How about Len Barry's hit - "1, 2, uhm...uhm..."

This email is making the rounds (contributed by Sandy):
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BABY BOOMER HIT PARADE!

It's been fun being a baby boomer ... Until now. Some of the artists
Of the '50s and'60s are revising their hits with new lyrics to accommodate aging baby boomers. They include:

1. Herman's Hermits--- Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Walker.


2. The Bee Gees--- How Can You Mend a Broken Hip.

3. Bobby Darin--- Splish, Splash, I Was Havin' a Flash.

4. Ringo Starr--- I Get By With a Little Help From Depends.

5. Roberta Flack--- The First Time Ever I Forgot Your Face.

6. Johnny Nash--- I Can't See Clearly Now.

7. Paul Simon--- Fifty Ways to Lose Your Liver.

8. The Commodores--- Once, Twice, Three Times to the Bathroom.

9. Marvin Gaye--- Heard It Through the Grape Nuts.

10. Procol Harum--- A Whiter Shade Of Hair.

11. Leo Sayer--- You Make Me Feel Like Napping.

12. The Temptations --- Papa's Got a Kidney Stone.

13. Abba--- Denture Queen.

14. Tony Orlando--- Knock 3 Times On The Ceiling If You Hear Me Fall.

15. Helen Reddy--- I Am Woman, Hear Me Snore.

16. Leslie Gore--- It's My Procedure, and I'll Cry If I Want To.

17. Willie Nelson--- On the Commode Again.

All Together Now...

Well, that PBS program was constructed a little oddly, but seemed very perceptive indeed.

One key insight: The explosion of television and other mass media during the 50s and 60s made ours the first generation in human history to repeatedly share formative experiences at precisely the same time.

Not all 78 million of us, of course. Economic realities and other issues left some folks behind, but still....

The Kennedy and King assasinations. The Cuban missile crisis (duck and cover). Howdy Doody and Leave it to Beaver and Ozzie and Harriet.

So, in the end, half of us (more or less) developed crushes on Annette Funicello - the cute one - at the same time. Later, half of us (more or less) developed crushes on Paul McCartney - the cute one - at the same time.

Never before has a generation been as...bonded...by mutual experience as ours.

And now, as we enter our 60s, here we go again. Together.

Now we have our own century

Tonight, PBS presents a two-hour documentary that runs strides slips right into our sweet spot: "The Boomer Century: 1946-2046."

It seems to touch all the right themes, and the advance reviews are promising.

You can read more about it and also find a lot of supporting material here.

Look for it on your local PBS station and/or set your Tivos.

Hmm, Tivos. We should talk about that.

Boomer Facts

(Thanks to Coop for the suggestion)

- Our numbers (those born between 1946 and 1964) are estimated at 76.4 million, and that represents 27 percent of the U.S. population. (Source: MetLife).

- Subtract deaths and add immigrants and our current population is estimated at 78.2 million (The Boomer Century).

- Nearly 8,000 Americans turn 60 every day (The Boomer Century).

- According to the 2000 U.S. Census, more than half of all baby boomers live in the following nine states (in order of size): California, Texas, New York, Florida, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Ohio, Michigan and New Jersey.

- Only about one in seven of us expects to begin collecting Social Security at age 62 (The Boomer Century).

- About one-third of all Boomer households have at least $100,000 in investable assets, but about four in 10 Boomers have less than $10,000 in retirement savings (The Boomer Century).

- Can't we just get along? Baby boomers have a higher divorce rate than prior generations: 14.2 percent of boomers are divorced (U.S. Census Bureau).

- Nearly 17 percent of us belong to minority groups: 12 percent are black, four percent are Asian or Pacific Islander, less than one percent are American Indian and Alaskan Native. People of Hispanic origin (who may be of any race) comprise
9.8 percent of the baby boomers (MetLife).

- Baby boomers have a higher level of education than any generation before them. Nearly 89 percent completed high school and 28.5 percent have a bachelor’s or higher college degree (MetLife).

- We're not responsible for Geraldo Rivera. He was born on July 4, 1943, three years before the beginning of the Baby Boom.

- We're also not responsible for Anna Nicole Smith. She was born on Nov. 28, 1967, three years after the end of the Baby Boom. (Sorry, but the Commissioner of Major League Blogging has ruled that every blog must mention, at least once, Anna Nicole Smith, and now we've done it twice in the same post. Any broadcast or re-transmission of this post without the express written consent of the Commissioner of Major League Blogging is....highly unlikely.)

- Fifty-five percent of America's elected national and state officials are Baby Boomers - including 74 percent of the 50 state governors(Scripps Howard).

What is BoomVista

Welcome to BoomVista.

This site – this developing community – is for those of us on the leading edge of the baby boom.

Folks who were born between 1946 and 1964. Folks who are changing course – moving from one career to another or to early retirement. Folks entering the third third.

Folks who wake up in the morning, climb out of bed and think: "Hey, who snuck in here last night and poured rust into my knees?" Folks whose kids are married or almost married yet still call on Sunday morning, as they were trained, but immediately and thriftily say, “Can you call me back?” Folks who remember movies with plots, radio stations that didn’t assault listeners with inanities or profanities, songs with lyrics ("Yummy, yummy, yummy, I’ve got love in my…" Hmm. Never mind about the last one. It may need a little more thought).

Folks who grew up thinking that 60 was really, really old – and it was, back then. Folks who moved through adulthood determined not to let it pass quickly or unnoticed and now look back and think, "Wow, where’d it go?" Folks who are still searching and will never stop searching.

Among us: David Bowie. Nolan Ryan. Farrah Fawcett. Dan Quayle. Rob Reiner. Carole Bayer Sager. Billy Crystal. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Dave Barry. David Letterman. O.J. Simpson. The late Jessica Savitch. You’d be amazed by some of the others, by the abundance of famed and accomplished people, all born in 1947 alone.

Only because it seems relevant here, my mini-story: Also born in 1947. Raised in Brooklyn, N.Y.; moved away a long time ago. Married, with one grown child. Reporter for a major metropolitan newspaper for longer than I care to remember. (Newspapers – remember them? Rather quaint things they were are.) Served as a business writer, foreign and national correspondent, and so on and so forth.

But this is not intended to be the Internet version of a vanity, “it’s-all-about-me” ego trip. My experiences are no more important or insightful than yours. But taken together, our experiences are worthy of note, especially those experiences that remain ahead.

So, here we are. On the brink of 60 or already just over it or able to imagine it out there a bit over the horizon. Imagine that. How the hell did that happen?

Let’s share the journey. Let’s row together as we navigate these new shoals of life. Let’s try to figure it out.

What we’re looking for is an answer. More likely, a series of answers.

The question: So, what do we do now that we’re almost sort of kinda grown up?

Contacting BoomVista

We welcome private email, but - to better share our experiences and impressions - we encourage you to click the word 'comment' below each original post and share your views with the rest of us.

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