Livin' in the 80s Month: Day Nineteen

movies:

• uncle buck (1989) i remember the day john candy died. it wasn't that long after cool runnings came out in australia & everyone at brunswick primary was obsessed with it. kids were actually crying in the schoolyard when word got around. it was one of my first experiences with death & i remember being somewhat confused. uncle buck had been a favourite. i must've watched it at least 15 times as a kid. i have an uncle buck, i think everyone does & john hughes did a brilliant job playing tribute to the uncle bucks of the world, in this & other movies. the scene where mac culkin 20 questions john candy is one of my favourite movie moments of all time.

tv shows:

• married...with children (1987-97) season four, ep 5. guest starred kimmy robertson, who played one of my favourite twin peaks characters, the super squeaky lucy moran. she appeared in some amazing sounding films in the 80s such as 'the last american virgin' and 'my mom's a werewolf'...kyle, get on it.

• murder, she wrote (1984-96) season one, ep 1. i forgot how long this show ran for! i'm a sucker for a good murder mystery, plenty to keep me going here. jessica fletcher is one crafty cat. good times ahead!

food & drink:

barf me out, what an atrocious day of eating!

• crappy instant coffee w/ a bit of cocoa at work.

• french fries chips!

• liquorice allsorts, chocolate bullets & mineral water at bingo.

challenges/comments:

went to bingo with my mum, possibly the most 80s month safe place in melbourne. pretty sure absolutely nothing has changed at that place since the 80s, there's stains in that carpet that i recognise from 20 years ago when my nan would take me.

Livin' in the 80s Month: Day Eighteen

tv shows:

• full house (1987-95) season one, eps 10-18. kirk cameron, you sly bastard, sneaking your way into my other shows. his sister candace plays the eldest daughter DJ (who is also a bit of an arsehole in real life, though not as much as kirk & his bananas) & kirk guest stars as her cousin. the applause he gets when he enters the room is rather loud & i forget he was considered such a dreamboat...definitely the lamest of the 80s teen idols, i mean, he's no corey.

• married...with children (1987-97) season four, eps 2-4. episode four was about al getting a toothache & going to the dentist. i found myself absentmindedly checking out my own teeth while watching & a piece of my top right wisdom tooth fell into my fingers! the top left one did the same thing a few months ago & i had it pulled & i'd been meaning to go back to get the other three extracted since. so, uh, thanks bundys for the kick up the pants i needed to get to the dentist (i always knew tv was good for your health).

music:

• sparks' in outer space (1983) while making dinner.

food & drink:

• two plums & a white knight bar.
  

• twinings irish breakfast tea & homemade banana cake.

• vegetable risotto (the same one i made a couple of weeks ago from the margaret fulton book).

• blackcurrent zooper dooper.

• lemonade icypole.

challenges/comments:

i really want to know what's been happening with molly meldrum!

Livin' in the 80s Month: Day Seventeen

movies:

• the golden child (1986) this was so, so much weirder than my vague memory of it. kyle put it best when he said that eddie murphy's character doesn't even seem to know what movie he's in. freaky shit. dragons & hell dimensions & constant jokes about tibetan poverty & human sacrifice & uh, yeah. excuse my modern catchphrase, but "cool story, bro" sums up my feelings on this perfectly.

• a fish called wanda (1988) i really hate monty python. so much so that i had avoided this movie my entire life, despite the glowing recommendations, because of the python alumni involved. finally gave it a go & of course, loved the crap out of it. i like fawlty towers, so i should've known better, really. the scene with the fish made my stomach turn, though. grody.

tv shows:

• the golden girls (1985-92) season one, eps 20-25. end of the first season. the final episode is a flashback to how they all met. flashback or flashforward eps of sitcoms are always the best, especially seeing how they youngify/age the stars.

• married...with children (1987-97) season three, eps 19-22 & season four, ep 1. i love it when they show the bundys sinking particularly low, morally speaking. the first episode of season four shows kelly & bud stealing marcy's dead aunt's ashes to use in the barbeque. somehow, the characters remain relatable & likeable, instead of repulsive (the fact that i think that possibly says a lot about me...and my family, haha).

music:

still a bit of a 24hr sparks marathon going on here.

food & drink:

• dinosaur spaghetti on wholemeal toast...it's been far too long since i've enjoyed canned shaped spaghetti.

• twinings lady grey tea & homemade banana cake.

• subway veggie footlong (all salads except carrot, tomatoes & onion, swiss cheese, italian herbs & cheese bread).

challenges/comments:

all this eddie murphy in my life is making me crave a little thing from the future called chappelle's show...

Livin' in the 80s Month: Day Sixteen

tv shows:

• the golden girls (1985-92) season one, ep 19. kevin mccarthy guest starred in this episode as a love interest of blanche, instantly recognisable to me as gordon fitzpatrick from my favourite tex murphy game, the pandora directive. he also played the rival network boss in weird al's UHF & holy shit, i had no idea how old he was when he played these roles until just now. so old in fact, that he died in 2010 of pneumonia, aged 96.

• married...with children (1987-97) season three, ep 18. i only have 15 80s episodes left, bogus.

