Ilya Kuryakin and Captain Kangaroo

Was watching Gutfeld  a while ago and one of the guests was a UFC Champion fighter whose first name was Ilya and for some reason every time his name was mentioned my brain came up with Kuryakin. I couldn't remember why I knew that name.  A bit of research and Ta DA -- Ilya Kuryakin was Napoleon Solo's partner on The Man from U.N.C.L.E.  Remember?  Ah ... David McCallum who later played Ducky on NCIS.  I miss him.  

So many old, let's call them "vintage" tv shows to consider while we are on the subject.  Some of them seem sort of hokey when you watch the reruns now, but they are still fun to watch now and then.  Gunsmoke,  Have Gun - Will Travel  .... blasts from the past. Others?

I think my faves in the oldies/vintage category are Perry Mason, and MASH.  More contemporary would be the infrequently run Sopranos and the seemingly ever present Big Bang Theory.  (I think I know the dialog for most episodes and still laugh at the story lines.)

Smart TVs and the streaming apps are changing everything though.  I am finding out that you can pretty much watch whatever you want at any time and binge watch season after season if so inclined.  I do still miss Stupid TVs though and the basic channels where I knew where and when to find my faves.  I get overwhelmed by all the new techy techy stuff.  

Then again, come to think of it, I might be able now with Smart TVs to find some of the ones I haven't seen in decades. I think I need to search for The Honeymooners.  I miss Jackie Gleason as a Brooklyn bus driver. I so remember that show, his wife Alice, and his neighbors -- Ed Norton and his wife, Trixie.  Hard for me to believe that it was only on for one year. Hard for me to believe that I remember it so well. Truth be told -- the best part of watching The Honeymooners was hearing my Dad laugh out loud. He found Ralph Kramden to be very, very funny. "To the moon, Alice."

I don't think my family had a television until the mid 1950's. It changed my life in so many ways.  I confess.  I enjoy TV. Probably watch too much of it these days. Am thinking that Yellowstone reruns and the new spinoff Dutton Ranch will be around for a while. I find them to be fundamentally American in that hard work and pulling oneself up by the boot straps still work and sometimes someone just needs to be punched in the face. Watching those should keep me out of trouble at least for a while.  We've come a long way since the first TV show that I remember.... I Love Lucy. (Must mention here that a Lucille Ball and I have in common that we were both born in Jamestown NY.  A big difference is that I don't have a statue there -- never will.)  

Oh! Almost forgot my first TV experiences with a children's shows ... the long running -- Captain Kangaroo and The Howdy Doody Show.  They were wonderful!  Ah ... memories... memories of back when the world was black and white (as my granddaughter once said after looking at old photos.)Those were some days.  You had to be there to "get it".

Some things never change.

 

Recently I met several cousins for lunch.  It is always fun to get together with them.  I love them.  We had gotten into the pleasant habit of getting together about once a month, but haven’t been able to do that for at least the past year.  We all know why that is.  Anyway –

Isn’t it lovely to hang out with people who know you?  It’s like that with old friends too – not just family, but family/friends are the best. You have shared a lifetime or important parts of one. It is just plain wonderful to be with people who get you and who can take whatever you say without a whole lot of judgement – even if they don’t agree with you. It’s important, too, that such acceptance works both ways – i.e. - even if you don’t agree with them. But – there is also something else that is wonderful about such get-togethers….

People of a like age understand each other on a unique level.  I mean – we have Dick Tracy, Captain Kangaroo, and I Love Lucy in common. We share blips of the past and can make jokes and references that everyone at the table understands. We know how to read maps.  Not only that – we can laugh together about the whole “getting older” thing.  One cousin mentioned that he had reached the age where staff in a doctor’s office call him “Honey”.  Okay – you can find that humorous or not, but I think it is hysterical… not that young whipper snappers call him Honey, but that he sees the humor in this.  Yep – we have become and are the older generation.  It is sometimes a painful process. It isn’t, for example, always fun to realize that people are not taking you as seriously as they did at one time.

Recently I was reading comments in a chat room somewhere (not sure why) and some annoyingly energetic young thing mentioned with great hilarity and a flurry of smiley emojis that she was out-paced in the swimming pool by a senior citizen.  Wish it had been me. 

I must also admit, and I mentioned this at the cousin gathering, that sometimes I am not amused by people speaking to me as if I were hard of hearing. I may be, but it is still a bit insulting for them to assume. Perhaps they may be so inspired by the white hair “thing” or by all the well-earned wrinkles.  I mean – young folk should not make generalizations (neither should the more seasoned).  It is narrow minded of anyone to do this. I don’t assume that they are all incompetent fools – aka nincompoops .... I at least wait for further evidence to see if they are.  Plus -- there are many, many, remarkably competent young people in the world.  I know this. I raised some of them. I have seen them all over the place. I have taught them. I have worked with them. It would behoove those who discount the older generation to acknowledge that there are a lot of competent older people as well. They might also find it wise not to underestimate them.

Making things even more difficult in the generation gap issue is rapid change. Some have a hard time keeping up with these changes.  Some of us don’t want to try.   Ah change….  Case in point -- one of my cousins was telling me just two mornings ago about her two youngest precious grandkids who were playing “Grub Hub” -- one would prepare the food and the other would deliver it.  My Granddaughter and I often pretend that my house is an Airbnb and we do everything from taking reservations to interviewing potential staff.  (She takes on the role of each interviewee and uses different accents and hairdos for each person.  It becomes a laugh fest every time.)  Back to the main subject though….  These games are amazing to me and seriously their invention makes a statement that is representative of how our worlds differ.  What games did we play as children? I know you can remember them. I can’t think of one at the moment that had a name, but… you know what I mean. Just think – we didn’t even have fast food or the concept of an Airbnb when we were growing up. Did we even have them 5 years ago?   We didn’t have a lot of things - four/six/eight+ lane highways or microwaves or air fryers or….  My how the world changes. 🤔😬  Hey – when we were little, we didn’t even have television or A/C in cars let alone in houses. I remember party lines and when direct distance dialing was first introduced on what we now “remember” as land lines.  My -- how I do ramble. I see that often these days, but figure you will understand.

A lot of my reading audience are of the older generation and they are viewing it from all over the world.  I love that. (Last week I had viewers in Lithuania and the week before that the first viewers from Indonesia.) This blog is actually geared toward Boomers (the American older generation) and “older” generation in general – although I do love that many of the younger readers tell me sometimes that I make them laugh. I don’t ask them what it is that they find humorous.  Not sure I want to know. Anyway -- I am a Boomer and proud of it.  I say “Stand tall”. Not everything we do or say makes us worthy of the condescending eye roll.  Right?  I mean, for one thing – who is it who has maintained all the family traditions?

Take heart, Boomers…  – those who find us “trying” or “amusing” will be our age at some point in time – if they are lucky… and then they will know.  My heart goes out to them. It’s a journey. I say – to all generations – cherish your family and friends, laugh with those you love, look forward, and remember your past. All are of value. I would also say, "Be patient".  Remember that the older women who is taking a bit too long for your patience level could be your mom or grandma. Perhaps also keep in mind that “Growing old isn’t for cowards”.  Ralph Waldo Emerson told us that.  Some things never change.