Thursday, December 31, 2009
Happy New Year to ya
Maybe I wasn't paying attention?
Generation X is now, mercifully, no longer discussed, possibly because its members are too old to be of interest, and Generations Y and Z passed without much notice because no one ever had a clue who those phrases referred to. In fact, since 9/11 and the recession, the media have generally abandoned their attempts to name and define generational traits, possibly because everybody in the western world appears to be in the same economic and cultural boat.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
For those lucky ones in Tulsa
December 30, 2009: Tulsa is getting the next generation of radio as Clear Channel’s KQLL-FM has become KTGX-FM, "106.1 Gen X Radio." The station will feature music from the 80’s and 90’s and will cross musical genres by featuring Grunge, Hip Hop, Hair Bands, Boy Bands and others. Representative artists will include U-2, Eminem, Dave Matthews, Madonna and Pearl Jam.
Already a problem in FL
For 60 years, Mary Schaaf has had a driver's license, and now, at the age of 86, she finds she's driving more than ever.That's because her friends are not. One by one, they have surrendered their car keys, their independence overtaken by fading eye sight, slowing reflexes and physical infirmities that make navigating the fast-paced roads of Montgomery County too risky.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Get me to 2010 immediately, if not, sooner.
Same life, different person.
Our parents grew up knowing what their careers would look like: stable job, long stints in one or two companies, early retirement. My generation never had a plan, and that has helped us appreciate our successes and cope with our professional missteps and setbacks.
And boy, what setbacks we’ve had. I’ve been laid off four times so far and my resume looks like a toxic waste dump of high-flying publications that fell hard and fast into the great abyss of a media graveyard. It turns out I made a particularly poor choice in careers, but I’m a survivor.
I’ve always had a job and yet I've never had job security. It’s the only reality I know.
Monday, December 28, 2009
Finally back.
And, for you, some music.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Another reason to turn the page on a fuck-awful decade
If you're unemployed...
As I have been reconnecting with my professional network, I’ve realized that I belong to Generation X, a cohort characteristically described as being independent, situational, and comfortable with change and diversity. We are at ease with using digital technology to run simulations and mathematical models, to conduct business, and to maintain social relationships.
Each of our cultural generations have faced unique challenges as we lived through defining moments of economic and social changes. Though my life experiences have been unique to me and have played a part in shaping the person I have become — some aspects really do not differ significantly from the challenges faced by my generational peers. When sharing my personal narrative, I have been occasionally met with expressions of disbelief followed by support. Here’s how I try to combat the stereotypes of the ’slacker’ generation that I belong. Below are the more common questions I have fielded recently from my network:
Monday, December 21, 2009
Non-Tiger related golf news
There are many ways of getting yourself banned from exclusive country clubs. Being poor or a minority are probably the most common, but letting them film a golf-themed porno there is probably the most exciting.
Raul Quintana owned a number of condos on exclusive Fisher Island, just off of Miami Beach. One day last year, he rented out one of the units to a "representative from a modeling agency" that wanted to hold a "photo shoot." You can imagine where this went.
Yes, the "photo shoot" turned out to be the filming of "A Sexy Golfing Experience," on the high-class site "Ass Parade." We'll let the Miami New Times pick it up from here.
If you have to ask "are we getting old"
I'm not saying younger generations are sensory-deprived. It just seems that we Boomers use our senses more naturally and in more situations. We didn't grow up in front of televisions and computer screens. We spent more time outside, learned and experienced things in different ways. I wonder if it explains how we still approach the world, and maybe life. Likely it's true for every generation. I wonder what the Gen X-ers will say about Generation Y.
Sunday, December 20, 2009
The East Coast Blew up this weekend
Thursday, December 17, 2009
In case you're interested...
MIRAMAR, Fla. -- A South Florida woman whose husband won the lottery and then left her was set to be evicted from her home Tuesday evening.
But Local 10’s camera was rolling when Donna Campbell received an early Christmas present.
Campbell was given until Tuesday to pack up and leave the Miramar home she once shared with her husband, Arnim Ramdass.
