly
don't remember. They were microwave then
though. You made them once. Not everyone
had microwaves right.
When we first got TV dinners, you made
them in the oven. No. Yes. I don't think
so. And then once people started getting
microwaves. Yeah. But I started out with
making TV dinners in the oven. Not a
microwave. Because I don't use a
microwave today for the most part. I
don't know if I've used one at once this
year. And we I remember nuking them. Like
over nuking them. And they had the
plastic on top. You'd have to cut the
hole. Yes. Make sure you desert. Maybe
it's they've covered or whatever.
Yeah. Maybe the meat if it was even meat.
It's so bad. You think about your your
microwaving and there's plastic. Yeah.
Totally. In some. And chemicals in that.
Paper. Yeah. Tray that's lined with some
waxy. Well when we first got them they
were in metal. That's why they went into
the oven. Yeah. Okay. So you have to
remember. You started earlier than me
then. Well okay. So I had a single mom
right? Yeah. So her and I would go and we
I'd get to pick out. It was a big deal.
Like I get to pick out my TV dinners. And
we'd make them in the
oven. And that. There it is.
The thing was metal. Like it wasn't the
plastic or the paper whatever. Yeah. And
then I think my mom's first microwave was
huge. It was like $600 or something.
Yeah. And 500 pounds. Giant. Yeah. It is
so heavy. It's like the TV's you see.
Yes. It was like life changing obviously.
But yeah the TV dinners. And then I
remember like the fried chicken. I can
still picture the way the fried chicken
tastes in those TV dinners. I'm I you
know. So totally different way of
getting to these TV dinners is I'm like
our kids very selective eating. So my dad
would be like what am I gonna what are
you gonna eat? And I think I went in on
TV dinners once and he's like okay. So
then I never went shopping like you did
like this. It wasn't an event. It was
just like there were TV dinners. Yeah.
Like freezer. Because you had a dad. I
like that turkey. Yeah probably. But I
love that turkey one with the sliced
turkey with the gravy.
Yes. And the mashed potatoes.
And we would over nuke it so it would
like burn on the sides. Yeah. It was like
plasticy and that's so good. That I
wonder why there's a whole epidemic.
Yeah. Well you know what back then not
everyone wasn't overweight like people
weren't anyways that's all another thing.
Yeah. But the mashed potatoes almost
tasted like Kentucky fried chicken mashed
potatoes. Yes. So good. And I remember
I'd get the meatloaf one but I think
that's because it had the brownie or
something. Meatloaf I forget.
I forgot about it had that weird like
catch up line of shit at the top. Yes. No
I love the TV dinners. Do they even have
TV dinners now? I don't know. Okay I have
I'm announcing something we're gonna do.
So Gen X adulting is we're gonna go see
if they have TV dinners and if they do
we're gonna get them and we're gonna do a
live and we'll have TV dinners. And
people can come in and talk to you.
You're gluten free. You think you're
gonna pull them off? There'll be
something. Like I'll be able to eat
something on there. I know.
We'll get the turkey dinner. You can have
my corn. There you go. You never know now
there could be gluten free turkey dinners
with the way life. I'm gonna double up.
Okay. I'm gonna double up on the food
thing. Did you ever have steak comes? No.
Really? I did not even know what that was
till I met you. Really? I don't I still
don't really know what that is. It's like
super thin sliced. They said it was beef.
Yeah. Not sure. But it was super sliced
super thin sliced beef. Yeah. That you
would fry in a pan with like either
butter or like in my dad's case he'd save
the oil. My dad cooked. Yeah. He'd save
the oil in the in the can and spread a
little oil in there. Throw a couple steak
comes on. Dump a ton of salt in a ton of
pepper. So good. So wait was it frozen?
Yeah. So you're buying like frozen sliced
beef? Yeah. Yeah. That's a good way to
put it. And then you would just your dad
would just take it apart and like cook
them. Yeah. Yeah. You would almost get
like because it would be like maybe that
thick or something. I don't know.
Something like that. And you'd kind of
get a knife and you'd separate them and
then throw them in the frying pan and do
they still have steak comes? I don't
know. Okay. Well, I'm good. I would eat
some of those. All right. We're gonna
have to go on like an old, you know,
we'll do an old school, if I some tangy
taffy. In fact, if if anyone listens to
this and you want to put in the comments
food, you remember, we'll try to find it.
Yeah. And then we'll do a live one night.
With all the different foods. So, um,
yeah, that'd be cool. Trip to Walmart.
Maybe. Right. I don't know. I know.
Publix might have it. Maybe target. Okay.
So, um, did you watch electric company?
Electric company. Which one was that? I
did. I did. But I just don't remember. It
was like, um, just these funky people
singing. And it was like one of those. It
was a dancing show. It was like Sesame.
So there was Sesame
Street, Mr. Rogers and a
electric company. It was like, like hip
and cool. Yeah. Like it was cooler. And
that guy were bell bottoms. Um, I feel
like he was in yellow. No, orange. I
don't know. Maybe I'm getting confused.
Yo, Gabby Gabby. Cause yo, Gabby Gabby
has electric company vibes. But, um, so
when I was in daycare, uh, we would all
sit around one of those TVs. It's like
the wooden TV and all of us kids would
sit around it and we'd
watch electric company.
We'd watch, um, Sesame Street, Mr.
Rogers. And also at home, at home, I
would watch Mr. Rogers too. Remember he
had those weird puppets. The like old,
like the old people or the queen, those
weird stuff going on there. Now that I
look back, I'm like, those are weird
puppets. Yeah. But I did love Mr. Rogers.
Yeah. Yeah. All his messages. I loved how
he came in. The OCD in me. Love the fact
he came in and put on new shoes.
He had house shoes. So he took off the
shoes that were dirty and he put on his
clean suit. I was obsessed with that. And
then he put on a new jacket, his cardigan
indoors, switch, switch, check it and put
on his cardigan. And I was like, yes,
that's, I love that about Mr. Rogers. You
know, a lot of people pick on him for
being weird and stuff, right? Yeah. He's
got that reputation of just being kind of
weird. Same with what's his name, the
painter Bob Ross. But these are kind of
in hindsight and modern times. He's got
some, you know, pure, wholesome, decent
people. They kind of could use a little
more. I think so too. I love Mr. So many
lessons. Yeah. The, the trolley, the
trolley would take you to that land where
the puppets were. Mr. Ed. I never watched
Mr. Ed was in the same place as the--
Never watched it. Why? Because of Animal
Rights? No, no, no. It was just never on.
I never watched it. What about the
Beverly Hillbillies? Yes. Okay. I watched
that and I watched, um,
Little rascals.
I love little rascals.
It was all black and white.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And then leave it to Bieber.
And I loved, I love Lucy.
But all of these were black and white.
Yeah, honeymooners.
No, I didn't watch that.
You didn't watch that?
No, that weird.
I didn't watch that.
I just watched my shreds.
So when I was a kid,
a 17th grade, ninth, whatever,
we would go roller
skating every Saturday night.
Yeah.
And come home.
That's a core memory, yes.
Yeah, it's a core memory.
Watch, wait, roller skate,
come home around 11, 1130-ish,
catch the tail end of a Yankee game.
If it was still on, watch "Star Trek"
and then the honeymooners.
But I don't remember if
honeymooners was first or second,
but I'd watch "Star
Trek" and the honeymooners.
Honeymooners every night.
I've seen every episode of that.
Really? Yeah, 100%.
So "Star Trek," I would
watch like after school time
when I'd get home.
Like there'd be reruns.
So I'd watch, I didn't
watch it like the night.
Yeah, the night of.
No, it was, okay, so the night of shows?
Well, "Saturday Night Live" too.
I didn't really watch
that till I got older,
but I did, I remember
being in second grade
and Steve Martin
premiered the song "King Tut."
Yeah, yeah.
And my mom and my
stepdad were having a party,
it was Northern California,
I was like, margaritas were flowing.
I was in my room and I had a
little TV, black and white,
and it was on my dresser.
And I remember sitting in my room
and watching that and I
was mesmerized by that song.
It became my favorite song.
Like that and the
whole "King Tut" movement
of like 1978 or something, like remember?
I don't know about you, but it took over.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Like in Northern, on the West Coast,
like everyone was
talking about "King Tut."
I think they had
discovered "King Tut" or something.
It was around that time.
I think they had, I think they had
discovered his remains.
That would make sense,
because why else would Steve Martin
be doing a bit on it?
Yeah. Probably was topical.
It was, but that song was awesome.
I could still sing that song and his
whole stick with that.
But speaking of like
shows that I did not miss,
and I think these were on Saturday night,
and it went in order,
and I don't wanna get the order wrong,
but I believe it started with "Chips,"
"Love Boat," "Fantasy
Island," every Saturday.
I actually had them on my list.
They were earlier.
I think actually, I
wanna say "Fantasy Island"
came on at nine o'clock.
No, I think "Love Boat" came on at nine,
and "Fantasy Island" came on at 10.
Oh, really? It did, I remember.
And because I could stay up and watch it
because it was a Saturday.
And then I loved "Threesome Company."
Yep. That was a different night.
That was a weeknight.
Yeah, it feels like it.
Laverne and Shirley.
Yep, and "Happy Days." And "Happy Days."
Yep, yep. Mm-hmm.
Trying to think, oh, and Alice.
Yep, Alice's restaurant.
W.K.R.P. in Cincinnati.
Love that, and I love that song.
I still love it.
Sometimes Yacht Rock will play it.
And then, oh, what's that other one
where they're in a news station?
W.K.R.P.? No.
Did you just say that? No, I did.
They're reporters in a
news, Barney, Barney.
It'll come to me.
It's a bunch of reporters.
It'll come to me.
I know what you're talking about.
You know what I'm talking about?
There was also, I had on my list,
the People's Court, or
Night Court, whatever it was.
Night Court. Night Court.
I was like, "How come we got a little older?"
Yeah, yeah. That was like,
that was like middle school-ish.
You know what's wild?
We're saying all this, and
I'm trying to piece it together.
How did I watch Saturday Night Live,
The Honeymooners, and Star Trek?
Like, what, and Plus Yankee Games?
I don't know how that, it's all blending,
because those were Saturday night shows.
I watch Saturday Night Live every episode
from when I was like super young.
I would see it sometimes,
but I think I was in bed by then.
We actually, so this is great.
I guess this is a core memory,
but every Saturday night,
my parents would go out
with my aunt and uncle,
and then we'd go, and this
is pre-roller skating days.
That's how this lines up.
We'd go to my Tara's house,
Aunt Lorraine and Uncle Tommy's,
my cousin Tara's, and they
would all go out to the bar,
Fayer's bar in
Andover, Byram, New Jersey,
and we would spend the night there,
and we had this
babysitter who would watch us,
because we're all pretty young.
She was kind of mean,
she was a bitch actually,
from what I remember.
But we'd all stay up and
watch Saturday Night Live.
Okay. So it was cool.
I was young, really young.
I didn't think I was allowed to stay up.
I mean, I didn't--
Yeah, because that was,
it ended at 1 a.m.
Yeah, because I
remember once I got older,
I would like middle
school, I would watch it.
And then, but I do
remember watching John Belushi
and like Rosanna,
Rosanna Danna, and all that.
So I think I caught it
at different times enough.
What about Starsky and Hutch?
Oh, of course. Yes.
Okay, Dukes of Hazzard.
That brings me to my next core memory.
Actually with the Dukes of Hazzard,
I remember recording the
intro to Dukes of Hazzard
on like a cassette
tape, like these up here.
