X-Entertainment.com X-Entertainment.com A Proud UGO Affiliate
My dying wish is for an owl/camel hybrid, which I call camowl.

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 on 07/25/2007. E-mail me!



Discussion Thread: 130 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.

Chestnuts roasted by Chris Martin @ 07/25/2007 11:54 AM


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.

Chestnuts roasted by Wenthral @ 07/25/2007 12:10 PM


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.

Chestnuts roasted by Annette @ 07/25/2007 12:13 PM


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.

Chestnuts roasted by JLAJRC @ 07/25/2007 12:32 PM


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.

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


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. = )

Chestnuts roasted by James @ 07/25/2007 1:02 PM


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.

Chestnuts roasted by Matt @ 07/25/2007 1:11 PM


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.

Chestnuts roasted by kingklash @ 07/25/2007 1:32 PM


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!

Chestnuts roasted by tanta07 @ 07/25/2007 1:46 PM


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.

Chestnuts roasted by Jess @ 07/25/2007 1:55 PM


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!!!

Chestnuts roasted by Darth Galvatron @ 07/25/2007 2:14 PM


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.

Chestnuts roasted by Darth Galvatron @ 07/25/2007 2:38 PM


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.

Chestnuts roasted by hamburger man @ 07/25/2007 2:39 PM


Matt, you would DEFINATELY appreciate this.

“Giant Squid Invade California”

http://tinyurl.com/yt85zt

Chestnuts roasted by JLAJRC @ 07/25/2007 2:46 PM


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.

Chestnuts roasted by Magic Toy @ 07/25/2007 3:50 PM


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.

Chestnuts roasted by MaryJane @ 07/25/2007 3:53 PM


awesome article matt! funny stuff

Chestnuts roasted by Y2Jay @ 07/25/2007 4:08 PM


Great article Matt!

Chestnuts roasted by Joker @ 07/25/2007 4:49 PM


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.)

Chestnuts roasted by Bill @ 07/25/2007 4:56 PM


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

Chestnuts roasted by Oli @ 07/25/2007 5:13 PM


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…

Chestnuts roasted by Lori @ 07/25/2007 5:30 PM


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.

Chestnuts roasted by squee4242 @ 07/25/2007 5:54 PM


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

Chestnuts roasted by Knegative @ 07/25/2007 6:13 PM


I can die happy, having read this article!

Chestnuts roasted by heeree @ 07/25/2007 6:33 PM


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.

Chestnuts roasted by Myke @ 07/25/2007 7:03 PM


Add A New Comment!