A little weird, I guess
Putting a beloved comic in a TV commercial is a great idea. But when he's dead? Not so much.The local car dealers always have George Washington and Abe Lincoln giving us a sales pitch about the Presidents Day sale.
Last October, DirecTV ran a spot with a scene from 1995's "Tommy Boy." The comedy starred David Spade and Chris Farley, who died of a drug overdose in 1997. In the commercial, Spade "broke character" to shill for the satellite TV provider as a resurrected Farley performed his "Fat-Guy-in-a-Little-Coat" dance.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Game on!
Meanwhile, the number of Generation X'ers (or those born between 1966 and 1982, a demographic that includes yours truly) with a gaming console at home surged from 53 percent three years ago to 70 percent today, according to the VentureBeat story, while 44 percent of baby boomers (born between 1947 and 1965) now have a console in the living room.
Boomers that deserve praise
This should have happened years ago.
The Stooges have finally graduated from the Fun House to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
The pioneering Ann Arbor punk rockers will be admitted into the Rock Hall's Class of 2010, organizers announced Tuesday. They'll be inducted March 15 alongside ABBA, Genesis, the Hollies and Jimmy Cliff at New York's Waldorf Astoria hotel.The Stooges were becoming perennial also-rans on the Rock Hall ballot, always the sweaty, peanut butter-slathered bridesmaid but never the bride. Now, things have been righted for the visceral rockers, who formed in the late 1960s in Ann Arbor.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
This world has gone mad
Arrogant Motherfuckers
According to a survey by the Scripps Howard News Service and Ohio University, "Baby Boomers" have more fun and better music than generations on either side of us. Forty-four percent of respondents said we boomers have the most fun in life and 43% said our music was significantly better than that of either the WW2 (Silent) generation or Gen X-ers. Anyone surprised?
How did the music that typified the feelings of rebellion and unfettered love, evolve from the music that separated my generation from my parents’, and become the music that my kids still love today?
Stephanie Seymour
When a “fairy-tale” marriage goes bad, the ending can be extremely grim. Amid the storm of allegations surrounding the divorce of supermodel Stephanie Seymour and tycoon Peter Brant—substance abuse! art theft! child neglect! brutal security guards!—Mario Testino photographs one marital asset that is indisputably Seymour’s.
Monday, December 14, 2009
The U
The best cultural documentary I've seen in awhile. One doesn't have to like sports to appreciate.
Throughout the 1980s, Miami, Florida, was at the center of a racial and cultural shift taking place throughout the country. Overwhelmed by riots and tensions, Miami was a city in flux, and the University of Miami football team served as a microcosm for this evolution. The image of the predominantly white university was forever changed when coach Howard Schnellenberger scoured some of the toughest ghettos in Florida to recruit mostly black players for his team. With a newly branded swagger, inspired and fueled by the quickly growing local Miami hip hop culture, these Hurricanes took on larger-than-life personalities and won four national titles between 1983 and 1991. Filmmaker Billy Corben, a Miami native and University of Miami alum, will tell the story of how these “Bad Boys” of football changed the attitude of the game they played, and how this serene campus was transformed into “The U.”
RIP
The death of World Wrestling Entertainment superstar Edward Fatu, who wrestled under the name "Umaga," has sparked discussion in wrestling circles over the rigors of the sport.
Fatu, 36, died Friday of a heart attack in a hospital in Houston, Texas, a family friend confirmed.
Also known as "The Samoan Bulldozer," the 6-foot-4-inch, 350-pound wrestler earned a reputation for executing moves with more ease than one might expect from someone his size, facing off in high-profile bouts with WWE celebrities such as Triple H and Ric Flair.
In their minds they're always the victims
Welcome, Baby Boomers. In another year or two you're going to start retiring and joining us old folks. You better get ready. After all these decades of being the toast of the town, the biggest-ever generation to whom attention must be paid, you're about to become passé.
Or not.
