Observations — 1989, Funny, Mindless Movies, Serious Literary Criticism, Major Horror in China

Harsh criticism; Thousands of Chinese were killed in a student protest in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square. Deng Xiaoping resigned. George Bush, the Elder, took office. U.S. invaded Panama. Manuel Noriega was arrested. Oliver North was convicted.  San Francisco suffered earthquake, 67 died. Berlin Wall came down.   Czechs and Romanians cut communist ties. Voyager 2 took a trip by Neptune. An Iranian leader put a “hit” on Salman Rushdie for the author’s critically acclaimed, but apparently blasphemous  book, Satanic Verses.  Photographer Robert Mapplethorpe’s controversial Smithsonian exhibition was cancelled. Idi Amin was expelled from Zaire.  Zsa Zsa Gabor slapped a police officer.  First web server and browser were developed and indexed. Ground was broken near Minneapolis for The Mall of America, the country’s largest indoor mall.  Michael Chang won the French Open. Emerson Fittipaldi won the Indianapolis 500. Pete Rose was caught gambling, suspended from baseball for life. The Pulitzer Prize For Literature went to Anne Tyler for Breathing Lessons.  The Mystery Writers of America awarded its “Edgar” to Stuart M. Kaminsky for A Cold Red Sunrise, and The Private Eye Writers of America gave its Shamus Award to John Lutz for Kiss. We also read Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan, While My Pretty One Sleeps by Mary Higgins Clark,  Star by Danielle Steel, The Russia House by John le Carré, Clear and Present Danger by Tom Clancy, California Gold by John Jakes, and Caribbean by James Michener.  We watched Field of Dreams, Batman, Uncle Buck, Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, The Little Mermaid, Major league, Ghostbusters II, Honey, I shrunk The Kids, Indiana Jones and The last Crusade, When Harry met Sally, and Dead Poet’s Society.  We listened to “Look Away” by Chicago, “My Prerogative” by Bobby Brown, “Every Rose Has Its Thorn” by Poison, “Straight Up” by Paula Abdul, “Wind Beneath My Wings by Bette Midler and “Girl You Know It True” by Milli Vanilli. Notable deaths include: Robert Penn Warren, Sugar Ray Robinson, Samuel Beckett, Irving Berlin, Ted Bundy, Mel Blanc, Salvador Dali, Bette Davis, Hirohito, Abbie Hofffman, Hughey Newton, Sir Lawrence Olivier, Gilda Radnor, Secretariat, Sergio Leone, and Billy Martin. If you were around, what were you doing during the year of the earth snake?