Life is Like a Box of Chocolates... You Never Know What You're Gonna Get.

     Forrest Gump is a movie that captured the hearts of many people from all around that globe. It was directed by Robert Zemeckis and was released in July 1994 and was based on the novel with the same title by Winston Groom. The original book was published in 1968, but then again, we’re not here to talk about that. The movie became a hit back in the 90s and is considered one of the most popular and high grossing movies of all time. It was nominated in 59 awards and won 29 out of all those.

    The story starts with a little Forrest Gump having a problem with his legs and was forced to put braces on them. He would often hang with his friend Jenny near or on the big tree near their place and according to him, Jenny is the most beautiful girl he has set his eyes on. One day, a group of bullies started chasing Forrest and Jenny told him to run as fast as he can. Although he had braces on his legs, he didn’t let that obstacle hold him down. He kept running until the braces broke off and he was able to get away. Even though a lot of people thought that Forrest was mentally challenged, he excelled in different aspects through his love and devotion to those that were close to his heart, which in turn humbled everyone by the realizations. When he joined the army, he met his best friend Bubba and they talked about how his mother is a shrimp cook for a rich family. Bubba loved shrimp and they both envisioned a future in the business. The friendship was short lived when Bubba died in the war. Forrest stayed true to their plans and built the Bubba Gump Shrimp restaurant and branched out in states everywhere. He gave 50% to Bubba’s mother which shocked her to see that the amount equaled to more than a million dollars. Even though he became successful in life, he was stayed humble and still longed for Jenny. Throughout the story, she would come and go in his life and in the end, it was revealed that Jenny gave birth to Forrest’s baby boy. He later asked for her hand in marriage and took care of her even up to the day that she passed away.

    In the beginning and ending of the movie, a feather was shown floating through the air and a lot of people were giving their own interpretations about it -- even Tom Hanks gave his own. As for my own interpretation, I believe that the feather meant how all of us are like feathers that are floating through air. Our fates are never decided by ourselves, even if we think we’ve planned everything. One way or another, a slight change in the wind can alter one’s direction. It doesn’t specifically mean that we’re going to be alone in the journey, because just like in the movie, wherever we may drift, there will always be other feathers that will flow and dance with us through the wind.

- Vieo

Sources:

forrest_gump-10693.jpg, Retrieved October 9, http://free-extras.com/images/forrest_gump-10693.htm

Forrest Gump Screenshot, Retrieved October 9, http://www.fanpop.com/spots/forrest-gump/images/1814957/title/jenny-photo

That's a Shirt? I Always Thought It Was a Skirt!

    Hey Arnold! No, I’m not calling you Arnold. It’s the title of a show back in the 90s. Hey Arnold is an animated series with the genre of comedy and drama. It was directed by Craig Bartlett and was published on Nickelodeon in 1996. It had five seasons and a hundred episodes, showing more or less twenty episodes for each. The show was cut in 2004 after their 100^th episode special which was an hour long, entitled “The Journal”.

    The story is about an orphan kid named Arnold who lived in a boarding house building that was owned by his grandparents, Phil and Gertude. He’s a fourth grader in a school called Publica School 118 (or PS 118, for short) who’s wise beyond his age. Helga, who has a crush on him, would often act mean and shove him away just to hide the fact that she likes him. His best friend Gerald on the other hand is a kid who loves telling urban legends that would make the story even more interesting. There’s also Harold who’s a bully but in reality, he’s actually a scared kid trying to make everyone feel inferior. There are a lot of characters in the cartoon that had his or her own problems and insecurities, but they would often confide in a solution that wasn’t either right or very healthy. That’s where Arnold comes in. He often helps his friends go through problems, giving them advices and showing them what’s right and what’s wrong. Often times, he’d be faced with his own problems, but in the end, he would always think rationally and choose what’s right.

    As a kid, I remember watching Hey Arnold for the first time and thinking: “what a strange shape for a head…” Then again it’s a cartoon and most cartoons have weird looking characters. I guess that’s what makes them memorable at times--the image and style of the art--but you know, I don’t think that that’s what makes Hey Arnold unforgettable. I honestly believe that it’s the story of the cartoon that keeps everyone entertained, because the story itself has its small values and lessons that can be applied to anyone of any age. There’s a wide variety of characters which can actually make viewers relate and see themselves in some situations that were being shown. That in itself is something worth cherishing especially when you know you learned your lessons through the help of a football shaped head kid. Haha!

See you all on the next run,
Vieo

Sources:

hey-arnold-viaduct.jpg, retrieved October 8, http://playingwithpolitics.wordpress.com/2010/08/23/hey-arnold-animating-the-benefits-of-urban-design/

Hey-Arnold-old-school-nickelodeon-295350_1024_768.jpg, retrieved October 8, http://www.fanpop.com/spots/old-school-nickelodeon/images/295350/title/hey-arnold-wallpaper

The Floating Palace

    One of the most popular movies and known love stories back in the 90s would definitely be Titanic. I mean, who wouldn’t forget it? The story of the movie was inspired by the real life Titanic that collided with an iceberg back in April 1912, off the coast of Canada. It was said that the ship was indestructible only to have their words backfire at them after the accident. So going back to the movie, it was spearheaded by Director James Cameron who has Leonardo DiCarpio and Kate Winslet as its lead stars.

