Let's (Not) Confuse The Kids Nowadays 

Memes popularity in the world wide web is astronomical particularly in social media. You can't even miss them every time you check your newsfeed (probably they are flooded with the dankest to the most hilarious meme created by the craziest meme lord surfing the net). Later in 2018, the meme "Let's Confuse The Kids Nowadays" become the newest trend and true to its name, it does confuse a lot of generation z kids. Whatever the connection of those picture and what did they mean is only answerable by those who experience the "golden years" of  early 90s, 80s up to 70s.

But perhaps instead of making them wondering what the heck is with those picture, why not try enlighten them? This could be the best moment for them to appreciate the previous generation's pop culture and who knows it may lead to bridging some pesky generation gaps. So here let us examine some of those meme you probably stumble upon on 2018 that made you confused. :-)

Back in the days when mobile phones have no internet connection, cameras and still equipped with mashable buttons, people indulge themselves in this shoot 'em up arcade video games with sore fingers and possibly a broken key pads. Space Impact is vertical shooter game published by Nokia and can be played in their ultra classic Nokia 3310 unit. Although not as flashy as your typical MOBA games today, Space Impact delivers a casual yet addictive gameplay: you'll control a fighting ships (with only 3 lives to spare) that spew bullets upon waves of alien beings from outer space before engaging in a duel against the big bad monsters of each stage. Of course there lots of power ups you can acquire during the game such as laser beams, shields, homing missile and extra lives. Later on Space Impact underwent many sequels and even manage to have full 3D version on Nokia N97 (that's why this game is so legendary up until now). 

Too bad though that this pixel retro game is a bit forgotten now. For us who experience the thrill of bursting each monster boss in pixel debris for every stage of the game, Space Impact deserve to be an undisputed classic among mobile games.

You can check out however this remake of Space Impact in your android phone :-) Just follow the link below:

This is not a creepy drawing that possess a deep, foreboding, conspiracy inducing story. As much as we wanted to entertain conspiracy theories for the fun of it, this drawing is a plain old face of a boy made the letters B-O-Y. Sounds damn right crazy isn't it? But the truth is, this face was done by seemingly connecting every lines and angles from the word BOY itself! Here is a video to explain the simple magic of it:

Believe it or not this was actually become a past time of young ones before: creating drawings and images out their names or other words. Imagination is only the limit here folks. Perhaps this craze was triggered by a personal favorite TV show of mine called "Art is Kool" on GMA 7 hosted by the awesome Robert Alejandro. In one of their segment called "Pirmasterpiece", Kuya Robert (as he was called before in the show) will showcase his simple yet unique ability to create wonderful drawings out of random names of different kids. Here is a clip of his interview in CNN where he showcase how clever and creative he is when it comes to making an artwork out of a name:

Unfortunately the said art show was short lived but still, it leaves us the magic of Kuya Roberts art and try our best to emulate even with just a simple word like BOY.

If having a zero data on your phone is a total nightmare, just imagine how the kids of 2000s felt when this one pops out on their screen. "Check your Operator Services" is a dreaded phenomena when your phone is out of load or credit or it could be either your called ID is hidden (although the most frequent reason is the former when you forgot to check your balance after sending tons of group message to your "Clan" or Text group hahaha). Load or credit before are only used to text and call someone unlike today wherein it can be converted to Data to surf the internet.  I can still recall those frustrated faces each time this message appears on their phones (even at times nearly throw their phone out of rage!). Those were the good old days when Group Message or GM is a fad and people are making Clans or Text Groups to meet new friends. Now mobile phones are used to pester someone with memes :-D.

When you are a true blue cinema junkie but going to theater is quiet a dragged for you, chances are that you frequently visit video rental shop before and get a load of new films straight from VCDs or DVDs. Viva Video City was a fave hotspot before by group of friends and family to experience chart busting films on their home (truly it was a God sent before plus it will save you a few more bucks than going to theater). Action, Drama, Cartoons, Comedy almost everything on their rack is enough for you to stay indoor for the rest of your weekends and maybe completely shutting down your social life (kidding!). For the price of 50 to 100 bucks, you can feast your eye with movies from classic to the latest one. 

However, all things come to end somehow. The rise of Netflix, Youtube and other online streaming sites made a deep gash on Video Rental industry. There might be some other shop there that is still open but they are getting few each year. So the next time you want to watch a film, check your VCD and DVD player and take a time to visit these shops. They also need some good old loving too (who knows maybe you can find a hidden gem there :-) ).

