Rediscovering my inner Starbuck
Monday, February 13, 2006
Ok…I used to have some level of cool. Not a lot, mind you, for somewhere on this planet there are pictures of me in western wear (I plead the early 80’s – that Dallas was *really* popular at the time, “Who shot JR” and all that jazz). There are also pictures of me in full Miami Vice mode. Yes, that includes pastels, blazers with t-shirts and espadrilles. But for pubescent issues I would have also sported a five-o’clock shadow. The bottom line is that televisions shows of the day have certainly affected both my judgement and my fashion sense.
Which brings us to trendiness. I was on college radio when nobody had heard of Nirvana. I was spinning Nine Inch Nails in 1991. I was at the first Lollapalooza, had been bounced around mosh pits before most of today’s “punks” were born (ouch) and damn it I was wearing eyeliner and black when Siouxsie was still in her 20’s and Robert Smith could actually grow black hair. To put it succinctly, I was living the coolness du jour.
Times have changed.
Over a year ago Battlestar Galactica returned to television. Not the old school series from the late 70’s with Lorne Greene and that stupid dog thing (although I imagine it lives on in reruns) but an entirely new series. People had told me, but I didn’t listen. Work, life, bills, errands, stuff. Instead of checking it out, I had simply dismissed it as “just another rehash”, essentially shaking my fist at the kids of today. I’m not sure why, but a couple of weeks ago, I decided to pick up the DVD of the initial miniseries. Wow. Memories of wanting to fly the Viper, the “TURBO” button, playing with my friend Jason back in Maryland…it all came back along with better scripts, better acting and let’s face it – a lovely female Starbuck is a hell of a lot more compelling than Dirk Benedict.
I may not be quite as cutting edge as I was, but at least I can remember what it felt like (and I’m using the new Netflix account to catch up on episodes). There’s hope for me yet.