Cuz we all wanna get jiggy wit it once in a while

To fully equip your media player/itune playlists with you 90's musical needs, download these songs. Originally, I had been posting popular songs from each year of the 1990's in my sidebar. As it got too cluttered pretty quickly, I have decided to move 1999, 1998, and 1997 to this post. 1996, 1995, 1994 remain on the sidebar for now, until they are replaced by 1993-1991 sometime soon. Enjoy!


1997
I Believe I Can Fly - R. Kelly
MMMBop - Hanson
Bitch - Meredith Brooks
Barbie Girl - Aqua
Macarena (Bayside Boys Mix) - Los Del Rio
Hypnotize -Notorious B.I.G.
When You Love A Woman - Journey
Candle In The Wind 1997 - Elton John
I Shot The Sheriff - Warren G
Don't Cry For Me Argentina - Madonna

1998
Truly, Madly, Deeply - Savage Garden
The Boy is Mine - Brandy and Monica
Gettin' Jiggy Wid It - Will Smith
You Make me Wanna - Usher
Tubthumping - Chumbawumba
Show me Love - Robyn
Semi-Charmed Life - Third Eye Blind
Quit Playin' Games with my Heart - BSB
Spice up Your Life - Spice Girls
I'll be - Edwin McCain

1999
Believe - Cher
Kiss Me - Sixpence None The Richer
Every Morning - Sugar Ray
All Star - Smash Mouth
Mambo No. 5 - Lou Bega
Steal My Sunshine - Len
Iris - Goo Goo Dolls
Baby One More Time - Britney Spears
All I Have To Give - Backstreet Boys
Unpretty - TLC

Bah Humbug!

(Warning: Long, ranty, scattered post ahead. But it's about Christmas - so suck it up and read)

December 18th. One week till Christmas. . . .

Somehow, I think I should be more excited. Maybe my lack of eagerness comes from the fact that, with only seven days left until Christmas, I have officially bought zero Christmas presents. Now mostly this is because I am tight on the funds and waiting for Friday's pay cheque (boo for getting paid every other week), but also this is because I never know what to buy people. I'm the type of person who reallly reallly hopes to find that *perfect* gift for everyone on my list. But somehow, every year, I seem to disappoint someone. (i.e. - the year I bought my Dad the VengaBoys CD, or the year I bought the Guiness World of Book Records for my secret santa. Thank God it was secret).

Anyhow, I still really enjoy Christmas and the holiday hooplah, but buying gifts is DIFFICULT. And I'm sure the people I buy for do like their presents, but even more than that, I want them to enjoy their presents. And K, call me shallow since I know its the "thought that counts", but when the thought of the reciever is "Who the f*ck are the Vengaboys", it counts for...well, feeling a little short of Christmas cheer. Gift giving is just not for me, bring on the recieving. (kidding

In an attempt to make this Christmas a good one, I got thinking about what makes a gift truly "loveable", and I concluded that gifts that come from the heart (or the wish-list) are the best ones, for me. I looked back to my life as a kid and tried to remember some of my favourite gifts. Though not one gift stands out in my head, I can remember feeling generally ecstatic at receiving a ton of beanie babies, pony surprise, N64 games, or the latest disney movie year after year. At fear of sounding too self-abosrbed/selfish, I just want to say that I still enjoy gift-giving at Christmas, I simply have a harder time with it now that I'm older. (If only a pinecomb ornament would still suffice). Simply stated, Christmas as a child was much, much easier - because it consisted mostly of receiving gifts, rather than searching and giving a "good" gift). **(note - end of rant)**

While browsing the internet for some "good" Christmas gift ideas, I came across a link to a site called "The Most Popular Christmas gifts". I clicked on the link expecting wonderful gift ideas for everyone on my list - but to no avail. Rather, what I found was an interesting list of popular gifts from the past - namely, the 1990s! So, although I'm still stuck for ideas of what to buy Mom, Dad, sisters, and the like - atleast I know in 1962 The Yo-yo and the Pogo Stick were the most popular Christmas gifts. Who knew. And since this is a 90's blog, I feel it my duty to post those adored gifts of the 1990's:

1990 Teenage Mutant Turtles figures and Video movie.

1991 Constructicons, and Super Nintendo Video game.

1992 Barney dolls and WWF Wrestlers toys.

1993 Star Trek characters, Deep Space Nine figures, and Jurassic Park dinosaurs.

1994 Lion King animals and Power Rangers.

1995 Playstation Video game, and Pocahontas

1996 Tamagotchi, Nintendo N-64 and Buzz Lightyear figure

1997 Sing N Snore Ernie, Teletubbies, and Share a smile Becky doll

1998 Beanie Babies, Furby, Playmobile video system, and Lego Robot’s Revenge

1999 Pokemon, Frby Babies, and Sega Dreamcast video system

Right, so there it is. My most scattered post yet maybe. But forgive me. Theres a week till Christmas. I've been out of school for a week. I have no money in my bank account. I'm waiting anxiously for my grades to be posted. And , I'm sick.

So, wish me luck with gift buying. OH, and Merrry Christmas!

To blog or not to blog?

Well readers (if there actually are any of you), I have not completely forgotten about my blog. Amid my three written exams and two ten page papers all crammed into three days, my christmas shopping, and my somewhat hectic work schedule, I did remember that this blog still sat here on this webpage, completely deserted. You might even say that , like the 1990's, I missed it. *sigh*

These past few weeks, I have debated whether or not I will continue posting as the class assignment portion of this blog is complete. My initial instinct was to stop because, hey, what kind of person would continue an assignment after it was done? (other than my little sister Sandra, that is). That would be like taking on an extra assigment, and I feel busy enough as it is. However, while creating my final portfolio for my class, I completely changed my mind.

