Category: Generation X

Five Years Ago

It’s been five years since the world lost Prince.

I don’t think I’ve gone five years without buying a Prince album since the 70’s. (Fortunately, he has a new album coming out soon)

Remember kids, opioids can kill you, even if you are the greatest musician of your generation.

Image from Robert Whitman’s Intimate Photos of Prince on the Cusp of Fame

The Death of DMX

The death of DMX hits hard for many people. To me, the best hip-hop lyrics are when the artist is speaking about what they know best.

If it’s a Jay-Z joint, I want to hear stories about drug dealing and paper stacking.

Chuck D = political activism

Snoop = cannabis

MnM = “complicated” family issues

But unfortunately for DMX, he was always at his best when he spoke about his personal demons.

I hope in death he finds the peace he never found in life.

“To live is to suffer, and to survive, well, that’s to find meaning in the suffering.”- DMX

DMX Portrain
Death of DMX

Participation Trophies

These days, I see a lot of comments on social media from those Gen X and older about the “trophy generation”.

In over 4 decades on this planet, I’ve seen some glorious things and I’ve seen some things that would make the devil himself blush.

But I have NEVER, ever, in my entire life seen a 7 year old walk into a trophy store, lay down his own money, and walk out with 25 trophies.

Just like there are no bad dogs, only bad dog owners, maybe, just maybe, those throwing stones at the younger generation should take a long hard look at their own generation, since y’all were the ones who raised this generation.

p.s. the reason they can’t drive stick, is all you older folks stopped buying sticks in the 90’s (probably because you couldn’t drive a manual either), so manufacturers stopped making them. Supply and demand are real.

The Intersection of Cheap Wine and 80’s Music

From the file titled “Lyrics I’ve heard a thousand times and never really paid attention to, until today, and now I can’t stop thinking about them.”, I give you Axl Rose from the classic “Night Train” referring to a bottle of Night Train…

“Wake up late
Honey put on your clothes
Take your credit card to the liquor store
That’s one for you and
Two for me.”

Circa 1987 a bottle of Night Train costs about $2 after tax. Life is soooo bad in this song for the protagonist, he can’t even pay for his own Night Train, AND he can’t even charge it, so he needs someone else to charge it for him. Also, credit standards were much tighter in those days, so how did this young lady procure a credit card? And if she is a job-having, permanent address, good-credit, kind-of-gal, then what is she doing with a dude who doesn’t have $2 for his own cheap wine?

Obviously middle-aged me is much less fun than younger me.

Size Matters in The Sauna and The Voting Booth

I’ve become enamored with saunas thanks to Dr. Rhonda Patrick and her message of how consistent use can produce significant health benefits, including a significant reduction in the rates of cancer. In fact, my family is set to begin remodeling our house in stages, and I hope to have some of the additional square footage earmarked for a home sauna. But, until then, I travel to my local gym’s hotbox almost every day. It’s a smaller industrial unit, but it’s well-lit and clean. Minus the occasional visitor, I have plenty of space to read while increasing my heat shock proteins.

sauna1

This morning, I was joined by two other heat seekers. The first, an older gentleman, probably in his early seventies, was the first to arrive. He stood directly in front of the sign displaying the rules of the sauna, removed the towel from around his waist, and climbed to the second tier of benches. He then used his towel for a pillow. As he reclined, he exposed his seventy year old ass-crack to every member in the locker room who would walk past the glass door or enter the sauna.

Moments later, a younger gentleman, in his mid to late twenties entered the sauna wearing his complete basketball uniform—high-tops and all. He walked over to the lava rocks, splashed an entire cup of water over them, passing the sign twice before sitting down. To his credit, he did manage to stay over twenty minutes, even though he remained fully dressed the entire time.

The sign only has six rules— number three is all sauna goers must wear a towel at all times, number five is do not pour water on the lava rocks.

I tried to focus on my novel, but the heat made my mind wander to my upcoming plans for the day. After the gym, I was headed to vote in the California primary for the final day of this cycle’s primary season. (Is there anyone in America who isn’t already sick of this Presidential election cycle?) Then, because of my fellow sauna goers, my mind shifted to how demographics determine our societal structure and our political landscape. If you want to significantly shift societal norms, like the Boomers did in the 60’s, size matters.

vote1

I belong to Generation X, a title so cool that we should have been given X-Men superpowers instead of a latchkey. We have a population range between 70 and 83 million depending on when the generation is counted.

The Baby Boomers (born between 1946 and 1964) currently total just above 75 million people.

Millennials (born between 1980 and 2000) now number over 83 million people, dwarfing even the Boomers.

Gen X’s size, compared to those around us, means we’re destined for a life of political partnership. While we have views that are uniquely ours, we aren’t numerous enough to impose our collective will without partnering with large segments of our fellow citizens— which is good. Perhaps my generation can lead the nation’s political discussion back to a time when we worked with our neighbors instead of throwing partisan mud at them.

As for me, after voting, I negotiated my family’s discussion until the sauna reached the top of our remodeling to do list.

Watching “The ‘Burbs” in The Burbs is sooooo Meta

My wife and I have a standing agreement that if one of us enjoyed a movie from the 80’s, and the other spouse hasn’t seen it yet, we watch the movie together to share in the other person’s childhood memories, and to add to our own level of 80’s nostalgia.

Yesterday’s dinner conversation morphed from an actual volcano, to an episode of Miles from Tomorrowland about a volcano, to “Joe Versus the Volcano”, to another Tom Hanks film— “The ‘Burbs.”

burbs1

I was “The ‘Burbs” veteran, and she was the rookie, but I could barely remember the plot, which is the preferable way to go into a three decade old movie. I gave adequate warnings about the possibility of the film sucking, which is always a risk with media from the 80’s. So, once the kids were tucked in for the night, we hustled to our media room.

For those of you not familiar with the movie, Tom Hanks stars as the ringleader of a group of neighbors with too much time on their hands. These suburbanites take it upon themselves to investigate the “mysterious” neighbors who recently moved in to their cul-de-sac. The movie costars: Carrie Fisher, Bruce Dern, and Corey Feldman.

burbs 2

Does this movie stand the test of time? That is the question I ask about any movie I revisit from the Reagan decade.

There were plenty of things to like about The ‘Burbs.

Even though the movie has a noir feel to it, the story telling was refreshingly simplistic, as are most movies from the 80’s. Apparently, screenwriter’s hadn’t yet got the message to “make every movie as convoluted as possible”.

The visual elements were authentically 80’s.

The hair was big. No surprise there. But, Corey Feldman’s hair was exceptionally glorious.

The limited amount of technology used by the characters was primitive, even by early 90’s standards.

The movie contained the required 80’s elements of a dream sequence and a music montage.

It’s easy to forget that Tom Hanks was/is a remarkable physical comedian. This movie was a decent vehicle for him to express that talent, and it was nice to see that aspect of his acting again.

While the movie had a few other positive moments, that was about it for the good elements. I didn’t know if my disappointment stemmed from already knowing the answer to the mystery or from the film’s overall quality. I asked “The ‘Burbs” rookie, and she was also disappointed.

Did “The ‘Burbs” stand the test of time?

It was a close call, but unfortunately, this movie is best left in the 80’s.