We’ve been to some amazing places here at Wistful Nebulae—adventures in space, across incredible vistas, and into the future. But now we’re going somewhere…else. I couldn’t find an affordable DeLorean, so climb into this choice (boat-sized) Bonneville, and we’ll book-it back to the 80s! Are you totally stoked?
You see, I refuse to get an iPhone or anything of the like. I survived the 80s without one, and I certainly don’t need one now. So our mission today is to prove that anything the iPhone does, we were already doing in the 80s. Oh hey, there’s Gordon Gecko—somebody grab that thing out of his hand. No, it’s not a mini-refrigerator! It’s a cell phone, you dweeb.
Okay now, see that guy who looks like he’s jammin’ to tunes over there? What? Yes, I know it’s not winter…earmuffs? Oh, like, I’m so sure! Those are Walkman headphones. Grab ’em. Yeah, that box clipped to his waistband too. Awesome, now to my old boyfriend’s house for the Betamax! Well, no doy VCRs took over, but his dad didn’t know that was going to happen, and his family has a mondo collection of movies in Beta.
Cool beans, looks like we have everything. Huh? The iPhone can record movies too? Wait, I think there’s a basketball game at the high school tonight—my dad’ll be there video taping my pom-pom routine. We totally rocked Madonna’s “Material Girl,” by the way. There he is, the guy in the crew cut holding the ginormo camera. Be careful of the gnarly handle on that thing. Should we grab the duffel bag too?
Okay, we’ve finally got everything and can return to 2011 to veg out with all the electronic entertainment we could possibly ever want. Wh-what’s that you say? Internet access? Dude, you’re just spazzin’ cuz of all this time travel; the internet’s a myth. It’ll never happen…
Thanks, Nicki for such a great adventure. Come back any time.
Interested in guest posting for Wistful Nebulae? Email me: mpaxauthor@gmail.com
So were you around in the 80's? That was my decade. Any memories to share? I remember Members Only jackets and the music video. Do they even make videos any more?
38 comments:
Love those big phones. My stepfather had one when they first appeared. Hilarious. I used the walkman. Yes, they do make videos, but it's rare to actually see them on tv these days. lol My daughter watches them on youtube.
No iPhone for me, yet. I do plan to get one. Simply because I think it will make my life a little easier while at the same time I acknowledge it will harder for me to disconnect.
Love that pic of Gecko with the huge phone.
...that's my decade of choice as well. We're talking about mullets and aerosol hairspray. Microwave ovens the size of compact cars, and leg warmers...everywhere ;)
El
Let's face it, times certainly have changed. I still have my walkman thought, but it doesn't get any use. And we keep a dinosaur camcorder in its case somewhere. It takes up space. I don't have and Iphone either, but I can surf the net on the phone I have. And it's so much better than running to find a payphone. Still, the 80's were awesome. :)
Oh, those big boom boxes were the wave. Big hair, movies and MTV, VHS and microwaves...yeah, it was fun to blast back with you~
CONGRATS on your book; I'm so excited for you~ oooh, a preview ;D
That was funny! I remember Betamax.
And don't worry - I don't even have a cell phone.
hilarious! totally awesome, dudette!
cant wait to read the book (i bot the wrong format, but am working it out...stupid technology, GAG ME!)
hi, mary!
Loved the '80's, but I'm very glad to have my iphone. Imagine, all that stuff fits in my back pocket. Crazy.
I have to laugh every time I see Douglas with that cell phone. I had one when I was a local truck driver to talk to the boss. We thought we were so cool with those things LOL! Now you've got me laughing.
What about facebook? oh, highschool you say, actually conversing with people. that makes sense.
All this time I've been spelling it doi ...
:) :)
I was still using a walkman 7 years ago. That's how cool I am.
Hehehe, these comments are great. Yeah everything was kinda big in the 80s, eh? The hair, the cars, the phones...
I'm sure I won't be able to resist having all that in my back pocket one day, but like you, Isis I worry about not being able to disconnect.
Libby--you are cool enough to be able to admit that. And Suze, I'm not sure there's a definitive way to spell doi/y?? I'm gonna go look it up now. :)
Tara - so excited you got the book, sorry it's wrong format. :( Stupid technology.
