News

The 44th President of the United States turns 48 today.  Born in 1961 in Honolulu, Hawaii, he came into the world at the tail end of the Baby Boom.  During the 2008 campaign, much was made of the fact that he was younger than the other candidates.  But did you know that he is actually not the youngest man ever to be sworn in?  A bit of trivia: According to Wikipedia, Obama is the 5th youngest person to be inaugurated as President.  Teddy Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Bill Clinton, and Ulysses S. Grant, who were 42, 43, 46 & 5 months, and 46 & 10 months respectively at the times of their first inaugurations, beat him out for the title.

Filed under: Boomers • Fun • History • News

Yesterday, Kodak announced that it will retire Kodachrome film, a long time staple of color photography. According to Kodak’s press release about the discontinuation, Kodachrome was “the world’s first commercially successful color film in 1935,” as well as “the film of choice for family slide shows of the Baby Boom generation.”

Debuted in 1935, Kodachrome itself isn’t exactly a Boomer – its formative years were spent by the time the post-WWII Boom began. However, many Baby Boomers grew up with Kodachrome, and after 74 years of color-popping pictures, I think we’re all a little sad to see it go.

During our childhood, Kodachrome was the film our parents used on a vacation abroad– preserving scenes like the ones featured in National Geographic’s special exhibit, “Kodachrome Culture: The American Tourist in Europe.” (Open to the public, free of charge, June 25 – September 9, 2009)

In 1973, we sang along to Paul Simon’s famous “Kodachrome” lyrics:

“Kodachrome
They give us those nice bright colors
They give us the greens of summers
Makes you think all the world’s a sunny day, Oh yeah
I got a Nikon camera
I love to take a photograph
So mama don’t take my Kodachrome away”

And even in more recent years, Kodachrome captured some of the images of the world that took our breath away. Baby Boomer Steve McCurry, one of America’s most renowned professional photographers, used Kodachrome to shoot many of his incredible photographs, including that of Sharbat Gula – an Afghan girl with haunting eyes – which graced the cover of National Geographic’s June 1985 issue.

For a trip down a bright and colorful memory lane, check out Kodak’s retrospective Kodachrome slideshow, as well as the New York Times’ LENS blog story.

Share your own memories of Kodachrome and the years it captured in our comments section! What photographs do you hold dear, and what are the scenes they preserve?

Filed under: Boomers • News

Facebook began in 2004 as a way for college students to connect with classmates at their respective schools. The original Facebook networks were exclusive to students who had direct contact with each other. It was a way for students to see, for instance, who else was in their Biology 101 class. Two years later, Facebook had exploded into a world-wide social networking site.

This past Monday The New York Times ran an article about how social networking websites like Facebook  and MySpace have become important to “aging baby boomers” because they provide an easy way for people to connect with each other from home at a time when they begin to feel most isolated. 

The article concludes that by providing an easy way for people to connect with each other, social networking sites have enriched the lives of many aging adults.

A few months ago The New York Times ran another article emphasizing the importance of friends and social connections to longevity of life.

So is it safe to conclude that Facebook, MySpace and Twitter (to name a few) are actually increasing the life expectancy of those who participate in the social networking world?

What do you think?

How do you feel about these websites?  Have they affected people positively? Negatively?

 

Interesting factoid:

Despite the fact that Facebook was created for 18-21 year olds, CNN.com ran an article in April stating that women over 55 are currently the biggest market for facebook.

 

Filed under: Boomers • Media • News

Yesterday, as I sat at my desk and saw hourly updates about the tragic shooting at my son’s school and my alma mater, Wesleyan, I couldn’t help but think how my son’s childhood and his brushes with public crises and tragedies is so much more personal than mine.
My friends and I grew up crying about the assassinations of political leaders: John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Robert Kennedy. These deaths were tragic and had great ramifications for the country and its citizens, but there were few of us who felt it affected us on a very personal level.
But our children have grown up with the tragedies of the Oklahoma Bombing, the Columbine shooting, the massive destruction of 9-11, the Virginia Tech massacres, and other horrible tragedies that touch everyday citizens just going about their business, whether it’s going to an office, a day care center, a class, or, as in the case of Johanna Justin-Jinich, working at a café to earn some money to help pay the college bills.
I live in a suburb outside of New York City, and I remember September 11, 2001, when I went to pick up my sons from school, but knew that the schools were not releasing them early as the officials weren’t sure how many of the children’s parents might have been affected by the World Trade Center destruction. Later that day I heard how the parents of three of my son’s close friends either happened to not be at work that day, or got to work late, or decided not to listen to the loudspeaker and walked down the stairs to safety instead of staying at their desks. And I felt so grateful for this gift that these boys I knew didn’t have to experience such a tragic loss so young.
Now I think of my son and his two friends from our town, who were confined to their dorms at college (One of these friends’ father was the one who got to the World Trade Center late on September 11th and avoided catastrophe). I can’t quite believe that a tragedy, which has made the nightly news and the newspapers and websites, touched someone I hold so close to my heart. But then I remember that this same child has grown up knowing 9-11 happened 20 miles away, and that there are different colors for how safe he should feel that day, and that you don’t just enter a plane without taking off your shoes and belt and throwing away your bottle of water. He knows these are the rules, the way things are today.
But what I find heartening is that he and his friends constantly build havens around themselves, and they revel in their freedom. I resent that his current haven has temporarily been upset. But last night when he called, he sounded fine, and not very worried or scared. He was still making plans and telling us of his schedule for finals and moving his stuff back home. The only thing that was different about his phone call is that at the end of it he said something that usually goes unsaid, although it is understood. He said, “Mom, I love you.”