One portion of the portfolio was to choose 7-10 pages of our best blogging. So, in an attempt to be either very thorough, or procastinate writing some paper or studying some shizzz, I read through my entire blog from start to finish. While I read my posts, I realized how much this "assignment" didn't quite feel like work. In fact, (yes, I'll say it), this assignment was fun.

Furthermore, I developed a surge of hope as I found that I am not the only lover of the 1990's out there. While procastinating a little bit more for exam prep, I found a contest on collegehumour called "The Gnarly 90's" (sidenote: that would have been a great blog title!). Unfortunately, the contest is now closed because submissions ended on the 12th of this month, but it's still totally worth checking out for a good laugh. Basically, the person who submits the photo with most "90's" elements wins. Here, clik on the link to see the hoop-lah!

That all being said, Tanya, you can expect more posts to come. If anyone else still reads this, then you can expect more posts too. So like, I guess it's safe to say that "OMG my blog is back again!". Or is it? Gawwwshhh, I really need a new blog title. Any suggestions, readers?

I Saw the CD...

I don't really purchase CDs now that I'm a "downloader". That's why all of the CDs in my car are a) burned, b) Highschool musical sound track(s) or c)...dated. Well I'm sure you can all vouche that High School Musical only lasts you so long till you know like every song by heart, so a few days ago I decided to switch it up. I rummaged through my CD case and pretty much exploded with excitment when I found Ace of Base at the bottom of my collection. Woo-fricken-hoo! I popped that baby in and sang along so loud I didn't even care that my windows aren't tinted.

If you direct your attention to my sidebar for a moment, you'll see that Ace of Base had 3 top hits in 1994. My eight year old self certainly enjoyed them all. I can remember like it was yesterday my sisters and I on my parent's bed creating dance after dance, especially to "The Sign". Now I don't know much about music, besides everything about the Backstreet Boys, but I was curious about AoB so I did a bit of research (I love Wikipedia).

The first interesting tidbit of information I discovered was how the band formed their name. Apparently they went through many options (Kalinin Prospect, CAD (Computer-Aided Disco), Tech-Noir) but finally settled on Ace of Base because the others were impossible to remember. Ace came from the fact that they were "masters of their studio", and base came from the fact that their studio was in the basement of a car repair shop. Alas, they became Ace of Base.

Ace of Base, though mostly popular in the mid 1990's, actually recorded singles and albums steadily through out the 90's and even into the new millenium (with a lesser degree of success of course). Their first album The Sign was given the Guinness World Record for "Best-Selling Debut Album".As for what they band is up to today, apparently they're recording a new album due for release around April 2008. Rumours have started that there will be an accompying world tour. On their official website, there are a few confirmed tour dates for this month and next (unfortunately all venues are overseas).

It would be nice to see Ace of Base in concert, but I know it won't happen. In the mean time, youtube clips and old CDs will do me good. And rockin' out by my lonesome in my car? Well that stuff never gets old for me.

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!"

*~The P0L!tiCz of ICQ~*

I am fluent in internet slang. They say the best way to learn a language is to practice speaking it, and I've been "speaking" (typing) Internt slang, since about 1998. Internet slang was first introduced to me via instant messaging, and more specifically via ICQ. ICQ was an instant messaging program, one of the originals, that has since been replaced by popular IM programs like MSN and AOL.

Like all online social tools, ICQ had politics. Loosely, ICQ had "rules", even if they were unwritten.

I got ICQ in grade 7. (I thought I was so cool. I had like three ICQ friends, and one was my older sister, who barely counted since we lived in the same hourse and couldn't even communicate online as we only had one computer). Anyways, my screen name never ever read plain old "Angela", but rather, it incorporated "funky" letters and annoying little swirlies. If I remember correctly, and I do, my first ICQ name ever was ~()T@l!@n_pR!n(e$$~. It often changed to other cool things like "I love BSB" and "**an_juh_lah**". But definetely, it was never just "Angela". That was the way ICQ worked.

My "Info box" in my profile details was updated almost daily, and rather than actually listing information about myself, it was always fully equipped with inside jokes and shout outs to as many of my ICQ friends as possible. Most of the time, it looked something like this:

~~Hey to all my gurlz - haley*nicole*cassie*vanessa*liz*danielle*sandra*sarah*amy*andrea
*blah*blah*blaaaaaaaaaah*blah*blah

Hey to all my boiz - mike*mat*chris*brian*kevin*AJ*howie*nick*blah*etc*and*so*on.
To anyone i forgot, tell me so i can add u~~~~

(the info box always included swirls and/or stars)

If ever I added another friend's name to this urgently important list, I sent out a "notification" to my entire list. It usually read ~update info~(again, the swirls). My friends on my list then navigated my details till they found my info box, hit update, and hopefully, saw their name and were thankful for it. This was another way that ICQ worked.

Another ICQ "rule" was that you should never actually be available. I never put myself "Online" on ICQ. Usually, I put myself to N/A, even if I was at my monitor, so that I could fill in my away message with something sweet like "here w/ the galz!". For the times that I left my ICQ on when I was actually busy, it would have to read something like "out'n'about with (followed by a long list of names).Other times, I put myself to "Invisble" so that I could message only those people who I wanted to talk to. But I don't know what the point of that was since most of those people I wished to chat with were on my "Invisible List", which meant they could see me at all times, invisible or not, when everyone else couldn't. It was a popularity thing I guess.

ICQ was fun times. I can still hear the "Uh-Oh" everytime I think of receiving a message. I can still hear the "knock..knock...knock" when I remember a friend logging in. I can still remember ending every convo with "Lylas" (Love you like a sister). And most importantly, (or strangely), I can still remember my oldest ICQ # - 1019654710. If anyone still uses ICQ, feel free to add me. Just don't feel offended if you're not in my info box.