Here's Johnnnnnnyyyyyyyyy!!

Sentimental posting time...

A couple semi-important (but not in the grand scheme of things kind of way) events have occured over the past couple weeks which have caused me to reflect back a little bit to my childhood, something I find myself doing less and less of as of late. Usually, if I'm thinking back, its no more than to two weeks ago, and I suppose occasionally, maybe back to high school - rarely any longer than that. I'll hit one of them up tonight to tide over Mr. Rinaker, who has been literally begging and threatening me if I don't update this thing here pretty damn soon.

This will probably come as a huge shock to those of you who know me, but this interest (some say strong interest) that I have in media, or pop culture, has kind of been around for a long time. I blame this solely on my father. I remember what at the time seemed like stacks and stacks of records (the number would probably barely fill the most standard cd logic case these days, but as a 7 or 8 year old, the number was massive. They weren't anything I'd consider especially influential on my musical tastes today, but somehow this planted a seed in me, I think.

His influence when it came to late night tv, however, is much more apparent. I remember growing up in a family with a penchant for a few standard late evening activities. There was the ten o'clock news on Channel 5 (this was before my mom made the drastic, and perhaps developmentally saving, decision to eliminate cable television from our home), a bowl or two of air-popped popcorn, and if any number of the three of us didn't fall asleep first, The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.

Usually, when driving home from class at night these days, I try and call somebody to pass the time on the way. I have a half hour drive or so, and its a good way to catch up while driving through Evanston and down Lake Shore Drive. A lot of times, I'll end up calling home and talking with one of the crew (or all of them, depending on how chatty they are). A couple of Mondays ago, as I walked into my apartment around 10:30, my dad asked me if I was watching the tribute to Mr. Carson on the Tonight Show. I hadn't really thought much about our family's old pasttime in a while, and to be honest, neither of my parents make it up late enough to watch the news most nights these days, let alone one of the late night talk shows. It was a pleasant surprise to get to be reminded of it though. I got off the phone with my dad to watch, and despite my high level of disdain for Jay Leno, enjoyed it tremendously - I hate to use terms like this at such a young age, but it really felt like a sort of walk down memory lane.

Much like my tastes in music have diverged from my dad's musical collection, my taste in late-night television programming has changed dramatically as well. I try and steer clear of the Tonight Show these days. I'm much more likely to check out the Daily Show at 10 and if I watch a network talk show, Letterman surely takes the cake. It still really makes me smile to think back to the times I wasn't in trouble and was able to stay up late with my parents and share in the humor that was Johnny Carson. It's kind of funny how sometimes a movie, song, or even tv show can serve as even more of a memory stimulator than a photograph - kind of funny, and pretty damn awesome if you ask me.

It's really a shame Mr. Carson passed away - not that I knew him at all, but I'm going to miss him. Here's hoping my little sisters are building some of their own similar memories with my parents. If I can help it they'll steer clear of the Leno and drift a little more towards the Stewart or the Letterman (or even better, if they can make it up, the Conan!), however.

Probably one more of these sentimental postings before I get back to the absurd, so if you don't like it, tough - you're just going to have to bare with me for a little while.