Coda

A little early, and I never got around to scanning in all the pages from the Senior class section of the yearbook, but...

Hail to The Nation!

My favorite alternative team to the Dodgers since 1986.

Senior Class of 1987 (Part XI)

I spy at least two people who have MySpace pages.

Flashback: October 1987

After a few weeks off, I'm back in the saddle for the final 3 months of this here blog. So without further ado, here's a few historical events that occurred in our world 20 years ago this month.

• An earthquake with a magnitude of about 5.9 hits Los Angeles.
• 1 year old Jessica McClure falls and gets trapped in a well at her aunt's house in Midland, Texas.
• "Black Monday"
• South Korean voters approve a new constitution.
• The first indoor World Series game is played, and the Minnesota Twins win their first championship.
• A Japanese bank pays a record $1.1 million for a rare U.S. postal stamp, called the "Lady McGill", that originally sold for 2 cents in 1852.
  
• The nomination of Robert Bork to the U.S. Supreme Court is rejected by the Senate.
  

Flashback: September 1987

Is summer over already?!

• Celebrations marking the 200th anniversary of the Constitution are held in Philadelphia
• The T.V. drama "thirtysomething" debuts on the ABC network
• Players in the NFL go on strike and teams decide to use "replacement players" rather than cancel games
  
• The Dow Jones index rises a record 75.23 points
• German Mathias Rust is criminally tried in Moscow for landing his plane near Red Square back in May.

KNHS circa 1982

It hasn't been around for a pretty long time now, but it was kind of cool to have the distinction of being one of only a few high schools in the country to have an operating radio station.

Senior Class of 1987 - 10 Years Prior

A small portion thereof. (Click image for larger view)



Ah, to be 7 years old in the mid to late '70s, living in north Torrance, and looking forward to watching this on one of the UHF TV channels. Good times.

Maybe the Food was Making Students Fat

You'll notice in the background of the bottom picture here from the 1987 yearbook some food and drink vending machines. Those machines used to be in front of the wall in this picture, which was recently taken:



I'm assuming the machines were taken away for good and not just moved someplace else on campus (like the teachers' lounge). Also, there wasn't any grass in front of the pictured building back in 1987. It all just seems so odd.

Looks Like a Colorful Manhole Cover

I don't know what the object below is actually called (click photo to see larger view) but it's right now on the ground directly in front of the North High Gymnasium.

Don't recall ever seeing it when we were students, so I'm fairly certain it was put there after 1987. Any thoughts?

Comments? Suggestions? Bleg

Alright, I know I don't update this blog on a daily basis (I can only think of so many 1987 related topics) but I also know there are a few folks who hit the site. So how about throwing a dog a bone and leaving a comment in the com-boxes, or even making a posting suggestion? Pleeeeease.

Found What You're Looking For Yet After 20 Years?

From The Joshua Tree , which seems to be the only album from 1987 that is among the top 30 of the greatest albums of all time (according to Rolling Stone Magazine).

Senior Class of 1987 (Part X)

The text box on the right are some predictions from various members of our class on what we thought we would be doing 10 years...ago! Here's a few choice selections:

Ron Williams: "I will be a dictator of a small South American country."

James Zee: "Be a principal at North!"

Ramon Lopez: "Watching 'Rocky 15' on my own VCR drinking a Pepsi."

Brad Mack: "Training for the 1996 Olympics."

Reunion Pics?

If anyone's got any, feel free to forward a few for this here blog at the e-mail address in the right hand panel. I work, but do not live, deep in the Inland Empire, and therefore couldn't really make the reunion to take any of my own pics.

Flashback: August 1987

The Dog Days of Summer of our immediate post-high school lives were about to come to a close, and while many of us were starting to not think about much more than what was waiting for us in college, here are some of the things that went on in the world around us 20 years ago this month:

• Lynne Cox, an American distance swimmer, endures near freezing waters and swims the Bering Strait between the U.S. (Alaska) and the Soviet Union.
  