For generations, elders in America have been treated the way you used to treat that kid in your class who was just a little smaller or weaker, a little different. We've been dissed as unattractive, unproductive, unequal, and decidedly uncool.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
If you want something done....
The Only Journalist that Matters (a GenXster, too)
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Sorry Dime
Love ya, man.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Florida Wildlife Announcement
In most other states this would be obvious.
State wildlife officials are warning folks not to pick up the remains of dead bears found along Florida's highways and roads, following a Volusia County incident last week in which a roadkill bear was removed from a scene and then skinned and butchered.
New Pumpkins!
Luckily for me the Pumpkins – well, Billy Corgan and some other people are regaining their credibility by releasing a 44 track album for free from their site. A new track every week or so, by the looks of things. They’ll eventually be collected up into four 11 track EPS. Eshewing the music industry conventions has become the defacto statement by 90s alt rockers – NIN being the other big name – sticking it to the man by releasing apps rather than albums.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
This would beach a whale
Heavy traffic backed up for miles Monday along roads leading to Oahu's North Shore. Some of the world's most daring surfers took on the powerful and dangerous waves, which forecasters say could reach heights of 50 feet.
Would you like a hamburger with that lipstick?
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (AP) -- A 25-year-old Port St. Lucie man was arrested for allegedly rubbing a hamburger on his wife's face during an argument.
So you want to retire, huh?
- Work during retirement
- Spend less during retirement
- Retire later to accumulate more $.
Monday, December 7, 2009
What about us?
It looks like the Democratic Senators are exploring the possibility of expanding Medicare to those 55-64 years of age. Fucking great. What about the non-babyboomers that don't have insurance or are existing with shitty insurance? The boomers were graced with the greatest economy of any generation over their lifetime, so I have little tolerance for them getting a perk no one else is eligible for.
If this gets signed as it's presently being framed the Democrats can expect huge losses in the upcoming elections. And they'd deserve it. I don't even think the youngins' would necessarily go over to the Republicans, either - the last election showed that Gen Y hate their guts. The youthy ones will just embrace apathy as us GenXsters did during the 1980's and 90's.
Gawd, I miss the days when I just laid around not even caring about getting fucked over by the old goons in office. Somewhere along the line I fucked up and began caring about little things like how our tax dollars were spent. Shame on me.
I'm a little late on this one
Actress Meredith Baxter revealed recently that she is a lesbian. Her news was news only because Baxter had so fully established an image of perfectly happy wife-hood in her role as the mom in the long-running 1980s sitcom "Family Ties."
Right next to the King Tut exhibit
I'm struggling to form an opinion on this.
That institution -- also known as the venerable Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences -- is preparing to celebrate the decade that gave the building its distinctive postmodern design (there's another 80s buzzword), an amalgam of industrial building and contemporary architecture, heavy on the vernacular.
The 80s Are Back is an exhibition that examines Australian life and popular culture in the 80s: the styles, trends and subcultures, and how they found expression in fashion, design, music, film and television.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
If you saw this sign outside of a restaurant what would you think?
Friday, December 4, 2009
You're a GenXster!
In her 8 year career, Erica has experienced more change and uncertainty than her Baby Boomer parents ever dreamed of. It’s reflective of her generation. Those in Generation X and even Y are far more equipped to navigate change than previous generations. According to About.com those in Generation X are “…independent, resourceful and self-sufficient, they are the “… first generation to grow up with computers, technology woven into their lives.” In fact, Erica had her first computer in elementary school, remembers their first laptop that was so huge they had to pack in a suitcase for travel and even remembers the first two way pager her dad had at his job with IBM - it was as big as a her lunchbox.
I understand their significance. Really I do.
Thanks mom for introducing me to Paul, John, George and Ringo. I’ve introduced them to my son as well. All is good with the world! Gen-X’ers – what type of music are you introducing your kids too?I guess he didn't listen to the great college radio during the 80s and 90s. He'd have known Gen X made some awesome-ist music, too.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Take care Bobby
I can't say I'll miss him and all the losses he gave the Florida Gators, but I'll give Bobby his due. He probably coached more great GenXsters than anyone else.
