Page 7 - REEEEEEWIIIIIND 1999

Episode Date: August 28, 2025

We're gonna party like it's 1999 and the world's about to end because of computers, or Jesus returnin', or SOMETHIN'! It's time to MAMBO NO. 5 through those angsty pre-teen years with MJ and Jackie! ...Want even more Page 7? Support us on Patreon! Patreon.com/Page7Podcast  Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of Page 7 ad-free.Start a free trial now on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Transcript
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Starting point is 00:00:14 Yeah, no no objections. That's it and voodoo dolls. Do you be a little? Want no scrubs. I don't want no scrubs. Scrum is a guy that can get no love from me. Langing out that person to side of a spins ride. Trying to all I had me.
Starting point is 00:00:38 When my girl's at, from the front, the backing and a minute. But what are it up? Can you repeat that? Oh, was this? Was 1999, for me specifically, the heyday of my pop music? Yes, it was. Welcome to 1999. Welcome to Page 7, Rewind, 1999. We are 99% sure that we have not done this year before.
Starting point is 00:01:04 I would remember I want it that way. This is like every song we ever reference on page 7 came out. Every single one. I mean, it's, do you believe? I mean, we got baby one more time. We got Jeannie in a bottle. I'm sorry you're sleeping on, hey. now we're at all start.
Starting point is 00:01:23 Get a game on. Go play. But also, it was the amazing Destiny's Child album that obviously had bills, bills, bills on it. But also that, man, TLC's Unprety, that song had a firm grasp on my life. Yes. I think I'd never felt before I'd heard the song Unprety by TLC. But you know what? We're not going to sleep on.
Starting point is 00:01:46 We're not going to sleep on. Save to night. We'll find a day and break a lot. Man, I literally referenced eagle-eye cherry yesterday, and that's how you know my finger is on the pulse of culture. Of course, we've got smooth, which I, by Santana and Rob Thomas, which I did think. That song. I thought it was annoying at the time, but I think is still annoying. Remember how much that song really, I know it wasn't the song of the summer, but I feel like that song still haunts me.
Starting point is 00:02:19 No, it was awful. I remember All-Star. Of course, All-Star by Smash Mouth has been a bit of a meme, you know, kind of running joke now for many years. Long enough, like when I was still teaching middle school, which I stopped teaching at the middle school, I remember the kids making this joke at in 2017. And it was when the whole like, somebody, you know, sound bite started. Oh, yeah. But I remember this summer, summer 1999, I had a pool pass.
Starting point is 00:02:46 Big deal. Bitch. Big deal. Tell me about this. pool pass. And I, oh, you could, I think it was probably $30, which let you go to the pool every single day, all day, day, and that you could leave and come back for whatever. How there's 90 days of summer. I mean, it was sense on the day. And I just remember being at the pool, listening to All-Star and just being like, life is good. And the same summer, I have a memory of being
Starting point is 00:03:15 at the Dubuque County Fair on a Ferris wheel listening to live in Levita Loka. And being like, does life get any better than this? I was an eighth grader. It didn't get any better. It didn't. And it hasn't since. And yeah, it's all been downhill since. That was the peak.
Starting point is 00:03:35 We are talking 1999, Jackie. I was in eighth grade. I think it was the summer, either summer before, summer after eighth grade. So you would have been about sixth grade? Yeah, I was, yeah. So this was 99. I was 12 and I was in sixth grade. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:03:53 I was in sixth grade. And this is also Shania Twain. That don't impress me much. I mean, the music alone here. I think that we honestly could very easily do the entire hour on just the music because there is like every single, this Billboard year end hot 100 singles of 90s. is an insane list. It's insane.
Starting point is 00:04:22 If you're our age. I think if you're our age. Apologies to the Gen Zers out there who are like, I don't care about Will Smith's Wild Wild West. I wasn't there. I wasn't there for that moment. What about Kiss Me? That song.
Starting point is 00:04:41 What? Okay. What movie? Oh yeah. It was one of the Jenet for Love Hewitt once. She's All That. Thank you. all that. That's when she's coming down when they, she, finally, oh, I know, I have glasses on right now.
Starting point is 00:04:54 Should I take off my glasses? MJ, I'm sorry, are you currently puking right now because I have my glasses on? Do you need me to take them off? I can do this for you. By this time in 1999, I already had glasses. And yes, that scene in She's All That was devastating. Actually, this is probably, yes, sixth grade was the year I lied on my eye test. So that I could get glasses. And here's the thing of what they don't tell a sixth grader is that if you lie to get glasses because you think glasses are so cool, it will destroy your vision over time. Oh, that's tough. And that's part of the reason why I'm almost legally blind. Wow.
Starting point is 00:05:38 It's because I wore glasses for a while and I didn't need them. Wow. And here's the thing, your eyes try to correct it when you don't need it. And then they got a lot worse. And man, if there's, you know, sometimes you look back on decisions in your life and you really regret. You know, it's not even in my top five regrets. Get it. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:05:59 It would have happened anyway. It wouldn't happen. Everyone of my family wears glasses. It was going to come for me eventually. I wanted the accessories. Yeah. I'll do anything for an accessory. I was jealous.
Starting point is 00:06:11 John got glasses first. And I was jealous. And I was like, uh-huh, dork. Let me try them on. And then I was like, oh, wow. everything looks great and that was how I realized that I needed glasses. See, that makes sense. I also wanted braces when Henry had braces and I think it was just because he got so much
Starting point is 00:06:26 attention from all the screaming because they had to put the key in and turn the key and straight. They like spread. Oh, yeah. And I was just like, I wish I could you imagine a younger sister, how much of a younger sister I could be. I mean like, I wish I had braces. Oh, I was jealous. I could get the rubber bands to match.
Starting point is 00:06:47 my shirts. And that's not the reason to get braces. I was also jealous of John's braces. And then, of course, again, I got them and they sucked. And they're horrible. They're horrible. It's almost like a torture device that you have on your teeth at all times that you can never stop thinking about. But even though I never had them. So I'm assuming that this is what it would feel like. I just remember all the sores that the braces would call. You never had them? I never had braces. You got a great smile. Thank you. Wow. Yeah, but I didn't, I did want to get braids, but you know, it's more difficult to lie to get braces than it is to get glasses. And I learned that pretty fast. You know what they were saying about you? They were saying, she's so high. No, that's what they're saying about me now.
Starting point is 00:07:36 I'll tell you what. No, it's early in the day. I'm not high yet. But Bill's, Bill's, Bill's also that Destiny's Child album really. man, I want to stop saying that it had a stronghold on me, and I don't know if I've been saying that aloud, but I'm saying it in my head over and over again because Destiny's Child, this specific, I think it was just album just called, no, the writings, was that the writings on the wall? You know, I, I, of course, remember Destiny's Child and Loving them, but I don't think I actually own any of their CDs. It was, and this, so this came, bu, it was the writings on the wall. also did come out 99. Thank you. I needed to make sure that I knew this information. That specific
Starting point is 00:08:18 album is the one. It wasn't even the first Destiny's Child. It was that one. It was the second one. I think it was just the music. This was the time period that really was the beginning of me starting to listen to current music. Like this was really a big first jump. But also, interestingly enough, looking at this billboard top 100, this was really the beginning of the new era of pop music. This was, and obviously it's the end of the decade. So, you know, it was already changing by then. But yeah, but this was, I remember this too, because I, in 1997, I was in sixth grade and this is a time, this is, so this year, too, 1999, this is a time period I remember really well for both you and for me, this was like our adolescence, right? Like,
Starting point is 00:09:09 Like before the last rewind we did, we were in high school. And I think there's a really big difference, right, between that early adolescence middle school era and high school. And, you know, early adolescence is when developmentally you start to really, like, you shift from caring about your parents to caring about your peers. And so it makes sense that that's... Wait, when does that happen? Like, you know, tween early teen.
Starting point is 00:09:35 Okay. Okay. So it is, yeah, this is when, like, the shift of like... like societal importance, right? Yes, exactly. Like it is, it's, it's, it's during, it, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, from a human development standpoint, around, oh, I'm so intrigued by this. No, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, okay.