    The story started with a group of explorers and treasure hunters searching the Titanic for a necklace called “Heart of the Ocean”. Instead of finding the necklace, they came across a sketch of a woman who was wearing the treasure. It was later published on the news and Rose Dawson became aware of the discovery. She contacts the group and informs them that she is the one on the sketch. Rose recalls the story of everything that had happened while she was still young and was on the ship. At first, she was under the pressure of an engagement that will save her family’s financial problems which made her thought of ending her life. Jack, however, was there and convinced her to think things through and not jump over the edge of the ship. They form a friendship that eventually developed into romance, but was short lived once the Titanic sank. Jack and Rose stayed together waiting for a life boat to rescue them. After hours of waiting, Jack froze to death leaving Rose no choice but to leave him. In the end of the movie, the 84 year-old threw the necklace into the water saying that it belongs to the ocean without the group having knowledge of the incident or that it was with her the whole time. She sleeps and was reunited with Jack once more.

    The movie was nominated in and garnered various awards including Best Picture and Best Director. It also grossed $1.8 billion with spending only $200 million, making it the first to have ever reached the amount. That being said, the impact it had on people was immense and was very memorable. The story itself touched most hearts and others were brought to tears. You definitely have to give props to not only the ones involved in the making of the film, but also to the ones who gave so much inspiration for the story.

Bon Voyage,

Vieo

Sources:

Titanic Movie Poster, Retrieve October 7, http://free-extras.com/images/titanic-11421.htm

Titanic, Retrieved October 7, http://free-extras.com/images/titanic-11431.htm

Omlette Do'froumage

    Dexter's Laboratory is a cartoon series made by Genndy Tartakovsky which was, at first, a project for the Cartoon Network channel, but it was later adopted into the network as a regular series which aired in 1996 but was halted in 2003. It showed 4 seasons of two segments of short stories for each episode, making each story fast and actually very enjoyable. The first time I saw Dexter’s Lab as a kid, I was amazed at how it had a different kind of art compared to other cartoons that I used to watch. The colors were bold and vibrant which made me tune into it even more. Over the years, it made game adaptations and various artists like will.i.am from the Black Eyed Peas and Prince Paul helped build its first music CD entitled “The Hip-Hop Experiment”.

             

    The story of Dexter’s Laboratory (or Dexter’s Lab in short) revolved around an eight-year-old boy genius who has a secret laboratory in his room which only his sister and nemesis knew of. Despite so many odd happenings in the house, his parents were completely oblivious of their son’s doings and never had a clue about it. Due to his irritation of his ditzy older sister, Dee Dee, he made his lab a no Dee Dee zone. Even though Dexter had all the smarts to make his lab have high security, his sister still gains access to the lab with some stroke of luck and prances around destroying most of what Dexter builds. At one point, he met his arch-enemy at school, who prefered to be called Mandark, who exceeded his intelligence and made him insecure and low in confidence. Mandark falls for Dee Dee and Dexter plotted a plan that would transfer her to Mandark’s secret lab in order for her to wreak havoc and destroy his creations. Although the story didn’t revolve around just them, it also had cameos of Dexter’s pet monkey who’s a secret agent and his favorite superheroes, The Justice Friends (which was parody of the characters from Marvel comics).

    Thinking about the cartoon series now makes me remember and relive childhood memories of how I would stay up at night just to be able to watch the show. I am not surprised that it gained the title of being one of Cartoon Network’s greatest classics because it is definitely one for the books in my generation.

Au revoir,

Vieo

Sources:

3298.jpg, retrieved October 6, images.tvrage.com, http://images.tvrage.com/shows/4/3298.jpg
753.jpg, retrieved October 6, http://www.tv.com/shows/dexters-laboratory/

Go go Power Rangers!

    In 1993, Saban Entertainment released the hit series Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (or Power Rangers for short). The original series released up to three consecutive seasons but came to an end in November 1995. Before it was halted though, it became popular with kids all around the globe which pushed them to make a movie based on the series. Just as the series, the also became a success.

    The story of the Power Rangers revolved around the life and adventures of five teenagers from Earth who were chosen by Alpha 5 from the command of a wise sage named Zordon due to the information that reached him about the release of an evil sorceress who they called Rita Repulsa. Each Power Ranger had a specific color and dinosaurs representing them. Throughout the series, it was shown that Rita would often send her minions to defeat the five teenagers in order for her to have control over the planet. Although due to constant failure, Rita formulated a plan to kidnap a human and manipulate him to go against the Power Rangers. Tommy became the Green Ranger but was under a spell which made the Power Rangers believe that he was on their side. Eventually the spell was broken but the powers that were given to him by Rita remained. She tried to take them back but only to be disappointed once again. This time, the persistent Rita kidnaps their parents which forced the Power Rangers to give up their Power Coins which were used for them to morph and gain powers.

    Even though the series ended in 1995 and it was passed on to different companies, the success of the Power Rangers was undeniable. Up to this day, after the first series and movies, it continued to make even more follow ups that kept children (and even old time fans) entertained. To top it all off, the merchandises that was produced based on the Power Rangers (eg. masks, costumes, swords, action figures) are not only selling as collectibles now, but it also made my imagination as a child alive.

See you around, 'cause it's morphin time,

Vieo

Source:

MMPR Group, Retrieved October 5, http://fandomania.com/the-nostalgia-factory-power-rangers-1-mighty-morphin-power-rangers-era/

MMPR The Movie, Retrieved October 5, http://loyalkng.com/2010/02/19/mighty-morphing-power-rangers-japan-japanese-opening-catchy-tune/

Tugs Tugs Tugs!

     Now I know that as I write this I’m only 21 years old and I would barely have no knowledge of what a Rave was if I was a 90’s kid but Raves were all the Rage back in the day and if my brother didn’t go to as many as he did in those years then I probably wouldn’t know as much about them as I did today.

