Another Transcripted Podcast from 2GuysTalking:
The Lost World from The Castle of Common Sense Podcast
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Perhaps not co incidentally, as I ponder this months’ fireside visit , the song from Casablanca, “As Time Goes By”, plays softly in my head. A fine lead in for my topic -”The Lost World”.

We have learned that currently about 1000 WW II vets a day are dying and soon most of them will be gone. No doubt Some comfort can be found  in the fact that  the same  calendar is  meeting out delayed justice to any Nazi war criminals who may have slipped through the net. They will now be moving on to “rewards” that I am sure will match or exceed their past actions. Certainly, having been born in 1942, WW II is a key part of my “Lost World” -  perhaps the cornerstone for the era I’d like to revisit with you tonight.

Not too long ago the name Rich Little came up in conversation. We wondered what this great, talented Canadian impressionist might be doing these days. That thought evolved into weather or not the job title of impressionist would even work in today’s entertainment venue.

Just who would they mimic?

While a Sarah Palin might work for a week, how do you do a Brad Pitt or a George Clooney so that all the world “gets” who it is? Or cares who it is? It has occurred to me that it is important to preserve this Lost World. The world of VERY famous entertainment and real world people who set the world alive in my time, but are rapidly becoming unknowns to the latest generation of young people.

While the list I’m about to pass along is quite long, it certainly will exclude some who simply didn’t move into my consciousness for this session with you. I’m sure you can think of more.

These people represent a Lost World. A world of flash, class , brash, cash, pizazz — all the attributes that move them past the ordinary and beyond the “15 minutes of fame ” category. I’m referring to people like Fred Astaire, Gene Kelley, Donald O’Connor and Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Count Basie,  Lena Horn, John Wayne, Clark Gable, Victor Mature, James Cagney, Buffalo Bob,  Tony Curtis’s, Kirk Douglas, Jimmy Stewart, Burt  Lancaster, Marlon Brando, Orson Wells, Marilyn Monroe, Judy Garland,  Sammy Davis jr., Rita Heyworth, Lauren Bacall, Gregory Peck, Humphrey Bogart,  Stan Kenton , Lionel Hampton, Johnathan Winters, Harry Belefonte, Anthony Hopkins, Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Perry Como, Ernie Kovacs, Sydney Pottier, Peter Sellers, Kim Novak, Piper Laurie, and Ingrid Bergman.

I’m sure that many of you barely know some of these names even now. More to the point, who would you list NOW that could come close to matching the stature that these old timers had? Who is on this generations “A” list? Certainly not people like Brittany Spears  or Paris Hilton? If we concede that the celebrities of our time represent who we are. What our current culture is, then who are they and where are they? Who is providing us with chronicles of NOW?

Is “Entertainment Tonight” our Representative journalist for our new and present world? Is “60 Minutes” the only avenue for highlighting important current personages to us? Must we depend on the morning show and the six o’clock news to know who we are these days? Or, maybe harsh reality is settling in? Maybe the world I described, the people I was familiar with, the values they portrayed in real life and  in their movies and shows. Maybe it is intended that all of that history be forgotten! Is it possible that collectively our new generations have consciously chosen NOT to be tied to a fixed set of beliefs and values? I understand that the established churches have fallen on hard times with diminishing congregations. I hear that our prison populations continue to grow beyond our ability to provide enough space. Our politicians are constantly fighting each other and failing to pass helpful legislation. Our cost of living continues to rise. Our unemployment figures are at record highs. Is this what is happening to us?

Have we become a shallow, selfish society that only cares about ourselves , what we can get and how quickly we can get it? Is our wold going to end in FORTY days (again)?

Ha! I’m sorry folks. If you were waiting for those answers from me. I don’t want the job. Only you can decide where you are going and when.  I suggest for starters that you subscribe to Netflix and rent some of the great films that star some of our greatest people. I know you’ll have a grand time!