I was catching up on my Google+ stream and looking at my Sparks to see what was going on in different areas of interest a few moments ago. Two of the interests that I have listed on my profile are (of course) the Hard Rock Cafe, and comic books.
I remember a professional acquaintance telling me a year or so ago about a comic book discussion group that he hosted at a local library. I always wanted to make it, but never did. When he and I were discussing the world of comics and great issues of our childhood years, I recall his mentioning that he felt that comic books were a snapshot of where a culture is at any given point in history. I find myself in agreement with that (do we need to look any further than the Watchmen for evidence?)
I think that the reason I’m so interested in rock history as well, though, is very similar. I can certainly trace the more profound moments of my childhood by going back through the music that I was listening to at the time. This is true, though, of nearly all of us…I imagine that you can do the same thing. And, I think that, culturally, we can go back through our musical history and see in it the same snapshot of what was going on culturally at a specific time period.
The reason I count visiting and collecting merchandise from the Hard Rock Cafe among my hobbies is because of the museum aspect of the restaurants. I think that they give visitors a glimpse of the history of the music that is a soundtrack to our culture.
How do you remember profound moments in your life? Does music take you back there? If not comic books, do other books cause you to remember? Movies? How does artistic expression take you back to the “glory days?”