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I Can't Believe I Looked Up To Them
Have you ever taken a look back at just what makes you who you are? We're talking heroes and influences here. It's no big secret that I've looked up to Steven Tyler of Aerosmith for many years. We all have a vast array of people who have molded us over the years. So let's take a look at a few that I'm embarassed to admit I looked up to at one time.
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Ultimate Warrior
I've spoken before on this site about my love for the Ultimate Warrior. He was the most intense WWF Superstar ever. But from 1989-91 I was pretty much in Warrior overload. I went to Wrestlemani VI to see him defeat Hulk Hogan and even took a beating from an old lady with a foam finger when I was cheering for the face-painted freak. There were even a few days (and none of these were Hallowe-en) where I'd actually paint my face up like his. But then Mr. Warrior disappeared. And he pretty much went crazy. He legally changed his name to "Warrior" and then created a comic book with himself as the main character. Don't get me wrong, I still think Ultimate Warrior is awesome. But it ain't hard to see how some of his crazy rubbed off on me at such a young age.
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Motley Crue
Here's a fun fact for you: I was sent home from kindergarten once for singing "Shout At The Devil". You see, my sister is nine years older than me. So in the mid-80s when I was just a little Ryan she was a teen. Oh, to have been a teen in the 80s... Anyway, I was exposed to a lot of the Crue, Bon Jovi, and even Run DMC. Motley Crue was my first ever favorite band, long before I even knew who Aerosmith was. I played "Smokin' In The Boys Room" until the tape died. Then when I got to high school it was 1994 and nobody liked Motley Crue. Or Bon Jovi. And nobody even knew who Run DMC was. Except me. Then a famous tape of Tommy Lee and Pamela Anderson surfaced and the Crue was awesome again... but for different reasons.
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Michael Keaton
In 1989 a little movie came out starring Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson. Maybe you've heard of it. It was called Batman. The important thing is that Keaton was making all kinds of great movies. He did Beetlejuice. He did the under-appreciation "The Dream Team". But it was Batman that made him a hero. Keaton became my favorite actor because of those movies. Then he made a little movie called Multiplicity. Now, I liked that movie. It was definitely stupid, but Keaton could've done worse. And he did. It was called "Jack Frost". Then there's that Herbie movie with Lindsay Lohan... by the late 90's it was hard to convince your friends to watch a Keaton movie at your place. Even though "Desperate Measures" was a fantastic chase film, nobody but me would give it the time of day. For many of us though, Michael Keaton will always be Batman. If only for the fact that he had the balls to ask his love interest, "How much do you weigh?"
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Michaelangelo
According to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles theme song, Michaelangelo is a party dude. He talked like a goddam surfer! He was the coolest of all the Turtles, and when it was time to play Turtles at recess everyone wanted to be Mikey. There were fucking fist fights over it. I've never even liked the color orange. One Hallowe'en I was Mikey and scored lots of candy. But let me tell you, there is something very uncool about looking up to a cartoon character. Never, and I mean EVER, let your friends know that you'd like to live in the sewers. Or that you think you might've been a Ninja Turtle in another life. It's a sure-fire way to guarantee you'll be hanging out at the candy table for your next six or seven school dances. I guess as a child it just seemed like the perfect life to play with ninja weapons and eat pizza all day.
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So that's a few of my heroes growing up. This list could go on forever, but I'm really not ashamed to look up to The Kids In The Hall, or Prince, or Rocky Balboa, or Uncle Jesse.
If you'd like to share some of your embarassing heroes, I'd love to hear about it.
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