Beem Weeks's Blog - Posts Tagged "technology"
That Which Has Been Shall Be Again
I participated in an interview with a website this afternoon. The interview is in support of my novel Jazz Baby. A question arose concerning the era in which I set the story, and why I chose it.
I set Jazz Baby in the year 1925. It takes place in Mississippi and New Orleans. The Roaring Twenties have long fascinated me. I remember vividly the stories my grandparents used to share, regaling my then-young mind with tales of life in the 1920s and 1930s. Over the years, I've done much research on the era--especially when preparing to write Jazz Baby. I've read books and magazines about the era, watched documentaries containing actual flappers and hepcats from those bygone days. Those oldsters sure come alive when discussing that golden decade. The reason? Everything was new.
Those who came up in the twenties witnessed the birth of America as we know it today. Prior to the 1920s, if you wanted to take a trip into town, you likely had to hitch up the horses to the wagon and hope to get back before sundown or rain. If you wanted to hear the latest music, you'd purchase the sheet music at your local music store and play it at home on the family piano. Mom or sis usually knew how to play. A night out for couples might consist of dinner and a walk through the park. Man had saloons in which to drown his sorrows if he'd yet to find that special girl to call on. He'd not likely meet her in said saloon, though, since no self-respecting woman would be caught dead--or alive--in a saloon. Besides, many communities had laws against women entering drinking establishments.
But everything changed after the First World War ended, when the dawn of the 1920s rolled in with a great big bang. Horse and wagon? Not anymore. The twenties saw the automobile become a common fixture among families all across the nation. A trip into town could be had simply by climbing into the Model T and driving there. And you could even drive to the next town and still be home before sundown. Dinner and a walk through the park gave way to picture shows on the big screen. Theaters sprouted up in every city, every town, every village. For a dime, a patron might catch the latest Clara Bow film or laugh at Charlie Chaplin. Who needed the park anymore?
The decade witnessed the birth of radio and the mass production of the phonograph player, which allowed common folks the ability to hear the latest popular songs--played by a full band--right there in the parlor of their own home.
Prohibition brought an end to the saloon. But prohibition also gave birth to the speakeasy, that secret place where the young congregated to drink their bootleg hooch, learn all the latest moves out on those makeshift dance floors, and stay out until all hours of the night. Speakeasies didn't belong to men; they were shared adventures.
In 1920, after decades of political denial, beatings, and even jailings, women had finally won the right to vote. They had gained a grip on the taut strings of power.
Flappers dictated the latest fashion trends, taking the hemline higher and the neckline lower. Sexuality slipped into polite company in ways that once scandalized earlier generations. Even Hollywood dared a little more skin in the productions they peddled equally to small towns and big cities. The young ones coming up in that decade knew of no other way. It was a new and exciting time to come of age.
As I pondered the interview question, it struck me that those youngsters coming up in the Roaring Twenties had a lot more in common with young adults growing up in the decade of the 2000s than most might suspect. Today's young, born in the 1990's, can't recall a time when smart phones, x-box, or the internet didn't exist. They've always had social media, iPods, and cable TV with its 500 channels. It's a new age, and they were born into it.
Some of us are old enough to remember television with its three channels, phone calls made from payphones, and a time when Atari's Pong was the only video game on the market. Computers? They were for managing household budgets and little else. When you needed information, you had to go to the library, search the card catalog, find the book or resource material, and turn pages to find the info.
We wrote letters to friends and loved ones--using paper and pencil, full words, and proper sentences. We didn't text short messages filled with letters like LOL and OMG! But we can't fault this younger generation anymore than we could fault those kids of the twenties. This is their time and era. It was technology then as it's technology now that has given these two decades their unique qualities.
So go on, fellow oldsters,don't sit around scratching your head in dismay; embrace the era that now belongs to your children and grandchildren.
