March 30, 1981 – Where were you when you got the news?

Today, March 30, 2011 marks the 30th Anniversary of the Day President Ronald Reagan was shot outside the Washington Hilton Hotel.

Because I'm old enough I remember not only that, but also the day that John F. Kennedy was assasinated.  The question as I was growing up was “Do you remember where you were when JKF was shot?”  Obviously for many that's a more vivid memory because of the tragic outcome of that shooting.

But Reagan survived, and even joked about it on the way to and at the hospital, telling Nancy “I forgot to duck,” and looking at the surgeons saying “I hope you're all Republicans.”

I was working my first “real” job out of college at the time. I was a lab assistant for a consulting engineering firm in Blacksburg.  It had nothing to do with anything I was trained for.  But, it was

work.

I remember the hopeless feeling there as we didn't have access to a television, much less the 24 hour news cycle of the Internet and Twitter and more.  And most of us still had to walk across the room to change the television channel.

But the feeling was horrible as we reflected back on the victory of the fall election and how, after four abysmal years with Jimmy Carter in the White House we finally felt that indeed there was hope in America again.

Many have told the story.  Many continue to tell the story.  A new book out features the perspective of one of the Secret Service agents and we recently heard a previously undisclosed tape of the communications with the White House.

A scary time.

But Reagan was strong and was soon back to work.

I don't know how deranged you have to be to want to kill a national leader.  And yes, I remember the John Hinckley/Jodie Foster jokes.  But I just don't understand the mindset.

Thankfully Reagan survived.  It's hard to believe that it's been thirty years.

I remember it as if it were yesterday.

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Still the best TV Ever…

Thanks to Netflix, I just re-watched Season 6 of LOST.

Yes, I recall that the ending was controversial and that it didn't answer enough questions. But it did for me the second time through.

At least I have my own personal theory based on some of what Christian told Jack there in the church.

Regardless of the meaning, the six seasons of LOST were six (and a little more actually) years of some of the best television we've seen. Sure you had to work to keep up with it. In my case, I tried watching it the first time it aired, then I got side tracked. So I caught up, again via Netflix.

Toward the end, my family knew that the LOST hour was not the time to ask me anything.

Watching it again, I was surprised how much I still feel attached to the characters. When Jin and Sun died in the submarine I still wanted to scream “NOOOOOOO!!!” In fact I'm

pretty sure the first time around that was my Facebook status.

And when they all gathered that last time in the church, it just felt right. All was good.

I don't watch much regular TV. Most of the time I refuse to get caught up in a series. It happened with LOST, with Battlestar Galactica and with 24.

Although I didn't make it through all of the seasons of 24 until later. Some of them I just couldn't stand. And I'd still cheer for the cougar. Translation: Kim Bauer = World's Most Annoying Television Character Ever. She's the Jar Jar Binks of Broadcast Television.

But I digress.

Few television series or movies make me want to watch them over and over again. I want to go back and rewatch all six seasons of LOST. Again, I got through the first two seasons of 24 recently and I was done. I couldn't move on to Season 3. As for movies, I can't get enough of Lord of the Rings. I'm geek-ish that way.

I don't know when next a series or movie will capture my attention again the way LOST did.

Let me check my Netflix queue.

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