WTF PEOPLE!?! Ninety's Nostalgia

Maybe it's just be turning thirty later this year, maybe it's because I think that that was the greatest decade that I lived so far.  But it just seem to me that there is an overflow of what I call "Ninety's Nostalgia."  That is to say that every kind of media that I seem to glance over is on the hook of reliving the whole Gen-X era.  Technically I am considered to be Generation Y, but that's besides the point.  The point is that everywhere I go, something from the 90's pop back.  It's neither good, nor bad, but it does bar the question, WTF PEOPLE!?!


Of course I'm a big fan of The Nostalgia Critic and this kind entertainment I approve of.  Hell, I might even approve of all those VH1 best of the 90's bullshit that come to show every know and then. (Then again, I don't know of anyone that ever watched VH1 after 2002.)  It shows all the stupid, stupid crap that was for the light of a better word, decent, at the time.  The good thing about those examples is that they don't just focus on the 90's.  Which is refreshing for someone like me that prefer variety.  The problem lies in those that dwell with the reliving it like some sick Peter Pan syndrome.  These are the ones that I enjoy just enough to get pissed off about.


One thing that I grew up with was the serge of all the cool crap that was on Nickelodeon.  It was the birth of original cartoons and content for a network meant for kids.  The original set of NickToons set the wave of what would make the network the juggernaut that it is now.  From Doug, Rugrats, and Ren and Stimpy; to Spongebob, Fairly Oddparents, and Fanboy and Chum Chum; it's totally meant to be for kids.  Then they branched out to different sub-stations if you will, which are Nick Jr., NickToons, TV Land, and TeenNick.  And as part of TeenNick, they have a block of programming that set aside tweens the whole back in my day mentality.  Four hours of 90's programming of the same crap that they fed me they're feeding them, and looking back at it, it was indeed crap.  And the bad part about it is that it's all the stupid crap, not any of the good stuff.  Seriously, Doug, Kenan and Kel, and Hey Dude; c'mon man!?!  That's like the filler before all the good stuff.  I rather be watching the current crap than the old crap.  Yeah, I know, Nick was on it's infancy, but that's what stood out. Bring back old episodes of Double Dare or remake Wild 'N' Crazy Kids, but not this crap.


And the isn't all folks, there's seem to be an influx of remaking every damn thing from back in the day.  Cartoon Network did a rebirth of Thundercats, NickToons is doing Voltron and bastardizing the different Dragonball series of cartoons, Hub is doing yet another variant of Transformers as well as a new generation of G.I. Joe.  Sure I used some 80's stuff in that, but it's still the same aspect.  Are we really running out of original ideas that we have to rehash stuff form our youth?  Have all the good ideas been taken?  Hell, even Haim Saban reclaim control of the Power Rangers franchise and what did he do with the current season/series of the show, bring back an original cast member (Bulk) to the cast.  Playing it up to the current youth and the young at heart like me.  It's just bizarre on how much we can cling to that past, that it becomes a Lazarus Pit of entertainment.  Not that there's anything wrong with that, but it can't be a primary source of new shows.  It's like the oldies of television when the oldies station add in new content from the next decade.


Speaking of which, there's a local radio station, and maybe there's others but I'm talking about mine locale right now, that plays 90's rock music on the weekends.  They call it "Edge of the 90's Weekend" and it happens every damn weekend.  The selection is decent for the most part, but still, it's the principle of doing it every damn weekend.  It's not really all that special if it's all the time.  Maybe if it was a once a month thing and I can enjoy a playlist of Soundgarden, Smashing Pumpkins, White Zombie, Faith No More, and Limp Bizkit in between commercials in my weekend trek home from work.  Like I said, I understand the urge to relive our past, but to a point.  You gotta take it in strides. I just know that once I start to hear Pearl Jam playing on the oldies station, I am giving up and committing myself to the nearest old-folks home.


But that's just about does it for this WTF PEOPLE!?! for the time being.  It was a treat bringing in the new year with a WTF, and of course there will be more to come.  Next week, a song and maybe a Final Fantasy VII review.  Now that's something that the 90's got right.

BootLeG sampler.. signing out...

Tis the Season

Every year for as long as I could remember I would sing to myself one verse to the 12 Days of Christmas per day until it was Christmas Day.  So that meant on December 13th I would start singing the first verse, December 14, the second, and so on and so forth.  So I decided to make a twist on this and post my favorite Christmas themed things, one a day for 12 days.

So I'll be updating this post every day from the 13th until Jolly old St. Nick fills my stocking.  So keep on coming back each day and find what's new each day on this post.  Enjoy!

