Kclapman's Blog

Gaming Systems

kclapman — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 18:15:19 +0000

Disclaimer: I am not bashing on modern gaming systems. I think that they are incredible and will only become more advanced and entertaining in the future.

   The first gaming system that my family owned was a Sega Genesis. I would spend every ounce of free time playing the console whether it was Aladdin, Lion King, Mortal Combat, Sonic the Hedgehog, or World of Illusion starring Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. I’d go to Movie Time with my dad every weekend and rent a new game.
   Then it was released. The Nintendo 64. My brother and I got it for Christmas one year and we had somewhat of the same reaction that this kid had. It came with Super Mario 64; classic. hen we got such games as Star Fox, Banjo Kazooie, Rush, Mario Kart, Bomberman, GoldenEye 007, and a personal favorite which to this day I still play probably more than I should, Super Smash Brothers.
   Unlike the games that come out for systems today, like XBox 360 or Playstation 3, Sega Genesis and Nintendo 64 games were so creative. There is no doubt that Call of Duty 4 and Fifa ’09 are a blast to play, however, they are your standard sports and first person shooter game. Where are the games like Earthworm Jim or Vectorman? I’d like to see XBox 360 create its own trademark character that isn’t your standard shoot ‘em up game. When they come out with this game I will just enjoy the console ten fold.

Pokemon

kclapman — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 17:21:46 +0000

And this is another fad that I did not partake in and, once again, I am glad that I did not. It wasn’t so much a fad because I still believe it is somewhat popular, but not as popular as it used to be. I am talking about the first 150. Pokemon.
The Japanese had done it once again. Pokemon swept the nation. Kids couldn’t stop buying them until they collected them all. Creatures on cards. It was genius. It couldn’t have cost them more than 5 cents to manufacture and they were selling them for upwards of 11 dollars. That’s not even the “rare” ones. If you had a rare holographic card (I hope my pokemon card lingo is correct), it could be worth a thousands of dollars.
I don’t even recall people actually playing the “game”. They would just have a large binder filled with cards and would show them off to each other. I did, however, get into the pokemon gameboy games. Now that was fun. As I look back now I am so relieved that I did not waste my money on cardboard. What an ingenious scam.

Boy Band Craze

kclapman — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 06:56:28 +0000

As the grunge music genre came to its end, it was time for a new genre to emerge. Step aside Nirvana and Pearl Jam. Watch out Stone Temple Pilots, Alice and Chains, and Soundgarden. Here comes the boy bands!
   First of all, I’d like to start off by saying this: why is it called a boy band? None of them play any instruments. When I think of the word band, I think that playing instruments must be involved. 5 guys standing around singing isn’t a band, but I digress.
   The first boy band to hit the scene; The Backstreet Boys. Nick, Howie, Brian, A.J., and Kevin comprised the group. But soon another band emerged. NSYNC. I preferred NSYNC over The Backstreet Boys for some reason that is unexplainable. Not that I listened to this music, of course. Or did I? And then yet another group hit the airwaves. 98 Degrees. They changed it up, however, and only had 3 members. Girls swooned over these groups while boys envied their fame and ability to attract females.
   I’m just glad that I didn’t have many opinions back when these groups were around and I didn’t really care about music that much. If I was my age now when that garbage came out then I would have lost all hope for humanity. Okay maybe not humanity, but at least the music industry. Lets just hope the next craze isn’t nearly as bad as boy bands.

Plastic Lunch Boxes

kclapman — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 00:04:29 +0000

   Some kids were excited about their first day of school outfits and what everyone else was wearing. Not me. All that I cared about was a little something that came out during lunchtime. The plastic lunch boxes.
   Whether it was Batman, Superman, Barbie, or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the small, square lunch boxes were all the rage. They all came with the convenient thurmas that took up about three fourths of the entire lunch box leaving room for just about half of a sandwich and that’s it. But still, how awesome were those things?
   My lunch box of choice was the Jurassic Park one. It was red and had one of the tour jeeps on it with a T-Rex about to eat it. The thurmas said “Biological Hazard” which I didn’t understand at the time but still thought it was pretty darn cool.
   I’d say most kids nowadays buy their lunch. Their parents are either too busy or too lazy to pack their lunches so they just hand them some money. Plastic lunch boxes made it cool to pack lunch, it was healthier, and it was more eco-friendly then say a brown bag or a plastic bag.

Trapper Keeper

kclapman — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 20:36:53 +0000

Bottom line: If you did not have a Trapper Keeper then you were a loser. What made them so cool though? Was it the awesome graphics on the front? Or could it have been the velcro strap? Either way, they were a must have.
You could buy separate “trappers” for different class subjects. The thing about Trapper Keepers was that it was nearly impossible for papers to fall out.
   If I could find a nice Full House or Doug Trapper Keeper I would most definitely use it. One binder for all my classes. They were the first real ‘Go Green’ product. Instead of having 5 disposable binders you could have one awesome one.
   Trapper Keepers were even cool enough to be featured in an episode of South Park. The episode featured a Dawson’s Creek Trapper Keeper that Cartman owned. It then got ridiculous when it grew into a monster, but that is beside the point.
   I don’t know what myself and my fellow elementary school comrades would have done without the Trapper Keeper.

