Sunday, March 21, 2010

It's the 90s again

It's the 90s again

Do you ever notice how a decade repeats itself 20 years later?
So that means it's the 90s again, I saw the sign and it opened up my eyes

We have a Democrat in the White House again, a health care bill
no women on the side this time, but the 1996 PGA rookie of the year has taken over that honor
Lebron James is the next Michael Jordon and Albert Pujos is an even better Mark McGuire
Payton Manning this decades version of Steve Young
The economy sucks just like it did when we entered the 90s
and we're back in Iraq
Politicians are still lying but then again that's an age old tale
Yes Bill, you did sleep with that women
Hillary's Walmart is still taking down small town America and now she's the secretary of state
The Grunge rush is over, but not on my iPod

Seattle still rocks, and the latte fad still hasn't thinned
email is king now
Thomas Kinkade is still a millionaire
Spam is still more than a shitty processed food it's shitty mass marketed unwanted email
No more Power Rangers though, and thank God for that
Law & Order still going strong, no not the real thing, the show
Cell phones have replaced landlines
China took over Hong Kong and now is taking over the World
We could use more hooked on phonics today though, but spare me Y2K bullshit
shorthand is king these days like in the 90s

I miss the 90s, I had more fun those days, It was a Titanic decade, I was down with OPP, Cool Spot, Austin Powers, Xfiles, Duke Nukem, but I didn't dance with Macarena though she was muy buena, I miss the Bay Watch babes, Seinfeld, Friends, Beavis and Butthead, and yes I went Office Space on that copier too, but don't cry for me next door neighbor
Just show me the money!

So... if it's the 90s again then why am I not 20 years younger. What's my age again, What's my age again?



With a new decade arriving we tend to look back on the decade 20 years previous. This poem was inspired by a recent conversation with a friend of mine who was a member of a 90s band and is planning a come back. In discussing that with him I made the comment that it's now time to look back at the 90s. The conversion turned into a trip down memory lane, OJ, Bill and Monica, and a whole bunch of other things came up. Lets take a trip down memory lane shall we.




Who can forget Slick err uh Bill and Monica. The Ken Starr Fiasco.

Of course we now know today he did have an "inappropriate relationship" with miss Lewinsky.

The 96 Democratic convention brought the Macerena fad. The song was played over and over and soon became a smash hit on the carts and dance floors. The song propelled Los Del Rio to huge success in the US, but this would be the only hit in the States.


Probably the biggest event of the 90s was the OJ trial. The chase, the bloody gloves, Sony got a nice endorsement, and free I might add, The dream team, etc etc. The trial brought out the worst in the legal system and a light on the LAPD. Even worse a smug OJ wrote a book and went on with his life and Marcia Clark who totally screwed up a case with so called "mountain of evidence" and then went on a speaking tour and wrote book. The case that she totally botched made her a millionaire.

