The 90's THE DECADE

FOREVER STUCK IN THE 90's @(and i'm not comin' out neither!)

1st @ FOREMOST - This chapter and the rest of this book is dedicated to my adored cherished beloved mother Jadwiga, who passed away this past February 20, 2017. Along with this book, my life @ my sobriety are going to be lived to honor her. 

2ndLY - I am the most blessed man on this planet, celebrating 20 years sobriety on 3-22-2017. MY MOM SAW ME GET SOBER. 

 3rdLY - I will not take myself nor anybody ANYBODY else too seriously today. I will laugh @ have a sense of humor. It is my 55th birthday. I AM HAPPY. 

                                         ROCK !!!!! 

THE 90's THRU MAR 1997 - 

   When The Mullet ruled ! Any man tells you he was not sportin' a mullet in the 90's, he is lying. The 90's, the decade of all decades. The decade of my life. The one with the most impact. The one that defines me more than any other. We will get back to that. But for now, in my be it ever so humble opinion, the 90's was THE ultimate decade in popular literature, movies, @ ROCK-n-ROLL EVER EVER EVER !!! (did i mention ever?) 

WRITERS DOMINATING BESTSELLER LISTS -

1) DENNIS LEHANE - my personal all-time fave. Penning novels such like Gone Baby Gone, @ Darkness, Take My Hand. Awesomely brilliant, riveting, scary !

2) JAMES PATTERSON - This dude, selling more books than everybody. Friggin' genius ! 

3) JACK HIGGINS - master of the spy thriller. Hugely addictive.

4) FREDERICK FORSYTH - may very well be the best of the lot ! Was anybody better? 

5) MAX ALLEN COLLINS - CANNOT get enough of this guy ! If you have not read him, do yourself a favor, pick up all of his works. You will not regret it! 

                               MOVIES MOVIES MOVIES - THE 90's

HOW I LOVE THE MOVIES !!! I dare ya to try @ better this decade in film history. YA CAN'T !! This list is off the top of my head. In no specific order, I present THE BEST OF THE 90's !!!

1)  SEVEN - David Fincher's masterpiece. Scary as hell. Pitt, Spacey, Freeman all at their very best. IT DOES NOT GET BETTER ! 

2) IN THE LINE OF FIRE - Clint Eastwood delivering the greatest line in Hollywood history, "YOU GOT A RENDEZVOUS WITH MY ASS MOTHERFUCKER"! 

3) THE USUAL SUSPECTS - Kevin Spacey winning the Academy Award. This one fooled me like no other. 

4) BRAVEHEART - Mel Gibson's epic. Gotta give it to him on this one. Movie making at it's finest.

5) THE INSIDER - Michael Mann's best with Crowe @ Pacino, forget about it ! 

6) A FEW GOOD MEN - I know, I know, corny as hell but nevertheless, highly addictive. 

7) MISERY - speaking of Rob Reiner, this one, wicked. Kathy Bates winning the Academy Award. 

8) JFK - a remarkable achievement in film making by Oliver Stone. 

9) TOMBSTONE - best western ever !!! sorry Duke fans. Val Kilmer as Doc Holiday outthefuckingpark !! 

10) PULP FICTION - if you don't like this movie, there is something wrong with you !! 

11) LA CONFIDENTIAL - this is why we go to the movies !!

12) SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION - Tim Robbins @ Morgan Freeman in Stephen King's classic novella. 

13) THE TEMPTATIONS - the music, the story, unforgettable !! 

14) BACKBEAT - killer music ! Riveting story of the early Beatles.

15) THE FUGITIVE - the one armed man, the Windy City, @ Tommy Lee Jones, are you fucking kidding me ? 

16) SOMETHING ABOUT MARY - pee your pants funny !!!

17) SILENCE OF THE LAMBS - this one, HOLY SHITBALLS ! Anthony Perkins + Hannibal Lector = Academy Award !

18) T2 - phenomenal action @ a sweaty Linda Hamilton @ Guns-n-Roses-all in baby !!! 

19) GRUMPIER OLD MEN - Matthau, Lemmon, Ann Margret, @ Sophia Loren(who steals the show, HOT HOT HOT !!!)

20) ACE VENTURA - hilarious ! Jim Carrey is a cartoon. Sean Young @ the Crying Game, stop ! you're killin' me ! 

21) APOLLO 13 -  Ron Howard(always dopey Opie in my book) makes one great movie after the next. A classic.

        THE 90's - GREATEST DECADE IN ROCK-n-ROLL HISTORY !!!

Always thought the 60's were it. What with the British Invasion, MoTown, @ the birth of hard rock. 

