The Paganomation Blog » The ’80s

’80s Lots-o’-Huggin’ Bear Commercial

David — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 18:31:48 +0000

Pixar, WHY ARE YOU SO GOOD AT EVERYTHING?!

This “Lots-o’-Huggin’ Bear” ad just made my day. I can’t wait for this movie to come out.

…complete with VHS lines! What an ingenious addition.

Even the YouTube account is amazing, with lots of other real toys to add to the legitimacy. Just brilliant.

YouTube – Lots-o’-Huggin’ Bear Commercial circa 1983

“A marriage of Pop, Rock, Synthesizers and 80′s sitcoms. Everything you love.”

David — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 06:30:03 +0000

I have a new favorite album: “Slow and Steady Wins the Race” by the Brooklyn duo Jonka. A husband and wife team (redundant), I first came across their music through a link to their MySpace page on the Stuck in the 80s blog. After playing a couple of the tracks, I decided that buying the CD was something that I needed to do, and I’ve been listening to it non-stop since it arrived in the mail.

Normally if I was writing about an album, I would recommend specific tracks to listen to, but this whole thing is so damn foot-tappingly catchy that I’m just telling you to go buy it right now – especially if ’80s-influenced electronic pop is your thing. It’s also on iTunes, for those of you who are too good for Compact Discs. Now that I think of it, I would love to own this album on vinyl. Hint, hint.

jonka | Slow and Steady Wins the Race | CD Baby

I can’t stand those self-righteous Spacers

David — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 06:11:45 +0000

Whenever I find myself down in the dumps, this video cheers me up. It’s an excerpt from the VHS component of a 1988 Kodak VCR game entitled, “Isaac Asimov’s ROBOTS.”

I bought the game back in college, based solely on the commercial. If your heart pines for mid-budget ’80s sci-fi, this video will do right by you.

YouTube – Isaac Asimov’s Robots (VCR Mystery Game)

Sesame Street – Best Sesame Ever

David — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 05:02:04 +0000

Over on the Sesame Street website, you can vote for your favorite Sesame Street videos ever, decade by decade. This week, they’re doing the 1980s. Awww yeah.

Though, I have to say, I’m kind of sad “How I Miss My X” by Patti LaBelle isn’t in the running. Though maybe that was 70s?

Sesame Street – videos/VideoVoting – Vote – Best Sesame Ever

Vaguely ’80s Lego Sunglasses

David — Tue, 12 May 2009 14:09:18 +0000

Can’t tell if these sunglasses are actually made by LEGO — you’d think I’d keep a closer tab on something like this — but they’re pretty sweet and I want a pair.

Lego Sunglasses As Nerdy as They Sound | Gadget Lab | Wired.com

TF Animated: Wreck-Gar is awesome

David — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 04:31:36 +0000

The newest Transformers cartoon features Weird Al Yankovic as the voice of Wreck-Gar, a character voiced by Eric Idle in the 80s TF movie; who, in that film, danced around to the Weird Al song “Dare To Be Stupid.”

Anyway, I bought the Wreck-Gar toy recently for that reason. It’s awesome, as the title suggests.

YouTube – Wreck-Gar is awesome

Max Headroom – Merry Christmas, Santa Claus

David — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 20:28:54 +0000

This was on one of my Xmas mix CDs a couple of years back, but I had never seen the video. The surreality of this makes it delightful to watch.

YouTube – Max Headroom – Merry Christmas Santa Claus

Penny Arcade! – The Verdict

David — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 19:51:00 +0000

I heartily agree with this comic.

Penny Arcade! – The Verdict

Aged Max Headroom

David — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 01:31:28 +0000

Apparently Matt Frewer did a couple of spots as Max Headroom for Channel Four in the UK, and nobody told me.

This is the first time Frewer has appeared as Max in probably 20 years or so. I love the nod to Jim Carrey, and the way older Max now has thinned CG hair and liver spots.

ELA in Love at First Byte

David — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 01:20:26 +0000

I think this video is awesome for obvious reasons.