The post is a little late...I know. I just got home late last night, but I am still ninja-ing through everything. I have not cheated once, and I am starting to feel amazing. My energy levels have increased and my mind does seem to be clearer. Still waiting for my great revelation though...but let's get down to the topic of the day.
The Nostalgia set in a couple of days ago when I decided to rent my myself a Movie. I still refer to these places as video stores even tough they only stock DVD's these days. I was about to write that I cannot recollect the last time I even saw a video cassette, but then I remembered that until recently my mother still used the video machine everyday to record the soaps she was not able to watch, no other programmes only soapies. I am not sure if she still does it, or if she has upgraded to the easier satellite decoder recoding method, but I am definitely sure she still records her soapies. She will always find a way to record those soaps, because we all know that if you miss just one day of a Soap Opera you will never be able to catch up, or ever understand what is going on there ever again.
We have had so many quarrels about these soaps, which she refers to as "Her Stories", because she could record only one at a time, the rest she had to watch in real time, and real time was often in the middle of a great movie or any other programme that you were waiting to see. She always won and she always watched her stories, but not without me telling her how much I dislike soap opera's. She would then retaliate by telling me how stupid all the programmes were that I watched. I like fantasy, horror, mystery, sci-fi...anything really with the exception of soap operas, and she likes her programmes to be more 'realistic' as she puts it. Now, I am sorry Mommy but coming back from the dead three times only to discover you are your own father or something stupid like that is not realistic, I think dinosaurs riding unicorns are more plausible in TV land, but I know we will never agree on this matter, and it just goes to show you that everything is indeed relative.
I was and still am a big fan of Kevin Smith movies, so every time I walk into a video store I think of Clerks. I realise the movie wasn't set in a video store, but my mind makes the connection to the often drifting generation, who stood around a lot, smoking and discussing music, comic books and other popular phenomena of their time, that are portrayed in Smith's movies. I loved that generation, yeah sure they lacked what some might call ambition but they knew the art of banter, and were all so gloriously disillusioned by the world, but unfortunately they are now all grown up and the places that used to be their playgrounds are slowly fading away. The days of Record and Video stores may unfortunately be numbered...The world is going virtual. Enough people have spoken about how we are now more lonely than ever, because most of our interactions are electronic, we all are aware of this, so I am not going to jump on that band wagon now. I rather want to take the time to focus on some cool places and rituals that slowly withered in the shadow of progress.
The Drive In
I missed the heyday of the Drive-in, but I just find the concept so incredibly cool, it is not fancy but it is the best way I can describe my feelings towards it. I loved the idea of sitting in your car, ordering burgers from the roadhouse and letting it hang from your window, while you and your date, or your friends get to watch two movies in a row...what is there not to love. I also like to wonder how many children were conceived at the Drive-In. To me it just seems like a magical place. The Drive in was defeated by Movie Theatres and television, but I really don't understand why, and it now looks like movie theatres might slowly be hurtling towards the same fate, why go out when you can watch any movie in the comfort of your own home?
The Mix Tape
I remember waiting for the Top 40 Hits of the week every Saturday. My tape recorder was ready, I was ready, and every time a song that I liked would play, I would press that record button so hard. It was such a skill to record at the correct time between where the DJ was still talking and the song began, and I never completely mastered the art of it. These were the days before, rip/burn and I-playlists, if you wanted a collection of your favourite tracks playing back to back, you had to work for it. To this day I still believe there is nothing more romantic than a proper mix tape. How lovely if someone is willing to take time out of their day to combine a collection of songs that remind them of you, and even better if it is an actual tape because you know how long that took to create. I don't know if you would be able to listen to it though, because I really can't remember the last time I saw a tape player.
The Sunday Night Movie
I chose this phrase to describe the times when there were only a few channels, and we all had to watch the same thing, and we didn't die. I fondly remember the discussion we would all have the following day after a great episode of McGuyver or Tropical Heat, ok mostly McGuyver, Tropical Heat was a little bit cheesy. Everyone could join in on the conversation, and if you missed the episode, there were enough people who would gladly give you a play by play of the events. And you had to wait an entire week to see what would happen next. I don't know how we survived such primitive times. It was frustrating and it was thrilling.
I realise one should be careful not to romanticise the past, because now isn't perfect and it wasn't perfect then either, and I can almost guarantee the future will have the same problem with imperfection. But is sure is fun reminiscing about the good-old-times isn't it?
Can we please bring back the drive-in...and none of that rooftop nonsense...I am talking about the real Drive-In experience.
Oh and could someone please make me a mix-tape if it is not too much trouble...Thank You
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