Since we're talking about the 88-89 season -

Riverfront hosted the 1988 All Star game and some kid named Barry Larkin played in his first all star game.

(01-26-2022, 04:28 PM)Awful Llama Wrote: Yeah, there was something about hitting the Blockbuster on a Friday night.  The place was hopping, and people buzzing about movies and what snacks to buy.  I'd always go after work on Friday because my office building was just a few miles from one but there was no store in the little town where we lived.  Granted, knowing I would have to drive the tape back later was a downer, but it all seems so innocent now.  

Yep. It's so much more convenient but man I used to get so, so excited walking into a Family Video or Blockbuster on a Friday. Picking out a video game or a movie, ordering pizza and then having a blast the whole weekend. It's all nostalgia colored glasses and I understand life is better and easier today but man, those are some super fond memories. 

I was almost 13 years old and lived in Dillsboro, Indiana. Like BengalRed, we also had to rent the VCR when we wanted to watch a movie. I watched the AFCCG and the Super Bowl that year on a 12" TV.

1988 was my last year of grad school.

1981 was my freshman year of college.

Bengal Super Bowls were bookends to a crazy period in my life.

I was in South Africa and since the internet didn't exist, I had no idea if the Bengals won the game. I bumped into a family that had just arrived from the states and found out the great news. Ironic that I was there again this year for their win over the Raiders. Maybe I should go there more often in January.

If the Bengals and 49ers made the SB, they should focus the halftime entertainment with a total 80s throwback. Some of those artists were just getting started around the time of the last SB matchup between those two teams.

And yes, I love nostalgia. Times always seem simpler when looking back, even if they weren't at all. Late 80s to early 90s holds lots of amazing memories for me. Though my desire now as an adult to revisit a Showbiz Pizza is the same as my desire to go to the current Chuck E Cheese rebrand, I sure loved going and remember only the best parts of it now looking back.

in 1989 AIDS/HIV was the second leading cause of death among young men (25-44). There were serious projections that aids would kill 20% of the words population.

(01-26-2022, 05:00 PM)BengalRed Wrote: I'm a retired postal worker and for the longest time I resisted paying bills on line. I felt guilty if I didn't write out checks and mail them in because I knew how the internet was contributing to the downfall of the postal service. But over time, when I saw how easy it is to pay bills electronically, I said what the hell, I'm not going to save the PO on my own, say I caved and now pay all my bills that way.

Heck I was going to say at least the USPS has Amazon these days for a lot of business.  It used to be that way in my area, almost all USPS Priority Mail from Amazon but over the last few years the bulk of my Amazon deliveries have come direct from their own delivery services.  Now all my USPS is only junk mail and medication I get mailed from the VA.

(01-26-2022, 04:58 PM)George Cantstandya Wrote: Rumor is one of the most scratched or warbly points in VHS rentals at the time was from rentals of Fast Times at Ridgemont High during the swimming pool scene due to pausing and playing back, even though Fast Times was from 1982 

Yeah, that's cool, but personally, give me the scene with Jennifer Jason Leigh in the pool house.  Ginger vs Mary Ann, I guess.  

(01-26-2022, 05:06 PM)bengalfan74 Wrote: Yep, they came out with the VCP's that just played tapes. Be kind - rewind. 

Remember any kind of decent sized city had 3 dozen 1 hour photo development booths on every street corner.

Pay phones were still everywhere. Drop a dime on somebody.

Remember the giant camcorders that took a full size VHS tape ?

Still have one in the case in my wife's closet that we bought from Service Merchandise in Florence.

(01-26-2022, 05:03 PM)Truck_1_0_1_ Wrote: As soon as I read that in George's post, the chorus got stuck in my head

That was still 5 months before I was born! lol thus, I cannot fondly comment on that time...

… but renting movies was awesome, loved when my dad would go and get something for me to watch and something for the family (or something for my parents specifically). Still remember renting "Terror in New York City," and, "Trapped in the Sky," (both Thunderbirds episodes, on VHS) in Spring 1997 from Rogers Video (Rogers is Canada's biggest telecommunications company, like if Verizon, DirecTV and old-school AOL were all in one) and being fascinated with TiNYC, as I had never seen it before and absolutely terrified of TitS, as it brought me back to the horror of the Hood, who I had nightmares of until I turned about 10 years old lol.

Also snagged some (now VERY expensive) Sega Genesis and Saturn games , when the consoles were discontinued (and at Blockbuster too, when there was one close by).

