Where it all went so horribly average...

With age comes perspective. As I look back upon my days as a geek, I'm now able to identify the three key gateway drugs that set me on this course:

1. "Battle of the Planets": Somewhere around 1980, my mom sat me down in front of the television while the American bastard child of one of this groundbreaking anime was playing on afternoon television. My young, spongelike brain got its first taste of constumed heroes/villains, animation, sci-fi AND martial arts, so this was a real tough mother for a first step. (Kinda like skipping booze and pot and jumping feet first into smack.)

2. THE WARRIORS: Also around 1980, my father did his part by planting me on the couch as he watched this on the ABC movie of the week. I very clearly remember the quick hits of dialogue about Cyrus and the conclave during the opening credits; the conclave itself; the DJ who serves as the film's Greek chorus; The Baseball Furies; the rumble in the Union Station men's room against The Punks and their rollerskating, overalls-clad leader; and, of course, "Come out to play-ay-ayyyy..."

The Furies -- a nightmarish KISS/The New York Yankees hybrid -- particularly left an impression on me.

It's been my favorite film my whole life. More on this soon. Really soon. Like, tomorrow, soon...

3. "Night Flight": This one I discovered on my own. A little before MTV; decades before YouTube and lightyears ahead of everything that was on TV and radio at the time, this semi-weekly collection of music videos, documentaries, strange films and animation introduced me to too many things to mention here and clearly helped shaped my taste in all-things pop culture.

So, imagine my surprise when I caught wind of NIGHT FLIGHT: BORN AGAIN, a two-hour restrospective of one of my childhood's key ingredients that would air in Westwood as part of the L.A. Film Festival.




The film itself was more a hodgepodge than a best-of reel. I'm sure copyright laws dictated much of what was shown. But it nonetheless features a slew of great old interviews (Highlight: A young, short-haired Ozzy Osbourne talking about his dual-nature as citizen and performer as well as warning about the dangers of drug use); videos; cartoons; film clips and New Wave Theatre.



The latter was of particular importance. As a child, I hated commercial music and really wasn't given much alternative except for my parents collection of '70s vinyl. New Wave Theatre highlighted the L.A. post-punk scene of the early '80s, and introduced me to several bands I love to this day: X, Dead Kennedys, The Cramps, The Gun Club, the list goes on...

It's hard to remember the dark, pre-Internet days of the '80s, but "Night Flight" served as an alternative to commercial schlock back when such alternatives were very hard to come by. Their influence reached far beyond their sizable audience of insomnicas and kids hungry for something different. MTV was clearly paying attention, as they followed suit by launching shows to try to entice the "Night Flight" audience. ("Headbangers Ball," "Yo! MTV Raps", and the epic "120 Minutes")

The creators spoke about the show's original run as well as their desire to resurrect it. The velvet-voiced Pat Prescott was on-hand as well. Although you never saw her, she was a key component to "Night Flight." Since the show had no studio host to identify with, her voice and the logo flying over the computer-generated nighttime landscape were the glue that held each week's ecclectic collection together.




Meeting her was a particular thrill, made even more thrilling by the fact that she couldn't have been sweeter. I'm not much for autographs; In fact, my collection has been holding steady at one for a couple years now. (MotoGP documentarian Mark Neale on a FASTER poster, in case you were wondering.) But I couldn't resist getting Pat Prescott's scribble on my freebie NIGHT FLIGHT: BORN AGAIN poster.

Regardless of whether "Night Flight" takes off again or not, and I have mixed feelings on whether there's a place for it in the year 2k8, it will always be a cherished part of my youth: The first place I heard "Los Angeles", the first place I saw NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD and one of the key reasons I haven't become a more productive human being.

CURRENTLY LISTENING: Dead Kennedys -- Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables