I continue to watch World Cup 2014 more than is advisable. With my friend J.H., I watched a 1 AM to 3 AM game in which the Netherlands defeated Mexico in dramatic fashion. Mexico is out. I feel a special attachment to the World Cup, as I started explaining in post 215 ("World Cup USA 1994"). I have told people that two events of mid-1994 constitute my first strong "socially/culturally/politically relevant memories"**. These are: (1) World Cup USA '94, and (2) The O.J. Simpson trial. I remember being in California for a period in June 1994, to see my brother graduate from high school. I remember the TVs being dominated by two things: The O.J. Simpson murder and the World Cup (then ongoing in the USA). I went to Disneyland on this trip, and my mom broke her leg about this time. ** -- (This is not exactly true, because I also remember the Clinton election of Fall '92, in which the now-totally-forgotten Ross Perot got an astounding 20% of the national vote. I have no memory of the California Race Riots of April '92, nor of the the First Iraq War of early '91 [it only lasted 72 hours anyway], nor of the Berlin Wall in November '89 or anything else, really, about the Collapse of Communism.) |
So much for "politically relevant" memories. How about earliest memories of any kind? One stands out. It goes something like this: |