Just a chime....or??

[westgrandboulevard]

They appeal to something in human nature which also wants to respond even when warned 'the following could contain images which you may find distressing....

[144man]

My great-niece used to watch Jerry Springer when she stayed with us, but I didn't enjoy it one bit.

[westgrandboulevard]

From what I saw, neither did I. It's the sort of programme which should encourage people to quietly get on with their own lives, and mind their business - but they don't see that aspect, and instead concentrate all their attention on watching other people air their problems.........

[Jerry Oz]

"Springer" is just a bunch of people making up their situations to get ratings. When the typical angle is "midget stripper caught in love triangle", you can't take it seriously. Especially when someone is being separated by the show's bouncers every single day. BTW: Why does a talk show need bouncers?

[westgrandboulevard]

Rational, admirable sensibility doesn't do it for entertainment now. Everything has to have an 'edge', illustrated by people who live their lives as if they are just about to fall off a cliff.

[Jerry Oz]

Some people feel better to believe that someone else's life is worse than their own. Perhaps Jerry Springer offers a therapeutic service to society.

[westgrandboulevard]

If someone who appears on the programme, looks at themselves on the screen with dismay and thinks "I can and will do better than this", then that's positive.

[Jerry Oz]

I think people look at the show and think "I can do worse than this." Then they pick up the phone and pitch it to the producers.

[westgrandboulevard]

That's more likely, of course, but there's always hope. That said, maybe they're just as happy being like that, as I am being the way I am.

[Jerry Oz]

God bless 'em. And God bless you, too. Hope, hope, hope to never see you and 144Man on "The Jerry Springer Show" one day.

[[I can't lie; if you show up, I'll be compelled to watch...)

[westgrandboulevard]

I was counting on you to tune in, totally engrossed. Especially when we both start talking about you.....

[144man]

Me on Jerry Stringer? Never. Big Brother? Maybe.

[westgrandboulevard]

I'd much rather be on 'Britain's Got Talent', and to have people say "Yes!!"

[144man]

What would you do on it?

[westgrandboulevard]

Sing better than you.

[144man]

You've won!

[westgrandboulevard]

Not necessarily, but you'd be using AutoTune, and I would not.

Besides, I can sing, tap dance and juggle, all at the same time....

[Jerry Oz]

I've no discernible talent beyond making pointed criticisms of people who sing, tap dance, and juggle. If you send a video, perhaps I can get a spot on the show as well...

[144man]

I may well give you marks on your critical abilities.

[westgrandboulevard]

True. Marx had a unique ability for criticism.

[Jerry Oz]

Yeah, as I recall, he criticized many concepts of capitalism.

[westgrandboulevard]

Maybe he hadn't made as much money as he had hoped.

[Jerry Oz]

That or Zeppo wasn't a marketable as Harpo.

[westgrandboulevard]

Which he wasn't. Zeppo was more background, a foil or stooge for his brothers. Very talented, but it wasn't made plain to see, and so he was overshadowed by those larger than life siblings.

[Jerry Oz]

Each of whom was arguably a comic genius in his own right.

[westgrandboulevard]

Hard acts to follow.....

[Jerry Oz]

He was like Andy Gibb living up to the example of the Bee Gees. Best not to compare, and probably unfair as well.

[westgrandboulevard]

Some might say it has its advantages, but it is not easy to be in show business, and having relatives who are much more well known....

[Jerry Oz]

That's very true. On one hand, you get your shot largely based on name recognition. On the other, there's a presumption that you'll provide more of the same which ain't likely to happen. So there's a good chance you will be either a let-down or the butt of cruel jokes [[or both). In a fair evaluation, it's possible that your music is good in its own right. But it might be your music, but theirs and that may not be what the label wants.

[westgrandboulevard]

Where relatives are involved in a scenario, to succeed in any form of creativity which has a potential audience of strangers who may become fans, one needs to do something completely different, under another name - or wait until said relatives have passed.

[Jerry Oz]

Even then, it's hard. Bobbi Christina Houston is trying to make her way into the music industry right now and she just does not have it. She makes her dad [[Bobby Brown) sound like Luciano Pavorotti.

[westgrandboulevard]

Speaking as someone who has done just that, I feel that simply following in the career footsteps of Mum or Dad can often indicate a lack of thought and ambition in respect of alternative career paths which might be a better use of one's individual talents, and which may have a greater potential for success.

[Jerry Oz]

Some are viewed to be heirs apparent and thanks largely to trust funds, never develop individual talents. By the time that they are old enough, there's little more for them to do than fulfill their destinies and follow in the footsteps of their [[better, more talented) parents. Michael Jordan's sons discovered that entitled mindsets and good genes do not translate well toward success.