     Now Raves are just a more exotic way of calling it a party yes there were different things but essentially it was a party a gigantic party in a tiny place. It was usually held in some club or if people were wild enough in some abandoned warehouse. Now we have Raves to thank for a bunch of cool things. First and foremost is the music stuff like Dubstep and House music most likely have their roots in Rave music or Trance music which for people in the 90’s was the equivalent of club music, we also have to thank ravers for things such as using lights in parties whether it was a blacklight which basically made things that were color white shine a nice violet highlight or if it was a strobe light that made everything look like it was moving in slow motion. My favourite contribution of raves though were the glowsticks which we still use up to today in parties back as a kid those things would keep me entertained for hours upon hours in the dark. Now if you had all these then you could throw yourself a rave.

     We actually owe the blue print to most of our parties to the 90’s by having raves the 90’s laid the groundwork for all of the intense parties that we have today.

Much love,

Vieo

Sources:

Raves, Retrieved October 4 from Imageshack.us, http://98.img.v4.skyrock.net/981/abrk/pics/907726924_small.jpg

Zero to Hero

    Hercules was probably my favourite Disney movie next to Aladdin. Why? Because it was a fresh take on something old and it had a male lead. Now to refresh everyone’s memories, Hercules was a movie that was made back in 1997 by Walt Disney Pictures which was directed by Ron Clements and John Musker. The story was based on a popular mythical demigod named Hercules (or Heracles) who was an illegitimate child of the god of sky and thunder, Zeus and mortal woman Alceme. The real Greek mythology story is different from what Disney showed its audience, although it still captured the hearts of people (especially kids) from all around the globe.

              In Disney's version of Hercules' story, it was shown that he was the son of Zeus and Hera (goddess of marriage, women and birth). Mount Olympus had a celebration of his birth but only his uncle Hades (god of the dead and riches, king of the underworld) was not pleased by the news. He discovered through The Fates that in 18 years, the planets will align and show where Zeus had locked up the Titans and he will be able to overthrow his brother and be the king of all the gods. That is... if Hercules doesn’t stop him. He formulated a plan and had his minions, Pain and Panic, steal him from his crib. Since gods cannot be killed, they made Hercules drink a potion that will turn him human, but will only succeed if not a drop was missed. The minions failed to do the job properly which turned Hercules into a demigod--and out of fear, they never informed Hades of what happened. He was adopted by a mortal couple who could not bear children and raised him as their own. Through the years, he eventually found out that he was the son of Zeus and he seeked to take revenge on Hades and stop him from taking over Mount Olympus. It wasn’t easy for him, but his experiences through the journey made him learn the value of friendship, love and loyalty.

          A lot of people liked the movie so much that it actually grossed thrice of what the company spent in the making of the film. It also inspired the makers to make a video game out of it for PlayStation and Microsoft Windows 1997 so that all the fans could enjoy the story and relate even more to it through a first person experience. Not only did they make a video game based on it, but also a Disney TV series which showed the story (that was not in Greek mythology) of Hercules as a teenager and how he grew up, trained and learned everything that he knows that made him who he was in the movie.

Hercules' Step Brother,

Vieo

Sources:

Hercules official movie poster, Retrieved October 3 http://www.logoi.com/pastimages/img/hercules_3.jpg

Hercules Official Disney Art, Retrieved October 3 http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20100606075231/disney/images/c/cc/Disney-hercules-lithograph.jpg

7th Heaven

    7^th Heaven will probably be one of my favourite drama television series. I remember back when it was Holy week and my family would head up to Tagaytay for a couple of days. There wasn’t much to do there but there was a saving grace and that was that the 7^th Heaven Marathon showed during this time and that’s what helped me get into the show.

    In the simplest way to describe it the show was basically about a family, the Camden’s made up of 7 members, the Eric the father being a reverend, his wife Annie being the out-going mom and their 5 children Matt, Mary, Lucy, Simon and Ruthie and how they would deal with real life issues. The teens would deal with growing up, bullying, and bodily changes while the adults dealt with things like spousal abuse, teen pregnancy and so on and so forth. Each episode was very engaging in the sense that they had to face these problems and find the best way to solve them. Of course being the family that they were all of them looked out for each other and usually intervened in each others behalf in order to solve whatever problems they were facing that episode. It was a basic formula but it was one that worked since the show produced 11 seasons and gave the cast countless awards. The series had a great run with cameos from various celebrities and reunion episodes and it didn’t end on a sour note the show ended on the series terms, to add to that this was also Jessica Biel’s first ever major acting role before she became a movie star.

    Overall though, 7^th heaven is something you can watch with anyone whether it be your family, your girlfriend or even your barkada. I promise that they will relate to at least one of the characters on the show and that will be enough to get them hooked. I know it worked on me because I had an instant connection with Simon and that’s what made me await each episode. In fact I may have to download or buy the DVD boxset of that show when I get the chance.

Wannabe member of the family,

Vieo

Sources:

7th Heaven cast. Retrieved from Moviepics.wcu.game.ru on October 2

The Greatest Comicbook Villain of the 90's

Now if the 90’s were anything for comic books they were all about experimenting with character deaths. Mentioned earlier was the death of Superman which by far and wide was a big deal but of course he was brought back at a later time now marvel tried the same thing by killing off their entire roster in a 6 issue series called The Infinity Gauntlet, now of course all the heroes did come back to life at the end but the whole death of all your favourite heroes factor was enough to make this cross over event a big hit with the fans.

