Categories
50s to 90s Music

We are the World

A 1985 song written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie, produced and conducted by Quincy Jones and recorded by a super group of 45 popular musicians including Lionel Richie, Stevie Wonder, Kenny Rogers, Tina Turner, Billy Joel, Michael Jackson, Diana Ross, Willie Nelson, Bruce Springsteen, Cyndi Lauper, Bob Dylan, Ray Charles, Dan Aykroyd and LaToya Jackson. [YouTube]

Thanks Tweez




Categories
50s to 90s Information Music Video Games

RIP Michael Jackson

Just yesterday I was listening to his album and playing his old videogame on the Sega Genesis. [News Link]

Update: Found this cool picture of Michael Jackson with Michael Jordan and Kriss Kross.




Categories
50s to 90s Kuwait Photography

These pictures are mine

It seems some old pictures I scanned of my mum back when she was a flight attendant with Kuwait Airways in the 70s are being forwarded around by email as Kuwait Airways in the 70s with no credit to their original source (me!). Sucks but hey that’s the Internet. Here is the link to my original post with more information and pictures. [Link]




Categories
50s to 90s Kuwait

Super old camel

Just found this picture of an NBK camel bank but it must be super old as in 1970s or very early 80s old since the camel bank I had in the 80s looked different than this. I don’t think NBK had a logo when this camel bank was released since there isn’t even a logo on it.

Here is a link to the original photo plus some other pictures of Kuwait from the 80s like the one below of Salwa in 1984 after a rain shower all taken by a former KES teacher. [Link]




Categories
50s to 90s Kuwait Photography

Post Gulf War Photos

I found a video online of photos of Kuwait taken right after the Gulf War so I emailed the owner of the video asking him if he could send me the pictures to post and he did. This is the description that was attached to the video:

We were sent to Kuwait in May 1991 to rebuild the Kuwait International Hotel for an upcoming conference. The project was canceled soon after we got to Kuwait due to security concerns. Kuwait City at this time, just a few months after the first gulf war, was in shambles. Almost nothing worked and there were vast amounts of arms still lying around. The fires were still going strong. So much so that flying into Kuwait was like entering an outer circle of hell.

All 74 photos below are credited to B. Dietrich, AIA




Categories
50s to 90s Geek Information Personal

Timex Skiathlom

When I travel I wear what I call my travel watches. They are cheap digital watches which no one would want to steal in case I get mugged (don’t ask). For the past 2 years I’ve been using my Casio calculator watch but I recently decided I wanted a watch that could at least tell me the temperature. So after a bit of searching I decided to get the Timex Skiathlom. Its a very rare and strange (i.e. ugly) looking watch from the late 80’s. I used to have one back in 1990 and I figured I would get one. I had forgotten the name of the watch but after a bit of help from a Timex forum I managed to find the watch on eBay in excellent condition. It cost me around KD10 which isn’t too bad. Since there is barely any information on this watch online, I decided to scan the manual and take a clear frontal shot so that if anyone searches for this watch in the future they will find at least some info.

So if you’re interested in the Timex Skiathlom owners manual and a high resolution picture click [Here]




Categories
50s to 90s First Impression Kuwait Video Games

First Impression: Pocket Retro Game Emulator (Dingoo Digital A320)

I ordered the Pocket Retro Game Emulator from ThinkGeek 10 days ago after reading about it on a few websites. Its a small portable game system that comes with built in emulators that would play games from the Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis, NeoGeo and a few other systems. Since I am a huge fan of retro gaming and since it would be a great addition to my collection, I ordered the device for $99.

The device has a built in 4GB drive so I quickly copied all my favorite games onto it and realized I still had nearly 4GB free so I copied ALL my Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo games onto it which amount to around 2000 games. I also copied a few NeoGeo games including SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos.

The device played everything I threw at it even SVC Chaos which was a huge shock. Not only that but the device also came with the appropriate cables to connect it to my TV so I could play the games there if I wanted to. Some SNES games weren’t running that perfectly for example NBA Jam was running slightly faster than it should and the sound in Donkey Kong Country was a bit strange but the device plays NHL ’94 perfectly which alone would make the game system worth $99. The build quality isn’t that great, it feels cheap and its pretty light. I am not sure how much abuse it would take but I doubt its as durable as a Nintendo DS or PSP.

Now one thing that kinda pissed me off is the fact that ThinkGeek is marketing this device with the name “Pocket Retro Game Emulator”. In reality the system turned out to be called the Dingoo Digital A320. A quick search on eBay for the Dingoo would result in a ton of results with the device priced at around $75. So if you want to buy one that’s where I would look. Will post a more thorough review at a later date.

Note: The device also plays movies and music. Also has a built in FM tuner and an eBook reader. The battery is built in and lasts over 5 hours. In case 4GB isn’t enough the device takes SD cards.




Categories
50s to 90s Television

Amn wa al salama

For some reason I’ve had this opening theme song stuck in my head all day. [YouTube]

Update: Fixed the title

Update2: Here is the Salamatak song [YouTube]




Categories
50s to 90s Kuwait

Homeless Koala

A reader spotted the yellow Kid ‘R’ Us koala bear at the Friday Market shoved underneath a foosball table. It doesn’t look too happy.

Thanks Valencia!




Categories
50s to 90s Electronics Video Games

Test Drive III

Just a blast from the past. I used to play this game back in 1991 in my computer class when I was still in Kuwait English School. In the video above the game actually starts at the 2 minute mark. [YouTube]




Categories
50s to 90s Kuwait Movies

Eat My Dust

I found this video on YouTube, its a short amateur movie that was shot in Kuwait back in 1992 by a guy called Ali. If you consider the fact that this movie was shot and edited by a teenager in the early 90s without a computer, its actually pretty cool.. in a geeky way. [YouTube]

For some reason I now feel like watching The Dirt Bike Kid




Categories
50s to 90s Commercials Strange

Robocop Fried Chicken Commercial

This is one strange Korean commercial. It’s for fried chicken and stars a Korean version of Robocop and has spaghetti western music as the soundtrack! [YouTube]




Categories
50s to 90s Fashion Kuwait

Retro Kuwaiti T-shirts

I think I want to make some retro Kuwaiti t-shirts and sell them as a side business. I could make like a Kids ‘R’ Us shirt or “I heart Sunkist” one.. the possibilities are really endless!




Categories
50s to 90s Kuwait Toys

Kids ‘R’ Us Stuff Needed

Kids R Us

Does anyone by any chance have anything related to Kids ‘R’ Us? Pictures of the branches, the koala bear doll, an old ad, ANYTHING related to Kids ‘R’ Us? If you do please contact me, I want to try and preserve the brand by collecting or documenting as much Kids ‘R’ Us stuff I can find. [Email Me]




Categories
50s to 90s Toys

Liono for KD2,400

Liono

So I was flipping through eBay looking for random stuff when I found a couple of people selling a brand new in the box Liono figurine from the popular 80’s cartoon Thundercats. I thought that would be a great Christmas gift for myself until I spotted the price. There were three sellers and the cheapest was selling the toy figure for KD160 while the most expensive was selling it for KD2,400! Makes me wish I never opened up my toys as a kid.