Annoying Toys

kclapman — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 05:57:12 +0000

Had Furbys or Tickle Me Elmo never been invented, the world would be a better place. Kids wouldn’t wake up in the middle of the night scared out of their mind because a strange voice was coming from their closet. Dogs wouldn’t be freaking out at seemingly inanimate objects until they set off the spastic toys. Who comes up with these toys? When they were in the board room coming up with ideas for toys did they ask each other, “What can we make that will come to life on its own and never shut up?”
The Furby is like a mix between Gizmo from the Gremlins and the most annoying thing that you can think of right this second. I personally did not own one, however, my best friend did. Keep in mind this was when we were at the age when we had sleepovers, so I still had to suffer through some long nights with the toy from Hell. I think we ended up throwing it down the stairs which did absolutely nothing. If anything it just made it worse and want to talk more than normal. The worst part about the toy was that there was no off button. That had to be just a cruel joke. The makers of the Furby were probably laughing their ways to the bank.

Dr. Marten

kclapman — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 22:29:44 +0000

No, not a person. A shoe. Not a very flattering shoe at that, but they were all the rage in the 90s.
I remember having a pair of these boring brown shoes. The only reason I had them was because someone in my neighborhood grew out of them. I didn’t even like them but my mom insisted that I wear them because they were “nice” shoes.

“Those shoes were expensive and you were lucky to have them.” – My mom.

The thing that got me the most was that they weren’t even comfortable. The air padded soles were what was supposed to make them different from all other shoes and provide comfort. I see their idea, however, the inside of the shoe was just horrible. It was like wearing bricks on my feet.

Hair Styles?

kclapman — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 06:06:24 +0000

Just as a disclaimer, I will be making a couple of Full House references.

Lets reminisce for a second about the hairstyles of the 90s. We had the bodacious bowl cut, the bushy big hair, and the fantastic front wave. Personally, I rocked the front wave. I’d gush a puddle of hair gel into my hand the size of my palm and drench my hair with the sticky substance. It wasn’t perfect unless it was rock hard. I never went as far as to do the frost tips though, which I am really glad now that I didn’t. If anyone was to touch my hair I’d go Uncle Jesse on them. “Eh eh eh watch the hair, watch the hair.”

I do recall there being a worse hairstyle than this, however, and I am proud to say that I never had it. It’s quite shocking that I didn’t, actually, because when I look back into my elementary school year books I’d so a good 3 out of every 4 guys had it, and yes, even some girls. The bowl cut. I don’t know how any mother ever approved of this epidemic.
“I had the king of all bowl cuts. Wow, I can’t believe I had that.” Matt Lohr on his bowl cut.

And last but not least, the big hair. How was this even possible. Girls made their hair able to defy every law of physics, gravity, chemistry, or whatever have you. My favorite was DJ Tanner. She was a Goddess.

Responsibilities

kclapman — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 06:47:11 +0000

Things like Tamagotchi’s and Neopets, that is what we need to revive. Sure, coloring books and jump ropes will always be classic toys/things to pass the time, but what do those things really teach us? Do they have any further purposes then the actual act itself: no.
Tamagotchi’s and Neopets aren’t just a no-nonsense, virtual toy, they are much more productive. They teach kids responsibility. How many times growing up did you ask your mom for a puppy and she replied that you were too young and that you couldn’t take care of it? I’m assuming a lot since most kids want puppies and they are usually too young to have one. With the Tamagotchi, a small egg-shaped device with three buttons and a screen, kids could have a pet of their own. They had to learn to take care of it by feeding it and playing with it. The pet would even go to the bathroom and you had to clean it up. I’m not saying that it was the perfect substitution for a puppy, but they were still fun and taught responsibilities.
Neopets was a bit more of a stretch seeing as how you could buy your pet clothes but it still had to main concept of feeding and playing with them. Neopets added another factor though, that the Tamagotchi lacked. This was currency. The food, toys, and clothing had to be purchased for your pet. Just another thing to be added to the responsibilities list. I wish to see more things like this for children.
Bring back more things that teach kids responsibilities that they can still enjoy playing with.

Educational Shows

kclapman — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 06:17:01 +0000

“Can you tell me how to get, how to get to Sesame Street?” Such a catchy jingle for an excellent educational children’s show. What happened to shows like this? Actually I believe I have the answer. Parents stopped caring as much about what their kids were watching. Maybe because of the economy both parents have to be at work all day so they aren’t around to keep an eye on what their kids are watching. They will watch mindless television until their eyes bleed. Or maybe because educational programs aren’t as prevalent as they once were. I used to watch shows such as Sesame Street, The Magic School Bus, Reading Rainbow, and, my personal favorite, Bill Nye the Science Guy. Even if I wasn’t completely paying attention to what was going on or if some of the concepts were a bit over my head, just having it on was probably more beneficial then I thought at the time. Sesame Street taught me how to count, spell, recycle, and that humans and “monsters” could live peacefully in the same neighborhood. (Now that I think about it, I think the monsters may have been symbolic for something else.) Reading Rainbow taught me that reading can be fun. The Magic School Bus taught me the planets and about the human body and Bill Nye the Science Guy taught me basically everything I know today about science.
“My favorite Magic School Bus episode was the one where they went to space,” recalled Matt Lohr.
I can only think of one decent educational program on today. Dorah the Explorer. But that isn’t even a fundamental subject. I don’t think children need to be learning Spanish at that age, lets teach them math and english first. Sure, it can’t be a bad thing to expose them to another language at a young age, but there are other things they should be learning first.
Bring back more/better educational programming, like from when I was young.