Waxing Nostalgic

I've been on a nostalgia kick in recent months. Naturally, several of these trips down memory lane involve my salad days at Berkeley. One aspect of my college years that I recall particularly fondly is an all-male a cappella group called the UC Men's Octet. They are an entertaining, funny, and talented group of singers that many of us Bears hold very near and dear. As I was reminiscing about the Octet concerts I attended and missing their humorous but always well-executed songs, it occurred to me to do a youtube search. Lo and behold, I found some real gems. Even though all the videos were of rather recent classes, they still carry the Octet flair and heart that I remember so well. Of the clips I found, this is one of my favorites. Enjoy!


P.S. I would so have a crush on this guy if he were in the Octet during my tenure at Cal! ;P

Do You Remember...?

The year is 1996. The Clintons are in the White House, and Taiwan finally has its first direct presidential election. The "Magnificent Seven" are the darlings of the Atlanta Summer Olympics, which featured the unfortunate mascot Izzy (short for "Whatizit?"). The Bulls win the NBA Championships. Again. The Yankees win the World Series. Again. OJ Simpson is on trial. Again. Carried along in life's rhythms and repetitions, I am navigating through my junior year at Berkeley. And saturating the airwaves, popping up in dance clubs and a host of unlikely places is the strange phenomenon called the Macarena. Everywhere you go, you can hear the catchy but monotonous beat of this one-hit wonder. Everywhere you look, you can see people doing this sexified version of the hokey pokey. The fad spreads and spreads, becoming fixtures at sporting events and even reaching senior aerobic classes. And this mania isn't localized. When I visit Taiwan in the winter, my cousins show me a goofy video of them doing the dance. I even participate in a subsequent homemade Macarena video. God, I hope that tape's been erased since then...

As I look back, I wonder what magic ingredients went into the synthesis of that obsession. Is it because even the most uncoordinated people could do that dance? Is it because people like songs to which they know only one phrase (Ehhh Macarena! Hai!)? Or, is it because every era (whether it be year or decade or century) needs something that will cause us to look back and ask, "What were we thinking?!"

Not surprisingly, the Macarena craze spawned a slew of parodies. Recently, I came across this hilarious video on YouTube. It is a brilliant Animaniacs parody titled "Macadamia Nut." Pure comic genius. (And it's even funnier if you compare it to the original video by Los Del Rio.)

Ah, nostalgia. They just don't make cartoons like this anymore. And maybe that is the real secret behind silly fads. They make us laugh, in all their incarnations. More importantly, they make us remember with a smile those days of yore and with them, our past selves. So, no matter how stupid and incomprehensible the fad, we still feel fondness for it because of all the associated memories and feelings it brings back.