I set Jazz Baby in the year 1925. It takes place in Mississippi and New Orleans. The Roaring Twenties have long fascinated me. I remember vividly the stories my grandparents used to share, regaling my then-young mind with tales of life in the 1920s and 1930s. Over the years, I've done much research on the era--especially when preparing to write Jazz Baby. I've read books and magazines about the era, watched documentaries containing actual flappers and hepcats from those bygone days. Those oldsters sure come alive when discussing that golden decade. The reason? Everything was new.
Those who came up in the twenties witnessed the birth of America as we know it today. Prior to the 1920s, if you wanted to take a trip into town, you likely had to hitch up the horses to the wagon and hope to get back before sundown or rain. If you wanted to hear the latest music, you'd purchase the sheet music at your local music store and play it at home on the family piano. Mom or sis usually knew how to play. A night out for couples might consist of dinner and a walk through the park. Man had saloons in which to drown his sorrows if he'd yet to find that special girl to call on. He'd not likely meet her in said saloon, though, since no self-respecting woman would be caught dead--or alive--in a saloon. Besides, many communities had laws against women entering drinking establishments.
But everything changed after the First World War ended, when the dawn of the 1920s rolled in with a great big bang. Horse and wagon? Not anymore. The twenties saw the automobile become a common fixture among families all across the nation. A trip into town could be had simply by climbing into the Model T and driving there. And you could even drive to the next town and still be home before sundown. Dinner and a walk through the park gave way to picture shows on the big screen. Theaters sprouted up in every city, every town, every village. For a dime, a patron might catch the latest Clara Bow film or laugh at Charlie Chaplin. Who needed the park anymore?
The decade witnessed the birth of radio and the mass production of the phonograph player, which allowed common folks the ability to hear the latest popular songs--played by a full band--right there in the parlor of their own home.
Prohibition brought an end to the saloon. But prohibition also gave birth to the speakeasy, that secret place where the young congregated to drink their bootleg hooch, learn all the latest moves out on those makeshift dance floors, and stay out until all hours of the night. Speakeasies didn't belong to men; they were shared adventures.
In 1920, after decades of political denial, beatings, and even jailings, women had finally won the right to vote. They had gained a grip on the taut strings of power.
Flappers dictated the latest fashion trends, taking the hemline higher and the neckline lower. Sexuality slipped into polite company in ways that once scandalized earlier generations. Even Hollywood dared a little more skin in the productions they peddled equally to small towns and big cities. The young ones coming up in that decade knew of no other way. It was a new and exciting time to come of age.
As I pondered the interview question, it struck me that those youngsters coming up in the Roaring Twenties had a lot more in common with young adults growing up in the decade of the 2000s than most might suspect. Today's young, born in the 1990's, can't recall a time when smart phones, x-box, or the internet didn't exist. They've always had social media, iPods, and cable TV with its 500 channels. It's a new age, and they were born into it.
Some of us are old enough to remember television with its three channels, phone calls made from payphones, and a time when Atari's Pong was the only video game on the market. Computers? They were for managing household budgets and little else. When you needed information, you had to go to the library, search the card catalog, find the book or resource material, and turn pages to find the info.
We wrote letters to friends and loved ones--using paper and pencil, full words, and proper sentences. We didn't text short messages filled with letters like LOL and OMG! But we can't fault this younger generation anymore than we could fault those kids of the twenties. This is their time and era. It was technology then as it's technology now that has given these two decades their unique qualities.
So go on, fellow oldsters,don't sit around scratching your head in dismay; embrace the era that now belongs to your children and grandchildren.
Beware The Techno-Zombies
They are everywhere. In restaurants, bars, movie theaters, and banks. They can be found wandering the streets of big cities and small villages alike. I’m talking about the walking dead. No, I don’t mean flesh-eating zombies in search of a slow-moving meal. I’m talking about smartphone junkies. You know the ones, those brain-addled folks who cannot function more than a few minutes without looking at the electronic device that’s literally stealing their souls away.
We’ve all seen the videos on the internet; the ones showing those clueless clowns who plunge into water fountains inside some shopping mall because they can’t bear to look away from the smartphone long enough to save themselves from disaster.