December 13, The First Day of Christmas :: The music.  I have to admit, I kinda like the jingling and the fa-la-la-la-la's when it plays on the radio.  I do have a special fondness to the Charlie Brown theme playing at least once a day (even though the theme isn't even all that Christmas-sy,) it's the only time of year I get to hear it regularly.  So here's to the artists who try to put a new spin to the same old Jingle Bell Rock, keep rockin' out those sleigh bells until Jack Frost nips you in the butt to stop 2 days into the new year...

December 14, The Second Day of Christmas :: The lights.  Call me a crow, sure I'm attracted to bright shiny objects; and twinkling lights around someone's house is the flame that keeps drawing this moth to it.  From anything simple such as a string of lights across the top of a railing from a patio to Chris F'n Griswold's epic house lighting, Christmas lights are just FRIGGIN' AWESOME!!! 

December 15, The Third Day of Christmas :: The weather.  As a kid, Christmas was a time for a week or two off of school, presents, and the occasional snow storm during break.  That was great having snowball fights with my brothers and kicking their butts stuffing their shirts with the white stuff.  But than again I lived in a place with that kind of weather (feelin' homesick for Philly now.)  Now adays, Christmas is warm, sunny, and full of cacti.  Good thing is that my family eat Christmas dinner on the patio, bad thing is that rocks hurt more when thrown than snowballs.  The weather element is what you can enjoy no matter where you are.

December 16, The Fourth Day of Christmas :: The television programs.  I'm a sucker for A Charlie Brown Christmas or those old school claymation storytellings of Rudolph and Frosty.  It was a special time for me that the TV producers and executives could remind us that "hey, were all kids inside so let all the worries of life go away for a while and marvel at poor animation and special meanings of all the good that is still in this world."

December 17, The Fifth Day of Christmas :: The mall.  Well, not the mall per say, but shopping.  I used to work retail and every year from the week before Black Friday to half way past January, the crowds of people fascinate me.  The lengths they go to complete their commercial need to find the right present or biggest gift.  It's just humorous what they do for that.  Although, the holiday season is not about gifts, it's about family, friends, and remembrance of our Lord.  I know that what I'm gonna do, how about you?!?  (There's your five golden rings for ya...)

December 18, The Sixth Day of Christmas :: The food.  I love the food.  It breaks the monotony of turkey, turkey, and turkey from the last month.  The wifie bakes cookies and other stuff non-stop while I ready myself for ham and football.  Plus, all of the Food Network shows show off their holiday flair.  And if you can't tell by this day, I do think with my stomach.  So here's to all the good food in preparation of family gathering and all that other stuff that it does for us all.


December 19, The Seventh Day of Christmas : The good will towards men.  It's a good warm and fuzzy feeling that can't be explained.  Well wishing towards our fellow man that should happen year round surrounds us all and that in among itself is a Christmas miracle.

December 20, The Eighth Day of Christmas :: The presents.  Yeah, that sounds pretty vain after what I added on for yesterday, but the presents are a good part of Christmas.  And it's not about receiving that big gift that you wanted, it's about seeing the look of someone's face as they open the presents.  As a parent, I finally can say that that joy of giving and seeing my boys faces light up brighter than the wifie's tree warms my heart.  It hurts my wallet, but it warms my heart... :p  It's a season of giving and seeing that you can give that and joy to others is a special part of the holiday.

December 21, The Ninth Day of Christmas :: The gathering.  It's always hard when a loved one or best friend is away.  Whether they're half way across the country or half way across the world.  But when Christmas time comes around, we find ways to connect with each other.  We visit those whom are fond to us, or at the very least call them on the phone if possible.  Heck, even simply emailing them or leaving them a message on your social network of choice just to say I miss ya and happy holidays is of good merit.  Just as long as we have a means of communication, we have means to gather around each other; even if you're not next to them roasting chestnuts in an open fire.

December 22, The Tenth Day of Christmas :: The days of yonder.  Just think back to the Christmases you had in the past.  How pleasant most if not all of them were.  And you sometimes catch yourself trying to relive that today.  Returning to how good that time of year was to you and what it brought to the table.  There is nothing wrong with reliving those good ol' days, and there's no better time than Christmas time to do such.

December 23, The Eleventh Day of Christmas :: The traditions.  Everyone has them, they follow though with it whether it's baking cookies or singing carols or even watching a gauntlet of Christmas themed programing, we all enjoy them and love to carry them out.  The singing the Twelve Days of Christmas one verse per day is one of mine.  The others include watching at least once A Charlie Brown Christmas and some football, I mean, who can't enjoy any of that?!?  I also try to carry out a gift for the kids to open the night before Christmas.  Usually new pajamas and we tell them they were left on our doorstep by the elves to give them a warning if they don't go to bed soon, Santa won't visit them for presents.  Whether they believe the wifie and I, who knows, but it's a tradition that we started with our boys and we'll continue to carry it out.

