Pajiba

GAAAH! Smithy, Cyndi Lauper was from your parents' generation?!! Oh, lordy, I am old...last thing I need to be reminded of two weeks before my 30th....

However, your comment rings true. That is some pretty horrible tripe you've listed. Please continue to de-lurk; you amuse me, young'un.

Actually i had been wondering about that. Why is everyone around here so old anyway? Don't you people understand that the internet was created exclusively for use by the under 25's!?

Hey! What's wrong with Dire Straits? I'm 23 by the way.

Wait, what's wrong with Blondie?

Hey, we've got to have something to do between aquarobics and dinner, and the orderlies have Cinemax blocked.

if all the Eloquents could please line up according to age, we'll begin handing out the silly hats. socalledonlycousins you're up first.

"My SPOON is too big!"
"I am a BANANA!"

Todd: it's my opinion that if you have to ask that question, you probably won't understand the answer.

yeah, Chugga, it was. and there was also a saying that you can't trust anybody over the age of 30. problem with that is, of course, that i haven't been able to trust myself for about 3 years now.

then again, i don't think i ever really did trust myself to begin with.

So now we're dismissing Blondie, is it? Too good for a little classic bubblegum surf punk now? Oy.

WTF? Cyndi Lauper is the queen of my 80s heart! There have been a lot of comments lately that are making me question the awesomeness quotient of this place...

Wait...dissing Dire Straits too? Have you never heard Romeo & Juliet?!?!?

I'm not surprised by the box office recap. I went to see Cloverfield Saturday, and was held up in line by a large group of kids. They had to choose another movie because Step Up 2 was sold out.

It gave me and my husband time to create some new slang to describe these urban youths: mini-thugs, thug lites, and 5 cents.

Maybe we should define old, because, the last time I checked, over 25 is still pretty damn young.

So says the chick who's 2 days from 30, ;).

Hey, Mr. Kolby & my friends threw me a surprise party on Saturday. I'm still shocked, y'all.

And I LOVE Blondie. Cyndi Lauper? Not so much.

I'd rather claim responsibility for Cyndi and Joan than for the Jackass guys and Borat....but then again I still blame my parents for Bobby Vinton.

I think this is maybe the time to reveal my real age (21) and to mention that I doubt any real discussion on the horrors of the 80/early 90's is needed. All anyone my age or younger has to do is google the highly amusing oxymoron "80's fashion", sit back, and giggle.

I know it's fighting dirty, but Paris sure as shit does not speak for me, and anyone implying such gets what they deserve.

man when u open epuration camps for 80's shenanigans let me know cause I'll enter one voluntarily.
Smithy do us a favor go kiss your parents and relax a bit, have some fun, Cindy commands you to.

Here's a solid way to separate the aged from those who merely think they're old because they get to vote for the first time this year:
How many Pajibans know the (awesome) film that inspired Socalled's Pajiba name(s) and how many were still pre-pubescent when it came out?
Answers on a post card please (because I'm old and refuse to read texts unless they're in complete sentences).

I just KNEW the whole scrabble sex thing would show up on the round up. In my defense, I was hungry and tired.

I'm 25. So does that make me old or young? I'm on the fence. Also the 80s were fucking horrible. I don't want to talk about them. I may have been a weird, be-spectacled, spookily silent kid, but I had feelings too.

if all the Eloquents could please line up according to age, we'll begin handing out the silly hats. socalledonlycousins you're up first.

I'll have the propeller beanie, please. Back in the 1890s, when I was becoming acquainted with "moving pictures" and Dire Straits on the Olde Tyme Nickelodeon, that's what I wore. Strangely, no one paused to wonder why the aeroplane hadn't been invented yet.

Paddy, if you manage to spur a revival for that film, I'll e-shop you the whole set. If the director re-surfaces from the Witness Protection Program, I'll invite you to the cast reunion.

And everyone, take note: AtO's drinking game is linked on the masthead! [Was this discussion already had? Am I the only one excited by this? Where's my Metamucil?]

Ah, Kolby, you beat me by a nose! Happy-almost-birthday, and let me know how the big 3-0 works out for you.

Genny, I fully agree on the '80s-'90s "fashions". Luckily for me, I was a complete dork in school and didn't wear fashionable clothing. But honey, style hasn't gotten that much better, has it? Aren't '80s fashions BACK in style? Sigh.....

*slowly rocks in his chair listening to Rush Greatest Hits*

Jumping Jehosaphat!! Hey you blasted kids *trembles* GET AWAY FROM MY LAWN!!

