Extra-Terrestrial

Aliens. Are. Freaky. Especially E.T. I know he is portrayed as a kind, caring, and loving alien, but I will always be afraid of him. Every since I was little, E.T has scared me to death.  One of my clearest memories from when I was super little (like 3 or 4) was when I thought that my laundry basket was E.T and I freaked out! Anyway, this 1982 film was directed by Steven Spielberg, a well known director (he was also Dawson Leery's favorite in Dawson's Creek). The film won 4 Academy Awards, and is said to be a portrait of the director himself.  Spielberg relates himself to Elliot, the main character, in many ways such as how Elliott fakes illness by holding the thermometer to a light bulb while covering his face with a heating pad, a trick often performed by the young Spielberg. Michael's picking on Elliott echoes Spielberg's teasing of his younger sisters, and Michael's evolution from tormentor to protector reflects how Spielberg had to take care of his sisters after their father left.  No matter what though, E.T is always going to be a creep to me.

 I mean, just look at him!! ^ AHHH. 

I'm Watching You..

Every breath you take, I'll be watching you. How creepy can you get?! This song was created by Sting, the singer of the popular band, The Police. If you actually listen to the lyrics, it's really a creepy song. Even Sting said "I think the song is very, very sinister and ugly and people have actually misinterpreted it as being a gentle, little love song."  It is about a dubious character who watches someone 24/7, and somehow this song turned into one of the iconic lover's songs of today. I guess it's the chord progression or something... who knows? The music video gets me every time I watch it. That one part when he turns to the camera and says "I'll be watching you..." ahhhhh *shivers*. The video actually has a really cool black and white perspective. Anyway, Every Breath you Take is one of those songs that everyone knows, even if it is misinterpreted as a beautiful love song. 

How Soon Is Now?

How Soon Is Now is a song that has a meaning to me. The lyrics talk about someone who is shy and socially awkward. "I am the son and the heir of a shyness that is criminally vulgar, I am the son and heir of nothing in particular". This line shows how everyone feels at some point in their lives, how we can all feel shy and not connected to anyone, not noticed, and even not important. I think we've all been there. This song was released January 28th, 1985, by the British alternative rock band, The Smiths. I was searching through my parents vast CD collection and came across their "Singles" album. So I listened to it and immediately recognized this song. It has a very "80's" feel to it.

Pac-Man

Everyone knows Pac-Man. If you don't, you're considered  "non American". Thats how significant this arcade game is to our culture. It appeared in October of 1980, and became a social phenomenon. It generated more than 2.5 billion dollars in quarters by the 1990's, marking itself one of the highest grossing video games of all times. The point of the game is to navigate Pac-Man through a maze while collecting all of the little pellets. Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde roam the maze trying to kill you, and if one of them touches you, you lose a life. When all lifes are lost, the game is over. This all time classic arcade game was at the height of its time, and is even shown in the Smithsonian Institution in Wahington D.C. Pac-Man was marketed from t-shirts and toys to hand-held video game imitations, and even specially shaped pasta. Pac-Man pasta... I think yes!

That 80's hair!! (Mullet style)

One thing I think we will always remember about the 80's are the hair styles. Like, holy moly guys. I think that the worst and best one was probably The Mullet. Honestly, it's the funniest thing I have seen in a long time. Whenever I see someone with a Mullet, I get really excited because that person is automatically cool. That's why it's the worst and the best, because its so bad that it's just awesome.

Today's Friday! And you know what that means? Well, according to the British 80's rock band The Cure, it means I'm in love! While writing this song, Robert Smith became convinced that he had unknowingly stolen the chord progression from somewhere, so he called all of his buds and played the tune. None of them had heard it before, and he realized that the progression was actually his creation. When it was commercially released, it sounded a quarter tone higher than the D major scale they played it in due to Robert forgetting to turn off the vari-speed on the tape before recording. The single hit number 6 in the UK, and 18 on the Billboard Hot 100. This song was actually produced in 1992, but it's still a great song of the 80's era.