I'm even willing to perform a sacrilegious act and put some FSU highlights on this site:
In keeping with the AIDS theme today
Strange days back then
In the early 1980's, when AIDS was rearing it's ugly head, Generation X was just coming of age. Many of our parents were divorcing, and our older boomer siblings were in and out of confusing relationships. This might be why AIDS, for most of us, was a distant disease. As a generation, we are more faithful than our boomer predecessors and have had fewer partners than our millenial successors. For Gen X, relationships are important. I'm not implying that they aren't important for boomers or millenials, but for Gen X, it's different. We look for fidelity; we look toward sharing. We look for long-lasting, meaningful relationships in ways the other generations don't.I don't agree so much on our "meaningful relationships". Gen X has fucked up marriages as badly as the boomers.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Fuck the wheel.
Russian professor Evgeny Moskalev of Saint Petersburg Technological University has evolved a technique that allows turning alcohol into powder and packing it in pills. The new technique can solidify any kind of alcohol, including whisky, cognac, wine and beer. The new technique can solidify any kind of alcohol, including whisky, cognac, wine and beer.
Too late
This is an open letter to Hollywood movie producers, studios, directors and anyone else out to inadvertently ruin the cartoons, video games & toys that I grew up with by creating and releasing terrible films. Stop. Just stop it already. There are tons of talented screenwriters out there that have written some great original work. Give them a chance. You’ll spend less and you’ll no longer be destroying the building blocks of my childhood entertainment. I think I speak for most of my generation (somewhere between generation X and generation Y) in this regard.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Never thought it'd come down to this
As a middle-schooler I used to make fun of Duran Duran mercilessly. If any dude had even been accused of being a fan of theirs it would ensure they got an ass beating and possibly the AC/DC logo carved into their chest with a guitar pick.
But, unlike today's boy band act, The Jonas Brothers, we all conceded that the members from Duran Duran were gettin' down with the ladies. I mean those guys were killing it. So much so that my friend's older sister was denied entrance to getting backstage. And she was a perfect 10. So hot that a year earlier Bon Jovi took her along for 2 tour stops after Tampa. Jesus was their mother mad.
Anyway, here's to Duran Duran for being the least wussy boy band (and they did play their instruments, too. Something that was beyond The Backstreet Boys).
Take that beeeeeyotches!
But one thing we can truly call our own are video games. I grew up in the area of arcades. For you who are not familiar with what an arcade was, it was a place which had pinball machines, crane games, air hockey, and, of course, video games. There were rows and rows of video games. I wish kids today could have seen it.
Your daily scold
I guess we'll forever be thought of as a 17 year old with a bad attitude.
Why do I tell this grim tale of the hunter and hunted? To remind you, Generation X, that in order to climb you must use your hands, feet, head and heart. Merely using one on that list will get you nowhere.
To climb the company ladder you must use your manners -- remember manners, Generation X? You have to, even when it means biting your tongue and honoring the talent and history of those around you. To bring about change, change that involves you as a key player, is a process of unfolding the past while creating a vision for the future. It doesn't involve throwing a bomb into the middle of what is being done as a way to "shake things up;" those who have been toiling away won't take kindly to that and neither will managers who don't have the time for feather smoothing.
The awards for the Yankees continue to roll in
Sunday, November 29, 2009
St00pid gossipy shit
We'll see how well that goes.
Silly baby boomer
A 55-year-old Hillsborough County man has been jailed following a shooting that authorities think happened after a squabble over soda.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
We've earned the right to whine (and some take full advantage of it)
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Almost gator bait
“Considering he’d been in the Everglades for four days without food, without water and without sleep, he’s doing pretty good,” said Dr. Charlene DeLuca, the hospital’s chief of medicine.Mosch, who grew up hunting and camping in the woods of upstate New York, went hunting off of Interstate 75 with newfound friends in the national preserve, which covers 730,000 acres.