*shakes fists, feebly*

you know, smithy, we wouldn't regard 19-year-olds as single-cell organisms if 19-year-olds didn't mistakenly think cyndi lauper and joan jett were atrocities...

And on a related note, I heard Joan Jett likes "the rug"....

I think we should have a comment diversion in which each poster reveals his/her age. Then nobody has to mention it again -- we'll have the database to refer to.

However, it should be stressed that such knowledge should not be used to demean another's point of view. None of us can help but be products of our own environments, after all. Comments by younger Pajibans can then be filtered through the knowledge that they are in the midst of the irreplaceable thrill of new discovery. And when an older Pajiban speaks, that's when the rest of you will know to sit down, shut the fuck up, and take a lesson.

I kid, I kid...except to say that BLONDIE DID NOT SUCK.

*in Charlton Heston persona*

I know people who've fought for this country, and have spilled their blood to make America what it is. And I'll be GOD DAMNED if I'm gonna let some Clearasil smeared, Generation D hipster who's barely out of high school, tell ME about the 80s.

I think it's really wrong to put Dire Straits or even Blondie in the same bracket as dumb-as-a-fruit-fly-and-sings-worse-and-IS-an-atrocity Cyndi Lauper. The same with Borat and Jackass, respectively. Same period yeah, but definitely not the same quality.

BarbadoSlim, if it's any help, I once saw Joan Jett playing a Pride festival. The lesbians in the crowd knew every word and nuance of delivery in every song... (The best part: her male lead guitarist was making Awesome Guitarist Face [tm], trying to impress some attractive young women in the front. Apparently he didn't get the memo.)

All anyone my age or younger has to do is google the highly amusing oxymoron "80's fashion", sit back, and giggle.

Whereas I am laughing because it's clear to me that the 80's are coming back, at least based on what I see walking around the college campus where I teach. It's a blessed relief from the buttcrack showing jeans and mini-tees of the last few years, which give even a normal-sized girl/woman a really horrid muffin-roll of fat in the mid-region. (If I had wanted to see that much of other people's bits I'd have become a different kind of doctor...)

And, as a child of the 80's (I'll be 40 in mere two months), I'd rather claim Cyndi and Madonna and Joan and even Flock of Seagulls and the silly Stray Cats than all of the tweener and late-teener so-called "singers" that are overloading the air today (*Hannah*cough*Montana*).

MO, in our defense, we did not INVENT day-glo "fashion". That being said, you can't fix stupid. There's always going to be that kind of person who will wear whatever is popular, no matter how big of a jackass it makes them.

Anyway, who do we get to blame for Bret Michaels, Scott Baio, and Flavor Flav? Because the 80's made them famous but the Oughts have refused to let their rightful obscurity continue. I think we all share the blame there.

Ha! Dayglo clothing AND make-up...I don't know I thought girls looked mighty cute wearing those.

How about Generra "hyper" clothing, the fabric that would change color according to your body temperature. Or, the Jordache "look"?

Hee! B-Slim, I had a t-shirt when I was 9 that would change from pink to purple from body temp...I spent much of the day covered in hand prints and looking like I tried to feel myself up.

Wait. There is nothing wrong with Blondie, Dire Straits, Joan Jett, OR Cyndi Lauper. I think this whippersnapper needs a paddlin'.

Kolby and MO I am turning the big 3-0 this year. How is it? Does it suck? I might have to stay 29 another year.
Geez I must've missed the 80s thing. I was still a kid in the 80s though the early 90s were heavily influenced by the 80s. I know I had huge hair until about 93.
Genny: I think that those people are still famous because of what trainwrecks they all are. I have to say I love Rock of Love. It cracks me up that all those 22 year olds "love" him. They probably love him from Rock of Love 1. And this might be what the debate was about. Dang I need to go back and read.

Oh, thanks Dustin, now I'm in the shit with everybody on here born before 1975. But I must say that anyone who thinks I don't also love what I mock has never seen a mother/daughter "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" dance party in my kitchen.

Don't dis the GenX-ers. It was our feeble slacker-ness that paved the way for the simulated irony of the current generation. ;)

Socalled: Note, not a single response or even a guess so far. What can we do with the youth of today?

As for the Director, maybe he saw the travesties that PBS presented a few weeks ago (Persuasion and Mansfield Park mutilations) and just decided to kill himself.

Smithy: they grumble because they love :) "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" was pretty much me and my friends' unofficial theme song, but I went to an all-girls college, so the girl fun having was inevitable.