Starting point is 00:09:51 From a human development standpoint around, you know, adolescence, uh, like, you know, I think, which is fluid, right, but like I would say, you know, around 11, 12, you know, I, I think it happens for different people, you know, but when, basically the middle school years, it's like, you shift from your parents being like the, beacon if you're, you know, if you have stable, if you're lucky enough to have them as a stable figure in your life, like that they're the kind of beacon that you return to. And then you want to define yourself, which is why so many tweens and teens are very like, I just read a great post about this. They'll act like they're allergic to their parents. And it sometimes it happens
Starting point is 00:10:29 very sudden. And it's like this person who used to be, this kid used to be obsessed with you. And all of a sudden they're just like, everything you do is awful. Like I'm so embarrassed by you. I'm humiliated by you. Don't drop me off in front of school. All of that is because in order to figure out who you are, you have to sever from these people who have always, you have always shaped, seen yourself in connection with. As their image.
Starting point is 00:10:54 Yes. And like that, I mean, think about my kids are seven and five. And like we are like there is still this kind of like a parent is kind of this like godlike figure where it's like you know the answers to everything. You solve all of the problems. Like you are. are the guiding force in a family. And then when they start to develop enough to be able to to have to figure out who they are, then you have to kind of push away from your parents to
Starting point is 00:11:20 figure out who you are. So it's like this actually the severing for any parents between and teens out there right now. The severing is like, it's like necessary. And I imagine it's very painful. But it's like that's when you start looking to your peers and you're like, I want to be like everybody else. What's everyone else doing? And though that and so your shift from who, is your hero who do you want to be like who are you modeling yourself after goes from your parents to your peers just developmentally and it just so happened that for us this happened at a time that also pop music specifically was exploding it bang it was the emergence of boy bands emergence of girl groups like spice girls and also extina this is genie in a bottle this is baby
Starting point is 00:12:03 me one more time. I mean, what an explosion. Also, I feel like I need to say, when you were just saying that, I feel like it just unlocked something in my brain of specifically, when you're talking about the severing, of like being in my mom's minivan, half, like, walking from, like, it was such a long walk from, I know I've talked about this before, so I'm sorry, but like from the school, out to the van, and all the buses would pass and it would throw food at me from the buses. and I would cry all the way
Starting point is 00:12:35 and I would get in the car and I just remember my mom sitting there crying like silently crying just being like you've got this baby Oh my God You know you're gonna show them
Starting point is 00:12:47 You're gonna she's like I can't do this for me Oh my God You need to go in there You need to show them that you're not gonna stand for this anymore And you know it's like And she made it very clear of like
Starting point is 00:12:57 I am sending like I remember being on like a ship Yeah and like watching her in a ship, like, in the same way of, like, being dropped off at college. Yeah. Like, I remember specifically that moment of her helpless. I know. Just being like, I can't do anything for you.
Starting point is 00:13:15 Because if she had, and what I love about my mom is that she knew that she couldn't go in and be like, they need to stop. And I appreciated that about her because I would have died. I would have died forever. There is a time that that that, that, that. like that I would have cried for you and of course I still still could but also now I'm like I cry for me cry for me I cry for Linda because that must have been so hard to be like I want to save you I want to help you but like I but like how how do I you know meanwhile you're watching this gremlin of a child because this is also when I really started man all the notebooks that I
Starting point is 00:13:58 would have that I have all my different journals that I would cut out all the faces of all the hot people and I'd cut out. And like, I remember that I had specific ones that I would hide because it had pretty girls on it and I'd be too scared about putting pretty girls on it. But it was just because, like, in my head, it was like, no, that's who I want to be. That's who I want to be. Yeah. And even though, let's be real, I didn't want to be any of them, but it was because of
Starting point is 00:14:23 you didn't have a conception of yourself as somebody who liked girls at the time. I was scared of it. Yeah. It was definitely something that I lived. an absolute fear of. So you figured out how to make it make sense in a different way. Exactly. And that's 1999 for you, baby.
Starting point is 00:14:38 I mean, we are watching Buffy and watching them traverse trying to be as woke as you can be in like 2000 with Tara and Willow and everything. And even then, they can't even kiss. I know. It wasn't that long ago. Like, I'm sorry. I know we're not talking about Buffy right now. But I want to talk about 98 degrees.
Starting point is 00:15:01 because 98 degrees was, you know, we all remember the lachets. Nick Lishay. I'll never forgive you. Jessica Simpson was right. The chicken of the sea question was a fucking hack job. It was a hack job. She was thrown under the bus, right? She was thrown under the bus.
Starting point is 00:15:20 But you know what? I'm looking at 98 degrees on this list. I'm looking at the number of number one songs they had. Jackie, I don't remember any 98 degrees song. You know what it is. It was that one album because I do cherish you. There's like three songs on that album. I'm sure if you heard it, you probably weirdly would know every single word to the song.
Starting point is 00:15:41 But really, what got me with 98 degrees, 9-9 degrees was their addition to the Moulon soundtrack, which was the song, Trudy or Heart. And I think that that's why I was so obsessed with 98 degrees. Because also, remember, this was the time period. And I don't know if this is for you. So since I was a little bit younger, I was like in the precipice of like still watching Disney and Nickelodeon, but also like, oh yeah. I can watch MTV.
Starting point is 00:16:11 Oh, yeah. No, I was put on MTV, even though like my mom was like, you can't watch MTV. And I was like, oh, I can't watch MTV. Totally. Oh, yeah. No, it's a weird. This is another thing about middle school that I think that I wish more middle
Starting point is 00:16:23 schoolers knew is that it's like so normal to still want to watch your kid things. like your little kid things. And I wanted to watch Disney shows, but I was so embarrassed. But what I loved, exactly, 98 degrees so bridge the gap because true to your heart, that music video,
Starting point is 00:16:39 that was when they started peppering in music videos into the Disney channel. So I felt like I was getting a little bit of MTV with my Disney. And so the true to your heart from the Mulan soundtrack
Starting point is 00:16:51 played all the time. And I, even though looking at 98 degrees now, and I feel like being this age looking at a 12-year-old loving 98 degrees, I'd be like, these men you want to kiss? These old? And I'm going to say it, not the best looking these ones, you want to kiss?
Starting point is 00:17:11 Somehow I know every word to all of the number one Backstreet Boys songs, and I know most of the words to most of the in sync songs. And yet 98 degrees, I'm like, who are these budget boy band people? What about give me just one night? Una no, yeah. One moment to be by your side Give me just one night Why did they sing that song?
Starting point is 00:17:35 Why did they, you know, it's like, you know, this is also, we're talking the era of, I believe I saw Bi Lemos on this list earlier. That was Enrique, right? Uh-huh, yep. Milamos, let the rhythm make you over Baylamas. I mean, Enrique, oh, baby. Yeah, I had a crush on Enrique at the time, for sure.
Starting point is 00:17:54 It's interesting, though, because I feel like It rocket shipped me into being allowed to be as horny as I wanted to be on the outside. Like, I feel like this was the start of me seeing horniness that like, oh, this isn't just some weird shame that I have that I can't share with anyone. See other people are horny too. Absolutely. But I didn't understand horniness. I didn't understand that like I've just wanted, like, I just. So I vibrated to be kissed.
Starting point is 00:18:29 All I wanted was to be kissed. Yes. This is so, everyone, I have two other very, very good friends who I made in adulthood who were both born in 1986. And we have, the three of us love to talk about our shared sexual awakening. We grew up in different parts of the country. And for me, this was the two songs that are responsible, single-handedly responsible for my sexual awakening were 1997, both 1997, I believe, too close. too close by next. I'm going to be close.
Starting point is 00:19:00 And you're too close. Oh, yeah. You'll make it hot. Yes. And then are you that somebody by Alia? Which again, it stirred up all sorts of confusing feelings because I was like, I don't think I'm supposed to be attracted to her, but I am. But maybe it's that I want to be her or maybe that I don't know.