Like the song. Yeah, the song.
Yeah. And that was the thing.
I've seen that on
Instagram, like Gen X, Memes,
and whatever, the struggle of putting
together a playlist.
The struggle was real.
Do you remember listening to Casey Kasem,
Top 20 Countdown?
100%, every Sunday morning.
And then you'd have
your boom box, I would,
and I'd take a blank tape, and I would,
when it was a song, I
knew I would hit record.
So I would make a
mixtape off of Casey Kasem's
Top 20 Countdown. Yeah, no doubt.
Yeah, and I would wait,
and then you'd still have
to stop it, and you'd
have to pay extra attention
so that you could get
the beginning and the end
of your song. Yeah.
Yeah. I remember being a kid
going to Sunday school, and
then my dad usually drove us,
and we'd be sitting in the car sometimes,
and sitting, waiting,
instead of hopping out
for the number one song,
because that was the countdown.
Oh, it was a big deal. Yeah.
And I never missed that, I love that.
I remember when
"Foreigner Urgent" was number one.
Yeah. That was a big song, right?
Oh, yeah, yeah.
Okay, so did you have a metal lunchbox?
Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah, you're gonna
have to give me a minute
to think of what one I had.
I had "Dukes of Hazzard."
I had a few, because
every year I got a new one.
I know I had "Dukes of Hazzard."
Gosh, I can't think what,
oh, I wish I could remember what other,
I know for sure I can
picture the "Dukes of Hazzard" one,
and you can hear that
sound, and you click the thing,
open it, and then did you have a thermos
inside that matched?
Yeah, yeah. Yeah.
100, yeah.
I didn't even bring soup to school.
I think I would fill it with water,
because I wanted to
use that thermos so bad.
So the lunchbox was like,
for years I would get the metal lunchbox.
So that's one of my--
But I think that's all they made.
Probably. Right?
We didn't necessarily grow
up in a plastic generation.
No, and then it switched to plastic.
Yeah. And then it switched
to plastic.
Okay, so do you remember
"Grease" being a big deal?
Oh yeah. The movie "Grease."
Do you remember going
to see it in the theater?
In the movie theater? Yeah.
I think we saw it for the first time
at the Newton Drive-In.
Oh, wow. Yeah.
I feel like-- In a drive-in.
I think we saw it at the drive-in.
That's another thing, a drive-in.
I remember vividly the
night we went with my mom
and my aunt and my uncle and my cousins,
and I remember sitting down.
The movie "Grease" changed my life.
I had never seen, I think I was in,
oh my gosh, that
would have been like 1979.
So that was probably
what, like second grade?
It was life-changing.
I remember leaving there and
never being the same again.
There was something about that movie,
the music, the magic of it,
and it's still, I
still cherish that movie.
And I remember one of my good
friends at the time, Alicia,
she had jeans, and on the back
pocket was the grease symbol.
I wanted those so bad.
We actually have the grease album.
It's mine. Yeah, I know.
That I got then.
I remember going with my
stepdad to a record store
and picking out that album,
and I don't even know how he bought it,
but I would listen to his double album.
I listened to that album every day.
I can't even tell you for at least, I
don't know, for years.
Like I loved, grease
was like pivotal for me.
And I wonder if all Gen Xers, if they,
like if it was so monumental, maybe just
girls, I don't know.
No, it's absolutely, even
for boys that has an impact.
I would think so. If they had the boys,
the greasers or whatever, right?
And the racing and the whole water thing
and the drama and tension.
So this is, and then waiting Sandy
and seeing Sandy go from like.
Prim and proper to this
hot bad-ass and leather.
I'll never forget when she walked up,
I was mad because I
thought it was a different woman.
Like I didn't, it took
me a minute to realize
she had transformed because I was like
seven or eight maybe.
And I thought, oh my
God, another woman's trying
to steal Danny and then it was her.
And I was like, and then
those leather pants she had on.
Oh my God.
So that was.
That was Olivia Newton-John, right?
Yeah.
Yeah, so we all boys my age.
Loved her. I think I had a crush on her.
Okay, so her and what
Farrah Fawcett, right?
Yeah, I mean, yeah, yeah.
Of course Farrah Fawcett was a little boy
sex symbol type of thing.
Suzanne Summers. Suzanne Summers.
Yeah. Yeah, Cheryl Ladd,
I think. Yeah.
Yeah. The Daisy from the Dukes.
Yes, you know, Bach, Catherine Bach.
Okay, so Charlie's Angels,
that was on a different night.
And then, oh, you just
reminded me of another one.
Well, let me ask.
Oh, the bionic man.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And then the woman.
Yeah, Wonder Woman.
Wonder Woman, but no,
the, so the million.
I dream Magine.
No, it's the million
dollar man and the bionic woman.
Remember it was Lindsay Wagner.
Yeah. Was the bionic woman.
I was obsessed with that.
I liked the million dollar man,
but I loved the bionic woman.
Was that, what the hell's his name?
Lee Majors. Yeah, Lee Majors.
So that's when it would go,
(imitates music)
and he would be like
super strong and shit.
(imitates music)
Okay, what about the
Hulk with Lou Fregno?
Oh, yeah.
Yeah, and there's a funny
thing I saw a meme about.
Back then, we didn't have CGI.
Our Hulk actually had to have muscles.
Like those were his muscles, you know?
So those were all on, but
then Charlie's Angels and all,
I think they were all
kind of sex symbols.
I have two.
Okay.
One, just thinking of the plastic stuff,
and I had it on my list.
You probably never had a
stretch Armstrong, right?
No, was he red?
No, he was, the guys
have to remember this.
He was this figure,
and talk about plastic.
He was figure like this
rubbery shell in a body, right?
It was muscular body
with like blond hair,
and you could stretch them,
and you could pull them
in different directions.
We all had it as kids.
So kind of like the
movie The Incredibles.
No, not even.
How they're stretching.
It's stretch Armstrong. Okay.
This is stretch Armstrong.
I've never heard of stretch Armstrong.
That's amazing.
Yeah, but I bet
that's because I'm a girl.
I'm sure stretch
Armstrong was on the West Coast.
Oh, 100%. I don't know.
No stretch Armstrong was
like probably Hasbro or.
Okay, yeah.
So here's the other one.
When you mentioned Greece,
now I can go there with Greece,
but were you a Footloose person too?
Oh yeah, I saw it in the theater.
Yeah.
That was life changing.
Yeah, that's the most curious thing.
The opening to that
movie was like insane.
Why, I don't remember it.
It was the song, the Footloose song,
and then it was like feet dancing.
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, but it was.
Like tapping or something.
But that song is insane.
That song is still so good.
And that was Kenny Loggins.
Yeah, yeah.
And I remember I never
heard anything like that before.
I was gonna stand up, but I
just messed up your video.
I was gonna grab a cassette
for people who don't know
what a cassette looks like.
Well, I think they can
look on the internet.
(laughing)
We have, at some point we
should do a tour of the studio.
Yeah.
To show people.
We should do a live or something.
Cause there is a whole
bunch of cassettes hanging over
Brian's head right now that he's
collected over the years.
Most of them are grateful to bootlegs.
Okay, so what was I saying?
Kenny Loggins, so it was Footloose.
But then he also, he
sang a lot of good ones,
like for Top Gun.
He sang Danger Zone.
Yeah, Danger Zone.
Really?
Yeah, he was hot in the 70s and 80s.
That was the Kenny Loggins.
What was his, was he a
musician or a singer?
Remember it was Loggins and Messines,
how he started out.
Yeah, no, I love Loggins.
They're amazing, I know.
Down at Pooh Corner, oh my God.
But then he took off with,
he had like I Am All Right,
and this is it, like a
whole bunch of good songs.
Why don't you sing those?
No.
Anyways, Footloose, life changing.
That's what I figured.
100%.
I can't say I agree.
I mean, I respect it, but
it's not, I had a feeling.
It was more, I think, a
chick flick where, you know.
Everyone fell in love with Kevin Bacon.
Yeah.
100%.
I was obsessed.
Isn't his wife the star in that?
Like his real wife?
No, no, Kara Sedgwick,
she's in, she's in that,
she was, I discovered
Kara Sedgwick in Singles,
that movie Singles, which
is another good Gen X flick.
That Singles, if anyone
really wants to know the vibe
of the grunge movement in real time,
Singles was filmed during--
That has what's her name in it?
That has, Kara
Sedgwick, it has Bridget Fonda.
Chris Cornell makes an appearance in it,
so does Eddie Vedder.
Matt Dillon.
But who's the one, the one that I liked?
Who?
Oh no, you're thinking of Reality Bites.
Winona Ryder.
Okay, Winona.
Reality Bites, another
excellent Gen X flick.
Oh my gosh, so relatable.
Love, Reality Bites,
that's actually on my list.
You know what I saw today?
Actually, and this really pisses me off,
that we were not dialed in.
Red Hot Chili Peppers,
Pearl Jam, and Nirvana,
I think it was, it was a triple billing
at the Salem Armory in 1992.
So we were in Oregon.
We were within driving distance of Salem,
and the tickets were
like $7.16 or something.
We were in college.
Yeah, we should have gone.
That's crazy.
So stupid.
We missed the--
That's the where, without the internet,
you didn't know
everything that was going on.
Not at all.
So you had to either--
You had to be dialed in on
some mailing list probably.
Yes, something.
Like, I don't know how we
would find out about stuff,
but yeah.
You're catching that?
No, that would have been insane.
Oh my gosh, that's crazy.
Okay, so I know you know that this,
I know this is a core memory for you,
smoking the Bandit.
Oh yeah.
Smoking the Bandit.
My favorite movie.
I know.
And then Cannonball Run.
Oh, 100%.
So those had that vibe, right?
I was watching those
when I was in first grade,
and there's nudity,
there's a scene in Cannonball Run
where the one guy
watches Behind the Green Door,
which is a porn.
Yeah.
What was the, I'll use the nice term,
the over, the larger guy, Dom De La Week?
Yeah.
Yeah, what a comedian, right?
He was great.
Yeah.
And then do you
remember that movie, Convoy?
Oh yeah.
With Chris Christofferson.
Absolutely, yeah.
Do you remember that
truckers were big for a while?
Yeah.
For CB radios.
My West Virginia days.
Yeah, and CB radios were a big deal.
Yeah, we had a CB radio.
My dad had one.
And I actually want one.
A CB?
Absolutely.
In the car?
100% for my Jeep.
Okay.
Anyways, there was a whole trucker thing.
Yeah.
It was the same time?
There was a member of DJ in the Bear.
Yes.
And then there was something
about Big Ben or something.
Big Ben.
I don't know.
Maybe I'm confusing stuff, but.
Oh, do you remember the guy
who had like seven girlfriends?
He was a trucker and
he had seven girlfriends
and I can't remember the
name of it, but that song.
I don't remember that.
Yes.
Oh my gosh, somebody's gonna know,
but it was a trucker guy
and he had seven girlfriends.
It was something about, oh
gosh, I can't remember now.
It'll come to me though.
You know what was smoking a bandit?
This could potentially be embarrassing,
but two of my best friends,
my buddies Matt and Kevin,
and I would watch smoking a bandit
very frequently in high school.
Like after school, like we'd watch it.
You were still watching it.
We're still watching it, yeah.
And smoking the
bandit too as well, right?
Yeah, but it wasn't as good.
The original was the--
Yeah, I remember going
to see smoking the bandit
with my dad or smoked, I
think I have a good memory
of that as smoking the bandit too.
Okay, so did you have one
of those viewfinder things
that you would go click, click?
