Old

I don't know if you noticed it last week, but actor Harrison Ford turned 70 last week.

That's right....Han Solo is 70.  As is Indiana Jones, Jack Ryan, Rick Deckard (you know, from "Blade Runner") and all of his other characters.

70.

I mentioned to someone last week when I read this that Ford so often played characters younger than he, owing to his good physical condition and apparently ageless appearance.  Last movie I saw him in was "Cowboys and Aliens," with Daniel Craig.  This picture opened last summer, and was fun, if not enduring, entertainment.  Ford looked a little closer to his actual age in that movie, but that didn't really bother me.

And knowing that an evergreen favorite actor of mine from adolescence is now 70 years of age is simply an indication of my own advancing age, I suppose.  Think about it....I was in high school when "Star Wars" came out and turned Harrison Ford from a serviceable character actor into a box office megastar.  A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away indeed....

And equally funny was a reference a golfing buddy made last Saturday to his girlfriend not knowing who Sid Caesar is (or was, depending on your perspective).  He's just a little older than I am, but was surprised to learn that his gal hadn't heard of Mr. Caesar, as many of a certain generation have not (ditto for Milton Berle, Carl Reiner, Mel Brooks, and lots of other folks from the golden age of television).  Johnny Carson's been deceased for seven years and off of the "Tonight" show for twenty years.  That means there's a whole generation of folks who really don't know who he was, either.

I've mentioned in this space before my general disdain for music created by those junior to me, and I still feel that way.  I hear something once in a while that I like that's performed by someone obviously younger than I, but it doesn't resonate like something that's more contemporary with me.  Saw over the weekend a feature about the Beach Boys, who are recording and touring together after many, many years of strife and conflict.  They're all around 70 now, too.  But they still can harmonize amazingly well.

One more before I go....same golfing buddy loaned me some CDs that he has, and they're an audio memoir of the late, great baseball broadcaster Ernie Harwell, who has himself been gone for a couple of years.  Probably one of the best radio baseball announcers EVER.  Also gone too soon for whole generations of baseball fans to enjoy.

So let's celebrate those who are "experienced" in their chosen fields and in life.  Their replacements will most assuredly fall short in the comparison.

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