I was really wondering a lot about this, don't want to depress anyone here - But is it just me? Or are other people also noticing how the world is changing? So let's talk about things that today make us a bit nostalgic. I myself recently passed from an area of Karachi city, where now huge buildings are standing - While in the past (all throughout the late 1960s to the early 1980s), there used to be drive-in cinemas over there! Going to the drive-in cinema was actually better than a picnic. As over here they also had a few rides for the kids too. So you got there a little before sunset, had loads of fun on the swings, the slides, and the seesaws too. And just as the sky would become dark - They would start the movie! Some people would watch it from within their cars, some would bring their own garden chairs with them and enjoy the movie in the open air. While other like me would watch the movie by climbing on top of the car's roof (thus ruining the view of the cars parked behind, leading to some embarrassment of my parents)! They also had a few all you can eat food outlets too! So during the intermission, lots of people would have their dinner also. And by God their Bar-B-Q food too was excellent! Sometimes they would play old as well as new local Pakistani movies - So this meant that you'll either got to see a musical comedy, or a musical loves story (or a movie that would be both) - Yes, thats' all we made in those days, see example below. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuSG5UMJUr0 But other times they would show action thrillers from Hollywood - My favorite used to be those classic war movies like the Great Escape, Bridge on the River Kwai, and of course who can forget The Guns of Navarone! But then there were also the westerns of Clint Eastwood too (which really had a major influence on my early development)! But now what used to be the outskirts of the city, is today considered the city center. Where the city only had a population of 5 million inhabitants, now holds over 20 million... The drive-in cinemas got bulldozed, and new tall building exist in that place. Still, every now and then you do get an occasional flashback. Specially when they would remake an old movie, or re-sing an old song, like this song from the above link also got redone recently: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RaDU-btXuw Now don't get me wrong here, as I am not being ungrateful to modern technology. I really enjoy watching a DVD of The Good The Bad And The Ugly on a new 100 inch widescreen TV. But somehow, I sometimes feel that somewhere down the line, I lost something of value also... Anyway, this is what made me feel nostalgic today. So what makes you guys feel this way??? Please feel free to contribute into this thread.
Wow, kind of a tough one. Many things make me feel nostalgic. What gets me the most is the feel of autumn in the air and the slight smell of woodsmoke. Reminds me of being a kid and my first pheasant hunting trip. The smell of fir trees reminds me of Christmas at home as a kid and really makes me miss my sister The smell of coffee percolating, bacon frying and palmolive dish soap reminds me of Grandma's kitchen and how much I miss her. My sniffer really jogs the old memory bank :-o Oh yeah, the sound of the Glen Miller Band gets me every time!
Prices on stuff! I can remember my Daddy complaining about 29 cents a gallon for gasoline. Now it is well over $3 a gallon, and much higher in many places. A can of Campbell's soup was over $2.50 yesterday in the store, and you used to be able to get 5 cans for a $1... A friend did find them for $1 a can in another store, so she won't be buying soup at the higher priced place again. That same friend can remember when her Dad's gas station had gasoline for 10 cents a gallon... The prices on things nowadays are just horrible, and the young people are too ignorant to know they are being cheated every time they buy something. My mom has a cookbook from my Daddy's grandmother with an old grocery reciept from the early 1900s. Great grandmother got a month's worth of groceries for $3.50 back then. You are lucky to get a half gallon of milk for that now. When I was a kid, an afternoon at the movies was 25 cents, including popcorn and sodas.
Yup, I agree with you both over here! By the way, is it just me? Or have some of you also noticed that aside from the hike in price of just about everything - Food portions (specially the packaged items) are also getting smaller and smaller... I mean I am not stupid - So when the size of an ice lolly is today only 60% of what it once used to be in my childhood - Then that is where I too can smell a rat... Also, is it just me or do all soft drinks (sodas and pop) have started to taste the same? All gas, with little taste. And wasn't it better to open them with a bottle opener? Remember the metal top on a glass bottle containing sada? At least that somehow felt and tasted a lot better (and was easier to cool in the fridge too) - Compared to the disposable plastic bottles we get soda in today... And those old refrigerators, the ones which had a mechanical latch on the handle. Didn't they cool stuff better? Compared to the near useless magnetic gasket door seal which always leaks?