Just sit inside of a restaurant—any restaurant in any city in any country—and watch all the sagging, drooping heads. These brain-dead techno-zombies won’t even bother to socialize with their lunch or dinner companions. They just can’t spare the thirty minutes or so for simple human to human interaction. Their smartphone just won’t allow it.
This is the new society we live in. This is the curse that technology has gifted the human race. How many lives have been lost due to smart phones? I see these fools texting, surfing the internet, and checking emails while at the helm of fast-moving vehicles. I watched one idiot fly through an intersection before T-boning an unsuspecting motorist who had the misfortune of passing through that intersection at the wrong moment in time. The guilty party was texting or checking messages. The rest of us were stopped at the red light. I guess you’re not likely to notice a thing like a red light with your nose buried in a smart phone.
During a recent visit to a local burger joint, I witnessed a grandmother completely ignoring her young granddaughter, because whatever her smartphone offered far exceeded anything the little girl could manage. The girl, no more than five, practically pleaded for Grandma’s attention before finally realizing the futility in her effort. The grandmother acknowledged the girl twice during the thirty-odd minutes they were in the restaurant. And both times, the woman hollered at the girl to quit pestering her.
Don’t get me wrong; technology has been amazing—especially for writers. It’s something of a miracle to be able to write a short article like this, and have it read by people all over the world with just a few keystrokes. But look at what’s been replaced by this technology. Social interaction is now mostly carried out over Facebook or Twitter or texting or any one of a dozen other social media sites. Very few of us actually sit down and write letters to friends and family anymore. Why bother when a text message is quicker and easier? Most schools here in the States don’t even bother teaching students proper handwriting. Cursive has been placed on the endangered species list. And books? Who has time to read books when there are video games, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and emails on which to catch up.
I’m not against technology; I use it daily. I just think we’ve lost something vital to being human beings. And the deeper we fall in with technology, the more likely we’ll never recover.
We’ve all seen the videos on the internet; the ones showing those clueless clowns who plunge into water fountains inside some shopping mall because they can’t bear to look away from the smartphone long enough to save themselves from disaster.
Just sit inside of a restaurant—any restaurant in any city in any country—and watch all the sagging, drooping heads. These brain-dead techno-zombies won’t even bother to socialize with their lunch or dinner companions. They just can’t spare the thirty minutes or so for simple human to human interaction. Their smartphone just won’t allow it.
This is the new society we live in. This is the curse that technology has gifted the human race. How many lives have been lost due to smart phones? I see these fools texting, surfing the internet, and checking emails while at the helm of fast-moving vehicles. I watched one idiot fly through an intersection before T-boning an unsuspecting motorist who had the misfortune of passing through that intersection at the wrong moment in time. The guilty party was texting or checking messages. The rest of us were stopped at the red light. I guess you’re not likely to notice a thing like a red light with your nose buried in a smart phone.
During a recent visit to a local burger joint, I witnessed a grandmother completely ignoring her young granddaughter, because whatever her smartphone offered far exceeded anything the little girl could manage. The girl, no more than five, practically pleaded for Grandma’s attention before finally realizing the futility in her effort. The grandmother acknowledged the girl twice during the thirty-odd minutes they were in the restaurant. And both times, the woman hollered at the girl to quit pestering her.
Don’t get me wrong; technology has been amazing—especially for writers. It’s something of a miracle to be able to write a short article like this, and have it read by people all over the world with just a few keystrokes. But look at what’s been replaced by this technology. Social interaction is now mostly carried out over Facebook or Twitter or texting or any one of a dozen other social media sites. Very few of us actually sit down and write letters to friends and family anymore. Why bother when a text message is quicker and easier? Most schools here in the States don’t even bother teaching students proper handwriting. Cursive has been placed on the endangered species list. And books? Who has time to read books when there are video games, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and emails on which to catch up.
I’m not against technology; I use it daily. I just think we’ve lost something vital to being human beings. And the deeper we fall in with technology, the more likely we’ll never recover.