• Clayton Lonetree, the first United States Marine ever court-martialed for spying, is convicted.
• Ben Johnson of Canada sets a new world record in the 100 meter sprint.
  
• The Federal Communications Commission abolishes the "Fairness Doctrine" which legally required broadcasters to give equal time to differing viewpoints on controversial issues.

It's the Big Day Tomorrow

Hope everyone who goes to the (gasp!) 20 year reunion tomorrow has a good time. I imagine the question in this classic rock song, which has since become the theme song to this already classic TV show, might be asked a few times. But not too much.

News References to Two Class of '87ers

It happened a few years ago and apart, as well as in a publication that is not widely read. In fact, I think hard copies are given away for free on the street. In any event, see here and here on the somewhat recent happenings of two lovely lady Saxons who, if I'm not mistaken, were members of the Student Council in high school.

Star Studded Reviews

So I'm doing a Google search for "North Torrance High School" and I run across a couple of websites where some people have written reviews of the school. Here's the first one on a site called Yelp, and here's the second one on InsiderPages.

All in all, the reviews are positive, though few.

Senior Class of 1987 (Part IX)

Pink and white ties. Pink and white coats. No doubt it was the 1980's. Or Miami. Or Miami and the 1980's.

4 to 1 odds that Peter Grogan (the guy in the pink coat/sweater) wasn't wearing socks when he took his picture.

Miss America and Miss USA 1987

Miss America was Kellye Cash from Tennessee, who has since "cashed" her title into a singing career.

Miss USA was Michelle Royer from Texas, who was the third of five consecutive Miss USA winners from that State.

I wonder if any ladies from the Class of '87 ever competed in a beauty pageant?

OK, Future Community Leaders: 1,2,3...Blink!

This is a yearbook photo of the North High School Associated Student Body Council™ for 1987. (Not everybody in here was a Senior).



See the first gal on the left in the bottom row (with her eyes closed)? She was one of the two chief editors of the yearbook. Maybe only one picture was taken or something...

Getting Close

Just a little more than 2 weeks away from the official 20 year reunion for the Class of '87. Excited? Going? Bueller?

Senior Class of 1987 (Part VIII)

Oh, no. P*rn mustaches AND mullets. Wrong. Just wrong.

North High Rocks and Torrance High Sux!

Our most famous alumnus, of course, is the near all powerful and subject of some of the funniest jokes you'll ever read or hear, Carlos ("Chuck") Norris.

Torrance High, on the other hand, was the fake West Beverly Hills High School in the prime time teen soap opera, Beverly Hills 90210. One of the main cast members on that show was Tori Spelling. Tori Spelling is a real life parody of Hollywood celebrities.

Googling Yourself

Come on, you know you do it. Nothing wrong with it, mind you, and not to say it happened here (feel free to say "hi" if it's you, though), but for the sake of full disclosure, this blog has a Site Meter account, and I like to check it every so often.

Senior Class of 1987 (Part VIII)

By now you should probably be able to sense that p*rn mustaches were quite popular with the guys. And did Ray intend to look like the Joker in a deck of cards?

Flashback: July 1987

Summer is in full swing, and a lot of us are kind of just hanging out with one another waiting for the next stage of our lives to start in the Fall. Meanwhile, here's a few significant things that happened in the world this month 20 years ago:

• President Ronald Reagan nominates Robert Bork, a Judge on the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, to the United States Supreme Court
• The first transatlantic hot-air balloon flight is successfully made
• After living under it for close to 40 years, Taiwan ends its rule of martial law.
• Appetite for Destruction, the breakthrough album for Los Angeles-based rock band Guns N' Roses, is released
• Lt. Col. Oliver North of the United States Marines Corp., and staff member of the National Security Council, provides testimony to Congress of his central role in the Iran-Contra Affair.

Senior Class of 1987 (Part VI)

Guess there must have been some sort of 1950's theme day going on when the big picture in the middle was taken. What are the odds that whoever thought of this idea is now an office or HR manager?

Also, p*rn mustache o-rama alert!



