An Undiscovered Horror

*Note, I already wrote this post once, but the internet sucks, so it didn't save. Stupid technology!*

Way back yonder in ancient times; high school that is, my school had an annual event called the "Air Show". It was a psuedo talent show, but more akin to your basic lip sync contest. It involved very little talent; although some of the numbers included some dance. Well, when my best friend and I were freshmen, we entered the competition with our own choreographed number. Those that know the 80's cheesefest; Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, will know the tune we chose; "Dancin' in Heaven (Orbital Be Bop)". It is one of the gayest songs ever written, so it seemed appropriate that we; the not-quite-yet-gay (read "out") kids in Hicksville USA would choose to dance to it. Most of the numbers in the "Air Show" were songs by hair metal bands, or female artists doing choregraphy. Two young queens dancing was unheard of. I guess "girls" really did wanna have fun, cuz we were oblivious. I am certain that this was the start of numerous requests from bigoted slackjaws to have us wiped out. We received generous audience support and kudos from the other acts. We ended up winning nothing, but were determined to come back next year, and take the top prize. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, our sophomore year saw no such "Air Show". Our junior year found me with girlfriend (you read it here). Best friend, girlfriend and I went in together for this year's show; doing another topper of the gayest songs ever put to paper; Madonna's "Vogue". I hold some bitterness on this year's "Air Show", cuz we worked our asses off. Admittedly, we only copied the choreography from the video, but we had no training. We ended the show with no top prize, while some of the "jock" boys took second place. They decided to do a mock number of the New Kids on the Block, right at the audition, where as we were completely choreographed and ready for performance at the auditions. Go figure. Here we are at the reason for this post and the significance of the title. I dug out all of my old VHS tapes, and have begun to transfer them to DVD; those pieces that are not yet available in modern terms, or shows/plays, etc from high school and college. Among these many tapes are my copies of the "Air Show". It wasn't until my fourth year of college that I even became aware that a copy of our "Vogue" existed. Through a friend of my brother and sister-in-law, I obtained a copy of the show, and was pleased to find our "Vogue" still held up, and was pretty good. Even reviewing it last night, it still was fun and impressive. Well, that same year, best friend and I each did a solo number. His was John Parr's "Two Hearts" from the American Anthem soundtrack, while mine was "Shell Shock" by New Order; from the film Pretty in Pink (I know, I know). As I perused the tape so many years ago, delighting in our "Vogue" performance, I found best friend's number intact. Mine was nowhere to be found. I figured that I was in luck, cuz if it was anything like best friend's, I was in for some face reddening shame. All of these years later, as I was checking the length of this "Air Show", I fast forwarded past minutes of static, to find my own solo number. Wow! It was as horrific as best friend's. I like to rationalize that we were breaking boundaries in our little corner of the world, and that we were more creative and daring than most our age. Perhaps naive is the right word. At any rate, we wanted to perform, and this was one of our few outlets. Possible ridicule was the last thing on our minds. So, this horror; undiscovered until last night, is now transferred to the 21st century, via DVD. To my avid readers of 0 saddened by our continuous losses, don't fret. The following year, our final year in high school, best friend and I finally triumphed. They added a "talent" competition to the already established "Air Show". By this time I was with out girlfriend, so best friend and I were left to our own devices. Out of the gutter please. We did a seven minute piece focusing on pop culture references that were somehow related to our friendship. To describe all that was part of this masterpiece, it would take 3 additional entries. I'll spare you. So, suffice to say, it included in-jokes, mini-skits, dancing and overall madness. Quite the tour-de-force. We got great response, and walked away with the top prize. Best friend was awarded the "Best Overall Performer" of the evening; no doubt due to his psuedo Madonna performance atop a grand piano; lip-syncing "Sooner or Later". We had the last laugh! Anyway, back to junior year and my "Shell Shock" dancing. Hopefully, the tape that I had is the only one on God's green earth. To my avid readers of 0, please, alert the world that they will never be subjected to this. They can send their thanks to PO Box I Have Been Spared. That is all.

btw; I love how things are timed in our universe. A few days back, I was also going through all of my old cassette tapes; and there are lots. I came across a tape that best friend has sent to me during our college days apart. It had him traipsing around his college campus; introducing me to his daily life and sending a friendly audio hello. I listened to a few moments. Not two days later, I got an email, blog comment and guestbook notation from him. Weird, huh? The email had an attachment; an audio copy of our senior year extravaganza mix. Good to hear from you, old friend.