1990 Archives - Sludge Central

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It’s really unbelievable that every year it feels like the holidays just sneak up on us out of nowhere. I think it’s that we’re all so wrapped up in the daily grind that we forget what’s coming! It just hit me now that in a few short days I’ll be able to eat all kinds of pies that I wouldn’t ordinarily come within 5 feet of! Thanksgiving is the ultimate cheat day. To help you pause and take it all in, The Purple Stuff Podcast is here and is zero calories. You can even go back for seconds, guilt-free! Join us for our Thanksgiving show where Matt and I discuss some of the highlights from the 1990 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

As we have discussed on the podcast many times, these parades are a super important aspect of the holidays to us. Some consider the tree lightning in Rockefeller Center the kickoff of the holidays, but for me, Santa’s entrance in the parade signals the official start of Christmas. And let me say that 1990 might sound like a totally random choice, but it’s so not. I still feel like I’m 20 so it’s easy to forget that’s before a lot of you were born so I’m going to ask you to trust us on this one, it’s quite a memorable parade broadcast. Most of these parades usually have a few “special” moments, but this one seemed to have way more than we expected.

We had a blast recording this one and we hope you enjoy it as well. I also want to take this time for an extra jumbo sized sentiment of appreciation to you as we approach THANKSGIVING! We couldn’t do it without you. I am very grateful to those of you who come back here to read my infrequent posts, watch my annual videos, and of course listen to the podcast, it means the world to me. Enjoy Thanksgiving and try to savor all the details, like how amazing Mom’s stuffing is (let her know) and sip the Cranberry Ginger Ale SLOWLY and notice how its fine subtle yet tart tones bounce around in your mouth.

Halloween 1990

I love to look at photos from Halloween years ago. It’s fun to reminisce about the various costumes my friends and I wore through the years, although sometimes it’s mind boggling. I’m still operating in the mode that 1990 was 10 years ago, but clearly my calculator has proven me wrong. This is a picture of my friends and I in front of our school, oh my Lord…20 years ago! I loved dressing up for Halloween when I was a kid but as I got a little older I started to grow tired of putting so much effort into going home and changing and putting on makeup etc. I phased out of getting dressed up when I stopped going trick or treating. So this photo marks the beginning of my lazy phase for Halloween, a phase that many of us have gone through.

Friday the 13th was one of my favorite horror film franchises and until that point I never dressed up as Jason Voorhees for Halloween so I wanted to see how it felt to live behind the hockey mask for a day. My least favorite film of the series, Jason Takes Manhattan was released a year earlier but it didn’t hinder me from deciding to be J.V. At that time, anyone who dressed as Jason for Halloween was considered to have a “copout” costume. That was the easiest way to go; the lazy man’s Halloween costume. I bought the mask real cheap and I recycled the knife from a Rambo Combat set I had and just slathered some fake blood on it!

My friends in the picture all had outstanding costumes. From left to right you’ll see my life long friend Greg who was way ahead of his time dressed in drag. This guy always had a great sense of humor and to think that he had the balls to dress as a woman when we were kids was awesome. I’m not sure if he would do it now though! I don’t remember too many kids dressed in drag back then. To make things even more bizarre, he was holding a bloody axe making him some sort of deranged cross dressing serial killer.

To the right of me is the absolute greatest homemade Flash costume ever. My best friend Frank kept his costume a secret for a whole month! Then, on Halloween day, after we all came back to school after going home to change for the school parade, he walked into class in full Flash costume and I was literally in awe. The Flash TV series was only a few episodes in and we were both hooked since we were DC comics freaks. The costume had that extra authenticity because there wasn’t even real Flash costumes or cowls available at that time so his mom just went ahead and made it for him herself! Beside The Flash was an awesome Invisible Man costume and underneath those wraps was my friend Steve. Superb costume!