Retro Injection: the boredpanda.com Interviews

The '80s were fueled by cocaine and the threat of imminent nuclear apocalypse. The '90s were punctuated with angst and edginess. Together, they gave us two decades' worth of incredible pop culture output, enough blog material for lifetimes. I wish I could do more with Retro Injection, but real-life obligations beckon.

I've had the pleasure of working with Adelaide Ross from boredpanda.com on a couple of occasions, being interviewed for nostalgia articles.

I don't do social media, because I try to keep Retro Injection as low-tech as a website can be. So since you probably you missed them, here are reprints of these interviews from Bored Panda. I'm featuring the photos that Adelaide couldn't post due to her editorial restrictions. (The ShowBiz Pizza Place picture has never been published before! I still have the Care Bears tape deck in the foreground.) I'm also including my full answers to Adelaide's questions, expounding on what was printed.

It was an honor to be featured on Bored Panda. Enjoy the interviews!

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Originally published on boredpanda.com, May 1, 2023:

The feeling of “getting old” is a strange one. One day you feel like you’re in the prime of your life, invincible and immune to the aches and pains that your parents always complained about. Then suddenly, seemingly overnight, you realize that there are children decades younger than you who are famous from posting dance videos on TikTok, and you’re not even quite sure how that app works. But feeling like you’re aging doesn’t have to be a bad thing. In fact, we might as well embrace it! Pages like Do You Remember? allow a space for those of us who might be getting up there to bond with one another over those classic things younger generations just don’t understand.

If you’ve ever tried to explain your favorite childhood candy to your children or wondered why kids don’t play with Lincoln Logs nowadays, you’re in luck. We’ve got some photos for you that are sure to trigger some memories about “the good old days”. Simple pleasures from your youth like eating Hostess snack cakes or annoyances like trying to use pay phones in public to call your parents just aren’t the same today. So enjoy taking this time to reminisce and bask in the beauty that is nostalgia!  

To learn more about how wonderful it can be to look back on our pasts, we reached out to nostalgia expert Dave Fife. Dave is the creator of Retro Injection, a blog that “digs deep into the pop culture goldmine of the ‘80s and ‘90s,” and lucky for us, he was kind enough to have a chat about what he misses and what makes him suddenly feel old. “I recently came across a photo of myself and my dad at Chuck E. Cheese in 1986,” he shared with Bored Panda, attaching the adorable photo of the two eating slices of pizza in an email. “I couldn't believe how young he was! When you're a kid, you think your parents are ancient.”

We also asked Dave about anything from the good old days that he wishes hadn’t become obsolete. “I wish video stores were still around,” he noted. “People often comment on my Blockbuster trucker hat and tell me how much they miss renting movies.” Dave also shared that "A Tribute to Defunct Video Stores," a love letter to long-gone local rental places, is one of Retro Injection's most popular entries.

“I sorely miss Kay-Bee Toys!” Dave added, sharing this link to another Retro Injection piece discussing the famous toys. We also wanted to know if the nostalgia expert wished anything from his childhood hadn’t changed. “I wish arcades hadn't become casinos for kids,” he shared. “I constructed my home arcade from scratch, as a tribute to the Time-Out in which I grew up: I matched the color scheme of the former game room, and sourced the same pattern of industrial carpet. One of the machines is from that exact Time-Out. There's nothing like the immersive experience of being in a legit arcade!”

And while technological advancements have benefited us in countless ways, we’ve lost certain experiences along the way too. “Today's instant-gratification culture has its advantages, but to some extent, the Internet has killed things being special,” Dave says. “Let's use the trusty video store as an example: At least for me, a good chunk of the fun in the renting process involved socializing during the round trips to get and return the movie!” 

“The last couple of generations have largely missed out on the fun of watching movies or listening to albums on physical media,” Dave went on to share. “I'll never give up my physical media collection, because I don't want to lose access to my favorite music and films. I'm glad that vinyl records, cassettes, and VHS tapes are all making comebacks.”

We also asked Dave why it’s important to look back on these fond memories of the past that we have. “There's a saying that, ‘nostalgia is the enemy of progress,’ but I believe everyone should cling to their happy memories,” he says. “Looking back reminds you of your journey. Also, the stuff that inspires you in your youth is often most reflective of who you are at your core. That's why I'm a Ghostbuster!” he noted, attaching an awesome photo of himself all decked out in his ghost-busting gear.

