A view to a kill
Oh great, here’s Duran Duran to remind me that it is no longer 1982 (thank God), that I am no longer 17, and that they are no longer the scarf-and-frilly-shirt-wearing pirate gods of New Wave who supplied the soundtrack to my sixth-form days, but a bunch of (albeit polished) middle-aged dads in weekend clothing, hoping in vain that the dark glasses worn indoors make them look wicked. The only thing missing in this picture is one of those three-wheeler baby strollers, though actually any kids they might have had should be out of university by now. Look now, look all around….this is planet earth, lalalalalala.
It’s a long, long way from this – almost three decades, in fact.
27 Comments Comment
Reply to Amanda Mallia Click here to cancel reply
Daph, I wish I was seventeen at sixth form , but in 2008.
Oh come on you moaners. I am 44 and I have a raving time in the 80s, in my teens and twenties. And I wasnt even a real party animal. You are so blinded by Nationalist blinkers that you cant even enjoy the memory of your youthful days. So what? We did not live in the IT age. Who cares? Is that all there is to life? What about family, friendships, music, love. And, to those who persist in the lie that computers were forbidden in the 80s, I bought my own first home computer in 1985, my second a year later. Of course, it wasnt a laptop Intel Core Duo…but there was no such thing those days. Stop twisting even our personal histories, would you, please?
John Schembri – X’ghandu x’jaqsam?
seems like a world away – computers were still sci fi stuff along with mobile phones. Although I didn’t like the band that much,their videos were certainly nice :))
Albert Farrugia – You said “And, to those who persist in the lie that computers were forbidden in the 80s, I bought my own first home computer in 1985”
You seem to be the one with blinkers, Mr Farrugia. Otherwise, you must have been one of the Labour bazuzli.
First of all, 1985 was in the mid-1980s, with computers becoming more common by then, or at least a little more accessible than they were in the EARLY 1980s.
I did my computer O-level in 1984 or 1985, having spent the previous year or so studying for it after school hours, with access to a SHARED computer for only roughly 15 minutes per week (during which time, of course, we used to take turns to play what must have been a pirated copy of PACMAN on a mega floppy disc when our teacher turned his back). Yes, despite all, some of the 1980s was fun, but we could have done without such little thrills in exchange for our rights to freedom of speech, our schools and much, much, more.
And anyway, Albert Farrugia – X’ghandu x’jaqsam ma’ Duran Duran? Any excuse for an anti-PN gripe, I suppose.
@Amanda
Well. In the main post, the year 1982 was followed by (thank God)! As if to say it was such a disaster and now we are out of it. I WISH it was still 1982. I WISH I was still 18! By golly I do! Then John Schembri comes along saying he wishes he was 17…but in 2008. As if to say young people have it so good now. (Well, they DO, of course, but we had it good too).
And regarding computers. Yes. I cant stand the lie that “there were no computers in the 80s”. And what is all this differentiating between 1985 and “the early 80s”, which you did? We are talking of two years, three at most. I just cant stand this direct comparison of the IT situation today with that of almost 30 years ago. It is unfair and misleading. Apart from being stupid.
@ Albert Farrugia : mine was not a political comment, Daphne wrote that it is no longer 1982 (thank God) and that she is no longer seventeen, I have no regrets about what I did in life , but it would have been nice if I were 17 today.
Was your home computer the Sinclair ZX Spectrum?
@Albert Farrugia,
“And, to those who persist in the lie that computers were forbidden in the 80s, I bought my own first home computer in 1985, my second a year later”
We lived through the eighties remember? Even remote controlled cars and cordless phones were illegal, let alone computers, unless you were friends with some minister or other ofcourse:)
In my case my dad had to smuggle me in my first remote controlled car!
Amanda, to be fair I think Daphne did succinctly imply that the eighties were the dark ages, although I stand to correction, but I still look back on that era with nostalgia; first date, passing my ‘O’ levels, smoking in the boys’ room (and getting caught) etc etc.
Yes, there is some nostalgia, but mostly I wish we had what’s available now. Come on, you really can’t compare the life of an 18-year-old now with the life of an 18-year-old then. Let’s be realistic. Women who were young and single in wartime Malta say they had a good time too; it’s all to do with coming of age and discovering the opposite sex, and not really anything to do with the reality of your circumstances. I don’t think anyone can say that wartime Malta was a load of fun.
Albert Farrugia / David Gatt: For an honest opinion on whether things are better for young people today, ask an 18-year old not a middle-aged person.
@ Corinne Vella : Middle aged people experienced the 80’s, they can compare.
Today’s 18 year olds assume a lot of things about the 80’s which are far from the truth.
Corinne, The name is Darren, and how can an 18 year old compare a decade they do not remember, or weren’t even born in it. Yes of course I would choose being a teenager today, with what’s available now; probably our kids would say the same in twenty years time. In fact when I am talking to the younger generation, they do not believe the scarcity of the basic commodities we suffered, like running water and electricity; studying by paraffin lamp, or storing water in jerry cans for the ‘drought season’. I won’t mention the lack of ‘luxuries’, like the telephone.
