Tired of Using Technology?

Every holiday season, when I'm busy with end of term papers and exams, my parents demand a Christmas list. So every year, I write them an elaborate list with one item I know I won't get. Last year it was a labtop. The year before it was a new cell phone (there was nothing wrong with the one I had). One year it was even a way to Save the Whales. But this year, there were a few things: a new digital camera, an iPod alarm clock, and again...a labtop.

Well no wonder I don't always get everything I want. I'd be costing my parents a fortune, and they've got three other daughters to please. Plus, my lists are a bit overwhelming and filled with all these technological items my Mom probably thinks you can download online. (She thinks you can download everything) So how does my Christmas list relate to the 90's? All the things I want pretty much come from the fact that the internet dominates my life. And , when did the internet first come out? Though it had been worked on for many years previous, By 1996 usage of the word "Internet" had become commonplace.

If the internet had never came to be "common place", would I still crave all of these things? Well I certainly wouldn't want a digital camera as bad. I mean let's face it, I want one so that I can post all my photos on Facebook, and show my online friends what I've been up to - even if its as simple as a night out to the movies, or a night of playing in the leaves. And without the internet, what purpose would an ipod alarm clock serve me? Better yet, what would I do with an ipod at all? No internet would mean no Limewire, which would mean no song downloads, which would mean....no ipod. And lastly, a labtop. I know I wouldn't want a labtop if the internet didn't exist. What would be the point? Would I bring it to lecture and "take notes", while actually playing Mindsweeper or drawing pictures in Paint? No way, I'd need the internet as my distraction -able to lead me to the online world of e-mail, random websites, and of course Facebook. Never in Dale's class though.

The internet has obviously changed very much since the 90's. I remember the day we got dial-up. My Uncles all came over to help set it up as my Dad ran around the house screaming
WWW. we-are-a-hip-familly-now. com! In the 1990s, when it was new to me, I used the internet minimally - for the purpose of search engines, and the occasional Yahoo game. After I was introduced to instant messaging, the internet pretty much crawled into my life and leeched onto to my existence. I try to picture my life without MSN , Facebook, or e-mail, and sadly I just can't do it. I have come to rely on the internet so much that my Christmas list pretty much revolves around the fact that the internet is such a dominant tool in my life.

Sheesh, no wonder Justin Timberlake is "tired of using technology".

It (was) a Twin Thing

You know the "Windows Live Today" window that pops up everytime you log onto MSN? (It tells you how many e-mails are in your inbox, and has other random links to interesting news stories). I barely ever pay attention to it but today I actually clicked on a link. It was about one of the Olsen Twins. And it was about one of the Olsen Twins being in the hospital. My heart dropped when I read the title, as I thought Mary Kate was having another anorexic episode, but to my relief, it was simply a kidney infection that forced her into the hospital. *Phew*.

After reading the "article" (it was like 10 lines long), I wondered to myself why I was so interested in this random celebrity's health issues. Then I realized, this star was not so random to me at all. In fact, I would consider Mary Kate Olsen to be one of my... friends. I've never met either one of the Olsen twins, but still, I pretty much grew up with them. Admitedly, it may have been a "long distance relationshiop", as there was a television screen between us, but I tell you, I love(d) those twins. I mean, who didn't, they were America's favourite twins.

My "friendship" with the twins began with my discovery of Full House in the early 90's. "You're in big trouble mister" and "You got it dude" were as cool as saying "Hollla" today, (right?). They were cute, they were funny, and most of all, they were two. When I found out there was two Michelle's, I became doubly fascinated.

I watched FullHouse faithfully, collected the Michelle Book series, and bought and memorized all of their movies. Two of a Kind, How The West Was Fun, Double Double Toil & Trouble, To Grandmother's House we Go, Billboard Dad, Passport to Paris - I still have e'm all. The Adventures of Mary Kate and Ashley series was my favourite. It featured the twins solving various mysteries, and I think that was around the time I decided I'd grow up to be a spy. However, my all time favourite MK & A video was definetely "Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen: Our First Video". The video was just a compilation of songs that the twins sang, but I adored it, and I can honestly still remember the lyrics today.

