{"id":8739,"date":"2013-08-01T15:37:28","date_gmt":"2013-08-01T20:37:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/2013\/07\/27\/"},"modified":"2013-08-01T15:37:28","modified_gmt":"2013-08-01T20:37:28","slug":"the-90s-were-totally-sweet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/?p=8739","title":{"rendered":"The 90s Were Totally Sweet"},"content":{"rendered":"

When I was given the chance to review \u201cThe Totally Sweet \u201890s: From Clear Cola to Furby and Grunge to \u2018Whatever,\u2019 the Toys, Tastes, and Trends That Defined a Decade\u201d I thought, sure the 90s were fun but do we really need a book devoted to them? I mean, it\u2019s so recent. Then it hit me. The 90s were actually quite a while ago. You know, I graduated from high school in the mid-nineties. You know what else? I\u2019m getting seriously old. What the hell universe?<\/p>\n

$\"\"$ <\/a>Where was I? Oh yeah, \u201cThe Totally Sweet \u201890s\u201d. Holy crap there was a lot of stuff that happened in the nineties and authors Gael Fashingbauer Cooper and Brian Bellmont manage to squeeze it all in to one book! Each entry includes a status to let you know what\u2019s going on with it now and also a fun fact. But I know what you\u2019re thinking, Rebecca, what\u2019s in that fun little book that you\u2019ll share?<\/p>\n

Hmmmm, shall it be Pogs? Or perhaps \u201cClarissa Explains it All\u201d? Maybe Zima? Possibly \u201cThe Adventures of Pete and Pete\u201d? However, I\u2019ve chosen perhaps my favorite thing\u2026\u2026that\u2019s right readers, \u201cPop Up Video\u201d.<\/p>\n

The 1990s were all about multitasking, and music videos were no exception. Why just veg out in front of an ordinary video when you could watch a video paired with \u201cBeavis and Butt-Head\u201d commentary or one adorned with \u201cPop Up Video\u2019s\u201d cartoony word bubbles?<\/p>\n

The best pop-ups told you something hilarious like one on a Rick Astley video pointing out a dancer who never learned the steps, or confiding that the director and producer had a two-hour fight about whether Astley should roll up his sleeves. Awesomely, the writers of the pop-ups seemed to have the same bemused contempt for the music industry as the rest of us, never failing to point out where the producers cheaped out on a set or the singer was replaced with a stand in.<\/p>\n

Watching \u201cPop Up Video\u201d was like kicking back with your friend with your friend who worked as the third director\u2019s assistant and letting him dish about the scene where Meat Loaf fell off his chair or snark that Dexys Midnight Runners fired their drummer midway through the shoot. The pop-ups were like musical footnotes, but footnotes that were more often entertaining than the real text.<\/p>\n

Status: \u201cPop Up Video\u201d popped off the air for a time in 2002 but was revived by VH1 in 2011.<\/p>\n

Fun Fact: \u201cPop Up Brady\u201d gave the pop up treatment to old \u201cBrady Bunch\u201d episodes. One pop-up on the famed Kings\u2019 Island episode claims Robert Reed saved the cast\u2019s life by spotting a poorly mounted camera that would have flown off a roller coaster and possibly killed the actors.<\/em><\/p>\n