The story begins with the villain of this entire event, Thanos who in his own comic which was aptly named Thanos Quest had collected all the ingredients he needed in order to construct the infinity gauntlet, a glove of immense power which gave its wearer omnipotent power. Thanos yearned for this glove because he needed it to be put on equal terms with the love of his life who was Death, the literal embodiment of death in the universe. His goal was to earn her respect by becoming her equal in terms of power yet when he finally takes the Soul, Power, Mind, Time, Space and Reality gems and puts them together to create the titular gauntlet he places himself on a level above death and thus cannot be her equal. Thanos then decides that the only way to gain Death for himself is to give her something that no one else can give her and with a snap of his fingers he kills half of the universe including most of the members of the X-men, the Fantastic Four, Daredevil and many other heroes. With all this happening our protagonists made up mainly of the Avengers, Spider-man, Silver Surfer, Dr. Strange try to find out what is happening under the guidance of Adam Warlock they discover Thanos’ plot and set out to stop it. This does not bode well though as each of the heroes fall one by one. Iron Man is decapitated, Captain America is crushed, Wolverine and Spider-man both end up incinerated to put it bluntly none of the heroes were able to put up much of a fight against Thanos which leads to the cosmic beings such as Infinity, Eternity, Galactus and such to step into the fray. The battle rages on and proves to be enough of a distraction for Thanos because in a  last ditch effort Silver Surfer, Dr. Strange and Adam Warlock were able to wrest the gauntlet from his hands and return everything to normal...So it seemed but Thanos escaped to hatch yet another plan to impress death but never again would he wield the Infinity Gauntlet.

This comic was impressive to me because it allowed for so much to happen, it literally asked me what would these heroes do against a villain that they couldn’t challenge? It also brought about the creation of characters like Thanos who is a recurring villain in the Marvel Universe and also put into the spot light characters like the Silver Surfer, Adam Warlock and Dr. Strange who for were a time considered over powered characters that were unneeded. At the end of the day this story opened up Marvel’s possibilities for storytelling and just to give you a little taste of how much of an impact this story has made, the Infinity Gauntlet actually made an appearance in the recent Marvel movie Thor, hinting that maybe a little time down the road we may see most probably one of the greatest villains of the 90’s Thanos on the big screen.

Excelsior,

Vieo

Sources:

Thanos Quest CoverRetrieved sept 25, 2011, from Wikipedia.org http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thanos_Quest

Infinity Gauntlet Cover Retrieved sept 25, 2011,http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infinity_Gauntlet

SDCC Gauntlet Retrieved sept 25, 2011,http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infinity_Gauntlet

The Decade an Icon Died

Action Comics #1

        The 1990’s saw the Death of one of the most, if not the most, iconic comic book superheroes ever in Superman. Superman was introduced out in Action Comics #1 on June 1938 and instantly became the most highly recognized comic book hero in the world. An alien child from the dying planet Krypton sent to Earth and was found by a couple from a town in Kansas called Smallville and was raised as Clark Kent to become an honorable man in his own right. What set that small-town boy apart from others is that he is actually Kal-El of the planet Krypton who was faster than a speeding bullet, stronger than a locomotive, can fly and has heat vision. Combine his power with the ideals he grew up with and you come up with Superman.

        

Superman

         

 Superman could do it all. No matter what trouble he faced or what evil plagued the world, you know that Superman will always be there to save the day. That is what actually brought about the decision to kill Superman. Sales were actually dropping from the Superman and Action Comics and they tried their hardest to bring readers back, even creating a love triangle in the form of Lois Lane, Clark Kent and Superman to try and attract female readers. Try as they might, fans simply saw Superman as too predictable and as one who will always triumph in the end. People were starting to take Superman for granted and so came the decision to kill Superman and to see exactly what a world without Superman would be like.

            

Doomsday

            The question was: how would they kill the Man of Steel? They enlisted the power of one of the most deadly beings to ever grace comic books. This monster is called Doomsday. Doomsday burst onto the scene like no other villain or monster ever has before. It decimated anything and everything that would go in its way including the Justice League at that time. If a collection of the world’s most trusted heroes at the time could not stop him, Superman would definitely have a run for his money. 

            

Doomsday vs. Superman

             When the two powerhouses finally met, each blow was earth shaking. Doomsday actually had the upper hand when it came to power but Superman had the advantage when it came to heart. They battled non-stop until Metropolis, Superman’s city, and that is where Superman would make his final stand. The two behemoths stood toe-to-toe with each blow stronger than the last and each blow taking a huge amount of force and energy to land. As the final blow was struck, the two combatants fell to the ground and their final breaths were let out but the ultimate thought was this: Superman gave his life to save his city, the people and most importantly, the world from the threat known as Doomsday. The aftermath of the battle resulted in this iconic image where Lois Lane held the Man of Steel in her arms.

Death of Superman

This has been your own personal Superman,

Mark Javellana

Sources:

(n.d.). Retrieved September 18, 2011, from Whatilearnedbywriting's Blog: http://whatilearnedbywriting.wordpress.com/2011/01/15/death-of-superman-review/

(n.d.). Retrieved September 18, 2011, from The Fire Wire: http://larryfire.wordpress.com/2011/01/10/alex-ross-reinterprets-the-cover-of-action-comics-1-in-action-comics-900/

(n.d.). Retrieved September 18, 2011, from Superman Wiki: http://superman.wikia.com/wiki/Doomsday

(n.d.). Retrieved September 18, 2011, from The Paradigm: http://greaterthanknowledge.wordpress.com/2011/05/09/superman-renounces-american-citizenship/

(n.d.). Retrieved September 18, 2011, from My Exciting Life and Thoughts: http://www.pjmontgomery.blogspot.com/?zx=a919d9b635028322

Small but terrible?