I get all nostalgic about old movies--ones you could watch without hearing cursing, no nudity, and actors who could actually act. And books--books you held in your hand and turned pages, didn't need batteries, and a paper bookmark held your place until you got back to reading it. And house smells--cooking smells (you knew what was for dinner), wax and polish smells after cleaning day, the smell of vinegar and spices when pickling season came around. Now houses smell of "Fresh Mountain Breeze" from a plug-in on the wall. What does a fresh mountain breeze smell like, anyway, and what the heck is it doing in Texas?
Rain on a tin roof, the smell of coffee with a bit of bourbon in it, and chewing tobacco. Bibbed overalls, the well worn handle of a mattock, gum boots. The smell of coal smoke, and the silhouette of the hills in my minds eye. Real country music like the Carter Family. Neatsfoot oil on sweat hardened harness leather. Wool shirts with buttoned collars and cuffs, even in the hottest part of the summer. All this is a pleasant sorrow on my heart, for it will never again be more than a memory. But, they are mine. Thanks for causing me to remember
I miss the fact that people would look you in the eye and smile, nod thir head or say hello. Now all you see is people of all ages looking down engaged in an electrical device. I feel bad for the kids who will grow up with this as the norm.
I love the sound of rain on a tin roof. My new bedroom has a tin roof because #1) they last twice as long and #2) I can listen to it raining whenever we get rain! The metal roofs are very popular here. And just for those who love the sound of rain on a tin roof, a link to Eddie Rabbit's "I Love A Rainy Night"... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idJ7pA-CKGM
Looking at old pictures is #1. My uncle has started scanning old photos onto his computer, and looking at them is amazing. Ill see things in the pics and think "Hey, I remember that!" My memory is based a lot on touch. I can see an item from 20 years ago (I feel really old being able to say that!) and remember the texture and shape of it. I also enjoy hearing music from when I was younger. And remembering old tv shows (thank goodness for Netflix! Ive been watching the original Star Trek). My coworkers and I do a lot of reminiscing about old shows lol And visiting places I havent seen in years. Yesterday I was driving around the south side with my younger sister, and we passed the old folks home my first stepmother worked at and it made me remember some people brought horses (dont remember why though ) and my stepsister and I got to ride them. I rode their stallion, who they werent sure would behave, but he was great with me. That was the first time I got to canter, I loved it!
Every time I go outside I feel nostalgic, since I bought my childhood home. I even put the vegetable garden exactly where my father had it when I was a child. I remember going out and helping him pick beans and peas, shelling peas, picking radishes, the kinds of things kids can do. Now that he has passed, it gives me the fondest memories to go out there every day and garden the same land he once did. Those were some great memories I get to enjoy every day....not to mention the rest of the house that is still pretty much as it was when I was a child. The big trees I used to climb as a kid, which are even bigger now. Other things are home cooking, which I love to do. Baking bread. I don't eat any store-bought bread any more. There's just something about baking your own... Christmas breakfast, old movies. Driving around in a truck with the windows rolled down, and a dog with his nose out the window and ears flopping in the wind.
Oh yes, Star Trek the original (truly unforgettable)! Actually now that I think about it, that show (and especially Chief Engineer Scotty) is perhaps what later made me pick a very technical field as a career! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78tXUEcJqRk My favorite moments from Star Trek was the legendary fight between Kirk and Spock (a fight till death on Spock's homeworld of Vulcan)! I and a cousin once re-enacted that fight - Which lead to some minor injuries too! But there were other shows too, like Street Hawk and Knight Rider. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCItnKrXvMM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuTyWUSbns4 These shows I'm sure must have caused many bicycle accidents among kids! But there was also the 6 Million Dollar Man, the show which made 1000s of kids run in slow motion! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoLs0V8T5AA But if I have to pick the show which I can say had the greatest influence on me, then I'd have to say that it was Macgyver, and the Misfits of Science! As those really made me into a serious tinkerer, something that I still am today (hence my love for machine tools). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOEe1uzurKo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRZWKfeN1u4
Everyone covered all the great memory flashbacks. The one that really gets me is seeing my reflection unexpectedly. That is definitely not in keeping with my memories of how I look.