The twins have been heavily criticized for their lack of acting and singing skills, and I can't say that I do not agree. Past their "prime" (the 90's) they never put on award worthy TV show or movie roles. Anybody remember "So Little Time"? It's kind of like they grew up and lost their ability to "get away" with thier lack of talent. Was it because they weren't cute little Michelle Tanner anymore? Or was it simply because they had grown out of their childhood?

I might wager the guess that it was also because they began to stray away from their "twinness". It seemed that after years of being viewed as one cohesive unit, the girls began to search for their own, seperate, identities. This began with little things - different hair cuts, different fashion choices, and more recently it has turned into taking on independent acting roles. (MK in Factory Girl and The Wackness, and Ashley in the upcoming The Informers) America's favourite twins were definetely my favourite twins in the 90's. I hear of them every once in a while in current Celebrity Gossip, and when I do, I always turn an eager ear. Like today, when I read that MK was in the hospital again, it felt as if a friend was sick. Kudos to Mommy Olsen for auditioning them for Full House. According to Forbes' magainze, they're now estimated at being worth 100 million dollars, and were placed together at #11 richest women on the Celebrity 100 List. Good things come in pairs? Besides the (post 1990) lack of skill and sickly eating disorder, "You got it dude!"

Virtual Pets- Virtually Replaced

I volunteer in a grade one classroom on Fridays, and lucky pour moi, Friday is show'n'tell day. Sometimes the kids bring in some pretty sweet stuff - I've seen light sabres, an old hornet's nest and old baseball cards to name a few. But what I cannot believe is the overwhelming amount of WEBKINS that are brought in. Week after week, it never fails. I know fosho that atleast one kid is bringin' in a webkin.

For those of you who don't have younger siblings, or simply don't know what Webkinz are, they look like your average stuffed animals - cute, fuzzy, with those big droopy eyes. What is so popular about them though, is that they require more "care" than plain old Mr. Bear does. At WebkinzWorld online, kids can register (a.k.a adopt) their webkinz via a secret code found on their tags to delve into an online world of fun.
Once adopted, children can earn "kinzcash" to build their webkin a house, buy their webkin clothes, purchase their webkin food, and even play games with their webkin

So....right. How does this relate to the 90's? Well, the concept of Webkinizm reminds me an awful lot of the virtual pet craze that passed in the 90's. Just about every kid I knew owned a Nano, Tamagotchi, or Gigapet, and in some cases, they owned all three...(lucky ducks). I am no toy expert, but I assume what was so cool about these egg shaped computers too was the fact that, as children, we could control the happiness of our virtual pets through feeding, cleaning and playing with them simply by clicking three small buttons.

Now let's compare webkinz and Tamagotchis.

Webkinz world is available online anywhere. Tamagotchis were only available if your battery didn't die out. Webkinz come in all sorts of animals - tigers, elephants, bears, cats. Tamagotchis were only one kind of pet .... but ummm .... .whoa .. .. what were tamagotchis? Webkinz allows you to build your pets new homes. Tamogotchis were restricted to life inside an egg. And finally, Webkinz are soft. Tamagotchis were plastic.

So like, holy-genius Webkinz inventor. Way to re-invent (and improve) the virtual pet of the 90s. I give you my kudos big time. You're like the next Ty Warner! Combining various kinds of play into one furry plush toy, what a great concept. Looks like if you take the centuries old stuffed animal and inject it with some "virtual pet" qualities, bam, you've got yourself a recipe for success.

Help Wanted: TV Junkies

From the time that I started University four years ago, I can count on one hand the number of Saturdays I've been awake before noon. I'm not some scum of the earth loser who sleeps the day away, but weekends are a time where I usually get to embrace the joy of having no school or work obligations. Any student can vouche that catching up on the zzz's is a good thing, but what about the 'bad' part of sleeping in? And especially on Saturday mornings - what, if anything, am I missing?