    When I was around 8 or 9 years old, I was fond of small toys that are very colorful. I would collect the toys from kiddie meals and just keep it inside my toy chest until I think of playtime. One time, I saw my cousins, whom I lived with too, come home with a new toy that is digital. This was when internet games, or PSPs weren’t invented yet. I was so excited to see what that toy was, and I also got jealous actually. Because I was a bit of a spoiled little girl that time, I dragged my mother to go to the place where they bought it. It was the growing trend in the kid’s toy industry that time, and they called it “Tamagotchi.”

    The name sound foreign, right? That’s because it was made in Japan! It was created back in 1996 by two Japanese folks, and was first sold in their mother country – Japan. Tamagotchi has two root words which mean “egg” (tamago) and “watch” (uochi). So, basically, it means to watch the egg. It became so famous that almost every children’s store in Asia, at least, sold it. What was interesting about it is that once you buy the Tamagotchi, you have to take out a hard sheet of plastic from the side of the toy. By the way, the toy was less than the size of the palm, so it was really compact and easy to bring. Once you’ve taken out that hard plastic sheet, you need to set up the time and, from there, your Tamagotchi ‘comes to life’! A Tamagotchi usually has two to three buttons, and each button has a special function. Those buttons are used to feed, put to sleep, and clean your ‘pet tamagotchi.’ If you forget or get delayed in feeding your Tamagotchi, it can lead to its death, and ‘good-bye Tamagotchi! :(‘ That is why the kids, or the young at heart, have a collection of Tamagotchis because maybe it has died already over time or because of the lack of care. Tamagotchis are simply pets, only that it is digital (and more demanding).

    Over the years, because of the weaknesses seen in the first generation of Tamagotchi, there were better versions created, which included an added/enhanced feature. One of the good innovations of the Tamagotchi is it having a ‘Pause’ button, which could literally pause the life-time of your Tamagotchi. This resulted from incidents of students bringing their Tamagotchi toys to school, and taking care of it during class, causing the students to get distracted from school activities and lectures. That is why some parents started to complain and have the schools ban Tamagotchis.

    From last year’s record, there were already seventy-six million Tamagotchis that have been sold worldwide. And I wonder if that store where I bought my first Tamagotchi still sells one? hmmm...

Peace. Love. Smile.

Dom Manahan



Source for pictures:
Google


Source for figures and informaton:
Wikipedia (2011). Tamagotchi. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamagotchi

Dance Moves of the 90s!

Before we danced to Ciara's "1, 2 Step", Soulja Boy Tell'em's "Crank That", Beyonce's "Single Ladies" and before Cali Swag District taught us how to dougie, there were other famous dance steps which reigned supreme on the dancefloors in the 90s.




I remember watching kids who participated in noontime television shows dance to the Macarena by Los del Rio. I never really understood the lyrics so all I was able to sing was the "AHHH HAAA MACARENA!" Little did I know that the lyrics of the song contained something about the girl leaving town to party because her boyfriend is not present. Thank goodness it has that funky disco beat to mask the promiscuity haha! Here's the lyrics to the song: http://www.lyricsondemand.com/onehitwonders/macarenalyrics.html 
More facts about the song: http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=2402

Next would be Will Smith's "Getting Jiggy With It". I have it in my iTunes and it never fails to set you in a hyper mood! According to Jen Oda of e-How.com, the word jiggy was a demeaning word for African Americans, or what they call as "jigaboo". Will Smith, instead, turned the word to something which can motivate black people. The song was released back in 1998 and skyrocketed into the Billboard Top 100 Charts in the 14th spot. 




Lastly, the "Tootsie Roll" was also a huge hit during the 90s era. I don't recall the song and the moves as much as the others though. I don't think it reached the Philippines that much. But, it was apparently easy to follow because of it having instructional lyrics. It includes fast movement using the knees, bending a lot and simply enjoying freestyling to the song. If you're curious on what the Tootsie Roll is (not the candy! Haha!), then click the link showing two girls having fun with the choreography: THE TOOTSIE ROLL




Keep the past fresh!
Bien Tan


Sources:
Oda, Jen (2011, January 17). Top Ten Dance Moves of the 90s. e-How.com. Retrieved September 7, 2011. http://www.ehow.com/list_7801132_top-ten-dances-moves-90s.html

Trembles and Eruptions: Natural Disasters in the 90s

            The Philippines is known as a country that has been affected by several natural disasters. Every year, several typhoons attack the country and it has always been guaranteed that there will be problems from infrastructure to the loss of lives. Not only that, there is also the fact that there is not enough support from these disasters so things have been pretty tough during times like these. Filipinos are being tested from time to time during these disasters and it is proven that these events take a lot from the Filipinos.

            There are two notable disasters that occurred in the 90s. One of these is the Baguio Earthquake that happened in July 16, 1990. It happened at around 4:26pm. The quake showed its power in 7.7 magnitude intensity in the Richter scale and it lasted for 45 seconds. These conditions are already bad but what made it worse it the geographical area of Baguio city. It’s located in a mountain so the architecture and soil are not as steady as the ones seen in the plains or on other lands that are considered as flat. Given this idea, the roads going to the mountains are also blocked by the falling rocks and soil. The situation can be called a worst-case scenario for Baguio at this moment. It was also noted that there were several aftershocks after the earthquake so people panicked.

