I'm also old but nice to see I'm not the oldest around here ('66)
this post was submitted on 22 Mar 2025
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i'm not old i'm experienced thank you!
Well, old as well. But hello. I am at the border of definition between boomer and generation X. Located around the US western south. Hate the constant heat. Recently, i discovered my love for french bands. (again) and probably will learn french (for fun). Do follow politics well but i am not left nor right. I feel ok in the middle. This is my first time on Lemmy. There are many things that give me headaches at the moment and worries. Hope everyone is well. btw. music is my escapism. And no, i haven't died yet. Can happen. Someday.
WHAT? I CAN'T HEAR YOU! BLEW OUT MY HEARING AT CONCERTS IN THE EIGHTIES AND NINETIES!
Yeah, I know that gag is old, and that's the point ;)
I'm more middle-aged than old, but you're not really old either. But I bloody well feel old, and I'm grumpy, so I'm claiming the title.
70s baby here. US, southern Appalachians area, so that first decade of life, I saw some shit lol.
Yeah, I reckon 60 is the new 40. And I don't even feel 40. I still feel like I felt when I was 16 and at punk rock concerts so in my head I am a baby still but if people call me old, I'll play along just for the giggles. I fancy being a grumpy old timer like grandpa in the Simpsons - 'I wore a 40lb beard of bees' style. Ha!
Appalachians - am I right to be thinking about that movie with the banjo music right now? Deliverance, or some such title?
Ooh boy! My family were coal miners and railway workers, life was pretty tough in remote rural mining villages. I think I can guess what sorta childhood you had. Been there, done that, we got the same t-shirt?
Well, the section of the Appalachians where deliverance was set is further south, but we do love some bluegrass lol. That's the basic look of the region though, out away from towns and cities. Lots of green, and some really insular people. Even in my town, where we've got a decent population (over 10k now, though it was closer to 5k growing up), folks are insular as hell. A stranger trying to walk through my neighborhood, there's going to be phone calls made and people watching all up and down the street lol. Not as much butt rape as the movie made out though. Not sure if that's good or bad
And, yeah I'm not in coal country myself, by my grandfather, his dad, and most of his dad's brothers either worked mines at some point, or did wildcatting.
The last show I went to, almost everyone was an infant. I'm looking around, watching the mosh pit, and there's a handful of dudes my age looking at it too, either wishing they could jump in, or glad they aren't expected to.
It's kinda weird for me. Inside my head, I don't really think old, as in it still feels like the same me, just with some experience. Big,but I also feel really old because of all that experience.
Whoa! You paint a vivid picture, I feel I'm there!
Reminds me of my grandparent's County Durham 'pit village'. I think the difference in the UK is that we would have signalled interest by twitching net curtains (no one but the priest, bookie, or police seargent had access to a fancy stuff like a telephone) as the stranger passed and afterwards gathering in scandalised huddles, we would be talking in loud whispers about 'whae's yhe when ee's yem?' (or in posher English, 'Prithee good neighbour, verily, knowest thou ought of whom this stranger shalt be, whither he cometh, and whence he goeth?')
Oh, boy! We've come a long way - thank goodness!
Good afternoon! Fellow Boomer / Gen Jones here, born in the early '60s in the UK. I am an atheist, socialist and sci-fi addict. Never went to Uni, worked 43 years (both employed and self-employed) in financial services, and have recently retired and moved with my wife to the Welsh Marches. I have three children, one of whom still speaks to me.
My wife says there are three topics I am not allowed to discuss with visitors for fear of driving them to boredom, so here's my chance! They are:
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The Titanic (and other early C20 ocean liners)
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Julian May's sci-fi / fantasy novels
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Netflix's DARK.
Hello!
You made me chuckle - 1/3rd of my kids still talks to me. I shouldn't laugh but 'name one thing that defines C21st living...' Ha!