Starting point is 00:19:18 So it was complicated. But I, so it makes sense that for you it was happening in 1999 because again, it was a pop music renaissance. It was a renaissance of horniness. And you were the exact right age to be like, wow, this song is really speaking to me in a way that I don't understand and can't put words to. Especially quiet horniness, that brandy song, have you ever loved somebody so much it makes you cry? It's just like there was a lot of that music at the same time. And I just remember being like, that and specifically this is not from this year, but the Boys to Men song that begins with, Baby, I know you're hurting.
Starting point is 00:20:01 I know you're feeling real bad. And it started like that, and I was just like, you're right. I am hurting. I am your baby. But also it was a great time for the hopeless romantics. Don't want to miss a thing was 1999, which is crazy. How was that 1999? Oh, don't want to close my eyes.
Starting point is 00:20:21 I mean, we had a goobo doll's ringed supreme. You know, there was... Googood dolls. Talk about, bro. Johnny Reznik. Another one that was, like, I feel like if I was an adult looking at young me, cutting out pictures of Johnny Resnick, I'd be like, go back to Backstreet Boys. Yeah, and again, even with me, you know I wanted to bang Kevin.
Starting point is 00:20:47 Why did I always want to bang the older one that no, except for, you know, I was a Lance. But I always want to bang the ones that you can't have. You know? Yeah. Yeah. No, it was like, yeah, the Backstreet Boys at this time, it was like we were talking about which beetle did everybody have a crush on and I used to make fun of my mom for liking George, which I now realize was the right choice.
Starting point is 00:21:11 Yes. And I liked Nick from the Backstreet Boys, which is the wrong choice. It is the wrong choice. It is definitely. But who was the right choice? Who was the right choice? Is it Brian LaTrell? I guess.
Starting point is 00:21:28 Everyone wanted me like Brian. Everybody wanted us to like Brian. And I never was in. I was like, he's not my type. I didn't want him. There is nobody. There's nobody besides Nick. I'm sorry.
Starting point is 00:21:39 Kevin. Kevin? The old one that shouldn't have been there. That was my James. Ten years older than everyone else. Yeah, the one that's obviously shouldn't be in the band. But you know what? Honestly, I'm going to throw it out there now,
Starting point is 00:21:51 looking at it now AJ Yeah Now I would choose AJ Out the gate Now I would choose AJ Totally It's funny because I feel like I know
Starting point is 00:22:01 The people from InSink better But I know the music from Backstreet Boys better Like when I look at Backstreet Boys I'm like who are these people But I know all of their songs And InSink it's like I have a pretty solid sense Of each individual member of Insync But I don't really
Starting point is 00:22:16 You know I'm obviously no Insync's music But like it really when it comes down to it What I want on a playlist is Backstreet's back. I want it that way. I want, you know, everybody, you know. MJ, right now, Backstreet Boys is performing at the sphere. And they're performing for the rest of the summer. You say that I should fly out?
Starting point is 00:22:37 Vegas trip. MJ, Vegas trip. We could do a quick weekend in Vegas together and see the Backstreet Boys. Quick weekend in Vegas to see the Backstreet Boys. Oh, that's actually very, very tempting. Oh, imagine. Honestly, Jeff works for Maidworn, the company that is selling all the merch that makes all of their stuff for them, like their higher end stuff. And I'm like, baby, get me some of that.
Starting point is 00:23:02 I mean, backstory boys. I need that. It really was a golden time for pop music. I know that we have talked about this when we've done 1997 and 1998. And again, it's hard for us to every era that we talk about is going to be informed by where we, were developmentally. And so we were, this, this era is informed by us being like early adolescence, right? But it, I, I, I always think about this time in pop music. Like when I, the first time I started listening to pop music and watching TRL and watching VH1's top 10 countdown. And just being like,
Starting point is 00:23:39 this is actually really good and really fun. And it felt like it just was so fun. And I, I do wonder now, you know, what it's like for, you know, we, we talk, you know, I remember years ago, I was talking about starting to talk about when we were doing these rewinds about how culture has changed so much. There's not just one TRL topped in countdown anymore, right? No. And so I don't think that all teens are necessarily all listening to the same 10 songs like they were at this time. It was there was something kind of fun about it of like going through it all together, you know?
Starting point is 00:24:12 Yes. And also I didn't realize that the third eye blind album that I was obsessed with because it was like, I know that I was also obsessed with it during this year, but that came out in 97. And that was the one with motorcycle drive-by on it and like semi-charmed life and jumper. And like I really got into that. Some kind of life. Oh, wish you would step back from that, my friend, which is, you know, a little, a little blaze for the situation. But, you know, that's third eye blind for you.
Starting point is 00:24:44 Now let me ask you this. Okay. What was your relationship with the internet? in 1999. Okay. Because of course, this is the year before Y2K.
Starting point is 00:24:54 I know we talked a lot about Y2K when we did our 2000 rewind. I don't think we need to spend a ton of time on the Y2K per se. But it was a time
Starting point is 00:25:03 where, like, the internet was no longer something that you only accessed at the library. Right. But it was also not necessarily at this point,
Starting point is 00:25:14 I don't think, a daily part of my life. Although I think that by this time I had AOL instant messenger. and that was my primary social communication. Flower power 98. I've had it since 98.
Starting point is 00:25:26 I've had at least AOL. I had aimed since 98 because I was flower power power 98. All right. So during 99. You were probably leaving some really emotional away messages. Oh no. I was in the creepy chat rooms. I was one of those.
Starting point is 00:25:44 We were ASLing. We were ASLing in the creepy chat rooms. Now again, looking back. truly terrifying. I know. Thinking about the wild west of fucking anything could happen. And in the family living room. Like with completely safe, you know, my family had totally safe internet protocol.
Starting point is 00:26:04 The computer was in the family room. There was like no unsupervised computer time. But where were the friends' computers in their homes? Because that's really, because we had the family computer in the main section of the home. but I would go to sleepovers and then sometimes the computer's not in the family room and then we ASL usually I was ASL with others with other people's yeah people
Starting point is 00:26:31 with other peoples and usually yeah we would probably like drink a bunch of like tequila mixer oh you were drinking by this time thinking that there was I mean we weren't oh the mixer thinking that there was booze in it and then and then being like we're so drunk we're gonna talk people online. Yeah. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:26:50 We weren't. And I think that we were just high on sugar, which also looking back, why were any of those parents using the mixer? I know the mixer has a time and a place, but I feel like there's so, you know, like, you never noticed that we were just drinking all the mixer or you just. I don't know. What would I do if I noticed my kids were drinking the tequila mixer? Would I laugh and let them drink it and be like, okay, no harm done?
Starting point is 00:27:15 I guess if it's the mixer, but I guess I would. I would want to talk to them about it just to be like, hey, I know what you're trying to do. So let's talk about this for a second. No, I am, I, unfortunately, I'm just going to have everything locked up, everything. And we're going to have a lot of conversations. That's how you do it. They're never going to leave the house. They're never going to go anywhere.
Starting point is 00:27:38 This is reasonable. This is another. I know, no. This is another pediatrician thing is like, even lock up your over-the-counter medicines because adolescents make irrational decisions and that is why you keep things out of their immediate access. They are famous for making their irrational decisions. But you know, just don't give them the opportunity. Don't know. Exactly. Save them from themselves, which is harder to do now in this age. Because there's all this like, again, when you learn about how to keep your kids internet safe,
Starting point is 00:28:07 it's like have a family computer in the living room, which is funny to me because I still did manage to see stuff I shouldn't have seen in the family with the family computer in the living room. Just quickly looking over your shoulder. Quick to lose. Every, every like, it's Like everyone's asleep in that. Remember how terrified you would be in the middle of the night. I'm going on the family computer. Oh, yeah. Like, I don't even think I was doing anything that great.
Starting point is 00:28:26 But still, like, even if I was, like, going on to play neopets in the middle of the night. Yeah. And just, like, looking around, like, can I play neopets? Can I get away with this? But, you know, what made me think of it is that the show that premiered in 1999, Law & Order, SVU. SVU. Bro, I was just about to bring that up.