The 90s came in with a bang and ended with one. A mere couple of months before the decade came the Berlin Wall fell which sparked the beginning of the end of the so called "Cold War". As the Cold War was ending another war was beginning. Iraq invaded Kuwait. Later in 91 The US would join a coalition force to drive Saddam Hussien out of Kuwait. Operation Desert Storm started and 100 hours later Kuwait was liberated. The Hubble Telescope was launched in 1990. 1991 saw the collapse of the Soviet Union and the countries of the Eastern Block. In 91 the World Wide Web became available. 92 was the year of the LA riots in response to LA police officers who were found not guilty in the beating of Rodney King. The largest mall, the Mall of America, in Minnesota opened. The mall is still the largest in the US. Bill Clinton is elected President and the first Democrat in 12 years. As 93 came around, The year would mark a lot of tragedy and fighting. Massive floods in the Midwest, The massacre at Waco, TX when cult leader David Koresh held up in a compound from federal authorities set fire killing dozens. The Israeli PLO peace agreement was signed. Czechoslovakia splits and the World Trade Center is bombed. In 94 NAFTA was signed into law. The Republican party took control of the House and Senate. The East Coast of the US and Canada are hit by a massive ice storm that leaves millions without power. Former President Nixon dies at home in New Jersey of a severe stroke. 95 was the year of the Oklahoma City bombing. Timothy McVey and Terry Nichols were convicted. The bombing was in response to the government's handling of the Branch Davidians two years earlier. The Trial of the century concludes with OJ being found innocent. Yitzhak Rabin, the Israeli prime-minister, is assassinated. The Aum Shinrikyo cult releases sarin gas in a Tokyo subway killing 8 people and injuring thousands. Yahoo and Netscape debut and Windows releases Windows 95. In 96 Theodore John Kaczynski, the unibomber, is arrested. The Olympics come to Atlanta and a bombing occurs. Jon Benet Ramsey is found murdered in her parents Colorado home. Madeline Albright is the first female secretary of state. Bill Clinton is elected to a second term. In 1997 Dolly, the cloned sheep is born, she is the first cloned mammal. Princess Diana is killed in a car accident while trying to escape the paparazzi. The Heaven's Gate cult creates a mass suicide to ride the Hale Bopp comet to heaven. Mother Theresa, loved worldwide for her contributions to the poor, dies. Hong Kong is returned to China from Britain. The unmanned Pathfider lands safely on Mars, it is the first probe to land on the Planet's surface. North Hollywood shoot out, Larry Phillips Jr. and Emil Matasareanu got in a shootout with LAPD after robbing a bank and used fully automatic weapons against police. Both robbers were killed. In 98 was the infamous Lewinsky affair. Later Congress would improve impeachment hearing for Clinton. The House votes to impeach him but the Senate does not. US embassies in Africa are bombed by Islamic extremist. The Northern Ireland peace agreement is signed. James Byrd Jr was murdered in Texas by members of the Klu Klux Klan. At a Jonesboro Arkansas school two teenage boys kill five at an Arkansas middle school. George W. Bush announces his candidacy for president he would later be elected in 2000. Google the search engine is born. 99 finishes off the decade with the infamous Y2K scare which turned out to be a big hoax, not officially though. The Y2K bug was a glitch that some computer clocks didn't have the new millennium programed and would stop working. Governments and companies spent billions to fix the so called problem. Many warned of a doomsday scenario which never happened. Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold kill 12 at Columbine High School the worst in a disturbing string of school shootings in the 90s. By treaty, the Panama Canal is given back to Panama.

TV brought us mega hits like Seinfield, Friends, Xfiles, Law & Order, and Beavis and Butthead. Many of the shows went on to make movies though none had much success. Many of the actors and actresses went on to have big careers on the silver screen though.



...and now one of my favorite Beavis and Butthead episodes...



Budweiser had a string of iconic comercials which sent a wave of sayings through pop culture. The biggest one being, "wazzup" Yeah, I admit it I did it too.






The 90s gave us some great memorable movies like Independence Day (still today one of my favorites) Jerry Maguire with the iconic quotes, "Show me the money" and "You had me at hello", A few Good men, "YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH", There's Something about Mary, Forest Gump, Saving Private Ryan, which was heralded by WWII veterans as a very real recreation of D-day. Star Wars made its return with the prequel episode I. One of the biggest films ever was Titanic, a tale of a forbidden love aboard a doomed ship that was deemed indestructible. Titanic is still acclaimed by some as the greatest movie of all-time and kept a box office record for nearly 13 years until Avatar, another James Cameron film broke the record. Oddly enough Avatar was conceived in 1994 and was supposed to have been filmed in 1999. Cameron thought that the special effects technology did not support the story at the time and decided to put it on hold. The 90s was a great decade for special effects as the afore mentioned Saving Private Ryan and the effects heavy Independence day however.




Another film which was a flop at the box office, but soon became a hit on DVD was Office Space. The film became an instant hit among office workers. You can't forget the scene where they smashed the evil copier! Don't we ALL want to do this...



The 90s would bring us lot's of comedies like Ace Ventura Pet Detective, Tommy Boy, Men in Black, The Mask, and many more.

The 90s brought us a vast range of musical stylings which started in the early part of the decade with Grunge which existed as primarily bands from Seattle. Pearl Jam, Sound Garden, Alice in Chains, Nirvana and Stone Temple Pilots. Heavy metal groups included a completely new sound from Metalica (which they were often accused of going commercial), Marilyn Manson, White Zombie, and much more. Madonna, Garbage, Savage Garden, and more. Here is a list of 100 greatest rock bands of the 90s according to Digital Dream Door.com

I saw the sign from Ace of Base which I referenced in the poem


Pearl Jam had one of the biggest hits of the 90s in Alive


Just like movies song quotes caused a fad also like Will Smith's "Getting Jiggy wit it" And who can forget Naughty by Nature's "Down with OPP"



The 90s had its fair share of tragedies among celebrities. Probably the biggest was the suicide of Kurt Kobain the lead singer of Nirvana from suicide. Selena, a popular Tejano singer was murdered after she had fired the head of her fan club for embezzling money from the fan club. Shannon Hoon, the singer of Blind Melon died of a drug overdose. Michael Hutchence, the singer of INXS, committed suicide. Jerry Garcia, the frontman of The Greatful Dead, dies of a heart-attack while in drug rehab in CA. Rapper Tupac Shakur was murdered in Las Vegas. Rapper Notorious B.I.G is also murdered a year after Tupac. The murders are suspected to be related. Chris Farley the actor died of a drug overdose and John Candy died of a heart-attack while on location. Gianni Versace the fashion designer was murdered.



