… you recognize the names of pop culture celebrities because they appear frequently in news headlines and accompanying photos (names such as Nicki Minaj, Keith Urban, Amanda Bynes, Taylor Hicks) and you not only do not know what they are famous for (Are they singers? reality show stars? actors? people whose naked photos have appeared on the internet?) but you don’t care enough to read the story or click on the link to find out.
Yep, I’m an old geezer and proud of it. Hey, when’s Matlock on?
Nicky Minaj = singer, maker of odd sounds
Keith Urban = singer, person married to Nicole Kidman
Taylor Hicks = reality show star (and singer?)
Amanda Bynes = actress, someone whose naked pictures will probably appear on the internet sometime in the next 12 months
I was alive when the Beatles played Shea Stadium. There are days I feel ancient and other days I wish I didn’t.
What’s a matlock?
I think it’s like a pickaxe but with one end more like a spade or an adze.
Just about all I know about popular culture stars, I learn from reading the headlines while waiting in the checkout line. For several months now, the tabloids were referring to a “Honey Boo Boo.” I wasn’t sure whether this was referring to a new cast member of Jersey Shore, a 50s throwback tv show about a wife who apologizes to her husband all the time, or some kind of dessert recipe.
I finally stumbled across an article that explained it to me a week or so ago. I think I preferred living in ignorance.
Well I gotta give you that a Matlock is kinda like a Spade. Depending on are you old enough, of course.
A ‘matlock’ is a geezer’s geezer. Wasn’t one of my favorites, I’m afraid, but I do remember it. Hell, a friend and I were reminiscing just this morning about the Edsels and their great hit “Rama Lama Ding Dong”. (And, no, if you don’t know, I’m not telling you what an ‘Edsel’ was.)
I not only know what an Edsel was but I have ridden in one on several occasions.
Ah, but how did Matlock spade? With a mattock.
“Nicki Minaj, Keith Urban, Amanda Bynes, Taylor Hicks”
I proudly can say that I only recognize one name and I’m only 48. But let’s take this game a bit further.
Richard Hugh Blackmore
John Lydon
Margaret Bell
David Garrick (the 20st Century version)
How many of these names do you recognize, MS? How interested are you in them?
Still they were quite famous about 35, 40 years ago (and at least one them more recent too).
I am a bit bumfuzzled, while in the grocery checkout line, by all the magazine covers that use only first names for the celebrities that must be lurking inside. Jen and Kate and Kim and Khloe and Brad and on and on…..
This isn’t Myanmar or Indonesia, is it? Are those unique identifiers now?
I’m 37, I’m not… what? Oh, yeah, damn. I’m 38. I’m old. 🙂 Not fair about Matlock though, because I used to drive to work on Andy Griffith Parkway.
I’ve never heard a song from any of those people, and even though I watch a LOT of movies and have an almost eidetic memory when it comes to them, I had a really hard time placing Amanda Bynes.
Matlock: Australian TV show from the 1970’s about the police in a small country town. Probably shown in many countries in the SE Asian region. Yeah, it was good in a 70’s kind of way.
Australian? Matlock starred Andy Griffith. Ya can’t get more Murrican than Andy Griffith! 🙂
Thanks to “Happy Days”, a 1970s-era show that capitalized on Boomers’ fascination with their childhood, I know what an Edsel is (the father bought one in the very first episode). Because of the 1970s-era movie Grease (same reason for being), I know the rama lama dingdong song.
MAAAAAATLOOOOCCCKKK! <--refernece from The Simposons
Sorry, that should read “The Simpsons”. Sorry for the typo.
Lofty says: Matlock: Australian TV show from the 1970′s about the police in a small country town.
That show was called “Matlock Police”. The show called “Matlock” was an USAmerican show about a hotshot lawyer. I have to admit I also first thought of the Australian show (looming up through the deep waters of my long, long term memory). I had to look it up on Wiki to clarify my memory.
The Australian show was “Matlock Police”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matlock_Police
I went through a period several years back when I watched all the Matlock episodes. Good old Ben. Good lawyer who loved hot dogs.
What dates you more than Matlock is asking what time it is on. These days people stream shows from the net to TV on demand. You don’t ask when it’s on, but whether it’s on Netflix or Hulu or any number of other services. Get a Roku box. It’ll connect to your TV hdmi jack, and to a wireless router, giving you access to net streaming.
‘stralian/murrican -- hard to tell the difference some days 😉
I remember being a pubescent boy and asking a friend “Who’s this guy Elvis Presley that our sisters are going nuts over?”
There’s nothing wrong with not knowing about people who have accomplished nothing, who are only famous for being famous. Popular does not mean skilled, valuable or worthwhile.
What really irks me is the growing incuriousness amongst the young, the arrogant attitude that, “It happened before I was born, so it’s not important.”
http://youtu.be/Y0BnS1wGTgs
If you don’t know how you got where you are, how will you know where you are going? The voluntarily ignorant usually end up going backwards.
John Lydon used to be called Johnny Rotten and was the lead singer of the punk band The Sex Pistols. There was always some playful banter between fans of Prog Rock and radio presenter Jonathan Peel, who hated Prog and loved Punk. Peel unfortunately died relatively young, so he never got to see Prog dinosaurs like Floyd, Yes, Tull, ELP and Genesis still packing out stadia, while Lydon was appearing in reality TV shows and doing ads for butter.
Two completely different programs. One Australian, one American.