Darth Vader - His Evil Has No Limits

Retro '80s Fashion Trends

When you think back to the '80s you will no doubt look back on many things with fond memories and in some ways yearn back to those simpler times. Nothing really defined the '80s as much as the fashion. Some was really good, some - not so much. Here now is a look at some trends you may have forgotten about but likely were into back in the day. Big Hair When I say big, I mean large. Perm, fluff, spray - repeat. Not sure who to thank for this look but most videos from the '80s by female artists were well represented by massive hair. This was a particularly dangerous look if you were a smoker. Rubber Bracelets If you owned a rubber gasket company in the '80s you suddenly had a new demographic besides mechanics and plumbers. Suddenly teenagers everywhere were wearing little black rubber rings as bracelets (thanks Madonna!) and were asking for funky colors besides black (cue the neon again). The more you wore the cooler you looked (and the longer it took you to get ready in t...

Classic Retro Wendy's Ads

The late, great Dave Thomas created the Wendy's Old Fashioned Hamburgers franchise (who knew old fashioned hamburgers were square!?!) after making a name for himself with Kentucky Fried Chicken. Working with Colonel Sanders himself, Dave was responsible for trimming down the menu offerings, and focusing the restaurant on specializing on chicken and turned the business into one of the most successful fast food franchises in the world. Taking what he learned with KFC, he poured all his energy into making Wendy's (named after his daughter) more than just a pain in McDonald's and Burger King's side. It was because of him that other fast food restaurants had to change certain processes and begin offering certain things that were never done before, like the larger sized portions (yeah - thanks for that Dave), salads and the super value menu. The real Wendy (Melinda actually) Wendy's was also pretty creative in the marketing department as well. Before Dave became the spoke...

Woodstock Dropouts - Bands That Said No and Probably Regretted It

Much has been written about the "Three days of Peace and Music" that took place on a 600 acre dairy farm just north of Bethel, New York. The Woodstock Music Festival took place 40 years ago this past weekend, and as the saying goes, if you remember it - then you weren't there. Rolling Stone listed it as one of the 50 Moments That Changed Rock and Roll and for good reason. The lineup was a who's who of the best artists of the day with 32 acts performing in front of over 300,000 people. The movie and soundtrack of the event went on to be top sellers and some artists credit their success to their appearance at the event. What isn't really talked about are some of the big names that decided not to appear at the event for various reasons. Some didn't really suffer much in terms of their own success but in some cases, it may have been exposure that could have taken them to the next level. Let's look at some of these acts: Led Zeppelin - Their manager refused sin...

Remixes Make the World Go Round

If you grew up in the 70s and 80s, lots of today's music may sound kind of familiar. Big reason for that is the abundant use of samples in contemporary music. Whether it's lifting a few beats and choice riffs or a complete ripoff of the tune with new lyrics rapped over the music, much of the music you listen to today probably wouldn't exist or be popular if it wasn't for the art of the remix. Remixing is the art of combining or editing existing music to create something new. Not to be confused with the term rip off which requires far less talent and vision. I never really gave much thought about the whole thing other than to wax on about how some of today's "artists" lack the same kind of talent that earlier artists had and with the use of technology, many people are getting pretty famous that don't really deserve to be. What will become of music twenty years from now ? Where will new samples come from if much of today's music is already sample ri...

Evolution of the Coke Bottle

There is no logo in the world that is more recognizable than the Coca Cola company's flagship product. Coke and its classic bottle design are a symbol known all over the world. It's gotten to the point you don't even need to have the word Coke in an advertisement as long as the distinctive bottle shape is there somewhere in the image. The classic shape has evolved over the last hundred years and has gone from a rather boring square shaped bottle to the curvy silhouette it now maintains. Below is a timeline picture showing the changes over the years . The shape is also responsible for designers of other products to be inspired by the sexy elements of the bottle, most notably car designers. there are many examples but one of the best is the 1968 Corvette. The evolution of the bottle continues with many commemorative issues produced for various promotions but one of the latest trends was the availability of metal bottles as well. There is no doubt the bottle will...

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