Reliving fandoms...

Now that summer is drawing to an end, I find that instead of working on all that stuff that I planned on doing this summer but didn't do, I'm delving into my old fandoms. Early Edition, Sliders, The Pretender, The A-Team, Magnum, The Eqaualizer... I've even started reading some fanfic on the shows. Which usually means I end up quitting in disgust somewhere in the third paragraph because the characters are all out of character.

Still, I have the original shows to watch.

I was watching Sliders on SciFi today (well, I was listening to it while I worked on some computers at school) and I saw an episode that I really loved called "The Guardian". In it, the sliders (the original ones, yet) managed to land in a world where it was only 1984 and they got there right in time to see the burial of Quinn's dad. The rest of the episode Quinn spent time with his younger self, despite the protests of his friends. Quinn kept saying that his younger self was hounded unmercifully by three bullies at school, they beat him and tortured him daily and that soon there would be the worst day of all.. and that he would do whatever he needed to to make sure that his younger self didn't have to go through it. So he started teaching the young-Quinn how to box and defend himself. Quinn's friends, especially the girl, Wade, said it was irresponsible and evil to teach the young boy to fight. Quinn just said that he could let what happened once, happen again.

The day finally arrived and as everyone watched the three bullies approached and the young-Quinn jumped out from behind a tree with a baseball bat, paused, then dropped the bat and managed to defeat the bullies with his hands. Quinn then said that he had used the bat and had busted one of the boy's kneecaps and the kid walked with a limp for the rest of his life. Finally it was clear, Quinn wasn't worried about the beatings, but that the beatings would drive the young-Quinn to do something drastic and horrible that could never be undone -- just as he had done as a child.

I loved that twist. I love that fact that Quinn wanted to stop this terrible thing from happening because there was only pain in that desperate act. He could save the bully -- and his younger self -- and no one would have to live with the pain and the guilt. I love how it seemed that Quinn only wanted to get back at the bullies, when in reality he wanted to stop that type of retaliation.

I liked the characters in Slides a great deal. Okay, I never really cared for Wade, she was too cliched in many ways and, in reality, I have a hard time liking characters that, if they were people, I would not like in real life. And, equally importantly, people who would obviously not like me. Heh. Shallow of me, but that's the way it is. And Wade would not have liked me, because she disliked everything that I like. And it was all so stereotypical. It was the writers just reached into a "bag of stereotypes" and pulled out those traits that would be the most fitting for each episode.

Still, I loved the character of Quinn. And Rembrandt Brown. And Professor Arturo. They managed to make them all very three demenisional and real. I hated it when Arturo died, even though I liked Maggie, his "replacement". She was a marine. She was a go getter. She may not have liked me, either, but at least she'd have a well-thought out reason not to. And, just to show how little I cared for Wade, I don't ever remember how she left the show. She may have stayed on one of the worlds they visited or she may have been nabbed by the big, bad apes (Never liked the Kromags, much either, but that was a whole plot thing). They picked up Quinn's brother and he was good. But I didn't get to see much of the last season, so... it's hard to say how much I would like Colin or the Kromag storyarc.

'Course, Sliders is coming out on DVD soon, and I will look forward to picking it up. I think it comes out the same day as Magnum, PI.

I should also pick up Quantum Leap and Millennium.

Ouch. That will hurt the pocketbook.

Thougths on the Day (8/3):

Today is:

Airplane Crop Duster Day
American Canoe Association Birthday 1880
American Family Day
National Watermelon Day
Air Traffic Controllers Day
National Baseball Association Formed 1949
Prairie Dawn's Birthday (Sesame Street)
National Park Day
International Forgiveness Day
Sisters Day
National Waffle Day

I like the thought of International Forgiveness Day. Although I think forgiveness is something that should be given often. Most people have the wrong take forgiveness, IMO. Forgiveness, to me, is something you give to yourself. When you forgive someone what you are saying is that you give up the right to hurt that person back for what ever they did to you. When you ask forgiveness from someone, it's a little different. Asking forgiveness is admission that you did something wrong and that you wish to let the person know that you accept that you did something wrong. Neither is dependent upon the other person either asking for or accepting the forgiveness. Does that make sense? It works best if both parties are willing to follow those definitions, but it's not necessary.

Forgiveness isn't saying "That's Okay!" because saying that basically means the person didn't have to apologize and that's wrong. Forgiveness isn't granting absolution for the act because punishments and consequences need to happen even if there is an apology. Asking for and receiving forgiveness does not wipe clean the slate. Granting forgiveness doesn't mean that you have to trust the person again or that things will be just the way they were.

At least, that's my take on forgiveness.

Waffle Day, huh? I would like to get this for my daughter, but I'm not going to pay $60 for it. I'm looking on e-bay and see if I can get one for half that. I have until Christmas.

I don't have a sister. So I'm claiming finabair and kitap as my sisters. When I am with either them, people often think we are sisters. So that's cool. All the closeness and none of the emotional baggage. Heh.