Tuesday, January 29, 2013

SsssAaaaFfffEeeeTtttYyyy DANCE!!


                                                      We can dance if we want to
                                        We can leave your friends behind
                                          Cause your friends don't dance
                                                  And if they don't dance
                                         Well they're no friends of mine


This epic song was first released in Canada in 1983 by the band Men Without Hats.  The first time I saw the music video, I was literally on the floor crying because I was laughing so hard! It was filmed in the village of West Kington in southwest England and is notable for its English folk revival. My best friend introduced it to me, and it has been one of my all time favorite songs ever since. I heard it was considered the theme song for Bitney College Prep a while back. Anyway, Safety Dance was actually a protest against bouncers kicking out the dancers who were "pogoing", a type of dance that involved holding the torso rigid and thrashing about while jumping up and down. Some of the lyrics like "And you can act real rude and totally removed and I can act like an imbecile" refer to what pogoing looked like to the bouncers. Safety Dance hit #11 in the Canadian top 50 on May 14th, 1983. I personally think it should have been number one. If you are ever feeling down, just turn this song on and I'll bet you you'll feel better right away!

Friday, January 11, 2013

The Breakfast Club!

  Eight hours and fifty-four minutes of Saturday detention.  Five complete strangers, each from a different clique.  This 1985 film is about how an athlete, a brain, a basket case, a princess, and a criminal endure and overcome their differences, and find that aren't as different from each other as they may think, for each one of US has a little bit of each character inside. They find that they all have strained relationships with their parents, and that they strive to be accepted as who they are.  For almost 9 hours, this misfit group of highschoolers learns to accept one another, and in the end, themselves.  This film really brings out what it means to be a teenager, and it leaves you with a triumphant fist pump of adolescence!