Or the 70's, with BLACK SABBATH, GRAND FUNK RAILROAD, AC/DC, UFO, RUSH, VAN HALEN. The 2nd British Invasion(Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Yes, Jethro Tull, THE WHO(circa 1970), THE STONES(Mick Taylor years). Foreigner, Styx, Boston, Journey were huge (and generic). And then Punk Rock what with THE RAMONES, PATTI SMITH, THE CLASH. These last 3, my all-time personal favorites. 

Or the 50's what with BUDDY HOLLY, JERRY LEE LEWIS, LITTLE RICHARD, @ THE KING ! 

 We can launch the 80's into the scrap heap until GUNZ exploded. The new millennium doesn't count.

  BUT THE 90's - The decade that produced rock-n-roll at it's finest ever ever ever !!! It was never better. The Seattle Sound, Alternative Rock, call it what you will. A sound came that was new. The earth shifted on it's axis. Time stood still. And nothing was ever the same. Everything changed. And to this very second, it was and is glorious !!! THEY FUCKING KILLED IT !!! A music straight to my heart @ into my soul. I LISTEN TO THIS MUSIC AND I KNOW THERE IS A GOD. 

PEARL JAM - the release of 10, in 1991, nothing was ever the same.

NIRVANA - at their best, as good or better than everything. TEEN SPIRIT, the greatest rock song ever !  

ALICE IN CHAINS - honestly, for a couple of years, they were The Beatles of the 90's. 

THE SMASHING PUMPKINS - stop while I shed a tear. Windy City heroes. Mid-90's, the best band in the world. 

THE OFFSPRING - the LP's SMASH @ IXNAY ON THE HOMBRE, to this day, as fresh as brand new. WICKEDLY GOOD ! 

The decade continued . . . the music endlessly good . . 

BUSH - the LP 16 Stone, released in 1994, awesome, majestic, fuckin' killer !!

THE CRANBERRIES - Dolores O'Riordan kicks ass, great voice, @ sexy as hell !

STABBING WESTWARD - the most underrated band of the decade. extremely talented. 

CANDLEBOX - just about my personal favorite to this very day. I WEEP !

7 MARY 3 - the LP American Standard, one of the best of the decade. AWESOME!

The 90's finishing with a flurry . . . relentless

ALANIS MORISSETTE - Jagged Little Pill, a masterpiece !

TOOL - the LP Aenema, probably the best of the decade !

THIRD EYE BLIND - i absolutely love love love this band !

THE GOO GOO DOLLS - may very well be my favorite of all-time. I listen to this band more than any other.

 Stick a fork in it. Case closed. Rock was never better. I did not even mention Green Day, Soundgarden, Local H, @ Hole. Many others slipped thru my fingers, I could not keep up. I AM FOREVER STUCK IN THE 90's ! IT NEVER GETS OLD ! STILL FRESH, STILL BRAND NEW !

And on that note, can we finally commence with this goddam chapter ?

                ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

1997 @ MARCH '97-

The year of all years. The year with the greatest impact of my life. And the month of all months, March 1997. March Madness, no not the NCAA tournament. The alpha-the omega. The good @ bad. The beautiful, the ugly. The great, the best, the worst, the evil, the love all entwined. All colliding in one moment of time. The Big Bang of my existence that I live to this very day. 

  Can it really be 20 years, already? At the same time, it feels like centuries. Time flies whether we are having fun or not. MY DAYS ARE FOREVER, YET THE YEARS FLY BY. 2016 was a blink. This tells me what? The time is now. There is no tomorrow. Only now. Believe in the power of the moment. Believe in the GOD OF NOW. Right now! There is no time to waste, no time to lose. Try to live each day to it's fullest. 

  I need to humbly, gratefully acknowledge the gifts of this beautiful planet, this life, @ the people in it. Knowing GOD exists, that He loves me, @ is with me all the time. God is love thru His beloved son, Jesus Christ, my Lord @ savior, who is my hope, my love, my courage, my sanity, my sobriety. 

                  FOR WITHOUT, ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE !

 Today, @ for 20 years now, this is my life. I do not have one without God's grace @ love. 

1997 - 

Bill Clinton begins his 2nd term. A whole mess of problems on the horizon. The Chicago Bulls were kings of the NBA, rockstars. The NY Yankees were on the verge of another dynasty. The GB Packers were super bowl champions. The Red Wings, the Avs, @ the Devils ruled hockey.

  To steal from Dickens, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times". All at the same time, the same moment. Focused at a single point, me @ my life. There is a lesson in there, somewhere.

                     AND I WAS DRINKING MYSELF TO DEATH. 

                                                          FW ROMAN

CHAPTER THEME SONG -  "Machinehead"  by  BUSH

Released in 1994 from the LP "Sixteen Stone". this song captures what rock music became in the 1990's. HARD FAST RELENTLESS Mesmerizing. An avalanche with no stopping it. And the world could, nor would, ever be the same. The axis of the earth shifted in music. Time stopped. Everything was different @ altered forever. Epitomizing my life to a T !