Correction: The big picture in the middle was taken on a Halloween.

The Must See TV Era

It's pretty much of a given that in the mid to late 1980's, NBC dominated the prime time television schedule with classic ground breaking shows like The Cosby Show, Family Ties, Cheers, Highway to Heaven, Night Court, L.A. Law and Miami Vice. Indeed, such dominance by one network was not only unprecedented, it's probably something that will never be seen again, what with the subsequent expansion over the years of cable and satellite television, as well as the internet. To this extent, the mid to late 1980's can rightly be regarded as a golden age for network television, with NBC at the head of the pack.

Like the Watercolors of My Mind

This is the Ambassador Hotel just two years before it closed to the public in 1989.



As of January 2006, this is the site where the Ambassador Hotel used to stand.



Sigh.

Freeze This Moment A Little Bit Longer

Check out the soundtrack for '87 at this blog's MySpace page!

Senior Class of 1987 (Part V)

This is the Cool page. Get it? And, double whammy-Cousin It-p*rn mustache alert! (see bottom row)

Peaked in 1987

Well, yes, some of us might have in an Al Bundy sort of way, but this is a reference to a fairly recent article about gas mileage for cars. An excerpt:

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the average gas mileage for cars sold in the United States during 1980 was 23.1 mpg, while the average gas mileage for cars sold in the U.S. during 2004 was 24.7 mph - a whopping increase of less than 7%.

In the NHTSA’s Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) report, it states that the peak gas mileage for cars sold in America was 26.2 mph and was achieved in 1987. After peaking during the end of the Ronald Reagan administration, the average gas mileage fluctuated between 24.5 and 25.6 mpg. Not exactly advancing with technology.

Higher Education Circa 1987

Most of us who had graduated and were heading off to college in 1987 probably didn't know it at the time, but we were about to enter into an educational environment that was less about classical liberal education and more about liberal ideological indoctrination. Such was disclosed in the best selling book, The Closing of the American Mind, which was first published in 1987. The book was, and continues to be, the most significant indictment on so-called higher education in America, and the moral relativist culture which permeates it.

Here's a link to a review of the book by public policy and social commentator Roger Kimball that appeared in the New York Times in April 1987. It's a nice little introduction to the late Allan Bloom's work, which even today, is very much worth reading, if you already haven't done so.

Update: In case you aren't registered with the NY Times, here's a link to the cached version of the Kimball review.

The Lookers

Davina Kent and Marc Alvillar were voted the "Best Looking" students of the Class of '87. So, where are they now? Thanks to a little "googling", we can see that Davina is an exec for TiVo, while Marc is the head baseball coach at L.A. Harbor College.

Senior Class of 1987 (Part IV)

P*rn mustache alert! It shouldn't be hard to see who's got it.

Top Grossing Movies of 1987

According to the Internet Movie Data Base, the top 3 money making movies in 1987 were:

1). 3 Men and a Baby (Steve Guttenberg has rarely been heard from since.)

2). Fatal Attraction (No, no, no. You look at a naked Glenn Close in order to get turned off from sex. )

3). Beverly Hills Cop II (When a guy with a CPA name hit the top of the music world with a catchy theme song.)

Senior Class of 1987 (Part III)

Page tres of the Senior Class section of the yearbook. What evil thoughts were going through the mind of John Bruner? And is this the same dude that is two spaces to the right of John? (Update: P*rn mustache alert!)

Senior Class of 1987 (cont.)

Page deux of the Senior section of the '87 yearbook. Shake it!

Flashback: June 1987

High school is ovah for us! Outside of all our glee, and maybe some sorrow, the following events occurred in the world this month:

• President Ronald Reagan famously demands Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall.
• With the first pick in the Major League Baseball amateur draft, the Seattle Mariners select high school standout Ken Griffey, Jr.
• Danny Harris beats Edwin Moses and ends Moses' nine year streak of 122 consecutive high hurdle race wins.
  
• The Lakers beat the Celtics in the NBA Finals to win their fourth championship of the 1980's.
  