What history regards as the greatest Sportsmen shined in the 90s. Michael Jordan, who's is regarded the greatest basketball player ever, was a 6 time champion in the 90s with the Chicago Bulls. He was a 6 time MVP also, 5 of them in the 90s. Tiger Woods began his career in 1996, won the PGA rookie of the year, and won his first major, The Masters, in 1997. He would win the PGA Championship in 1999. He won the majority of his majors the next decade but won many other smaller tournaments in the 90s and Player of the Year awards too. Pete Sampras dominated Wimbledon in the 90s capturing the title six times and winning the US open five times. Sampras would capture 13 grand slams in the 90s. The NHL saw a mix of different teams win championships, but the greatest story was probably the NY Rangers who won their first title in 54 years. They haven't returned to the Stanley Cup since. The Pittsburgh Penguins and Detroit Redwings tied for the most Stanley Cups with 2. Mario
Lemieux was the top player of the 90s and was called by Bobby Orr as the greatest player he had ever seen. Lemieux received numerous scoring titles. The 90s also saw another one of the greatest NHL players ever in Wayne Gretzky who retired in 99. Gretzky was traded from Edmonton to LA in the infamous card game between owners. Gretzky would only appear in one Stanley Cup in 93 when the Kings lost to the Montreal Canadiens. In the NFL the biggest story was not so good. The Buffalo Bills appeared in 4 consecutive Super Bowls only to lose each one. The Bills have never returned to the Super Bowl and have never won a Super Bowl. To add insult to injury OJ Simpson, the franchise's star running back in the 60s was indicted for murder in 95. The Dallas Cowboys won the most Super Bowls in the 90s taking home 3 Super Bowl titles and defeating the San Francisco 49s 2 of the 3 times in the NFC Championship. San Francisco is often regarded as the team of the 90s appearing in 6 NFC Championships but were only able to win 2 of them. It was a colorful decade for MLB with the great chase of the home-run record between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa. To add fuel to the fire McGwire played for the rival St. Louis Cardnals of Chicago Cubs which Sosa played for, and McGwire would hit his 62nd HR to break the record off pitcher Steve Trachsel of the Chicago Cubs. Sammy Sosa also broke Maris' record with 66 HRs, but was just short of McGwire's 70 HRs. In 99 McWire and Sosa again hit over 61 HRs and McGwire once again beat Sosa. The other big event of the decade in baseball was the strike in 94 when the World Series was canceled. The Atlanta Braves appeared in 5 World Series but were only able to capture one title. The Toronto Blue Jays were the first team outside of the US to win the World Series in 92 and 93. The NY Yankees won the most titles with 3 in 96, 98, and 99. The NHL also had a lockout in 94. 94 was a bad year for sports though the NHL did resume and had a Stanley Cup that year.
The 90s saw some of the greatest athletes of all-time in every major sport.

Well, I hope this was a great trip down memory lane. I think the 90s was a pretty cool decade.

Upcoming events:
I finish up what has been a busy March with The Almost Famous Authors' Faire in Clarksville, IN on Saturday the 27th followed by a show at the Monkey Wrench in Louisville, KY on Sunday the 29th. April will be an explosive month with the Austin International Poetry Festival in Austin, TX. I will be part of one of the largest poetry festivals in the world. I will be one of 250 poets and (as of right now) the only poet from Ohio. It doesn't stop there though. I will have shows in Memphis and Nashville, TN. The long awaited show at The Edge Coffee House in Memphis. You know I love you Memphis, and Nashville too. That's it for now.

3 comments:

  1. I thought Michael Hutchinson died when he accidentally hung himself during auto-erotic-asphyxiation, same as happened to David Carradine last year...

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  2. "We Didn't Start the Fire" was released in 1989 but when I was reading this, that song kept running through my head. I like the poem...the version you did at Angel Falls certainly added feeling that you don't just get from reading it. I do hope your wrong about this being decade being a repeat though...from a personal standpoint there are several things from the 90's that I'd rather not repeat...

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  3. The "Official" cause of death was suicide. Pop culture tends to repeat itself not necessarily history itself. 80s music became popular again last decade etc etc.

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