I know I'm new here so this is probably gonna sound totally nuts but do any of you get emotional when you watch some of the movies we grew up on? Thinking how much simpler life was, how little responsibility we had, when our biggest stress was coming home too late and getting grounded; how big a fight we'd have with our parents 'coz we got caught drinking with someone and were told we couldn't hang with them anymore (as if that stopped us LOL!).

Only reason I'm asking is I just watched The Breakfast Club and all this stuff came wailing down on me like a brick wall at the end of it. Not in a bad way, it feels good but kinda bittersweet that we can't ever go back there. We had our day, we had our fun and we've got a sh*tload of great memories to look back on. Sh*t just isn't the same now. Same thing happened last weekend when I was watching Tuff Turf.

Man, to be able to go back and live it all again, just for ONE MORE SUMMER...everything exactly as it was.

You ever get like that?

I still find the scene in E.T. where E.T. dies sad, even though he does come back afterwards, and also the scene in The Neverending Story where the horse dies after sinking in a swamp, they also happen to be two of my favorite movies.

That is one of the greatest reasons why I became a teacher.  I have two whole paid months of vacation and I have been playing commodore games and atari, and watching He-man and Jem cartoons, and listening to the top music of the 80's.  I am loving every bit of the brief time I have in going retro  :)

Basically, what I am saying, is that even though we can't turn back the clocks, we can definitely still enjoy every bit of the 80s.  Without the technology of today, it would actually be harder. 

Man, I forgot about The Neverending Story...that was a cool one. Have to look to see if I taped it.

Dew-You nailed it! Without the technology we have now, its made it far easier to sort of re-live the days. Was LMAO a few days ago when I found a site with a bunch of the old commercials. Or the one I ordered a pair of Bugle Boy Parachute Pants that I just got today and am now wearing ;D Course, the really cool ones  wanted are way too small. Not a cold chance in hell I could squeeze into a 28 waist now. I'm only a couple sizes bigger...just enough to be torture UGH!

I'm loving it...just miss my buddies and hanging out and that stuff.

There is actually an online movie store called Net-flix that can hook you up to some of the 80's stuff.

Sometimes I watch some of the old school movies such as Back To The Future which I like to watch over and over but it does bring back memories. :)

Thankfully old TV shows are now aviable on DVD.  :)

Thankfully old TV shows are now aviable on DVD.  :)


I wish Paramount would hurry up and put Friday the 13th: The Series on DVD. I've encountered quite a few people on line who would love this. My tapes are getting old.

Was Freddie's Nightmare Cafe ever out on VHS?

Sometimes I watch some of the old school movies such as Back To The Future which I like to watch over and over but it does bring back memories. :)


I can totally see Howard watching Back To The Future while playing with a 2XL.

Well I moved from NY to CA when I was 12, so yes there are alot of bittersweet memories, both of childhood versus teens, and New York versus CA.  I would love to get a whiff of that mix between bus exhaust and pastries that I can remember so well from my NY childhood.

I know exactly what you are talking about MetalManiac.

I sometimes wish I was back at school. I used to worry even as a child and now understand there was absolutely nothing to worry about. If I were to relive my childhood it would be to enjoy it more.  :)

'See no evil, here no evil' reminds me of a school friendship I had and we saw that at his birthday party (even though he was nowhere near 15, lol). There are loads of films that make me feel anxious for the past (Wierd Science, Uncle Buck, Neverending Story, Labyrinth . . .) but it's more difficult to listen to certain songs that immediately transport me back in time.

It is true, I believe music is the closest thing we will get to a time machine.  :)

I can totally see Howard watching Back To The Future while playing with a 2XL.


Hey Howard...did you ever get your 2 XL off eBay?  I just ran home to my dads house and should have gone to the attic to see if it still worked. Just grabbed some of those bright 'garish' tank tops that surprisingly still fit me. And 2 Chams de Baron shirts that I never thought would fit me 20-25 years slater but am shocked they still do.

2XL and Simon will be the next treasures I go digging for.

Hey Bobby...Couldn't agree more with you. I didn't worry that much back then but I sure as hell took it all for granted. Figured we'd always have our stuff and the generation next in line would have theirs and so on. OK, so I was naive LOL! Never thought it would end.

Far as school goes, I can't say I wish I was back. I hated school. I guess I was a combination of Bender and Allison in school. Hung out with the rockers/stoners sparking up a lot in between classes. Didn't get on well with many others in school although looking back at it now, school was pretty cool in that regard.

Have to rent See No Evil, Hear No Evil...I remember the name but never saw it. Richard prior was in that, wasn't he? 

The movies take me back and I can recollect certain sounds or smells or things like that that make me long for them again. Music hits me entirely different and I think you're right...it is the ultimate time machine. I went through a period in the mid-late 90's that as long as the guitars were screaming, I was OK...otherwise I had severe panic attacks.  Now I have to be careful...although I'm REALLY happy when I'm listening to it, certain bands can really hit me hard. I remember not long ago getting REALLY emotional listening to Iron Maiden and thinking "Oh f*&k, I'm going to see them next week and if I start crying at the show, I'm gonna look like a total fool" Same with Judas Priest last month. Did ok tho-until Eddie walked out on stage LOL! I went nuts & lost it at that.  I never know how it's going to hit me.

Man, that makes me sound like a psycho LOL!

Glad to see the responses here, least I know it's not only me. A friend's nephew PO's me, often saying "What is it with you old people living in the past." Then I think he doesn't know any better. ...when he's in his 30's maybe his turn will come.

I love this thread, MetalManiac! 