            The next notable disaster is the Pinatubo eruption in June 1991. It also started with a strong earthquake which “awakened” the volcano. There were explosions that followed in the vicinity which prompted the people near the volcano to be evacuated. After weeks from the earthquake, the volcano finally erupted while spewing ash that brought heavy changes in the global perspective as it brought down the average global temperature. This had influenced the global temperature in the following years. On the local scale, it was noted that Central Luzon was heavily damaged as this is where the volcano is situated. Clark Air Base, an American base, was also damaged and this influenced America to give the base to the Filipinos instead. Seeing all of these, it can also be said that people were heavily affected especially in the area of Central Luzon. It was said that 800 people died of this event and this has been proven to be a heavy blow to the Filipinos.

            Seeing these events that happened in the 90s, it can be said that this decade has been proven to be heavy for the Filipinos. Despite the hardships in the economy and living conditions, there were also other things that pushed the Filipinos to their limit. In light of this, my friends and I were fortunate to have not been part of these catastrophes. It’s either we were not yet born during this time or our parents have just been very protective of us during these times. But this doesn’t mean that we should not do anything after these events because the time we are in right now is the time for us to take charge. Our ancestors did their part during these events to protect us and it is our time now to do the same. If a disaster happened again, we should be ready to serve our country just like what we did in Ondoy.

Just givin' an update!
Bowen Romero

Sources:
Article:

Rosenberg, M. (2011, March 2). Mount Pinatubo Eruption. Retrieved August 28, 2011, from About.com: http://geography.about.com/od/globalproblemsandissues/a/pinatubo.htm

The 1990 Baguio City Earthquake. (n.d.). Retrieved August 28, 2011, from The City of Baguio: http://www.cityofpines.com/baguioquake/quake.html

Images:

(n.d.). Retrieved August 28, 2011, from The City of Baguio: http://www.cityofpines.com/baguioquake/quake23.jpg

(n.d.). Retrieved August 28, 2011, from The City of Baguio: http://www.cityofpines.com/baguioquake/quake35.jpg

NoBenta. (2011, June 15). Balik-Tanaw: Ano ang Naaalala Mo Sa MT. PINATUBO ERUPTION Dalawang Dekada Ang Nakakaraan? Retrieved August 28, 2011, from Definitely Filipino: The Blog For Online Filipinos: http://definitelyfilipino.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Mount-Pinatubo-eruption.jpg

Wirraway. (n.d.). Mt. Pinatubo Eruption. Retrieved August 28, 2011, from Trek Earth: http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Asia/Philippines/Central_Luzon/Pampanga/Angeles_City/photo451310.htm

The Candyman Isn't So Sweet

    The Candyman… that doesn’t sound as scary as you think right? Not if you were a nineties kid like me. The movie The Candyman made in 1992 haunted me for years as a child. Sure I watched it when I was 8 years old and was literally half the size I am now but for those childhood years of mine it wasn’t the dark that scared me or the stories of monsters. It was the Candyman. Now you may be thinking that Candyman doesn’t really evoke terror but I’m telling you he is the stuff nightmares are made of. So much so in fact that whenever I think of horror themed characters his name pops up there along with the likes of Freddy Kreuger and Jason Voorhees.

Now suffice to say The Candyman is nothing like those guys. In his movie he is based upon the legend of Bloody Mary, wherein you say her name infront of a mirror 3 times in order for her apparition to appear. In the Candyman’s case he is also an urban legend wherein you have to chant his name into a mirror 5 times. He is the soul of a black man who at the time was a very successful artist in his village but when a white woman is mysteriously impregnated he is pointed out as the culprit. He is then apprehended and has his painting arm cut off to be replaced by a hook and if that wasn’t enough the people who accused him tied him to a pole and smeared him with honey so that bees would sting him until his eventual death. All the while these people were chanting Candyman in order to call the bees attention, since they thought they could speak to the bees (Convoluted, I know) but little did they know they would start a chain reaction that would lead us to the movie.

    I don’t really want to spoil it for anyone because I all think you should experience the movie the same way I did. I remember watching this with my father and that was one of the very few times that I ended up sleeping in my parents bed out of sheer fright. The mind games the movie plays on you as well as the shock factor of some scenes all build up to a very good movie and to add to that Tony Todd (The coroner in the Final Destination films for all you modern kids) with his menacing build and voice really made me afraid of someone like the Candyman because even if he was something of a fantasy in the movie he still seemed so real at the same time.

So if you’re looking for a good horror movie to watch and are in need of something different try picking up The Candyman and I assure you you will be frightened and if you say you aren’t then I dare you to go into your bathroom and shut off the lights, look into the mirror and chant Candyman 5 times.

- Vieo "Wholovesorangesoda?" Lopez 

Sources for images:

www.google.com, retrieved August 20, 2011.

The WWE Attitude Era

Andre the Giant and Hulk Hogan

Before World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) came to be known as what it is today, it also had its beginnings. It started off with wrestlers like Harley Race and Bruno Sammartino (not that well known I suppose) and they paved the way for the company’s golden era during the 80s which includes legendary wrestling figures such as Hulk Hogan, Randy “Macho Man” Savage, Andre the Giant and Bret “The Hitman” Hart. These men paved the way to what wrestling and the WWE is today. Before the WWE was actually called the WWE, it was called the WWF which stood for the World Wrestling Federation. And before it became what it is today, it passed through a magical era in wrestling during the 90s and it is what people call, “The Attitude Era.”