December 24, The Twelfth Day of Christmas :: The birth of Jesus Christ.  After all that is what the holiday is supposed to be about.  To celebrate the miraculous birth of our Lord and Savior, it is a true testament of what peace on earth, good will towards man, and miracles are all about.  Without the Lord, none of us would be where we are right now, and I am truly thankful for his birth and all that he given to us.  As Tiny Tim would end this in the most appropriate saying "God bless us, everyone"


BootLeG sampler.. signing out...

P.S. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and throw in all those other holidays in December as well, even Festivus... *lol*  Ok, maybe not that...

List O' Most Awesomest Cartoon Characters (An Alphabet Adventure)

I'm not gonna deny it.  I liked doing that Alphabet Adventure post from last time.  It challenged me as well as I hoped it challenged you to think outside the box of a top 10 or top whatever, and focus on one thing that is a constant all around; the alphabet.  Well, at least in my case the English alphabet.  I liked it so much (call me a glutton for punishment) that I decided to bring it back to another List O' whatever post.  This time; the most badass cartoon characters of all time (of course this is solely my opinion, but that's what you get when browsing into my blog.)  There's no time period restrictions or genre limitations in this list, just as long as they were animated.  No CGI phonies allowed here.  I want to see moving pictures of the cartoonish kind here.  So whether you're for kids or adults, serious or comedic, action or slapstick, it'll be on this list.

Just and FYI, I went a little link crazy trying to find links to support my decision on these choices.  Realistically just found the first good link that was represented each selected character that I could find off of Google.

So let me just shut up and get this list started... 

