Monthly Archive for February, 2009

Page 5 of 9

Vergne Gagne Still Has An Awesome Body Slam

Published on February 19, 2009 in Empty Nesters and Health. 0 Comments

gagne_med

Baby Boomers, who loved watching rasslin’ in the ’50′s and 60′s, will remember the name Verne Gagne.  My recollection that in the world of ‘rasslin’, which is an awful lot like Congress these days,  Gagne was one of the “good guys.” The bad guys he rassled were the The Crusher and Mad Dog Vachon. Why is it I can remember those names, but forget names of people I see every day now? A Boomer malady I guess.

Well, some habits are hard to break, unlike a guys hip. 82 year old Gagne was in a nursing home and his roommate apparently looked at him sideways and Gagne body-slammed him.

That would be the punch line, except the 97 year old slammee croaked. Gagne has dementia and police are unsure whether to press charges, mostly likely because everybody knows ‘rasslin’ is fake and nobody gets hurt.

Here’s a tidbit to baffle your Baby Boomer friends with: Verge Gagne trained Hulk Hogan.  He bribed the Iron Sheik to break Hogan’s leg when Hogan wanted to move to the upstart WWF under Vince McMahon. This led to the creation of Hulkamania.

Fake Post is the New List

Published on February 18, 2009 in Random. 4 Comments


My friend Jeremy tweeted that “fake broken is the new working.”

How marvelously random.
To wit:

1955 Child Actors Alex. #1 was Miss Temple, #2 was Mama’s Boy.

Published on February 17, 2009 in Baby Boomer. 3 Comments

I hate Jeopardy. Except when Ken Jennings was on. He was a smart guy but not a know-it-all, even though it seems he does know it all.

I feel so dumb watching Jeopardy. I hate Alex Trebec because he thinks he so smart.
Well, dur, you have the answers on the card right in front of your ‘stache.

Oh, it’s Alec Trebek? Whatever. He doesn’t have a ‘stache anymore? Oh. BFD.

But when Merv demanded that contestants put the answers in the form of a question, pure genius.

I like Merv. He’s dead, but I still can like him, right?

I like Jane Fonda too. She’s not dead, as a matter-of-fact, she’s working her butt off.

Jane Fonda has a blog. She’s doing a Broadway play after being gone away from the stage for 45 years. Criminey. So far, she’s doing a great job of posting to the blog regularly and keeping it real.

Back to the question by Alec. The second most famous child actor was Blake Morgan.

Then I went to dinner with Robin Morgan and her musician son, Blake Morgan. They are both highly intelligent and talented. As a child in the fifties, Robin was the actor who played Dagmar in the hugely popular TV series, “I Remember Mama.” Robin was second only to Shirley Temple as a nationally popular child star.

We didn’t have TeeVee in 1955. But I kinda, sorta, remember “I Remember Mama.” I think a guy in a moustache had a four Mamas on a panel and they each told a huge sob story and who ever got the most sympathy from the Applause-o-meter won a washer and dryer. I don’t recall any kid being on the show.

Want to feel really dumb? Try a couple of Ken Jenning’s Wordplay Wednesday posts.

Jane Fonda should play Julia Robert’s mother in a movie, and Sandra Bullock should be Julia’s sister in the movie.  Meryl Streep should be Jane’s sister.

So Retronymish

Published on February 16, 2009 in Baby Boomer and Writing. 0 Comments Tags: , .

Reading one of my favorite writing sites, Daily Writing Tips, I learned a new word that is just so appropo. Retronym.

It’s just such a perfect word for Baby Boomers who have seen so much change in technology.

Here’s the Oxford English Dictionary definition of retronym:

A neologism created for an existing object or concept because the exact meaning of the original term used for it has become ambiguous (usually as a result of a new development, technological advance, etc.). A retronym typically consists of the original term combined with a modifying word.

The best example is “movies.” When silent films were the standard, these were “movies.” Then “talkies” became the norm, and “silent-movies” was born. OK, Baby Boomers didn’t go through this phase, but remember when color movies were hot? And of course, Baby Boomers grew up with black and white television

I shared my new discovery with another boomer and she responded:

So when does a retronym become a idom? ‘Hang up’ or ‘Dial’ the phone for example. Seems the older one is, the more use s/he would have need for retronymity. Does that make oldsters more inclinded to be retronymists? Is it a special class in need of protection? Oh, the questions this raises!

Indeed! Baby Boomer language is archaic, or at least showing it’s age. She has examples of great idioms. But retroymns are different. Idioms are only figurative. Retronyms are literal, but have an adjective to describe the “oldster” version.

Some of my examples are words that have made the transition, some are going through transition, and some are future transitions.

Baby Boomers please feel free to add some examples:

(word today – retronym)

  • sewing machine – treadle sewing machine
  • camera – film camera
  • guitar - acoustic guitar
  • phone – landline phone
  • pool – in ground pool
  • television – analog television – also HiDef/StandardDef…lots of other television examples with black and white programming, flat screens, cable (it was on cable)
  • watch – analog watch (and almost anything else with digital in front of it!)
  • light bulb – could go a couple of ways: incandescent bulb if CFL’s catch on, or disappear if LED’s take over.
  • computer – main frame computer (and that will change as cloud computing catches on)
  • music – live music (in a club)
  • Going Like Sixty – Going Like Sixty blog

Going Like Sixty used to mean somebody was really boogeying. Today it refers strictly and without question to my blog. :)

Upcoming retronyms:

  • car - petro car – when we all will be driving hybrids
  • hips/knees - artificial hips/knees when the gummit decides that at age 50, all joints should be replaced.
  • mail - postal mail
  • boobs – natural boobs
  • erection – drug free erection
  • work – productive work
  • welfare – unproductive work

Got any cool retronyms? Real or made up? Baby Boomer era, or not!

Having Lead in Your Pencil

Published on February 15, 2009 in Childhood, Education, Family and Writing. 6 Comments


Of course you recognize this from the baby boomer at The Junk Drawer.

pencilsharpener

I wonder how young you can be and not recognize this? is this another bygone of the Baby Boomer era? Do they still have pencil sharpeners in schools? (BTW: it’s a picture of the blades of a pencil sharpener.) If they do have pencil sharpeners are they electric or are they the crank kind?

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If they do have the sharpeners do they have multiple holes like the one above? Baby Boomers will remember fat kindergarten pencils? Harumph, at least I’m not a bad parent and saddled my struggling child with a skinny pencil. :)

Obviously we have both been through kindergarten and we had both used those fat little pencils to learn to write – but for some reason when it came to teaching our daughter we had forgotten about them.

I hated emptying the pencil sharpener in school. It’s not the wood shavings that make such a mess, it’s the graphite lead that just. got. everywhere. Because you removed the body exposing the blades the black junk always got on my hands, and usually on my face – usually on my nose!  Of course, I would walk around with a black smudge on my face like it was Ash Wednesday until the teacher would notice.

Preschoolers are getting Blackberries and the good Pastor Josh is forgetting about fat pencils.

My husband, the gear head, loves the concept of this gadget. My take? Getting my preschooler to write with a big fat pencil is hard enough. I can’t imagine him doing so on a teeny keyboard.

I think we have a pencil in the house – fat or otherwise. We have a whole crapload of pens – always two rooms away from the phone when needed. We have a crapload of pencils in the golf cart.

How’s that for a random post with no point? Where can I buy a blog sharpener?
!–adsense–>