I really enjoyed it but it was a harsh reminder that I'm now a lot, lot older than dudes who are in their early 20's, playing in cacky bands and mooning over moody girls with dyed hair. Those were the days *Sigh*

When I mention that when I started I used to draw everything out on a piece of paper and gave it to a compositor to paste up, I get looked at like I am Fred Flinstone and ran in to work in a car with no bottom.
We now have the first generation who do not remember life before computers and very soon the first generation who do not remember a time before internet enabled mobile phones.

I looked around and thought that everything and everyone just looked plain stupid. Plus all the jeans seemed to be skinny fit. And the music was too loud.

I left feeling somewhat depressed.

It used to be that a literature search involved many hours in the library with a pile of index cards, poring through the many volumes of the citation index. This basically listed all the scientific papers that had cited a particular paper that you were interested in. You then went to have a look at those papers and, if interesting, you looked them up in the citation index too. You ended up with a little cardex system with your scribbled notes on the back. Really interesting papers could be photocopied at some expense.

Nowadays, it's all done at the click of a mouse; searches, abstracts and pdf's*, automatically lodged in the database of your choice, from which you can also add citations into your own papers, again with a mouse click. The job can be done more thoroughly and productively, in a fraction of the time.

Yes, my PhD is dated the far-off year of 1990.

Explaining the old system to today's young scientists gets this reaction:

* Yes, plurals of lower case abbreviations is acceptable apostrophe use.

Yesterday, I was chatting to an lady at the office about the "hurricane" of 1987. She didn't remember it at all - which I found odd because she said she'd lived in Wimbledon for most of her life.
Yes that's right, she was a toddler at the time.

At a comedy gig I was the only member of the audience old enough to answer the question who was the leader of the Liberal party in 1973 .

who is Chris Evans?

In an article about the last episode of the series about this bunch of old duffers drifting serenely off into the second childhood of their twilight years, I noticed that when it started in 1973, Peter Sallis was in fact the same age as I am now, 52.

I used to work on regional TV news in the North West. Attempting to chat up a pneumatic blonde student in a bar in Manchester one night, I insouciantly mentioned that I worked with Gordon Burns.

"Who's he?"
"You know, the Krypton Factor*?"
"What's that?"

She was four when it ended. I didn't even bother mentioning the Art of Noise title music.

*This was before the remake

That 1985 is further away in time from now than 1965 was from 1985 made me stop in my tracks not so long ago.

to take my 19 year old son off to University next week.

Going to a parents evening at my son's school and realising that the teachers are closer in age to him than to me.
The one some years ago was when my son got his first camera, and I was his first photo (My dad aged 40 etc ). then unearthing my first photo album. Shot 1 Page 1 was my father. age 40
Weird moment

I mentioned to a lovely Colombian girl i was having coffee with that i remember watching the moon landing. "Isn't that strange" she said,"That's the day my mother was born". exit stage left.
How about this for feeling old,A group of girls were talking to me and my mate Ade,in a bar, about LA. What happened at the end of this little conversation ?
A -"When I was in LA i saw them filming CSI Las Vegas. I saw Laurence Fishburne
P- "He Plays a Bloke called Ray Langston"
A- "Didn't he have the Builders Yard in Coronation Street with Len Fairclough and married Dierdre ?"
P-"Ray Langton,Remember Jerry Booth who worked with him and Len ?
A-Oh Yes. Len's son was played by ?
P-"Peter Noone". "The guy who played Jerry was in the Dustbinmen"
A- "Didn't he play the only one who supported Man City while the others all supported United"
P-"Correct,his dream was to empty Colin Bell's Bin"
A-"Ah Old Colin Great Player. Nijinsky"
P-"Won the Derby in 1970"
A- "I remember them interupting the Golden Shot to show Nijinsky in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe".
P- "Bob Monkhouse "?
A- "Yep,Too early for Norman Vaughan or Charlie Williams"
P-"I remember it was on Sunday afternoons"
A_"my dad didn't half fancy that Ann Aston"
P-"my Old man really Liked Wei Wei Wong who did it when Anne was off"
A-"Oh God yes.wasn't she in Dougie Squires Young Generation ?"
P-"one of those groups.I'm off now before you start your rant on Seaside Special".

in Exeter as it happens but that's not important, Mrs Pants and I stopped off at a burger van at about 1.00am. A swaying 19 year-old student type stared at us in drunken confusion. Apparently without irony he asked, "What are you doing here at this time?"

