Raves: I Love the '90s

I Love the 90s

I never really understood nostalgia until I found myself thinking that music hit its pinnacle in 1998--strangely the same year that I graduated high school.  I am beginning to understand why my oldest sister was replacing old old Warrant and Poison cassettes with Warrant and Poison CDs in 1997.  No matter how hard you try to fight it, we all have our wonder years.

VH1 knows that people are suckers for nostalgia.  When we saw a commercial for "I Love the 90s" Traci exclaimed, "We have to get cable!  The 90s--that's us!" We didn't get cable, but during our trip to California we had the chance to see every year of I Love the 90s at least once, with the exception of 1993. (We recognize that this means we spent of lot of time watching TV on our vacation, but cable TV is a vacation in and of itself for us)

The show pokes fun at all the fads that we all got caught up in during the 90s, and are now embarrassed to admit--slap bracelets, the Macarena, Spice Girls, Teletubbies, Beanie babies, and those evil Furbies.  The best part of the show is that a lot of artists that were fads in the '90s are willing to laugh at themselves and give commentary.  MC Hammer introduces the "slammin' jammin' dance hits" of each year, Michael Bolton gives a list of the years' "hotties" and Sir Mix-a-Lot talks about why he never wants to hear "Baby Got Back" again.

As we watched the show, The memories came rushing back.  In my mind I saw myself in fluorescent orange and green Hammer pants. I actually remember wondering in 1992 why someone hadn't thought of fluorescent colors earlier. 

The 90s were great, but I'm sure 80s were great and the 70s were too.   As a magnet on my in-laws' refrigerator says "The older I get, the better I was." The 90s were great because they're over now and we only remember the good stuff.   Thanks, VH1 for helping us to remember that Vanilla Ice truly was the good stuff.

Kanye West The College Dropout

Kanye West
The College Dropout

I am by no means a very reliable source for hip-hop critique. Nevertheless, I enjoy the genre from a distance.

I had the chance to check out The College Dropout by Kanye West. West is famous for his production skills, most notably for hits like "Izzo (H.O.V.A.)" that he produced Jay-Z. This record marks West’s first attempt behind the mic.

Kanye West is not the most noteworthy rapper, but this album still shines because of the catchy beats. College Dropout draws heavily from soul and gospel samples. The standout tracks are “Spaceships,” a track about losing it at your day job, “Never Let Me Down,” with Jay-Z and “Jesus Walks” which contains the coolest line of the album, “God show me the way because the devil’s trying to break me dowwwwn.”

The drawbacks are:

1. The many high-pitched, Chipmunk-like background voices

2. Skits that break up the flow of the album

3. The hit “Slow Jamz.” (I know this a huge radio hit, but you should know how strongly I disdain all slow jams.)

Overall, a pretty good record.

Raves: My 'Dam Life

My 'Dam Life by Sean Condon

An amusing story of an outsider's view of Amsterdam

Tulips.  Wooden shoes.  Beer.  Prostitutes.  Welcome to the Netherlands.  

In My 'Dam Life, Sean Condon documents his experiences in the Lowlands after his wife Sally is relocated for her job as a magazine editor. Unemployed, Sean goes along for sake of adventure but things get a bit complicated when, shortly after they arrive in Holland, Sally's employer goes bankrupt and she is out of a job.

My 'Dam Life is incredibly funny for anyone who has ever lived in the Netherlands. Condon experiences the general lack of any form of customer service, learns how to eat an open-faced sandwich with a fork and knife, gets his bike stolen, is nearly blown up during the fire work exhibitions of New Year's Eve, and has friends named Jaap the bus driver and Joop! (exclamation point added to show how you say Joop!). 

I laughed out loud during comments about a Dutch doctor asking Sally "Now, which leg was it again?" before he operated on and when the Condon's bought their first door nameplate.  

You don't have to be familiar with the quirks Dutch culture to appreciate this book. Condon tells a great story of struggling to figure out what he wants to do with his life. 

Just as in Australia, he goes through a number of different short-term jobs in Amsterdam. Despite the uncertain circumstances, he is able to have some very interesting experiences including a dinner with Holland's famous "Happy Hooker" and 60 seconds with film director Francis Ford Coppola.

This is a must-read for anyone who has ever lived in Holland and a pretty amusing read for anyone who has tried to chase their dreams and failed miserably.