The One: The Backstreet Boys Residency in Las Vegas

At TRL, 2000 for the Backstreet Boys
(c) PipPepPop

  Some people go to a concert once a year. Some go to a concert a couple of times a year. Other people get in the car and drive somewhere  to see their favorite band. I hopped a plane to Las Vegas to see The Backstreet Boys, and I'm so glad I did it! I came, I saw, and I rocked my body right at the Axis at Planet Hollywood on St. Patrick's Day. Today is BSB's 24th anniversary, according to the timeline on their website and social media channels. On this day, Brian officially had joined the band and cemented their place in history.

 

(c) PipPepPop

     I began my BSB journey back in 1998. I was a 4th grader and I was obsessed with the song Quit Playing Games with My Heart. I still may be obsessed because that song rocked at the concert. While the audience was in no danger of getting carded, the crowd around me swayed and screamed like a bunch of teenagers. My friend gave me a shrug when the girl next to us yelled "The Call! That's my JAM! That's my song!" **

     The BSB has been a part of the cultural zeitgeist for well over 20 years now. They ruled the pop charts and MTV's video-heavy Total Request Live countdown show. In a related note, live shows like this are getting new life later this year. I want it that way is consistently on the top song lists. Rolling Stone's list of top boy band songs of all time (including acts like the Jackson 5 and the Monkees) ranked the 1999 classic, I Want it That Way, as its 5th entry. While they're never taken home the coveted Grammy award (7 time nominees), they have won countless fan awards such as MTV Video Music Awards, Billboard Awards, Kids Choice Awards and Teen Choice Awards. They're also left us pondering what exactly it means to "want it that way" or why the "loneliness is tragical." As of early April, BSB proved they still have it. They were back, taking the stage at the ACM Awards  with friends Florida Georgia Line. The septet performed their new single, God, Your Mama and Me and everyone enjoyed it. Then they music changed and all 7 guys launched into Everybody (Backstreet's Back) complete with dance moves. I have never seen Tim McGraw so into a performance before. He and his wife Faith were like a young Taylor Swift, dancing and singing in the front row.

A Vegas Take on Suits. (c) PipPepPop

     The concert was filled with memories. Nearly all of the songs from the self-titled Backstreet Boys album were played, even forgotten favorites like Darlin' (with Kevin's sexy talking intro) and uplifting ballad, Anywhere for You. We were dancing in our seats during the Euro-pop hit, Get Down, which lends itself to AJ's bad-ass rap portion. There was a heavy amount of dancing in the show, and it was more impressive than all the other BSB concerts I've seen combined (6 or 7), with the possible exception of NKOTBSB. The "chair dance" from As Long as You Love Me was perfection.  There were fedoras present during the mid-tempo ballad, All I Have to Give. The songs from Millennium and Black and Blue were represented, bringing the boys and their 10 dancers together for driving dance tunes like Larger Than Life, The Call and the not heard enough Get Another Boyfriend. , and subduing the crowd with sweet songs like Drowning and Incomplete. The only song from the non-Kevin years performed was the heartbreaking and haunting song, Undone. I have been listening to this non-stop. The show concluded with Everybody (Backstreet's Back), which you can find following the below link to you Youtube channel. We made some new memories that night and I will not soon forget this show.

At the show, 2017
(c) PipPepPop

** The reason I found this comment to be disturbing is that The Call is a song about cheating, and she screamed this directly in her boyfriend's face.

Read more reviews of the show on Ticketmaster. Mine is in there somewhere.
Read the Billboard.com review of the show.
See more of my concert footage on Youtube.

Former Mouseketeers Turn Up at Golden Globes

Image of Timberlake and Gosling from Giphy

    A little show titled The New Mickey Mouse Club was a serious deal on the Disney Channel in the early 1990's. I'll admit, I was a bit more invested in Nickelodeon's edgier Canadian show Round House, but that show produced no stars. I would have to go into another entirely separate post to discuss Nick's comedy show All That, and I will do that very soon.  The MMC launched the careers of some of the most well known pop stars in the last 20 years: 2/5 of N*Sync, Christina Aguilera and Britney Spears. Does anyone talk about the rich acting history that began on this musical sketch show? Not often.  I'm here to remind you that these kids are award nomination-worthy. This year the golden globes honored several former mouseketeers for their projects.