"We sneaked out past the nurses," I said and that seemed to satisfy him.

Have just spat tea over my keyboard.

Couple from me:
Daughter went to Cadbury World in the summer holidays. When she came back I asked her about the visit. She told me how they explained about the history of Cadburys chocolate down the years. She said 'they had a really old chocolate bar called the Aztec'. 'Do you remember that, dad?'
Of course I do, like bloody yesterday.

I suppose as the 53 year old dad of an 11 year old daughter I am an old Dad by some standards although I dont yet compete with Rod Stewart. Anyway one of her newer school friends recently visited our house and when I was taking her home the 2 girls were chatting in the back and my daughter piped up 'Dad, do you know that Alex's Grandma is younger than you?'. Deflated?, you bet!!

but I really don't seem to remember what it was. Can I get back to you.....

who I have known since I was 12 - realised recently that we are now older than our Dads were when we met...and they were sort of proper grown ups. Scary.

I'm genuinely surprised two 19 year olds don't know who Chris Evans is. I'm not *that* much older than them (actually, I'm 24, and seem to have absolutely no common ground with 19 year old girls, but there we go) and remember Chris Evans being unavoidable: The Big Breakfast, Don't Forget Your Toothbrush, TFI Friday etc.

I don't want to leap into broad assumptions, but it may be the people you were talking to, rather than their age that made you feel the way you did.

(That said, someone above mentioned the 1987 hurricane. I don't remember it either - I was 14 months old...)

The curve of the age graph (x = age, y = perception of where old age starts) is such that, like climbing a mountain, at any point you can only see a small part of what's ahead and you assume that's the top. When you're 12 you think 40 is as old as it gets, and it's only at about 30 that you start to see the curve flatten out towards middle age, and peak at round 60. When you get to 60 you can't see where the line leads because your eyes have gone.

Unfortunately the curve tends to distort if you look back down it from above. 40 is ancient when you're 15, but once you're past it it looks like 21. I'm 46 now and a quick check of the graph reveals I'm actually 32.

just a bit thick.

yesterday with the news that Pamela Stephenson, to take part in Strictly Come Dancing, is in her 60's.

No.

No No No.

To me she will always be the stunning blonde in her late 20's from Not The Nine O'Clock News. Who, in one sketch, clad in a green swimsuit, listed her hobby as 'screwin'! I've never forgotten that. Oddly.

... who have gotten old, that's when I feel old. In my head David Jason remains dark haired Del Boy. I also say Sean Hughes on telly a few weeks ago and got quite a bit of a fright.

However Michelle McManus! Hubba hubba! (only kidding).

I can't believe how old I look. Tired, grey, puffy - it's ghastly. Thing is, I don't FEEL old, but by God I look it. I'm going to have to get used to it.

And yesterday a colleague had never heard of Eddie Waring.

Watching seemingly prehistoric, black and white British films with long dead actors and realising they were made during one's lifetime - that's a shocker.

'Whistle Down the Wind', 'A Taste of Honey' and the endearingly titled 'Fury at Smugglers' Bay' were just 3 produced the year of my birth - it was a very different world.

Never mind Chris Evans, the girls serving in my local coffee shop hadn't even heard of demarara sugar. I truly despair.

Yes, you're right Stimpy, shame I couldn't edit my post before somebody spotted it. *blushes*

I'm 40 and carrying a bit of "condition" - I was very very upset that last Saturday at his football training, my 9 year old outpaced me over 50 yards...that was a comedown.

