4 ms·

I am maybe a little older than some of the readers here, pushing on the lower end of middle age, ie, I had to memorize phone numbers/rotary phone at home when I

by 3am 14y ago

I am maybe a little older than some of the readers here, pushing on the lower end of middle age, ie, I had to memorize phone numbers/rotary phone at home when I was very young, I had a Walkman, MTV had only one station and it played music, etc. Perhaps I could have said Gen-X and saved some time. Anyway, I remember Siskel and Ebert on television before there was much of an internet to speak of. Now if you look out over the landscape of people who successfully adapted to the new landscape of social media it's predominantly much younger. I think it takes a special kind of mind to reinvent one's self past a certain age, and Ebert did so very well (for whatever reason, George Takei comes to mind, also). But it was brave of him to do so and I think it is ...helpful to all of us that have grown up online that some members of his generation are/were willing to put themselves out of their comfort zones and share their viewpoints and experiences in that way. RIP. edit: " ...and get up to change the TV channel" of which there were ~10 outside of cable, and some would require rabbit ear contortions. If I could give you more than one upvote I would have :)

jmj42 14y ago
...and get up to change the TV channel In 1990, I was in high school. We moved to a small town near Urbana, IL. I was impressed then, and continue to be today, that Ebert would return to Urbana, Ebert's home town, every year in April (health permitting) to headline Ebertfest. Ebertfest is a local film festival held to honor him. With Ebertfest only 2 weeks away, it will be truly sad knowing that the world has lost a great man. http://www.ebertfest.com/ http://www.ebertfest.com/ edit: Link to Eberfest
- cpher 14y ago
  I grew up just outside C-U and remember that very well. I think back in early 1997 he hosted a special screening of 2001: A Space Odyssey at the Virginia Theater. One of the actors was there (Keir Dullea, maybe?) and they had a "fireside chat" about the movie and a Q&A session. It was a great experience.
  - jmj42 14y ago
    I remember that. I don't remember the actor either, but UIUC held all maner of event to celebrate HAL's birth (the movies put his birth as 1992, but it's 1997 in the books). In an interesting twist of fate, my office is in the coordinated science lab (CSL), where HAL was built.

by 3am 14y ago

jmj42 14y ago

...and get up to change the TV channel In 1990, I was in high school. We moved to a small town near Urbana, IL. I was impressed then, and continue to be today, that Ebert would return to Urbana, Ebert's home town, every year in April (health permitting) to headline Ebertfest. Ebertfest is a local film festival held to honor him. With Ebertfest only 2 weeks away, it will be truly sad knowing that the world has lost a great man. http://www.ebertfest.com/ http://www.ebertfest.com/ edit: Link to Eberfest

cpher 14y ago
I grew up just outside C-U and remember that very well. I think back in early 1997 he hosted a special screening of 2001: A Space Odyssey at the Virginia Theater. One of the actors was there (Keir Dullea, maybe?) and they had a "fireside chat" about the movie and a Q&A session. It was a great experience.
- jmj42 14y ago
  I remember that. I don't remember the actor either, but UIUC held all maner of event to celebrate HAL's birth (the movies put his birth as 1992, but it's 1997 in the books). In an interesting twist of fate, my office is in the coordinated science lab (CSL), where HAL was built.