Like you look at it like binoculars.
Oh, yeah, yeah.
Like in binoculars.
With the circular thing
and it had little pictures
and it would advance.
Yes.
Yeah.
So you could pick the type of,
like you could pick
Europe and it would be
like pictures of
different countries in Europe.
And I love those.
That was like a toy.
Yeah, I forgot about those.
And then you didn't have a
banana seat on your bike, right?
I did, I had the Huffy Buckaroo.
And you had a banana seat?
Hell yeah.
Okay.
I forget, I had to be
young, fifth, sixth grade,
maybe something, but I
had the Huffy Buckaroo
with the long banana
seat and the bar that,
you know, the kind of the thing.
So you could press your S
on that and then do wheelies.
Oh, well, I was not doing that.
But I loved my banana seat.
And so I had that when
I was like first grade,
second grade, third grade.
I guess, did all kids bikes have bananas?
All kids bikes, yeah.
I don't know why they got rid of them.
Bananas seats were comfortable.
They were so comfortable.
Okay, so this is so random.
Okay, so you woke up,
I think most Gen X's
Saturday morning cartoons were the
highlight of our lives.
I was bowling.
You were bowling on Saturday morning?
Absolutely.
So wait, you didn't wake up.
No, I did, I did.
I think I would wake up and again,
a lot of this stuff blends, right?
Because you jump into
different things over time.
But it wasn't wake up and
go do some recreational sport
per se until you hit a certain age.
Yeah.
Like it feels like with our
kids, it's like get up and go.
Right.
No, but yeah, the cartoons,
remember they had those Olympic things?
Yes.
And the Smurfs, the
Smurfs were all the rage.
And like the
superheroes, like Superman, Batman.
What was that Olympic thing?
You just totally unlocked a core memory.
What was animals competing?
Yeah, they were
competing and they had announcers
and they were like almost
announcing it like adults.
See, we're probably
seeing inappropriate shit,
but we had no clue.
I can picture it now,
but I totally forgot about that show.
We have to find out
what that show was called.
I love that.
So I would come out, get
out of bed, make cereal,
probably, I think it
was like a sugar cereal,
like Frosted Flakes or something.
And I would sit in front of the TV
and watch Saturday morning cartoons
for like three hours easily.
I feel like I would do
that and then go bowling.
I used to bowl every Saturday
morning for some age period.
I don't know what it was.
And I do remember it
was during the Smurfs
because the Smurfs, everyone at the bowl
and Ellie's talking about the Smurfs.
Love the Smurfs.
I was obsessed with the Smurfs.
I remember when the Smurfs, all of it.
Little Daisy Smurfs, whatever they were.
No, it wasn't Daisy Smurfs.
I remember her name,
but no, I was obsessed.
And I had all the figurines.
They had Smurf
figurines and I had them on
and I would like play
it like in my Barbies.
That cabbage patch.
I was never into that.
My sister and cousins were.
Yeah, that whole thing.
I'm sure my mom was thrilled
that I was not into cabbage patch at all.
So, because remember
there was like fighting.
Oh yeah.
It was a huge deal.
People were getting in.
It was a big deal.
Now I was into Barbie.
I was so into Barbie.
I had so many Barbies
and Ken's and the Smurfs.
I played Barbies.
You played with your sister and cousin.
Oh, I would play Barbies.
So that's one thing about,
I didn't grow up with siblings.
So I spent a lot of time on my own
and I would do a lot of like
make-believe play and stuff.
Okay, so do you remember
there was a Folgers commercial
where the sister like answers the door.
This young man shows up the door
and a girl answers the
door and it's his sister.
But the way they're acting is weird.
You almost would think it
might've been her boyfriend,
but you come to find out
it's their brother and sister.
It was the weirdest Folgers commercial.
Do you remember that?
No recollection at all.
I remember that.
It was like she made him
coffee before anyone wakes up.
And then they're like
giving eyes to each other.
It was very weird.
So you don't remember
that Folgers commercial.
That was on all the time.
And I remember being so
uncomfortable with that.
Do you remember that commercial that was,
I can bring home the bacon.
Oh yeah.
What was that?
That was a perfume.
Yeah, okay.
Like, I'm gonna say like Anjali.
Yeah, something like that.
Oh yeah, that lady was dancing.
Yeah, oh, I completely remember.
Yeah, that was the beginning of the
brainwashing of what?
Yeah, that's where you
guys gave up your femininity.
No, no, it's where we had to buy into,
we can do it all and took on everything
instead of demanding,
okay, you want us to go
work outside the home,
you need to help 50-50 in the house.
The domestic conversation never happened.
So we've talked about
this in other episodes,
but that commercial is part of the
propaganda that was fed.
Because I remember
watching that and thinking,
even at a young age,
oh, I'm gonna do it all.
I'm gonna do everything.
Actually, it's funny you say that
because those guys
were like, she was hot.
And it's like, I
gotta get me one of them.
Well, there you go.
And therein lies the problem.
And therein lies why the Gen
X women are hitting midlife
and telling the men, I'm
outta here if you don't.
I need a hot woman who
fries it up in the pan.
And makes money.
Yeah, it does the whole thing.
Embrace your kids, cleans your house.
Gotta get two of them.
Does your laundry.
No, it would take two
or three to truly do it.
No one can do it all and do it all well.
Somewhere along the line.
I don't give up.
Yes.
Somebody is not getting what they should,
whether it's at work,
whether it's with your children,
whether it's your house, whether it's,
you got me started.
You got me started.
It's a whole thing.
Anyways, did you keep a
comb in your back pocket?
Hell yeah.
Yeah, me too.
When I was a girl.
The black comb.
Was your hair feathered?
My hair was so feathered.
So when we'd go to
the roller rink, right?
You'd go to the roller rink,
you got a comb in your back pocket.
You start.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So us girls, we did more
of like checking our hair,
but it was part down
the middle, feathered.
That was yours, a black
comb or like a purple one
that kinda was bigger,
cause I kinda remember those too.
So it was, no, it
wasn't like the boring black.
It had the handle and it
was some sort of glittery,
pretty color.
With ours, we had the
kind of the wider teeth
and then the narrower teeth in a way.
No, no, this was just like a cute comb,
like a girl comb.
So speaking of roller skating,
I also loved going to the roller rink.
That's a huge core memory.
One of the things I
remember from it is privatized
by Hall of Notes.
They would play it.
And when it would go that,
everyone would stamp their skates.
I remember that.
I love the roller rink.
Yeah.
That was the best.
Yeah.
I wish that that was a thing still.
I think they're around,
but I just think it's such a novelty.
Now it's probably so expensive.
All right, do you
remember when arcades appeared?
Yeah.
Like we were alive when
there were no video games.
Yeah.
And then when arcades appeared.
That's not true.
We had the Atari 2600 and we had the...
The TV with the Pong and chh chh.
But we were alive before that.
You know what I mean?
Like we, when we were young
is when video games came about.
Oh yeah, yeah.
So yeah, Atari.
Yeah.
What was that, Pong?
Yeah.
So Pong, but then arcades.
So we, at the bowling alley,
they had arcade games.
Yes.
So you'd bowl.
Yeah.
And then after bowling,
you'd put your
quarters in and play games.
It was a quarter.
Like Big Doug, Asteroid, Pac-Man.
And then Ms. Pac-Man.
Super, yeah, yeah.
But Pac-Man, remember
when Pac-Man came out?
That was huge.
Yeah.
That was huge.
I was so good at it.
I was so good at Ms. Pac-Man,
but it was a quarter.
Yeah.
It wasn't, we put our quarters in.
It was a quarter.
There were some games so that,
then they jumped to 50 cents.
Yeah, well, like everything.
And that got a little offensive, yeah.
But I remember going to arcades
and spending time in arcades
and you would just, you literally,
what you did there was
play games for like hours.
Where was your arcade located?
Like we had one, I
was trying to remember.
The mall.
The mall, that's the end of us.
Because we would go to the
mall and just walk around.
Okay, so Orange
Julius, did you have that?
Yeah, yeah.
Oh, nothing is so as
good as an Orange Julius.
They're so good.
Oh, I loved it.
It was like a creamsicle.
So we would walk around,
we'd go into the arcade,
we'd go to Orange
Julius, we'd go to Spencer's.
Yeah, totally.
And there was like
inappropriate stuff in there.
That I totally didn't know what it was,
but I knew it wasn't okay.
And there was like
Frederick's of Hollywood
and it was like, ooh.
Because I think that was before
Victoria's Secret really took over.
I think Frederick's was our lingerie.
What I liked about Spencer's
was besides all the inappropriate shit.
Where's the black room,
or the black light room?
Yes.
With all those cool posters.
I totally forgot about that.
Black light posters.
That was the whole thing.
Yep.
That would be cool to do.
One of my favorites was the Jim Morris
and poster, do you remember that one?
It was the Jim
Morrison black light poster.
No, not Vivint.
That was so cool.
I forgot about the black light room.
So would you spend a
ton of time at the mall?
A lot, yeah, no, I was
gonna say that's one where
I don't think, the
kids do it a little bit,
but they burn out of it.
But yeah, the malls for
us went from a young age
all the way up through high school.
Well, because we were there
at the beginning of malls.
Yeah, probably.
So the mall was like a big deal.
Yeah.
Because it was new.
Even for our parents, probably,
oh, let's go to the mall.
Yeah, no, the mall was everything.
The mall, it's such a nostalgic feeling,
going to the mall and it
would just be this wonderland.
You could spend hours
there with your friends.
I feel like back then,
and I could be wrong,
but I feel like maybe
there were more stores
that kids could go in, middle school,
high school age kids
could go in where now, I don't know,
there's like
Lululemon and stuff like that,
I think there was more fun stores.
Well, for us, from what I
recall, we had the arcade.
Then you had Walden Books, we'd go in.
Spent a lot of time in there.
We had a baseball shop card.
I used to collect baseball cards.
There's none of that now.
There's a record store.
Record stores.
You'd walk up and down the aisle.
Did you have Tower Records?
Tower came later, but it felt like
the record store kept
changing for some reason.
He just completely
unlocked a memory for me.
In the mall, one of
the things we would do
is go to Tower Records
and spend a solid hour
easily looking through all the albums.
That was what we did.
And on the back behind the
cashiers were the new albums.
They had just come out.
You could see what was new.
Tower Records was a place, as soon as I
would get to the mall,
for Tower Records.
And I would buy 45s, do you remember 45s?
Oh yeah.
We still have them.
Yeah, yep.
So many 45s.
And you'd have to put
that little plastic disc in
so you could play it.
Oh my gosh.
Quick sidebar on the vinyl.
So Grateful Dead just
released the Beacon Theater in 1976
on vinyl and we gotta get it.
Just a reminder.
Okay, okay.
Do you remember when
Walkmans came on the picture?
Yep, yep.
And what a big deal that was,
to be able to wear your
music and walk around, literally.
Yeah, that's kind of Walkman.
But that was huge.
And actually people don't realize,
well, young kids don't, right?
They have airbuds with Bluetooth.
We had those headphones that
were not big like we're wearing.
They weren't these.
No.
They were kind of that
in between buzzy thing.
Yeah, and then there were the small ones
that were like, it
was just the metal strip
and then a small thing right here.
Yeah, no, Walkmans, that was it.
You'd put your tape in there.
When I was in high school
and we'd go to away games,
I remember I would listen to,
I had a Walkman with the
headphones we just described.
I'd listen to Bob
Dylan, Blood on the Tracks,
to these games and back and forth.
