NKOTB’S JORDAN KNIGHT – WHEN I WAS 17

Admittedly, I have been so fricking precious about writing any NKOTB (New Kids On The Block) posts (I looooove them, in case you didn’t know), which means my post on the actual band has been like 18 months in the making (I’m not kidding – I am loathed to press ‘publish’ on it on WordPress, as I always feel like it is not ‘quite’ ready for the world to see… Crazy me!). But I gotta get over it, and these are my baby steps… MTV aired this a few months back. It’s NKOTB’s Jordan Knight’s ‘When I Was 17 episode’ (also featuring actors Shane West and Tristan Wilds), which contains some interesting information about his influences, including one Mr Al B Sure – ‘member him? And JK’s teen passion for Graffiti! As if I need any more reasons to love a New Kid, but this might have just tipped me all the way over! Doesn’t he (Jordan) look great? Still! 20 Years after his New Kids hey day? (Okay, I’ll stop now!) Enjoy! Continue reading “NKOTB’S JORDAN KNIGHT – WHEN I WAS 17” »

BON JOVI

If you happen to find yourself part of a conversation discussing the greatest power ballads or a rock anthems of all time and you don’t name a single Bon Jovi track then you need to read on and educate yourself…

And if like me you are more than aware of this fantastic band and totally get ‘it’, then also read on, if only to revel in how much good taste in music you have!

So… Just in case you hadn’t got the hint from my two opening paragraphs, Bon Jovi are pretty much one of the greatest rock bands in the world. And what makes them even greater is the fact they’re still going strong today (they’re still good-looking too!)

Continue reading “BON JOVI” »

BAYWATCH

From 1989 to 1999, we were graced with the addictive and deeply-loved  US TV series Baywatch. Sure, the main memory I have of the life-guarding drama is being physically forced to sit down, hand over the remote and watch, by the older sibling. But all the same, I enjoyed it. Perhaps not in the same way as big bro (and all other males for that fact) did, but still, watching shark attacks and natural disasters occur on the coast of L.A. with bodies in the skimpiest of swimwear really was quite pleasant. ‘Cos that’s what they were right? Bodies. I rarely remember lifting my eye line to their faces, apart from when the Hoff was on. Obviously.

Continue reading “BAYWATCH” »

DIRTY DANCING

‘God wouldn’t have given you maracas, if he didn’t want you to shake ‘em!’

Yes this is an ingenious quote from the brilliant 1987 chick-flick Dirty Dancing. Unfortunately it was slightly overshadowed by the world famous saying, ‘nobody puts Baby in the corner,’ Which later went on to become a very popular t-shirt slogan. Continue reading “DIRTY DANCING” »

LOVE CALCULATIONS AND PAPER FORTUNE-TELLERS

When we were young and the future was still wide open, our favourite past-time was to colour it in with fantasies. Scientifically supported fantasies, mind you. The one that drew most on an ability I could actually use later in life, was calculating the percentage of love or the mathematical compatibility between you and another person, preferably your love interest of that particular week. With a bit of plain old math you’d know within minutes whether it was worth chasing the boy or girl of your dreams.

For those of you who’ve never indulged in this widely respected practice, here’s how it works. Write down your name and the name of the person you fancy, then count how many times you see the letters L O V E S. You will end up with a five-digit number – one digit for each letter. Then simply add up the first and second, the second and third, the third and fourth, and the fourth and fifth. Rinse and repeat until you end up with a two-digit percentage representing the chance of romantic success.

Now, these were binding percentages: if the result was anywhere below 50 percent, you might as well break up immediately as you’d be doomed to fail anyway. Fortunately, pre-teen girls are both helpless romantics and conniving little monsters. We were not going to let cold, hard science steal our dreams and soon found ways to manipulate the results. You could either add last names or leave them out, or include or exclude the letters L O V E S when it came to counting, and simply pick your favourite result. For example, I’ve just calculated the compatibility percentage for the man who recently asked me to marry him (unfortunately, I said yes before even thinking of checking whether science agreed) and the four trustworthy percentages my little research resulted in were 26, 42, 68 and 94 – you can guess which one I’m sticking with for now.
However much fun math is, the absolute favourite fortune-telling technique was the chatterbox, or cootie-catcher. In these days of Xboxes, iPads, the Internet and trashy-but-addictive reality TV shows, it’s almost unimaginable that once-upon-a-time young girls could actually enjoy themselves for hours with just one silly sheet of paper. Even though we probably should have cared more about our professional futures, recycling and the ozone layer, all our hormone-ridden brains wanted to know was when and whom we would marry, how many kids we’d have and what their names would be.

