The Greatest Generation...of Toys

You know how sometimes you just go on a kick where you listen to a certain singer or group for a few weeks or a month? Well the entire planet is currently doing that since the death of Michael Jackson. Every time I've left my apartment over the past four days someone has without fail driven by blasting a Michael song. I count myself as one of them, going on YouTube and watching most of his old videos and some 'Jackson Five' performances. I loved his music so much my parents got me this kick ass little record player to your right for my birthday one year (Sadly I sold it at a street yard sale in 1994. Hey, I was saving up for Nintendo games.). Anyway, this throwback to the 80's and early 90's has me in nostalgia mode, big time.

With Michael Jackson providing a big part of my childhood's soundtrack I started thinking about what else kept me entertained as a kid. My toys of course! And you know what? My generation absolutely had the best toys growing up. This is a conversation I have had many times with my friends, all of whom fall between 26 and 30 years old. We came of age just as the digital age was about to explode, giving us a great combination of new technologies in entertainment and old school style toys (i.e. action figures, matchbox cars, etc.). Let's break down some of my personal favorites. Sorry, ladies, this is mostly a boy friendly list of toys.

ACTION FIGURES

Oh so many favorites. The quality cartoons we had led to kids being able to have epic battles along side "He-Man," bust ghosts with Dr. Venkman and company, party with the "Ninja Turtles" and even fight ruthless terrorist organizations on the side of "G.I. Joe." Special mention goes to "M.A.S.K." (Mobile Armored Strike Kommand...to the layperson!). As a kid, the idea of putting on a cool mask which gives you special powers was the coolest thing ever. Not as prominent as the above mentioned figures but never forgotten!

LIVE ACTION

Playing with action figures is one thing, but being able to run around your neighborhood pretending to BE a Ghostbuster, complete with Proton Pack, PKE Meter, and trap? Sign me up! I was way to excited on the first day I got this. Actually, it was a pretty disastrous first day of play. I hopped on my bike with my proton pack on my back (I sound like the Bobby Brown song, "On Our Own" from "GB2"!) and started riding down my street to meet up with some friends. As I was riding, the PKE Meter felt like it was going to fall off. Like an idiot, I tried to secure it with one hand while steering at a pretty good clip with my other hand. Sure enough I lost control of my bike and did a header over the handlebars. Somehow I was OK but had some nasty scrapes on my chin. After that my Mom decided it was best if I stayed indoors for the rest of the day which I protested at the time. Probably a good call on her part!

THE GAME CHANGER

I love the idea that my generation will be one of the first to be playing video games when we're in our 70's. It's all thanks to Nintendo. Birthday parties, snow days, hanging out with friends after school...no matter what we were doing Nintendo was typically squeezed in at some point. Kids would save up ever cent they could manage to buy new games. The way they marketed Nintendo to us was brilliant too. Even Fred Savage in the commercial disguised as a movie, The Wizard, pounded us over the head with all the latest Nintendo gadgets we HAD to own. The biggest piece of crap that movie tried to sell us was the "Power Glove." Check out this clip from The Wizard. As a kid, how could you NOT want to buy this thing? Only problem was it sucked! And I mean big time. You couldn't control anything with it. I owned it for about three days before it was promptly returned. I think it was really one of the only failures Nintendo had (in my eyes anyway).


Ah, nostalgia! Thanks for taking a trip down memory lane with me. During these crazy times of economic turbulence, sky high unemployment, wars, climate change, and doping baseball stars it's nice to go back and remember a simpler time when life revolved around riding bikes with your friends and playing with the best toys any generation of kids could ask for!

The Revolution will be "Tweeted"

The events unfolding in the aftermath of the Iranian election are amazing. Sadly, the Ayatollah is cracking down on the mostly peaceful demonstrators and using brutal and deadly methods to silence them. It's very hard to say whether or not what is happening in Iran right now is a revolution. The Ayatollah is clearly very rattled and using an iron fist to quash this dissent and preserve the ruling Theocracy. What's really interesting, however, is that the greatest threat to the Ayatollah and Akmadinajad's power right now is not Mousavi, the mainstream media, or even the millions of people taking to the streets and rooftops wearing green...but social networking sites. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and MySpace are proving to be game changers in regards to how political dissent can occur.

Meanwhile, back in the good old U.S. of A., one of the more puzzling criticisms of president Obama in terms of his handling of the situation in Iran is his "lack" of support for the Iranian people. One of the most vocal critics of the president on this subject has been from the Senator formerly known as John "The Maverick" McCain. First of all, I'm not so sure the people of Iran want the United States interfering in their politics at all (You may remember we tried that once before and it didn't turn out so well). Second, the president's statements thus far have been spot on and very appropriate with the current information we currently have coming out of Iran:

"What you're seeing in Iran are hundreds of thousands of people who believe their voices were not heard and who are peacefully protesting and seeking justice. And the world is watching. And we stand behind those who are seeking justice in a peaceful way. Already we've seen violence out there. I've said this throughout the week, I want to repeat it, that we stand with those who would look to peaceful resolution of conflict and we believe that the voices of people have to be heard, that that's a universal value that the American people stand for and this administration stands for. And I'm very concerned, based on some of the tenor and tone of the statements that have been made, that the government of Iran recognize that the world is watching. And how they approach and deal with people who are -- through peaceful means -- trying to be heard will I think send a pretty clear signal to the international community about what Iran is and is not.

But the last point I want to make on this -- this is not an issue of the United States or the West versus Iran; this is an issue of the Iranian people. The fact that they are on the streets, under pretty severe duress, at great risk to themselves, is a sign that there's something in that society that wants to open up. And, you know, we respect Iran's sovereignty and we respect the fact that ultimately the Iranian people have to make these decisions.

But I hope that the world understands that this is not something that has to do with the outside world; this has to do with what's happening in Iran. And I think ultimately the Iranian people will obtain justice." - President Barack Obama

Of course as things develop and new information comes to light over the coming days and weeks I would bet that the president, along with the international community, will continue to form a response and act accordingly if action over words become necessary. But for now, this is turning out to be a PR battle between the people and the establishment. As long as the Ayatollah keeps savagely beating down the voice of the people and those horrific images and videos keep being uploaded for the world to see, the more the Theocracy loses that battle. Imagine that? A government taken down by Twitter?

As someone who uses all of these social networking sites to post status updates about the weather, where I'm going to dinner, or how the Red Sox are pissing me off on a given night, I feel very lucky right now. For now, let's hope that the violence in Iran calms down soon and that a better future is in store for all of those people who have risked and given their lives for what they believe in.