I'd listen to that album 500 times.
No, it gave us the
ability to listen to music
outside of our home, outside of a car.
Yeah, and choose your own music
instead of whatever
was coming on the radio.
Yes, it gave us autonomy
when it came to our own music.
Well, before that was boomboxes, right?
But then if you walked
around with it, it's loud.
Everyone can hear.
It's inconvenient.
Yeah, this was your private experience.
The Walkman gave you that.
Honestly, it was between that and MTV.
I was like, entire
records, I was in heaven.
Did you remember there
were smoking sections
everywhere we went?
There were smoking
sections at McDonald's.
We actually had a
smoking section at our school.
Oh, for sure, where the smokers went.
But like any place, even
if you went to McDonald's,
there were ashtrays, there was smoking,
airplanes had smoking, airplanes.
I don't remember, I guess they did.
They did, because I
remember I'd fly back and forth
between Oregon and Michigan.
It was the back.
Like that made the biggest difference.
Okay, it's just in the back.
Every restaurant, when
the hostess would ask you
how many people, and
then the second question was
smoking or non-smoking.
Yeah, I forgot about that.
Yeah, they were everywhere you went.
I think that's an
improvement in the world.
Oh, for sure.
Obviously.
But at the time, we
were just used to that.
Like no matter where
you'd go, smoking sections.
Not just used to it.
I remember driving, and I
think I've talked about this
in my relatives' cars who would smoke.
We'd be in the back
seat without seat belts
and a big sedan,
cruising along the roads,
and they'd be up there smoking and
blowing it in the car.
That was my mom.
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, my mom smoked Virginia Slims.
Okay, so did you bite your pencil?
Do you remember biting?
Like so we'd all have
the yellow pencils, right?
The number two pencils.
Do you remember biting your pencil?
I do, but not like a--
Where it was all bit.
Yeah, yes, but not really.
It's not a core memory.
Okay, I used to bite all my--
I love the way, not that it tasted,
but just that feeling of
biting into the pencil.
And then do you remember--
It's funny you say that.
I remember the bite and how
it broke through the paint,
and then you'd get to that next layer,
then you'd move on.
That kind of--
Yes, yes, yes.
Crazy.
And I can not taste it.
I can smell it taste it.
Okay, so then did you go
to the pencil sharpener
just because you were bored and want to
get out of your seat?
But then that thing would always be
just a little close enough to the wall
where you'd get your knuckles.
You remember that?
Yeah, I do.
So you kind of would
have to hold it and do it,
and it would have that sound.
Yeah, yeah.
But it was--
I remember, yeah,
sometimes you'd be like this,
but I remember doing it and
trying to make enough noise
to be disruptive to
the class to be that--
Why does that not shock me?
Why does that not shock you?
You were Dennis the Menace.
There's no question about that.
Okay. I was a kid soon.
So yeah.
Do you remember how we
used to, like not you and me,
but how we would slow
dance in high school?
Yeah, yeah.
You'd hold your arms straight out?
It was either that or you
were like totally hugging
as close as you could be.
I don't think I ever
did the closest you could.
Maybe for prom, because
by then I had a girlfriend.
Well, that's high school.
I'm talking about middle school,
but the back and forth,
just one step, one step.
But I loved middle school dances.
So Tears for Fear, all the
80s, like Madonna, Prince,
Tears for Fears, Depeche Mode.
That was our Michael Jackson.
That was our music at
our middle school dances,
and it was new.
We would dance.
I would never dance.
You didn't, did you go?
Yeah, but hindsight, I was too immature
to be there and embrace it, right?
Other kids were.
I was probably mocking them out of
insecurity, realistically.
Well, did boys dance that you remember?
A handful.
Wait, well, when we were
in fifth or sixth grade,
maybe a little earlier,
we had a breakdance club.
Remember breakdancing.
Yes, breakdancing.
So we had a breakdance club.
I wasn't in it.
I couldn't do it again.
That wasn't my thing.
But there were some
guys who were breakdancing
and spinning and shit
on their heads and stuff.
And I remember actually
at Helen Morgan School,
we were in pods.
They had a pod.
Here's your five
classes for second grade,
and here's the pod
over here, down the hall.
And I remember these
guys, they had breakdancing.
And it was like embraced, kind of like,
hey, so-and-so is gonna breakdance,
and everyone's watching.
Breakdancing was like a big deal,
and they wore parachute pants.
That's what got parachute pants.
Yeah, I had parachute pants.
Everybody did.
And like the windbreaker, matching
windbreaker, whatever.
Members only.
Yeah, members only.
Okay, so I never wore members only.
I had a members only jacket.
Everybody did.
I don't know.
So we did OP, Ocean Pacific.
We had OP too.
And then of course, polo.
Yep, yep.
And okay, so OP, Ocean Pacific, Guess.
Yep, yep.
I remember Guess overalls were big.
I was never into Guess,
but that was more of a girls thing.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And then Izod's.
Yep.
Okay, so the cologne was that green polo.
Yeah, which I still like.
Okay, and then, and then Drakar.
I was never into that.
So Drakar was huge among the boys, yeah.
But no, to bring back to
breakdancing, I forgot that.
It was like we were
there in breakdancing.
Yeah, yeah.
You know, it's so cool.
Just going back to the fashion stuff.
I had a pink Ralph Lauren polo jacket.
Yeah.
In like eighth grade or something.
So I was all in on that.
Well, that was Miami Vice, right?
Or had Miami Vice shown up yet?
I don't know.
Well, no, a pink, that
would have been preppy,
the preppy handbook.
Yeah.
But when did Miami Vice show up for us?
Like maybe ninth grade?
Yeah, maybe.
Because then it was
the white linen blazer
pushing your sleeves up.
Yeah.
So you could see your forearms.
That was like a whole thing.
We had a friend whose dad
was an exec at Ocean Pacific.
So he had all the OP stuff.
Okay.
And then everybody got into OP.
Yeah.
And Ralph Lauren, like polo was huge.
Yes.
Members only jackets were huge.
Yeah.
Serengeti sunglasses, I
think they were, right?
Do you remember?
Oh no, we were Ray-Ban.
We were not Ray-Ban until
probably a little bit later.
We were so Ray-Ban.
They had those aviator ones.
Remember they had the glasses
and they had like the little side thing.
Yes, yes.
Maybe they were, oh,
you know what, Carreras,
like for Porsche, Carreras.
Okay.
Yeah.
That might've been more the guys.
Probably.
But when Risky Business came out.
Yeah.
That probably changed.
It was all about Risky Business.
What year was that there for us?
It was all about Ray-Ban probably.
I don't remember.
Yeah, I remember the black Ray-Bans.
Yeah.
Did you have swatch?
Yeah, yeah.
And you could change
the faces or something.
I had a black swatch watch.
I bought it at the
Macy's counter for $35.
There you go.
I love my swatch watch.
I did too.
And then Vans back then were checkered.
So they were either, you could get red
and white checkered,
which are the ones I had.
You could get pink and white.
I had pink and white.
Okay.
I went through this whole preppy.
You went through your preppy phase, yeah.
And then you wore them with no socks.
Probably.
Yeah.
And then you get black and white.
And I think you get blue
and white checkered too,
but it was all checkered.
The way Vans is now is not how it was.
Vans is a shoe now.
It has actual chill styles.
You could still get the checkered.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
But they have clothes.
It's a whole thing.
But when we bought Vans back then,
they were like 30 or $35.
I bet the checkered ones are like 135.
Probably.
I feel like they were $25 or something.
Oh my gosh, yeah.
I love my Vans so much.
Okay, so did you, on your Christmas tree,
did you have either
like that tinsel decor?
Or was it like hand,
was it the ones where
you would take a string of tinsel
and put it on your Christmas tree?
Or was it like the
rope type tinsel wrapping?
So for me, two memories would be,
we had the rope, the gold rope,
and we'd do it as a
family, you know, work it around.
And then my aunt,
Lorraine and uncle Tommy,
had the stuff you'd put on.
You'd put on.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And some families
would kind of toss that on.
But then some families
would do one at a time.
Why?
I don't know.
How would you know that?
My grandma did it.
My grandma did one at a time.
And I don't know.
I think she enjoyed it,
probably because she had four kids
and it was the time she could be like,
"Leave me alone, I'm
decorating the tree."
Did you grow up being
afraid of Christmas trees
burning down your house?
Of course.
No, I thought that
was a daily occurrence.
I thought every Christmas,
like half the people I knew,
their Christmas tree
was gonna catch on fire.
Okay, were you afraid of quicksand?
Because for some reason,
we were all supposed to
be afraid of quicksand.
I think I'm still afraid of quicksand,
even though I've never
seen or been around quicksand.
But I picture it happening.
Everything we watched, quicksand.
Yeah.
Something can happen.
That's funny you say that.
Road Runner and Wild
Coyote, Tom and Jerry.
Star Trek.
There's quicksand in one of the episodes.
Yeah, maybe.
Oh no, there's
quicksand in Fantasy Island.
Yeah.
I'm sure Chips had a quicksand episode
where they had to come save them.
Okay, what about the sleazestacks?
They're my favorites. Land of the Lost?
Yeah, totally.
Those things would freak me out.
Have you ever seen that meme
where they show the sleazestack
and it's like when
your mushrooms just hit?
No.
It's a sleazestack.
No, it's hilarious.
And then, was that the only dinosaur?
That wasn't a dinosaur, Land of the Lost.
Was it dinosaurs?
Yeah, but we've talked
about that other one.
You remember this, where that,
I can't even describe it.
This round thing with like Shaggy
that was living in a house
and they lived by a beach.
That'll come to you,
I can't remember the name of the movie,
but for the show, it was like a show
and it was like this, I
can't even describe it.
I can't even picture that now.
We've talked about it, but.
Gosh, I can't even picture that.
You know what the trip is for us?
Disney movies weren't a thing.
Those really started, I mean, they were,
but it was like Pinocchio.
Don't you remember?
Yeah, but Disney on Sunday nights
with Herbie the Love Bug and the Waltons.
Yes, Herbie the Love, I
loved Herbie the Love Bug.
All those movies.
Oh, what about The Pink Panther?
Yeah, yeah.
I love The Pink Panther.
The cartoon?
The cartoon.
I wasn't really into the guy,
the live action detective guy.
It was weird.
Do you remember Mr. Magoo?
I didn't watch that.
Oh, you didn't watch that?
No.
What about the gorilla in the window?
How much is that monkey in the window?
Or the, the gala gorilla?
It sounds familiar.
Was that when we were
young, like kindergarten?
I don't know, it all blends, man.
I know, but I think that
was when we were younger,
but I forgot about Herbie the Love Bug.
Remember the Waltons, they'd be like,
"Goodnight, Mom,
goodnight, Mom, goodnight, Jimmy."
I didn't watch that as much as Little
House on the Prairie.
Oh, yeah.
I loved Little House on the Prairie.
I've seen every Little
House on the Prairie episode.
I watched that, I read all the books.
I was obsessed with that family.
I definitely didn't read the books,
but we used to watch it, it was like
Sunday nights, right?
Wasn't that kind of like
Little House on the Prairie?
Yeah.
Herbie, Waltons.
And Waltons.
I think I went to bed when Waltons.
Oh, the other one, Grizzly Adams.
Loved Grizzly Adams.
I love that show.
I loved Grizzly Adams.
That was a great show.
There's another one
actually, Mutual of Omaha.
That was like the Wild Kingdom.
Yeah, Wild Kingdom.
Yeah, that was cool.
But-
Yeah, Grizzly Adams was great.