80’s nostalgia…
Ah I turned 18 in 1989…
http://www.cleavelin.net/monchichi.jpg
http://i80s.com/images/home/products/kajagoogoo_too_shy.jpg
http://www.madonnamemories.com/page_7.jpg
http://www.eightiesonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/a3750.jpg
http://www.primatechnica.co.id/online/images/stories/rubix_cube.jpg
http://web.mit.edu/droy/www/party/magnum.jpg
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00008438T.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg
http://www.dvdbooty.com/images/st-elmos-fire_220x321.jpg
and last and not least…move over Simon Le Bon, this was the man for me:
http://www.vivaroxymusic.com/images/bryanferry1982.jpg
Move over Simon Le Bon I want this one…
http://www.vivaroxymusic.com/images/bryanferry1982.jpg
@John Schembri
As a matter of fact it was! Incredible performace with 16 colours. High-technology games like Pac-Man. Loaded by means of cassette tape played on a normal cassette recorder! Simply wicked!
And for those who think that piracy is something to do with MP3s or downloands: we used to record hundreds of songs on our cassette tape recorder, from the radio. Two fingers at the ready, on the red “RECORD” button, the other on the “PLAY” button..and when the good song comes, down go the two buttons. I sometimes even used to manage to record a song with practically no voice-over from the DJ!
@The 80s moaners.
We had fun. We had New Wave. And Boy George, not to mention Samantha Fox!. We were hooked on the new style of TV brought to us by Mediaset Italian stations. And the Surfside and Axis. And the first Styx.
Wishing that we had what kids have today? What DO they have? IPODS? We DID hear music in our time. Mobile phones? I used to be on the phone hours on end in those days on the family phone. And how my heart would skip when the home phone rings two days after I would give my number to a girl. “It might be her!” Today they just see the name on the display! No sense of surprise.
Oh well!
Albert Farrugia – Stupid was the fact that many people – if they were lucky enough to be able to get a computer in the first place – had to complete several forms prior to importing one.
And yes, we were deprived of computers in the EARLY 1980s. You can’t deny that fact.
Darren (not David): Of course an 18-year old can compare being young now to being young a generation ago. I feel no regret that I was not young in the 1900s, and I certainly wasn’t around then.
John Schembri: Your ‘logic’ works both ways. Middle-aged people are not young today so how can they know what it’s like? Some people do wish they’d been around in their parents’ or their grandparents’ generation. Are their wishes baseless too?
Amanda, filling up import forms wasn’t just for computers, it was for bloody everything!!!! And anything wireless was considered a taboo.
Albert Farrugia: My brother used to put several one cent copper coins as a heat sink unde the ZX Sectrum.
Re: Albert Farrugia,
Did i imagine it or did we have to sign a form saying we woudl not give anyone the sack if we bought a computer? Even if it was a simple Acorn???
Amanda my logic works one way , I experienced those times, I know what today’s 18 year olds are facing and what opportunities they have . They did not experience the 80’s, Some of my work mates are young,( and I have children that age) and they tell us in ‘real time’ their experiences. What we tell them about the 80’s could sound unbelievable, People my age are the ones who encourage them to grab the opportunities we never dreamt we could have.
John Schembri: My name is not Amanda. Some people have a clear-eyed view on their time being better than that of the previous generation. They usually don’t need any encouragement.
Come off it, Albert Farrugia. You and I are the exact same age. The difference between us (I am assuming, since it wasn’t usual for men to have kids three years out of school, and still isn’t) is that I have three sons who are in their early 20s. The true test of whether they are better off now than we were then is this:
would I want them to live the life I lived when I was 18, rather than the life they have now?
And the answer is a loud, resounding NO NO NO and NO again.
John Schembri Saturday, 26 July 1236hrs
Daph, I wish I was seventeen at sixth form , but in 2008.
Amanda Mallia Sunday, 27 July 0134hrs
John Schembri – X’ghandu x’jaqsam?
Albert Farrugia Saturday, 26 July 2244hrs
Oh come on you moaners. I am 44 and I have a raving time in the 80s, in my teens and twenties. And I wasnt even a real party animal ……
Amanda Mallia Sunday, 27 July 1721hrs
And anyway, Albert Farrugia – X’ghandu x’jaqsam ma’ Duran Duran? Any excuse for an anti-PN gripe, I suppose.
Daphne Caruana Galizia Monday, 28 July 1843hrs
Yes, there is some nostalgia, but mostly I wish we had what’s available now. Come on, you really can’t compare the life of an 18-year-old now with the life of an 18-year-old then……..
No one wrote “x’ghandu x’jaqsam?”
@ Corrine : sorry for addressing you as “Amanda” (probably it was a Freudian slip).
Parents are there to encourage their children, among other things, even if they are 18 year olds. Some young people do need quite a lot.