Aang (Avatar, The Last Airbender) : The most creative protagonist in recent cartoons.  If you're not a fan of the series, after the first few episodes will get you hooked.  He carries the show from beginning to the epic, and I mean EPIC finale.
Batman (Batman, The Animated Series) : The best cartoon in the 90's showcasing the most epic detective ever...  Need I say more...
Charlie Brown : He's the everyman, no doubt about it.  The epitome of Murphy's Law and yet because of his setbacks, he is well loved for the pure determination of the one lone chance of not failing...  I love ya Chuck, but you're a smuck...
Devestator (Transformers, Generation One) : A hodgepodge of transformers forming an ultimate distructive force, I felt like I found love again
Egon (The Real Ghostbusters) : I just love the movies and found that Harold Ramis' character was the most interesting of them all.  Figured that was the first E I could come up with... (onset is sinking in fast that this might be a harder task than I thought these alphabet things.)
Fred Flintstone (The Flintstones) : An icon in his own right, Fred and company were ahead of their time spawning new ground to what is now common place for cartoons; prime time television.  He was a mixture of cartoon slapstick and 60's era sitcom satire.  The Simpsons and Family Guy aren't that pioneering of cartoons now that you think about it.
Gohan (Dragonball Z) : He is actually the epicenter of the entire series.  He has the most power growth of them all and ideally, the series revolves around him, not Goku.  Take a good long look at it all and it'll make sense.  I'm sure of it.
He-Man (He-Man and The Masters of The Universe) : A protagonist that didn't need a story to be awesome.  In fact, I don't think it had a story, just a standard plot format for each episode.  Probably a good thing because if it did had an ongoing plot, that would've probably killed it.  Thankfully, we got the Dolph Lundgren movie to blame for that.
Iroh (Avatar, The Last Airbender) : Until recently I did not know that he was voiced by Mako before he passed away, which that in itself is awesome.  Plus the character is the wise sage of the series helping Zuko and giving consul for the heroes of the series.
Joker (Batman, The Animated Series) : Mark Hamill is insane, and this is just the perfect role for him.  The hell with Star Wars, this was his calling.
Kenny McCormick (South Park) : The early seasons were awesome, even though I heard the later ones are awesome too, I just haven't seen them.  Pretty much when they permakilled Kenny for like a season and then decided to not kill him after bringing him back, my interest faded from the series.  Plus the movie was sick too...
Lex Luthor (Superman: The Animated Series) : This guy was the epitome of what a diabolical genius is supposed to be.  Wealthy, smart, had a political grasp over Metropolis' day to day running of business and archetype as well as practically everyone there, this guy was seemingly untouchable.  Unless you're the son of Krypton.
Megatron (Transformers, Generation One) :Another prime badguy, so cocky yet he could back it up most of the time.  Plus I got to give him credit for putting up with such a whiny little snake that is Starscream.
Nelson Muntz (The Simpsons) : Trust me, I tried to think of someone for N but I couldn't, and I felt like the list was going 'ha ha' to me, so Nelson was the obvious choice.
Optimus Prime (Transformers, Generation One) : His voice alone presents leadership and respect from his comrades.  And until this day, I still tear up a little bit seeing him die in the Transformers movie (which brings me to the following statement; Michael Bay, you can suck it!)
Patty Mayonnaise (Doug) : We all had jones'd on someone hard as Doug Funnie did for her in our youth at that age at one point or another.  This is for that person that we all wanted but couldn't find the balls to approach them.
Q (You really think it's easy to try to find anyone with the letter Q, none the less remotely awesome?!?  I dare ya to try.)
Ra's al Ghul (Batman, The Animated Series) : Who wouldn't be a little freaked out buy a guy who is practically immortal.  He organized world wide crime syndicates and when he's near death, he just takes a dip in the Lazarus Pit and BAM, back in action to cause more hell.
Spawn (Todd McFarlane's Spawn) : Speaking of hell, he's all like been there, done that, got the t-shirt.  A former Marine turned special ops merc (I supposed, it's complicated even if you'd read the comics.) gets killed, goes to hell, exchanges his soul for another chance to be with his wife, and has came back as a hellspawn to complete a demon's needs.  And for a twist, he defies the demon and goes rouge.  The only bad thing is that the series ended before it's time (a shame if you knew what happens in issue 100, one of my favorite comic book issues ever.  But that's another list.)
Tick (The Tick) : It was so random, so bizarre, and yet, so brilliant.  This guy had a few to many screws loose and that he somehow manages to get the bad guy at the end of every episode (with the obvious collateral damage caused in chasing the poor bastard) makes me want to go back and see the blue oaf over and over again.
Unicron (The Transformers: The Movie) : A transformer that transforms into its own planet and is voiced by one of the most notable voices of all time Orson Welles.  Can't get much more epic than that.  Once again I like to add on that Michael Bay can suck it, just for good measure.
Venom (Spiderman) : Probably the best rendition of the villain to the comic book source.  They really tried to make it as close as the person inside filled with the rage to get even with Peter Parker as possible, even though it rarely followed the story arc.  Character-wise, Venom gets my vote.
Wolverine (X-men) : He is hands down the best mutant out there.  Period.  It would be an injustice to talk about Wolverine without missing out a thing or two.
X (Hey, just be glad that this time I was only unable to find things for Q and X in this list.  Be greatful why don't cha.)
Yakko Warner(Animaniacs) : Just one part of the trifecta of loony (the others obviously Wakko and Dot) Yakko makes it in that of all the others, he was easiest to find a letter for.  But seriously, him and his siblings started the degeneration of cartoons and pushing the censors to the limits.  And for that I salute you.  Plus I still can't get the song about the countries of the world out of my head.  United States, Canada, Mexico, Panama...
Zuko (Avatar, The Last Airbender) : The story of a tortured soul who is trying to find his destiny.  In the end he finds his place in life helping whom he thought was the enemy and striking back those whom lead him to his dark path of destruction.  Perfect way to end the list.

I hope once again that you appreciated this unique trip to cartoon awkwardness...


BootLeG sampler.. signing out...

The stuff that kids are watching

I don't want to come out as being an old fart; but I just don't know what kind of weird crap that they're passing off as programming that's intended for children. It's lame, senseless, sissified, lacking of humor, and all around crap-tacular in nature. I can't for the life of me figure out how we had gone from a generation in which had produced He-Man, Transformers, Thundercats, G.I. friggin Joe, and The Super Mario Bros. Super Show; into the state of annoyance and stupefied characters of today. And yes; I know of all the gay undertones proclaimed in He-Man, but we all watched it anyways so don't go trying to BS around that one. I mean these cartoons don't even try to make any sense at all. It's as if the animators and producers smoked a pound of hash each, decided to spew out random crap, and sell it to your friendly neighborhood children's network. Seriously, this stuff is some of the most bizarre crap that I have ever had my eyes and ears on.

