You know you are getting old when:

[GHT]

This is not something that I have experienced but I have heard of it..........many times.
You know that you're getting old when you say something to your kids that your mother said to you....................and you always hated it.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I always think of Hope as a grim object lesson when it comes to entertainers who don't know when to bow off gracefully. In his prime -- 1938 to about 1950 -- he was brilliant. But as soon as he aged out of playing that "vainglorious coward" character that he'd done so well in movies and on radio, he had nothing left. He never had a timeless characterization like Jack Benny had, nor could he work his aging into his act the way George Burns did -- so when he got too old to cringe amusingly and wisecrack his way out of trouble, he didn't really have much else left. Yes, he had decades of TV specials and USO tours ahead, but all of that built on the goodwill he had amassed during his 1940s prime -- and gradually that all faded away. And now few people under the age of 45 or so have any awareness of who he was at all. "Wait, you mean that guy that looked like Quagmire?"

As for Carson, I think his real genius as a performer was understanding what an audience at 11:30 at night wants -- gentle humor that won't get them worked up too much to get to sleep. He never made you think too much with his material, he just lobbed out nice lappy softball jokes, kidded around with interesting guests, and didn't ever work you up so much you had to settle down before dropping off to sleep. Some of the latter-day late-night hosts have been "funnier" than Carson was, and many have been wackier/zanier/more outre -- but when it comes to late-night entertainment, do you really want to have to calm down after watching it?

 

[Turnip]

…you purchase your first quilted Barbour jacket.

 

[Trenchfriend]

Other question.

How good could you tolerate oranges in your late 30s?
I actually like to eat one orange a day, usually on evening dinner. But I'm not sure, if they do me that well or cause some stomach trouble.
You know, I was extremely rarely an orange eater over all the years.

 

[tonyb]

I always think of Hope as a grim object lesson when it comes to entertainers who don't know when to bow off gracefully. In his prime -- 1938 to about 1950 -- he was brilliant. But as soon as he aged out of playing that "vainglorious coward" character that he'd done so well in movies and on radio, he had nothing left. He never had a timeless characterization like Jack Benny had, nor could he work his aging into his act the way George Burns did -- so when he got too old to cringe amusingly and wisecrack his way out of trouble, he didn't really have much else left. Yes, he had decades of TV specials and USO tours ahead, but all of that built on the goodwill he had amassed during his 1940s prime -- and gradually that all faded away. And now few people under the age of 45 or so have any awareness of who he was at all. "Wait, you mean that guy that looked like Quagmire?"

As for Carson, I think his real genius as a performer was understanding what an audience at 11:30 at night wants -- gentle humor that won't get them worked up too much to get to sleep. He never made you think too much with his material, he just lobbed out nice lappy softball jokes, kidded around with interesting guests, and didn't ever work you up so much you had to settle down before dropping off to sleep. Some of the latter-day late-night hosts have been "funnier" than Carson was, and many have been wackier/zanier/more outre -- but when it comes to late-night entertainment, do you really want to have to calm down after watching it?

It’s not just in show biz, either.

The behaviors we might find cute or charming or entertaining in younger people (men especially) are considerably less so in those over 40.

I was quite the barfly in my 20s and well into my 30s. I have few regrets. It was mostly a good time. I never lost a job over it or got a DUI (further evidence of a benevolent god) and rarely did anything that proved embarrassing. I might have more advanced my career and financial interests had I not drank up my paycheck, but who am I fooling? I wouldn’t have done any of that anyway.

My contemporaries in that “lifestyle” who didn’t leave it behind are dead now. Like the sex trade, there ain’t much of a future in it.

 

[tonyb]

I just saw an ad here for Ferrari of Denver.

So much for micro-targeted advertising, eh?

 

[tonyb]

… you see this at the supermarket and say to yourself, “Man, I gotta get me one of them things.”

 

[belfastboy]

… you see this at the supermarket and say to yourself, “Man, I gotta get me one of them things.”

View attachment 510914

Just find one with a crappy cable lock like this one and it can be yours in a matter of seconds.

 

[Turnip]

I just saw an ad here for Ferrari of Denver.

So much for micro-targeted advertising, eh?

If only one silver backed Croesus in midlife crisis stood up that morning the ad has been all worth it.

 

[GHT]

Old age? For some it's just a number on the calendar.

 

[Zombie_61]

Old age? For some it's just a number on the calendar.

Nice try.

 

[AbbaDatDeHat]

No words

 

[LizzieMaine]

All the kids in my circle have been taught to do that from a very early age. It's all part of the detailed obsolete skills curriculum I offer whenever they visit my house.

 

[Doctor Damage]

 

[tonyb]

I know the names of a couple-three late night talk show hosts, but others came and went without ever entering my consciousness.

Most Americans over age 50 or so would say “Johnny Carson” when asked to name the archetypal talk show host. He left his gig more than 30 years ago and has been dead since 2005, yet he remains the standard.

A person might think the model would have run its course by now. But no, every major entertainment network and a few minor ones still have shows following the same basic format.

Today’s sad news of the death of Harry Belafonte came with a reminder that he guest hosted the Tonight Show for a week in 1968. Among his guests that week were Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr., both of whom would be assassinated in the coming months.

That was 55 years ago. It‘s good to be reminded of what our world was then, back when a “negro” hosting the Tonight Show was itself a newsworthy occurrence.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Belafonte's "Tonight Show" interview with RFK, 4/24/68:

 

[tonyb]

^^^^
I question if that date is correct. I believe that Belafonte’s guest hosting week was in February of 1968. RFK and MLK were among his guests that week, but MLK was killed on April 4 of that year. So unless Belafonte guest hosted again in April, and again hosted RFK, this date would be incorrect.

 

[belfastboy]

View attachment 511527

I was a engineering contractor for many years and spent time working in offices. In an accountancy office they had vintage office equipment on display. Old adding machines, typewriters, Selectrix typewriters. A young woman saw me eyeing them and our gaze met. I replied to her..." I not only know what these are but I also know how to use them". She gave me a look and a forced smile that I could not decide if it conveyed contempt or pity.

 

[Tiki Tom]

Today’s sad news of the death of Harry Belafonte came with a reminder that he guest hosted the Tonight Show for a week in 1968. Among his guests that week were Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr., both of whom would be assassinated in the coming months.

That was 55 years ago. It‘s good to be reminded of what our world was then, back when a “negro” hosting the Tonight Show was itself a newsworthy occurrence.

I did not know this. Adds a lot of poignancy to Mr Belafonte’s rendition of “Abraham. Martin, and John.”

 

[Zombie_61]

View attachment 511527

Whoever is keeping scores can put a big fat zero next to my name, 'cause I've done 'em all far more than once.