80'S SLANG: LESSON #2

EXPRESSION: "Totally tubular!"

DEFINITION: A term meaning "wonderful" or "fantastic".  Interchangeable with the quintessential "Awsome!", but rarely used in the same sentence, except when combined in the enthusiastic "awesomely tubular!".
  
EXAMPLE: "Like, oh my God, did you see those totally tubular jelly shoes?  I totally want them!  Totally!" 

FADS & TRENDS

The Rubik's Cube
When we talk about 80's toys, the infamous Rubik's Cube is perhaps the toy of the decade.  A Rubik's Cube was a puzzle toy, which had nine coloured squares on each side of the cube face, and totaling six colours in all.  The cube would start in the "solved" position, meaning that all nine squares on each side of the cube would be of the same colour.  The cube was divided into thirds, and each third (called a "section") contained twenty-one squares distributed across the face and side (except for the middle third, which contained only twelve squares).  The puzzle would be put into play by "scrambling" the colours, that is, by turning a section of the cube, flipping the cube to a different side, turning another section of the cube, flipping it again, and so on.  After all sides of the cube were a jumble of coloured squares, the challenge began.  To solve the puzzle, the player was to un-scramble the cube and return it to the "solved" position.
The inventor of the Rubik's Cube is Emo Rubik, of Budapest, Hungary.  It was actually invented in 1974, but its popularity didn't peak until the early 1980's, making it argueably the most iconic toy of the decade.

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THEN & NOW

Harrison Harried Over Whip Woes
Rumour has it that Indiana Jones may be left without a whip...or at least a real one. It appears that Harrison Ford's adventuresome character Indiana Jones, introduced to audiences in 1983's "Raiders Of The Lost Ark", may not be allowed to use a real whip in the next installment of the 'Raiders' movie lineup. A new health and safety law prohibits the use of a whip, even under controlled circumstances, such as a movie set. Mr. Ford has threatened to pull out of the movie if his character is not allowed to carry his trademark whip. The studio's solution was to add a computer-generated whip to the sequences after filming, but this has drawn much ire from stars and fans of the 'Raiders' series. Mr. Ford has not officially commented on the situation as yet. (Feb.7, 2007)

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