Grizzly Adams was cool.
I was trying to think there
was something else you said,
it'll come back to me.
Okay, what else?
I wonder if we covered like
everything that I wrote down.
I'm reading it real quick.
Saturday morning cards.
Oh, did you ever do Columbia House
where you could buy
like a bunch of tapes?
I think I did it as an adult too.
Yeah.
I think we changed our
name or something, right?
I think I remember
doing, I think in high school
or something and I got like,
what would you get
like, not a hundred tapes.
No, it wasn't a hundred.
It was a lot for a penny.
You know what I did actually?
It was something like that.
It might've been Columbia House,
but I got this whole blues collection.
I've got like the Robert
Johnson and the Howling Wolf
and all these incredible blues artists.
I have a wonderful-- Was it from that?
Yeah, something like that.
Oh my God, that's so funny.
Okay, did you ever have a radio,
a stereo in your car that you pulled out?
Yeah, a hundred percent.
Yeah, so in my first car,
my first car was a
1965 Apple Red Mustang.
I had no business receiving that car.
It was the most gloriously beautiful car
I could ever have wanted.
It was my dream car,
but I was 16 years old
and I crashed it twice.
I had no business driving that car.
But it was fast, but I
had a Kenmore pullout in it.
Yeah, Kenwood.
Kenwood.
Kenwood, what did I say, Kenmore?
Kenmore, yeah. Kenwood.
And so when I would go to,
like I was in high school,
if I went to dinner, like
my friends or my boyfriend,
I would bring it into the restaurant
or I'd put it in my bag.
Oh, you had the removable plate?
No, I pulled the whole thing out.
Interesting.
No, I had the whole thing
and I would put it in my bag.
Interesting.
And then when I get in my
Mustang, I just put it back in.
Yeah, I would take it with me.
That's weird, why?
So no one would steal it.
It was a removable--
That was a thing, like
when we were younger,
people would break
into cars and steal shit.
Yeah.
I had a 76 Chevy Monza and--
I don't even know what that is.
The stock car came with an
eight cylinder motor, right?
Okay.
And mine had a four cylinder.
That's like a V8, right?
It was a V8, yeah.
So instead of sitting, if it had the V8,
it would have sat flat, right?
Aerodynamically designed.
Mine had a four cylinder,
so it faced up a little bit.
Totally dangerous.
Changed the dynamics of how you steer.
But I paid $250 for it, my parents did.
And my stereo--
That's amazing.
I had a whole Pioneer
system and I put it in myself.
Yeah.
I ran the cables, I had
speakers in the doors,
six inch speakers in the doors,
then six by nine speakers in the back.
Wow.
Yeah, that was a whole thing.
And that doesn't
sound like a very big car.
No, it was so loud.
It was amazing.
You get it and it was just crazy.
It was awesome, yeah.
That's a Mons, again, I
don't know what that is,
but that sounds like it was a good time
when she got in there.
Yeah.
Yeah.
(laughs)
So did you ever, I don't know,
you probably never went through this,
and I don't know if this is just because
of my upbringing or
whatever, or if it's a girl thing,
but did you ever threaten to run away?
(sighs)
Not that I recall, but not that I recall.
So I would say I'm gonna run away,
like a decent, but I think there's kids
who had a normal
upbringing and also did this
if they had, like were
upset with something.
Our daughter.
Well, yeah, that's true, she
did it when she was like three.
Yeah.
But one time I did, I
grabbed my white teddy bear.
I love that teddy bear.
I think I still have it in
our storage unit somewhere.
I'd grab my white teddy bear,
and like a doll,
and we were at my mom's
friend's house, and I left.
And so it wasn't even my neighborhood.
And I think I made it,
and I would have been
kindergarten or first grade.
I think I walked for five minutes,
which is a long time,
long time to walk for
five minutes as a little kid.
And then I remember that feeling of,
okay, I'm like far.
And no one came after you?
Well, no, so right as
I felt like I'm far,
which was probably like three blocks,
I turn around and my
mom's running towards me.
So yeah, like she ran and got me.
But that was the thing is
like, I'm done, I'm gonna run away.
But actually that time I tried it,
and then you get that feeling.
Like, did you ever
lose your mom in a store?
I remember like hiding under,
I think it was at Macy's
and hiding in the clothes.
Oh, so you traumatized your mom.
I feel like I did, but
I thought it was funny
because I was hiding in
the rack of clothes, right?
Of course, yes.
I said, Brian, Brian, Brian.
And I think they, I
feel like the store manager
got involved. Nice.
I don't remember if this happened or not,
or if I'm imagining it, but
I really think it happened.
I feel like your mom has mentioned
something about this.
I wish she would come on,
because she'd have some good stories.
Yeah, oh, she probably has the tea.
Yeah, she does.
I remember she told a story about,
you didn't wanna go to dinner,
and you guys battled about that,
and she threatened to
break your fish tank with an ax
if you didn't go to dinner.
And another time she cut up your pants,
because you wouldn't go to dinner.
This should have been red flags for me,
that you don't go to dinner.
You know what's funny is
one time she, yeah, very true.
She used to cut my hair at times,
or like do like a trimming,
and I remember when she nicked my ear,
and your ear bleeds pretty good, right?
And I remember seeing it,
and then I pretended
to really be in pain,
and started crying.
Oh my God. Yeah, that wasn't cool.
You tormented.
So I wonder, like, I
was the type of Gen X kid,
and it could have been
because my parents are divorced,
remarried to other
people, blah, blah, blah,
and I came from cast.
That's a totally different episode
if anyone's interested in that.
Go listen to probably episode 13,
and you'll hear my story.
But so I was like pretty compliant,
and I wanted friends,
and so I followed the rules.
I think you were the opposite of that.
Yeah, 100%.
I was an asshole at times for sure.
Yeah, but you could get
away with more back then.
Kids could get away with more back then.
Yeah, yeah, I mean, it's
almost like when you ask if,
did I ever run away?
It's like, I don't think
that entered my mind ever.
I don't even know any friends that did.
I feel like I know of
some people that did,
and we're like, why, huh?
What is this?
Yeah, yeah.
So you guys were just
very stable, very fine,
and you were more running the show.
I feel like I ran the show, kinda.
And I had a great, I
ran the show in many ways.
Not 100%, but relatively
compared to what you're saying.
I had a lot of controller autonomy,
but also had a good, decent thing going.
So do you think there's
things you did though,
as a quote unquote bully
then that now kids couldn't do
or get away with or somebody's parent
would probably call the school over?
Yeah, probably.
What were some of the things you did?
I don't wanna sell myself
out, but I will say this,
you know, I was thinking about this,
because you'd planted the seed,
but we used to throw snowballs at cars.
Yeah.
When it snowed, it was like cool,
but wait till it, actually we
didn't wait till it got dark.
We used to throw eggs at cars.
That was always fun.
We would do ding dong ditching.
Yes. And that was fun too.
I'm glad kids still do that.
Yeah.
You know, mischief night,
we would TP houses, trees.
So we TP, like when we
would have a sleepover
at like a girl's
house, we would sneak out.
Like the girl, we would, all
of us girls would sneak out
with a bunch of toilet
paper and we would TP houses.
That was the thing.
I don't-- Soaping cars.
What is it?
Yeah, we used to take soap
and put it on windows of cars
and you know, either right
things or just like really cover
like the front window and shit like that.
You never did that? No.
Oh, that was, the thing. Never did that.
I don't think I ever threw,
I never threw eggs at cars.
I did throw eggs at houses once.
When we were TPing and
I was like, oh my God.
Now did you put rocks in your snowballs
that you threw at cars?
No.
Okay, so you didn't go that far.
No, we didn't go that far.
Did you ever steal stuff?
Yeah.
Like from like a 7-11?
Yeah, yeah, 7-11 or like
the Acme or whatever, yeah.
Not from people. Candy.
Yeah, candy.
At Jolly Ranchers, I
would steal those 100%.
So that was all profit.
100% profit.
Yeah, yeah.
(both laughing)
So how would you steal?
Where would you put it?
All right, so we had, I had this,
well, you could just, I
had this eyesawed jacket
that had hand pockets like this, right?
You put your hands, like a,
kind of put your hands through here.
Yes. And you could kind of do this.
Like how hoodies are.
Yeah, like a hoodie, a
hoodie spot, yeah, great example.
I remember there was
a hole in the pocket.
So once the hole it
created, I was like, hmm,
rip it a little more.
You could shove a whole bag in there
and just wrap it around.
Oh my gosh. Yeah.
Were you the only one that did that
or were you in your friends? No, no.
Did they ever catch on
that we're missing stuff
every time this group of kids comes in?
Well, it wasn't like a group thing.
You do like one friend.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
It's not like you go and
just clear out the place.
You know, you gotta be--
Well, people do that now.
No, that's what I'm saying.
This is very juvenile,
covert shit in your pants
the whole time and you
don't think you're good
so you can't see the store anymore.
How many times did you do that?
I don't know, enough to remember it.
Did you sneak into movies?
Yeah, yeah. Without buying a ticket?
Yeah, yeah.
Well, but like who was
telling us Lou, right?
Yes. In one of our
previous podcast. He would let people in.
I had a friend who worked at--
Okay. Yeah.
And they'd let you in. And they'd start a movie.
You'd go knock on the
door and they'd let you in.
Would you prank call?
Oh, absolutely.
So what were some of the,
do you remember any of the
prank calls things you'd say?
We would prank call.
But when we first did it, it was like,
your refrigerator's running,
you better go get it or something.
It was like dumb jokes like that.
But then it just was like breathing.
Yeah.
Or saying like just, I
don't know what it was
but we would prank call a lot.
Yeah, 100%.
Because there was no caller ID.
It was all landlines.
And no one knew.
Well, there was a way too
where you could block your line
because caller ID came out.
But there was a way
you could punch a code in
and not show your number.
Yeah, that's later on.
Yeah. Yeah.
But when we were middle school,
there was not a caller ID.
Yeah.
That was more high school.
Like, what do you call it?
How you record a thing
like leave a message?
Yeah, the voice machine.
What's it called?
(laughing) The answering machine.
Answering machine. Yeah, yeah.
Answering machine.
So I remember when
answering machines showed up
and I think that was like
high school with the landline.
And I remember it was a big deal
till like the message.
Like sometimes as we
got more comfortable,
we'd play music and like
say, hey, leave us a message.
Like it would be like a whole production.
It would be a production.
I don't recall that.
Yeah, that sounds like you and your mom.
For the answering machine.
Or I could just do it.
Like she would let me take over
and it'd be like, you've
reached da, da, da, da, da.
But I would have like bells and whistles.
There was like a director's cut.
It was a whole thing.
I had fun with that with
the answering machines.
And then it switched to
voicemail on cell phones.
But the answer machines were
cool because you'd come home
and it'd be blinking.
If it's blinking, yeah.
And you're like, we got messages.
I think we actually had one too
that told you the
number of messages you had.
Yes, you have nine
messages or something like that.
And then you'd listen to it.
And do you remember when it first.
Half of them were the same person
who just screwed up
leaving the first message.
Like, what the hell? Oh, okay.
Do you remember when they first came out,
it was on a tape.
It was like a little tape in there.
Oh yeah, the little micro cassette.
And so there were times like,
if your tape got messed
up, you lost your messages.
Like that was the whole thing.
Do you remember like
having to share the landline
with your family? Oh yeah.
So you'd get, like,
did you and your sister
ever have to battle over phone time?
My sister actually got her own number
when she was in like
ninth grade or something.
