Magnificent Obsessions or Past Euphoria

Music: Poetry Man: Phoebe Snow
Thoughts: Degrassi Junior High, More work for the Floydman.

Ok, I'm back after a too long of an absence, Randy's passing took a great toll on my psyche but attending Stumptown was good therapy see here for my Stumptown wrapup.

Story time kids, way back in 1987 or 1988 I was rooming with my high school friend Mark, quite an enigma all unto himself. Mark was a hermit, a loner and obsessed with ESPN and buying EVERY CD he could find (with the exception of Madonna and Disco). Well, oddly enough, Mark passed away in 2001, about 2 or 3 years after I moved out on my own. Why is this odd? well, Mark died basically of the same thing that killed Randy, liver failure, and the odd part is that I found out Mark had passed away 2 months after it happened, and right before my son Kyran was born. So then, Randy passed away only a day or two after my sister Barbi had her baby, my new niece Olivia. It's funny that for every life taken, another begins. So I'm already off track here....oh yeah 1988, and I happened to catch a show on PBS that I have never forgotten and always wondered what happened to. I would catch Degrassi Junior High and later Degrassi High every Saturday or Sunday at 4:30 in the afternoon and I was instantly hooked.

What was this strange Canadian show that felt like a teenage sitcom, and had me glued to every minute, always mad at the end of the show because I had to wait another week to find out what happened? And why was I of all people, a 22 year old single man doing watching a show like this? Well, I guess that explains alot about me, I guess I really needed a life...or maybe it was because my OWN junior high school experience was complete and utter HELL! (hell that I ,may explain at a later date....or maybe not...it's pretty personal). I guess the sick part about all this was my fascination with one character in the show....Caitlyn Ryan played by Stacie Mistysyn. Caitlyn had something about her....probably her eyes....I've always been melted inside by a person's eyes (no...not THAT way). So where am I going with this story of utter nausea anyway? Well, Noggin (now known as The N...at least at night for the teens) began showing a show called Degrassi, The Next Generation a few years ago I guess....and since it's inception, I always wondered if it in ANY way referenced the previous incarnation. Most of the time I cursed this new show, that had NOTHING to do with Degrassi junior High and it's later version Degrassi High (actually, I never bothered even tuning in to DTNG...so I had no idea if it was related or not). Well, The N got smart and began showing what THEY call Degrassi: Old School....which is in fact the ORIGINAL Degrassi shows. So what have I been doing lately? Staying glued to the set watching this show that has a strange power over me for 3 straight hours every Sunday through Thursday....oh, and Caitlyn looks hotter than ever! STRANGE BUT ODD COINCIDENTAL EVENT DEPT: Not only has The Floydman been obsessed with Degrassi since the early days, but even Kevin Smith of Jay and Silent Bob and Clerks fame has ALSO been a fan of the show since the early days when he would watch the show on TV while working as a convenience store...uh....clerk (ironically enough...in the same Quickstop where he shot Clerks). Kevin even named one of the characters in Clerks Caitlyn...Because like me, the man was obsessed and has good taste in underage females... AND he even appeared in three episodes of the new Degrassi series....which I recently found out has a few of the original members all grown up.....including Caitlyn, whom he actually got to KISS!!! Oh my god, I'm starting to sound like a pre-pubescent little girl! GOD HELP ME BUT I"M HOOKED (again)!!! If you have absolutely NO CLUE what I'm talking about...follow this link for some spiritual enlightenment: http://www.fu-manchu.com/degrassi/degrassibio.asp .

Dare I tell you about my association with The Babysitter's Club?....mmmm...some things are not meant to be shared....

F