Star Wars Air Conditioning

[bill_schubert]

I was reminded by susandennis entry today talking about summer in the city of a memorable time in the summer of 1977.  We (my wife de jour and I) had moved to the city for a gig in a theater management agency.  Most of the plebeians like us had at best a window air conditioning unit that fought gallantly but fruitlessly to conquer the heat .  Walking down the street was often like walking in the light rain as the window AC's above you dripped condensate.  This was the weather discussion in July:

 21 - Today's high of 104° was a record for the date and the third day of the last four to have a high in the triple digits.  Today was also the final day of a nine-day heat wave that saw afternoon highs average 97° (ten degrees above average). 

This was also the summer of Star Wars.  Before the Internet came along telling us what to think about everything, movies could be released and not everything was known about them even a few months later.  'Star Wars, A New Beginning' was released in May.  We got to the theater in July.  It was early afternoon and the back of the theater had ash trays as it was the smoking section.  And the theater was COLD!!

Donna and I no doubt had cold drinks and popcorn and smoked and forgot about the frying pans called sidewalks that cities such as NYC generate in summer.  And saw a movie we really knew little about so it was all new and shiny and a discovery.  As it ended, neither of us even considered leaving the theater.  We watched it twice.  I do remember taking a nap in the middle of the second one.

It was the summer of Son of Sam who would be arrested a month later.  

We were oblivious.  And cool.  And surfing on the imagination of George Lucas.  It was wonderful.

Comments

[susandennis]

ohhhh so many things to remember there - even tho, I've still never seen a star wars movie...

[stainsteelrat.livejournal.com]

Man do I miss not hearing every single detail about a film before it's released.

[mrdreamjeans.livejournal.com]

Leading into the Summer of '77, I had just finished my one and only semester of grad school and had begun working for Brown & Root Engineering in Houston as a technical editor in the Graphics and Publications Department. Later that year, I would be cast in my first musicals at Theater Under the Stars and my life changed forever!

[bill-schubert.livejournal.com]

How funny. Yeah, just a little different.

That fall my wife and I ended up supporting a traveling opera company. Four singers, a piano player and stage manager and the two of us hanging lights. It was interesting. All the Catholic schools in the area, down to Florida and west to Chicago. I learned to love listening to opera singers. It was awesome to be so close.

[mrdreamjeans.livejournal.com]

What a wonderful experience!

[somedayseattle.livejournal.com]

I remeber that summer well, for bothof those rsaons. I was a stupid kid of 13...going to see Star Wars every weekend then running home full sprint through the streets on NYC, fearing I would be a victim of Son of Sam. I will never forget the elation in the streets the day they nabbed him. I still have a copy of the Daily News announcing his arrest.

[bill-schubert.livejournal.com]

A funny thing to have in common.

Oddly, SoS did not affect me. I was in my 20's and sufficiently self absorbed that I did not much notice. We were out of town with the opera tour a bunch too but I don't even remember discussing it. Of course it was not happening in our area of the city so it wasn't important.

[zoefruitcake.livejournal.com]

That's a great memory