• quantum leap (1989-93) season one, eps 4-5. the first season is only 8 episodes long, long enough apparently to catch the eye of the creative arts emmys & win an award for outstanding achievement in hairstyling. for sure!

reading:

• bitch bitch bitch (1988) by mike wrenn. my mum gives me some great books. this one & the charming 'who farted?' are two of the best. bitch bitch bitch is a collection of snarky quotes from musicians, often about each other. this is gold:

"that's a conscious decision to buy clothes like that. i bet mark smith's got a wardrobe full of those mark smith shirts." - ian mcculloch, 1981.

"i went back to his house and his bedroom was just like what you'd expect. there were about 40 albums stacked against a radiator, about half of them were warped by the heat and they were exactly the right records for mark smith. and looking at his collection of shirts - they were exactly what you'd expect him to have!" - julian cope, 1981.

"julian cope's a fucking lunatic. completely obsessed. like the way he used to come round my house and rummage through my wardrobe, then go away and tell people all about it. i don't like that." - mark e. smith, 1988.

music:

• sparks' whomp that sucker (1981).

food & drink:

• twinings lady grey tea and homemade banana cake.

• maltesers, fruit, frittata & cake at the lush staff meeting.

challenges/comments:

i really wanted to see kyle after my staff meeting ended. he was at a gig, so i popped down to surprise him. i was only there for an hour & the music wasn't distinguishable to me as anything in particular, let alone a particular genre or era, so i've decided it wasn't a major cheat, just where my husband happened to be! i didn't really listen to it, honest. carey even managed to find some 80s music in his car to play on the drive home. stoked.

Livin' in the 80s Month: Day Fifteen

movies:

• dirty rotten scoundrels (1988) i am a huge nerd for steve martin. that man is right up my alley (if only i meant literally...). it'd been long enough since i'd seen this that i'd forgotten the twist ending, making for a most enjoyable viewing experience. martin & michael caine play con men who get into a bit of a 'this town ain't big enough for the two of us' tizzy. they make a bet to see who can be the first to con a lonely lady out of $50k, the loser agreeing to leave town. hilarity follows. no, really, it's extremely funny. directed by frank oz, who went on to make some seriously righteous movies, such as what about bob?, housesitter, the indian in the cupboard, in & out, and bowfinger. i can't believe a man capable of such greatness has spent so much time involved with wretched puppets, grody.

tv shows:

• quantum leap (1989-1993) season one, eps 1-3. holy shit! why has it taken me so long to watch this show properly?! sam beckett is a physicist who gets ripped from 1999 during a time travel experiment & gets lost in time. every episode has him leaping into someone else's body & he has to figure out how to right the wrong in their lives, aided by his hologram sidekick, al. BITCHIN'.

• married...with children (1987-97) season three, eps 8-17. had, ah, a bit of a marathon. missing from the sequence i watched was an episode titled "i'll see you in court", which only aired in 2002, 13 years after it was filmed. the storyline revolved around the bundys and the rhoades being secretly filmed having sex in a sleazy motel & the fox network deemed it too risque to air at the time. i've never seen it before, but it's included on the last disc of my dvd set, so i'll watch it later.

food & drink:

• cappuccino.

• eggs, avocado & sundried tomatoes on wholemeal toast.

• leftover veggie pastries.

• twinings traditional afternoon tea & homemade banana cake.

• 2 bubble logs.

• pumpkin soup.

challenges/comments:

milkbars have gone way downhill, i can't get my hands on enough of my favourite childhood lollies. such a crappy, basic selection. i miss those little garbage bins full of lolly shaped garbage, i saw some similar ones somewhere a couple of years ago, but they weren't in the same cool bin.

Livin' in the 80s Month: Day Fourteen

movies:

movie night with my friend emma...i saved my favourite john hughes movie (ferris) & her favourite (the breakfast club) especially for tonight.

• sixteen candles (1984) features some of the most hilarious & true to life grandparent-grandchild interaction in cinematic history. also, the guy who plays long duk dong has a great bit in another of my favourite movies, weird al's UHF.

• ferris bueller's day off (1986) my number one favourite movie (or favourite anything, really) of all time. every second is a work of art. my instant cure for i-hate-the-world-itis. thank you, john hughes.

• the breakfast club (1985) emma noted that the janitor was the same actor who played the sister's fiance in sixteen candles, something i'd never noticed (he's got a small role in weird science too).

tv shows:

• married...with children (1987-97) season three, eps 6-7. episode 6, 'her cups runneth over' is infamous for the complaint it attracted by an irate viewer. she was a bible-basher who thought the show to be too racy & launched a campaign to have it taken off air. unfortunately for her, it backfired & all the publicity made viewers curious, sending ratings through the roof. apparently the producers have sent her a fruit basket every year for christmas since.

music:

• sparks' in outer space (1983) & angst in my pants (1982) while baking. every time i listen to sparks, i wonder why i ever listen to anything else.

food & drink:

• horrible lipton tea at work in the morning.

• much better twinings traditional afternoon tea & a curly wurly when i got home.

• homemade pumpkin soup & bread for lunch.

• lemonade icypole.

• treats for emma's visit! banana cake, bubble logs, afghan cookies, chocolate rocks & savoury vegetable parcels. sweets were made with secret mum recipes, all are things i grew up making & eating with mum & i completely associate them with the 80s.
  

• all kinds of bitchin' cocktails made by our accomplished bartender, k-man.

challenges/comments:

i came home from work to find kyle had given life to the pumpkin. this isn't the first time i've found him writing on our food.