Starting point is 00:28:44 And they always... 99. If you watch early episodes. of Law & Order SVU, which I love to do. It is the absolute favorite era for me of Law and Order SVU. They are always talking about the net and like the various... And how scared they are of the net? Surfing the net.
Starting point is 00:28:59 Like, there's a lot of perverts out there on the net. On the net. Oh, yeah. The internet euphemisms. They weren't wrong. And they were. Yes, they were. It was, you know, at the time, I was like, oh, everyone's always talking about
Starting point is 00:29:10 these perverts on the net. And in retrospect, they were right. And now the perverts just like run the circus, you know. now it's just like, oh yeah, let's just post a bunch of pictures of your adolescence in public. It's great. The perverts run the country. It's awesome. The perverts are running everything.
Starting point is 00:29:28 It's cool, you know, but I, you know, speaking of cool, how did you feel about Pokemon? I was a big Pokemon person at this time. It came to, apparently it took over in 99. It was introduced in 96, but apparently in 99 is what? in 99 is when it really exploded. So that was when the trading cards, the TV show. So you were into it. So are we trading cards?
Starting point is 00:29:54 Because I feel like we've never talked about Pokemon. And I was just talking to my friend Ash about because she's obsessed with Pokemon. And she was telling me about the world of it because I was like, I only ever played Pokemon snap. And that was the game where you could take pictures of the Pokemon. But I knew nothing else about it. Little did I know in 1998, 1999. when I started watching Pokemon that in 2025, it would give me just a little bit of cultural capital
Starting point is 00:30:20 with my children's friends who are still playing Pokemon cards. Love it. But I never did the cards, but I know a lot of the original characters. So I was recently talking to one of my kids' friends who has the cards. And I was like, will you explain to me how, like what you do? How do you play cards? Because I know.
Starting point is 00:30:35 It's like fighting, right? They fight with. Yeah, exactly. It's like your car, each, you know, each, each, each Pokemon has stats. And so it's like, my person will battle your person. And then if I win, I get to keep your card or whatever. Stupid question alert.
Starting point is 00:30:48 Is it like, I know that it's like you got to catch them all. And I know that in Pokemon Go, there's a lot of them that it's difficult to find. So are there just a lot of them that you hear about that you just can't find in the wild? Yeah. Now I'm realizing, you know, because my kids, because now so much of pop culture is like collecting things. And it's like get a rare Labubu, get a rare, L-O-L, get a rare, rare, rare. And Pokemon were like the original rare thing. Like, because there was like the common Pokemon.
Starting point is 00:31:14 Right. and they were the rarer Pokemon. I never did the card game, but what happened in... Is it just the cards that are rare? Also, stupid question. Is that what is rare, like about finding them? I'm going to have to outsource this. Sorry.
Starting point is 00:31:27 My main relationship with the show was with Pokemon was watching the show. John and I, we were in middle school and high school, and we would wake up early. We loved Pokemon so much. We would wake up extra early to watch it at 7 in the morning. Whoa. Well, before school. And... I was watching Regis and Kathy.
Starting point is 00:31:44 like a normal young. I mean, I was reading Ann Landers like a like a yeah, but we would, we just loved the show. And so in the show, it was like Ash was trying to catch them all. And in the show, there were rare ones. Now, in terms of the cards, my assumption is that they would try to replicate that rareness in how often you would get. Right. I mean, I'm assuming. Yeah, it's a stupid question. Of course, there was also, you to keep buying the packs, but they're like blind packs, right? There was also a popular game boy game. that was a Pokemon game, but then there was also, I never played the regular Game Boy. I wasn't interested in the game-fied part.
Starting point is 00:32:20 I just liked the show, but there was a Game Boy game. I had a Game Boy game. Whoa, Flex. Okay. And there was a Game called Pokemon Pinball that I loved. And I've listened to a parenting podcast where one of the people still has their Game Boy color from their youth and their kids love to play it. And I'm like, oh my God, do we still have my Game Boy Color somewhere?
Starting point is 00:32:42 Probably not. But it, oh, because I don't really like any video games right now, but I feel like I would play the shit out of the Game Boy Color. I used to play that thing for hours in 1999. That's awesome. I honestly, recently, a couple weeks ago, was looking through Kara's nano iPod that she had from, you know, what is it at this point, 20 plus years ago. Yeah. And it's such a snapshot in time. Uh-huh.
Starting point is 00:33:07 I know it's like, man, just all of this. She's like, that's why I keep it. She's like, even just like, why did I make this playlist? like going through it like it was such weird stuff of like man I would love to have had my old like my original iPod I miss this is I've probably said this on the show before this is me and my brother's like main gripe about life right now is that we miss an iPod I want to be able to put music on without having any other things on the screen beckoning to me just music I just want a handheld music player I think it's do not disturb just use your phone and put
Starting point is 00:33:43 it on do not disturb i've been really loving that oh oh baby so i know we're talking 1999 but 2025 love that do not disturb i hate i don't want my phone i want an ipod and i want to text with my close friends and family that's it yeah yeah i don't want any of you want a judebog remember those commercials did a judebug it's just the huge phone with the big numbers on it for old people so it was just like fast. It's like, that's what I should do. You need a jitterbug. Or like one of the like safe phones for kids.
Starting point is 00:34:18 Yes. For 10 year olds where you don't have any apps. That's why I should get myself a safe phone for children. Yes. They still sell jitterbug phones. So I'll get one. I'll send it to it. Oh, man.
Starting point is 00:34:33 Yeah. All right. So what else are we talking with TV and movies? The Sopranos. Do the Sopranos start? Stop reading about jitterbug, Jackie. All right, I'm letting it go. I'm letting jitterbug go.
Starting point is 00:34:44 There is so much else that happens in this year. Sopranos started in 1999. Oh, madone. Yes, baby. I, weirdly enough, a friend of mine yesterday was just driving in, oh, got Polly Walnuts's car, like the actual car from the Sopranos. Incredible. Incredible.
Starting point is 00:35:08 And the fact that we're that. close to the Sopranos, I almost burst into tears. Wild that the Sopranos was 99 and Sex and the City was 98. That, like, Sex and the City was like the earlier prestige TV than the Sopranos. But I guess, I mean, they're both. Well, no. Wait, when was the wire? No, Oz, Oz, Oz was first.
Starting point is 00:35:31 Oh, Oz, yes, of course. Sorry, I was, that was 97. So it was Oz that, oh, interesting how they went that, and then they went Sext the City, and then they did Supranos. that makes a lot of sense to not go right from Oz into Sopranos. I think it actually shows a lot of give and take, which is actually very interesting. Yeah, that is really interesting. I keep, man, Oz is so good.
Starting point is 00:35:54 I've watched the first like four or five episodes twice, and I, it's very good. I need to be in a place to be able to handle it. Gideon and I watched a lot of Oz and then stopped because it was just hard. It's just a lot. It's just really hard. It's really hard. It's really hard. But the Sopranos is...
Starting point is 00:36:15 But the Sopranos is... Perfect. You rewatch every time. It's a perfect show. If you have been thinking about considering it, if you have not watched the Sopranos, go watch the Sopranos. If you're thinking about rewatching it,
Starting point is 00:36:27 go rewatch it. It is that good. It is that good. And it is violent. I recently had a close friend tried to watch it for the first time and she does not do well with violence. And so she watched the pilot.
Starting point is 00:36:38 And she was like, I can tell this. is a perfect show, and I can tell that I just... And it's okay if it's not for you. Yeah. There's, everybody's got an Oz, you know? And everybody's place for their Oz is different, you know? And you know what else came out?
