The KMAG Network

A shorter show but part of a special series focusing on the world's greatest food…Pizza! We kick off with an actual expert from Italy, Sara!

A Halloween mix of rare gems and deep cuts from the Crypt! All thanks to my friend and co-producer Kathy! You can see the track listing here: https://maggipicayune.net/wp/kmag-presents-creepin-it-real/

KMAG Halloween is back! For 2023, the theme is snippets of Halloween in the Nineties! I may be a child of the Seventies and Teen of the Eighties but I think my first adult decade deserved some love. Plus it's the 30th anniversary for The X-Files, another groundbreaking show from when the Fox Network was more adventurous. I also did my first Halloween mix which was harder then, having to physically look over the track listings of my several hundred CDs. No Internet to help via Google (now 25) nor AllMusic.com. Enjoy! Click here to see what is what…https://maggipicayune.net/wp/kmag-halloween-2023/

This concludes the Best of 1998! The year ended pretty well too. I was living in Austin. I had a decent spot leasing the master bedroom in a nice lady's house. I had been promoted at Apple, yet still a temp, but they were taking permanent applications. I made new, additional friends. I finally swallowed my pride to try online dating services. I was slowly getting out of debt with my part-time gig at the movie theater. Best of all, my nephew Nick was born! The first new Maggi in my immediately family. Linda and Brian made me happy by giving him a real name, nothing WASP-y, nothing trendy and best of all, he doesn't sound like a brand of cigarettes.

My second pilgrimage to Graceland! This time I bought the whole package to see the house, the cars, the two planes and more personal side of him, namely how much fan mail he received on average. It was a special time as well because they were celebrating the 30th anniversary of Elvis' 1968 comeback special on TV.

The Powerpuff Girls remains a favorite mine and they made their official debut in 1998 after being a failed pilot…twice! I'm glad the Cartoon Network didn't make Craig McCracken change their appearance as the test-audience kids bitched about. Those three sisters would go on to be the network's first huge success with an original idea after years of old Hanna-Barbera stuff from Saturday Mornings.

I wish this weren't my last GenCon (for now). There was such a gloom over the whole convention and industry. The Magic card games had bottomed out, TSR had to be bought out by WOTC, FASA had a layoff, SJG was boycotting and everyone realized how the Internet/Computer games were kicking their collective asses. I still managed to have a good time. Met Mark Goddard from Lost in Space and John de Lancie of Star Trek; ran into old friends and as always, spent too much money. One day I hope to attend it again but not while it's in shitty, shitty, boring Indiacrapolis.

The best movie of 1998 that should've been successful alongside a handful of other duds (Godzilla) and overhyped (Saving Private Ryan). I loved it so much more than Elmore's other adaptations Get Shorty and Jackie Brown that I read Cuba Libre which was a great change of pace using the Spanish-American War as the backdrop and not modern-day crime.

What a coincidence! In 1998 I read Kindred by Octavia Butler. It was a gift from my friend Helen and it's a fantastic book involving time travel with the horrible American South, especially before the Civil War. Meanwhile, Mrs. Butler released this novel which sadly predicted the horrible present we live in now.

Phil Hartman's murder was a painful blow to so many. Known as "the glue" at SNL because he was just damned versatile, the ultimate straight man for others to be funny. I still miss his characters on The Simpsons and ponder what Captain Zap Branigan would be like with his voice on Futurama. Although his humor was different, this episode is dedicated to him and what 1998 people thought was amusing.