Over the past few weeks, Dave have been showing the re-runs of The Young Ones. Those were filmed between 26 and 28 years ago and I can still recite them word for word as I could at school. I had to check the latin BBC dates at the end to make sure I wasn't going mad.

28 years ago. Oh fuck.

http://covers.q4music.com/images/399x567/633267604062785120.Gif

24 years ago a new magazine about old people for old people was launched. I was busy with NME and MM and ignored it. The main 'old' person on the first cover was only a few years older than I am now - the other 'old' people were probably younger than I am now. Bloody. Hell.

60 (bugger, bugger, bugger) I'm the wrong demographic for this group, and EVERYTHING makes me feel old. I remember the Coronation, for God's sake, never mind the moon landings, or Not The Nine O'Clock News. It's been a long haul, but my eyes haven't gone yet, (Underpants, you young upstart) and I can see there's a fair distance yet to travel. Hopefully. I'll be confusing some young thing with references to Word that they won't understand, in years to come. BTW, the young ladies who didn't know who Chris Evans was? Dim.

Tim Robinson is an umpire (although standing in the vital game against Yorkshire he's scandalously failed to favour Notts).

Chris Broad's son just passed his dad's top test score.

But most of all, Derbyshire were bailed out the other day by a batsman called Chesney. His FIRST name.

... this afternoon, the Arctic Monkeys are 'Old-Skool' *shakes head*

who is 28 years old. We get on well and in my saddest old man moments I imagine a spark, something that makes me think maybe, just maybe (even though I never would as the wife would castrate me with blunt implement, because she WOULD find out, how do men get away with it?)Anyway I discovered today that while I am 17 years older than the lady in question I am just 5 years younger than her mum. Bugger and bollocks.

... is three years older than Madonna. If Madonna posts here this will make her feel old...

who was my favourite cricketer when I was about 12 and to think I saw his entire career and later still the entire career of Shane Warne and - soon - Sachin Tendulkar.

And recently going back after an absence of some years to the club where I played cricket back in the day, I was introduced by one of the current stars - all of 25 and the son of someone I used to play with - to the captain of the Colts with these words - "Hi Josh - this Sheev - he was a pretty useful player a little while ago"

"Really?", said the youth with not so much impudence as astonishment that such a thing could ever have been possible.

I remember Alan Butcher being picked for England as, yet another, answer to the problematic opening slot. His son retired last year.

Similar story with the Stewart and Tremlett families, not to mention Martin-Jenkins. His Dad used to be the youngster in the Test Match Special box and now Junior has retired.

listening to Woman's Hour today and...

No.

Wait.

Forget the anecdote.

I just used the words 'I' and 'Woman's Hour' in the same sentence.

Fuck.

to a couple of twenty-somethings at work the other day how we used to order stock by manually counting, working out the weekly sales (in our heads, no less!!), costing the order using a microfiche reader ( at this point, I lost one of them) and then phoning the supplier to place the order.... on a proper telephone. The combined look of astonishment and pity was a picture.

Divide your age by 2 and add seven.
If she is younger than the answer you are perving.

..older than the U.S. president, the Prime Minister of Australia and the two P.M. of Britain who look the same.

or 30 year anniversary editions of albums of my youth...gulp! Was quite taken back when i was reminded that this time next year, it will be 20 years since Nevermind by Nirvana was released

I realised it was 30 years since John Lennon was shot. Still seems like yesterday. You take that same 30 years in the other direction from 1980 and it's 1950. History was never my strong suit but I think Hitler was still in charge of the Alamo back then.

I was driving to town a week or 2 back, chatting with my eldest son about vinyl singles / LPs. During this conversation, Tom asked me, Dad, what is a "B" side??

I took solace in a bag of Werthers originals.

I'm in my early 40s, but (this makes me feel as young as I feel old sometimes so...) my wife turns 30 next year.

When she was born Adam & The Ants were at number one with Stand And Deliver.... That makes me feel ancient.

But still...my wife's in her twenties!!!

