Everything 90's

Televison we enjoyed:
"Rock-a-doodle doo pop gherkins, this is mad Mike Smash broadcasting on Radio Fab FM with me old mate Dave Nice-wow! mate you are looking positively Cliff-tastic"
Don't worry I've not gone mad I am just quoting the sort of thing that Paul Whitehouse and Harry Enfield did in their amazingly funny characters as radio DJ's (mostly based on an amalgam of Radio One DJ's we grew up with including Steve Wright and Mike Read) and taking to the airwaves to parody Radio One's presenters of the past - Dave Nice was mostly modelled on stalwart presenter Alan 'Fluff' Freeman (Alright pop pickers, not 'alf!") but others were mixed in. Mike Smash's raison d'etre was doing "great work for charidy but don't want to talk about it!" Their sketches were brilliantly done and inbetween the only record they played in the beginning was Bachman Turner Overdrive's "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet!" or as it was once introduced as "Right, here is Mr Bachman, Mr Turner and Mr Overdrive with You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet-LET'S ROCK!!)

Later they decided to kill off their characters when they were changing Radio One and many of the popular presenters got the boot or decided to leave(Dave Lee Travis famously resigned live on air) so they were moved from FAB FM to Radio Quiet(parody of Radio 2's night shows-"A big hello to all you truckers out there" and resigned themselves before being pushed. One memorable scene was going to a party and being introduced to new DJ's all called SIMON (as there were a few younger presenters on Radio One such as Simon Mayo at the time or at least people like him)

The funniest scenes were at Nicey's mansion where he tried to hide his houseboy(the inference was that he was gay) and Smashie's lone existence(he had once recorded his voice so he could hold a conversation as a kid and not feel alone) It was also clear that they weren't always 'great mates' and Nicey was irritated by Smashie's infernal happiness all the time. In the end they split up. It was a shame they got rid of those characters but I think even they had run its course by then. Incidentally on the talent show part of Saturday Superstore's Search for a Superstar there were two kids who did an absolutely spot-on impression of them and they even impressed the two stars when they appeared with them on a show-Quite liderally Rock-mungous!

So now for all your pop gherkins out there watching on your bonkers PC's here is Smashie and Nicey in a clip from YouTube which is is quite liderally poptastic in a poptacular kind of way-enjoy NOT 'ALF!

Those two were my favourite characters
I don't think he ever topped Harry Enfield's TV programme with anything else he did,that first run was hilarious.

The biggest phenomenon of the 90's would have to have been the rise and rise of The Spice Girls (Baby-Emma Bunton, Posh-Victoria Adams, Scary-Melanie Brown, Sporty-Melanie Chisholm and Ginger-Geri Halliwell) which spawned many top ten hits and Number One singles including a Christmas No.1 2 Becomes 1. The problem was turning young impressionable right-minded thinking young girls into young rebels spouting all this rubbish about Girl Power-the sight of all these wannabe spice girls at the BBC Television Centre once screaming and shouting must have scared the living day lights out of camera crew and whoever was interviewing them. They were incredibly successful and became dolls and other merchandise and eventually made a dire film Spice Girls The Movie, which had Richard E Grant and noted thespian and ex Bond, Sir Roger Moore! Like all bands though once one member leaves it leads to a break up and they went their separate ways (Geri was the first and went solo, Mel C sang on her own, Mel B went to the US and had misadventures there, Victoria married David Beckham Man Utd footballer, and Emma went solo for awhile and then went to radio Heart FM) Geri Halliwell married Red Bull formula one boss Christian Horner-millionaire so she fell on her feet very well.

1990: One of the most completed T.Rex fossils is found in South Dakota and it is named 'Sue' after the Paleontologist that discovered it.

Beavis and Butt-Head - From March 1993 to November 1997, The series ran for seven seasons.

1994: The channel tunnel is completed and opens, connecting France and England.

1995: The online auction website Ebay is founded.

1997: J.K. Rowling released the first instalment of the Harry Potter series.

1998: Search engine Google is founded.

In the 90's a Mars Bar would've cost 27p and the average price of a pint of milk was 30p.

^ I was just reading about the Tyrannosaur fossil they named "Sue".42ft long and the lady found her totally fortuitously,she sat down to take a break.

^ Yeah, I saw the whole documentary on the History channel and it involved a lot of legal entanglements over who owned the rights to the fossil, the documentary is quite a fascinating watch and in a way quite sad considering there was a prior agreement with the land owner over the excavation and then things seem to spiral out of control for the people that discovered the fossil.

