Repeat

I remember reading years ago that actress Sean Young was so impressed with her performance in the 1982 sci-fi thriller “Blade Runner” that she had the movie on continuous play in her office. I'm not unfamiliar with such obsession. I once set my CD player on single-track repeat and listened to Matchbox Twenty's “Rest Stop for eight hours straight. It was a Saturday at the paper and I just found myself in a rut. And I think the song is a brilliant conceit. The CD player quit after eight hours, even though it was plugged in to power. 

Anyway, I've done it again, though with a different medium. I've watched “TheBreakfast Club” four times in two days. I wouldn't be surprised if I push “play” again tonight as I sit to write a letter. It's tough to explain. “High Fidelity” is my comfort film and an all-time favorite I'll turn to again and again. I identify with Rob Gordon (Rob Fleming in the book), the protagonist played by John Cusack, probably my favorite actor. And lately I've lost myself in 1980s reveries with repeated viewings of “Ghostbusters” — easily half a dozen times in a couple months. 

But none of that compares to the back-to-back-to-back-to-back private screenings of John Hughes's masterwork about teen angst in the 1980s. I have to say, the film has aged well and my appreciation today is even greater than when I first saw it with my buddy Paul Keser when it first hit VHS. Back then I was incredulous when he told me the film's basic plot: a disparate group of teens spend a Saturday in detention and learn about each other and themselves. How can you have a movie about eight hours in an empty high school on a weekend? Shows what I knew about movies.

I found myself thinking about the characters during this morning's run. I think mostly I was just reflecting on the depth and realism of the performances. And the truth of the film, about cliques and class segregation and kids blaming their parents for their problems and parents sometimes being to blame for their kids' problems.

And about now I'm realizing this whole blog was a stretch and I'm still reaching. I'm grasping at something that isn't there. Or something I'm not really wanting to reach. This isn't what I want to write about just now. And when you force it, the result looks forced. Sure, I could develop the idea, but I'm not interested. Other stuff is on my mind. So this is it. Go watch the movie yourself and enjoy.

Today's Stats

Temp: 48 degrees F

Distance: 4.21 miles

Weekly Total: 4.21 miles

Treasure: 4 cans.

iPod Playlist (Shuffle):

Bad Woman Blues – Trampled Under Foot

Hear Me Lord – George Harrison

Rosanna – Toto

Broken (New Version) – Lifehouse

Disease – Matchbox Twenty

More Than This – Roxy Music

One More Try – George Michael

Push – Avril Lavigne

Desire – U2

Born and Raised (Reprise) – John Mayer

If Ever You’re In My Arms Again – Peebo Bryson

Let It Be Me – Ray LaMontagne

Someday – Rob Thomas