06
Live For Today?
Posted by Simple Dude | Posted in Music, TV | Posted on 06-11-2012
Have you ever wished you lived in a different era? Or grew up in a different time? Let me explain. At work some of the people on my staff are in their early to mid 20′s. One of them is really into rock music from the 80′s. I’ve supported these strange tastes by loading up some good music on his iPod, stuff beyond the typical poppy 80′s crap you still hear on the radio.
I mentioned this before, but I basically grew up in the 80′s. I turned 18 in 1990 so my high school years were spent during the height of the hair band craze. Sadly, I was totally into that craze.
The equation for me was simple… chicks dug bands like Bon Jovi, Poison and Motley Crue. I dug chicks. So I grew my hair long and wore my jeans with holes in them. Bingo! Chicks dug me. At least the wild ones, which was ok by me.
This young guy I work with has asked me about those days and though it makes me feel like someone’s grandpa, I have indulged him with stories. Maybe he’s misguided… but I think he wishes he was around to experience those days himself.
I can relate. For me it’s the 70′s. I was born in the 70′s but frankly don’t remember them very well. Still I love the music, the cars, the movies and even most of the TV shows from that time. The fashions? Meh… not so much.
For example… music:
Rockers had their fill with Led Zepplin, Aerosmith, Styx, Boston, Cheap Trick. On the lighter side The Eagles or James Taylor. On the funky side Stevie Wonder or Earth Wind & Fire.
Robert Plant and Jimmy Page doing their thing.
Movies:
Jaws, Halloween, Star Wars, The Godfather, Rocky, Blazing Saddles, Alien and Airplane.
“Have you ever been in a Turkish prison?”
TV:
MASH, All In The Family, The Jeffersons, Sandford and Son, Taxi, Chips, Different Strokes, The Muppet Show and the birth of Saturday Night Live.
Waldorf and Statler were comic genius.
Beyond the entertainment of those days, people just lived more laid back lives. Sometimes the technology of today is overwhelming and I long for a time when we were not always connected. Whether it’s email, cell phones or social media we are always reachable… all the time. Don’t you ever just want to unplug and tell the world “LEAVE ME THE HELL ALONE!” ???
Now all that being said… I do believe that right now is the BEST time to be alive. If for no other reason than because The Simple Dude did not exist in 1977. Well, I guess technically he did… but he was only 5 years old and much less of a smart ass than he is in 2012.
SD
P.S. Be sure you VOTE today!
I’m so glad you did not mention Disco . . .
Oh crap, sorry.
Which brings me to my point about “the good ol’ days”. Often folks tell stories wearing rose colored glasses.
I think no matter who you are, you wish for the previous generation or at least previous decade. Many of us 70′s generation were to young to remember – much less experience – the 60′s but wish we could.
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Posted on: Nov/6/2012@8:24 am
I think there is a tendency to want to live (or relive) at a different time. It seems as if these past times were simpler but in reality they were just as difficult. We just remember the good parts. 10 or 20 years from now people will say the same about this time… just saying.
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Posted on: Nov/6/2012@9:57 am
I grew up during the New Wave of British Heavy Metal in the late 70′s and early 80′s. All Hail Iron Maiden.
Posted on: Nov/6/2012@10:03 am
I grew up the same time you did SD, and while I’m not really sorry I wasn’t born sooner, I think I wish I’d been born in the UK. I think it’s because of The Smiths & Housemartins, New Order, the heavy metal as Tony mentioned, and so on. Yes, we were exposed to it here, it’s all we listened to in high school, but part of me wishes I’d grown up *in* that scene. Good post, thanks for sharing!
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Posted on: Nov/6/2012@10:22 am
I was a teen in the mid-70′s (high school and freshman in college) and it was an amazing time for adventurous kids but not without pitfalls. The rock concerts at Soldier Field were unbelievable (music in general and IMO). Lack of technology made us work for communication with each other, which also meant the parents never knew where we “really” were. We grew up pretty independently by making our more than fair share of mistakes and getting out of our own pickles. Everything felt rather harmless back then. A no harm, no foul mentality, I guess. Thanks for a great post. It was a great time!
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Posted on: Nov/6/2012@11:48 am
My childhood and teens were incredibly difficult. I remember the 80s &990s as crappy decades and have no nostalgia for them. There is no doubt in my mind that this day today is the best time to have lived.
Posted on: Nov/6/2012@12:16 pm
This will seem insane but I’m pretty sure I should have been born like in the 40′s or something. Some era way back when. A simpler time. Perhaps I should just going the Amish or something….
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Posted on: Nov/6/2012@1:50 pm
Looking back, on times when there were no mobile phones, it still amazes me how people communicated or hooked up. I just remember, always seeming to know where everyone was and just going to them to make plans. When I don’t have my phone, even just for a few days, I do feel liberated and free.
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Posted on: Nov/6/2012@3:21 pm
Every time I watch GWTW I wish I lived in an era where being an ultra girly girl was still okay. Then I remember I really wouldn’t have any rights and not everyone can be Scarlet O’Hara, so my attitude would likely get me banned from all the best parties. I might start buying ball gowns for the office though.
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Posted on: Nov/8/2012@5:16 pm
I like where I am in time. I wouldn’t want to live any other time. Although, I’d like to live in a clean house, but I don’t think that’s really era dependent. I think that’s more piggy family dependent.
Posted on: Nov/8/2012@11:56 pm
Having the internet makes me believe that this is a really really good time to be alive! Hmmm. I may blog about this one of these days :p
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Posted on: Nov/15/2012@2:27 am