I remember kids who would have that.
And I was like, wow,
you got your own number?
I remember I had my own
phone in my room in high school,
but I did not have my own number.
But I had my own phone.
It wasn't just sharing the line,
it was making sure no
one picked up the line
while you were
talking. Yes, and listened.
Yes, and listened.
If you're talking to your
girlfriend or your boyfriend.
No, that was the whole thing.
100%.
But I remember when I
finally got a phone in my room,
I didn't have to sit out
in like the living room
and be on the phone or like, I'd take it,
the whole cord, I could go in the garage.
I'd pull it into the garage
and I'd be on the phone in the garage.
So that was the whole thing.
Do you remember always thinking
there's gonna be a nuclear war?
Yeah, we grew up in that.
Remember that movie Red Dawn?
Red Dawn.
Yeah, I mean, we grew up in the Cold War.
Cold War.
Cold War, yeah.
Yeah, but we
literally, we would do drills
and we'd have to go under the desk.
Did you ever do that?
I don't remember that.
Yeah, we would do that.
Like if we were gonna get
bombed by a nuclear bomb,
going under the desk
is what's gonna save us.
That's what we thought.
You know, it's interesting.
So I was up in Birmingham a few years ago
with Nathan and Ben, and
I actually took a picture
because there was a
sign on a brick building
of saying like nuclear shelter.
You don't see that too often.
No, no.
And it was like nuclear shelter
and it's like pointing down
here, going to the basement.
Yeah, no, and I remember there were like,
there was a movie called--
Red Dawn.
No, that one, but
then there was a TV movie
called like The End or something.
Like Propaganda for sure.
But no, but it was like
a Hollywood movie, right?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
But it was about the end
of a nuclear war happening.
I remember that.
I wish I could remember
the name of that movie,
but Red Dawn, Red Dawn
is such a Gen X movie.
Okay, so there's a group of movies.
Red Dawn, The Outsiders.
Yeah, that's a great movie.
Breakfast Club.
Sixteen Candles.
Tex.
What?
Tex.
I don't remember that.
That's with Matt Dillon.
So the woman that wrote Outsiders,
S.C. Hinton, she wrote Tex.
She wrote That Was Then, This Is Now.
They made movies on that.
So that was like a whole genre.
So you didn't, The Outsiders,
did you read The Outsiders?
I actually read part of The Outsiders.
I'm not a big book, guys, you know.
But I've seen the movie
at least a bunch of times.
I love it.
Yeah, and then Pretty in Pink.
Did you ever see Pretty in Pink?
Yeah, but it doesn't really resonate.
So there was that
whole John Hughes genre.
And then, because that's Breakfast Club.
I feel like those are more girl movies.
Probably.
I remember like St. Elmo's Fire.
St. Elmo's Fire, that's in the same.
Say Anything, that's
where he holds the boombox up,
John Kuzak, outside her window.
That's iconic.
That's what makes all those
tennis women think that's,
we should have expected that.
We didn't, but that's
what we should have held to,
is hold the boombox out our window.
I would say I was more of
like an animal house guy.
Yeah.
The Wall, love The Wall.
Yeah, but I'm talking,
yeah, yeah, I guess, yes.
The Wall, that's a whole thing.
Yeah.
But yeah, usually you're like, stone.
And the Blues Brothers, I
love the Blues Brothers.
Revenge of the Nerds.
Revenge of the Nerds.
That whole, and
that's one of those series
where they did like 20 of them,
but in the first
several were pretty good.
I think it was just two,
but, okay, Police Academy.
I was just about to say that, yeah.
Dad had a bunch, okay, Rocky.
Rocky, yep, yep.
Okay, I personally think,
I love Rocky and Rocky too,
but my Rocky is Rocky III.
It's funny you say that, yeah.
Mr. T, I think it's
because that was like,
we were that little bit old enough to
really appreciate it.
Which Rocky did they
fight the Russians in?
Rocky IV.
Okay, so I saw Rocky
IV in a movie theater
in West Virginia, Morgantown.
Yeah.
And the whole place
is going crazy, going,
get him, Rock, get him, Rock.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
The whole place, the place is screaming.
Yes.
It was amazing.
Yeah.
It was good.
No, that was, and then Terminator.
Yeah, the whole series.
That's our time.
That's Gen X's time is Terminator.
What's the other one, First Blood?
First Blood.
Right?
Yeah, that's Rambo.
Rambo, like all of that.
So you really think about like
the first movies I mentioned,
the outsiders in that genre and John
Hughes in that genre
and then Rocky and
series and the Rambo series
and Revento the Ners.
Well, before you wrap it up,
Friday the 13th, Halloween.
Okay, then horror.
So we had Halloween.
Like we were there when
all this stuff came original.
These were not remakes.
These were newly created movies,
screenplays, everything.
So yes, we had Friday
the 13th, we had Halloween
and we had Nightmare on Elm Street.
Those were like our big and it just-
Jaws.
Jaws, we were the generation-
Still a Freddy.
Yeah.
I'm just kidding.
We were the generation of Jaws.
Yeah.
Okay.
We were the generation of
get the shit scared out of you
if you turned on the wrong channel.
Yes, true.
Really?
So true.
Yeah.
That is so true.
Did you ever see Piranha?
Hell yeah.
Like I saw it in a drive-through.
My mom and my stepdad
were watching the movie
in front of them.
They brought me with
them to watch that movie.
I turned around and watched Piranha.
I think I was six.
Yeah.
And I was horrified.
My best friend had red
belly Piranhas as pets.
Oh my gosh.
It was awesome.
We'd go to the mall, buy
goldfish, come back and feed them.
Oh my gosh.
You know, they go crazy like the movie.
Yeah.
Crazy.
Yeah, no, it is.
I remember thinking like I'm going to
have a time in my life
along with the quicksand.
I will encounter Piranha.
You know, now that we live in Florida,
Piranhas survive here.
Yeah.
We don't have a Piranha
population that I'm aware of,
but they survived on it.
Yeah.
Do you remember there was
like a TV movie about ants
that killed, like they
swarmed people and killed them?
Does that sound familiar?
I don't know.
I just remember
there's a scene in the movie
where a little boy falls in a dumpster
and the ants get him and kill him.
I was watching that, I
think I was six, seven.
So ants then that was a
whole thing to add to my list.
I remember like Revenge
of the Body Snatchers.
I didn't see that one
when I watched it later.
I think that came out and it was 3D.
I think I--
That's what they did.
It was a 3D movie and I think it was
Revenge of the Body Sn,
or something of the Body Snatchers.
Well, there was Close
Encounters of the Third Kind.
That was Alien.
Oh my God, do you remember E.T.?
Yeah.
The phenomenon of E.T.?
Yeah, yeah.
Oh my God.
Like you can't duplicate that.
You cannot culturally
duplicate the phenomenon of E.T.,
Raiders of the Lost
Ark, that whole thing.
I wasn't told the end of that.
Really?
Not really.
There was Star Wars.
Star Wars.
Like we're the generation of Star Wars.
Yeah.
Think about that and
Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Yeah.
All of that.
So you look at
everything we just talked about,
all those movies and you compare it to
what is being offered
in theaters for the last
10, 15 years, 20 years.
It's like a joke.
It's a joke.
Like there's nothing that,
it's so few that something comes out
that's of such quality and originality
as what we got in the
70s and 80s and 90s.
I would say those three
decades really put out
some of the most iconic movies
and it made it worth spending
the money to go see a movie.
Of course it wasn't as
expensive as it is now,
but it made it worth it.
Where there's really
nothing at this point
where I'm like, yeah, that's worth it.
It'd have to be something big.
I can't even think of, I
don't watch movies anymore.
There's no
entertainment value to me at all.
No, but just, and I don't
even think our kids really,
like we were, they're not
like a movie generation.
No.
Like how we were, I don't
think, I could be wrong.
I don't know if the
millennials feel this way.
I don't know if Gen Z's
like a movie generation.
Like it was such a part of our culture.
It feels like, and I'm
semi-ignoring on this,
but it feels like there's some message
or some political bend or some,
it's not just some
creative, imaginative thing.
Like it has an agenda.
It's got an agenda, it feels like.
Yeah, I don't know, but
even, and like I said,
we didn't really have Disney movies.
We did, they were the older ones,
like the Pinocchios, the
Cinderella's and all that.
But that whole
phenomenon of like the real big,
like Beauty and the Beast and Lion King,
that was more when we were in college.
And that's when Disney
really ratcheted it up.
Yeah, do you remember like Arthur?
Yes.
Remember that show?
That was such a good movie.
Yes, there's so many,
you really, Nine to Five.
Nine to Five was a great movie.
Nine to Five.
That was with Dolly Parton and Lily.
Oh Dolly Parton, yeah.
Yeah, and that's when women
were entering the workforce.
It was such a good movie.
What was the one, is it Willy Wonka?
Well yeah, there was Willy
Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.
They remade that a few times.
Like Johnny Depp was one and then--
I'm just trying to think back
to like the Richard Pryor movies.
Oh my gosh.
And even stand-up comedians, right?
Stand-up comedians, that was great.
Completely, I don't know
what the right term is,
politically correct, right term is,
but the shit they
would say was hilarious.
It was just wrong.
So we had Richard
Pryor, we had Eddie Murphy,
like all in their prime.
Yeah, to me like
Chris Rock's kinda close.
He's done pretty well, right?
What about George Carlin though?
Oh, amazing.
I mean, that man was brilliant.
Amazing, yeah.
Oh, you just made me think.
What about like Private
Benjamin with Goldie Hawn?
And she made a couple movies
with Chevy Chase that I loved.
Like they were like a
little duo for a while.
Caddyshack, hello.
And meatballs.
Caddyshack and meatballs.
And then did you ever
see Little Darlings?
What is that?
That was with Christy McNichol.
That was like kinda racy a little bit.
I think so, I had a
crush on her as a kid.
Yeah, it's totally inappropriate.
Well, of course, if you look back now.
But Blazing Saddles,
just before I forget.
And then what about all
the Mel Brooks movies?
Yeah, those are great,
the History of the World,
part one, part two.
History of the World, those are great.
So inappropriate, but I
remember being like five.
I don't even know, whatever it was.
But so funny.
Yeah, the world, what's his name?
The Weirdo.
Was it not?
Robin Williams?
No, no, no, he's not weird.
The real, what do you know?
Something, the guy who'd
married like a 15 year old
or something, the guy in New York.
Oh, Woody Allen.
I was never a big Woody Allen fan.
I was never, like I was
never really big into his movies.
I think, I don't know.
Well yeah, no, there's
definitely a huge following.
But I was never really,
but you just think about all that.
I don't know, and this
could be just the Gen X
or in me talking like you
guys don't know how it was,
but it was just so
much, it was so quality.
And I don't see it now,
but again, I don't know.
Do you think though, like
are we just being nostalgic
and thinking that something
was cool and it really wasn't?
And I mean, it's cool
because we think it's cool,
but is that just not happening today?
Well, I think what I see is
a lot of remaking of that.
So I see a lot of
attempting to remake stuff
from the 70s, 80s, 90s,
and like the Star Wars thing,
they just keep
continuing, continuing, continuing.
But I don't know, I haven't seen anything
like super original.
Even Titanic was
amazing and Schindler's List.
Those are like 90s movies.
Shawshank Redemption.
So anyways, but just we were a generation
of a movie culture,
because even Reality Bites,
which is such a phenomenal Gen X movie.
We just, that was part of our culture.
I don't know if it's as
ingrained in the Gen Z culture.
I don't know.