I remember getting the first book of J K Rowling's Harry Potter series mostly because I had a book token to use up but I'd heard so much about this author that I had to join everyone else and find out what it was all about. Never got into Beavis and Butthead, I remember the Channel Tunnel finally being finished and seeing the French and British engineers shake hands and holding flags and thinking "about bloody time too" and a Mars Bar at 27p was an extortionate price and still is today but I've not had a Mars Bar for years.

Okay so I know I said I would be back with my second BIG holiday I had in the 90's so here we go. Initially it was going to be the Lake District where I had spent an idyllic week in 1991(just before exams for a computer course I was doing) but then my father suggested New York-okay, not quite the Lake District but it meant going to the USA for the first time and a hell of a sight-seeing place. I agreed to it and nothing was mentioned for months. One day my father was reading the Times and spotted something. He came to me later and said "you know I said we would go to New York...well what do you say to CHINA instead?" Jaw dropped, I couldn't take that in, China! We discussed it a few times and I mentioned it to my then grandparents and they thought we were mad. We then had a family birthday lunch party for my Grandfather(this was 1998 btw) and again it was discussed. My sister said it would be a great adventure and I should go. At that time it wasn't that expensive, KUONI Travel were doing a good deal, so in the end I agreed to go.

In May of that year(1998) we packed and got ready to go. The flight would be 10 hours and we would be landing quite early in the morning which meant an overnight flight-I find it hard to sleep on an aeroplane. We landed 10 hrs later at around 6.30am and by the time we disembarked it was nearer to 7am. Dad had to go off and change some currency and left me(half asleep) in the middle of the concourse sitting on the suitcases. Next second I was surrounded by Chinese people, I'd never seen so many in my life and they all seemed to converge towards me I never felt so out of place as I did at that point and frantically looked around for my father. He reappeared a few minutes ago as I fended off at least three taxi drivers touting for business. We would need a taxi of course so he found one chap and gave him a printed card-this had the name of the hotel on it in Chinese so we thought we're in good hands...mind you the journey to the hotel was fraught and nearly ended in disaster...To Be Continued.

China trip Pt2:
Okay so I had been sitting waiting for my Dad to come back and we got a taxi to take us to the hotel. On the way there is was fraught with danger. Cyclists ride on both sides of the road but not away from you but towards you talk about idiots but it was worse when we got to a larger road and vehicles crossing in front of us. As we sped on I spotted a bicycle and behind it was a low trailer in which was a young child. It started turning as we came towards it and I reckon we just missed it by a matter of inches - they drive like lunatics out there too - never mind the 9m bicycles in Beijing sung by Katie Melua - there are also a lot of cars, carts and other vehicles to trip you up. Anyway we got to a main road and suddenly the driver went down an alleyway. I looked at my Dad and wondered where the hell he was going. He stopped the car and then looked at the card-there was a small map showing the hotel but there was no way that was down this alley, so he reversed out and went back out into the main road. Finally he found it and stopped outside. It looked quite nice with lion statues and big doors but when I went inside I couldn't believe it. The interior was amazing, large painted red columns(which looked like solid marble but were actually wood!) and a very nice reception area. To one side there was a small cafe with some delicious looking cakes which we would go to a few times but in front of me leading up was a large white marble staircase. I was so tired but it was very impressive. Once we got into the room which was very nice I just collapsed on the bed and tried desperately to keep awake. We had the television on and watched CNN channel and caught up with the news.
Coming soon what happened whilst we were there and the tours we did-including the Great Wall.

Right where were we, yes the tours. One of the most amazing was a trip to the Forbidden City and Tianamen Square-the sight of that massacre and the one where that student defied the authorities and stood in front of a tank. While we were there our guide called Tracey, who when studying English most girls will take a English name, told us that even after all those years ago, the Chinese and the authorities still deny anything happen. That student made the cover of TIME magazine so it was hard evidence that it DID happen. The most amazing place the Forbidden City and the Square is huge, you could probably fit Wembley Stadium three of four times onto it. Kite flying was a popular past time there and we also saw around the temples inside the Forbidden City and the ivory bridges that featured in the film 'The Last Emperor' if you've ever seen that epic film. It is hard to describe but if you ever get a chance to go to China that is one of the places to see. Incidentally you won't see those clay warriors that everyone talks about because they are in a different part of China. It is interesting to see how the modern and old blend so you would get a large skyscraper but it would have an ornate pagoda-type roof on it. Another amazing site was people early in the morning doing tai chi in parks and other areas. It was fascinating to watch. More to come.