Flashback

Another of my favorite childhood toys/cartoons is coming to the big screen. This time, on the heels of the shitefest that was Transformers, it’s another group of transforming robots, Voltron. No word yet on whether it’s going to be the spaceship version or the far superior lion version, but Voltron: Defender of the Universe is due out sometime in 2008.

Hopefully they’ll keep the “Let’s fight this bad guy as separate robots! Uh oh, we’re getting our ass kicked, better form Voltron. Now let’s chop the bad guy in half with a giant laser sword. Yay!” story line. This is going to be awesome! Unless they hire Michael Bay…

More details at The Game Gods

Alfonso Ribeiro, best known as Will Smith’s dorky cousin Carlton on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, pitches his instructional breakdancing book in this vintage YouTube gem. That’s right, an instructional breakdancing book. A book. Not a video. A book. Because 9 out of 10 experts agree that the most effective way to learn how to dance is from a book. Luckily the book also comes with a breaking board, a rap sheet, an instruction poster, AND “the right kind of music, Rap Attack” (actually BOTH volumes of Rap Attack). Oddly enough Tom Jones isn’t included on Rap Attack…

This is one of the scariest things I’ve seen in a long time. Michelle Ivey may be the biggest TMNT fan on the planet. She’s taken out loans to buy paraphernalia, including $3,800 for two masks from the movie. She follows a TMNT diet (strange pizza every day). She took karate lessons to fight like the turtles. Oh how I hope she’s single!

Ah, GI Joe. One of the most enduring toys of my childhood. Other lines of toys came and went, but the Joes and Legos stayed interesting through them all. I had a metric shitload of Joes and Joe-related-paraphernalia, and I loved every bit of it. Looking back on it though, some of it was really, really lame. So let’s count it down:
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The venerable 80s TV show Growing Pains is coming to Nickelodeon’s Nick at Nite, starting January 21st. This is good because if there’s one thing Nickelodeon needs it’s more Boner…

They just don’t make commercials like this one anymore. It’s a Toys R Us commercial from 1985-ish has all the things we love about 80s commercials: cheesy voice over, bad acting, and even worse special effects. But it does bring a little tear of nostalgia to my eye. Check it out:

We live in an instant gratification society, only modern technology and the internet can bring you grainy footage of the execution of Saddam Hussein on YouTube mere hours after the event has occurred. While we here at PCWEI applaud and love modern techology it IS important to remember a time (what like 10 yrs ago?) when a photograph wasn’t something digital. When a picture could capture a moment in time and be left to the interpretation of the individual viewer. In some ways the photograph is the original “pop culture event”. Afterall a picture is worth a thousand words, and stands the test of time. The latest thing on YouTube will be a faint memory to most in a few days (for some a few hours), but pictures are almost timeless.

I mean who hasn’t seen this photograph at least once in their lifetime (if not every day at school!)

So in a little bit of a flashback here I direct you to neatorama.com which posted a wonderful article to be featured in the upcoming Mental Floss Magazine. The article chronicles the “13 Photographs that Changed the World” and while it’s a pretty good list there are some interesting choices. The “Big ones” are present on the list, such as the crash of the Hindenburg, the Gettysburg Battlefield by Mathew Brady (the first battlefield photographer), the execution of a VietCong soilder a South Vietnamese General by and of course a selection by Ansel Adams. While it’s hard to argue with most of the list there are some interesting omissions in my opinion. (For the published list and photos click here)

Here are a few pictures that I’m surprised didn’t make the cut:

1.Marines raising the flag at Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima Island (Feb. 1945). Shot by AP Photographer Joe Rosenthal, this photo not only won him the Pulitzer Prize but is also probably the most famous picture from World War II.

2.Perhaps the most famous picture taken during the Vietnam War this photo taken by AP photographer Huyng Cong “Nick” Ut in June of 1972 showed the horror and agony of young Vietnamese children after accidentally being napalmed.

3. Maybe not worthy of the “Top 13″ list, but certainly an icon of the times. President Nixon’s famous “V for Victory wave” was documented many, many times to the point that the “Victory Wave” personifies the Nixon presidency about as much as his “I am not a crook” speech.

4. Though a very recent picture the raising of the American flag at Ground Zero shortly after the events of 09-11-2001 has certainly been burned into the minds of anyone who lived through that day directly or indirectly, which is probably our entire audience here at PCWEI.

5. And finally perhaps the most important picture in the history of Pop Culture. This single moment captured for eternity calls to mind the famous meetings of other greats in history. Ceasar & Cleopatra, Catherine the Great & her horse, Moses & God, and of course When Harry Met Sally all come to mind. But really does it get any better than President Richard “Tricky Dick” Nixon & Elvis “The King” Presley in 1972??? I think not……

Pop Culture at it’s finest…..

By the way if you dig Ansel Adams check out this site, or the excellent National Archives site

via B4NG

Ah, the 70s. A magical time. We had dangerous toys, coked-out music videos, and bad clothes.

Things weren’t all bad though. The 70s did bring us glorious TV. Question: What 1978 holiday special featured Bea Arthur, Harvey Korman, AND Jefferson Starship. Well, the Stars Wars Holiday special of course! (The Star Wars geeks in the audience will want to note that the cartoon in this special marks the first appearance of Boba Fett). Without further ado:

Part I:

Part II:

CityRag has compiled a list of the 50 Greatest Cartoons of All Time. The beautiful thing is that they’re all available on-line. Just reading the list brings back memories. Who doesn’t remember “What’s Opera Doc?” (The Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd epic set to Wagner). Or Steamboat Willie, the first Mickey Mouse cartoon with synchronized sound? Or, as presented the below, in the tradition of Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein, the immortal, the beloved, the epic……

Bambi Meets Godzilla

Nice job CityRag. Via BoingBoing