Marketing Your Legacy

This isn't such a horribly bad idea or anything, but in the frenzy to squeeze every last dollar out of us it's a little over-the-top. Preservingsentiments.com is offering a service that (for a fee of course) will compile your memories, values, sentiments, letters and photos and archive them online for you. Also, and I found this a little creepy, you can designate a time "in the future," up to 25 years when you want the archive delivered and to whom. Yikes! Seems just a tad weird - somehow it makes me picture my boys opening their e-mail one morning, years from now, and going "hunh? what's this?" It seems a little bizarre to blind-sight somebody like that. Not to trivialize personal histories one bit - they're fascinating and valuable - but there are so many cool tools available for storing information online that are more creative (and free!) 

Lord, summer's over halfway gone and I haven't seen any live music! And it isn't for lack of opportunity; lots and lots of boomer bands have been on the road this year. This site, boomernet.com has a nicely organized list of tours along with links to websites. Among them I'd consider is Tom Petty and Neil Young though I'll probably just wait for Young's Deja Vu concert to come out on DVD. Other potential choices are Chicago, Elvis Costello and Joe Cocker along with the dynamic combo of Robert Plant and Allison Krauss.

It'd be tempting to see Journey, Jethro Tull and and Steely Dan but I'm thinking about two songs each would do it and for that I might as well crank "Wheel in the Sky" and save fifty bucks. Not tempting whatsoever is Rod Stewart, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Kiss or the flipping Eagles. Maybe it's because I teach guitar and can't escape having certain riffs requested on a regular basis, but there are just some songs, Hotel California and Sweet Home Alabama among them, that I wish could be given a rest for a decade or so to give everyone a chance to recover. Then, maybe, they might sound good again.

But maybe not... 

My Favorite Machinist

Farhad Manjoo has left salon for slate which forced me to broaden my horizons. I don't have anything against slate, but I limit my daily intake of news in order to spend my time on more productive things instead of anguishing over the state of affairs. Anyway, I read his new column bright and early on Monday morning, to show my support, and then I browsed around the site for awhile and while it's not salon, it's still pretty good.

Manjoo's book, "True Enough," is excellent and you should buy it and read it right away. I bought it for my dad for Father's Day and he's digging it too. Fascinating stuff and great writing from one of my favorite GenXers. 

Moses vs. Joshua

From The Washington Post comes some amazing information about the differences between generations that are civic ("Joshua") and those idealistic ("Moses"). In an article entitled "The Boomers Had Their Day. Make Way for Millennials," writer Morley Winograd explains the difference between the two. American history suggests, he says, that times of upheaval brought about by the "fervor" of an idealist generation, are followed by an era of civic-mindedness in an attempt to straighten things out. Not hard to guess which generation the boomers belong to.

I was surprised, though, to read the following from the same article: "On the college campuses of the 1960s, there were twice as many members of the right-wing Young Americans for Freedom as of the left-wing Students for a Democratic Society. It's no different 40 years later. A survey done last month...found that twice as many boomers call themselves conservative as liberal. The only thing that unites this generation are its members' efforts to impose their diametrically opposed ideals, values and morality on everyone else through the political process."

The rest of the article is definitely worth a read as the author explains in detail the differences between boomers and millennials, showing the latter's commitment to strengthening the political system instead of tearing it down. 

Yup. The times sure are a-changing.

Things Don't Go Better With Coke

This is one of those studies that doesn't make a whole lot of sense but nonetheless, considering our struggles with weight and other health issues, it's worth taking a look at. Apparently, those who drink one or more sodas (or other sugar laden drinks) per day are at a much higher risk for "metabolic syndrome," in other words, a cluster of conditions that can lead to heart disease and diabetes. The puzzling thing, though, is that even if the soda is diet, the same results can occur. Scientists say that the main reason may be that people who drink soda are generally those who consume more calories and get less exercise than those who don't drink any at all. The study has been published numerous places, one of them at seniorjournal.com which seems to have a fairly good assortment of articles, mainly on health related issues and warnings of scams and other perils to seniors. (oh, just check it out anyway!)

The Ultimate Pretender

Chrissy's back and she's on fire. I've missed her so much! I got to see her show in Portland a few years back and she was every bit as extraordinary then as she was was I first saw her 26 years ago! (I know exactly when I first saw The Pretenders because my younger boy had just been born).

This time, she's put together a collection of songs (recorded in 10 days!) consisting of what her site says is a "stripped down roots album, pure and raw, which highlights Hynde's timeless vocal sound." There's a new and free download weekly, go get yours! I got a copy of "Boots of Chinese Plastic" after hearing an achingly familiar voice on Nic Harcourt's show at KCRW this morning; by the time I got to my volume control, it was over but Mr. Harcourt verified what I'd hoped was a new single from The Pretenders. Things are definitely looking up.