Many of us might have visited a zoo or animal preserve for the various first time in the 1980s.
If you were a tot back in the Neon Decade, you also likely A) loved animal films (think "The Fox and the Hound") and B) wore Garanimals and C) dreamed of being a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle or Big Bird or maybe both.
So the fact that the 1980s are calling upon the LA Zoo, for a night of era-lively music and games and fashion, will make sense to anybody who grew up around then and is now a card-carrying adult (though maybe an adult who misses wearing Garanimals, of course).
It's '80s night at the Griffith Park-based animal park, on Friday, Aug. 21, which is officially the last of the summertime "Roaring Nights" events. These parties are 18-and-over, and there's a host of fun to be had even if many of the resident beasties are tucked up in bed.
The Pac Men shall provide the live tunes -- "big songs, big hair, and big fun" is the band's catchphrase -- and a "vintage game zone" will keep revelers busy (think Space Invaders, Galaga, Asteroids, Donkey Kong Jr., and such). Food trucks'll be in the (outdoor) house -- hello, Dogtown Dogs, India Jones, and Lobsta Truck (and moremoremore) -- and a full-service bar is ready for the over-21s in the crowd.
As for the furry ones who keep an address at the zoo? There shall be "up-close animal encounters," keeper talks, and a chance to visit various habitats, including the new jaguar area. Just keep in mind that many zoo animals catch some shut-eye once the sun goes down, though seeing some sweet faces is very much a possibility.
Last thing: Can you crimp your hair? Do the full-on bright blue eye shadow? Maybe break out a leg warmer, if it isn't too toasty? Eighties-style dress is the name of the game.
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Call the night a fine chance to combine some childhood loves -- animals, and anything to do with animals -- with a decade you either grew up in or wished you had.
Because let's be honest: The '80s kind of ruled. How else to explain the enduring popularity of the tunes and the styles and the neon and the hair out to there? Never go away, Neon Decade, please, not ever.
