… but I had counted on that as I had turned in early the night before. Yeah, some weekend nights I do like doing that just to wake the next day to the dark of the morning. There is a certain solace in the still hours just before the dawn that I quite enjoy.
On a shopping trip Friday I picked up the DVD of “Blade Runner“… even though I already owned the “director’s cut” that was released a few years ago. It is one of those movies that people either love or hate (I am of the former ilk) and spawns endless discussions and debates (like “Is Deckard a replicant?”) but even today can still amaze on visual richness alone. (Really, this particular transfer is stunningly gorgeous.) This DVD includes 3 previous versions plus the “final cut” as well as 2 discs of extras that totally tickled my nerd gene. So after I got through the 2 discs of extras I popped in the “final cut” version and took it all in.
The true test of time for any piece in my humble estimation is finding something new or the rediscovery of a theme that is as relevant today as when it was first released. The various versions and cuts not withstanding, the themes of being human and living life fully once more reared itself across in bold 40 foot high letters. It certainly got my noggin cranking though it has been a subject that has flitted across my encasement of grey matter time and again.
In this instance, it got me contemplating the “BS factor”. We all have a quotient of it… or at least remnants of one that was slapped together when we were younger. (One can only hope that as life rolls on we shed more of it in an effort to become more authentic.) This (BS Factor) is something that can manifest itself in many forms. It was (is) usually pulled out in an attempt to boost our esteem in some social setting… often taking the form of some badly disguised boast to impress company. It could also manifest itself as some sort of weird romanticized self depreciation in order to illicit sympathy. Whatever it’s form, it was (is) pulled out to train focus of the spotlight momentarily onto ourselves.
The questions that I have been contemplating in that vein include:
- How much of our BS factor have we held on to from our teenage years?
- Do we shed our BS factor as we get older or do we create newer editions and collect more to store as time rolls on?
- Does continual spewing of our BS eventually make it true?
- How many of us believe our own BS.. and are actually convinced that it defines us?
- Does holding on to our BS impede our ability to live life to it’s fullest?
Yeah, heady questions but ones that usually happen at 4:30 AM for me.