Kids those days...

I recall The Madness of King George as being a pretty good movie, back in the day when you had to pay money to rent movies.  Today, if you know where to look, you can find just about anything ever made.

Getting back to George, on July 4, 1776, he was 38 years old.  Slate just published a piece on the ages of the Founding Fathers and it's astounding how young many of them were on that date.  Jefferson was 33, John Paul Jones was 28, James Madison was 25, Hamilton was 21, and both the Marquis de Lafayette and James Monroe were 18.  The kids were alright, did a damn fine job.

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A big difference between previous disruptive media (printing press, radio, TV) and the Internet is that the latter is not passive.  We watched TV and listened to the radio but we did not create any content or programming. We watched or listened to whatever was "on." Today, not so much. And let's not forget the proliferation of the MEME, with thanks to Richard Dawkins.

I share most of Uncle Ken's views on the twits who text, not the actual acts themselves but it seems to be constant, always peering into the device and pecking away. What's up with that?  Living in the city requires a certain situational awareness, and an appreciation of your actual physical space can be quite rewarding. When you sit in a fine public house and start texting while you sup your beverage, where are you, really? Your butt is on a comfy stool but your head is someplace...else.  This is not what I would call "living in the moment."

Why not strike up a conversation with a total stranger?  Or just sit quietly, listening and seeing what's going on.  As the great Yogi once said, "You can see a lot just by looking."

Otherwise, what's the point of going out to a socially oriented location? Somebody is late?  Fine, you wait. No need to track everything all the time, is there?  It isn't like you can do anything if they're running late, anyhow.

Do folks in Cheboygan county stroll the byways, with their noses buried in their devices as they check out their Facebook status?  I suspect they have more sense than that.

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My recollection of the rare visits to the South Side of Chicago is that it seemed almost suburban. Lots of nice, single family homes with good yards. The parts of the North Side where I grew up were mostly 2- and 3-flats.

So, here's my question: When you parked in the garage did you back in or go nose first?  Every time I see someone enter a garage nose first I think "Pah! Suburbanites! Probably used to having a driveway." My preference has always been backing in; you can squeeze into a tighter spot.