• Margaret Thatcher wins a third consecutive term as Britain's Prime Minister.
  
• The media dubbed "Subway Vigilante", Bernhard Goetz, is acquitted for the shooting of four young black men who had tried to rob him.

No.1 Pop Songs for June 1987

According to Billboard™, they were "You Keep Me Hangin' On" by Kim Wilde, "Always" by Atlantic Starr, "Head to Toe" by Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam and "I Wanna Dance with Somebody" by Whitney Houston.

All in all, a pretty crappy month in Top 40 pop music.

Senior Class of 1987

First page of the Senior Class section from the yearbook that year. I actually remember eleven of these people, including Jared Klumker and Tina Okawa (in the big non-portrait picture down in the corner).



Update: The guy in the middle in the first row of pics.

Flashback: May 1987

The feeling of anticipation is in the air as graduation is fast approaching. Meanwhile, here's some stuff that happened while we were all making plans to party like it was...uh...8 years ago.

• U.S. Senator Gary Hart withdraws from the Democrat Party presidential primary amidst reports that he had an extra-marital affair with a 29 year old model named Donna Rice.
• Film director John Landis is acquitted of all criminal charges for the deaths of actor Vic Morrow and two children during the filming of "The Twilight Zone" movie.
• Tom Cruise, age 24, marries Mimi Rogers, age 31.
  
• Edith Stein aka Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, a Jewish born Catholic nun who died in the Nazi gas chambers at Auschwitz, is beatified by Pope John Paul II.

WTF?!

I wonder if 1987 was the first time SI ever chose a Sportsman of the Year for non-sports related achievements. I'd also be curious to know if '87 was the first time SI ever used a name other than "Sportsman of the Year" for its award. Inquiring minds want to know!

Flashback: April 1987

Ah, yes, spring was in the air, and we were in the home stretch toward the prom and graduation.

Outside in the real world 20 years ago, the following significant things occurred this month:

• China and Portugal signed an agreement in which political control of Macao would be handed back to China in 1999.
• The last wild condor is captured on a California wildlife reserve.
• Legendary jazz drummer Buddy Rich dies.
• April 15, 1987 marked the 40th anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier in Major League Baseball.
• Al Campanis resigns as L.A. Dodgers general manager after making controversial statements in a nationally televised interview about how blacks may not be equipped to be in baseball management.

A Tree Falling in a Forest with Nobody Around

Lots of demand for the Class of '87 yearbook. (Not)

Flashback: March 1987

This month 20 years ago, the late President Ronald Reagan addressed the American people on the Iran-Contra Affair and conceded that the matter had devolved into a situation where arms were traded for hostages.

Also in this month, Wrestlemania III was held at the Pontiac Silverdome in Detroit, MI. At the time, this event set an attendance record for indoor sporting events. As you can probably imagine, though, this record has been disputed given the uncertainty as to whether professional wrestling can be rightly regarded as a sport.

Wife of a Cobra Kai Member

That would be Class of '87 alum Shari Tomei whose husband, Christopher Paul Ford, was in the movie The Karate Kid Part III. Ford played one of the members of the eeevil Cobra Kai group who wanted to beat the snot out of the main character played by Ralph Macchio. The movie sucked, but hey...

According to an entry on the North High School Alumni forum, Shari is a part owner of a Hawaiian food restaurant (more like a food court stand) in Gardena, CA called Back Home, Jr.

Sorry for the Infrequent Posting

Not that I'm sure there's a lot of people hitting this site, but nevertheless, I just haven't been much motivated lately to blog. I'll hopefully get motivated soon, but in the meantime, if there's anything you'd like to contribute, feel free to leave a comment.

Flashback: February 1987

During this month 20 years ago, events in the Iran-Contra affair started picking up steam in terms of public exposure as the Tower Commission released its investigative report.