One thing that really gets me is the beginning of June when the kids all get out of school.  I remember feeling like I couldn't wait another second for summer to come, and when it finally did, there was nothing better.  There is always a certain smell in the air at that time, and every so often I'll catch a whiff and be transported back to those days when all I wanted was to ride my pink banana seat bike and play with my friends.  Movies don't do it to me as much as music does.  I was in the 5th grade when Def Leppard's "Hysteria" came out, and I played that tape over and over again.  My husband bought me the CD for Christmas this past year, and every time I play it I shoot straight back to that time.  Bobby is absolutely right - music really is a time machine.

Great thread!  I know exactly how you feel.  I've been this way for a few years now, but moreso recently- I go out of my way to find old 80's movies or even TV shows to watch- many of them really do bring me back.  And the music- well, I've been collecting CD's of all of my favorites for a long time now.  However the biggest thing that really brought me back was last weekend- my wife and I drove up to my hometown of Brookings, South Dakota for a family reunion.  We had some time to kill so we drove around town, went to find the townhouse where we had lived from 1985 through 1989 (this was during my 3rd grade through 6th grade years in school)  We parked in front of the place, and all of the memories came flooding back- those were the best 4 years of my life, and I just stared at that front door, the bedroom windows, the sidewalks out front, just imagining my friends and I playing outside with our transformers, jumping our bikes off of rickety ramps we made out of scrap wood while blasting Bon Jovi, Europe, and Def Leppard on our battery powered boom boxes.  Remembering those endless summers where my brother and sister were at the babysitter every day but I got to stay home, so my friend from next door would come over every morning to hang out and watch our great TV lineup- G.I. Joe, Transformers, reruns of Dukes of Hazzard and CHIPS. 
The place hadn't changed at all besides the paint color on the front door- I would have loved to have been able to go inside and look around.  It is sort of bitter sweet, because it brings back so many warm, exciting memories- of a time when life seemed perfect, and yet now- 2005- sitting there I can't forget that our world seems so much different.... the neighborhood wasn't the same, more quiet, more serious... and of course my own life is much more serious now, with adult responsibilities. 

Murf- That must have been a real mind blower to go back and see the house you grew up in. Kinda surreal, huh, to be sitting in a car thinking back to those times and suddenly realise "Hey, I'm sitting here with my wife" while the memories flood back? The battery powered boom boxes...I think I still have mine in the attic-not too much of a pack rat, am I  ;D  I remember all too well sailing off ramps on our bikes, tho that was the late 70's for me,  often sailing over the handlebars as well. My knees still bear the scars :o And then your mom soaking it in warm, salt water when it got infected. Life did seem perfect then...Think the strangest thing is looking back on it, I feel I had more direction and control over my life then than I do now. Ahh, the joys of teen age irresponsibility  :D We knew it all, we had a handle on it all, we were gonna conquer it all  :D ;D 8)

Ashkicksa*s ~ June was the magic month!  Warm days to do whatever, hot summer nights to hang out, kick back and do whatever. It's hot as hell here right now which is taking me back to the summer I was 16/17...the late August nights my buddies and I would hang in the park shooting hoops listening to Def Leppard, Ratt, Quiet Riot until the cops chased us out. Pyromania was our staple. Man, we wore that out...makes me think of cook outs and pool  parties and sneaking off somewhere to sneak a beer which we usually got away with

Jerry

MetalManiac- it was surreal, I guess that's the best way to put it.  And you mention the summers- it's amazing how long and endless the summers seemed to be back then, and just how stable and secure our lives felt.  (my mom was having a tough time getting by financially, but I never would have known it... after all, life was perfect then! :-) 

I can totally see Howard watching Back To The Future while playing with a 2XL.



Buying a 2XL won't happen yet but I can see myself watching BTTF. ;D

Hey Howard...did you ever get your 2 XL off eBay?  I just ran home to my dads house and should have gone to the attic to see if it still worked. Just grabbed some of those bright 'garish' tank tops that surprisingly still fit me. And 2 Chams de Baron shirts that I never thought would fit me 20-25 years slater but am shocked they still do.

2XL and Simon will be the next treasures I go digging for.


No,My father thinks I'm too old for it.He'll most likely tell me to"grow up" ;D

No,My father thinks I'm too old for it.He'll most likely tell me to"grow up" ;D


LOL! Look at it this way...we're all at a crucial time in our lives...to keep the mind active and supple so it'll work well into our golden years (I thought we already had those 20 years ago tho). Anyhoo....2XL is educational...it'll get your mind working and keep it active so tell him it's precautionary measures.  ;D

Speaking of 2XL, what was that other electronic educational game we had...think it came in a red cheque-book type wallet and there was a booklet that was filled with questions and you interacted with it via a built in calculator type thing. Think you could also buy additional booklets on various other topics.  Anyone remember that?

LOL! Look at it this way...we're all at a crucial time in our lives...to keep the mind active and supple so it'll work well into our golden years (I thought we already had those 20 years ago tho). Anyhoo....2XL is educational...it'll get your mind working and keep it active so tell him it's precautionary measures.  ;D

Speaking of 2XL, what was that other electronic educational game we had...think it came in a red cheque-book type wallet and there was a booklet that was filled with questions and you interacted with it via a built in calculator type thing. Think you could also buy additional booklets on various other topics.  Anyone remember that?



Alfie? ???

Alfie..Hmm, nope..think it had something to do with Merlin or Wizards or something.

AH! Quiz Wiz!  That was it. Just googled it. Not sure if posting urls is cool or not so I won't.