     In a post-MMC bubble world, we had no idea if these kids would have the chops to be adult performers. One woman constantly defying those odds is Keri Russell. After winning a Golden Globe in 1999 for her portrayal of  "fickle pickle" college student Felicity, Russell came back to television (with her hotly contested straight hair) as a sleeper spy mom in FX's The Americans. Russell was nominated for Best Actress in a TV Drama this year. The show picks up on March 5th for its 5th season. We last left  Elizabeth and her husband Phillip (Matthew Rhys- also nominated for a Golden Globe) delicately dealing with their teenage daughter discovering they are Russian spies in 1980's Washington, D.C. This show is phenomenal and I can't believe it's only getting award buzz for its fourth season. Russell was also nominated for a Primetime Emmy in 2016 for the same role and won a Teen Choice Award in 1999.

My Gosling Meme - With Timberlake lyrics

     Ryan Gosling walked out of the 2017 Golden Globes with the Best Actor in a Movie trophy. This was his 4th nomination in recent years. Gosling came on the scene as an adult in 2004 in the movie that makes me bawl and turn the TV channel, The Notebook.  This movie earned Gosling the "Best Kiss"  trophy with Rachel McAdams at the 2005 MTV movie awards, as well as several Teen Choice Awards that same year. His critical acclaim has come more in recent years, where he is referred to colloquially as one of "the Ryans." To my knowledge, there are only two, Gosling and Ryan Reynolds. Gosling shas just been nominated for an Oscar for this year's sweeping movie musical LaLaLand, which had cleaned up at the globes. This is Gosling's 2nd Oscar nomination. That begin said, not all of movies are winners. I thought Drive was one of the worst movies in recent years. In my old teen magazines, Gosling was always mentioned with Tony Lucca. I'm pretty sure Tony Lucca doesn't have any awards aside from the MMC cast's  Young Artists Award nomination. Tony Lucca is also not the star of multiple "Hey Girl..." Internet memes (mic drop).

     The third MMC member at the Golden Globes was jack of all trades, Justin Timberlake. He was in MMC, he was in N*Sync, and he bounced back into America's heart after the Janet Jackson 2004 "Big Game" incident. Timberlake was at the show as a nominee for the Best Original Song in a Movie category, with the Summer 2016 anthem Can't Stop the Feeling. This may seem like a technicality to qualify for this piece, but Timberlake voiced a character in the Trolls movie that launched this song. Timberlake has won multiple awards for his music and this song is an Oscar contender in a few weeks.

Buffy Halloween

Image from Twitter.

     Happy Halloween! In honor of the night Buffy the Vampire Slayer one referred to as "Undead for the undead," I'm bringing my favorite Buffy quotable memes from the 3 Halloween episodes. The first ever spookfest was Season 2's "Halloween." Our heroes turned into their costumes and ghost Willow was the only one who could save them. Smartly preparing for season 4's "Dead Man's Party," a simple frat party turns into a murder house, and Giles wears a sombrero. The main lesson here: never paint your floor with the spooky symbol from an old book because it will probably release a demon. Finally in season 6's "All the Way",  Anya and Xander announce their engagement, Dawn has a date with a vampire, and Buddy attempts to protect her sister.


SEASON 2: After Buffy turns from a helpless maiden back to herself:

Image from Pintrest. 

Season 2 (left): Willow testing her friends to see who hasn't turned into their costume.
Season 2 (right): Buffy confronts shopkeeper Ethan Rayne about his spellcasting costumes.

Image from Pintrest

Image from Pintrest

Season 4: Our first inclination that Anya has something against bunnies. It must be bunnies!

Image from Pintrest

Season 4: Buffy muses about her relationship status, when compared to the life of a pumpkin, and feeding her feelings with candy.

Gif from Popsugar

Gif from Whitman's Blog

Season 4: Willow and Oz presenting their couples' costume.

Image from Pintrest

Season 4: Anya goes to get Giles's help and he answers the door in a crazy costume.

Image from Pintrest
This is more of a visual joke

Season 6: Anya explaining her Charlie's Angels Costume. This is followed by the dance of capitalist superiority (dancing with money).

Gif from "Once More with Extreme Prejudice" Blog
Anya on her  "Charlie's Angels" costume

Season 6: Xander and Anya announce their engagement. 

There don't seem to be many memes for this episodes, but Xander tells Buffy he's going to marry that girl. Buffy thinks he means her 15-year old sister and then realizes she is about to be a bridesmaid. This episode is also the one right before the Once More, with Feeling musical episode. 

Image from Panels on Pages

Welcome to the BH....