Starting point is 00:36:54 What other shows? Man, what a year for television is. No, it's insane. This 99 is, I can't believe we were too young to understand what a huge year 99 was. SpongeBob Square Pants, 1999. And I, I never, I never, watched SpongeBob because I had aged out of like Nicktoons at that point. Same. Yeah. I've never seen one episode of SpongeBob. I watch it. I've said this before. We watch it whenever we're in hotels because
Starting point is 00:37:21 hotel rooms don't have streaming usually. And so we just turn on Nickelodeon and it's always on Nickelodeon during the day. And so my kids know more SpongeBob than me because we turn it on in hotels and they love it. And I'm like, yeah, I don't quite understand it. But I love how it was. It was almost like we, I'm sure we will have talked about this on the regular show already, but I watched Gideon and I watched the peewee documentary. And at the time, even though Gideon and I are of a slightly different generation, at the time, we both thought that like, we didn't get Pee Wee. Like at the time, I think we both thought he was like, this is just like kind of weird and like
Starting point is 00:37:57 not really for me. But now I'm like, I can, I love that Pee We was there. I like, I can now admire like Paul Rubin's as an artist, but I just didn't get at the time. And I feel like that's how I feel about SpongeBob. I hope that's not a clumsy comparison. I admire what SpongeBob was for people. Oh, yeah. It just wasn't that for me, you know?
Starting point is 00:38:18 And actually, another show that came out in 99, Futurama, that's another one of those shows that I was too young, didn't quite get the vibe, watched it a couple of years ago, watched all of it a couple years ago with Jeff, loved it. Yeah. Loved it. Like, I just wasn't, I was too young when it came out, and then I kind of missed the boat on it. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:38:40 And I now have gone back and rewatch. Man, this year, Freaks and Geeks was 99. Man, talk about a season of perfect television that I still, one of the few DVD sets I still own is Freaks and Geeks. This is also the beginning of, you know, this sounds stupid of like, I've never thought about the beginning of it. Househunters. Oh.
Starting point is 00:39:05 It had to have started somewhere. It started in 1990. But also, man, huge, weird year, Strangers with Candy is when this, this is when this. So, man, that just unlocked a memory of watching Comedy Central during the day and seeing commercials for Strangers with Candy. Be like, what the fuck is this? And I remember specifically Henry starting to get into Strangers with Candy and I was just a little too young to understand it. And I remember watching it. with candy.
Starting point is 00:39:39 And this is the exact right age. And now I love Strangers with Candy, but I was, I was just a little too young at the time. But you know what we weren't too young for? I can't believe we sang all of that music already. And it has not come up that in 1999, well, we can talk about queer as folk, but also in 1999, fucking Blink 1182's Enema of the State. Whoa. A near perfect album, including all the small things, of course. We haven't even brought up.
Starting point is 00:40:08 all the small things. I know. How was that not, why was that not on the list of the Billboard 99? Maybe it came, did it come out the year before? No, it came out June 1999. Really? Wow. Yes, this was the one that I had. I was looking up the now that's what I call music because I remember specifically that it had what's my age again on it. Now, that's what I call music three. Was a fucking banger. We're talking, it comes out the gate, All-Star, American woman. What's my age again? By Lamos. Sometimes. all I What is this song?
Starting point is 00:40:41 Oh, all I have to give, Backstreet Boys. Tell me that it's real Casey and Jojo, the Rockefeller Skank, Fat Boy Slim, and closing it out with Nookie Limp Biscuit. Wow. Now that's what I call music. Now that's what I call music. Also came out in 99.
Starting point is 00:41:01 And that, I listened to that every single day. Yeah. Yeah, no, that's a good. You know, I never owned it now that's what I call music. Really? No, I don't know why. I loved the commercials, obviously.
Starting point is 00:41:16 Got me so into the world eventually over time. We were always, like, we would always get, like, my dad got us a CD burner, like, before that was something that could he, I think it's the cop. I think that sometimes things, we would just end up with things. and we had a CD burner, and I remember thinking like, this is probably going to be stealing music from now on. Like of all the ways in which he could be a bad cop, like that's what he was like, oh yeah, we had a cable-d-scrambler and we had a CD-Berger, you know?
Starting point is 00:41:55 That's what we got out of it. Yeah, that's a good cop, bad cop. Yeah, so, you know, of all the ways a cop can be bad, and I feel like, I'll take it, you know? A lazy cop that we have a cable-de-strap. Scramble. But West Wing also started in 99. I've never done it. See, West Wing was definitely, this was the year that I was like, I like starting to, you know, really trying. And I remember specifically watching West Wing with my parents just like nodding my head and being like, oh,
Starting point is 00:42:29 oh good. Mm. The president. Hmm. Yes. Good. And I didn't know what. They talk so fast. I didn't know what the hell was going on. I eventually watched it later on. I don't even think I ever finished it. And I think for people that really love West Wing, that is a stab to the heart. Yeah, people who love West Wing, love it.
Starting point is 00:42:49 And I get it. It's a great show. It's a great fucking show. I fell off because I was simply drinking too much in college. Yeah. And that, if there's a reason to drop off a show, I mean, that's going to, when you, I watched West Wing when I would literally get the DVDs of it
Starting point is 00:43:05 from the individual. DVDs from Netflix in the little paper envelopes. That's how I watch West Wing. I feel like West Wing is a DVD show that many, most of the people I know who ended up loving it didn't watch it at the time, but they watched it in the early 2000s on DVDs from Netflix. And now, I think now my distaste for Aaron Sorkin has soared to a level that I don't think I could enjoy it.
Starting point is 00:43:28 But I love that people, I like that it was this like, I, I love that people could love it at the time because it was this like noble idea. of like the good government. And I just, I don't think I could handle that right now. Man, speaking of something, I never could handle. And still to this day. And I think that people get it because I've never talked about it before. But family guy started in 99.
Starting point is 00:43:55 I know. I was like, what do I even say about this? I hated it from the beginning. And I feel, I'm sorry. I have no upset with people who love it. No, I don't. It was just not for me. And I remember there was a time.
Starting point is 00:44:07 period, I think it was also in college that like, someone in my family kept getting me the DVD sets for like, and I was like, I don't want this. And I was like, how do you say? It was definitely one of those of like, how do you sit? Like, how do you not be like, oh, thank you. And so I would have it. And I remember like, if people would come over, I'd like slap in a DVD and because everybody liked it so much. But every time it paid, it's insane for me to say because it's like, Jackie, you're such a horny little gremlin. I can't believe you didn't like Family Guy. And I understand why people like that. I understand. I get it. I do. And of course, there are, I think, I can admit that there have been many very funny jokes from Family Guy over the years.
Starting point is 00:44:52 But at the time, I remember watching it when it started because I also remember watching Futurama and both of them for different reasons. But I was, of course, a Simpsons disciple. I continued to be a Simpsons disciple. I worship at the altar of Simpsons seasons 1 through 10. And so at the time, this was when Simpsons was kind of like sunsetsing in quality. And then Futurama comes out and that's Matt Graining. And I remember being like, okay, this is going to be like Simpsons.
Starting point is 00:45:20 And then it wasn't. And I was like, okay. And I remember being disappointed. And then I watched Family Guy and I was like, it's like The Simpsons. And I was so pissed. I had a huge chip on my shoulder about Family Guy because I was like, this is not like the Simpsons. Like I found, again, I am, this is no shade of people. people who like it at the time and still to some extent, I feel like Seth McFarlane's style is so heavy-handed.
Starting point is 00:45:44 I found it to be, it was like the anti-Simpsons to me. I was like, the Simpsons has heart, it has compassion, it has empathy. It is not about outrageousness. It is not about pushing the envelope at all. It's like, it's a thoughtful, deeply, like, complex text. And at the time, I felt like family guy was pushing the envelope for the sake of pushing the envelope. Again, I understand why people love it and I understand that it did cool and interesting things over the years,
Starting point is 00:46:14 but I remember watching it in 1999 and being like, fuck this show. I hate it. I hate it. It will never be the sentence. Nothing will ever be the substance. Especially at that age. I mean, especially of like,
Starting point is 00:46:25 you're not, God, I'm just. You're a ride or die. Like, you're just learning the phrase rider die. It's just like, no, I'll never. Exactly. And it's like, you can like them both. A hundred percent. There is space for all, but not when you're 12, 13, 14.