No. He is not the new member of Power Rangers or the Kamen Rider troops. This man not just amaze the kids before but even made the whole community of stage magicians angrier for he exploit and unravel all their secrets in his own TV show! The Masked Magician was a household name before when the the TV Show "Breaking the Magician's Code: Magic's Biggest Secrets Finally Revealed" was still on air. Each episode, the magician will perform different magic tricks that before completely dazzled the audience like us. Little did we know that after the performance he will dissect each of the process on how was it done. Well, some might had a very ruined childhood after watching it but the Masked Magician's aim is by no means a great one: To further improve and challenge the art of stage magic. 

Later on it was revealed the guy behind the mask: Val Valentino which is also stage magician. He will received a lot lashing from other magicians as he made the industry difficult for them. We don't know what the Masked Magician is up to now but still it can't be denied how huge the impact of his show especially for the kids (and maybe for the magicians as well). Here is one of the magic tricks we all crave how it was done. Watch how he explain how it was perform as easy as pie:

This is pretty nostalgic for the kids out there who happens to own before a box of rubber bands. Useless? Not for the kids of 90s to early 2000s. Rubber band tricks was a childhood game that test your finger dexterity, coordination and even your imagination to create patterns and images out of a single or even triple rubber bands. Can you make a Star? A double Star? How about triple Star? The head of Voltes V or Daimos? (90s mecha anime). The greatest rubber band trickster can do those in just a mere minute or two. It was fun to watch several kids trying to copy the tricks of one another and have their fingers get slapped when the rubber bands suddenly snapped from being stretched too much. You can't even miss those children who use also these rubber bands as accessories (they use it too to tie their long hair into ponytails).

Here is a video on how a rubber band can be made into a beautiful pattern. See if you can try it as well:

Before we start the age of sharing, posting, liking and giving a "heart" (pusuan) to your friends status, there is this period when social media was still on its earlier years and we are busying ourselves designing our home page with wall papers of our favorite anime and even completely editing its whole theme with glittery graphics and animation. Plus, some might even spend an hour composing a testimonial that they will post on the homepage of their best buds (or secret crushes). This is the era when Facebook is yet to be born (or perhaps on its infancy) and there is only one site that people are drawn to: Friendster.

Friendster is considered as one of the early forms of social media site where people can change their name and start making friends with someone virtually from different parts of the globe. It runs with the same scheme of social media today where you can post, share photos, videos, music and meet a lots of people in the internet. Perhaps one thing that it makes it stand out is its full customization of your home page. Here is an example of a profile customized by a Friendster user before:

It is quiet nostalgic to remember those days when you and your friends are actually having a friendly rivalry as to who have the most beautiful homepage (which end up overdecorating it). And who can't forget the friendship that are created from this site?

Friendster was converted into a social gaming site on 2011 but apparently the rise of various social media sites like Tweeter and Facebook lead to its complete downfall. Their site is still on a break and nobody knows if it will continue or not. 

During the years when "magic girl" genre in anime was booming, all of the girls in the neighbor (including your sisters) wanted to be like those simple girl who transform into a colorful and powerful heroine that fight the evil monster and save the day (and their prince charming too). But daydreaming is not enough to quench their fantasy so they went to nearest sari-sari store and voila! Right in the palm of their hands now lies this carton thin paper dolls of their favorite heroine (Sailormoon, Magic Knight Ray Earth or Wedding Peach) with their own costume ranging from their magical armors and fashionable clothes. Paper doll craze totally stormed the fandom of girls before and believe me, it was one of the best childhood memories they treasure still. With a bunch of coins, they can have a much closer grasp of their heroine. And who said boys are the only one who is crazy with toys? :-)

A single unit of Gameboy before can cost nearly half of someone's one month income. But the spirit of gaming is calling you so bad that must find a way to have your very own handheld gaming platform. So what should you do? Of course find the nearest store and find this precious little device that will throw in complete Tetris paradise! Also known as Brick Game, this imitation gaming platform boast of 12 or more games with their graphics all patterned in Tetris game (brick like pixels). There is a racing game where cars are made of Tetris blocks, Arkanoid and many lot more games to burn your time with. It maybe lackluster compare to those high powered handheld platforms but nonetheless kids before won't let their childhood wasted without even playing a fast pace Tetris game in this device. Lookout for sore fingers though :-)