     As promised, I re-watched the first episode (of a 2-part premiere) of Beverly Hills, 90210 and have listed my unabashed thoughts below. Please note, I am seeing this after many years and using a  "I've seen too many 90's teen movies" lens.

Image from Quotesgram.com

Meet the Twins/
Entering West Beverly High: 
1. I immediately yelled Whoa Joey Lawrence! when I saw Brandon Walsh's hair.
2. Did I miss it, or did they explain that Brandon and Brenda are twins?
3. Why did they move there?
4. It sounds like Brandon was more popular than Brenda in Minneapolis. I'm sticking with this theory.
5. The opening credits: Why are the paparazzi with business suits? Do kids in BH really drive to school with surf boards in their cars? They're a bit far from the beach.
6. Locking your car remotely was a big deal in 1989.
7. Some girl is wearing a way too short mini skirt to school. Where are her parents?
8. Is there really a high school radio station playing everywhere? This explains She's All That.
9. This is the Buffy the Vampire Slayer school! Torrance, CA shout-out!
10. Why is Steve cool???? Why did Kelly date him? Was she that hideous before the nose job? 
11.Like the boys in the Gossip Girl pilot, Andrea takes the public bus to school. This means she is poor and the whole story will probably change in the next episode.
12. Did anyone sit at legitimate lab desks in high school? We had desks and a counter space ran the outside of the room facing the walls.
13. Is Spanish 2 entirely in Spanish? Even my college level French classes had English components.
14. Steve might be a racist to the Spanish teacher.
15. Newspaper too serious at this school.
16.  Andrea is wearing a men's double-breasted suit jacked instead of a blazer. Tragic!
17. They just went on about pool parties around the year and the cheerleader is wearing a long-sleeved sweater in California, in September.

The Parties:
18. This house party is the start of all my unrealistic expectations about high school.
19. Again, where are the parents?
20. Who has cater waiters at a teenag party?
21. David Silver is the patron saint of nerds: post Anthony Michael Hall and pre-Superbad) and he dressed like Duckie in Pretty in Pink. 
22. Steve has rape culture written all over his forehead fr the first few minutes.
23. I honestly think Steve had no possibly to be redeemed.
24. Steve is so lame, and also the jerky jock. How is this possible?
25. Brandon met the poor little rich girl. she seems to have two personalities (shy loner and throwing stuff in the pool) and I don't believe there will be any payoff to this relationship.
26. Drunk Steve being driven home by 14-year-old David just makes me mad.
27. Steve will not redeem himself. I hate him.
28. Kelly chalks ID's. It is the worst thing I've even seen and I once witnessed someone trying to chalk an ID.
29. Why does the Spanish teacher dance in the hall with headphones? Why is the principal interested? Why is the plot to Clueless showing up before Clueless is written?
30. What 15 or 16 year old is allowed to stay out util midnight? Even with parents, Brenda and Brandon  have way too much freedom.
31. This club looks like a Paula Abdul video people in mesh shirts or and tuxedos grinding on each other.
32. All the girls get turned away from the club except Brenda. This reminds me of The Baby Sitters Club movie where Stacey and Claudia go out with 17 year old Europeans and they are only 13. Thirteen!!
33. Only teenage girls order pineapple colada drinks in a non-tiki bar!!! Red flag, bartender lady!
34. This "nice guy" is a total liar. 

Happy 90210 Day!

Image courtesy of Tumblr.

Today is the 26th anniversary of the first airing of FOX's seminal teen drama,  Beverly  Hills, 90210. Teen twins Brenda (Shannen Doherty) and Brandon Walsh (Jason Priestly) were forced to move from boring old Minneapolis to West Beverly, where they clearly did not fit in. But as most adaptable teens, they "kaught up with the Kardashians*" pretty quickly. Like two frenemies showing up to the formal with the same velvet cocktail dress or a pal stealing your boyfriend, the sun-soaked 10-season show has many memories a-flowing. It also sparked a lifetime movie about the behind the scenes gossip.  In honor, I will be reliving and live blogging the premiere episode later this week.
Stay Tuned!

Image courtesy of TV Guide article. 

* In the 90's, one would have said "kept up with the Joneses".

SPOTTED: Nicktoons Take Over Story NYC

My 90's Nicktoons T-shirt (c) PipPepPop

     I'm bringing the 90's back! A few weeks ago, we officially celebrated the 25th birthday of the Nicktoons. These cartoons^ were a 90's staple on a growing network dedicated solely to kids. In that spirit, NYC's coolest store/gallery/startup Story launched their "Remember When" collection in August. It runs through September 18th! Definitely take a chance and come see it! I had a great time there.