Starting point is 00:46:42 Yes. There is such an ideological purist. Yes, I was like, anybody who likes family guy is bad. Yeah. Now I have. Stupid. I genuinely, like then when I'm saying 12, 13. I don't feel this way now.
Starting point is 00:46:53 Right. At the time. And it was also one of those, like, I'm not like the other girls. I was also like, yeah, I'm funny, but I don't give a fuck about family guy. Yes. And, you know, doing one of those. Right, right, right. Yes, totally.
Starting point is 00:47:07 Which is annoying and a very sixth grade thing to do. Did you ever watch the show spaced? Did you ever get into like the world of Simon Pegg? No. This is like one of the earlier stuff of Simon Pegg. And Edgar Wright does a little thing in it. And it was a show. It was a British show that I watched in college.
Starting point is 00:47:28 But I guess it also came out in 1999. And I, it was. something that when I saw space, I didn't see it in 99, but I saw it a little bit later, that was just something very different than I was used to. And I don't remember a lot of it, but I just saw it. And I was like, man, I remember when I saw it. I was like, I love this. But that's all I remember. Yeah. So that's why I wanted to know if you were familiar with it. I don't remember that, but I am looking at the movies from 1999. And we got some good, first of all. Bro, we haven't even gotten it, like, it's the movies.
Starting point is 00:48:04 Don't even get me started on the rom-coms of 99. We could do a whole other episode just on the movies. Kirsten Dunst with having a great year. But, I mean, just looking, just a cursory look at the movies from 1999, Drop Dead Gorgeous, 10 Things I Hate About You. Oh, yes. Which I'm going to put in a category above what I'm going to say next, which is Big Daddy, which is like, I enjoyed that movie.
Starting point is 00:48:22 But Drop Dead Gorgeous and 10 Things I Hate About You are like top caliber, top-caliber movies, right? And then, yeah, we have. Cruel intentions. Intentions, Virgin Suicides. Iron giant Blair Witch Project, Sixth Sense. I've never seen Eyes Wide Shun. I remember seeing, I kind of want to see it. I've never seen haunting in the theater. Wait, Sixth Sense was 99? I'm looking at this, like, it's somebody, it's like a revisiting the movies of 99 and they just like listed out a bunch of they said, yeah, she's all that varsity blues. I mean, this is a huge year for Romco, runaway bra. Wow. Oh, I loved Runaway Brad. Now, this was also... Yeah, of course, they're talking about Drop Dead Gorgeous, because Drop Dead Gorgeous,
Starting point is 00:49:08 while I know that there are portions of it that do not hold up as well, I, man, the parts that hit, and also... Oh, it's such a good movie. Alice and Janie, I was about to call her CJ. Alice and Janie couldn't do anything she wants to me.
Starting point is 00:49:26 She has free reign. Drop Dead Dead Gorgeous is one of those movies. Yes, it's like, just thinking, I'm like, I want to watch it tonight. You know, it's just like, It's one of those movies that I, whenever I think about it, I'm like, what a movie, what a movie, you know. Yeah, Alison Janney's great. She saw that is so funny because I really don't think it would hold up. I think we could do a watch along of it and we would fall asleep. Yeah. Yeah, I think. Didn't you say you recently tried to rewatch something like that with Jeff? Oh, we're going to talk about that on page seven. Oh, I know you did last summer. And it is like, it just made, honestly, it made me want to watch cruel intentions is what it was like. Yeah, cruel. It was like. Yeah. Cruel. intentions is the stronger of the two. Oh my God, American Beauty and Ciderhouse Rules. I loved
Starting point is 00:50:09 Cider House rules. This is the beginning of my love affair with John Irving novels. Oh. I loved, and my love affair with Toby McGuire. I loved Cider House Rules. I didn't see American beauty at the time. I saw it later. Did you see it when it came out? Oh, you just transported me back into complicated things. No, you know what, it didn't. I was, it was one of those. It was one of probably the first movies of watching with parents that I wanted to slip into an early grave. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I remember watching it.
Starting point is 00:50:46 That is the worst possible movie to watch with your parents. In the family living room, watching it together. And I just remember just like sitting there just being like, oh, and when my dad would get uncomfortable, like if he didn't like was on the screen, he would always fast forward through it and then inevitably he would go too far and then you'd have to fast forward back and then inevitably he would end up in the middle I was and so when and I'm talking uncomfortable I'm not just saying like a sexy and I'm not just saying if he got on and so there were many portions of that movie that he would try to go pat and it's just like the entire movie is comfortable at that point asked me to leave the room yeah you know just like send me away I know I wish
Starting point is 00:51:29 I do wish man I don't know how I'm going to handle that when it comes up. I do, I think that it would have, there should have been a script where my, where parents could have just been like, maybe this is not one we should watch together. Because American Beauty, you and your dad just needed an out. You needed to be like, maybe we shouldn't watch this. Maybe we don't watch this. And I wasn't old enough, you know, to even understand. Like, I just thought that I wanted to die because I was, you know, 12. Like, I just thought that that's just how you, yeah. Yeah. You know. Oh, man. Yeah. That's, that's tough. Oh, my God. The green. Mile came out this year.
Starting point is 00:52:04 Oh my God. This. Wait, is this when the books came out? Also, Man on the Moon. I had a mini Andy Kaufman obsession this year. If you believe. Okay, the Green Mile. Oh, that was all in 96. Oh, but you started 97.
Starting point is 00:52:21 So it was 97 to 98. So Green Mile, and I never looked into this or why, Green Mile was broken up into different booklets that were released. that were released. It's Stephen King, right? It is Stephen King. And my mom and I had a blast looking for all of the... Because, you know, back then it wasn't like you could just order online.
Starting point is 00:52:45 So this is in the same time period when we're going ice cream shopping for Beanie Babies. And then we're also going ice cream shopping to find the different portions of Green Mile. That's fun. That's nice. But it is crazy. to think that this is such a huge year. I'm sorry, I keep getting brought back to the severing. Like, I keep thinking about that of, like, that, like, of wanting to do those things
Starting point is 00:53:11 with my mom, but also, like, knowing that I shouldn't want to do that stuff anymore. That makes total sense. There's a part of you that needs, you need her, and you need to push her away both at the same time, yes. And it's such a, like, that's got to be so heartbreaking for parents. Oh my God. I'm already scared of it. But yeah, that it's a, it's a, there's a developmental reason for it, which is that you needed to figure out who you were without her.
Starting point is 00:53:40 But you had to push her away. The Green Mile movie, bro. I mean, to be that, I went to go see it with my mom and to be that young and just like, like crying to an extent. But like, because I think you can tell at this point through all these rewind. that we really weren't censored when it came to our media, and especially when it came to what we read. And that's something I love about my mom. Yeah, I love that too.
Starting point is 00:54:11 You can read almost anything. Things like Gerald's game, you know, she would read before and be like, you can't read Gerald's game. And that's as someone that has read it as an adult, I understand why she didn't let the 12-year-old read Gerald's game. I get it. But Green Mile was so upsetting.
Starting point is 00:54:28 And I, because, you know, I wasn't like the other 12-year-olds, but I also didn't have a lot of friends and really hung out with my mom a lot. So we loved it. And it was, it still is up there for me. I mean, I still reference it all the time. I still think about it all the time. I think about Mr. Brojangles at least once every other week. But you know what I wanted to just briefly talk about that also came about in 1999? The film Drive Me Crazy with a.
Starting point is 00:54:58 Adrian Grenier and Melissa Joan Hart. I thought that Adrian Grenier, and I wasn't wrong, I thought he was the most attractive person I'd ever seen in my entire life. It's just so weird. It was way pre-entourage, obviously. These conversations are cyclical in ways we don't even realize. Literally yesterday, Natalie and I were talking about the movie
Starting point is 00:55:19 Drive Me Crazy on an episode of Crescent City. And she completely forgot about this movie. And I was talking about it because we were talking about entourage. and I was in love with Adrian Grenier, Greeney, I say Grenier, Greeneer. I said Greeneer. I have no idea. I'm saying it right.
