IS THIS REALLY A HO-HUM WORLD?

"One of the biggest problems with getting old is everything else gets old too..."

I wish Mark Twain had said this, because that would have given this small truth a higher sheen. Unfortunately, only I said this. But anyone getting older surely understands. What comes with the graying years is that incontestable been-here-done-this feeling. Especially as you scan the news of the day.

Master comedians like Will Rogers, Mort Sahl and now John Daley make a career out of scanning and satirizing the news this way. Their genius, like that of political cartoonists, is surgically extracting the punchlines from underneath all the fleshy pretensions. What breathless young editors and anchors call a headline is often just another ho-hum to the folks living in Sunset Manor.

Who is better off -- excited newcomer or ennuied old-timer-- is open to debate. What isn't, though, is the recurring nature of our news. I mean, our species just can't help coming up with the same stuff century after century.

When new journalism grads are shocked today's newspapers allow advertising on their front page, ho-hum they only need check our first newspaper edited by Benjamin Franklin back in 18th century Philadelphia. The message is always the same: Expenses trump ethics!

When concerned readers try to stay abreast of the health news, ho-hum they keep running into the same old conflicting studies. One from the University of California reports "people with post traumatic stress disorders are more likely to suffer dementia" while a study from Wake Forest University states "people over 70 who have one or two alcoholic drinks a day have a 37% lower risk of being diagnosed with dementia." While dementia is a serious disease, ever since the old folks in the tribe started forgetting things, the witch doctors never seemed to consider maybe they simply didn't what to remember them anymore!

When reporters come up with stories using the always-good-for-a-fast-headline male vs.female scenario, ho-hum it seems they forget this news is as old as Adam and Eve. For example, in a recent flash from researchers at the University of Massachusetts, tests revealed "in asking subjects to pound away at targets on a metal plate, men hit the surface twice as hard as women, but women were 10% more accurate." I'm thinking Mark, Will or Mort would hardly be as surprised as these young researchers. After all, history suggests brains almost always have to make room for brawn!

This is not to argue there's nothing new under the sun. But it is to suggest what's new to some is ho-hum to others. Happily, the generational tension between the two is what keeps life interesting.