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Human League’s Invasion Inspired by Toxic Love
On October 16th of 1981, The Human League began the second British Invasion with the release of their third album ‘Dare!’ Two of the founding members left. Front man Phillip Oakley was at the helm and in a do or die moment. The album would either be a new chapter or the end of Human…
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Vampires are Hot, and Other Lessons of the ‘90s
By Kimberly Thalia One of my earliest memories is a nightmare I had when I was four. I was in an empty cave lit by torches. A section of the wall looked a Scooby Doo kind of different and when it slid open, your classic vampire entered. He said, “I vant to suck your blood!”…
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The Life of Mia Zapata and Love After Tragedy
Are there creatives that most of us will never hear of? Should we check out our local music scene? Is how we lived more important than how we died? Do we need to remember who the person was and their art more than what they endured? In the case of Mia Zapata of the Gits,…
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Inclusive Ghost Story That Changed the World? Pac-Man!
On October 10th of 1980, the US met Pac-Man and his mortal enemies Blinky, Pinky, Inky, and Clyde. In 1979 Toru Iwatani assembled a 9 person team to develop a video game that women could play and enjoy as well as men. In an interview he said, “The reason I created Pac-Man was because we wanted…
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The Curse of the White Bic Lighter and the 27
Have you ever heard of the curse of the White Bic Lighter and the 27 Club? Let me get my flashlight as you gather around the camp fire. One October night I was out with a woman I was dating. We were outside of the iconic Metro Chicago having a smoke and a toke together.…
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Wednesday Addams is the Hero Fem Friday Needs!
Does a fictitious character that inspired countless women mean as much as one that exists? Can inspiration be found in someone we met when she was nine? And do men have to be aware of their reactions to women who refuse to conform? In the case of Wednesday Adams, the answer to all of these…
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Total Eclipse of the Heart Was a Vampire Love Song
In 1983 Bonnie Tyler’s Total Eclipse of the Heart entered October as the #1 song in America. It stayed on the number 1 through most of the month of October. It did not make it to Halloween, which is a shame. The song is about vampires hooking up. The song was meant to convey something…
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A Conscience Pivots to September’s Top Stories
A few moments ago I scrapped an article I had been working on for weeks. In the Members Only Patreon Page I talk about the cutting room floor. Back story of articles and what I included and did not include. At the end of this article I want to touch on why I scrapped a…
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Women Write Banned Books & What We Must Do Now
What happens six weeks after a First Amendment Activist and members of Amnesty International and the American Library Association have a conversation in the 80’s? What were they fighting for? And who is winning that war over 40 years later? The 80’s gave us Banned Books Week. They were fighting “to teach the importance of…
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Mark Hamill Gave Us the Gift of Imagination
I’ve decided to try a new thing on Wednesdays! Just be a nostalgic fan as opposed to the deeper dive. So let’s kick off this experiment and celebrate an amazing man! Nothing deep and not full of facts and figures. I started this idea of Gen X Watch to counter the toxic Gen X nostalgia…
Recent Posts
- Human League’s Invasion Inspired by Toxic Love
- Vampires are Hot, and Other Lessons of the ‘90s
- The Life of Mia Zapata and Love After Tragedy
- Inclusive Ghost Story That Changed the World? Pac-Man!
- The Curse of the White Bic Lighter and the 27
Tags
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Comments
So interesting to hear the backstory of how he chose his two female bandmates. I'll be honest, this band/this song…
It's oft misunderstood. People will say, it's toxic! Yeah. That was the point. The woman is walking away from it…