The Attitude Era

The Attitude Era changed the world of wrestling entertainment drastically. Instead of the fans rooting for the wrestlers who were the good guys, they bought into the characters that did not play by the rules and used every tactic to win, in short, the bad guys. This era was all about in-your-face, brash, edgy, smash-mouth fighting which the fans ate up. They didn’t care about the good guys winning. All they wanted was to be entertained and the wrestlers during that era were the very best in their craft. This was an era wherein every piece of equipment would be used in a match like steel chairs, tables, ladders and even plastic mannequin heads and it was totally different to the state the WWE is in right now called the “PG Era” and this era is basically a majorly less violent and offensive version of the Attitude Era.

Steve Austin decking The Rock

What actually made the Attitude Era so exciting was not the type of matches they employed but it was actually the wrestlers of the era that captivated audiences. The wrestlers at that time had the mentality of just wanting to win and get to the top of the business and they did not care what would stop them. They did not care for the fans, their other competitors or their boss, Vince McMahon. Some great wrestlers in this era included The Rock, Triple H and the man who actually headed the attitude era and became the face of the company, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin.

Steve Austin

            Steve Austin can easily be called the head of the Atittude Era because of everything he represented. He was very controversial to say the least because he was a foul-mouthed, beer-drinking S.O.B. who did not care who he went up against but just as long as he had a chance to kick someone’s a**. His biggest enemy was actually the man who ran the company, Vince McMahon. In a way, Austin represented an ideal to many people. Here was a man who was not afraid in facing the big guy. He stood up for what he believed in and fought to get whatever he wanted and I guess that was why he was the leader of the company in those times and why so many people were behind him whether he played a Heel (bad guy) or a Face (good guy).

            Suffice to say, the Attitude Era contains too many subjects of praise to contain in this one blog entry. There is no imaginable way to include all the blood lost, all the broken necks and all the careers ended during this era and it was done all for the WWE fans of that time. For those who keep on saying, “Wrestling is fake,” and all that, I tell you this: The Wrestling is not fake, it is the personas created that are fake, the wrestling moves and injuries are all 100% real.

Here's a video just to show you the lengths of what these superstars went through to entertain people:

"Edge spears Jeff Hardy off a Ladder"

So those who are down with the Attitude Era and Wrestling in general, GIVE ME A HELL YEAH!!! And if you’re not down with that, I’ve got two words for you…SUCK IT!!!

            Before I sign out, here’s some wrestling lingo to help out all of those non-smarks out there who are reading this blog J

Wrestling Terms:

1. ANGLE: A wrestling Storyline, the reason behind a feud or a turn.

2. BOOK: To schedule a wrestler for a show.

3. BRASS: Management.

4. CARD: The series of matches in one location at one time.

5. FINISH: The event, or sequence of events, which leads to the ultimate outcome of a match. 

6. HEEL: A bad guy. He breaks all the rules

7. FACE: A good guy. 

8. KAYFABE: Related to, inside information about the business, especially by fans. such as "fake." 

9. PUSH: When a wrestler is promoted on TV and through other means.

10. SCREW JOB: A match or ending which is not clean ... outside the "rules" of wrestling.

11. MARK: A member of the audience, presumed to be gullible.

12. SMART: Person who knows what's actually going on in wrestling.

13. SMARK: A fan who belives he is smart due to a certain amount of inside knowledge he has. Percieved by someone less informed.

So anyway, this has been your man Mark Javellana. Keep on reading "Brother!"

Sources:

BALESTERI, . (2004, July). Wrestling terms. Retrieved from http://www.wrestling-caricatures.com/id97.html

WWE. (2009, March 11). Edge spears Jeff Hardy off ladder at Wrestlemania 27 [Video File] [Pay-Per-View Broadcast]. In WWE Wrestlemania 17. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vfujWSabik

SportyDesktops (2011). Wrestlemania Hogan Andre The Giant [Photograph]. Retrieved from http://www.sportydesktops.com/WrestlemaniaHulk-Hogan-Andre-The-Giant/53032/

Wikia. (n.d.). "Stone Cold" Steve Austin [Photograph]. Retrieved from http://prowrestling.wikia.com/wiki/Steve_Austin

The Phantom. (2010). WWF Attitude [Photograph]. Retrieved from http://bleacherreport.com/articles/394232-the-weekly-top-ten-10-reasons-why-fans-love-wwes-attitude-era

AtotheZeem. (2010). Stone Cold versus the Rock [Photograph]. Retrieved from http://www.audioleak.co.uk/?p=886

AtotheZeem. (2010). Bang 3:16 [Photograph]. Retrieved from http://www.audioleak.co.uk/?p=886

McChildhood happiness!

“I’m hungry!”

     This is the line I would always tell my dad whenever I got home from school during my prep days (6 years old). And, because I’m such a spoiled little girl, my dad, despite being handicapped, would drive me to the McDonald’s located in Quezon Avenue, Quezon City. I would sit at the back of the car, while my dad drove as fast as he could to what I call ‘McDo’.

     In the Philippines, McDonald’s would always be a top choice when choosing a fast food chain to eat at. If wasn’t in McDonald’s, it was Jollibee. But, even though I am full-blooded Filipino, I would always choose McDonald’s over Jollibee, simply because it served some great tasting fried chicken, that truly makes you want to crave for more. The chicken, by the way, was always the meal that my dad would buy for me. We would only go through the Drive Thru service since I wasn’t so strong yet to carry my dad’s walker if ever we would have to go down from the car.

