Thursday, September 12, 2013

Tomorrow is Breakaway Day 2013


I hope you have enjoyed this week's celebration of The X-Files and its twentieth anniversary.  I'll be continuing to post episode reviews from the series every Thursday throughout the year. Coming up next week: "Never Again."

But tomorrow we shift gears to the groovy 1970s.  It's September 13 -- Breakaway Day -- the one day a year the blog celebrates Space: 1999 (1975 - 1977), and the day that the moon blasts out of Earth's orbit.

4 comments:

  1. Happy Breakaway Day!

    John, like you, I have many fond memories of my '70s boyhood enjoying everything SPACE:1999. My friends and I even regularly played Alpha Moonbase with homemade stunguns, commlocks and uniforms.

    Happy Birthday Barbara Bain on September 13th too.

    SGB

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi SGB,

      We share a love for Space:1999. It was a major part of our youths, and very much unlike other outer space programs before and after it. A singular initiative, in my opinion, and always one worth revisiting.

      And can you believe the lovely and talented Ms. Bain is 82 today? Wow! She is incredible...

      All my best,
      John

      Delete
  2. Happy Breakaway Day!

    Hi John! I'm a long-time reader of yours and a long-time lurker here. I was lucky enough to meet you in person at Breakaway Con almost exactly 14 years ago; your talks about _Space: 1999_, my all-time favorite TV series, really changed the way I look at it. I'm slightly embarrassed to admit that until I heard you talk, I hadn't thought of _Space: 1999_ as having been as heavily influenced by the horror genre as the SF genre, which was the direction I always approached it from.

    I truly enjoy your writings here--you have a real knack for finding a productive angle from which to approach many genre works, and have made me rethink some of my opinions. (That doesn't mean I always *agree* with you, but life is more fun that way.) I hope I can find time to write up some of my contrarian ideas here or elsewhere.

    Thanks again for all the terrific reading!

    Raja

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Raja,

      I remember you well, my friend! That was a great convention, and a very happy time. I hope you are well.

      What I love about Space:1999 is that you can approach it from a number of critical angles: from the science fiction angle or from the horror angle, and it sort of just opens before you, offering new insights and ideas.

      Not that I need a reason to watch Space:1999 again, but the fact that it is open to many interpretations keeps it fresh for me, and makes a re-watch ever-intriguing.

      And yes, it would be boring if we always agreed on everything, so feel free to present a contrary opinion.

      I thank you for your kind words, and wish you a Happy Breakaway Day!!

      best,
      John

      Delete

My Father's Journal, Epilogue: "My Cancer"

My friends, we have reached the final entry in my father’s journal of his battle with cancer.     I want to thank all the readers who have c...