When it comes to whether or not there’s anything that’s considered normal today that will make us feel extremely old in a few decades, Dave says that's becoming less of an issue than it once was, as society will continue to use the Internet and smartphones. “Over time, technology will simply become more powerful and invasive,” he explained. “Culturally, I fear that physical retail (aside from Wal-Mart) will be largely kicked to the curb in favor of clicking ‘add to cart’ from the comfort of the couch. I doubt that malls as we know them will be around forever.”

“I'm glad that I grew up in the '80s and '90s, but honestly, I wish I was older!” Dave added. “My parents were married for nine years before I was conceived in a seminary dorm in 1980. It would have been incredible to experience the '80s as a teenager.” 

If you’d like to learn more about Dave’s love for nostalgia or reminisce about your own youth by reading through his blog, be sure to check out Retro Injection right here!

Originally published on boredpanda.com, September 11, 2023:

The 1990s was an amazing decade to grow up in. We had the golden era of Disney Channel Original Movies, the release of the Nintendo 64, Crystal Pepsi, AOL instant messenger and some amazing music. And if you’re looking to reminisce on the days of watching Rugrats and slurping up milk through a Froot Loops cereal straw, we’ve got the perfect list for you down below.

We took a trip to the Throwback Machine Instagram page, which will instantly transport you pandas back to the 90s, so enjoy scrolling through these pics that might remind you of your childhood if you're a 90s kid. Keep reading to also find a conversation with Dave Fife of Retro Injection, and be sure to upvote the pics that make you long for that simpler time back.

To learn more about what life was like during the 90s, we reached out to nostalgia expert and creator of Retro Injection, Dave Fife. Retro Injection is a FeedSpot-ranked "Best 20 '80s Blog/Website,” and the perfect place to visit if you’d like to reminisce on the past few decades. And according to Dave, the 90s were the “last great decade. These years represented a sense of optimism that to a large extent disappeared on 9/11. The '90s gave us incredible pop culture which still resonates: movies such as Jurassic Park and Men in Black; music as diverse as Nirvana and the Spice Girls. I recently saw a t-shirt that read, 'Music died in 1999.' That's basically accurate."

Dave shared with Bored Panda that some of the best video games were released during the 90s. “The console wars raged between Sega and Nintendo on every school playground, while arcades were experiencing a resurgence with games such as Street Fighter II: Champion Edition and Mortal Kombat,” he explained. “You'd see Neo-Geo ads in magazines and wish you could afford the $650 console. The '90s were a great time to be a gamer!”

Dave also noted that “the internet was around, but hadn't yet become an invasive datamining mill. When you found something interesting online, you felt like Indiana Jones unearthing some hidden treasure. And dialing into AOL to chat with your friends on Instant Messenger was always a blast, until someone needed the phone. In my opinion, the '90s were special because there was enough connectivity to be fun, instead of an obligation.”  

We also asked Dave if there’s anything from the 90s that he wishes we still used today. “Physical media was king back then in the '90s, and I miss the PlayStation demo discs that you used to be able to pick up at Toys ‘R’ Us,” he shared. “At one point, even Pizza Hut gave them away! I would play the limited levels for hours. And yes, I still have the discs.”

“Even though they weren't specific to the '90s, I also miss video stores, which of course rented games,” Dave added. “My mom would sometimes check out Fatal Fury 2 and Primal Rage for my Genesis.”

And if Dave could go back in time and tell his 90s self something now, he says, “I would tell myself to cherish every moment, and to brace for a barrage of largely-manufactured crises. I'd also advise myself to start earning money right out of high school, and not waste time and money on college. And if I could go back in time, I wouldn't return.”

As far as why younger generations should keep looking back to learn more about the 80s and 90s, Dave says, “The cultural output of these decades was built to last, whereas today everything is disposable. There probably won't be a huge demand in ten years for today's auto-tuned songs or CGI-bloated movies. But even in fifty years, people will be jamming out to R.E.M, and quoting Ghostbusters. There's currently a 40th anniversary celebration for John Carpenter's Christine. Much like that '58 Fury, the '80s and '90s will never die.”

If you’d like to learn more about these magical decades, be sure to visit Dave’s site Retro Injection!

Another lovely aspect of the 90s that Dave mentioned, that kids today don’t get to experience, is the fun of visiting a video store. A Friday evening trip to Blockbuster was the highlight of my week. I got to pick out whatever movie I wanted (that was appropriate for kids of course), find my preferred chocolate bar of the week and return home for the best night ever. There was always a risk that they wouldn’t have the film you wanted or that nothing would look appealing, but the excitement over the trip was enough to convince you to choose something. There was no going home empty handed from a video rental store.

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Thanks again to Adelaide Ross and Bored Panda for the publicity! Pick up your official Retro Injection t-shirt!