Archive for July, 2008

This morning on her wonderful NY Times “The New Old Age” blog, writer Jane Gross wonders about the future of movies. Some recent films (like Away From Her, left) have faced aging head-on. As the population shifts to older, do you think Hollywood will shift too? Or will it always be the younger, flashier movies that will get all the attention?

Not for nothing, but I picked out the more recent, well-known films on Jane’s list–About Schmidt, Away from Her, and The Savages. Only About Schmidt made more than $10 at the box office (thanks in no part to it’s star, Jack Nicholson), and the three were each nominated for a total of 6 Oscars, which they lost (to younger, flashier movies).

What do you think? And what are your favorite movies on aging?

Filed under: Boomers

THE SHINIEST JEWEL author, Marian Henley will be signing books at the Hachette Booth at ComicCon this weekend in San Diego at 1pm. The full schedule of HBG authors is here. If you’re at the convention, you should stop by, say hello, and pick up an advance copy of the book!

Filed under: Books

Remember our investigation into the dangerous lives of cougars from last week?  Well, yesterday the Washington Post reported that on dating websites like eHarmony and Match.com, so-called cougars abound:

Online dating services say women of a certain age want the white-haired gent, as long as he’s not too old. Women age 50 and older almost always tell eHarmony.com that they want a younger man — 10, 15 years younger, sometimes more. And on Match.com, a 50-year-old woman is typically seeking a man who is 48.

The problem?

Gender equality in the search for younger partners is creating a mating gap in gray love. A 70-year-old woman is looking for a 66-year-old man. The 65-year-old man is looking for the 54-year-old woman. And a 56-year-old woman is looking for a man who is 46! How does anybody hook up in later life with these wide differences in what men and women want?

But hook up people do.  (As we know from past posts, boomers enjoy sex!)  It seems like age equity is just one more hurtle on the path to finding a spouse…or a dinner date.  At times like these, we should remember The Marriage Benefit author Mark O’Connell’s advice, and ask ourselves, WWMOD?  On The Today Show this week, Mark cautioned against going into relationships with unrealistic expectations.  Takeaway for cougars?  Maybe staying married is a better option than running off with a 19-year-old.

Filed under: Boomers • Media

So you know how to look young from Charla Krupp and Bobbi Brown, but what are the best foods to be eating to fight aging? Luckilly, our friends at Whole Living have some helpful tips. Here’s their list:

• Healthy Greens
• Whole Grains
• Berries
• Olive Oil
• Tomatoes
• Nuts
• Red Grapes
• Fish
• Teas
• Herbs and Spices

It’s not terrible specific, but I think that gives enough room to still eat what you like within those categories. What do you think? Do you have any secret anti-oxidant-rich foods that you love that should be added to the list?

Filed under: Boomers

Dr. Mark O’Connell was on the Today Show this morning to discuss The Marriage Benefit. Check out the video here.

Filed under: Books

Thank goodness for the Daily Show. I’m not saying anything new to say that they are consistently the smartest satirists out there.

I know recently the topic of sex has come around these parts a lot, but what do you think about the cougar phenomenon that Kristen Schaal is sending up here? Mysognistic? Irritating? Funny? All of the above?

Filed under: Boomers

For some boomers, Woodstock was the seminal event of the ’60s, a moment of counterculture crystallization.  (For others, it may have just been something their parents grumbled about around the dinner table.)  Whether it’s through first-hand memories or second-hand nostalgia, Woodstock remains a subject of widespread fascination, so it makes perfect sense that a museum dedicated to the festival is finally opening its doors this summer.  As wowOwow notes, the three-gallery museum is located at the actual site of the 1969 festival, in Upstate New York’s Bethel Woods.  Do you think the museum will become a Cooperstown-like mecca for lovers of ’60s music and culture, or will reliving the time the old-fashioned way–through the music itself–always be best?

Filed under: Boomers • News

You can love or hate his politics and his participation on Fox News or as press secretary for President Bush, but Tony Snow was one wacky boomer. He passed away this past Saturday, after a long struggle with colon cancer, at the age of 53. His full obituary is here in the NY Times.

At Springboard, the reason we know Snow is because he participated inThe Boomer Century, the PBS documentary that we published the companion book to. In the documentary and in the book, he was candid and outspoken about what it was like to be a boomer, and even talked aboug his band (!). Here’s what the NY Times said about his musical aspirations:

He also had a musical flair; he grew up playing the flute, taught himself the acoustic guitar and played in an amateur rock ’n’ roll band, Beats Workin’. When they performed at the White House Congressional picnic, Mr. Bush jokingly called them “a bunch of, well, mediocre musicians.”

Filed under: Boomers • News

If you were keeping up with TVLand’s She’s Got the Look, this is old news to you, but if not, spoiler alert: the results are in and Tanya, a 45-year-old mother of five, took home the prize.  Over on the Television Without Pity message boards, one poster had this to say about the series overall:

It was NICE to see a reality show of mature women, making healthy breakfasts in a relatively clean kitchen, going to their rooms to avoid conflict, keeping their shirts on, not abusing alcohol or covering my screen with cigarette smoke, (or jumping into a hot tub or shower together, or bawling and bitching on the phone to their boyfriends), generally encouraging each other without some evil agenda and acting like normal adults on a reality show. The obvious comparison is the ANTM, that freakshow of post-adolescent trauma, but really, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen contestants so genuine or at least courteous with each other, especially as the final eliminations approached.

The She’s Got the Look ladies seemed to be able to stay away from the classic reality show traps of boozing and hot-tubbing, and good for them!  TVLand is already gearing up for next season with a casting call.  Do you think you have what it takes?  Apply here.

Filed under: Boomers • Media

Remember about a month ago when we reported on a survey about how boomers like sex? Well, apparently they like it a lot! Time is reporting on a new study from the Sexually Transmitted Infections journal that found that STD rates (not including HIV) among people over 45 have more than doubled in less than a decade.

Researchers point to myriad factors contributing to the rise in STD instances, among them a high midlife divorce rate and the ease of finding dates online. “What we have in this age group is a lot of people who are separated or divorced and seeking relationships. Sometimes they obtain them via the Internet, where they don’t know the person and they don’t know their sexual history,” says [an author of the study, Dr. Babatunde] Olowokure.

It sounds like the generation of free love has a problem on its hands. Do you think this study is legit? If you’re out on the prowl, does it make you want to be more careful? What do you think? 

Filed under: Boomers