His Way - James Darren, Star Trek and Memory

DVDs are excellent motivators for exercise, for me. When I am on my treadmill, [running and ignoring phone calls] I watch episodes of TV. My favorite show to watch in this way has been Star Trek: Deep Space 9. [Aka ST:DS9] I've done others, and will have to again soon, but ST:DS9 has been great. This gives me about 45 minutes, which is a good 30-minute run, with a short warm-up and a long cool-down, and consistently good stories. And because I like the stories, I look forward to seeing the next, so I look forward to the exercise.

But I digress.

Season 6 of ST:DS9 introduces a character named Vic Fontaine. He is a singer from the late 1950's & early 1960's (fictional, even in the show.). He is played by James Darren, a singer and actor who is no stranger to sci-fi TV, having starred in the short-lived but long-remembered The Time Tunnel. [And, yes, he was on T.J. Hooker, but who admits to having watched that show? {I most certianly did not. And you can't prove I ever did.}]

At the time of my writing this entry, I have just seen the episode which introduces Vic again -- and I've been waiting for it for a long time. You see though I knew that Vic was not in Seasons 1-5, I was amazed that this episode, His Way, was so deep into the season [Episode 20 of 26].

In this episode, Vic sings the first of his repertoire of "swing standards" including" I've Got You Under My Skin and Come Fly With Me. [Nana Visitor gets a turn with Fever, which I had forgotten, but I'm getting ahead of myself.]
The reason that his appearance coming so late in season 6 amazes me is that when I think of the final two seasons of DS9, I think of Vic. He appears in three of my favorite episodes [His Way being one of them] and he sings many great songs.

In fact, I loved the songs so much, that when I discovered Darren had produced an album with them, and a few others, I simply had to buy it. [You can see the album, "This One's From the Heart" pictured, and clicking it will take you to Amazon.com, where you could order it.] I listen to it frequently. I sing along. They are catchy and they brighten my days. And since many of these songs were also performed by Frank Sinatra I have also purchased music by Ol' Blue Eyes.

I suppose my love of the music, and my frequent exposure to it, play a large role in why I thought Vic and his music appeared sooner. It's a feature of human psychology, I think, that we "remember" things which are especially meaningful to us as having been more meaningful in the grand scheme of things. imdb says Vic was in eight episodes, so I guess he will be appearing fairly regularly in the 30 episodes which conclude the series, but eight episodes out of seven seasons is not really very many -- they are simply concentrated in the ones I see last, each time I see the series, and they contain the music I really like.

I mentioned above that I hard forgotten that Nana Visitor also sings in this episode. Strange, in a way, since the episode is such a favorite. Then again, I don't have her song in my iTunes. I don't listen to it, except when I see the episode. And so, the importance of reinforcement on my memory becomes even clearer. The things we keep being reminded of loom larger and larger in our memories, and the things which slip away, almost cease to be.

That's one reason photographs and music are such blessings: they can help us keep the important things, the happy things, fresh in our minds, and crowd out the unimportant or unpleasant. I say, make it a point to remind yourself of the good things every day. With music, conversation, photos, or just counting your blessings. Train your memory to emphasize the positive. You'll be happier for it.


[I could have sworn I wrote about this when I initially bought the Darren CD. I have scoured my old blogs; I can't find it. I've used the "search" capability embedded on my page; I can't find it. So, if you have the distinct impression you have read this before then a) you have read my blog for a long time and b) you are in good company.]