PaddyDog...I'm 27 and have no clue as to Socalled's namesake movie. I feel dead inside :(

And on the whole age break down of Pajiba, I am moved to comment (for what it's worth) that it seems to be the older and not the younger contingent who have indulged in quite a bit of sophomoric dialogue lately.

Lyricalcatt - I'll let you know in a few weeks. I'm fully expecting to wake up to find a cane magically appearing at my bedside, and the art'ritis acting up, and all sorts of young'uns (like Smithy and Genny) wearing them baggy-ass pants and playin' their rock-and-roll hippity-hoppin' music TOO DAMNED LOUD! (heehee)

Genny--good point, we did invent some serious atrocities back in the '80s. Yeah, B-Slim, I remember hypercolour shirts...everyone looking like they had technicolour armpit sweat problems....ugh. THAT was not a well-thought-out concept.

Julie: Which one? My username is pretty much a giveaway as to mine.

"It gave me and my husband time to create some new slang to describe these urban youths: mini-thugs, thug lites, and 5 cents."

Posted by: Melissa at February 18, 2008 10:07 AM
--------------------------------------------------

HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!! I am taking "5 cents" and running with that. That made me choke back my coffee before I drenched my screen with it. Awesome, just awesome.

Wait, I made a roundup? Because of Scrabble Sex? Julie, what have you done?

Oh, and I'm starting to notice a conspiracy here...because I turned 30 here recently.

But...umm....congrats, Kolby! May you turn 30 for many years to come! ;)

Julie:
Perhaps we can persuade Socalled to do a review. I'm fascinated by what he might choose as an accompanying beverage. Although I confess, ever since I first saw the name "socalledonlycousins" on Pajiba (and don't ask me how long ago that was) I have had visions of this man (whom I have never met) dancing around his apartment reading the bible while Glenn Miller plays in the background.
Make of that what you will.

but I went to an all-girls college, so the girl fun having was inevitable.

Now you're just raising the sophomoric dialogue quotient again.

FYI

Note also: This. (What's the opposite of a meat market?)

Whoa...whoa...whoa...whoa...I'm surrounded by chicks?

Ah ha, Paddy, my favorite scene from the movie!

Also, "my self-help regime lent itself to the facile mocking of halfwits."

Smithy: Chestnut Hill College, in Philly :) And no boys, it was not all Scrabble sex and pillow fights.

Shadows: I feel your pain, my first roundup shoutout is because of board game banging and Ryan Reynold's oral prowess. My mother would be so proud.

Paddy: Dammit, I still have no idea what movie that could be, though I imagine Socalled would drink a nice martini or something equally classy-like while watching it.

Hold up now; I don't recall giving up any of MY vitals stats to the site. Who's been sneaking looks at my driver's license?

Really REALLY bad ideas in fashion from late eighties/early nineties: Hypercolor shorts. They didn't seem all that bad until the first time you stood up after sitting, cross-legged through your first class. It proved to be a looong day.

Bama: Our site has special cookies so that readers who dial up the old www pajiba address actually have their eyes scanned by specially-designed lasers in our masthead (in Seth Rogen's eyes) which allow us to parse your DNA structure, download your vitals, as well as your bank account information, Social Security number, and Netflix queues. It's pretty cool technology, actually. It tells me, for instance, that three years ago this month, you were bitten by a dog. -- DR

Pushing 50 here. I still remember a couple of years ago at work, when I said, "Oh yeah, and remember when the big ships sailed into the harbor during the Bicentennial," and my boss said, "I wasn't born yet."

Just rip my heart out and stomp that sucker flat.

pish.... all you zygotes....... i must be the wandering yoda, agewise. i think i'm 46? i've seen crap come and go thru the decades. as i understand, it is every successive generation's quest, to find the most reprehensible noise with which to foster some juvi sense of themselves separate from their 'rentz. but OMG.... it's gone beeeeyond the pale.

from chaperoning a 7th grade dance a coupla wks ago, i can now, w/o any doubt say... the culture/country have ceased their swirl round the bowl, and are well beyond reach down the tubes. it's over.. go home and listen to whatever modicum of music past you can muster w/o being hauled into court for cc'ing onto your ipod.between the disneyzombiebands and the niggaz/cholo'z 'n ho'z..... 'cest fini.

p.s. generationally of the 70/80's i take no personal responsibility for pop/kiddyrock/screamdreambadhairbands/slutmadonna or blondie.
my early youth was spent on zep, santana, eagles, seeger, elton john, doobies, t-rex, beatles, ccr, doors,tull, sting, phil collins.....and i'll even cop to the occasional KCsunshine "Boogieshooz".

the past 2 decades hav added... cc music factory, black crows, collective soul, johnny lang, andreas vollenweider, spyrogyra, harry connick, jesse cook..and rogue traders.... few others.

may ya all live ta see the music you grew up w/selling cadillacs and or only found on what will now be known to you as "oldie stations" :P HAHA :)

crap, oldfogie brainfart - didn't add @.. i guess this will post twice... sigh....

