I was having a party at my house with a few friends. It started to die down, but I ran into Mark Hosler from Negativland getting a ladder to go into my attic and look for some old transitor radios my dad told him he could have. He was going up the wrong side of the ladder, but once he got up there I climbed up with him to hang out.
Some of my other friends also came up into the attic because it was filled with cool stuff. Then Jonathan Knight was there. He talked to me and Mark for a while, and then I don't know what happened to Mark but it was just me and Jonathan talking. There were about six other people in the room hanging out, but I wasn't talking to any of them.
Jonathan had longish wavy hair and I was petting him as he had his head in my lap. We were really hitting it off, and I said something about how he's the kind of boy friend I've been looking for. He was very quiet and chill, and told me he'd definitely come by more often. We were by a big bay window and it was sunny out, and I was totally happy about the whole party.
Or did it? My friend forwarded me the auction recently. I remember the NKOTB being interviewed in Nintendo Power about the game, and the game was listed in the upcoming titles list for a few months. Then. Nothing. I would love to find a prototype cartridge of the game of course, and have spent some time on NES fan sites looking for anyone that's uploaded a simulator, but nope.
Now, this is for the box, and whoever bid that much didn't come through. Honestly, I bid up to $80 and gave up. It's nothing I couldn't make with a few hours of Photoshop (I'm slow!) and a little research (how big are those prototype boxes anyway?). I predict it will actually sell for $200-$300, which is a lot, but NKOTB fans AND Nintendo fans are wierd when it comes to collecting. I once spent the weekend in Chicago with the guy who had the second largest NES cartridge collection in the US. So neither fandom is THAT bizzare.
Monday, October 26, 2009
At a writer's brunch this morning when it came time for introductions, for some reason my bloggy blogs were not on the tip of my tongue. This was fun when the NKOTB were broken up and there was no official web page for information. Now I'd like to continue to document my days as a fan, but this space, well. First they reunited and were all over the news, then they all got on Twitter and not only do they give you the news right to your phones, but they run contests and games and have fun. It seems to be fun, I had to stop following Donnie this week because I really didn't want to get 30+ positive messages from him while I was at work. A few months ago I said I'd make this a space for NKOTB updates once a week, but now, I'm breaking that promise. I'll add content from time to time, but I don't want it to exist in the same space as the guys reunited and doing their own thing. It's like, we're not a lost tribe anymore. I need a little rest before I figure out what else I want to say. I wish them the best. They are really fun on Twitter actually. I've heard that the Twitter activity has made the bulletin board activity die down, which sounds sad because that was so much more communal, but when I went into that area I didn't see that much I wanted to talk about. I think about that $10 vinyl copy of Face the Music that was at CakeShop last week and how I didn't buy it, and how it might still be there, and they might just give it to me if I ask, but I'm not sure what I want.
Here are pictures of my counselors looking at photos of my NKOTB room when I went to Jesus camp:
I got in trouble that week for sneaking my NKOTB walkman in so I could listen to NKOTB during our morning quiet prayer time. I was going into the barn with a hoodie on and listening to Hangin Tough under my hoodie. I forget how I got caught, but I cried when my tape was confinscated.
I also remember we all had to bring a "hat that symbolizes us" to camp. Of course, I had a top-less hat ala Joey that was covered in NKOTB pins. After one of the nightly sermons, about halfway through the week, we had to walk around the room and place the hat that we brought at the foot of a giant cross. I was so scared they were going to burn our hats! I was so scared we would have to exchange hats with someone else. I remember feeling so relieved that we were getting our hats back.
So this press release was posted on Brooklyn Vegan and I immediately noticed a band called NROTB. No, no secret shows you stupid blockheads. Nu Ravers on the Block are a truely annoying dj pair playing that thumpa thumpa rave music. They have co-opted an old NKOTB logo for their backdrop. Maybe you like this crap, I don't.
