Carmel Magazine

Carmel Magazine, Winter-Spring 2019

Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1077792

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 51 of 243

A Ah, the mid-50s. Not the decade in history—my age. The, "I still feel young, but I'm not," period of life coupled with, "I sound so old making constant time-related remarks." I caught myself uttering the phrase, "Hey! I wore that when I was a teenager," to fellow class- mates at San Jose State upon observing them in high-waisted jeans or feathered hair. "That's from back in my era," I regularly exclaim to my kids when they blast a favorite song that happens to be by one of my beloved bands from childhood. It got me thinking; Everything old is new again. Even that saying, the title of a popular song, is nearing 50-years old, and is still relevant. Music is a great example. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association recently decided that the best drama of 2018 was a film about the imagi- native 1970s rock group Queen and its lead singer, Freddie Mercury. Queen: my favorite band during middle and high school whose pinnacle of success was 40 years ago. Yes, that old boundary-pushing band is being rewarded in an era where many fans think "queen" simply refers to the beautiful singer Beyoncé. If you check listings for top grossing tours of 2018, you'll see a lot of familiar names from "back in the day:" Paul McCartney, Elton John and Billy Joel are all in the top 10 money-makers of the year. Fleetwood Mac, The Rolling Stones and Bruce Springsteen are still packing arenas. Despite who's come and gone over the last 50 years, the originals haven't thrown in the towel. I'm delighted that my 22-year old daughter loves the same music as I did at her age—as well as the same my parents did in their 20s. Many repackaged ideas have captured the attention of the masses, and all I can think of is that "new again" phrase. I admit, I snicker about "vegan leather." I asked a former classmate what she interpreted that material to be. "Leather that is cruelty free," she replied with the confidence I lacked at her age. My snickering accelerated to laughter. "Honey, the first time I was in college in 1983, we also had vegan leather. It was called plas- tic." Plastic, ultra-suede and vinyl, all used in what were often considered to be "lower quality" items. Now, it's chic for some fashion lines not to use animal products in their wares. A vegan leather jacket by designer Stella McCartney (Paul's daughter) will set you back almost $2,000. Vegan butter? That was called margarine. We didn't realize the non-nutritional value of the trans-fats that would help lead to some people's early demise. But, to this day, people spread (healthier) solidified vegetable oil on their food. The difference now; you can pay top dollar for it at some froufrou grocery stores and slather it on gluten-free bread. In the '60s and '70s, we also ate vegan whipped cream. It was called Cool Whip which, until 2018, didn't contain milk. Some clothing trends are back. My kids thrill in the hunt for vintage Levi's 501 jeans, the same ones we proudly scrounged from second-hand shops half-a century ago, and that our gold- mining brethren wore almost a century before, starting in 1873. Yoga wear is re-packaged leotards. Despite what Gwyneth Paltrow recently stated in Wall Street Journal Magazine about helping ignite the popularity of yoga in this country, she was off by a few decades. In 1970, Lilias, Yoga and You exposed hundreds of thousands, if not mil- lions, of people to the power of purposeful stretching. The PBS phenomenon enjoyed nation-wide syndication until 1999. Yoga is now so common that classes are comprised of a rainbow of people, in every age, ranging from part-time students to CEOs. Om-en to that! Recycling? Old hat. My most memorable school assembly in the '70s included a performance art group, all in matching blue T- shirts, singing the mantra, "Reduce, reuse, recover and recycle,"— a catchy tune that I still cannot shake, 40 years later, when I'm sorting the trash between blue and green bins. We oldies started that, no matter how wasteful the millennials think we are. With a new year upon us, we'll see hot trends and new norms. Some will be repeats. As a society, we repackage things (recyclable paper only, please) and, viola, we marvel at some- thing new. But many things—people included—get better as the years progress. If you're lucky, you'll get to experience them more than once. Dina Eastwood is a former news anchor at KSBW TV, past host of "Candid Camera" and has starred on a reality show on the E! Network. She is a writer, editor and yogini. She resides on the Monterey Peninsula with her daughter, Morgan. BEHIND THE SPOTLIGHT D I N A E A S T W O O D Queen: my favorite band during middle and high school whose pinnacle of success was 40 years ago. Everything Old Is New Again 50 C A R M E L M A G A Z I N E • W I N T E R 2 0 1 9

Articles in this issue

Archives of this issue

view archives of Carmel Magazine - Carmel Magazine, Winter-Spring 2019