A lot of ‘Children of the 80s’, have memories of Rubik’s Cubes and hypercolor shirts, but it seems so childish. At least for people in my age group, those are infantile memories of primary school.

To relive the 15+ years of the Conan O’Brien show, and celebrate the ending of it, seems anachronistic, in a way.

Not just that ‘Late Night with Conan O’Brien’ has come to its conclusion. But, probably more worrisome, from a time-keeps-on-tickin’ perspective, is that the childish, relatable late night host has now taken on the mantle of the mainstream, target-audience-demo host of the freakin’ ‘Tonight Show.’

As I stare down the barrel of 31 years old, the conclusion of ‘Late Night’ with Conan means something, and I can’t help but think that it means I am old.

…if you head out to see the new Warren Miller film this season, you’ll get to see the rippin’ snow that is Bend, Central Oregon, and Mount Bachelor.

Here in Bend (and I’ve heard elsewhere as well), the Warren Miller flick at the local movie house is sort of the unofficial opening to the ski season, which if POWDR Corp. follows through on its promises, could be a good (and cheaper) one.

Podcasting + Blogging = Delightful Surprises.

My first year at Berkeley I lived on the 6th floor of Putnam Hall in Unit 1. A few rooms down lived a wiry, red-headed nut named Ethan Lindsey. He was taller than I was but probably half my weight, yet he talked as if everyone was 100 feet away and couldn’t hear him. He had an opinion on anything that would enter our floor’s discourse at the time, from Tribe breaking up to vacation planning in Belize to girls with big hands. He introduced me to Michael Antonioni by yelling at me for being a film major and not knowing who Antonioni was, and then promptly fell asleep while watching Blow-up in his room. He signed up to take a film seminar with me but only ended up flirting with the girls in the class on the few days he attended. When Wilkie moved in later in the year, he became Ethan’s roommate, and Ethan was one of the first to point out the buckles on Wilkie’s shoes and to start calling him “Wilma.” He never got up before noon.

Another year, another professional sports league will cancel its season because of labor strife.

Baseball recovered. Hockey hasn’t.

And now lacrosse is going to find out whether…WAIT WAIT WAIT…I mean, I’m a sports fan and I didn’t know there was a professional lacrosse league.

And they canceled the season because of labor issues? Who do these people think they are?

And, now, after doing what we in the journalism biz call research I’ve discovered that there are two — yes, TWO — professional lacrosse leagues. The National Lacrosse League is the one dealing with the lockout. Major League Lacrosse (again, not to be confused with the National Lacrosse League) is fine and chugging right along. IN fact, the 2007 season is over and someone (I can’t even find it on their basement-designed website) won the national championship already.

Aside on the website. There is an interactive (INTERACTIVE — HOW WEB 2.0???!!!!!) poll on the front page asking, “Which team has the most intimidating uniforms?”

They get uniforms? Its not like little league where you have to buy your own? Boy, those pro lacrosse players are overpaid.

The sad passing yesterday of Don Herbert, better known to millions as Mr. Wizard, reminded me of many a halcyon day I spent as a teenager, eyes glued to the tube for two short hours (How dare my parents limit my TV access!) after school, watching whatever was on Nickelodeon.

Mr. Wizard was certainly a good choice, though not a favorite. I loved the science experiments and explanations, but there were segments of the show that seemed to drag on. Also, I cringed whenever the Patty Duke Show came on; and felt total disdain for Wild and Crazy Kids.

Then again, if I got to watch Clarissa Explains It All, Hey Dude, or Salute You Shorts, I was a happy camper. Does anyone remember Clarissa’ friend Sam climbing in through the window? (Ok, maybe its just me.)

And crazy enough, out of those weekday shows came: Ben Stiller’s wife, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Odell from “Deadwood”, and (less famously) Vinnie from “Blossom”.

Photographer Nick Ut took this photo June 8, 1972 — exactly 35 years ago Friday:

That’s news all on its own, especially considering the story Ut told about the photo, as quoted in Wikipedia:

“…an editor at the AP rejected the photo of Kim Phuc running down the road without clothing because it showed frontal nudity. Pictures of nudes of all ages and sexes, and especially frontal views were an absolute no-no at the Associated Press in 1972…Horst argued by telex with the New York head-office that an exception must be made, with the compromise that no close-up of the girl Kim Phuc alone would be transmitted. The New York photo editor, Hal Buell, agreed that the news value of the photograph overrode any reservations about nudity.”

But the scariest, saddest news of all is that Ut was actually in the news on Friday for news from Friday. He is the AP photographer who took this photo: