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07/25/2007: Summer Megaparty: Summer, 1992!

Remembering my foolproof loophole of not needing to add new content to the blog when I post a regular X-E article, I’m here to tell you that I’m only here to tell you something.


I came across a collage I drew and colored in 1992, evidently encapsulating all that was holy about that year’s summer vacation. In this article, I break down the contents of said collage and figure out why each element meant enough to me to be worth drawing.

After spending over a month writing about whatever, the Summer Megaparty finally gets summery. Only, I guess it’s not the Summer Megaparty getting summery, since this is a “regular” article. Ah…well, something’s getting summery.


Posted by Matt. E-mail me!

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Discussion Thread: 129 comments

Not much to say, but wanted to add my kudos for a great article. Very summery. I’m a bit older than most of you, so my Summer of 1992 was a bit different. But not that different. Instead of spending it like a six year old, I was more like an eight year old.

Ghosted by Chris Martin @ 07/25/2007 11:54 AM EDT


Man as great as this article was it makes me feel old. I got OUT of the navy is 92. Of course when I was a kid, we could get away with shooting bottle rockets at cars. Ah, the high jinks I did as a stupid kid would land me soundly in jail today.

Ghosted by Wenthral @ 07/25/2007 12:10 PM EDT


Matt, the reason why I loved this article so much is because– for some reason –I forgot pretty much all of my own childhood summers. Summer of 1992 is a total blank for me. All I know is that I was nine years old then.

So, reading about your experiences is like…nostalgia by proxy, or something like that. (I hope that doesn’t sound creepy.)

I’m looking forward to seeing more stuff in this same vein.

Ghosted by Annette @ 07/25/2007 12:13 PM EDT


Other than going to camp and being forced to play little league baseball (I’m unathletic and hate sports in general) I can honestly say I don’t really have big summer memories. I’m sure I went to the movies and stuff, but nothing special.

Ghosted by JLAJRC @ 07/25/2007 12:32 PM EDT


I am glad that I have nothing from myy childhood to remember how dorky I was.

I prefer to live the lie that I was always as hip as I am now. Fuck, I was one cool kid.

Good article though.

Ghosted by the one and only jeff. @ 07/25/2007 12:39 PM EDT


Hehe … fun stuff – Although I caught a couple of errors in the article. The 4th paragraph, and the 10th paragraph have small grammar mistakes.

I definitely dig your little Star Co. toy company dude! Complete with roller skates! xD I remember in the fifth grade my friends and i got on this kick where we invented GI JOE file cards of our own characters. I remember it being my idea, and for those 2 or 3 days, everyone else was really into it. Once we realized they were never going to actually make these guys for us to play with, the fun wore off … I wonder if I still have any of those old drawings in a box somewhere? It’s funny how vauluable that stuff is once you get a little older. = )

Ghosted by James @ 07/25/2007 1:02 PM EDT


James, I conked out after posting the article, but I hope I caught all the typos this morning. E-mail me if not, because I hate them.

Ghosted by Matt @ 07/25/2007 1:11 PM EDT


Ah, that was my 21st year on this planet. Spent most of it dodging the question of “aren’t you glad to be drinking age?” by people who should have known better. One cousin bugged me about going out to drink with him until I told him, “You’re doing enough for both of us, and I’ll remember to thank you at your funeral.” He didn’t talk to me for weeks. A person can only be civil about their personal beliefs for so long, before the offender has to be snapped cleanly in half like a carrot stick.

Ghosted by kingklash @ 07/25/2007 1:32 PM EDT


Summer of ‘92? That was the year I got my first guitar, so it was a good one. My summers at that time were spent playing a LOT of SNES. My family had moved to an isolated house out in the country, so hanging out with other kids was difficult (all my friends lived 10+ miles away, and of course, none of us could drive yet). I had one friend who lived within a reasonable bike ride away (and even he was a couple miles away), so I generally latched on to him like a facehugger all summer.

I also did the camcorder movie thing that same summer. I don’t remember all the details, but it involved my sister being some sort of time traveller from midevil times…and I can’t remember the middle…and the ending is the Statue of Liberty biting the head off of the narrator (me, represented by a doll for the head-biting part). And I as the narrator (since I was closet to the mic on the camera) narrated the whole thing in a really terrible British accent. Genius!

Ghosted by tanta07 @ 07/25/2007 1:46 PM EDT


I remember the Bristol – it was right near the Waikiki where we stayed for years. On the rare occasion we stayed at the Crusader. But NOTHING compared to the Waikiki with its turf covered sundeck. We’d spend nights out there watching storms over the ocean (and by this I mean me crying while my mother telling me to get over it). I drove passed there a few years ago and the place was closed, I don’t know if permanently or for repairs.

When we’d go to Disney we’d always stay at the Polynesian. We will forever have attachments to Hawaiian-esqe places.

Ghosted by Jess @ 07/25/2007 1:55 PM EDT


Matt What a great freakin’ article!! I too have a serious adoration for Wildwood. I still have my Wildwood ‘86 mesh t-shirt at my parents house (Yup, the same year they killed everyone’s hero, well every boys hero of that era). It doesn’t fit me, not by a longshot, but it still has the letters in awesome 80’s pink. We used to go there every summer for which seemed like forever before my parents apparently won the lottery and took us to Disney World for nearly 10 years in a row. Not that we minded, but Wildwood will always have a special place in my memories.

I also remember being able to buy fireworks. My friends and I would go to this little Bodega (the only one in my area that was actually a Bodega) on Hook Creek and buy all sorts of stuff there. Roman Candles, Jumping Jacks, Butterflies, Bottle Rockets, all sorts of shit to potentially maim ourselves with. I miss being able to do that.

Man, ‘92. I was 16 years old. I miss those days. Spending the summers just swimming in my pool or playing SNES during the day and hanging out until 1 AM playing Man Hunt or Kick the Can at night.

I’m not even going to start thinking back to my parents video camera and all the great “action” adventures my friends and I made.

I have to say, this Summer Mega Party has been pretty freakin’ fantastic!! Hats off to you Matt!!!

Ghosted by Darth Galvatron @ 07/25/2007 2:14 PM EDT


Sorry for the double post, but I hadn’t read any the comments before I posted the first one. I’m at work, and they pay me to actually do something. Pains in the ass.

I agree everyone who says Matt should definately do a book. I believe this has come up before.

I find it mind numbingly awesome how most of us have the same memories of our youth summers, especially around that time (early 90’s)Playing SNES, being home alone with siblings, playing sports in 80 degree weather at 8 am (I’m from NY also, so I know), making movies with the camcorder. I think that articles like this is what makes this site what it is, and attracts the posters that are here. There are so many things you guys mentioned that I had to leave out for the sake of brevity in my original post. Once again, great article Matt.

Declan Dempsey Two of the greatest playsets I’ve had experience with are the GI Joe Aircraft Carrier and The GI Joe Space Shuttle: The Defiant. Ridiculously large toys, but I’m not sure what they for on E-Bay. If you can get your hands on them, they would make great movie props. I know, trust me.

Magic Toy I often want kids of my own, just to live vicarously through them, so I know the feeling. BTW, how’s that Soundwave? Japan is releasing an Encore line which is just the Japanese re-issues they did a few years ago with Prime, Megs, Screamer, and Soundwave. TFW2005 should have the info, if you already didn’t know about them.

Ghosted by Darth Galvatron @ 07/25/2007 2:38 PM EDT


My highlights of ‘92.

- I finally got my SNES that I had been whining about for the last year.
- My cousin from Baltimore came to stay with us for a couple of weeks and we went to Six Flags.
- Saw Wayne’s World, and for the rest of the summer we wore out my friend’s Queen compilation tape by plaing Bohemian Rhapsody 15 times a day.
- Visited pretty much every arcade in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. My favorite was TILT in Vista Ridge Mall in Lewisville.
- Our drug store started selling Apogee shareware discs for $3 a pop. That’s how I fell in love with PC gaming.

Ghosted by hamburger man @ 07/25/2007 2:39 PM EDT


Matt, you would DEFINATELY appreciate this.

“Giant Squid Invade California”

http://tinyurl.com/yt85zt

Ghosted by JLAJRC @ 07/25/2007 2:46 PM EDT


Darth Galvatron

Soundwave arrived last Saturday and he is adjusting to his new surroundings just fine. He is currently taking a nap in cassette deck form. Ravage is still acting a little shy. He hides behind the chair mostly and hasn’t eaten much. Must be his nerves. Laserbeak, on the other hand, is flying around like he owns the place.

