Summer of Love

A characteristic of the British summer is the variety and choice of music festivals, catering to all tastes and tribes, with the redoubtable "Glasto" as the main event. The idea of exposure to climatic vagaries, muddy fields, crowds, inadequate sanitation...all in the name of live music, has held limited appeal. These comments from an individual who back in the day, chose a weekend's waterskiing over attending Woodstock....

This year an opportunity was presented to cast aside prejudices and enjoy at first hand the festival experience, but without the shortcomings. I'm referring to the Vintage at Goodwood Festival (http://tinyurl.com/y92u7hl) - a celebration of music, arts, and fashion, held last weekend. This event had all the components of a traditional festival - multiple sound stages, sideshows, rain, crowds, and a variety of acts, but with a difference. Efficient organisation, flushing toilets, good behaviour, and incredibly slick marketing.

For us there were 2 firsts in attending Vintage at Goodwood - the festival experience, and camping. Choosing the easy option we arrived at the site to find our tent pitched and equipped with airbeds and (new) sleeping bags - technical term is "Glamping". This ensured things got off to a good start without the humiliation and frustration of struggling with ropes, pegs, canvas and canes. Quickly I was enjoying the retro roots rockers sounds of (a reinvented) Aswad.

Reinvention was a necessity at an event focusing on retro sounds, yet whilst performances were enjoyable, tribute bands or reformed groups around one surviving member of the original line-up, failed to be really memorable. There were exceptions - The Faces (Mick Hucknall as Rod Stewart, with a return of Ronnie Wood), Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, Earth Wind & Fire, and the Noisettes, all put on great shows.

Many Vintage attendees helped create the retro atmosphere. There was a plethora of red lips and coiffured hair to complement new look and retro fashions. Flappers mixed effortlessly with hippies, spivs, teddy boys, glam rockers, punks and dreads. Nostalgia surged as the mods and rockers rode in on immaculately restored Lambrettas and Triumphs.

Whilst marketing may have trumped music at Vintage, it wasn't too overt. Big-name brands were largely absent, yet the event itself and the atmosphere / experience created became the brand that attendees bought into.

So as I depart my fifth decade, I can now include going to a festival in my almanac. I look forward to repeating the experience as I enter my sixth decade.

Boogied out by the Boomers!

No stereotyping

"People who are middle-aged may have failing eyesight, receding hairlines and legs that can't run a 10K as fast as they used to. But no way do they want to be reminded of it by special packaging or marketing pointing out those deficits." This comes from an article (http://tinyurl.com/2fdmhe7) about marketing to the babyboom generation - eschewing patronising market positioning, product design and communication.

How refreshing to benefit from and participate in cutting edge technology and "coolness" without the indignity of pretending to be a gen-Xer

Don't give up!

With the UK's coalition government hyperactively trying to re-shape the economy, society, and relations with the rest of the world, they've decided to scrap the compulsory retirement age. This move will of course have a multitude of impacts - particularly on the prospects for younger folks trying to get into the workplace.

I'm all in favour of people of any age managing their working lives in whatever way best suits them - only requiring the state to facilitate conditions for making sustainable work available.

The challenge for older workers will be overcoming the prejudices of ageism - particularly impacting those who are looking to make changes later on in their careers. The cult of youth remains pervasive - particularly in the creative, commercial and financial sectors. Future blogposts will reflect on this as I pursue my own 3rd-age options.

Boomer role models

Planning and setting up this blog, required researching online for articles and images that encapsulate the boomer generation. What I found comprised the most dreadful cliched stereotypes, including:

• Silver-haired WASP models smugly beaming how comfortable they are in moneyed retirement
• Lovey-dovey arms around each other
• Golfing equipment
• Staring into computer screens
• George Clooney and Diane Keaton (and the Obamas???)
• Graphical representation of house price inflation
• The Beatles
• etc., etc., etc. ........

Which of these collections of images best represent us?

What and where are our real role models?

Booming or Busting?

Those of us fortunate to have been born in the post WW2 "developed world"- we've benefitted from exponential growth in technology, healthcare, wealth, communications, entertainment, leisure. 'Let the good times roll'!

Is it all coming to an end? Financial uncertainty, looming old age, new generations coming to the fore who don't share our values or aspirations - or afford us the respect or gratitude for bequeathing them the world they're now putting their own stamp upon? Are we a 'busted flush'?

What does it take to ensure in our final trimester we enrich ourselves, the wider world, and the upcoming generation? Are we so full of our own self-awareness / self-importance that it matters? Should we make the effort?

Not all of us are ready or willing to put our feet up just yet

Introduction

Boomer or Buster is a place to opinionate, let off steam, comment, agree, disagree on anything to do with being in your 50s and over.

Boomer or Buster also includes a 59-year old's musings - advice, criticism, tips, invective, comment, support, are all welcome - but avoid segueing into "grumpy ol' fart" mode.