Oh you just HAD to bring up the dog biting incident? HAD TO, didn't you?

Asshead.

Thanks. A. Lot.

Dammit, it's too nice outside to be in here blathering away.

70 degrees and sunny. I loves me a Central VA February.

Maybe this has already been said, but Genny, your argument does not hold a lot of credibility when your generation is bringing back tapered (oh excuse me, skinny ) jeans, and I've even seen leg warmers out there. There are a lot of wannabe Pat Benatars roaming around these days too. For shame young'ins, for shame.

Julie, I am with you. I have been trying to figure out the movie behind the name and I can't! Give us another hint!

As a little kid growing up in the late 80's, I do remember some of those fashions. I had LA Gear sneakers, stirrup pants, and one of those shirts that tied in a knot in the corner.

And I'll be honest: I loved it.

However, I do not remember hypercolor shirts. I'll have to look those up.

As someone who was developing motor skills when Reagan was finishing up his second term, I can say that sometimes I wish I was a GenX-er.

Ya'll got kickass 90s music and "Empire Records."
We got Paris Hilton and "Garden State."

So unfair.

Julie & LyricalCatt:

How about:

"I won't replace a half-bottle of Old Crow
with a full Jim Beam. I'm not an idiot."

Or:

"They're against NATO.

What are they for? Soviet troops racing
across Europe, eating the croissants?"

If that doesn't do it for you, we'll have to persuade Socalled to do a review in the Underappreciated Gems category.

Katy: HA HA! I concur with your statement. I saw a girl at a party I was out wearing leg warmers. I live in Florida. It's freaking hot here all the time. I just looked at my friends who are in their late 20s early 30s and said I am too old for this crap. And then we pointed and laughed every time she walked by.

Ah, Brie, was there anything so simple as the stirrup pant? It was a backdrop to all the accessories, the leg warmers, long shirts with the circle do-hicky that held part- just part- of the shirt back. That's style. That's class. Add a sideways pony and good god, you're gorgeous!

So I'm not the only one just a tick away from 30? I was excited about it until about 2 months ago, and the weight of it. THIRTY. It seems... yeah. thirty.

The other day at the lunch table at work, while describing the ways in which I can be ridiculously obsessive, I mentioned that I can sometimes be very "Sally" from the movie mentioned repeatedly in last week's comment diversion.

One of the young whippersnappers actually said, "That's a very 80s reference." I did resist the urge to throttle him.

I second all the comments regarding the hypocrisy of criticizing 80s fashion, when it is so clearly coming back. I can't wait for the reappearance of pegged jeans, thick white socks, and Sebagos (sp?) (I believe that is the name of the popular loafer of the day). Boy, will that be funny. I lived through it once, I can't believe I'm going to have to see many of those same crazy looks again. Over-sized sweaters paired with miniskirts, anyone? Oh, the list could go on forever.

And did I mention that I received an email just last week about my 20th high school reunion?

Is it Barcelona? I have seen the movie, but it was recently, (I turn 22 this year, if anyone wants to know) As far as age goes, I think it has more to do with how you were raised. Lots of Rush, yes, Stix and Queen in my house. Lots of art too, and I watched crazy David Lynch films with my dad when I was in middle school (finished therapy in high school!)

Paddy, I don't think they get Google where they live.

Oy, B-Slim, the oaks! The oaks! They're coming to get me!

Oh, so I was wrong then? What movie is it? I thought Barcelona for sure...

Okay, we've got to have a communal "Geriatric Pajiban 30th Birthday" party, all!

Now to take PaddyDog's snippets and see if I can't Google that movie.....

Theresa, that's it -- you when the prize, which is a 100-pack of Depends from Costco. I'll talk to DR about an Underappreciated Gems review -- my love for this film is too deep for just a weekly Boozehound.

And the winner is....Theresa, who was apparently 3 when the film came out. My faith in the nxt generation was been restored.

Lilliana, I managed to skip the side ponytail, but I was all about the butterfly clips. Headaches didn't matter when you were looking cute.