I really don't.
I know our kids will
sometimes go see a movie rarely,
although I will say
our older son was there
for all of Harry Potter and love.
And then our kids love
the Harry Potter movies
and our older two love
The Lord of the Rings,
especially our older son
loves The Lord of the Rings.
Those are quality original movies.
But again, those were
made in the early 2000s.
So I don't know.
That's why I say I feel like in the last,
especially 10 years, I'm not sure.
Because even the
American Pie movies were good.
Yeah, those are good.
Those are good movies.
And those are like,
what, late to early 2000s?
So something I feel--
The first one was.
I thought the second and
third one was the other one.
What was the other one we
liked with a dude in Texas?
The 1976, "School's Out for Summer."
Oh, "Days and Confuse."
Yeah, that's a classic.
Yeah, of course.
And then you have "Talladega Nights."
Yeah.
You know, like Ron Burgundy, "Achorman."
Yeah.
So, but again, that
was over 20 years ago.
Yeah, it's crazy. So I don't know.
You're getting old.
I know, I know.
But we had some good movies.
But "Red Dawn," that
brings us back to "Red Dawn."
"Red Dawn," I can say for myself,
after I watched that movie,
I 100% believe that
that is going to happen
and that I will experience it.
I thought that was part of
our culture as a nuclear war.
It was a reality that we lived,
really until what, the
Berlin Wall came down?
Yeah.
And then we thought, oh, okay.
We're not gonna get bombed.
So our son was at the UFC fights in Miami
and he saw the president.
Yeah.
When I was in college, I think it was
maybe sophomore, junior year,
I went and visited my
friend in Grand Rapids.
And I went to a Berlin Wall,
what's the right word, ceremony.
It was, they were giving
a piece of the Berlin Wall
to the local place there in Grand Rapids.
Yeah, yeah.
Gerald Ford was the president.
Okay.
He was the president.
He did the whole thing.
Yeah.
It was pretty cool.
No, that's cool.
It was cool in toothbrunts.
I got to see Gerald Ford,
probably 30 feet away at most.
And a piece of the
Berlin Wall got knocked down,
which was very nostalgic for us
because they showed videos
of people tearing it down.
And it was interesting.
No, it's a historical thing.
No, do you remember,
I don't know if it reached you
because in Portland, this was big,
but the punk rock scene, the sex pistols.
Yeah, York City.
Okay, so I remember I'd wear,
we'd have, in downtown
Portland, storage you could go to,
and it was all punk stuff,
but I would wear the high tops
and you'd cover them
with color and was sharpie.
It was a whole thing.
I didn't do that.
Okay, yeah, we went
through that for a little bit.
What grade, what age?
It was maybe sophomore year.
Yeah, by then I was more into the dead.
See, I didn't get,
that until end of sophomore year.
So this would have been maybe,
this was maybe like ninth
grade into sophomore year.
But the sex pistols and
that whole punk rock scene,
that was all really big.
So I wouldn't have been familiar
with any of the sports at the time.
Like, I mean, I knew
the Harlem Globetrotters.
Remember when we were growing up,
the Harlem Globetrotters were a big deal.
They were a huge deal.
And then I feel like the
Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders
were a big deal for a while.
That was like a whole phenomenon, right?
Yep.
But I don't remember
anything else with sports.
Like what would have been the teams?
For me, it was the Yankees.
I remember becoming a Yankee fan in 1977.
So I was six years old.
Become a lifelong Yankee fan.
The Raiders were good back then.
The Steelers were good.
Yeah, yeah.
The Dodgers versus
Yankees was a big rivalry.
What about-
Cowboys were the hated team.
You know, we hated- Oh, were they?
Oh yeah, everyone hated the Cowboys.
What about the refrigerator?
Yeah, William the refrigerator Perry.
Yes.
He played for the Bears.
The Bears.
Number 72.
And then-
Back then it was Jim McMahon.
He had the glasses and
everyone would give him shit.
And he's like, "I have an eye condition.
I need them."
I assume it is, but they
did the Super Bowl shuffle.
Yes, I remember that.
I remember that.
And then I remember the Bears.
Remember on Saturday
Night Live the Bears.
Yep.
With Ditka.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Okay, so I remember that,
but that was probably more
like when we were in college.
So another thing, what
was really cool for us,
I remember being a
young kid and being at like
watching Mike Tyson fights on like
Saturday afternoons.
Really?
When he was coming up and he was a kid
he was knocking the shit out of people.
Yeah.
It'd come out and it's like,
"All right, you gotta watch Mike."
And he would knock out men in seconds.
And he was so much fun to watch.
It was awesome.
I knew nothing about that.
Oh, it was amazing.
I remember watching that as a kid.
The other thing too as a
kid was Magic vs. Bird.
Right, like his resultics.
I remember that.
I remember that.
That was always big time stuff.
And then I remember Michael Jordan
coming out the scene.
Jordan came along.
I remember watching Jordan as a kid
and Jordan put up like 65 points
and he was their team.
And then eventually they
built a cast around him.
Yes.
And they, you know, rest his history.
I remember that.
But I can't, I don't remember.
Like the Super Bowl, was it a big thing?
Probably because they
named a dad at the house.
Like, geez, the 49ers,
Joe Montero, Jerry Rice.
I remember that.
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, okay, okay.
Yeah, so I guess if it got
really popular in mainstream
I remember it, but I didn't follow it.
Yeah, yeah.
So.
I was a sports guy.
Yeah.
You know, I was all in.
I loved sports.
Yeah.
I've, you know, tracked
each pro team and all of that.
It was fun.
Yeah, yeah, no.
I mean, I think that, so
I think we pretty much had
very similar experiences.
There's just a few deviations there.
I think what's
interesting, if you think about why,
probably because cultures very cultivated
and TV, everyone watched TV back then.
Yes.
I don't really watch TV anymore.
I watched The Masters
today, but off and on.
But TV really drove things.
So, you know, it's the news
and then all the
programs we talked about.
And then the music, it
was the top 40 until,
well, but not really, because I listened.
I had older friends, so I
was listening to the Doors
and the Stones and other bands like that.
Led Zeppelin, ACDC, all these other bands
that were not necessarily top 40.
But the culture was very cultivated
across the whole country.
It was contained.
It was contained.
It was a contained culture.
And you're right,
everyone was watching TV.
Like everyone experienced the MTV
phenomenon at some point.
And everyone, we all
had, yeah, you're right,
because the internet's
made the world smaller
by connecting us to the world.
But we're not all similar.
We're not all having this,
I wonder if kids nowadays are having
as similar experiences as we did,
because it's just so vast now.
You know, what's funny
is, I think I told you this,
but one of my friends on
Facebook has a freshman
in high school up in New Jersey.
And they posted a
picture like a lacrosse picture
of something.
All those kids look like
all the kids down here,
wearing the same clothes,
all of the same haircut,
all that same vibe.
And it's a trip.
And that could be the connecting them to
with from social media.
So maybe social media is now the TV.
Probably.
You know, as far as like connecting.
The scrolling.
Yeah, the culture
though, connecting the culture
where for us, and maybe
that's kind of taken the place
of like movies too, in a way,
is YouTube and social media and all that.
I don't know, but you're right.
Like if you look at
social media, the kids,
the boys all kind of
have the same haircut.
You know, though, if I think about it,
I remember being in fifth grade
and we had the teachers, Mr. Spice.
And during, I don't know, whatever,
some open time during
the middle of the day,
we'd, maybe it was rainy or
whatever, I don't even know.
But we'd be able to play music.
And I had friends who
had played the Beatles.
I never really was into the Beatles.
And I was in ACDC phase back then,
Zeppelin, ACDC, Stones.
And so when they got the record player,
they'd play the Beatles, we'd play ACDC.
And so, but I bet we all
watched Little House in a Prairie
or whatever, right?
The same shows, maybe there's,
so there's this common
theme with deviations.
And I think that's, will always be,
and it's how it is today.
Probably, it's so funny you say that,
because when I was in sixth grade,
my teacher, Mr. Hausman, he's so cool.
He's a doctor now, like Dr. Hausman,
but he had a record player
and I would bring in all my 45s.
And I was like the DJ.
And I think other kids would
sometimes bring stuff in too,
but I was so obsessed with music.
And when I didn't play my
stuff, he would play stuff.
It was so cool that he did that.
I think more teachers,
I do see it on social media,
teachers playing
music for their students.
And I think more teachers should do that,
because especially the younger kids,
because it can be calming for them.
But that's a core memory for me.
Like that was a positive thing.
Oh, that reminds me, did
you guys play four square?
Not really, we played
kill the guy in football.
You're a boy.
That was a boy.
Okay, so the girls played four square.
Yeah. Four square.
We played dodgeball.
Dodgeball. Yeah.
Dodgeball was huge.
So we played four
square, we played dodgeball.
You didn't play Red Rover, right?
We talked about this in another episode.
We played Red-- I still don't know
what that is. That's
where you hold your arm.
I just don't remember it.
You guys didn't play that?
I thought I'm aware.
Did you guys play tag?
Yeah, yeah, of course.
Yeah, we would play tag.
We would play hide and
go seek, or hide and seek.
I don't think we played hide and seek.
Did we play kick the can?
You ever play kick the can?
We played kick the can
like when we would be,
when my dad lived up north,
and I would hang out
with like kids up there.
We would play kick the
can in the neighborhood.
But I can't tell you what the rules were.
I can't either, now that I say it.
But I think kick the can for us
is what our kids play when they play.
Remember when they were younger
and they would play outside?
Manhunt? Manhunt.
No, no, manhunt is
more like hide and seek,
where you go hide, and somebody counts to
like 60 or something
and everybody goes hide, doesn't hide.
And it would either be
like one person's it,
or like maybe a couple, I think.
Yeah. Because where I grew up,
we could hide, right?
Because it was all
trees, it was, we could hide.
And if you didn't wanna be found,
you weren't gonna be found.
So then the person would be like,
"All right, I give up."
And then you'd have to swap up.
Then what was kick the can?
I don't remember.
I just remember like, it was like,
I can't even describe it.
I just remember he had to
kick the can or something.
But then you ran or something.
Like you kicked the can and ran,
and then maybe tagged somebody or
something like that.
Something like that.
Now did you have tetherball?
Yeah, but that wasn't like a thing.
I love tetherball. It's kinda boring.
Oh my God, I would hit that thing.
Okay, so did you ever
have to climb a rope
to the top of the ceiling of gym,
and all that was below you
was a mat that was like this?
Yeah. That maybe this thin?
Yeah, it was a standard wrestling mat.
Yeah. It was like two inches thick.
Okay, but you had to climb a rope.
I never made it that
far. I love that shit.
Yeah, I can't get to the top.
I don't think they do that.
If they do that, the mat is once.
No, it's a total liability.
Yeah, and it sure is liability.
Yeah. The whole thing.
Do you remember, did
you ever get hot lunch?
Like at school?
Yeah. Oh yeah.
Remember the pizza? That was buried.
Oh yeah. It's like that square.
A square, yeah.
Okay, so that was all the same.
I didn't really like that.
I don't know if anyone liked it.
I think it's just like, you
can remember the taste of it.
I wasn't into it.
I grew up in New Jersey.
I had real pizza, like thin crust.
This was like-- Yes, yes, yes.
I know.
I'm trying to think
what else they served.
It was like a common thing.
I would get, when I was a
kid, I'd get PB and Chase.
I'd get the peanut butter
and jelly with chocolate milk.
Yeah.
And then, I feel like that's all I ate.
I remember tater tots.