Other notable historical events which occurred in February 2007 include:

• British Airways becoming privatized and listed on the London Stock Exchange
• The first supernova observable by the human naked eye since 1604 appeared
• Two Unabomber bombs explode in Salt Lake City, Utah within days of each other
• The new constitution of the Philippines goes into effect
  

Mulletmania circa 1987

Yup, the mullet was certainly very popular in the 1980's, and there was no shortage of such haircuts among the guys in North High's Class of '87.

Here's a short list of fellas who sported the "business up front, party in the back" coif for their senior yearbook pictures:

James Gideon
Yuchiro Mimura
Ted Okuno
Anthony Perez
David Perez
Ambrose Quintanilla
Reinier Ryke
Michael Scott
Neil Wada

你好!

Whether or not it was by accident, "hello" to the person in Beijing, China who stopped by for a glance at the blog.

Lawyer Up

Not real sure if this is the same Ty Kehoe from North's Class of '87, but it looks like it might be, especially since he notes that he was born in 1969 (the year that almost all of the Class of '87 was born).

In Case of Emergency

A new ABC sitcom about some 1987 high school graduates 20 years later. The only problem with the show is that the fake high school most of these characters graduated from has the words "west" and "south" in its' name. Ah, well.

There Were More Watts in a Lightbulb

If memory serves me, North's radio station, KNHS, had only 10 watts of broadcasting power. So basically, there was no way to pick it up on the radio unless you were standing with a handheld right outside of the studio.

Although this entry in Wikipedia notes that KNHS went defunct in 1991, regular broadcasts had pretty much stopped well before then.

Top 10 Fave Female Vocalist

Like the favorite male singers list posted earlier, some of the female singers listed here are real head scratchers. Stacy Q. and Samantha Fox had, what, one hit song each?

10. Anita Baker
9. Cyndi Lauper
8. Lita Ford
7. Belinda Carlisle
6. Samantha Fox
5. Amy Grant
4. Stacy Q.
3. Madonna, errr, Esther, errr, Madonna (I ♥ Kabbalah!)
2. Whitney "Hell to the no!" Houston
1. Janet "Wardrobe Malfunction" Jackson

B and G

This photo appears to be from around 2002. On the left is Gene Tomatani and on the right is Brandon Tsukamoto, who incidentally has had that porn mustache since high school. Glad to see some things haven't changed. The guy in the middle, whose website I got this photo from, is apparently an old college roommate.

Don't know what Gene and Brandon are doing these days or where they are, but it looks like Brandon is wearing a ring, indicating that he is married. Unless, of course, I'm seeing things, which is entirely possible.

Flashback: January 1987

Twenty years ago this month, the widely recognized first lady of soul, Aretha Franklin, became the first woman ever to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Who would have guessed that the hit single she had that year with George Michael, "I Knew You Were Waiting for Me," was a line 'ol George uttered during his anonymous buggery forays in public restrooms?

Among other things that happened in the world this month 20 years ago:

• President Ronald Reagan undergoes prostate surgery, and the main stream media is all over it.
• Budd Dwyer, Treasurer for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, publicly commits suicide at a press conference after being found guilty for various criminal acts.
• The president of Ecuador, Leon Cordero, is kidnapped.
  
• Ohrbach's department store closes in New York City after 64 years of operation (the Ohrbach's in Del Amo Fashion Mall also closed in '87).
• The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above 2,000 for the first time ever.
• The New York Giants beat the Denver Broncos in the Super Bowl, which was played in Pasadena.
  

Meet the Game Lord™

That would be Chad Okada who, according to this 2004 interview, has been quite the established figure in the video gaming world.

Interestingly enough, Chad got his big break in video gaming when he was "discovered" in a Torrance video arcade. Talk about your post-modern Hollywood stories.

In Case You're Wondering

All of my research as to the present whereabouts of people from the class of '87 is pretty much limited to "Googling".

Hey, what do you want? I'm a fictional mascot with no income!

Happy '07!

I'll be taking and giving predictions on the percentage of people who will show up to the 20 year reunion in August. At this point, my guess is 10%, or roughly 50 people (not including spouses or significant others).