Saturday, May 01, 2010

1987 for Entertainment

The year started with Europe’s “The final Countdown” on the first place in European number-one hits, followed by “I knew you were waiting (for me)”-George Michael & Aretha Franklin, “I wanna dance with somebody (who loves me)”-Whitney Houston and “I just can’t stop loving you” and “Bad” by Michael Jackson. “Livin’ on a prayer” by Bon Jovi was number one for 4 weeks in Billboard Hot 100 as it would be 1987’s biggest hit song.

On January 3, Aretha Franklin becomes the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Green Day and Curt Cobain’s Nirvana were formed in 1987 as Ace of Base too.

Eurovision Song Contest 1987 (32nd) was held in Brussels on May 9, after Sandra Kim had won the previous year. The winner? Johnny Logan and “Hold me now” – 172 points.

In March, U2 released “The Joshua Tree” – their 5th album and on 21 July, Guns N’ Roses released “Appetite For Destruction”, their debut album. Also, Aerosmith released their comeback album “Permanent Vacation”. Paul Simon received the Grammy Award for “album of the year” – “Graceland”.

Brendon Urie, the vocalist and guitarist from Panic! at the Disco was born on April 12, 1987.

Dalida, the Italian Egyptian actress and singer died on May 3 of an overdose of barbiturates. She was the first singer to receive a diamond disc.

The year started with “The cure for Insomnia”, directed by John Henry Timmis IV as it was the world’s longest movie – 5.220 minutes (87 hours). L D. Groban is reading his 4.080 pages poem in 3 days and 15 hours. And… film debuts… Patricia Clarkson, Uma Thurman and Bruce Willis…

In May, Tom Cruise married Mimi Rogers and in November Demi Moore said “Yes” to Bruce Willis. Best 1987 Box Office Movies: “Three men and a baby” (almost $168 million), “Fatal attraction” with Michael Douglas and Glenn Close and “Beverly Hills Cop II” starring Eddie Murphy.

Bernardo Bertolucci and his “The last Emperor” took both Academy Awards and Golden Globe Awards for “Best picture” and “Best Director”. Michael Douglas and Cher became “Best actor and actress” with “Wal Street” and “Moonstruck”.

The Palme d’Or – Cannes Film Festival – was awarded to Maurice Pilat’s “Sous le soleil de Satan”, staring Gérard Depardieu. “Au revoir, les enfants” by Louis Malle was another French movie with 100% positive ratings and “extremely well-received” – screenplay published by Gallimard.

Of course, there were a lot of other films released from Hollywood in 1987, but only some of them were truly gorgeous… “Dirty Dancing”, “Empire of the Sun”, “Good Morning, Vietnam”, “Less than Zero”, “No Man’s Land”, “Predator”, “Robocop”, “Throw Momma from the train” and “The Witches of Eastwick”.

Romanian movies “Morometii” (Marin Preda’s book) and “Extemporal la dirigentie” – the third from “Liceeni”(“Teenagers”) serial were released in 1987.

Also, Jesse McCartney, Hilary Duff and Zac Efron were born in 1987 – sorry, but never heard.

Unfortunately, Fred Astaire died from pneumonia in Los Angeles on June 22, at the age of 88. Rita Hayworth also died in New York City on May 14 of Alzheimer's disease. She was 68. On March 28, Baroness Maria Augusta von Trapp dies from heart failure in Vermont, USA. She was the matriarch of the Trapp Family Singers as their story served as inspiration for the musical “The sound of music”.

FOX Broadcasting Company debuted in prime time on April 5, 1987, with the series “Married… with Children” and “The Tracey Ullman Show”. About the first one… I started to see it around 1995-1997 when it was broadcasted in Romania. FOX was launched in October 1986 but it became the highest-rated broadcast network just from 2004 to 2009.

First number of “Superman vol. 2” comic book by DC Comics was published in January 1987 and “Suicide Squad” in May. Marvel started to produce “The transformers: Headmasters”.

On 19th “The Simpsons” cartoon first appears on FOX.

Kenzo Tange was awarded with Pritzker Prize (Architecture) in 1987, his famous works being St. Mary's Cathedral, Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, Yoyogi National Gymnasium, Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museu. Jean Nouvel got Aga Khan Award in 1987, and 21 years later, the Pritzker Prize for Agbar Tower, Barcelona, Cologne Tower, Dentsu Headquarters Building, Tokio and many others.

On May 28, Andrew Wyeth has a one-man show of his “Helga Pictures” in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC and on 28th, Mathias Rust (19) evades Soviet air defences and lands a Reims Cessna F172P D-ECJB on Red Square in Moscow. He was detained, but released on August 3, 1988.

1987, 24th World Artistic Gymnastics Championships were held in Rotterdam, Netherlands. USSR came first in medal ranks, followed by Romania with 5 Gold, 1 Silver and and 4 Bronze. The third place was occupied by China. Aurelia Dobre (ROU) received the Golden Medal for All-around, Balance beam and Team final, classifying Romania on the first place for Team contest.

Carlton Football Club – the Blues – won the 91st VFL Premiership (Victorian Football League) – Australian rules football.

Between August 28 and September 6 were held the 2nd world Championships in Athletics in the Olympic Stadium in Rome, Italy. The German Democratic Republic classified first with 31 won medals. Carl Lewis (USA) won the Golden Medal for 100m, 4x100m relay and Long jump (8.67m).
Thomas Schönlebe (GDR) won the Golden Medal for 400m, setting a new European record of 44.33s that still stands…
Jürgen Schult (GDR) won the Golden Medal for discus throw. He is the current world record holder since 1986 (74.08m). Maricica Puica (ROU) won the Silver Medal for 3000m.