I honestly don't know where to start, so I'm just gonna blame the entire friggin' network here; Cartoon Network. With shows (if you want to call them that) like Boingy Mc Boing Boing; My Gym Partner's a Monkey; and Ben 10 (just to name a few); you wonder what the hell is keeping them afloat and becoming a profitable cable network. Seriously, these shows are lame. It looks like a bunch of random sequences spun out together to make some sort of a script for the animators (which are probably chained to their desks for fear of them escaping) to draw out. The only thing close (and I'm really stretching this out here) to a half decent show is The Grimm Adventures of Billy and Mandy. It's like Ren & Stimpy and the Crypt Keeper had a lovechild and out came this pile. It tries to be in my opinion 'kiddie-noir' with the slapstick humor that made Ren & Stimpy infamous. It's a near-failure at best, but as for the other shows on this network; there is no excuse to why they're still on. I remember when Cartoon Network actually rivaled their other two competitive networks; Nickelodeon and Disney Channel; with somewhat decent shows like Johnny Bravo, Dexter's Laboratory, and Powerpuff Girls. These were in their right their classics and they can only be found in their classic subsidiary channel Boomerang with a bunch of old Hanna Barbera classic cartoons as well. I think that it's Cartoon Networks' version of how their great shows of the past dies off they ship them off to sea just like the vikings did to their old dying warriors and let them go to their Valhalla with the greatness of The Flintstones, The Jetsons, and Scooby Doo. Cartoon Network; because change is not for the good.

Another network that was notorious for such acts, but took it to a different medium of crap-tastic is The Disney Channel. At one point, they had quality programming with their cartoons with their syndicated cartoons that they decided to put on regular rotation at the time such as Duck Tales, Gargoyles, and Goof Troop. Disney had some quality stuff, but then sometime during this generation of kids time, the quality of Disney programming went from simplicity and slapstick to bratty and stupid. That probably stems from them trying to introduce live action shows that truly sucked such as Lizzy McGuire (in my opinion the start of its downward spiral), Even Stevens, and The Suite Life of Zack and Cody. It made me felt like my brain was turned into pudding and Bill Cosby himself was pimping it out to be sold with the rest of the Jell-O lineup. And don't even get me started with their cartoons; actually, you really can't. I don't even think that Disney even produce any new cartoons outside of Phineas and Ferb, and that's is just as dull and bland as all the other crap that the house that Walt built had excreted out. Disney: because if you want quality, you have to pay an arm and a leg in their theme parks to find it; cause it ain't on television that's for sure.



And now we finally meet up with the children's programming juggernaut that is, Nickelodeon. Let me go and say that when I was a kid, I loved Nickelodeon; it was awesome. So many great original shows came from there that it became a cartoon's Mecca of greatness. If you made it to Nickelodeon's rotation you were practically set for life. I mean there was Ren and Stimpy like I mentioned from before. Rugrats which was their longest running cartoon series spanning past 10 years and producing a spin-off. Doug which was picked up by Disney after it's original series ended (and then it bombed there sparing Nick from any embarrassment.) And that's just the cartoons. There live action series of shows were pretty decent as well, with shows like Clarissa Explains It All, Double Dare, and Solute Your Shorts. But my favorite of them has to be The Adventures of Pete and Pete; originally starting off as a series of 2 minute shorts then expanded to a 30 minute series of awesomeness. But those days has passed us my friends...



Nowadays, Nickelodeon has succumb to the dumbing down of quality of most of their cartoon lineup and their live shows are more for a teeny-bopper version of a soap opera than anything else. With the exception of 'Avatar: The Last Air Bender', all of their cartoons have seem to make about as much sense as a bipolar eight year old with A.D.D. on the ultimate of sugar-highs. And the comedown effect is what they use for their sitcoms. I mean who can make any sense out of a sexually confused sponge or a socially awkward boy with fairy godparents that can do anything he wants, but have to keep it PG. And that's their flagship cartoons is what I'm describing, don't even let me talk about my their non-cartoons. Their only good show was 'Drake and Josh' and they let the main stars go to pursue their careers elsewhere. So that leaves them with not-so-memorable shows and Zoey 101; a teen drama about a co-ed boarding school that eventually got cancelled because the lead actress got knocked up at 16 (also doesn't help that her sister was Britney Spears, you do the math on how much logic that family has.) I'm disappointed at Nickelodeon. It loss its luster to appeal to kids as kids instead of making it look as if they went and vomited all over their product placed their orange feces stamp over it and called it a day.



I ask again to everyone. What has happened to cartoons nowadays. And I'm just at the tip of the iceberg only naming cartoons from the top three kid networks. I haven't dived into comparing PBS shows from before and after or from any other media outlets, and there's a lot to choose from as well. But I felt that I ranted long enough and chewed your ear off more so than a Mike Tyson fight. So I'll be scouring my local DVD outlets for box sets of the classics. The good old cartoons of my youth that I've grown to love. And hope for a resurgence of those to comeback to today's new generation of kids to show how cartoons really kicked ass.



BootLeG sampler.. signing out...