:)

as mentioned above. A girl in my office mentioned that her mum was 44, younger than me. I suddenly felt very awkward about looking at her previously. Other things that make me feel old.
- Keeping the door open for women younger than me and not hearing any thanks; a little courtesy goes a long way.
- People no longer reading serious newspapers, just the Metro. Mind you, can't really blame them.
- People no longer reading books that you could use as a conversational intro. It's either the 'in' author or else useless self help books.
- People living in their own ipod/mobile vacuum. The public sphere now seems to be inhabited by loonies.
- Oh and Leeds United no longer being any good.....

Many years ago - well almost 18 - I used to be a sports reporter on a series of local papers and had to deal with a wide range of non-league managers. One was a former England international, but for the most part they were office managers and the like, and all much older than the 30-year-old me. Until one day when one of the clubs decided to appoint a 28-year-old player manager who was almost a foot shorter than me. If there was one day when I became an old git that was it.

since I was a child...

We took our son, who is very into comedy, to see Rich Hall as a birthday treat. While there I bought a CD and asked Mr Hall to sign it for my son as it was his thirteenth birthday. He did. It was only when I got outside that I realised he'd written "To ****** on his 30th birthday, best wishes, Rich Hall". Idiot, I thought. How could I have a thirty year old son? Unfortunately, after a quick bit of maths, I realised that I could easily have a son that age. That was a depressing moment.

Not necessarily for how long ago it was, but more for the well accepted fact that the artists were all the old dinosaurs, who had been knocking around for years. Well here's the ages of the dinosaurs at Live Aid:

Elton John - 38
Pete Townshend - 40
Freddie Mercury - 38
Rick Parfitt - 36
Francis Rossi - 36
Paul McCartney - 43
Phil Collins - 34
Mick Jagger - 42
Bob Dylan - 44
David Bowie - 38
Bryan Ferry - 39
Eric Clapton - 40

Bet that makes a few of you feel old. It certainly makes me feel old!

I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now

as have turned 45 - and am now officially nearer 50 than 40. Ho hum....

I work in higher education and try to enliven my lectures with cultural references, apposite slides, etc. A lecture on substance misuse had the post-grads failing to recognise Iggy Pop. Is this what I fought in the culture wars for? But what really depresses me is that even bloody post-grads in an (almost) Russell Group University will talk about reality TV, listen to X-factor music, rarely read books, are apolitical bar soft-left cliches without an argument, and never seem to be at the (dying) independent cinema when I go (and I go regularly, as you do at 49). In my student university days between 1981 and 1987 there was less telly and computers, so I suppose we had to make our own entertainment... They don't even seem to take drugs any more. And I'm genuinely surprised to see a (once ubiquitous) campus hippie or goth. All gone, dear boy, all gone.

& realising they are closer in years to my children than to me.

is 47. That's 7 years longer than his father lived.

Sean is 35.

I feel weary when I observe people, particularly politicians, repeating mistakes that others before them have made and which have been fully and clearly recorded, reported and explained. But I guess some of us just have to piss on the electric fence for ourselves before we'll accept that it's a stupid thing to do.

Along with Cameron and Clegg, that means all major parties have a leader born after between 1966 and 1969.

That makes me feel old.

trying to use the tense communication blackout of the returning Apollo spacecraft as an interesting example of the effects of ionisation---only to find the students were too young to remember Apollo 13's re-entry

Donald said it a while ago:

Hey Nineteen
That's 'Retha Franklin
She don't remember
The Queen of Soul
It's hard times befallen
The sole survivors
She thinks I'm crazy
But I'm just growing old

Hey Nineteen
No we got nothing in common
No we can't talk at all
Please take me along
When you slide on down

out the front with an old fashioned push mower.

This teenager stood and watched me. He was staring open mouthed with a look that said, "What is this crazy old coot doing?" I don't think he'd ever seem a non-power mower. I felt like Jed Clampett.

I have just rang BBC Radio 3 and listen to the world service as well .