[westgrandboulevard]

I don't know very much about Michael Jordan, although I'm sure basketball fans here would certainly know him. Have his sons had their own problems in attempting to emulate a famous father?

[Jerry Oz]

Definitely. One received a scholarship to play basketball at a small university and cost his school a million-dollar clothing sponsorship with adidas by refusing to wear anything besides his father's brand [[Nike). He and his older brother once bragged on Twitter about going to Las Vegas and blowing through $100 thousand in one day. Suffice it to say, neither was good enough on the basketball court to be noticed or offered a chance to play in the NBA.

[westgrandboulevard]

It would not have gone well for the interests of basketball if there had been no one more talented for selection...

[westgrandboulevard]

..and happy birthday, Jerry. Hope the day has gone well for YOU! LOL

[Jerry Oz]

I feel a day older than I did just yesterday. My birthdays seem to matter more to others than they do to me but it's always nice to have someone offer well wishes. Thanks, amigo.

[westgrandboulevard]

One's birthday becomes of greatest significance when one's mother, the person who gave us birth, can no longer remember it - which is part of life of course.... but it then gets worse when no-one else remembers either. I'm told that happens more often than many of us realise. The price sometimes paid for independence, I suppose...

[Jerry Oz]

Mom remembered.

[westgrandboulevard]

I become disappointed at the regularity of people telling me about their adult children, from whom they receive no word..often not even at Christmas. I must say that I do find myself thinking "well, maybe there are reasons for this on both sides". It still seems regrettable even if, for them, it is a fact of life to which they seem resigned.

[Jerry Oz]

Sometimes life gets in the way of life. Priorities shift and some things seem less urgent. We may always be able to go see our folks, but the game will only be on television once, so we choose to watch the game with friends. Only we won't always be able to see the folks and the chest of missed opportunities begins to fill. When they're gone, we have to deal with whatever rationalization makes us feel good for causing their heartache.

[westgrandboulevard]

It seems that the incidence of rationalisation increases as one ages. I think it is just our way of getting by.

As you quite rightly say, life gets in the way. I often stop and find myself thinking back about things I cannot alter, about why 'this' or 'that' had to be, yet knowing full well the answers. I guess it is often pure self-centred sentiment which often prevents us from living only for the day, and from making the most of it.

[Jerry Oz]

Well, the cat's in the cradle... Dwelling on it serves zero benefit, so learn to accept it and continue to move forward. Every second spent worrying about yesterday is a waste because you lived through it already.

[144man]

OK in theory. If only it were that easy to put into practice!

[westgrandboulevard]

Hear, hear! Practice overrides theory....particularly when one is accustoming themself to be among the elder generation in a family, and in a country.

[Jerry Oz]

If I permitted myself more than a minute or so to think about mistakes I made 30 years ago, I'd be clinically depressed. Literally. I give in to it from time to time but fortunately, I move on quickly. It's best to revisit them to make sure you learned from them without thinking about how much better things would be if you knew then what you now know. You didn't. Try not to kick yourself too hard or you might hurt yourself.

And, yes, it is easier to maintain that viewpoint than it is to practice it. I've made so many regrettable errors in my life that I could spend all of my day reflecting on them.

[westgrandboulevard]

It's not any mistakes I have made which can lead me to become preoccupied, [[as I don't dwell on those) it's the other factors of life in general over which we have no control, which can cause some reflection - and which is not necessarily negative in nature.

These can be triggered by a recurrence, quite often happening in someone else's life. I imagine it is something in a current activity or experience which causes memories from our own life, many years ago, to emerge from the subconscious...and which is something that can only happen when one is of a certain age.

Things which cannot be altered can also be quite stubbornly resistant to being disregarded. It could well be a sign that they were not fully addressed at the time.

[Jerry Oz]

I guess. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to remember our best days in HD? If I have a regret, it's that I failed to remember the small things like conversations, locations, dates, time of day, etc. I wish I had taken mental photographs instead of hastily-scribed Post-It notes of things that I remember happening, but don't quite remember.

At this point, I barely remember what happened yesterday without a lot of thought, let alone what happened 30 years ago.

[westgrandboulevard]

It may be that they are buried, more than you know. If so, with the passing of time they could, in time, start to return to you. When both my grandmothers died, I remembered more clearly what they had said. It happened again when my Dad died and, more latterly, when my Mum died. It's almost as if a person's physical presence can cause us to suppress all manner of things.

My own memories can be quite vivid, but also very fragmented - snapshots, if you will, and so can start to crowd my mind a bit. I find I then have a need to get them in some sort of mental order, as in "Get out of my head!" moments....

In other words, I guess I don't like to feel that 'things just happen to me' - !