Stephen Roche (Ireland) won in 1987 Giro d’Italia, Tour de France and World Cycling Championships, becoming the second cyclist achieving The Triple Crown (this is not an official title and there is no physical award given).

On November 1st, Nelson Piquet wins for the third time Formula One World Championship.

Martina Navratilova (Czech American tennis player) won the Wimbledon Championships and the US Open in 1987. She defected from the Eastern Bloc at the 1975 US Open in the United States. She won 9 Wimbledon championships, 3 Australian Open, 2 French Open and 4 US Open. She won 359 finals in her entirely career. The Tennis historian and journalist, Bud Collins has called Navratilova “arguably, the greatest player of all time”.
Steffi Graf (Germany) wan the French Open in 1987. She won 22 Grand Slam singles titles and the Golden Medal at Seoul Summer Olympics in 1988, the best female tennis player ever.

On June 17th the last individual of Ammodramus maritimus nigrescens – Dusky Seaside Sparrow – dies and the species become extinct.

Friday, April 09, 2010

1987 for international relations

In the rest of the world, the Cold War started to end.

Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev was at Kremlin and Ronald Reagan at the White House. Margaret Thatcher was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Pope John Paul II was Supreme Pontiff of the Catholic Church.

In 1984, François Mitterrand and Helmut Kohl had already commemorated the deaths of both World Wars in what it was the “French-German reconciliation”.


In 1987, Gorbachev introduced the policy of “democratisation - demokratizatsiya” in the Soviet Union and “Perestroika” – the Russian term for political and economic reforms. About this deals and that of ending the Cold War, Ronald Reagan made his speech in Berlin, on June 12, 1987: “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”

In Asia, Hirohito (Shōwa) was still the Emperor of Japan (since December 25, 1926) and Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the President of Iraq. His friend, Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz was the President of Cuba. Augusto Pinochet was in Chile, and Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was elected on October 2 as the President of Tunis (still in function).

1987 was in the middle of the Lebanese Civil War, Afghan Civil War, Iran-Iraq war, Western Sahara War, Chadian-Libyan conflict, South African Border War, the Angolan Civil War and the Internal conflict in Peru.

The Arab-Israeli conflict and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict had been already begun since 1948 but 1987 started with the First Intifada (Arabic word for “shaking off”) and the creation of Hamas.

In January 1987, Joseph Kony made his first appearance as a spirit medium and then he became the commander of LRA, Lord’s Resistance Army, a guerrilla campaign-rebel group still operating mainly in northern Uganda, South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo and Central African Republic.

In February the new Constitution of Philippines (drafted by Cecilia Muñoz-Palma and the 1986 Constitutional Commission) went into effect. At that time Maria Corazon Aquino was the president of Philippines, the first popularly and democratically-elected female president and head of state in Asia. The Constitution established the Philippines as a “democratic and republican State”, Filipino as “the national language of the Philippines” and that “all educational institutions shall undertake regular sports activities throughout the country in cooperation with athletic clubs and other sectors”.

On April 13, the Prime Ministers of the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of Portugal formally signed the Declaration on the Question of Macao – the agreement in which Macau will be return to China in 1999.

1987 Fijian coups d'état resulted in the deposition of Elizabeth II as Queen of Fiji and in the declaration of a republic on October 7. Fiji was expelled from the Commonwealth of Nations.

On June 8, The New Zealand Nuclear Free Zone, Disarmament and Arms Control Act was passed, the first of its kind in the world.

United Nations Convention Against Torture came into effect on June 26, 1987, as this day became the International Day in Support of Torture Victims.

On June 29, South Korean president Roh Tae-Woo promised a large program of nation’s reforms – the June Democracy Movement.

July 1: the Single European Act was passed by the European Community. It set an objective of establishing a “Common Market” by 31 December 1992.

On July 31, 400 Iranian pilgrims were killed in clashes with Saudi Arabian security forces in Mecca – 1987 Mecca Massacre – and on September 27, started the 1987-1993 Tibetan unrest.

A few states established in 1987: Aerican Empire and the People’s Democratic Republic of Ethiopia are the most important of them.


Thursday, April 08, 2010

1987...

I was born at 10:20 a.m. – as my mother told me so… in Constanta, the Socialist Republic of Romania, today – Romania.

Of course, I don’t have many memories about that period, but I’ve been doing some research and I found out a few things…

So, Romania was at the end of its communist era; Nicolae Ceauşescu, the president of the Socialist Republic of Romania became obsessed in the early 1980s with repaying foreign debs (more than $13 billion)… In 1984 food rationing was introduced, than gas and electricity rationing. Romanian people – as some say today – had money, but they could not spend them on anything as the stores were full with export rejects, moldy chocolate “made in China”, gum toys - and of course I’m exaggerating – and they could not benefit of any hard currency or many western products (*it was illegal and punished with up to ten years imprisonment to own or trade any foreign currency).

The quality of health care and educational systems dropped substantially, as drugs and medical equipment were no longer imported.

And the Securitate (“Security”) increased its control stronger and stronger over the society...
In this climate of economic depression, on November 15, 1987, a local elections day in Braşov, Romania, 20.000 workers from “Steagul Roşu” plant (truck manufacturer) walked off the job and marched at the city center. They started to shout slogans like “Down with Ceauşescu” and “Down with Communism”. Other 20.000 workers from “Tractor” plant, “Hidromecanica” factory and townspeople joined the march. A massive bonfire of party records and propaganda burned for hours in the city square.
The Braşov Rebellion was disbanded by force by military and “Securitate” forces. Although nobody was killed, more then 300 protesters were arrested for hooliganism.

...

And around this time I was almost two weeks late for meeting the world...