Seriously though, it is great. It arrived in very good condition and it was awesome to actually have this thing in my hands again. I hadn’t seen one in probably twenty years. It was definitely worth the little bit of money it cost. Thanks for the info. on the site, I’ll check it out later.

Well, I am off to the store to see if I can scrounge up a copy of Monster Squad. I also got Zodiac in the mail from Netflix today, so this looks to be a great movie night for me.

Ghosted by Magic Toy @ 07/25/2007 3:50 PM EDT


Oh my gosh, this is seriously one of the cutest things EVER. Right up there with Hat Day. I have to agree that these are my favorite types of articles.

Ghosted by MaryJane @ 07/25/2007 3:53 PM EDT


awesome article matt! funny stuff

Ghosted by Y2Jay @ 07/25/2007 4:08 PM EDT


Great article Matt!

Ghosted by Joker @ 07/25/2007 4:49 PM EDT


God, I was that kid that had to draw on every piece of paper, every notebook and every book cover. It was mostly ROTJ shit mixed in with Halloween or Christmas junk. It was not a rarity to see stormtroopers looking at jack-o-lanterns. I’m surprised I managed to escape merciless beatings from my peers. I specifically remember this conversation with some kid.

Kid-”Why did you draw a boat on your book cover?”
me- “It’s the Orca from Jaws.”
Kid- Why is there a Christmas tree on it?”
me-”Holy shit! Look out behind you!”
Kid- “What?”
(Bill runs out of the room.)

Ghosted by Bill @ 07/25/2007 4:56 PM EDT


Hi, I’ve just been watching the Simpsons Movie. Great!!! Watch it!
Sorry that it’s totally off topic, but imagine the excitement of watching Simpsons in cinema. Spider-Pig, Spider-Pig…

Cheers

Oli

Ghosted by Oli @ 07/25/2007 5:13 PM EDT


The fishing picture is awesome! Every time I look at it I laugh all over again.

I spent much more time with my camcorder during the summer of ‘93 when my best friend and I became obsessed with E! and made all these audition tapes that we knew we’d never send. We adored that network then (mostly because of Talk Soup), but I can’t even abide it now. So sad.

The summer of ‘92 was the first summer my mother worked outside of the house. She’d done child care up to that point. Even though I turned 13 that year, she didn’t feel comfortable leaving my sister and me at home alone, so if my grandparents didn’t come by we had to spend all day at work with her. The good news was that she worked at Kings Dominion. The bad news was that she was an usher in the theatre and made us stay in there with her all day because she didn’t want us roaming the park without supervision. I watched that show so many times…

Ghosted by Lori @ 07/25/2007 5:30 PM EDT


Aw, Lori, you should give The Soup a try, it’s really a great show. And they rag on E! so much that sometimes I’m surprised they’re still on the air.
I’m impressed by everyone’s great memories. I guess I had a little too much Summer 2001 because I sure don’t remember any specifics from Summer 1992.

Ghosted by squee4242 @ 07/25/2007 5:54 PM EDT


For the life of me I can’t remember any specifics of that summer. Grrrr. So, you aren’t alone, Squee.

Ghosted by Knegative @ 07/25/2007 6:13 PM EDT


I can die happy, having read this article!

Ghosted by heeree @ 07/25/2007 6:33 PM EDT


Summer of ‘92 sucked for me but I thought I was hot shit. I went on some church camp, then immediately after left for my first boy scout camp. They were both horrible weeks, but I thought I was living it up when I went on them. One thing I remember from boy scout camp was when my bony, whiter-than-white friend told three six foot tall black kids that he was going to beat them up. Wow, he was scaaaaaared.
Summer of ‘93 was better for me, but maybe that’s because I was 13 then, not the year before.
Great article though.

Ghosted by Myke @ 07/25/2007 7:03 PM EDT


Back from my self-imposed Harry Potter exile. I finished the book yesterday.
Now, do I go back and really catch up on all of the X-E I missed or just let it go???

Ghosted by The Manimal @ 07/25/2007 7:25 PM EDT


Let it go. Yes, you read that right. This is coming from me.

Ghosted by Knegative @ 07/25/2007 8:53 PM EDT


Nice post Matt… have to give kudos since I was 16 in 92 and don’t remember it. I’m with the group that doesn’t remember 2 summers ago.

Squee… finished the book.. posted on your site.. my life can now move on from HP mania… NEXT!