I actually saw a pair of leg warmers at a dept. store a couple years ago, so the 80's are definitely coming back. If they weren't so ugly (leopard print) I would've bought them. For the warmth factor, anyway.

Wow! I have seen Barcelona but it was a while ago and I would have never guessed that. Ted Boynton indeed.

From fucking Barcelona?!?!?! WHAT. DA. FUCK. man, I suuuuck.

And I was watching Metropolitan just yesterday.

What are they for? Soviet troops racing
across Europe, eating all the croissants?"

TB: Go home Yankee deers? I hardly think that's better than Yankee pigs.

FB: Wouldn't you rather be a deer than a pig? What's wrong with you?

"But I feel a responsibility to recount the horror my parents' generation has wrought: Cyndi Lauper. Joan Jett. Dire Straits. Blondie."

I sure hope this whole Miley Cyrus thing works out for you.

Wow, B-Slim, I would not have pegged you for a Whit Stillman man. I was already composing the line in my head where I subtly advise readers that the film is probably not for certain commenters.

FB: Everyone always talks about the sub-text, but what about the thing that's right there in plain view, over the sub-text?

TB: You mean, the text?

FB: ... yeah, that's right, but no one ever talks about that.

I love Metropolitan! I saw it in middle school and had crushes on redheads ever since then. Tom Townsend was my first crush :D

I have an unhealthy interest in the New York upper crust, for some reason.

Damn mb, I'm 19, not 9. I refuse to take responsibility for Miley fucking Cyrus.

oh my god, who would have thought that I'm on the old side of things at 34 (I'm even more impressed with the witty commentary on this site). Nonetheless, while the fashion was awful, at least it was the first time around and we didn't know better (unlike now). And I'm sorry, but mainstream pop was so much better in the 80s. At least they were real bands really singing and most of them were having a lot of fun. Now it's all filtered through enough equipment that I'd sound good on an album -- and that's saying a lot.

B'Slim: I forget where you fall on the Austen issue. Are you a Janeite or not? Because you do know that Metropolitan was Stillman's ode to Jane Austen, right?

...and because of Fred, i'm still not convinced that i shave properly.

Mmmmmm, not a Janeite, but I can see why some might be. Didn't know Metropolitan was a homage though, it certainly gives me a new perspective on it.

Well, causaubon, the first thing you do is get a lot of hot water . . . .

"All those people killed in shootings in America?"
"Oh, shootings, yes. But that doesn't mean Americans are more violent than other people. We're just better shots. "

Heh.

mb- The difference is, we won't be defending Miley Cyrus twenty years from now... :)

Actually, people will be defending Hanna Cyrus Miley Montana in twenty years...but we can just ignore them since they'll be the descendants of the people who are defending the Spears' sisters.

I'm waiting for pictures of all of them when they're 40.

the wierd part is how different Miley seems to be from her father. a couple of years ago i was working as a PA and one of my details was to take Billy Ray on a 5-hour roadtrip to a gig he was doing- just me 'n' Billy Ray in a Navigator motoring along I-90. and i was really suprised at how genuinely humble and down-to-earth the dude was. we sang along to old Bruce Springsteen tunes and he even bought me Popeye's at a pit-stop because "[I] just have to try it!".

he seemed like a guy who had really learned from his experience with the fickleness of fame and the entertainment industry- of being one of the biggest household names for 15min, then becoming a punchline and falling into obscurity and then picking himself up and starting again.

it seems though, that he hasn't passed any of this on to his daughter. shame.

Jerce:

I had typed that quote as one of my clues, but then I erased it before hitting "post" 'cos of being in Illinois and all. I thought some readers might take offence. I laughed out loud when I first saw that in the cinema (which caused a lot of heads to turn because it wasn't a US cinema).

causaubon, Billy Ray sounds more like a regular person and a good guy. You're right, it is a shame his daughter didn't pick up on the lesson he learned. But that's what being a teenager is all about, right? Me?

Since the age discussion seems to be dominating these comments (though I have to admit to some skimming on the part of my 18-year-old eyes, which can't cope with reading too many full sentences in a row, especially ones that contain the full spellings of all the words), may I offer the notion that wisdom (among other varied attributes) is by far the better measure of character than the number of years spent on this crazy earth? Furthermore, most people are not significantly defined by whatever pop culture icons happen to exist when they're in their teens or 20s. Whoever links the people of my generation to Paris Hilton or Britney Spears needs to pay closer attention (or move themselves and their kids out of whatever cultural wasteland they're living in).