Ugh. Some of the comments in this thread make me feel young, but then when I read yours I feel old. You failed today, friend. 

(01-26-2022, 05:18 PM)fredtoast Wrote: 1988 was my last year of grad school.

1981 was my freshman year of college.

Bengal Super Bowls were bookends to a crazy period in my life.

This means you have this week to accomplish a life milestone or foster something crazy happening in your life.

And I'm not sure it's this way where you live now, but in Ohio, when you went out to eat, you had to ask for the non smoking section. It's weird to think you could even smoke in a restaurant ever.

(01-26-2022, 06:30 PM)No-huddle Joe Wrote: And I'm not sure it's this way where you live now, but in Ohio, when you went out to eat, you had to ask for the non smoking section.   It's weird to think you could even smoke in a restaurant ever.

In Ohio, I recall that not changing until 2005 or 06 maybe.  It was crazy late. 

(01-26-2022, 05:10 PM)KillerGoose Wrote: Yep. It's so much more convenient but man I used to get so, so excited walking into a Family Video or Blockbuster on a Friday. Picking out a video game or a movie, ordering pizza and then having a blast the whole weekend. It's all nostalgia colored glasses and I understand life is better and easier today but man, those are some super fond memories. 

Easier, yes. Better? Debatable.

I think there's something to be said for the simple way we used to live. We appreciated things more...often because we had to work harder for it. Communicating was more personal, as phone calls and hand written letters were the only option other than face to face.

I think people are so afraid to be "that guy" guilty of the mortal sin of nostalgia that we don't realize that maybe it's not nostalgia. Maybe things really were better without smart phones, social media and constant distractions.

Maybe the adventure of going out to Blockbuster was better than sitting on your arse scrolling through Netflix.

(01-26-2022, 06:30 PM)No-huddle Joe Wrote: And I'm not sure it's this way where you live now, but in Ohio, when you went out to eat, you had to ask for the non smoking section.   It's weird to think you could even smoke in a restaurant ever.

Oh yeah, I was explaining this to my kids the other day about requesting a non-smoking section.

Ronald Reagan was leaving office after term limit 8 years, as Vice President Bush had won and sworn in as President in January of 1989.

The Berlin Wall had just came down, and USSR had ended, and we in USA thought that was the end of USA problems with Russia.

Big on the Jukebox was Guns and Roses and Welcome To The Jungle. 45 rpm record jukeboxes. CD Jukeboxes would start coming out more in 1991.

Larry Hagman was still doing that JR thing on TV Show Dallas still on TV.

Johnny Carson still on, David Letterman still on after Carson on NBC. Arsenio Hall had a new talk show.

The Simpsons hadn't happened yet. Married With Children had on a new station called FOX. About a year before Simpsons cartoon started on this new Fox station.

VCR's were still pretty new and expensive. A lot of VCR rental stores. VCR was the new big thing.

2 records I liked were The Traveling Wilburys and a new Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, but I don't think they were out yet. I liked The George Harrison songs and the Roy Orbison song ' Not Alone Anymore " was great. I thought Dylan songs not up to what he had did in past. On CSNY, the Neil Young song American Made was a good put down of TV preachers and politicians. His song This Old House about a bank taking away a family's home and farm was a good music version of Grapes of Wrath.

Tear In My Beer was a big song on the 45 Jukeboxes. I laughed because it was so much like Hee Haw song, " Gloom, Despair and Agony on Me ". I could not listen to Tear In My Beer, without doing the Hee Haw Show crying jag thing to it. Same later with, " Where Am I gonna' live when I get home ", or " Yabba Dabba Do " about a guys wife leaving him with nothing but a Jim Beam decanter that looks like Elvis and a Fred Flintstone Jelly Jar. So he breaks Elvis nose and pours Fred up to his toes, Yabba Dabba Do, The King is gone, and so are you. ....All crying in your beer songs of last Bengals Super Bowl era, All On 45 RPM because CD's not really out much yet.

So no Simpsons, Seinfeld, the 1990's hadn't happened yet. I guess my favorite TV show was Late Night with Letterman after Carson. Married With Children was a brand new show I kind of liked. I liked Al Bundy, and his wife Peggy had a nice rear end. The Daughter was good looking. I thought Al Bundy was pretty funny telling people to never get married like he did.

Of course what took the USA and the World by storm was THE ICKEY SHUFFLE. That was HUGE. It became bigger than Cincinnati, the Whole World loved The Ickey Shuffle. Even Paul Brown did the Ickey Shuffle.

