I'm getting old. I know I am. I must be. The lack of hair and the growing distaste with what passes for popular music might be a bit of a giveaway. Actually you know what? Pop music is as crap now as it has always been (aside from Lady GaGa, who is awesome, but I'll defend that statement at a later date), and I'm not old. It's just I have an internet connection, and as we all know, an internet connection can lead to some marvellously entertaining, if completely useless, procrastination. YouTube, Daily Motion and suchlike are the main dens of sin for me right now. For example, earlier today I found myself following link after link on YouTube, watching old 1980s adverts for Cadbury's Flakes.A random train of thought (You know the sort) had me looking for pictures of the old Photon toys from the 80s, which then led to me looking up the Photon novels, which in turn led to me finding episodes of the 80s Photon TV series uploaded on YouTube. The madness continued long into the night (This is what happened when my girlfriend is away for a few days. I regress into being a student), and before I knew it, I was eyeing up hideously overpriced old Max Headroom VHS tapes on Amazon and watching clips of the Captain Power TV series wherever I could find them.
I couldn't get enough, and it felt GOOD, DAMMIT!!! Although, once the caffeine had worn off, the sun had come up and I had remembered to change my clothes from the batch I'd slept face down on our sofa in, I took a break from hitting F5 while on Facebook, shut down TweetDeck, and realized what a sad case I was. It had actually happened. The stuff I thought was cool as a kid was now far enough in the past to warrant nostalgia (and appropriate mockery). Dear friend, I did fall to my knees and scream to almighty Zod.
Hello, I am Andrew Hawnt, and I am an ageing geek. There, I said it. I am proud of the fact, too. Mind you, my tendency to wear comics and film related t-shirts might make me look like I'm nicking style tips from scene kids. I'm not. I'm just a big old nerd that likes to watch movie trailers on the internet and puts DVDs and videos in a semi-autobiographical/mood related order.
You know what? I am goi
ng to revel in it. Trying to be sensible and grown up can go hang. I am a mature, intelligent person, I know I am, but I have every right to want comics and toys and shirts that say 'All Your Base Are Belong To Us' on them. I'm just at the age now where I can stop worrying about what's cool and just enjoy what I enjoy. Believe me, there is some serious crap that I have enjoyed in my time, but hey, each to their own, y'know? Well, that statement does have its limits. Anyone who is obsessed by things such as X-factor and its ilk still need their heads washing out with the blood of Aliens in my opinion, but for the rest of humanity, it stands.I could say geekery is a state of mind, but it's not really a state of mind that you choose to put yourself into. You just start thinking 'Wow, that's FANTASTIC' sometime during childhood and it goes from there. Before you know it, you're writing shopping lists in Klingon and using 'Frakking' or 'Frelling' as expletives. Ah, the joys of being a bit odd. It's a good thing though. Appreciating something that excites, informs or uplifts us on various levels is a great thing to have in your life, no matter your age. Now, I must be off as someone has put my Doctor Who DVDs out of chronological order of Doctor and series. Here's to all of us having a life that is NM, or at least VGC.
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