The point is, people, one common truth brings us all to Pajiba, and that is that some movies--let's face it, a lot of movies--suck. And you're never too young or old to bitch about them.

So I guess it's like this, huh? Alright. I'm over 35. And I refuse to apologize for Joan Jett, Dire Straits or Cyndi Lauper.

Rebate checks are being issued, however, for Debbie Gibson and New Kids on the Block.

...Sorry.

Now until you young chitlins decide to own up and do something about Avril Lavigne you can get the hell up of my lawn. NOW.

Blondie does not suck,
Dire Straits does not suck,
Joan Jett does not suck,
Cyndi Lauper does not suck. Every one of them are on my iPod right now.

may ya all live ta see the music you grew up w/selling cadillacs and or only found on what will now be known to you as "oldie stations" :P HAHA :)

OMG that hurts. I should have been dead by 40.

I am taking "5 cents" and running with that. That made me choke back my coffee before I drenched my screen with it. Awesome, just awesome.

Awesome, indeed -- I'm using it too.

It's totally weird how so many of us are right around 30. I just turned 30 in November. For those of you who have it coming soon, it's not bad, really. I celebrated by making people go to Chuck E Cheese, where we got drunk and played stupid games. Honestly, I think it was a lot weirder turning 25 than it was turning 30. Admittedly, it probably helps that I look really young for my age, and still get carded for everything...sometimes even R-rated movies.

hear hear, Sarina. 25 was weirder than 30 (like, OMG, i'm a whole quarter century old!). me turning 30 was more of a shock to my parents, who are still relatively young (52 at the time).

let's hear it for 30 being the new 20!

let's hear it for 30 being the new 20!

OK, but only if 210 lbs can be the new 170....

Re 5 cents:

You have to say it "fie-cent" to achieve the parallelism with "fitty."

[/sees 12-year-old with baggy jeans around knees]

"Who are you, Fie-Cent?

Weird. I went from reading this age-obsessed thread over to Pop Candy and the top story was... Molly Ringwald turns 40.(I'm almost there.) Can't we all just get along/find some common ground? How about Willie Nelson? That fucker's timeless.

Socalled: A friend and I refer to tweeny "badasses" as Nickelodeons. They think it's because they're part of the Spongebob generation, but it's really because they're Itty Bitty Fitty Spawn. If they look like they're high, we also call them nickel bags. That one, however, is highly hypocritical since we were high the day we coined it.

Sarina: You leave the house when you're high?

It's not at all hypocritical to make the cold, logical assessment that a 12- or 13-year-old getting high looks slightly ridiculous, while at the same time concluding that, since you really don't need it like a plant needs sunshine and just use it as a mechanism for "coping" and "fun" and "not dying," there's no justification for someone reaching the same conclusion about yourself. Not that I engage in those sorts of rationalizations.

The best real advantage of being over 50 is that I can claim the Beatles and the Monkees...

27 this year for me. Gah... Maybe by 30 I will see the end of school.

NKOTB, why did someone have to remind me? Did anyone else hear that they are reuniting, thus bringing back all of the bad from the late 80's and early 90's?

I hated them then and I still do.

Socalled, not if I have any say in the matter, no. Being high in public is way too surreal for my taste, plus I require a lot of adult supervision because I just play with everything until I break it or get bored and throw it. We were high when the phrase was coined, but we still use it when we see kids who fit the description.

Just to leave it in the official record:
"I Love Rock'N'Roll" is still intense fantasy fuel for me. Only Suzi Quatro can top that.

I'm 32.

"you seem very intelligent for an american."
"well, i'm not."

thats a good one.

Hey, hey, hey! I've still got two more days of 29 people! Let's not rush things!

Now, it's time for me to apply my Ben-Gay and creak to bed.

SF, nearly 29, nonsmoker, frequent drinker, no children, free to loving home for weekend. Girlfriends have decided best way to celebrate aforementioned birthday is at 80s prom event. Dress shopping has commenced in force. I am relatively clean, a very good cook, and reasonably attractive. Any takers?

I'm a little late to the game here but I really wanted to add my two cents to the age discussion. I turned thirty just this past summer and it changed my life. I know that sounds drastic but for me it was! I took stock and realized that I wasn't happy and the only person who could change it was me. So now I live in a new town with a new job and friends and I have never been happier than I am right now. (insert smiley emoticon here) So don't be afraid of 30, embrace it!
p.s. Girls just wanna have fun is sitting on my table right now and I just got my 12yr old daughter to watch it and she loved it!