Ghosted by Primus @ 07/25/2007 9:28 PM EDT


oh hey Magic, if you liked that youtube, check out this one of Soundwave running for student council
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6klaUw997Qo

Ghosted by Primus @ 07/25/2007 9:31 PM EDT


Hey, I saw that one too when I was exploring last night. That vid is also hilarious. The only detracting factor was that Soundwave was so short. I can’t take him seriously when it looks like Tom Cruise in a Halloween costume. Thanks though.

Ghosted by Magic Toy @ 07/25/2007 9:56 PM EDT


I was in a Harry Potter daze until just today, really. The daze lasts for 2 days after the ending of the book…slowly you find other people to talk to, and this helps. I can’t wait for all my friends to be done.

Summer of ‘92 was also one I spent at CAMP. Every kids should go to camp, even if its a shitty charity camp located 30 minutes from home and only a half-kilometer away from the highway! Camp is fundamental to a complete childhood. :)

Maybe that’s why I was a camp counselor for awhile. Good times.

Ghosted by Muppet Baby @ 07/25/2007 10:06 PM EDT


Come to think of it, Muppet Baby, I probably went to camp that year to. Except mine was in New Mexico (near Ruidoso, actually), so it was several hours away from home. Place was called Fort Lone Tree. It was a Christian based camp, but we still did all the cool stuff like horseback riding, archery, and riflery.

Man, I really miss being a kid. :(

Ghosted by Cameron T. @ 07/25/2007 10:47 PM EDT


The cat! do you have any REAL pictures of it? i think it would be neat to see. Have you tried this pepsi max stuff? it has me wired tonight.

Ghosted by ben @ 07/25/2007 10:49 PM EDT


I don’t remember my summer of ‘92 but I was 10 then. That was when I got a brand new bike, a black huffy boys bike. 10 gear, pretty good bike. Still have it but it’s beat to shit lol. My best friend was about 8 or 9 and was a boy he lived a house down from me. We went around playing cops and robbers which mostly was just biking around yelling at each other. He let me fondle his boys toys like ninja turtles, and we played NES games. He came over everyday knocking on my door saying “can you come over to play?” it got annoying actually and during the school year I told him I had homework, I was in a more advanced grade so he just had to have the benefit of the doubt. But also when I was 10 my best friend from kindergarten that lived the other way up the street moved away.

Her dad was an abusive alcoholic and her mom finally left him and moved. It didn’t feel as bad as it sounds because she very rudely showed me she didn’t want to be my friend anymore it was mostly because she was moving up the popular ladder and wanted to leave me behind. I remember going over to her house to ask her if she could stay the night, she was having a slumber party with other girls over, her mom informed me she was busy and to come over the next weekend. I did and I think she came over. So I was basically her plan b if she had no plans for the weekend I guess. I have a cassette tape of us talking and screwing around also very 80’s type of music taped off the radio. Michael Bolton anybody?

Anyway a secret between me and you guys I honestly felt now reflecting back I am like 98 percent sure I had a crush on that girl even at 10. Wayyy before I figured out my sexual orientation. I just put her on a pedistol like everything she did was really perfect I loved watching her lip sync to the radio and stuff like that. I loved her handwriting too and I have a diary she wrote in. Sorry to ramble I was just trying to describe everything.

Probably my best summer was ‘89 my grandparents took my sisters and I on a 6 week trip to Europe. I’ll talk about that some other time ok kiddies?

Ghosted by Goob @ 07/25/2007 11:11 PM EDT


Mars: Oh right… I knew it was a bet over the Blue Jay’s world series victory, and it had to be either 92 or 93…

Primus: That. Was. Awesome.

Ghosted by DocDragon @ 07/25/2007 11:50 PM EDT


Your handwriting then was better than my handwriting now, and that depresses me to no end.

Ghosted by Monte @ 07/26/2007 1:56 AM EDT


All I have to say is that was a truly great article Matt.

…and now to leave the fun behind, and get some sleep for school in a few hours.

