The Battalion
Page 3 • Wednesday, October l, 2003
As the first melodi
ous chords of his favorite sing-along, “Sweet
Caroline," sounded through the crowded New Orleans bar,
Travis Bragg smiled victoriously. After haggling and bargaining with the reluctant
, house band, he had managed to convince it to play a tune by his favorite singer, Neil
Diamond, in exchange for a small fee.
Bragg, a student affairs administration for higher education graduate student, has
been a loyal Neil Diamond fan since childhood. Growing up. his favorite movie was
I "The Jazz Singer,” and he remembers belting out “Coming to America” every time
l he watched it.
“Neil has the best road trip music. You put that in, and everyone looks around
, to see if they are the only one ‘uncool’enough to know the words,” Bragg said.
When Matt Weber, a senior mechanical engineering major, saw the Toadies for
the first time, it was late in the band's musical career. Although the band hit its
i prime around 1993, Weber was introduced to the Toadies' music in 1998 and con-
firmed his passion at a concert at Shadow Canyon in 2001. Ever since, the group
i has been his favorite, even if it isn’t a group anymore.
“I went to two concerts of theirs. First 1 saw the farewell concert, and then I
saw the reunion concert. It was good,” he said.
Weber’s bedroom is decorated with Toadies posters, one of which is signed
by the lead singer.
“I felt really bad. I went to his new band’s CD release party and had him sign
I a Toadies poster,” he said. “I hadn't even heard his new stuff.”
When asked about his loyalty to this band of the past, Weber explains that
[ “the best music came out of the early ‘90s.”
The 1990s, the 1980s and even the 1970s are decades that today's college
students grew up in. Looking back over the past 25 years or so, it isn’t hard to
remember the great things that cane from the time period, some of which
i have withstood the test of time.
Of course, now some of the nostalgic artifacts are hitting the mainstream
I yet again. For instance, Care Bears can be in seen in malls and Wal-Mart’s,
and young adults tire digging through their parents’ attics to find the boxes
marked “toys.” TV stations such as Cartoon Network are bringing back
childhood classics such as “Thundercats” and “Speed Racer.” Movies from
long ago, such as “Animal House,” are now being rereleased on DVD.
All of these things are well remembered and even celebrated, but they
^ aren't the only ones. Everyone has some obscure piece of history that is near
and dear to his heart, and Aggies are no different. Whether they admit it or
not. these memories, although deemed cheesy by some, can still bring a
i smile to their faces and put a twinkle in their eyes.
Cabbage Patch Kids will never go out of style for freshman education
| major Kara Crowley. Her love for these once-popular dolls was estab
lished the day she was bom when she received her first and favorite one:
1 Maryhadrena.
She still has more than 50 of them, most of which decorate her bedroom
I at home in San Antonio. She remembers playing house aid school with
[them and even recalls taking them on grocery store outings.
Whenever her neighbors’ kids ring the doorbell and wait to play
[dolls, Crowley happily joins them. Her vast collection of Cabbage Patch
[Kids gets another chance to play with its devoted owner.
Every time senior agronomy major Nick Mims goes home, he and
[his sisters take a little trip to Showbiz Pizza, now known as Chucky
iCheese. Mims has been going to Showbiz since he was a small child
[with nothing but a dream of someday owning the umbrella with the
[smiley face on it. Unfortunately, it was priced somewhere in the 4,(XX)
\ticket range, an amount of tickets that seemed a bit out of reach.
”1 loved that place so much that I worked there,” Mims said.
He recalls his favorite Showbiz attraction with a smile on his face.
[Nothing can ever compare to the rocket ship that ascends into the
[hole in the ceiling, giving its passenger a view of what is intended to
[represent stars, he said. Mims still squeezes into the ship and enjoys
I the view even now.
Video games are a favorite pasttime for many. It seems as if
every year a new gaming system hits the shelves, but none coin-
bare to the original Nintendo system, said senior anthropology
[major Justin Luckenbach.
Luckenbach got his Nintendo when he was in third grade and still has it set up.
At one time he had about 30 games. Now he doesn’t have quite as many, but he stills j
plays on a regular basis.
Luckenbach also has an abiding love for “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” andj
“Transformers.” He has action figures from both and has been a fan as long as he j
can remember, he said. Whenever he sees a “Transfonners” episode on TV, he j
watches it, and he said he religiously keeps up with the new “Ninja Turtles” car- j
toon episodes.
New Kids On The Block were the teen idols of the early 1990s. Most pre-teen |
and teenage girls were obsessed with the five heartthrobs, and senior agricultural
economics major Allison McClendon was no different.
“I found out that I loved NKOTB the first time I heard one of their songs on
the radio,” McClendon said.
Ever since fourth grade she has had an undying love for the boy band. She still
has her original cassette tape and recently burned a CD composed entirely of its
music, including her favorite song, “Hangin’ Tough.” She also had a large col- 1
lection of paraphernalia including posters, T-shirts, bed sheets, action figures aid
signature buttons, but was devastated when her parents sold it all in a garage sale
when she was a sophomore in high school.
Every day since sixth grade before she left for school, student affairs admin
istration for higher education graduate student Vanessa Roberts set the VCR to
record “Days of Our Lives.” She enjoyed the storyline, but her real interest was
in characters Jack and Jennifer.
Roberts knows everything about their relationship, starting with the begin
ning all the way up to the present. At home, she has magazine articles and pho-
tographs including their wedding picture and a small collection of videbtapes
with every episode up until they changed actors.
Fortunately for Roberts, the originals are back on the show aid she once
again watches so as not to miss a minute of the Jack and Jennifer saga
Another TV show that hasn’t lost its edge for Dan Long, a senior indus
trial distribution major, is “Hogan’s Heroes.” Long would skip lunch in
high school every day to go home and watch it. He has been a fan since
fifth grade.
“You'd think that I would have seen all the episodes by now, but every
time I watch it, I’m like, ‘this is hilarious! I haven’t seen this one before,”'
Long said.
He can name every character from the television show, which aired
from 1965-1971, and also which actors played them.
“Star Trek” is another show that is still appreciated by a few. Watching f
“Star Trek: The Next Generation” is a favorite pasttime for Stephanie
Thompson, a senior animal science major. She has watched it with her
parents since it first came out and is now hooked. During her high school
years, she wrote a paper about all the different species of aliens for an
English class aid got an “A.”
“I never got into the newer Star Treks,” Thompson said.
Thompson still watches it in syndication and has seen almost all of j
the episodes. She also likes the Star Trek movies.
“It's a lonely yet exciting time when a new movie comes out and no
one wants to go watch it with me,” Thompson said.
The ultimate blast from the past has to be “Saved By The Bell.” Jon
Boben, a sophomore business administration major, and Leigh
Henderson, a senior psychology major, are in their own words,
“obsessed” with the TV show. Together, they exchange away messages
and text messages consisting of notorious quotes from “Saved by the
Bell.” They watch it everyday and have even been known to play Bar |
Trivia locally against players throughout the nation, including the cast
itself. They are currently ranked in the top 10.
Boben and Henderson have started a collection of episodes that
they have downloaded and burned onto DVDs aid are currently Hy
ing to find anything they can pertaining to the show on e-Bay.
“To us, ‘Saved By The Bell’ embodies everything that is ‘real,’"
Henderson said. “Let’s just say. I'm so excited. I’m so excited. I’m
so... scared.”
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