Starting point is 00:55:39 No idea. I couldn't possibly tell you. But I never was in love with him because of entourage. In fact, I actually refused to watch entourage. I never watched entourage either. But it was because it drive me crazy. And I know there's no way the movie drive me crazy holds up. Oh, no.
Starting point is 00:55:58 No. Unfortunately, I'm not, you know, there's no way. I mean, I'll watch it again if that's what you're asking. I'll fucking watch it. I'll watch it again. Oh, oh, watch it. I remember seeing it in the theater and all of my friends being like, that movie was pretty bad. Even then, even then, yeah.
Starting point is 00:56:14 And me being like, what are you talking about? That boy was the most handsome boy I've ever seen in my life. I was taken with Adrian Grenier. But I don't remember anything about the movie. I remember, I don't know if Melissa Joan Hart is, you know, know, the actress of our generation. Wow. Oh, Can't Hardly Wait is the movie we were talking about that we ended up turning off.
Starting point is 00:56:36 And not because it was so bad. It was, I still love it. But Jeff was seeing it for the first time and he really looked at me like an hour and was just like, this movie, huh? And I was like, it was different when you watched it back then. That's the thing. I think that a lot of these movies are probably fine, but were really helped out by being in the theater with your other 14-year-old.
Starting point is 00:56:58 old friends, you know, and just being just so psyched to be away from your parents. Yeah. You're eating a bunch of candy or whatever. Yeah. Product of its time a little bit. Yeah. A lot of these, a lot of these movie. Like, I don't know if cider house rules is that good a movie, but I was like, I'm so mature and grown.
Starting point is 00:57:15 I'm so mature. I'm reading John Irving, which talk about an author you shouldn't read as a 14 year old. As a 14 year old? I did. You know? I didn't. Oh, you weren't understanding the complex text of John Irving when you were 14. I read World According to Garp when I was like 14 or 15, which is fucked up.
Starting point is 00:57:32 But I did it. I was obsessed with World According to Garp. And I know we've talked about this before. And that, it does scare me to go back and watch that again. And I think you know why. Oh, I know. I know. I know. I know why.
Starting point is 00:57:46 I was thinking about this yesterday because me and the kids were watching Sound of Music and I was explaining the Nazis to them. And I was like, should I like protect them? Just the general idea of Nazis? Yes. I mean, they're going to hear about it at some point. I'm like, I'd rather have me hear about it. from me, but then I'm like, you know, but they were like, but you know, it's, you really can't sugarcoat the Nazis. You can't be like, because a lot of times we're watching something scary, I'll be like,
Starting point is 00:58:05 well, it's going to be okay. And so I was like, it's fine. The Von Traps, spoiler alert for sound of music, the von Traps, they get away. And Zelda was like, but even if they didn't get away, it would be okay. And I was like, okay, what, I'm not going to be like, well, that's not true. If you didn't get away from the Nazis, it was not okay. I was like, I'm just going to leave that for now. And we will revisit this conversation later. We can revisit it. You don't need to know, you don't need to know the extent to which it wouldn't have been okay. But I really want to show them Les Mis, but I'm like, Lay Miz is full of children dying. So I think I need to wait. No, they'll get to the age because this was around, I just realized because I just saw the cover
Starting point is 00:58:42 of the movie, The Devil's Arithmetic, which was a Kirsten Dunst Holocaust movie because I just remembered that this was the year that I was obsessed with Holocaust Y-A books, number the stars. I'm trying to remember the other ones. Did you read the one called Daniel's Story? Daniel's Story. That was my introduction to the Holocaust. Yes, Daniel's story. I was, like those books, because I didn't, this was a year where I didn't have a lot of friends.
Starting point is 00:59:15 And I was doing a lot of reading. You had some special interests. I had some special interest that, again, I was not like the other girls, but this was the kind of thing that I. I read about the Holocaust. I read about the Holocaust. That really is when I read mouse. Yeah. Oh, well, that's a great book.
Starting point is 00:59:32 I mean, Number of the Stars is a great book. Number the Stars is a great book. I don't know if Daniel's story holds up. I can't remember if Daniels. Yeah, I don't know. If that holds up. I don't know. But I remember being like, what the fuck?
Starting point is 00:59:44 You know, I was in fifth, I think I was in fifth grade when I first read Daniel's story. And it was the first. I had never learned about the Holocaust in school. I just read this novel. And I was like, what the fuck? Yeah, dude. Broke my brain that humanity could do it. It's like that was like a beginning of.
Starting point is 00:59:58 an actual like shift in my brain of, oh, humanity can be evil. And like, I didn't even realize that. Now, mind you, I had seen the sound of music probably 75 times by that point. And I had never put together the Nazis and son of music were the, you know, I never really paid attention to the second half of sound of music. I mean, the boomers really weren't pulling us aside to tell us these things at that age. They were just, they were just bad guys. You know, I didn't really understand. But Kirsten Dunst was having a great, great year at 19. 1999. Again, drop dead gorgeous. What were some of, I mean, bring it on was the next year, 2000. Oh my God. The show third watch. Did you ever watch the show third watch? No. It was, it was an, and it was an NYPD. So it's NYFD, NYPD and then at New York paramedics show that of course we watched this because of my father. And I was obsessed with, but again, another show that wasn't for people my age. and I shouldn't have wanted to kiss all of the old people in it, but I did. And because they were saving the city.
Starting point is 01:01:07 Yeah, no, I missed, I missed that one. But it's another procedural show, like, it's another one of those. But it was on for seven years. This wasn't, this was no, like, fly by night, MJ. Did you fly? I remember I read the Virgin Suicides, but I don't think I, I, I think I read it later. I remember seeing the Virgin suicides in 1999, but I don't think I read the book. I had a bit of a Jeffrey Eugenity's phase, and I read Middle Sex and Virgin Suicides and Lengthenbo.
Starting point is 01:01:32 Dude, middle sex is so good. I mean, I think we all had a moment in that phase. Yeah, yeah. He was like everybody's reading Jeffrey Eugenides on the subway in 2008 kind of thing. Yes. Oh, yes. Oh, my God, MJ, we've been talking for over an hour and we didn't bring up The Matrix. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:01:52 The Matrix came out in 99. I'm reading right now about how much The Matrix, influenced the fashion of the cyber future. And I, because I'm looking at fashion of this time period, which hate to break it to everybody, it's all a cycle and it is literally everything that is in right now, that is like now coming in. It is like the beginning of all the low-rise pants. It's the beginning of the bucket hats. It's the beginning of the slip dresses.
Starting point is 01:02:25 My God, you're right. Oh, yeah. There's a lot of sequins. There's a lot of leopard print. Shit, I forgot. Sorry. Then it says, TLC defines futuristic fashion with no scrubs. Remember their fits and no scrubs.
Starting point is 01:02:38 And how much I wanted to look just like them. Wow. Yeah, chokers. Oh, my God. Celine Dion with a backwards tuxedo. Remember the backwards tuxedo? And everybody flipped out. Pam Anderson wore that big pink hat and then everybody flipped out.
Starting point is 01:02:56 Celine Dion was at the top of her gate. We're still riding high from, you know, my heart will go on, I think. Damn fucking straight. But yeah, yeah. Fucking sailed her into her future. You're right. We're talking baggy pants, chokers, crop tops. Blue eye shadow.
Starting point is 01:03:11 Bucket hats. Oh, yeah. A lot of athleisure. Oh, yeah. It's here. It's here, dude. How do you feel about it? We knew it was going to come back eventually.
Starting point is 01:03:22 Yeah. And I was, I mean, were you wearing fashion trends of 1990? I wasn't. I wasn't. I don't know. I don't know what I was. I think I was mostly shopping from the boys sections of the stores that sold clothes to teenagers. Like, I don't even remember. Roe 21. Obviously, we've talked about Gadzukes before. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. But I think I was mostly, I was trying to make, at this point, I was trying to perform femininity to some extent, but I still couldn't bring myself to really. I had some dragon shirts, some babies. T's, you know, but I think I was mostly shopping in the boys section of the, of the, a lot of a lot of horizontal stripes, like a shirt with a single horizontal stripe across the chest. Oh, that's back. I mean, if you need more of that, it's out there. I just, I hate to tell you this.
