IN THE BEGINNING THERE WAS .....UHF

Tuesday, February 15, 2011 5:17:56 AM

Late 70s early 80s, an apartment complex just north of the 10 freeway in Southern California. Friday night, late, and me turning through the original SyFy channels.....UHF. Some of you remember, the channels past 13, that secondary knob on the TV. Back when you used to have to get up and TURN the channel. Yeah, some of you remember. UHF was my intro to science fiction movies. I was a Latchkey Kid. Single mom in an apartment complex surrounded by single moms. I loved those B movies on those fuzzy UHF channels late in the night. The only thing better was the Miniature Golf complex about a mile west on 7th Street. Room after room of sci-fi fantasy where for a quarter I could become a Starship Captain and test my mettle against the scourge of the galaxy.
I think it was 1984 when I achieved my moment of true Fandom. A friend of mine and a fellow sci-fi fan came running over to my apartment after school one day. He breathlessly tried to tell me to turn the TV to channel 11...........ROBOTECH. I know now that that was the moment of backlighting and angelic music. A moment when I was elevated to true FANDOM.
Since that time I have fallen in love with sci-fi. I have read and watched and absorbed so many wonderful stories. Become involved in multiple worlds and even universes that were truely amazing. But not one of those spoke to me the way Firefly/Serenity has.There are many reasons visited by many people for which the same can be said. Like Mal I was a soldier once, a Marine actually. 3rd Battalion 1st Marine Regiment Weapons Company. Infantry baby, everything else is just support.
I experienced my own Serenity Valley. A failure that still is a dark space in my soul to this day. And like Mal I have kept flying.