 |
| Image: Simon Howden / FreeDigitalPhotos.net |
In the spirit of sharing something with my readers, I will tell you about an import, though geeky, tradition from my childhood.
As a kid, I used to stay up late with my dad and watch science fiction programming on IPTV. The lineup started out as Sci Fi Friday Night, but was eventually moved to Saturdays.
One of my favorite parts of the block of science fiction programming was the host Mike Frisbee. You can find a picture of him along with other info about what SFFN used to be here. Unfortunately IPTV got rid of him years ago due to budget cuts. I hate losing such great people due to financial concerns, but it seems to be a pattern as of late. He died in 2008, and if you're interested, I found a blog post that paid a little tribute to him. It was sad for me when I found out about this, because he was someone I enjoyed watching. He had a way of charming an audience.
The shows we watched varied over time, but included the old episodes of Doctor Who. They eventually showed the new episodes once they restarted the series, but I no longer lived at home by then. I also saw Red Dwarf (AWESOMELY funny series), Space Island One, Blake's 7, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Neverwhere, and many others. Every night, they kicked off the festivities with an episode of Jack Horkheimer: Star Gazer. Since I spent as much time looking up in the sky as I did looking around me, I loved watching the little 5 minute episodes just so I would know what to look out for in the night sky for the next week. Sadly, Jack Horkheimer died in 2010, but I'll always remember his show as a part of my childhood.
Science fiction was something I shared with my dad, though my mom also enjoyed shows like Star Trek and Babylon 5. I have a lot of fond memories of those nights we watched SFFN, and I think they shaped my writing a lot. I'm not a science fiction geek by accident.
And I think I'm already passing the tradition on to my children.
I don't consider myself a huge sci-fi fan in general, but a fan nonetheless. I loved Star Trek: The Next Generation like nobody's business when I was in high school. The shows were premiering at the time and my other fellow geeks and I were enthralled on a weekly basis. Even my mom liked the show!
ReplyDeleteThose are great memories, and I'm happy I was a huge fan (still am) of a show that is a total classic nowadays.
Many of the best teenage Saturday nights were spent in your living room, watching the Sci-Fi goodness, sipping hot Oolong tea and eating ice cream.
ReplyDeleteOhh nostalgia. :)