I loved the original Willy Wonka movie starring Gene Wilder. Today we went to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I really intended on loathing it. From the previews it looked creepy and I was so annoyed with an androgynous looking Willy Wonka (AKA Johnny Depp). Turns out I really liked the movie a lot. I was really keen on all the new spins, there are quite a few. The kids are first-rate and Wonka's characteristic eccentricity is explained in detail therefore making it palatable. Go see this film if you loved the original.

Later, I started thinking about the things I grew up with that are no longer around or mean something different now. I recollect....

* Watergate
* Patty Heast's kidnapping
* Rotary phones
* Phone booths you stepped into and closed the door
* Gas lines down the street
* No remote control on the TV
* No answering machines
* Typewriters
* No such thing as video games
* No such thing as Aids
* Whitney Houston was the only black girl in Seventeen magazine
* Father Decals always favored the boys and took them places. Never the girls.
* The movie JAWS really had people scared to go into the water.