While the other hunters stayed in camp fixing their truck, Mosch said he decided to strike out on his own Monday afternoon to bag a deer. He soon realized he was lost and that his compass didn’t work.
“I’d never seen woods like this before,” Mosch said. “Think of the worst jungle you’ve ever seen. This was it times ten.”
Vinyl still sounds the best
I’m old enough not just to remember 45s, but to have purchased one. (Please stop laughing.) Over the course of my 43 years, I’ve cycled through every configuration cranked out by the music industry.
As a kid, it was LPs, black vinyl discs the size of dinner plates that I handled with elaborate caution. Then came the miracle of cassettes - an album you could fit in your pocket! I amassed 500 of those, before compact discs took over. I figured CDs would be the end of the line, technologically. Which just shows what a rube I am. Within a decade, the wonders of digital music had rendered them hopelessly outdated. CDs? Those were, like, so 1999.
Monday, November 23, 2009
Guilty Pleasure
Oh, and Black Sabbath, too.
His future political opponents will use this in an ad
But, sometimes something really funny hits the intertubes and I cannot help it. Especially when a anti-gay marriage state senator makes a statement like this:
I meet with the gays here and there. They were in my house two weeks ago. I don’t mind gays. But I don’t want ‘em stuffing it down my throat all the time. Certainly not in my kid’s face.
Gen Y starting to 'get it'
I think it's funny how cyclical things are. The Hippies, who were Baby Boomers, said they were never gonna give into the man, were never gonna trust anyone over thirty, never give in to corporate pressure, seem to have lost the vision they held when they were young. They now dominate the market, and haven't really brought the change they said they were going to. The jaded Gen-Xers are having a hard time because the Baby Boomers won't give them their chance. And the Gen Yers are heading off into the world, saying we're going to change everything too. But, odds are, if we are anything like the generations before us (and we probably are), we won't bring about the changes we want to either. We may end up just as money- and power-hungry as everyone before us. We may sit back and let the injustices of the world continue.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
...and don't say "maybe we can still be friends?".
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Keep drinking the Haterade
I was amused at the recent story in the A-J about how the "Generation X" individuals (ages 32 to 44) are "becoming tired of waiting for their turn as the boss."
I may be old-fashioned, but I didn't think we got a "turn" at being boss. I thought you had to earn that through hard work, dedication, and patience.
Oh well, that may not be the only surprise the "Gen Xers" get in life.
JIM BERTRAM/Ransom Canyon
Well they're not gonna fire the cheap labor
The Associated Press cites a survey that finds that the biggest gripe of 40 percent of Gen Xers about their jobs is "lack of career progress." One reason they're not getting promoted is that their elders are not retiring the way they are supposed to, and in this economy they're not going to.
And while Gen Xers are worrying about job loss, foreclosures and debt, the Gen Yers appear to be blissfully unconcerned. And Gen Xers feel employers slight them in favor of Gen Y, a feeling not without foundation. The AP cites a survey done for Deloitte consulting that "found that nearly two-thirds of executives at large companies were most concerned about losing Gen Y employees, while less than half of them had similar concerns about losing Gen Xers." Ouch.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Have a bad feeling 'bout this one
Marketing Crap
The report showed that while Generation X women were found to rely more on friends and newspaper articles, women from the next generation down, Gen Y, were more apt to discover a new product through status updates. The Gen Y women were also found to be more influenced by blogs – those written by professionals, as well as those written by people with whom the women can identify.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
I don't know how I ended up in Upstate NY
What a twisted weekend that became. I never thought there'd come a time when I'd be sick of looking at naked women, but by the third day I barely noticed nudity or fucking in public.
Love when people bash us
The “I am Owed Gen X Clowns” are getting what they deserve, a size 13 shoe up the back side. Lazy bums.
RIP
Ken Ober, best known as the host of MTV's late-1980s game show "Remote Control," died Sunday at his Los Angeles home. He was 52.
Representatives for Ober confirmed his death, but the cause of death was not immediately known. Monday, the Internet was abuzz with speculation that Ober had died.