And everyone, take note: AtO's drinking game is linked on the masthead! [Was this discussion already had? Am I the only one excited by this? Where's my Metamucil?]

Believe me socalled honey I am geeking the fuck out. This is what happens when I take a few days out from the heady world of Pajiba. Thank you Pajiban overlords... I feel so validated!

Also: The concept of Scrabblesex remains the best idea anyone's ever had. Ever. I was glad to have been a part of it.

According to the statistics, the majority of Pajibites (DRINK!) are young educated white female heathen drunken democrats. Hmm...let me see...I think I fit...aside from the white democrat part.

I demand a full book on Scrabblesex, like the Kama Sutra of nerdy people. Julie! Get on it. Oh and your "girl fun having" made me giggle. I went to a catholic boarding school (All girls of course) and there was quite a lot of fun girl-having.

I may be 25, but that doesn't mean I have to grow up.

Debbie Harry never sucked - y'all are crazy. She was also one of the prettiest of the pretty and has managed not to disgrace herself by denying that she had plastic surgery.

According to that definition I am the perfect Pajibateer (drink) joker (drink again).

I totally agree Samantha, Debbie Harry has always been (and will continue to be) awesome.

AtO (double drink) Aren't you British? How can you be a democrat?

Indeed I am, Joker, but I agree with the Democratic stand points on reproductive rights, healthcare and education rather than the Republican ones, so I consider myself a token Democrat.

Actually I know way more about American politics than I do about the state of play in the UK. It's tragic, and something I'm trying to change, but that's the way it is. I blame Slate, QuizLaw and Feministing.

Oh and that's a drink for the emboldening (whee, inventing new words is fun), two drinks for the two off topic politics posts and a fourth drink for:

The exceeding of three paragraphs!

Hehe...I really wish I had some alcohol around. I fucking hate school, good thing it will be over in a week.

Oh yea I also know much more about American politics than I do about Norwegian. It's mainly because no one gives a shit what Norway does, including Norwegians.

Isn't it fun how the Americans are so quiet during these hours? We can totally take over the comment threads. Let's talk more Marshmallow Giant Scrabble Sex. I'm obsessed.

FOURTH PARAGRAPH!

Yep, it's like we have our very own Pajiba playground!

I've noticed that I'm only ever active on the trade round ups that are posted on Tuesdays and Thursdays (I'm in the office all day so I can post right from the start) and I tend to hang out at the end of box office round ups and reviews.

I really shouldn't be able to dissect my posting habits in this much detail.

I also wish I had alcohol - I'm gigging it tonight so will be heading to the pub at 5 but it seems so far away... or not. Ouch, only 2 hours to go - I should really start working!

Ha! I wish I could leave at 5. But you're right. Work needs to be done. Or in my case, I need to go fiddle with my honeypots. This is unfortunately not as dirty as it sounds.

Do you work with bees dear joker? Bees are currently the bane of my life. They haunt me on a daily basis.

Although I did get to have a look at motion sensitive neurons in the bee brain the other day. That was kind of rocking.

No, I work with computer security. Honeypots are basically machines with nothing of interest whatsoever that are meant to attract malware/attackers (the bees in this case).

Ooh bee brains! I love brains! Not in the zombie way, but more in the engineer way. They're just such cool machines.

I really don't like bees though. I always feel like they're out to get me. I have beeranoia.

Ooooh insectoid metaphors for security systems, I like it.

The brain is indeed a very cool machine - I wish I understood it better from the programming side but my electrophysics was always a little bit shaky. Alas, my understanding is slightly more abstract although that didn't stop me from gawping at the screen like an idiot when my hand movements produced a visual response. Very cool.

Bees are out to get you though, they're in cahoots with the chickens.

I got the chance to take a Neuroscience class for one semester just for shits and giggles. It was AWESOME! My project was on vision and I got to put electrodes on people's heads, make them watch flickering patterns and register the activity. Unfortunately this also involved Laplace transforms. Still...it was awesome to see the change in the signal if the person got distracted and looked at something else. While computers and networks can be fun to play with, brains are waaaaaay cooler. Mostly because we don't really understand how they work.

Don't get me started on the chickens, but at least I can eat them. I killed a chicken when I was 10...chopped its head off. Then I got spooked and forgot to hold on to it and it ran around for a while.

I work in vision now as a matter of fact, we do all manner of funky things with motion perception and colour processing.... unfortunately my lab is grantless and so we haven't acutally done anything in years (hence the leaving of the job to go and do something worthwhile - yey teaching!) so I tend to hang out in other labs and try to soak up what they do.

