What Are You Watching?

[Vicki]

"I have a younger sister (who isn't the brightest) who one day asked me how i 'taped a show' if we didn't have a vcr when i was younger. further, the youngest in our family *he's 19 this year* couldn't figure out how to use a dial phone! no, my siblings aren't 'that' slow - just spoilt!!!"

Lesley, that is so funny. A few years ago, I was at a book reivew given by William Gibson, the futuristic science fiction writer. One of the younger members of the audience asked him if it was ture that he had written a particular book "completely on a typewriter."

Mr Gibson looked a bit startled for a moment and then explained very carefully to this very young man that EVERYONE used typewriters at one time.

He also suggested that if anyone could find one of those printing balls used on old IBM Selectrics, they should take it and hang it from a chain to wear as a necklace.  He said that some day it will be considered a real antique and worth a lot of money.

[Lesley]

vicki funny, but i just got rid of my typewriter - even though we have had the computer for a while - i kept the typewriter, you know, "just in case". ha ha. oh well, i still have many record albums too.

lesley

[Miles]

Vicki, Lesley...
Maybe you've seen this...
(my apologies to our British hosts and members - many of the references are probably uniquely American...)..

Just in case you weren't feeling too old today, this will certainly change things. Each year the staff at Beloit College in Wisconsin put together a list to try to give the faculty a sense of the mindset of this year's incoming freshmen. Here is this year's list:

1. The people who are starting college this fall across the nation were born in 1982.
2.  They have no meaningful recollection of the Reagan Era and probably did not know he had ever been shot.
3.  They were prepubescent when the Persian Gulf War was waged.
4.  They were 11 when the Soviet Union broke apart and do not remember the Cold War.
5.  They have never feared a nuclear war.
6.  They are too young to remember the space shuttle blowing up.
7.  Their lifetime has always included AIDS.
8.  Bottle caps have always been screw off and plastic.
9.  Atari predates them, as do vinyl record albums. The statement you sound like a broken record means nothing to them.
10. They have never owned a record player.
11. They have likely never played Pac Man and have never heard of Pong.
12. They may have never heard of an 8 track. The Compact Disc was introduced when they were 1 year old.
13. They have always had an answering machine.
14. They have never seen a rotary-dial telephone except at a yard sale.
15. Most have never seen a TV set with only 13 channels, nor have they ever seen a black-and-white TV.
16. They have always had cable.
17. There has always been VCRs, but they have no idea what BETA is.
18. They cannot fathom not having a remote control.
19. They were born the year that Walkmans were introduced by Sony.
20. Roller-skating has always meant inline for them.
21. Jay Leno has always been the host on the Tonight Show.
22. They have no idea when or why Jordache jeans were cool.
23. Popcorn has always been cooked in the microwave.
24. They have never seen Larry Bird play.
25. They never took a swim and thought about Jaws.
26. They can't imagine what hard contact lenses are.
27. They don't know who Mork was or where he was from.
28. They never heard: "Where's the beef?", "I'd walk a mile for a Camel", "de plane boss, de plane".
29. They do not care who shot J.R. and have no idea who J.R. is.
30. Michael Jackson has always been white.
31. Kansas, Chicago, Boston, America, and Alabama are places, not rock groups.
32. McDonalds never came in Styrofoam containers.
33. They don't have a clue how to use a typewriter, and have only seen one in an attic or at a yard sale.


Miles

[Ann]

Miles,

I think that deserves a thread all to itself! I'm already in the grips of nostalgia remembering when I heard Chicago play at the Royal Albert Hall in London. I still have a double album of theirs - vinyl, naturally.

How about starting a nostaligia topic off with it, there are only a very few items that won't ring bells with us British members.

Ann

[Lesley]

oooh miles. thank you. i think i just aged 10 years!
i had (thankfully) put a lot of that list out of memory.
of course i'm only in my thirties - i bet some of you remember a few more things for that list!!
ok, that was low - just kidding. with age comes wisdom- of course, wisdom helps when things from the seventies and eighties keep getting dredged up, and we knew they weren't worth it the first time around.
funny though my husband still has that stupid 'rubik's cube' somewhere- never could complete that thing- we just re-arranged all the stickers to get it done.

lesley

p.s. i wasn't very old - but i was really good at 'pong'

[Maria]

I recall some years ago, my neice was looking at my old school photo and she remarked on the uniforms people wore "..in the olden days..." I was about 25 at the time!!!!

Talking of typewriters....I remember writing up my final dissertation (some 20,000 words) on a little cheap, portable typewriter. The ribbon kept 'running out' and I had to keep turning it around and rewinding it to get maximum use out of it. The words got more and more faded as the thing went on! Tippex was my greatest friend, although some mistakes were too big to correct and I'd have to type the whole page out again! When I got my first computer I thought it was the best invention ever!

Maria

[Vicki]

Miles, I remember everything on that list. Thanks a lot for reminding me how ancient I am.

The Michael Jackson comment cracked me up. He was such a cute little kid now he's just  scary.

I don't think the references where unfamiliar to our British friends. Especially the language. When I visited England a couple of years ago I was amazed to hear our slang and expressions being used with very Bristish accents. Even our Anne, in her translation of Spoc and Dracs' adventure diary, interspersed a few Americanisms like "as if" into the narration.

It's a small world, after all.   8)

[Vicki]

Oh dear, the X-Files has shown it's last. What will I do on Sunday nights? It jumped the shark about a year ago but I still hung on loyally.

Well, there are always re-runs.