Friday, February 27, 2009

News from early 80s Portland maybe!

Ken Jennings is trying to start a meme and it's kind of a neat idea. What are the first five news events you remember as a kid and how old were you? I'm trying to figure out how I would even begin to determine this. I vividly remember watching the Challenger shuttle explode (1/28/86, 5 years 2 months). I think I remember Mary Lou Retton in the 1984 Olympics (7-8/84, 3 years 8-9 months), but it's so hard to parse out what's cultural detritus from growing up with a TV and what's an actual memory. I will think about this and see what else I come up with. I kind of think the only way to do it, though, is to look at a list of events from those years and see if anything rings a bell. But is that cheating?

2 comments:

Beau said...

I'll take a stab at it from the top of my head:

1) 1986-I remember either being sent home early from school, or not going to school on the day of the Challenger explosion.
2) I remember watching the election returns in November of 1988. I also remember my mom saying she was rooting for Dukakis.
3)1989/1990 - I remember the Portland Trailblazers making their run through the playoffs and loosing to the Pistons. (Note, I could probably do most of this list with Blazer memories... such as the Buck Williams acquisition.)
4) 1990 - I have some memories of the first Persian Gulf War.
5)1992 - I remember Measure 5 passing, and teachers at school not being sure what it would mean for funding etc.

Sydney said...

I definitely remember the Measure 5 debates. I remember being very upset about that whole thing. And the first gulf war. I remember thinking, "This is going to be just like the Vietnam War and WWI- I know that they happened but no adult can explain to me why." I also remember having a conversation after winter break in the first grade about how cool it was that the year was now 1988; that was two whole 8s AND almost 1990, which seemed like a big deal. But the year's change-over is hardly a news event.