From their press release. Building in the inaugural success of 2008, Famous Friends, a New York-based promotion company, in conjunction with Noise Problem, a leading multi-faceted music agency, are pleased to announce the line up for The Second Annual Brooklyn Electronic Music Festival (BEMF). Spanning two stages, indoor and out, BEMF will be headlined by The Juan Maclean (live) and also feature Young Love, Jupiter One, Adventure, Shy Child, Home Video, Free Blood, Awesome New Republic as well as dozens of other DJs and performers. Famous Friends will be announcing a very special surprise guest headliner via twitter on the day of the show. Follow them at http://twitter.com/famousfriends to receive the latest news in advance. The line up is listed below. BEMF is an all-day event for emerging and established dance artists celebrating the vibrant music scene found in the city of New York. The festival will bring together New York's veterans and up-and-coming talent, along with some special out of town guests, and will be held on Saturday, August 8th at Old American Can Factory, located at 232 3rd Street in Brooklyn from 4PM to 4AM. Adding fuel to the fire, the festival will offer a free open bar courtesy of Pabst Blue Ribbon from 4PM - 6PM. Advance tickets are $25 and can be purchased at BrooklynEMF.com. RJD2 will not be performing as previously announced. We are holding back the announcement of the co-headliner until the day of show where we'll announce them via twitter. Line-up after the jump. Brooklyn Electronic Music Festival's Line Up: The Juan Maclean (live) Young Love 33hz Shy Child Designer Drugs Jupiter One BELL Free Blood The Cloud Room Home Video Adventure Codebreaker Kap10kurt Awesome New Republic The American Dream Team JDH & DAVE P (FIXED/ RVNG) Roxy Cottontail Larry Tee DJ Ayres Finger on the Pulse DJs Viking Flashmen Jubilee Udachi Purple Crush NROTB Tayisha Busay LEIF Rude Crew (w/ Rude Bear!) VDRK Subdrive Galbis Free Magic Chaz & Jason Pants (Palms Out Sounds) Terror Dactel Charlie Tippie Gavin Royce Kids with Snakes
Funny, this weekend Jonathan tweeted that since they've gotten on Twitter, NKOTB.com has been dead. Just like this blog! Lemme promise you new content every WEDNESDAY. I suppose I should put that in the design of the blog. Updates every WEDNESDAY.
So I'm waiting to get the video of the OMG you will not believe this moment from the Saturday show. So I'm going to hold back on that and talk about more stuff we did back in the day that is just so strange to music fans now.
There were a bunch of kids hanging out on my stoop. They live next door and above me and are about 8-12 years old. I came home from work and sat down with them for a little bit, since we usually just talk between the chain link fences in the back yard. I noticed one of the girls was wearing a Jonas Brothers bracelet and I told her I was a New Kids on the Block fan.
I was so happy to hear that these kids KNEW who NKOTB are! They've all heard the song Single or at least would lie about it if someone else tried to sing a little bit. The only one who didn't get it was confused if we were talking about people who lived on our block or not. She's also the one who spends a lot of time talking to her imaginary friends, so let's just say she's creative.
I was a dork and went inside to get some of my NKOTB stuff out. I found my 1991 calendar with a bunch of annotations I made for NKOTB events that weren't published on it, two scrapbooks with newspaper clippings and photos, and a box (Caboodle!) of NKOTB earrings. I brought them outside and showed them the worst of it.
One of the little boys tried to quiz me on the dates on the calendar. I could get their birthdays but some of the other date's I'd written down like TV appearances were completely lost to me. I pointed out how every day the mail came there was a little J because I wrote Jordan a letter every day that the mail came in 1991.
Here is a picture of me outside of each of their houses, these are pictures I traded people in the mail, here are pictures of my room and my friends rooms.
"How did you take pictures without a digital camera?"
I LOVE the technology divide. Not the one between classes, but the one between generations.
"I had a clicky camera, with film. And you could make copies of pictures from the negatives."
I'm not sure they understood a word of this. We had it rough in the 1990s, no Flickr, no digital cameras, not even being able to send images in email.
And I had grass clippings from Donnie and Danny's house. And two dollars that Donnie had touched. Yup. They LOVED that stuff, because I'm so weird.
And now Ms. Jonas now wants to cover her walls with pictures of the guys. Sorry mom. Are there Jonas bed sheets?