Ghosted by Tutsuro @ 07/26/2007 3:12 AM EDT


awesome article! probably one of the best in a while..

i remember trying to make some vhs movies as well, mostly with gi joe toys, and then later some weird stuff when twin peaks came out, i think i ended up mostly just filming my dog tho

summer of 92 i think i mostly remember staying up late nights, and my best friend somehow making his way into my house everyday and waking me up around noon.. we’d record tapes on my boombox playing my casio keyboard to sound like an organ to sound like funeral commercials and such, saying weird things like “coffins, funerals and free puppets for the kids..” then prank calling people & playing the commercials for their answering machines.. dunno, lots of time on our hands

Ghosted by dallasmovie @ 07/26/2007 3:58 AM EDT


OK, I just finished watching Fincher’s Zodiac and would give it a very solid “thumbs up”. Go grab a copy, if you already haven’t, and give it a look over the weekend.

As long as you know it is based on a true story and due to that the ending may be a bit, well, anticlimactic, I could not recommend it highly enough.

True crime buffs will LOVE this.

However… a warning… don’t buy the copy on store shelves now. The Director’s Cut, coming in 2008, will be the copy worth owning. Rent it.

Ghosted by Magic Toy @ 07/26/2007 4:01 AM EDT


Magic Toy: Man, every time you say Zodiac, I think I’ve finally found someone else who has read the Neal Stephenson novel by the same name. Stop playing with my emotions!

Ghosted by Jedoc @ 07/26/2007 7:17 AM EDT


I don’t think anyone has mentioned the fact that Matt looks absolutely insane in the drawing of himself recieving the mail! Look at those eyes! And he’s drooling!

Although I do the exact same thing now, and my face actually looks like that 24/7

Ghosted by flabslapper @ 07/26/2007 8:29 AM EDT


Is today the day we get to see Kong and the bumble?

Ghosted by fistpittingnork @ 07/26/2007 8:33 AM EDT


I actually just got back from the now infamous Bristol Plaza. This place has not changed one bit in 25 years. Well, actually im lying. The arcade is LOOOOOOOONG gone.
We (my friends) try to go to wildwood at least once every summer and party the hell out of our hotel rooms.
Wildwood is still the best, and I feel sorry for everyone who did not grow up on the Supercade, Draculas’s castle, keystone cops and Paul’s Fries.
Going back in a few weeks and staying at the Bal Harbour…..

Ghosted by Boner Jams 03' @ 07/26/2007 9:07 AM EDT


Nice article Matt. It’d be cool if others documented their summers in drawings the way you did in ‘92….like maybe Lindsay Lohan, OJ, or The president.

Ghosted by Lammy742 @ 07/26/2007 9:49 AM EDT


I actually stopped to think about what I did with the summer of ‘92.

Turns out I was 16 years old, working at Hardees, secretly pining after my best friends boyfriend. Ah the memories. So glad I got to dig them up again.

Even though I did end up dating him a few months later, when I won him over the two other girls in our “love square.” It’s a triangle if it’s three people, so it’s a square if it’s four, right? Then we broke up because I wouldnt put out.

Maybe I SHOULD draw the summer of ‘92.

Ghosted by MaryJane @ 07/26/2007 9:56 AM EDT


Boner Jams ‘03. Epic fuckwin. Paul Rudd, ftw.

Ghosted by Knegative @ 07/26/2007 10:11 AM EDT


“[i]Then we broke up because I wouldnt put out.[/i]”

Pfft… Girls these days with all their morals and self respect. :p

Ghosted by fistpittingnork @ 07/26/2007 10:12 AM EDT


MaryJane: Square seems too neat and tidy. “love quadrangle” would probably be best representative, but for the sound of the thing, I’m going to have to vote for “love rhombus.”

In other news, I’ve just discovered a terrific name for a band.

Ghosted by Jedoc @ 07/26/2007 10:12 AM EDT


Pardon my incorrect tab format. You get the idea though.

Ghosted by fistpittingnork @ 07/26/2007 10:13 AM EDT


Aw, Lori, you should give The Soup a try, it’s really a great show.

Actually, I do enjoy The Soup. It’s hard for me to catch it because I’m never in front of the TV when it originally airs and they seem to stick the reruns wherever there’s a hole in the schedule, so it’s always luck if I ever watch it. When I was 13/14, E! was all I watched. I remember watching E! News when they actually treated it like a news program. That’s hard for me to even fathom now. Actually, it’s not, because with all the Lindsay Lohan/Britney Spears/Paris Hilton coverage, today’s “real” news programs are actually a lot like the old E! News Daily.

Ghosted by Lori @ 07/26/2007 11:53 AM EDT


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