Oh, Home Computers and things weren't really here yet or Internet. A little, not much. Records were still the big thing, and VCR's were new and expensive but Video Stores were in their biggest years. VCR was THE big new thing. Video Games were still starting. In 1989 Donkey Kong and Mike Tyson Boxing Game were big. I thought Tom Cruise a good new actor making movie with Paul Newman in Color of Money and Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man. Yes, Tom Cruise was the top new actor. I liked the Police Squad Movies they were starting to make, because I liked the TV Show in 1980 that got cancelled after 6 weeks.

Again, in 1988 the huge thing was the Berlin Wall coming down and the end of the USSR. We in the USA thought that was the end of problems with Russia. It was wishful thinking on our part, anyway.

Rap was just starting. Anybody remember The Fat Boys. " Were in Jail, without Bail ". Rap may remember Run DMC, but I think they try to forget The Fat Boys early era. Rap was very brand new and still in the infant stage starting out.

Oh wait, in 1988 the Savings and Loans Collapse in USA and so many people losing money. The US Government had to clean up that mess. A lot of Savings and Loans were not backed up by Federal Funds, and when they crashed in 1988 across the USA, that wiped out a lot of peoples life savings. They were not Federal Backed Banks, and so the Savings and Loans going under was a huge problem.

The highlight on WLW radio out of Cincinnati was the night Marty Brennaman sang, " That's What Friends Are For " during a Reds game. Forget about Frank Sinatra and any singer you have ever heard. The music world just about went into retirement the night Marty sang, " That's What Friends Are For ". Much like a Hudy Beer commercial, his voice was Robust and Truly Monumental. Even The Grammys said We Ae Not Worthy. This was around 1988 or 1989. For Sure, that's what friends are for. Keep Smiling.

(01-26-2022, 06:37 PM)Shake n Blake Wrote: Easier, yes. Better? Debatable.

I think there's something to be said for the simple way we used to live. We appreciated things more...often because we had to work harder for it. Communicating was more personal, as phone calls and hand written letters were the only option other than face to face.

I think people are so afraid to be "that guy" guilty of the mortal sin of nostalgia that we don't realize that maybe it's not nostalgia. Maybe things really were better without smart phones, social media and constant distractions.

Maybe the adventure of going out to Blockbuster was better than sitting on your arse scrolling through Netflix.

I do agree that people were more engaged back then. I was a little too young in the 90's to intelligently comment there, but I was plenty old enough in the early 2000s to remember what it was like. My parents had friends over more, I hung out with friends more. I wasn't always on the internet and I wasn't always on my phone even though I had one. I was always doing something. I still am, but it tends to be on my phone and computer, not out doing something. 

For me, it probably is nostalgia because I was a kid and people tend to be nostalgic about the carefree nature of childhood. However, I have met plenty of people who believe it was a better time that were not kids at the time. Maybe it was.

(01-26-2022, 05:31 PM)George Cantstandya Wrote: Heck I was going to say at least the USPS has Amazon these days for a lot of business.  It used to be that way in my area, almost all USPS Priority Mail from Amazon but over the last few years the bulk of my Amazon deliveries have come direct from their own delivery services.  Now all my USPS is only junk mail and medication I get mailed from the VA.

Package delivery is pretty much all the PO has going for it. They even deliver on Sunday now. That started after I retired nine years ago thank goodness (I was a letter carrier). It's amazing how much the internet has affected the PO. People don't mail letters anymore, they just text, email, or fax. As we mentioned very few people mail their bills in and they even receive their bill notices on line. To make it all worse the USPS must, by law, pre fund retirements. I'm not sure how much longer that will last but it's taking any profits that they make.

Mostly everyone had beepers and you'd have secret codes to communicate. Had a Radio Shack TRS-80 that you'd use a 5.25″ floppy disk to boot up the operating system then you had to use another floppy for data.

October 1988 I (26) met this chick (22) through my cousin, while doing a 4 day vacation in Miami. We got to talk a lot while hanging out. On the last night it was just us and went to movie and dinner. While dropping me off I told her my feelings and she drove me to the airport the next day. I was heading back to NJ and told her to visit me. She dropped me off on a Tuesday, bought a ticket at the airport and she flew in on a Friday. By Saturday, we decided to get married. We're going on 34 years.

Since we had family in Miami I wanted to go to the 1989 Super Bowl. However, in 1989 the Miami riot was going on just before (maybe during too) and she didn't want to go. Still think about being able to experience a Bengal's Super Bowl, because ticket prices now are ridiculous. Watched the SB on my Sony 19 inch TV.