Filed under: News

By now, I’m assuming you’ve heard about the plane that crash-landed in the Hudson River yesterday right along side Manhattan. Most of us (even those of us who were in Manhattan when it happened) watched it on the news, but our own Leap Days author, Katherine Lanpher saw it first hand. She blogged about it yesterady on the Anderson Cooper 360 blog:

The plane floated past my apartment - I live about two blocks off the Hudson in the West Village - and when I first saw it I didn’t realize what i was looking at, the tugs must be pulling it down the river, it’s moving so fast, surrounded by a flotilla of ferries, tugs and police boats, the latter still zipping in circles with their blue lights flashing…

Luckilly, everyone was okay in this crash (save for some birds). The most interesting thing about this, though, comes from how the story was reported. Most of the major news outlets have offices not too far from where the plane crashed, so it was covered extensively on television and on the internet. But it’s these eyewitness accounts and photos that seem to tell the better story. Thanks to the internet, we can get them very quickly now. Did anyone else see what happened? What did you see from where you were?

Filed under: News

Good news, coffee addicts: your brain is safe! A new study from the University of Kuopio in Finland just published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease this month says that if you drink coffee, you’re less likely to get Alzheimer’s. Lead researcher, Miia Kivipelto says: “Middle-aged people who drank between three and five cups of coffee a day lowered their risk of developing dementia and Alzheimer’s disease by between 60 and 65 percent later in life.”

So Boomers, drink up! But not too much. A separate recent study has shown a connection between heavy coffee drinking and hallucinations. As always, it’s a delicate balance.

Filed under: News

As President-elect Barack Obama has been starting to make the tough decisions for our country, none has been or will be tougher than selecting the first pooch for his daughters. Insiders Sources close to the Obamas are reporting that they have narrowed it down to 2 choices: the Labradoodle and the Portuguese Water Hound (see both, pictured). No word on when the final decision will be made. You can chime in too. Make your…ahem…bark heard. Vote below as to which you think the Obamas should pick.

Filed under: News

Our own Kathleen Turner has joined the cast of Charles Busch’s upcoming off-Broadway play, THE THIRD STORY. The show opens February 2nd and continues until February 28th. This, of course, is just in time for the paperback release of her book Send Yourself Roses.

Turner was last on Broadway as a director earlier this year with her production of Crimes of the Heart.

More

Filed under: News

I hope everyone remembered to set their clocks back an hour on Sunday night. (Otherwise you were early to work today!) Apparently there are other advantages to the end of Daylight Savings Time. A study in Sweden finds that about 5% fewer heart attacks occur on the day after the end of DST (today!). It’s reduced for the following 6 days as well. They don’t say why this happens though, but at least we didn’t have to spend our extra hour worrying about one thing!

Filed under: News

Have you caught what’s “been going around” yet?  This Springboarder did.  For the past few weeks I’ve been stuck with a runny nose, a nagging cough, and the general not-feeling-good-ness that seems to be making the rounds in the office.  Hopefully I’m in the clear now.

But here’s the question of the day: do you call out of work when you’re sick, or do you save your sick days for when you’re healthy and can enjoy them?  (For the record, I did call out one day this week!)

The reason I ask is because a new CareerBuilder.com survey shows that a third of workers are taking fake sick days!  (Or maybe it’s just a third that are admiting to it!)  If you do, just be careful because apparently nearly a third of managers have also checked-up on their sick employees.  So do what you’ve got to do, but don’t get caught!

Filed under: News