Thanks so much, Mary, for having me over to play! You're welcome over at my place any time...and you've got some exciting stuff to spread the word about. :D
That chunky phone is hilarious! And Gordon thought he was so cutting edge, LOL!
If this is the 80's looks like we'll have to do without blogs as well :P
I miss walkmans and cassettes though, they were the actual best.
No iphone for me. ever. That's because I love my android smartphone. :D I remember pining after a walkman for so long, and being so happy when I finally got one!
nutschell
www.thewritingnut.com
Ah, the big hair. Atari, too. I miss Space Invaders and pacman.
What a fun decade. Thanks again for such a fun trip, Nicki.
That was awesome, Nicki! I remember the 80's clearly. Cyndi Lauper and Madonna. The Doctor Demento show on the radio was popular. I don't have an iPhone either. Not even a cell phone. One of my phones in the house still has a cord!
I was in college in the late 80's and remembered how excited I got when I got an electric typewriter.
I was just recently reminded of "my" 80s video game - Pitfall, remember?
Haha, Tonja, I remember being amazed that my college roommate had a typewriter that actually showed half a sentence on digital display!
I've got a friend in love w/ his Android too - how cool would Gecko look w/ that? Hold strong to that cord, Christine, he. I do have a regular cellphone, but it's always out of juice.
The movie "Hot Tub Time Machine" puts on display just about every trope you could see in the 1980's.
Hi, M Pax, Hi, Nicki,
What a fun stroll down the 80's memory lane. You know I always had my sony walkman strapped to my hip with earphones hugging my head as maneuvered all around NYC.
Have a great weekend ladies.
I was around in the 80's... where I got a boom box a.k.a. ghetto blaster for Christmas one year. :)
I do remember owning a walkman that looked pretty similar to the one posted here. Also had a tape deck. I probably shouldn't admit that I still have a CD player.
Those were the good old days.
I still have my walkman, and play cassettes occasionally. I have a cd player in my vehicle too.
I think it's cool we hang on to some of these things. I gave my college boyfriend a big ol' boombox for his graduation gift - he ended up being my husband and I'm pretty sure we still have that thing in the house somewhere. Not so sure it works...
Thanks everyone for stopping by and thanks once again to my lovely hostess. It was a blast (from the past). ;)
This made me think of a time when one of my brothers was in jr. high and my mom used one of those mini-fridges to threaten some kids that were bullying him at the mall! I could use a phone like that. Mine is always cracking from being dropped!
I grew up in the 80s too. Our video camera was actually connected to one of the pieces of our VCR. Yes, our VCR consisted of TWO large silver components.
Oh, and I watched the premier of MTV...and sat to watch one music video after another.
I'm on board with this too... I don't have an iPhone, qPhone, or zPhone. I did finally break down and get a cordless phone because I got so tired of dragging that curly monster all over the house, I have an 8 MM video camera, and a drawer full of cassette music tapes. Can't do much with them any more, but I've got em!
Thanks for an entertaining retro-post.
That was fun Nicki :)
I remember going to the music store one day and seeing all the records had been replaced with CD's. Seemed like it happened overnight.
Do I ever miss music videos? So sad that there is no music on MTV or CMT. Breaks my heart.
.......dhole
Too funny, Nicki!
I also remember the big phones and yeah, I also had the walkman!
Too funny, Nicki!
I also remember the big phones and yeah, I also had the walkman!
80s weren't all that bad. Besides everything keeps changing and it's all too confusing. Funny post.
Lee
Tossing It Out
I remember cordless phones where the signals crossed and you picked up other people's conversations, including the, ahem, pillow talk and the sex lines.
And I remember the porn channels like Vue with the jammed signals that made the picture fuzzy.
And, finally, I remember the high school homecomings where the mums were only half as tall as the girls.
If I'd been driving in the 80s, I'm sure I would have spent a lot of time lost w/o the GPS and map feature on my iPhone. :P
Can't survive without my iphone, and I don't care who says what :)
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Join me at the Rule of Three Writers' Blogfest!
haha those old, big phones. Nice post! Following!
The thing I cringe about most with Eighties culture is those awful movies where people went shopping and danced around whilst they tried on embarrassing clothes.
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