The 80s brought us lots of strange fashions. One of these was wearing what looked like fine lingerie as clothing! They were called baby doll dresses and tops. I am surprised that parents let their daughters wear some of these outfits to school. To refresh your memory, here is a picture:

Of course, what goes around, comes around, and the style is back again:

Before there was such a thing as elliptical trainers, we kids use to get our exercise walking around the yard in Romper Stompers. Remember these? Big plastic yellow cups that were turned upside down and had rope attached? You would put your feet on top of them and use the rope to help you walk around the town!

Here is a pic of the new, redesigned ones. They are not nearly as tall as the old ones.

We had one official pair at our house and then my resourceful mom made additional pairs out of tall metal juice cans and rope. We had a blast!

If you were a geek in the 70s and 80s, then you played Zork. Zork was one of the first interactive fiction computer games. There were no pictures, no fancy graphics – just text. The game was programed by four guys from MIT, three who went on to found Infocom in 1979. The original Zork started out:

West of House
You are standing in an open field west of a white house, with a boarded front door. There is a small mailbox here.

You are then able to enter keyboard commands such as: examine mailbox. That command would return: The small mailbox is closed.

It was a matter of trail and error to figure out which commands worked.

I made my own maps to figure out the game and finally finished the first one. I was never patient enough to try and finish the other two in the series. Other Zork games followed the original three and eventually graphic games were introduced. You can still download (for free) the original three games!

This one is an easy one. Cigars used to be given as prizes for fairground games. It was first recorded in print in the 1935 script of the film version of Annie Oakley. “Close, Colonel, but no cigar!” It started appearing widely in US newspapers from about 1949 onward (maybe a journalist was a fan of the old movie).

I came across a great site that list Star Trek’s 10 Cheesiest Creatures. Remember the tribbles on the original Star Trek? They made the list. As well as that blob of a monster that Spock mind melded with. The article includes a slide show with all the pictures so you won’t forget those classic monsters. Next, I hope they come out with Star Trek’s Cheesiest contemporary furniture. How was any of that furniture comfortable?

Is the playstation 3 on your gift list? We have a Playstation 2, so I am not sure that we are ready to upgrade to a new system yet. Sony decided recently to drop the price of the Playstation 3 to $399 in hopes that sales will pick up. Currently leading the game box wars are the Nintendo Wii and the Microsoft XBox 360. Sony has also released 15 exclusive games for the system. Look for a big advertising blitz this holiday season!

Better check the balance in your checking account, because the gift giving holidays are right around the corner! Big sellers this year are TV Series DVDs. Television executives have realized that you can make big bucks by just putting all the episodes from one show on a couple DVDs, put them in a nice package and sell them for $30 or more. Amazon has a sale right now for 50% off some of the titles!

I remember Fresca from the 1960s and 70s, but didn’t realize that it was even still around until someone brought two bottles to a party the other night.

Fresca is a product of the Coca-Cola company and was first introduced in 1963. It has always been marketed as a sugar-free, grapefruit-flavored drink. The only ingredient change came in 1985 when the ingredient saccharin was replaced by aspartame. Fresca was a favorite drink of President Lyndon B. Johnson. It was also slated to be the drink of the NHL in 1967, but the NHL backed out and Fresca never really became a popular drink.

Fresca has become more popular recently and has even received a packaging facelift. With the facelift, two new flavors were introduced – Peach Citrus and Black Cherry Citrus. The original flavor is called Original Citrus.

If you are into computers, then you probably get a little annoyed every time a “tech” movie makes a huge technological mistake. For instance, you just can’t take your laptop into a room and automatically hook up a Cat5E cable and make it work with the server. UseIt.com has a list of some of the top 10 bloppers. I have listed my favorites below and you can read the rest at UseIt.com.

1. The Hero can immediately use any User Interface. The hero is always able to go to any computer and automatically know how that particular server or computer works. And they always find the password! Amazing!

2. Integration is easy. Not every computer uses the same software. Often, characters are able to send files back and forth with ease. Everyone must be running exactly the same software in Hollywood!

3. Unix is Easy. I have seen too many films where the server is unix based and the hero is able to easily find the right files he or she needs. Please!

Do you want to dress like a celebrity? I just found a new site called Seen On! Seen On! features products that are worn by celebrities on television and film. You can find handbags, jewelry, clothes and more. You can even buy bobble head Dwight dolls from The Office if you wish. I am on the lookout for a North Face jacket, but unfortunately, it doesn’t look like any celebrity has worn one lately. Oh well, they are still my favorite jackets!