Last year they cured a mouse with congenital blindness. Now that was awesome. My daily task of scanning papers? Not so much.

This exchange deserves a.... wait, let me check... a drink, right? Cheers!

Hehe CasKo...yea there should be a rule about "comm-versations"

Wow...teaching, that IS worthwhile. Well you can uh...become a labrat. Give yourself to science. That way you get to be in labs ALL the time. And they would do trully awesome things to you.

Last time I was someone's "lab rat", it was my neuroscience prof who was doing some weird stuff with vision. Anyway, it involved a giant electrode in my eye.

Hmmm... I might have to add another one - I'm not sure the "one drink per every post in an off topic exchange" quite cuts it...

I've never had electrodes actually in my eyes before. I've had photographs taken of my retinas though, that was kind of funky.

I am the kind of person that would leave their body to science though, in fact I fully intend to.

And yep, I'm all about the worthwhile (and the summer holidays) also about the teaching the children the joys of evolution.

How long do you suppose we can keep this up before someone throws something at us?

Oh the fucking electrode was terrifying. The worst part was whatever they use to widen pupils. It took much longer with me because my eyes are almost black. And they had to anesthesise my eyes to prevent me from blinking. And then of course, I couldn't see shit afterwards.
I'm cool with leaving my body to science, it's not like I'll be using it.

I think you should teach them the joys of scrabble sex. It is biology. Sort of.

Heh, think I might get kicked out for corrupting the students! They should be worried enough about me taking sex-ed as it is!

They didn't have to use the pupil dilating stuff when they took the photos of my retinas - my pupils are permanently dilated (which can lead to some interesting conversations with step-parents over possible drug usage as well as irritating occasions of guys thinking you're in to them when you in fact aren't let me tell you) which really freaked the guy out.

Why did you agree to have an electrode put in your eye again? That sounds horrifying!

I think we can probably keep this up infinitely, we're witty and sparkling - who wouldn't want to listen in on our banter?

Oh yes, witty and sparkling...we're talking about sticking things in our eyeballs and bee brains!

Well I didn't know I would have something stuck in my eye when I agreed to it. After my pupils were fully dilated, I just decided to go with it. Also, there was a morbid fascination about having that huge thing in my eye. OK, that sounded really dirty.

So what's with the dilated pupils, need more light than others? Or is it the drugs?

I feel like a peeping tom reading your comments! Ha ha. It's funny that you were able to keep it up so long. My eyes kind of glazed over with the subject, but I am kind of dumb so there's that. In the immortal words of Tim Gunn "Carry on!"

I have literally no idea. Maybe I really did permanently damage my eyes from all those years of sitting next to the TV screen just like my mother told me I would.

It's probably the drugs though, in retrospect.

lyricalcatt...Feel free to join in. We're just being really geeky and weird.

This exchange has now spanned 17 comments (I think), which means you have to drink for all of that. Let me know how the alcohol poisoning went. I'm afraid I can't join you. I'm stuck at school and it's almost 19.00. *sigh* My honeypots refuse to cooperate.

I believe this might be the most effective comment thread hijacking. Nice work.

Indeed! Although alas, now my comment thread hi-jacking is over.

For I must head to the pub! We're going to see emo music this evening and I have a feeling we're going to be surrounded by fourteen year old hipster kids - an alcoholic safety blanket is in order I feel. I'll have an extra drink for you Joker, something strong.

Get a room, you two -- DR.

Ok, Dustin. Would you like to watch?

The award for Longest Comment Conversation in a Thread goes to....

It's a tie! Ladies and Gentlemen! We have a tie! Will joker and Alex the Odd please come up! You are both winners! We all love you!

You do have to share the trophy, though...

AtO and Joker: love the international hijacking. Speaking of dilated pupils, I just came back from the eye doctor, and the dude standing across from me on the subway would not stop staring at me. I should probably wear a sandwich board home reading "No, I am NOT on acid." I look like I'm straight out of Requiem for a Dream.

Thank you! Thank you! You love us! You really love us! *Takes a bow* I'd like to thank my parents for making me go to school and have to spend ungodly amounts of time on the Internet. I'd like to thank my partner in crime, Alex, who is now unconscious under a table in an English pub.

Julie, sunglasses are a good idea. It's much easier to let people think you're some hipster douche who wears sunglasses in the rain than a junkie. Unless you are. In which case...can I have some?