     But, out of all the times my dad and I drove thru McDonald’s, my favourite times would be when he bought me the Happy Meal. The happy meal definitely made me really happy, because not only were the toys so cute, but the box of the meal made the experience a very meaningful one! It was very different if you had to open the Happy Meal’s box to get to have a hold of your ‘Burger McDo’ and your toy, and to go through the challenge of flipping out the cardboard from the side of the box to open it. I just miss that experience, and I kind of feel sad for the kids nowadays because they don’t get to experience the same thing, but only receive their meal and toy in a regular McDonald’s plastic.

     Another McDonald’s element that really sparked up my childhood was the bench with Ronald McDonald sitting on it too! It was so funny, ‘cause when I was around 7 years old, I would always sit in Ronald McDonald’s lap and hug him as if he was a real person. And my mom would always tell me to get off of the statue because we had to leave already. I really miss those times when every McDonald’s branch I would go to would have that bench. Today, I’ve hardly seen one. 

     Even though McDonald’s would be bashed because the food that they serve contains tons of calories and all those other negative effects to our health, I would say that it will still be the most significant milestone during my childhood days. Not just because of the toys I got from the Happy Meals, or the chicken I get to eat almost every day after class [during my kinder days], but it would be because McDonald’s is how I remember my dad today, and how he tried his best to spend time with me. McDonald’s reassures me that I experienced childhood, and that I was the baby girl of my dad, who is now with our Creator since 2002.

     That’s why if I got the chance to talk to every parent in the world, I would tell  them to treat their kids once in a while in McDonald’s, cause that just be the start of a great, heart-warming memory their kids would bring with them even as they grow old and up!

Now rollin' out,
Dom Manahan :)

Sources of images:

www.google.com, retrieved August 7, 2011.

The Gulf War: The Major Middle East Conflict of the 90s

The Gulf War is one of the wars that also ravaged Iraq before the infamous Iraq-American War. Despite the Gulf War not causing any problems or issues in the Philippines, it took greats tolls on other countries, especially the Arab and Western countries. It brought several countries to war leaving Iraq solo in the war against numerous strong countries. With this said, it’s good to look at one of the wars that was highlighted during the 90s.

            The issues that sparked the start of the war have to do with the political relations of Kuwait and Iraq. One issue that sparked the war is the denial of Kuwait to relieve Iraq of its debt. Since Iraq was already having a hard time before the start of the Gulf War, it did all the possible choices to alleviate its economy’s hardships. This showed a desperate move on Iraq and it proved to be useless as Kuwait didn’t share the same sentiments of this country. Ultimately, the relations of the two became worse. Iraq accused Kuwait of forcing them to open up their oil fields to Kuwait which then made their ties suffer more.

            Another issue has to do with the land dispute between the two countries. Since Iraq was desperate to fix its economic problems, it used the fact that some of the lands of Kuwait were supposed to be part of Iraq’s. This is true due to the fact it was United Kingdom who created the borders of Kuwait and Iraq out of fear that Iraq might threaten the superiority of the British in the Arab Gulf. Kuwait still rejected these claims and after these, negotiations failed and Iraq decided to fix everything by force through their conquest for Kuwait.

            The Iraqi army was able to take Kuwait City and make a provisional government for it. The original officials of Kuwait escaped to Saudi Arabia, however; the brother of the Emir of Kuwait was killed before they escaped from Kuwait. All of these events pushed foreign nations to take action in the situation. The United States, together with other nations from the Arab nations to the nations of the European Union, decided to take a joint offensive to take back Kuwait and neutralize the Iraqi Army. Given the numbers, the coalition forces were superior in the war and pushed back the Iraqis back to their homeland. In the end, with continuous fighting for the Iraqis proved useless, an agreement was settled between the Iraqis and the coalition.

            This war had several issues to think about. One issue has to do with the possibility of the Iraqis using chemical weapons that can harm civilians and soldiers severely. Another has to do with POWs being tortured which then defies the human rights. Lastly, there was the scorched earth policy of the Iraqis as they retreated back to their homeland which left several oil infrastructures inoperable for a long time. All of these showed that there are inescapable problems in war where abuse and disrespect is prevalent.

           

          The Gulf War is the same with other wars where abuse is prevalent between two sides. They show a lesson that any kind of war is not good because certainly, there will be abuse on both sides. Of course, death of soldiers is unavoidable but torturing or harassing those who can’t fight is another issue. This has been evident in the Gulf War and it went as far as affecting civilians in countries who are not even part of the war such as Israel. These are things people have to think about and reflect on today.

Just showin' what's important!

Bowen Romero

Source:

Article:

Gulf War. (2011, July 26).Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved July 31, 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_War

Images:

Collins, S. (2008, November 16). Kuwait. The Canary Report. Retrieved July 31, 2011, from www.thecanaryreport.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/kuwait.jpg

Gulf War Troops. (n.d.).historyguy.com. Retrieved July 31, 2011, from www.historyguy.com/gulf_war_troops.jpg


Highway of Death. (n.d.).earthlink.net. Retrieved July 31, 2011, from home.earthlink.net/~lazydog2/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/highwayofdeath.jpg


Holmes, D. (1991, March 8). Various Arabic Troops during Operation Desert Storm.Wikimedia.org. Retrieved July 31, 2011, from upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/08/Various_Arabic_Troops_during_Operation_Desert_Storm.jpg


Holmes, P. (1991, February 28). British Army convoy during the Gulf War.Wikimedia.org. Retrieved July 31, 2011, from upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7d/British_Army_convoy_during_the_Gulf_War.JPEG