I am a big sci-fi fan too but have no telly (by choice, I just can't watch one without irritation - I listen to podcasts because at least you can do other stuff while listening so it feels less like being hijacked by a pub bore). But every birthday, Christmas or whatever, all the parcels are dvd-shaped because no one believes I can live without seeing the latest cult tv series so they force-feed me their greatest hits of the previous year - I gave watched some weird stuff over the years. I haven't heard of DARK but it'll no doubt turn up in my stocking sooner or later ;-)
I have not read Julian May but I have certainly seen her movies which are cult classics. I tend to read the sci-fi classics - stuff which is now called 'literature' like HG Wells War of the Worlds, Time Machine. Ursula le Guinn Left Hand of God. William Golding The Inheritors. My sister was very into the fantasy side of sci-fi and comic sci-fi - Terry Pratchett's Discworld and such. I've read a couple of his books which she recommended and I like his word play and dry humour. 'Give a man a match and he will be warm until he burns his fingers, set a man on fire with a match, and he is warm for the rest of his life' (quoted from memory) - one of Terry's aphorisms that made me laugh.
I am intrigued by your interest in Titannic - you are going to have to explain that. Is it the disaster that intrigues you, the engineering, the economics of trans-Atlantic passenger transport, salvaging the wreck? When I was a teen, I was mad keen on going to sea and enquired about becoming a cadet in the merchant navy (never fancied the RN, did not want to kill) but was torn between the executive officer career path or engineering. Titannic disaster is something I ponder as bad engineering or bad seamanship or corporate wickedness. In the end, went to university as I got a scholarship and was more or less pushed that way by the adults around me. It was one of those crossroads in life where you make a decision (at 18, knowing nothing of life) and afterwards you wonder were you a fool.
It's not fair just having one life - we need much more time than we get and we build up all this experience only for it to die with us. I would design a different universe if I were god.
Good evening!
DARK is a Netflix original show, so one can't buy the DVD, sadly. The only spoiler I'd give you is that it's a German time travel show, only 26 episodes long, and simply the best thing I've ever seen on telly. The plot is riveting, the acting and casting superb and the soundtrack is my go-to playlist. We watched it with English dubbing as my wife is dyslexic and hates subtitles. If you can find someone with a Netflix login and a spare TV, I'd heartily recommend it!
I read Julian May's 'Saga of Pliocene Exile' and her linked 'Galactic Milieu' series in the '90s and loved them, but quickly moved on to other novels. When we were visiting the States for a friend's wedding in 2016, we found ourselves very near the Mount Washington Hotel in New Hampshire, which is a major location for the books in the GM series, so we diverted there and I spent several hours roaming around the hotel. It re-sparked my interest in the novels so I re-read them and even ran a Twitter feed for 18 months, telling the SPE story on a day-by-day basis. I ended up with nearly 30 followers! 😁 I also love Terry Pratchett, as well as Douglas Adams and my all-time favourite, Roger Zelazny. (My grandsons - who I don't get to see - are named after two characters in Roger's 'Amber' series of books.) I don't watch terrestrial telly but still stream series I like. I've never got into podcasts but I do love YouTube!
Titanic ... where to start? As a teenager, I read Clive Cussler's 'Raise The Titanic' which got me into the story. I then discovered other less famous wrecks, such as the Empress of Ireland, the Morrow Castle and the Britannic (Titanic's second sister). However, it's the Titanic that still grabs me the most. She took nearly 3 hours to sink and went down with minimal listing; this allowed many cameos to be played out, showing the full range of human emotions: bravery, sacrifice, cowardice and stupidity amongst others. The setting and time frame allows us to ponder how we would have behaved in that situation. There is still so much to learn about the ship itself as well: we still don't know if her centre propeller had 3 or 4 blades; what was the true identity of the 'mystery ship' that ignored her calls for help; exactly how did the collision (technically an allision) occur and what is the true extent of the damage, now hidden below the sea bed. All of this on top of her stellar passenger list, the technological marvel of the ship itself, the ridiculous weather that night ... I could, of course, go on. I hope this gives you a taste! If you wanted a really good book that explores the story in depth, I'd recommend 'Report Into the Loss of the SS Titanic - A Centennial Reappraisal' by Sam Halpern and others.
We may only get one life but I am ambivalent about losing our experiences when we die. Rarely do I see the younger generations refer to their elders' experience, assuming we are all outdated and have nothing to offer. And truly I feel my brain is getting full ... I'm not sure I can fit many more experiences in! As I age, I feel more and more useless to those around me and I doubt I'll be terribly sad when my time comes. I just hope my wife dies first so she doesn't have to be alone. If I were god, I'd ensure that couples die simultaneously.