Moreover, it seemed of vital importance to avoid getting imaginarily hitched to the class nerd or have children named Silly ans Billy. After all, one’s ‘destiny’ was dependent upon the number of switches and the choice of arbitrary colours. We would spend hours giggling producing them, and all breaks were filled with hysterical pre-teen laughter. It didn’t really matter what the results were, any outcome was hilarious. Perhaps we were simply craving the nosy, slightly worried looks the boys threw us while we let faith decide on their destiny. How about that for feminism?

By the time we expanded our spouse search beyond the playground and decorated our bedroom walls with posters of the heartthrobs-du-moment, they too were included in the chatterbox. One lucky morning, destiny told me I would marry Leonardo DiCaprio after he’d asked me at to the local supermarket and I would give birth to twins named Ann and Rose. I decided then and there that I would just omit the supermarket bit when I would retell the story to the 27 grandchildren me and Leo would have, according to the chatterbox.

If only we could trust a simple piece of origami or adding up some numbers when it comes to today’s bigger life questions. What job shall I look for? Where should I live? Should I buy these shoes and eat noodles all month? I’ve already nicked a sheet of paper from the office printer, and am folding my future as we speak. Anyone want to marry both Ant and Dec?

By Janneke de Jong

TOP GUN

On March 3, 1969 the United States Navy established an elite school for the top one percent of its pilots. Its purpose was to teach the lost art of aerial combat and to insure that the handful of men who graduated were the best fighter pilots in the world. They succeeded. Today, the Navy calls it Fighter Weapons School. The flyers call it: TOP GUN.

Would the 80s have been the 80s without Top Gun? Well, yes, of course they would have. But they wouldn’t have been as awesome, that’s for sure. Continue reading “TOP GUN” »

TEEN WOLF – THE TV SERIES

I won’t drone on about how much of a Michael J Fox obssessive I was growing up, and still am, but in saying that the recent premiere of the new MTV series Teen Wolf, in the US, was obviously something I took note of.

If you are a regular reader of this site, you will know something I’m NOT a huge fan of is remakes, as (with a few exceptions) I prefer to revel in the good old days. Continue reading “TEEN WOLF – THE TV SERIES” »

FERRIS BUELLER’S DAY OFF

“Bueller. Bueller. Bueller. Bueller…”

The monotonous drone of a zombie-esque teacher goes unnoticed as the rumor spreads like wildfire around the classroom.  Ferris (Matthew Broderick, pre-becoming Mr Sarah Jessica Parker) is absent from school. Why? Nobody’s quite sure, but they’re pretty certain he’s on his deathbed: “My best friend’s sister’s boyfriend’s brother’s girlfriend heard from this guy who knows this kid who’s going with the girl who saw Ferris pass out at 31 Flavors last night. I guess it’s pretty serious.” Continue reading “FERRIS BUELLER’S DAY OFF” »

BOY MEETS WORLD

When I think about 90s TV show Boy Meets World the most overwhelming memory I have is the hair. I mean, there were some serious ‘dos doing battle in that programme. From lead character Cory Matthew’s ‘jew-fro’ to his girlfriend (and then every early teenage boy’s wet dream) Topanga’s bum-skimming waves. From Cory’s rebellious best friend Shawn’s inexplicably bouncy curtains to cool teacher Mr Turner’s comedy mullet. Sure, most 90s programmes have some pretty heinous hair crimes but I think Boy Meets World tops them all. I’m surprised someone didn’t have a rat tail and then the show would have had a full set. Continue reading “BOY MEETS WORLD” »

LABYRINTH

“Where everything seems possible and nothing is as it seems…”

Allow me to introduce you to an absolute 80s classic, containing ten times more originality, wit and breathtaking feats of the imagination than J. K. Rowling could ever hope to employ. It’s time for the lightning-shock-to-the-system that is… Labyrinth. Continue reading “LABYRINTH” »

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