Back In The Day

I’m not sure why, but we seem to be fascinated with stuff that should have died (figuratively or literally) a long time ago. Yes, the past is always better than what the future seems to hold and there is no one in the present who offers us a shot at a better life, world, or universe. Still, there are some things we just can’t get over in my life that are of no importance.

For instance, we seem to all realize, and in my case make fun of, Fox News and their infatuation with anything that has to do with Bill or Hillary Clinton. How much longer will that network live off the Clinton gravy train? My guess: a lot longer. When they make a point of mentioning Hillary has a lower approval rating than Trump as a way of telling the public Trump is not that bad, then the network is truly clinging to the past. Now that Chelsea is considering a run for the Senate, Fox looks set to be ready for another Clinton on the national scene as their face and victim of their vitriol.

A lot of people sure have a fascination with O.J. Simpson. I can understand why the Goldman family might be interested in whether or not OJ is granted parole, but do we need to care? Is he worth the cost of keeping in prison? Is he about to become a free man and cash in on the publicity that will come from interviews and book deals? Will he be embraced by the black community while hated by the white community? Most of all, will he fall madly in love with Caitlyn Jenner and the two go on to star in yet another pointless reality television show?

Forty-eight years ago, man walked on the moon and here we are today trying to figure out a more expensive way to place man on the moon again? What was once a giant leap for mankind is now being viewed as a race between private enterprises instead of us against the commies. Seems pointless to me.

I have also seen numerous stories of late about the existence of photos showing Amelia Earhart having survived what was always thought as a mysterious disappearance. I don’t get it. It was 80 years ago and either way, she is dead by now. If she fooled the world and disappeared and remained that way, she either crashed in such a remote location she could not have possibly enjoyed much of a life or she did not want to be found because she was clairvoyant and knew what the future held and didn’t like what she saw.

If you are at all like me, white, male, and grew up listening to the British Invasion of rock and roll, then you probably believe there has not been much decent music since the end of the Reagan/Bush era. I am sure there may still be some newer rock acts out there worthy of a listen, but with the way the industry has changed, auto tuning, downloading, and corporate promotion, I just don’t trust anything I hear that was produced after 1992.

When acts like U2, Guns N’ Roses, The Rolling Stones, and Bruce Springsteen out draw any act half or a third their age, it tells me old farts like me either have no appreciation for today’s newer music or younger people see through the digital BS of today’s stuff and value real music from an era long gone. When Fleetwood Mac sold 4 million copies of Tusk, it was considered a huge disappointment. Does anyone sell 4 million copies of anything anymore?

Sports Illustrated went over board this past week with their ultimate fantasy football league. They enlisted a team of experts to draft entire 53 man rosters of anyone whoever played in the NFL, past and present. Lets see, I need a wide receiver so I will pick Don Hudson over Larry Fitzgerald even though all I know about Hudson are his stats and there is a really cool photo of him making a great catch when players wore leather helmets.

Are there really people out there today debating who was better, a guy who played before World War II versus a star from today? I’d rather fantasize about who I find more beautiful, Rita Hayworth or Scarlett Johansson. I have to go with Scarlett since I don’t find dead women all that attractive.

It’s odd that in the mother of all throw away societies, we keep being fascinated by past things of little significance while remaining ignorant to our actual history. Republicans love to brag about being the party of Lincoln and the people who freed slaves as if it means anything to a race who today finds itself targeted by the GOP policies that still favor rich white men over poor blacks searching for a better life.

The GOP may call it voter fraud, but it really amounts to voter suppression because lets face it, if you can’t get them to vote for you then you might as well make it impossible for them to vote at all.

Of course, now that my youngest kid is all of 24 years of age, I find today’s kids, anyone under the age of 18, to be much worse than anything when I was a kid. Fortunately, my parents and grandparents thought the same about my generation when I was growing up so I rest well knowing that when little Skippy or Precious reaches middle age, they will believe they were far superior kids than the ones who drive them crazy.

In reality, kids remind me just how far we have advanced technologically. Forty-five years ago, I could recite the phone numbers of all my friends, walk across the room to change the television channel, ride my bike downtown to go buy something, play outside all summer long, and figure out math problems without the use of a calculator.

Today, kids store phone numbers in their phone, download movies and watch them on their phone, purchase things online using their phone, play video games on their phone, and figure out math answers using their phone.

Of course, because they do, they’re too busy to call you on their phone, but that’s okay, when they drop their phone in the toilet, they’ve lost their entire life as they know it. In my day, the phone extension chord never reached the bathroom ,which might be why life was so much better back in the day.