More About Nicktoons:
     These animated shows were an important part of my friends'  after school and weekend viewing. Plus, they were shown on a cable network dedicated solely to kids! The Nickelodeon network began in 1977  under the name Pinwheel to show programs to kids ages 8-17. The Nicktoon cartoons were sometime about regular kids trying to make sense of growing up. Some shows were about as my calls them "sweaty animals." But they all made us think in new ways and gave us lifelong memories such as Ren & Stimpy's "log" song and Tommy Pickles' quest to meet a King Kong-like Reptar. If you can't stop rehashing the days of Nicktoons, check out EW.com's 25th anniversary oral history of Nicktoons.

The Store- (c)PipPepPop

 More about Story

     If you want to "Remember When," story is the place for you. The store looped some of coolest tunes (the Cardigans, the Wallflowers and the Spice Girls).  Check out my snaps from the store to see more. The airy space is set up a bit like a school with post-it style noted printed on the walls with more information.  Fun zones include a school themed set of desks and lockers, a locker room area, and tables of some of the coolest 90's gear around. The collection is primarily curated with Nicktoon characters (everything from flip flops to jumpsuits to coasters). But, there some great 90's books and materials out there. Have you wanted a slap bracelet or a Seinfeld coin purse? They're all here. I left with a way-cool Sweet Valley High covered  notebook.  There's some great Saved by the Bell nostalgia there as well, and a Lance Bass sampler with a bass fish stitched in. Grab your Caboodes and Dr. Pepper LipSmackers and get ready to play in the Double Dare human hamster wheel (pictured below). To cap off the experience, there was a "slime yourself" photo booth that created an online GIF and printout of you getting digitally smiled. The best part is there's no mess. 

Snaps from the Store @ Story (c) PipPepPop

     If you're up for a "wow this is hard" guessing game, take this MTV.com Quiz to guess which musicians guest starred on Nick or Disney Channel shows. Please note this is a hard quiz. If you are close to 30, you will probably get more wrong answers than right answers.

^ The main Nicktoons include (but are not limited to):
Rugrats (1991-2004)
Doug (1991-2004) *Technically sold to Disney in later seasons)
The Ren & Stimpy Show (1991-1996)
Rocko's Modern Life (1993-1996)
AHH! Real Monsters (1994-1997)
Hey Arnold (1996-2004)
The Angry Beavers (1997-2001)
Cat Dog (1998 - 2005)
The Wild Thornberrys (1998 - 2004)
Rocket Power (199-2004)
Spongebob Squarepants (1999- present)

Boy Bands + Zombies - Music = Dead 7

     I thought it was a joke when I first heard it, but there was going to be a movie starring members of boy bands.  It was going to be on SyFy on April Fools Day, and this is the same network that green-lit the Sharknado trilogy. Even better than that, it was going to be a western... written by Nick Cater from The Backstreet Boys.  It was not the highest of cinematic fare, but I loved seeing the 90's pinups (BSB, N*SYNC, 98 Degrees, O-Town) fighting zombies. There was also the interesting (and somehow perfect casting of bay boy A.J. McLean as the head zombie's crazy henchman. What can I say, I'm easily amused.

Here are 10 important things I learned from watching Dead 7:

Chris Kirkpatrick sans eye
(Photo courtesy of Mashable)

10. Chris Kirkpatrick is still the last one picked. The N*SYNC guy played the town sheriff, not a member of the 7, and he somehow managed to lose an eye to the evil zombie queen, Apocolypta.

9. Jeff Timmons (98 Degrees) still looks dam good covered in dirt. He may be the hottest member of the 98. But what confused me greatly about Jeff's place  in general in this movie is his motive. Something terrible caused a rift between Jeff's character Billy and his brother Jack (Nick Carter) before the zombie apocalypse, and it had to do with "can't make up my mind" Daisy Jane. This was a fairly big plot point that was never explained. More importantly, where are people still getting hair gel after the zombie apocalypse?

8. Joey Fatone (N*SYNC) will never be a mustache guy. He can absolutely be a goatee guy, or  a  5 o'clock shadow guy, but his Yosemite Sam 'stache makes him look like a civil war general.

7. Nobody in the costume department knows what a ninja looks like. Erik-Michael Estrada's (O-Town) character was a ninja with a man bun, a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles shell, two swords, cargo pants, and sneakers.

