Kodachrome, you give us those nice bright colors...

On June 22, 2009 Kodak announced it would discontinue manufacturing and sale of Kodachrome film.  It is reported to be the among first color films mass-marketed for sale to the public and was available for 74 years.  It was used by millions of amateur and professional still and movie producers and created an untold number of irreplaceable images and memories.  Paul Simon's apocryphal 1973 hit by the same name now seems almost canonical for presaging the end of a legend 36 years hence. 

But this quiet rant isn't about the end Kodachrome specifically, rather it is about passing and fading in general.  It is about personal relevancy and current thinking versus a fond remembrance and regard for the past.  After all, shouldn't something that existed for 74 years and chronicled the lives of millions of people be remembered?  Maybe, but it won't, no more than Paul Simon and his memorable song will be. 

I look at those who are older than me and I can see which of them have stayed in this world and which quit living at some point and constantly regurgitate the past with vitriolic comments attached.  I am pleased to say I was there and participated in creating the world of technology that we all now take for granted...including me.  Just the same I find myself uttering phrases and longing after things that are long past, like, say, Kodachrome.  Yet I don't even own a film camera anymore and all my stuff is digital.  So what ARE these mystery things I'm talking about??

How about...

The "E Ticket" Ride

In the deep, dark past there was this thing called a ticket.  It was printed on paper.  In the case of the coveted "E Ticket" it was the crem de la crem of tickets, top of the mark, get-you-anywhere pass for any attraction in Disneyland.  Without an E Ticket (or an equivalent number of lesser tickets in your ticket book)  you were doomed to repeat Mr. Toad's Wild Ride over and over rather than enjoy the pleasures of the Class A attractions.  So, uttering the phrase "It was a real E Ticket ride" was commonly understood to mean the best, the tops, no better.  I had reason to speak this phrase recently in the company of some much younger than I and was instantly aware no one knew what the hell I was talking about.  Luckily this reference is just history-laden enough to pass as novel rather than plain old outdated and silly.  It was on the edge but I think I pulled it off...sorta...

Someone Is On The Ameche For You

OK, I admit THIS one is, to say the least, obscure.  The picture on the left shows Henry Fonda and Don Ameche in a movie about Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, among other things.  At some point in history this phrase was meant to say "Someone is on the phone for you".  The reference to Ameche rather than telephone is only obvious if you have seen this dated and now obscure pic.  Yes, I did foolishly utter this comment in reference to a phone call.  No, the receiving party did not understand it at all, not even after I explained myself.  Perhaps I should retire this one, or just have fun confusing the hell out of people saying it and risk being thought addle-pated.

420, What's That??  It's 13 Only Newer!

This one is several years past now, but still relevant.  Being the typical clueless parent I had chance one day to ask my then-teen aged son what the "420" on his baseball cap meant.  Ah, laughter all around on that one.  I was patiently informed that this was THE code name for weed, reefer, Maryjane, dope....you know....marijuana!!  Oh!  You mean 13!!  Son says, what's that??  So I'm told 420 is the time of day (not sure what time zone that is) was a time when everyone was supposed, or did, light up and have a toke.  I likewise explained 13 was a reference to the 13th letter of the alphabet (M) which of course stood for marijuana.  I didn't want to know how much weed my kid was smoking and he likely didn't want to know if or when his Pops did the nasty so the subject was closed shortly after that round of clarifying education.  I shoulda looked that one up on my own.

33&1/3 records, 8 track tapes, Bell telephones, and ANYTHING starting with "Back in the day..."

Have fun with that, celebrate your past, but always look to the future.  There is a fine line dividing interesting trivia and boorish behavior.  Stay young, stay fresh, don't let the expiration date catch up with you.  Have fun at the expense of the young, one day they will be old just like you.  One day they will say, God help them "I remember when..."