Starting point is 01:04:13 Oh, yeah, go get them. Go get those. You can get yourself a horizontal striped baby tea almost anywhere. There was a store called the buckle at the mall. Oh, yeah. That was like they had the nice. There was another place. called Route 21 that was cheaper.
Starting point is 01:04:29 The buckle, we never really got to shop at the buckle. I think we got our, when we like begged for a year for Doc Martins, I think we got them from the buckle. But I feel like that's, that's what I remember being like the, I, like what the cool, like the coolest thing you could get was at the buckle, you know? Oh, yeah. And see, I couldn't shop in any of those stores. Right.
Starting point is 01:04:46 I didn't fit in anything. Right. And so I just, this was, um, I wasn't trying at all at this point. This, I, I didn't give a fuck. I was definitely wearing, you know, but I was wearing huge everything. Yeah. But this was also that in between, like, I remember specifically, and I don't know if it's specifically this year, but like I had overalls that had all of the Winnie the Pooh characters
Starting point is 01:05:14 embroidered on the front of it. And I specifically remember being like, I need to get rid of this. I also had a lot of Winnie the Pooh fashion at this time. Yeah, I hated Winnie the Pooh. I don't know why I had so much Winnie the poo shit. I liked Winnie the Pooh, but it was like I got the Disney catalog. Yes. And the Disney catalog had clothes.
Starting point is 01:05:34 Yes. Yeah, I had a sweatshirt that had a big, like, appliquee Winnie the Pooh on it. What was I thinking? You know what it is? I think that it's like, like you were saying, you're trying out different things because you have no idea. Yes. What? Like, I just remember looking at all of like the other girls my age and just being like,
Starting point is 01:05:54 well, I can't wear any of that. So what do I do? Man, it must have been such a shitty time to not be the same size as everybody else. Oh, man. Yeah, we didn't have nowhere to go. Yeah. And so fashion didn't matter. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:06:11 And so that's why at this time period, too, when you're just getting bullied so desperately that, you know, and you don't have like fashion. So you're not even like looking good. It's like, how do you get through those years? How do you help? tweens and teens get through those years. I know, man. And now, I mean, some things are better. I think you can get like more size and close in fashion, right?
Starting point is 01:06:36 There's much more. There, lots have gotten better. And also, we can talk about these things now in a way that we couldn't back then. We can talk about these things. But on the flip side, it's all on public facing social media. And that's, I mean, when I think about this time in my life, I'm like, thank God. I mean, I don't even know if there's a picture of me wearing that Winnie the Poo's There must be, but I wouldn't have wanted to post it and see how many likes I got.
Starting point is 01:07:01 You know what I mean? Have my mom post it? Right, right, right, right. It's just, all of that, it's just, it's got to be. Or you think it's really cute. Yeah. Like, if it happened at the time, no, thank you. But now, like, if I could go back and look at that, I'd be like, oh, that's cute.
Starting point is 01:07:18 Right, right, right. I don't know why she thought that she should post that, but it is cute. But I think, I think the hardest thing about, yeah, it's, It's funny looking at this time period from my own experiences, but also thinking about this, what we were talking about before, the part of growing up where you have, where you figure out that you have to separate yourself from your parents. And I think the challenge of it for the adults is to just be like, you have to try a bunch of different things on. And there's going to be mistakes and there's going to be things that aren't right. And also you're going to like probably take
Starting point is 01:07:49 it all out on me throughout. And like all of that is both like okay and normal and to be expected, you know, and I will be here for you no matter how poorly you treat me. I'll be, yes, exactly. Like, I, you know, I'm just going to be crying, crying through it here on page seven, you know. Man, you know, that's what we're here for. And you can always come here to cry at page seven if you need or if you need to just think about how happy you are that you feel that you don't have to wear low-rise jeans with a whale tail anymore. I never actually did that because I can't fit into low-rise jeans because literally the top of my ass would just hang out. So looking, that was, I remember specifically looking at like girls, our age with whale tails and just thinking like, there's so much more grown-ups in me.
Starting point is 01:08:47 Yeah, I know. When they were also 12 years old with a whale tail. Yeah. So Jackie, you're okay, babe. Yeah. I think's okay. Yeah. You're right. At the time, I wasn't. Yeah, well, I mean, our icon of beauty was Brittany and she was beautiful, but she, it was not a good time to not be skinny. It's not a sustainable. Yeah, it's just, and we didn't understand that looking at X-Tina, that that is something that is just not sustainable. Right. And, you know, we have that now. Look at.
Starting point is 01:09:22 at like the Thor's out there. Right. Yeah, he gets paid a lot of money to look like that, but it's not sustainable. Yeah. It is, or it's your entire job maintaining it, which good on you if you can. I know, but we just got to develop our sense of ourselves whilst constantly feeling like everything was wrong with our body at all times. Yep.
Starting point is 01:09:43 But we made it through everybody. We did. We made it through. And I hope, I hope, hope, hope that it's slightly better for adolescents now. But I don't know. if you are a parent of somebody of this age that the age that Jackie and I ranging from 12 to 14, I would love to hear about what it's like for your kid, you know, anonymously, of course, like, you know, don't tell us anything that your kid wouldn't want to share.
Starting point is 01:10:06 But I would love to know what it's like to be that age now. Because, again, for us, there was a monoculture and there was ups to that and downs to that. But, man, it was a great time for music and movies and television. For us. For us. I think that not for all. Not for all. I think some people look at all the pop music and look at all the rom-coms and just want to pretend that 99 never happened.
Starting point is 01:10:27 And that's okay too. Fair enough. We just happen to be in the right place at the right time watching Lake Placid, just enjoying our fucking lives, dude, you know? Getting throwing on devil's arithmetic one more time, you know, if that's what you need. Oh, the devil's arithmetic. Kirsten Duns was busy. Okay. She didn't have time to read all this.
Starting point is 01:10:50 She made like four movies in 1999. Bro. She had all their shit to do. Yeah. She was busy. Oh my God, but I'm a cheerleader. Okay, I'm not going to start talking about, but I'm a cheerleader. But I'm a cheerleader really shaped a lot for me.
Starting point is 01:11:02 Natasha Leon, you're my everything. Oh, yeah. Do I want a beer? Do I want to kiss her? The answer is yes and yes. But now we've got to get out of you. Now we've got to go. Oh, man.
Starting point is 01:11:13 Thank you, MJ, for, you know, for reminding me of how. of how much happier I am, old, and in the year 2025, then if I woke up tomorrow and I went back to being 12 in 1999, yeah, no, nobody wants that. Nobody wants that. But I do want the playlist. All right. So I'm going to go find on Spotify. I'm sure there's a 1999 number one hits playlist.
Starting point is 01:11:41 And I'm going to be listening to it. That's all I want. And that's all you need. Or, I mean, oh, God, Iron Giant. passport to Paris. The Marygate National. All right. Marrigate National.
Starting point is 01:11:53 We got to get out of there. You guys. They were busy at this time too. Oh, jawbreaker. We appreciate idle hands, ravenous. We appreciate everyone being here with us during our traverse in the time machine back to 1999. I hope you made it back to the present day safe and hopefully not just lost in a trauma of 1999 that you didn't think about until right now.
Starting point is 01:12:20 Yes. We wish you the best. That's not what I'm going to go deal with. Ha ha ha ha ha ha. We love you guys and we will be back next week with page seven. We miss you so much and we can't wait to talk to you soon. MJ, have a great fucking rest of your week. You too.
Starting point is 01:12:39 Love you guys. See you next week. Bye everybody. Party like it's 99. Bye. This show is made pop. by listeners like you. Thanks to our ad sponsors.
Starting point is 01:12:50 You can support our shows by supporting them. For more shows like the one you just listened to, go to lastpodcastnetwork.com.

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