The Men of Dead 7 (Photo from of Zap2It)
Jeff, Chris, Howie, Nick, A.J., Erik, Joey

6. Faced with too many Latinos in the cast, Howie Dorough (BSB) became The Vaquero and Erik-Michael became the ninja known as Kimodo. Somehow A.J. McLean (BSB) looks like a bloody clown.

5. Zombie henchmen look a lot like... a vampire slayer. Compare A.J. (as Johnny Vermillion, not his early 2000's solo alter ego Johnny Suede) on the left with with the first vampire slayer Sineya (from Buffy the Vampire Slayer). Maybe there was something missing from the very confusing exposition about all of the vampires being wiped off the earth before "the plague"? Maybe A.J. was actually a vampire, or more likely, an insane clown posse fan (a.k.a. Juggalo).

     Both characters talked in a similar manner, mostly growling. Sineya the slayer's words translated to the following:
"I have no speech. No name. I live in the action of death, the blood cry, the penetrating wound. I am destruction. Absolute... Alone." 
     Sounds like a zombie to me. Also important to note, evil zombie queen Apocolypta had a Jamaican accent when she spoke, sometimes. What was that all about?

4. O-Town sticks together. Almost the entire band appeared in the movie. Erik was one of the 7, Jacob Underwood was in a card game with Joey, and Dan Miller was holding it down as a bartender. Even Trevor Penick made a cameo as another more legitimate sheriff than Chris Kirkpatrick. Who was missing? Everyone's favorite teen heartthrob and occasional diva  Ashley Parker Angel. (I once waited three hours at the mall to meet him, only to be told I could take a photo of Ashley but couldn't be in the photo...)

3. Nobody likes the guys that flunked out of O-Town. Yes, during the groundbreaking reality series Making the Band, there were about 8 guys going through training to eventually form O-Town. The guys that were not chosen (and Ikaika Kahoano, who quit for some ridiculous reason) formed a group called LMNT. They were not cool enough to be be involved in this movie. Also important to note, Matthew Morrison (the teacher from Glee) was briefly in this boy band.

2. All the women left in the world are regarded as whores. Literally some of the guys end up in a whorehouse. All of the other women (the zombie queen, caught-between-two-brothers Daisy Jane and tribal priestess and guide Sirene (Lauren Kitt Carter) all are dressed similar to Laura Croft. I take that back, Laura Croft is dresses classier than all of these women as she raids tombs. At least the women were all wearing sensible and flat soled boots when they were running, no stilettos in sight.

1. Zombies are called copperheads????
I've got nothing to offer on this one. I am not sure why they were called copperheads. In conclusion,  SPOILER: Sirene is the only one who survived so my moral of the story is that men should not be left in charge of a post-apocalyptic world. (DROPS MIC).

Reading Into the Past- Don't Do It

   I was feeling nostalgic for the books of my youth because of this terrible Winter, and I reached for the dark and mysterious California Diaries serious from the Babysitters Club. I chose the first (Dawn's book) about 8th grade life in Southern California. For those of you trying to remember who Dawn is, she is the earthy hippie babysitter who moved to Stoneybrook, Connecticut with her mom and younger brother Jeff. After becoming friends with shy Mary Anne, Dawn and MA discovered their parents used to date in high school and dawn's divorcee mom and Mary Anne's widower father rekindled their romance and re-married each other. Dawn, like her brother before her, got tired of all the snow (who can blame her) and moved back to Cali to live with her dad and his new wife, Carol.

   These California kids were a lot more "real" than those Baby Sitters. Dawn, Sunny, Maggie, Duckie and Amelia (and not Jill, she was a stick in the mud). These kids go to high school parties, they kiss people, they drink beer, and they cover their parents' secrets. In its purest essence, it was everything me and my 4th and 5th grade friends imaged 8th grade would be (in out 90210 world). Each book is written a diary entry, and I found Dawn's diary extremely whiny for a thirteen-year- old girl (THIRTEEN! YOU'RE THIRTEEN?)- The European Guy to Stacey in The Babysitters Club Movie.

(Paraphrased from the entries) ...Wah, we have to go school with the older hgih schoool kids, I'm so nervous. Wah, my stepmom is having a baby, and my dad won't lvoe me as much. Wah, we're thinking of sneaking out to a high school party and I'm so scared, plus my best friend is having a wild streak"....

   That being said, Dawn was never my favorite baby sitter (respect the boss lady), but she was supposed to be one of the more open minded sitter girls, and when she got into hanging out with the West Coast kids, she was even more of a baby than Mallory.