And tater tots.
Tater tots were so good.
Corn dogs, we had corn dogs.
Nah, I never had those.
I actually never had a corn dog
until we made it to New, moved to Oregon.
Yeah, we used to have sloppy joes.
Really? Sloppy joes. That
was one of my favorites.
I thought those were disgusting.
Oh, they were the best.
They were gross.
So you played the recorder.
Yep, not well.
No, did you have a music class?
Yeah, but it wasn't great.
I still remember the teacher.
She wasn't, we didn't jive.
I don't feel like you
jived with any teachers.
No, there had to have been some.
I think you were a menace.
No, that's not fair.
I think so.
So our music class, our
music teacher was cool,
and you could go in there and play
all different types of instruments.
I remember our music class,
there were auditions, I think,
to be in the school
play or the musical, right?
To sing at the thing.
And I remember-- It's like theater.
No, like in the
auditorium or the lunch room,
the cafeteria and the parents.
You know, it was a Christmas show,
that kind of thing, holiday thing.
Back then it was
Christmas, now it's holiday.
And I remember there
were like, come try out,
and sign up and get the
goods on what's gonna happen.
I remember myself and a
handful of my buddies show up,
and she's like, "Oh."
She just said no to you right away?
But she was like, "You
guys are not serious.
"You're here just to
get out of your class.
"You know, tell me, is that the case?
"If that's the case, you need to leave."
We're like, "All right, whatever."
Oh my God, so she knew. We all left.
She's like, "Absolutely not."
So did you take home ec?
In seventh or eighth grade,
I actually really enjoyed it.
You liked home ec?
What did you like about home ec?
The lady who taught it was super nice.
It was an older lady, super nice.
I actually made a
pillow, a black pillow with,
it was a Billy Idol pillow.
So it was like white letters, you know,
you had to cut it and sew
it and stuff it and all that.
Yeah, I made a pillow, I
made a hamburger, I think.
It was a hamburger pillow.
Did you have wood shop?
Yeah, that was my favorite.
Yeah, I only took it once, I think,
but I made a cutting
board, which we still have.
Yes, I need to fix that.
They should still offer
home ec and wood shop in class.
I think it's, I understand
having technology classes
and I think that's important,
but I think there needs to be a balance
and I think they
should bring back home ec
and I think they
should bring back wood shop.
I think it's critical,
because think about it, right?
I was a menace probably
for most of my classes,
but when I got to wood shop, I loved it.
Home ec, I loved it, for whatever reason.
Home ec, I mean, I was like, boy,
they know it's
stereotypical, it doesn't make sense, but.
You were using your hands.
You were like doing something
where you weren't having
to sit and listen or read.
You could actually do something.
We actually had a plastic class too,
where they had sheets of
plastic, different colors,
and you could make things.
You'd have to use the
jigsaw or the band saw
and cut a pattern and then go over
to the sanding machine or the lathe
and then to the
buffing machine and stuff.
Yeah, I made spoons or something.
Not spoons, but a spreader or something.
Really? Yeah.
We didn't have anything like that.
No, we had wood shop and
we had home ec and type.
Oh, typing class.
Oh yeah, we had typing.
Did you have to take typing class?
Yep.
I think kids should
have to do that still.
100%.
I think they should definitely,
so many kids just
type with their fingers.
You know what it is?
I think it's almost like
those other classes tap into,
they just, there's different
parts of your brain in use.
So like for me to go to a
math class, it's like, ugh.
But to go to like wood
shop, that's fun stuff.
Yeah, no, I think it's a great way
to grab those kids like that.
So I think they should still.
Did you ever have a pet rock?
I don't think so.
Oh my God, I had a few.
Really?
Oh yeah, I love my pet rocks.
Did you have a rabbit's foot?
Oh yeah, yeah.
We would win a rabbit's foot at that.
So every year there was a
carnival in town at the church.
You went to it, the heart
lady of the Lake Church.
And you would win a
rabbit's foot for doing some,
it's something, either
fish or rabbit's foot.
What color was your rabbit's foot?
I think I had one every year.
Like white or whatever.
Yeah, I feel like mine was white,
but I can't tell her.
I had a pet rock that I
loved and a rabbit's foot.
And I remember I would
win goldfish at carnivals.
I'd keep those things
alive as long as I could.
Did you collect anything?
You know, actually I had a
baseball card collection.
That was pretty expensive.
We still have it.
Oh, we do.
Yeah, you're right.
I forgot about that.
I actually had, and this is funny.
This is part of that
Gen X piece probably.
I had a matchbook collection.
Of cars?
Oh, of matches.
Of matches, yeah, of matches.
So when we'd go to a
restaurant, I'd get matches.
And places had matches.
Yes, that's another thing.
People had restaurants.
And I would play with them.
I would play with the
matches and light them.
Of course you did.
And light the whole book on fire
and throw it out and shit like that.
Yes, yeah.
Gen X, not supervised,
just lighting matches.
I feel like I was
supervised by uncles or aunts
or whoever that were
like, oh, that's cool.
Whatever.
I remember, I think
my mom had a glass jar
that she had a bunch of match.
I think that was a thing.
You would grab matches.
Everyone had matches.
You just take them.
Yeah, 100%.
I used to collect stamps or stickers.
Oh, everybody had a
sticker collection there
for a while, right?
I got a sticker book.
I was all about the stickers.
I'm trying to think
other than Barbies and stuff,
but I think stickers was my main thing.
And then the pet rock
and the rabbit's foot.
I'm sure there was something else.
What pets did you have as a kid?
Dogs.
That's it?
No, and goldfish.
Yep.
I think that's it.
You know how we have a fish tank?
Yes.
I had multiple fish tanks in my rooms.
We had multiple fish tanks, no.
No, nothing required maintenance.
Dogs.
You had dogs.
Yeah, we always had dogs.
Yeah.
And I didn't really have
any hobbies other than music.
I think that was my main hobby was music.
I don't even know what a hobby would be.
I used to fish a lot.
Yeah, it's like a hobby.
Yeah.
You played sports.
Played sports.
I played sports a little.
My hobby was surviving.
Yeah.
I mean, another
collection would have been
once I got into the dead
and collecting cassettes.
Right, that's the whole thing.
Yes, yeah, yeah.
Well, no, adults, please.
You have multiple
hobbies and own all the things.
You're a serial hobbyist, yeah.
So I always say it's your way of hoarding
because hoarding runs in your family.
I would say it's more
of a coping mechanism.
There you go.
Well, hoarding.
You marry a Gen X
woman, you need to cope.
Yeah, and vice versa, dude.
But yeah, so I think we covered it.
I can't think of anything else right now,
but if we think of more things.
I'm curious if this
resonates with anyone.
I would love to know if
anyone heard some of this stuff
and was like, oh yeah, and remembered.
The only other thing I
can think of would be
the merry-go-rounds, what
the hell is that called?
The seesaw.
Oh my gosh, the teeter-totter.
Yeah, the teeter-totter thing.
That was so dangerous.
Yeah, totally.
And you dip and someone
would fall and get hurt.
You get off and you go, pooh.
And then what about the spinny thing?
Yeah, I think it was the best.
And then you'd hang your head off of it.
Oh my gosh, you think about that now.
And all of our
playground equipment was metal.
The slide was metal, so when it was hot--
Jump up, being on
swings and getting as high
as you can and jumping off.
Yes, I didn't jump off.
But the slide, when you go
down the slide, it was hot.
Oh my gosh, it would burn your thighs.
And then the jungle gym was metal.
We used to hang from it
or the bars we would hang.
You do the monkey
bars, I would get blisters.
I would get blisters on my hands.
Everything was metal.
Yeah, and as you know, I
grew up around Action Park,
which they made the movie on.
So it was the Alpine
slide, the water slides
and all that shit and
that's a whole other--
Someone died there, I think.
Oh, multiple times, I'm sure.
Then they finally shut it down.
Well, I don't, yeah, I don't know.
There were multiple injuries per day.
I don't know if there were, I don't
recall deaths per se,
but I'm sure there were--
I thought one person died.
They did a documentary on it.
I think someone did die.
Did you go to it?
Oh yeah, it was like a daily, not daily.
It was 30 minutes away.
It was up where the spa was, right?
So yeah, yeah, yeah.
So you went to Action Park
and you would actually go on the rides?
Oh, 100%, yeah.
Like the rides that
they eventually shut down?
Well, you know, if you watch the movie,
it's a very accurate depiction.
They would try different things.
Like they showed that one where you go in
and you're the human, right?
You're not on something.
And you go like this.
They tried that.
I never did that, but the Alpine slide,
the swing that
launches you into the water,
the like go-kart things, bumper boats.
Yeah, so that was
something you did in the summer.
Oh yeah.
It was Action Park.
Yeah, we did--
We had another one.
We had Tomahawk Lake.
I don't know if you ever took,
did you ever take the kids there?
No, because I heard someone died there
so I wouldn't take them.
I don't know if, I don't recall that,
but it's possible, but that was fun.
Someone drown.
You'd get a mat.
I think we'd do it on a mat.
I think so, or maybe you
just went on your skin.
But you had to walk up to the top
and they had two things
and it would take you down
into a pool of water and that was fun.
Yeah, now we--
I got hurt a few times on it, but--
We didn't have, we had
that one thing in Portland.
It's like a Knott's
Berry Farm type thing,
but I can't remember the name of it.
It'll come to me.
We did everything dangerous like that.
Yeah, we had a lot of things dangerous.
Not that I can think of.
We had people would ski up on Mount Hood
and go sledding up there,
but no, nothing I can think
of that's scary like that.
Well, Action Park was
Action Park in the summer
and it was a ski place in the--
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, yeah.
No, you went to the place
that they made a documentary about.
Yeah.
And honestly, I mean, I
don't think they embellished.
No, it didn't sound like it.
It didn't seem like it at all.
You watched it, right?
Yeah, yeah, no, I
thought it was hilarious.
Yeah, so--
We actually had the Playboy Club too.
You did.
So from across Action Park,
you could look across and
there was a Playboy Club.
Yes.
We'd go to that as kids.
What a time.
Action Park and the Playboy Club.
And on that note,
that's a great way to wrap
because Playboy was a big thing too.
Playboy bunnies.
Yeah.
That was a big thing.
You know, the other thing,
I don't think the kids do it today
because they don't need to.
They can just go on
Pornhub or some other website.
But we used to get
Playboys or Wees or Hustlers
or whatever.
Remember, we'd go into 7-Eleven
and there'd be like a hover.
So you couldn't see it.
That was a whole thing.
My buddies discovered that they just
threw away the old--
Issues?
Issues, yeah, yeah.
So I never dumpster
dive, but I think they did.
For porn?
For Playboy and stuff, yeah.
Porn, that was the porn back then.
That was Gen X porn.
That's hilarious.
It is funny.
Okay, so I think on
that note, we'll stop.
But if we get enough memories together,
we'll do a part two of this.
So hopefully for anyone listening,
this was an enjoyable
trip down memory lane
and unlock some core memories for you.
If you have any others,
please leave them in the comments.
It almost feels like a live
and people could interact.
Actually, that might
be a good thing to do
is we'll do a live on this
stuff too with our TV dinners.
Also, if you have any good
snacks or food that you ate
as a Gen Xer, please
leave that in the comments
because we would love
to pick up some stuff
and maybe do a TikTok Live
or Instagram or Facebook Live,
something like that,
or film, do something.
So anyways, hopefully
everyone had fun with this.
Definitely did.
And we will see you next time.
Bye.
Later.
(upbeat music)