Fill in the Blank

Anna Gregoline | September 2, 2004
Fill in the blank in the following statement and discuss: "They don't make ________ like they used to."

Lori Lancaster | September 2, 2004
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Anna Gregoline | September 2, 2004
I don't remember removable insoles, but it's also been a long time since I've bought running shoes.

I agree with the toys assessment. Today's toys seem cheap or stupid, or both.

Erik Bates | September 2, 2004
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Anna Gregoline | September 2, 2004
Movies, for the most part. I feel sad when I look back over the year and see only a few good movies coming from it.

Jackie Mason | September 2, 2004
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Scott Hardie | September 3, 2004
Gauze pads. Long story short, I have a medical necessity for thin gauze pads, but the only major manufacturer, Johnson & Johnson, recently switched to a "thicker! more absorbent!" variety that is quite inconvenient. It means fewer gauze pads per box, which means that people like me, who buy them in bulk, will spend a lot more money on them, but I wouldn't mind paying higher prices if they'd switch back to the old kind.

Also Mr. Pibb. Man, I miss that stuff.

No offense, but I'm ready to smack the first person who says video games. I get so tired of hearing from game players my age about how glorious the old Atari, Commodore, Intellivision, and NES systems were back in the day, and how today's games don't even hold a candle to them. There's an expression for this; it's called the rose-colored glasses of nostalgia. Give an oldschool game system and a modern game system to any uninitiated person, back then or today, and they'll very quickly prefer the modern system. It's not even about the graphics or sound; the gameplay today is incredibly richer and more rewarding than it was two decades ago. I can understand a preference for older games based on familiarity (Anna, you mentioned never getting accustomed to 3-D games), but claiming that the older games are better is just hogwash. Anyone else my age (mid-twenties) agree or disagree?

Lori Lancaster | September 3, 2004
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Anna Gregoline | September 3, 2004
It's not just getting accustomed, it's that 3D often makes me feel sick, and I feel that it's image quality is so much poorer. Hence my dismay that two of my favorite games, Zoo Tycoon and RollerCoaster Tycoon are both going to 3D format for their new releases. Ruins gameplay for me.

Coincidentily, Jesse and I just purchased an old Nintendo gaming system (NES). We felt like having a gaming system to play together, we love a lot of those old titles (Mario 1 2 and 3, Paperboy, Bobble Bobble, Yoshi), and the systems are super cheap now on eBay because they aren't collectible in the same way an Atari system is. If my Atari broadcast a clean enough picture, we'd probably have that in the bedroom now, but it needs an overhaul.

In some ways, I do feel that the past games were better only because they were simpler, but that is a personal preference.

Erik Bates | September 3, 2004
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Kris Weberg | September 3, 2004
CDs, aka albums, aka records, etc. Seems that "one-hit" thinking has taken over the music industry, so you get lots of indistingishable singles bands riding the same trend, and releasing albums with one or two gimmicky tracks for singles relase purposes and a lot of filler.

Part of this is the shift from radio to MTV, where suddenly, releasing a single had to become a much more precalculated move, because you only have so much for a video budget, and so much time to choose and record the videos to promote the album. So it mkes economic sense to focus on a few hit video/singles that will then sell the whole album, whose other tracks have been neglected.

How many bands today really seem to consider track arrangement and the album as a whole?

Erik Bates | September 3, 2004
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Steve West | September 3, 2004
I'm actually nostalgic for the days of 45's. It was so relatively inexpensive to go to the record store and browse the 45 aisles (which were much more extensive than the album section) in search of how to spend your 25 cents that day. What a collection I had! Greater than the greatest compilation albums offered even then. How disappointing later in life, as a teen-ager, to work up enough money for a new album, only to find that the only track worthwhile was the single you heard on the radio. I did develop a respect for albums that were solid with multiple hits, but the 45's, man I miss them.

Anthony Lewis | September 4, 2004
They don't make PEOPLE the way they used to.

Just look at the world today. Look at our youth!

Damn!!!

Scott Hardie | September 5, 2004
Kris, you hit the nail on the fucking head. I couldn't care less about what singles are put out by the boy bands and other artificial garbage, but it does concern me when legitimate artists can't get published because they aren't marketable. It's been five long years since Fiona Apple published her last album, and like many fans I was stoked to hear that she was finally recording a new one last fall with Jon Brion. But Sony has shelved it indefinitely because, according to Brion, there are no songs on it that could pass for singles and thus the marketing department doesn't know what to do with it. I've only gotten more frustrated since finding two unreleased songs online; they could never pass as singles, but they're terrific if you like Apple's playful style. I hope Sony comes to their senses and decides to publish the thing without fanfare just to cut their losses, instead of locking something that fun away in a closet.

Scott Hardie | September 5, 2004
Pibb Xtra was created back during the lemon-additive craze a few years back, when Diet Coke with Lemon threatened to permanently replace Diet Coke. Sadly, that's exactly what happened to Mr. Pibb; the lemony Pibb Xtra (which is awful) outsold the original because it was new and gimmicky. Coke couldn't keep both on the market, so they discontinued the original. I expect that Pibb Xtra will disappear in another year or two, but what concerns me is whether the original will come back.