This is a thread for ILXORS IN THEIR 50's

i didn't realize choc is actually a bit of a derivative of mistral.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/11/21/nyregion/new-york-storefronts-mystery-font.html

i'm not ignorant but low-expertise wrt typefaces, so this article was sorta fun

My night blindness is a major reason for the financial problems I've been having, especially since I was one of the only people at my agency who was willing to work in the evening.

Hunt3r - true in caps but not lowercase. I think Brush Script is the main surviving successor to Mistral in lowercase.

ty! “when the student is ready, etc” that’s me. teach and preach- i should prob flip to that typeface/font channel

A friend of mine manages an event place in Scotland, and they’ve banned 50ths. Hen nights, stag dos, 40ths, no problem: but some combination of the manic nihilism that sweeps over people and the middle-aged mal-coordination that crept up on them leads to a wild amount of breakage.

britishes: whether or not zoe williams is a cunt (i have no idea) is beside the point

Mistral = Purple Rain liner notes, forever

Mistral = N.W.A.'s Straight Outta Compton

haaaaa

https://i.imgur.com/rTpHv3z.jpg

> he priced up a pair (two pairs actually) of varifocals at 408 quid

went back today, 3 months later, and settled on one pair with some bells and whistles (coatings, thinner), for 280. i had a second pair when i got the current ones and have never used them. also they appear to expect me to change glasses every two years if my eyes change (and not leave it ~12 years like i have) so having two pairs seems like more of a lifestyle choice than a necessity.

I had my eyes tested at the opticians this afternoon, and as expected I've been told I need varifocals. The printout of my prescription recommends varivocal sunglasses as well but no chance. I've not yet looked seriously into cost but it'll be £££ so I'll get one pair and keep my current non-varifocal glasses as a spare as 1) I don't drive, 2) I haven't broken a pair of glasses in nearly thirty years and that was because I took them off, put them on the bed, forgot where they were, and then immediately sat on them.

(also, apologies again for posting on this thread despite not actually being 50 for a couple of months, but varifocals doesn't really feel like it sits right on the 40s thread)

I'm very frustrated by how small they print everything nowadays.

lol I literally have a magnifying glass near my desk to use for that shit, or I have to use my phone camera to enlarge the print to the point of visibility

Hi dere, I'm 52 today, I listened to Mahalia by The Bible this morning (which I haven't heard since I bought the single in 1986) and felt a bit nostalgic and weird/emotional, but I got a nice pair of walking boots as a present so swings and roundabouts.

Happy 52! One year for every card in the deck.

I'm 56 next week! Ugh. I've crested the pivot point of the decade and now it'll be into the long slow slide towards oblivion. Hurrah! I may listen to Cop Shoot Cop on the big day to make myself feel better.

Anyone else got a permanent ringing in the lugholes?

oh yeah

plus a low frequency flutter in my left ear that is entirely Gary Numan's fault

XXXP - Thank you! :)

I have a very high frequency airy hissing sound in the right ear but otherwise not too much damage, and I know you know, Matt, how loud the racket coming from the rehearsal room was back in the day, so it's a minor miracle.

The Buzzcocks used to rehearse in that studio too and they were all deaf as a post! They were even louder than you lot were to be fair.

I don't think my hearing ever fully recovered from a Borbetomagus / Ultrasonic Attack Wave Pestrepeller double bill at the Spitz about 25 years ago, maybe there's someone I could sue?

One of my old bands used the same rehearsal space as DC gogo legend Chuck Brown; we'd sometimes bump into them. There was once a microphone shortage (because gogo bands are large and require a lot of mics), but they were always supremely controlled. The loudest bands I ever heard were Firehose and Bob Mould solo.

One year for every card in the deck.

Then, as a bonus, next year is The Joker!

53 is a sort of rubbish-sounding number

It's prime!

haha I never thought about celebrating prime number birthdays before, I will be 59 in 2025

Ive bitched frequently about my tinnitus on here I'm sure. I blame Mogwai (in part anyway).