The reason I wonder this is because growing up in the 90's, sleeping in on a Saturday would have meant missing out on solid Saturday morning TV. But whatever happened to those programs? I don't wake up early often, but the few (errr...3) times that I have watched morning TV on a Saturday, I'm pretty sure the pickings have been slim.

Admittedly, I could be wrong, and if I am, I wish to be corrected. Please, those of you overly ambitious early birds feel free to tell me about Saturday morning TV nowadays. Has it changed much since the 90s, (assuming that you watched it then too)? If so, has it changed for better or for worse? Favourite programs, crappy programs - I'm curious about them all.

Now if you're wondering what shows I did enjoy watching as a kid, my Saturday morning line up usually included all or some of these shows: Breaker High, HangTime, Saved by the Bell, and DOUG. That being said, you might consider me the type to enjoy shows similar to programs of this nature. Oh and FYI, I hated Barney. But I'm still fairly open minded.

So, again, if you have any recommendations, I'd me more than willing to check them out. I hope to compile a sort of examination of morning TV from the 90s vs. now. And to be honest, I simply don't want to wake up early on Saturday if the shows aren't worth watching. Girls gotta have her sleep. Help a sista out!

All of THIS, just cuz I forgot about "Shuffle"

Every once in a while, like today, I set my Windows Media Player to "shuffle" and just let the songs play as they may. Completely forgetting that my song choice was on 'shuffle', I failed to deactivate my MSN feature "Turn on what I'm listening to". (Basically this means that any one of my friends online this afternoon could see what songs I was listening to.) I'm not saying that I'm ashamed of my tunes, but we all have our guilty pleasures in life, right? This afternoon, my guilty pleasure took shape in the form of Celion Dion's "My Heart Will Go On".

Actually, it's not right to call this song my guilty pleasure, as I don't even particularly like it. In fact, I even find it mildly annoying. But I am guilty of having it downloaded on my computer. Don't judge me, I bet you've downloaded it too. It's okay, here's the reason why: Titanic. It's pretty much impossible for me to listen to the song without thinking of Titanic, simply because Titanic was huge. Well, yes the ship itself was huge, but I was more pertaining to the 1997 movie. No need for me to explain much - historical tragedy + star crossed lovers = huge blockbuster hit that won enough Oscars (11!) to weigh down the whole Titanic (not funny? K.)

So what I'm wondering is why this film was so popular in the 90's? I mean, there had been earlier adaptations of the Titanic story , but none were comparable to the quality put forth by James Cameron in the '97 version. I'm nor Siskel or Ebert, or even Roeper, but I guess I'll wager a guess. It had to have been that love story (Correction* obviously it was the love story) . Seriously, mention the movie Titanic to any female friend, and I bet she'll turn googly eyed, and go "Awwww". Me being no exception.

I loved Titanic because it went above and beyond love story.

First of all, Jack saves Rose from plunging head first into the Atlantic. Then teaches her how to 'fly'. Rose is then forbidden to see him and they sneak around the ship in secrecy - scandalous. Then of course comes the the naked sketch. Everyone remembers the naked sketch.

Very passionate also was the sex scene, in the car, aboard the ship - will you ever look at a hand print on a fogged window the same again? (sorry, couldn't find a pic) And then of course Rose risks her own life, leaving her family behind, in saving Jack when the ship is going down. On the whole, I adore this film and could watch it over and over. There is however one part of the movie that really pisses me off -the ending. Listen carefully in this clip, as Jack's voice has been edited in, but you'll hear Rose's (in)famous words at the end. (Sorry, only one I could find under ten minutes).


Did ya hear that!? She says she'll never let go. Then she instantly pushes him into the icy waters and he dies. What the hell? Sure, the movie wouldn't have been complete if they had both lived, and as an English major I should understand that figuratively, "in her heart", she won't ever let go (Notice the song in the background?) But in 1997, I was 11, and Leanardo Dicaprio was hot. I walked out of the theatre fairly upset, but my young opinion alone did and does not change the fact that this film was hugely famous in the 90s, with reason. That being said, I guess all good things must come to a (sometimes crappy) end.