One of the problems with having hobbies that I prefer to do with something going on in the background is that it actually encourages me to watch more TV than I need to. I don’t mind this if I’m involved in, say, watching all of the first four seasons of Babylon 5 on DVD, but when I don’t have anything in particular to watch and have to instead rely on clicking through channels, well, things get kind of random.
Last night’s project was wrapping temari ball cores. I had already done the centers (rice hulls and bottle-cap rattles inside sections of an old trouser sock), and was now on to the part where all the centers get wrapped in lots and lots of yarn. This is not a task that requires a lot of concentration. I started out watching House, which I consider a worthwhile show, but when it ended, I wasn’t done wrapping, so I had to find something else to watch.
It turns out that the 10pm slot on Monday night has very slim pickings. I kept channel surfing higher and higher, until I ended up in the 120s, where there are mostly just very strange and ever more specific cable stations. One of them is the Sleuth channel, dedicated to reruns of old mystery shows. Thanks to this channel, I have now seen the very first episodes of both Magnum, PI and Miami Vice. Last night’s 10pm offering was Miami Vice again, and I must admit, having never actually watched the show before, it’s really not bad. I think it’s actually growing on me. The pet alligator is a nice touch.
But last night’s episode actually added to my extremely inadvertent store of 80s pop trivia. This was the episode starring a very young (1984) Bruce Willis. As an abusive husband arms dealer bad guy. According to IMDB, it was his very first credited role. I have witnessed historic television.
Yegads. I’ve actually seen that episode.
Now kindly remember every time that you watch that amazing show that I now live just a little ways down from where they were shooting, and that I am probably standing in the very same places that Don Johnson once shot at drug dealers in his very stylish shoes.
Very stylish shoes with no socks. This is a key point of fashion, I feel.