Mine is attributable to Daniel Ash, the Chamber, Atlanta, 2002.

worst my hearing ever got wrecked by a show was . . . son volt?

i'd somehow forgotten my earplugs and despite having shoved toilet paper into my ears i simply couldn't handle it

I saw MMJ a few years ago, they had the kick drum turned up so loud it literally hurt.

Tall, wanting to be near the front at shows but not obstruct other views had me at the speaker stack side at a lot of shows. Steady right ear whine, happily mostly annoying vs incapacitating.

My most lasting hearing damage from a show was Mastodon and Baroness in a venue too small for their sound system. It took my left ear about a year to mostly recover, and I doubt it ever fully has.

I don't think I can assign responsibility for my hearing damage to any one show, but I saw some fucking loud ones in my day, many of them at Tonic. Both Khanate and Borbetomagus (who were co-billed with Merzbow) literally caused amps to catch fire. I saw Sunn O))) and Fushitsusha there, too. I remember I could hear Borbetomagus soundchecking from Houston Street (about three blocks away). And when Merzbow's set started, he hit the space bar on his laptop and instantly it was like standing next to a jet engine. Keiji Haino and John Zorn at CBGB (Haino solo guitar at first, then a duo) was pretty eardrum-frying too, and I wasn't wearing earplugs that night.

Worst time was when I went to a club already so riotously drunk that I didn't even notice how loud the music was. I woke up the next morning with both ears whistling and they didn't stop whistling for three days. That was back in the early 2000s. Currently there's a slight hearing loss in my right ear, mainly top end frequencies. I had a lot of earwax when I was younger and I attribute the relative lack of hearing loss to that.

when Merzbow's set started, he hit the space bar on his laptop and instantly it was like standing next to a jet engine

That sounds so awesome I woudn't care about the potential hearing loss.

How many pills do you take every day?

only band that really hurt and left a mark was of all bands the jayhawks in the earlymid 90s. from then i take care at shows. and use an ear trumpet in quieter places, as classy graybeards do

Mine were Dino Jr. back in the day and GBV on the 2011 classic lineup tour. I only started going to shows again regularly in 2019 (doh).

A while ago, I realized that when my ears ring, they ring in the key of E. Which is mildly disappointing, because it is such a stereotypical rock guitar key.

I would prefer a folkier key, like G or D. Even C would be okay.

I bet Peter Buck’s ears ring in Em.

(They’re called REm for a reason)

PEmter Buck

REmckoning

Fables of the REmconstruction

Emonster

Out of TiEm

Etc.

It's the Emd of the world as we know it

Okay I will stop now

A while ago, I realized that when my ears ring, they ring in the key of E. Which is mildly disappointing, because it is such a stereotypical rock guitar key.

Would harmonise well with Glenn Branca guitar symphonies however, which I think are all or mostly in that key.

well i never.
for my recent 56th birthday i got a kit from the NHS re bowel cancer checking.
i.e. a poo kit.
had no idea that this was a thing until it turned up.
got the "all clear" letter today, albeit with a lot of legally required caveats.

*Hums riff from Judas Priest's "Breaking the Law"*

SHIT IN A BOX! SHIT IN A BOX!

I didn't get a poo kit.

Everyone aged 60 to 74 years who is registered with a GP and lives in England is automatically sent an NHS bowel cancer screening kit every 2 years.

The programme is expanding so that everyone aged 50 to 59 years will be eligible for screening. This is happening gradually over 4 years and started in April 2021 with 56 year olds.

The programme has also started to include 58 year olds, so you may get a test before you're 60.

weird.
i got the letter a few days after my 56th birthday.
guess it depends on your surgery that you are registered with.

(x-post)

Looks like it's been devised by the same NHS team who decided:

From 1 September 2023, you're eligible for the shingles vaccine when you turn 65....You'll remain eligible until your 80th birthday.

Information:
If you turned 65 before 1 September 2023, you'll be eligible for the shingles vaccine when you turn 70.

oh right 56th birthday - looked like 50th to my 50 year old eyes.

ahh, yeah,
seems to kick in once you get beyond the mid-50s groove.