InArkansas.com

Ringo Starr: Lookin' good at 70.

The baby boomers' mantra is 'it's all about us.' Unfortunately, while we've been so busy admiring ourselves, 70-year olds are stealing our thunder.

 Kate Zernike of The New York Times threw a bucket of cold water on baby boomers in the July 11 issue in its Week in Review. Or, maybe not. Our brains had been thinking all the time that famous actors and musicians were still in their 60s -- our generation.

 According to the article, the average life expectancy is 78 years. But Dr. Marie A. Bernard, deputy director of the National Institute on Aging, said that over the last few decades, the overall health of people in their 70s has improved significantly.

 Here's the article's list of the 70+ club:

• Ringo Starr (who celebrated his 70th birthday last week by playing at Radio City Music Hall and saying his new hero is B.B. King, still playing in his 80s)
• Alex Trebek
• Al Pacino
• Barney Frank
• Chuck Norris
• Nancy Pelosi
• Pele
• Raquel Welch
• Ted Koppel

In 2011 the 70-year olds to join in the fun are Anne Rice, Bob Dylan, David Crosby, Dick Cheney, Julie Christie, Martha Stewart, Pete Rose, Nora Ephron and Paul Simon, and in 2012 they'll be joined by Aretha Franklin, Barbra Streisand, Betsey Johnson, Harrison Ford, Joe Biden, Paul McCartney, Stephen Hawking and Joy Behar.

OK, I am going to walk more and eat better. Will you be taking your show on the road?

According to a recent article by Patricia Cohen in The New York Times, researchers report that Americans in midlife are a remarkably contented lot, and that they also have the highest rate of suicide. What's up with that?

Arthur A. Stone, lead author of a study based on the Gallup poll, suggests that changes in brain chemistry are also at work. Neuroscientists have shown that in younger adults, the amygdala, the brain's emotional nut, is activated when exposed to negative and positive input, whereas adults in their middle and upper decades seem to have the ability to screen out or tamp down negative emotions; their amygdalas light up when they see positive images, and they tune out the negative.

Accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative? Lyricist Johnny Mercer would have loved getting some credit.

Myrna Weissman, an epidemiologist at the New York State Psychiatric Institute, according to the Times article, offers a more intriguing theory. She believes that the baby boom generation has a higher incidence of depression than previous ones.

"That's a cohort that came to maturity when there were great social changes, more instability, more divorce and separation, more moves, an increase in drug use, and war," Weissman said. And what about those happy midlifers? "They're different people; less vulnerable and subjected less to these adverse life effects." Something may be going on in the 45-to-54 age group.

Some say it could be that additional stresses may be hitting people in middle age, like the double burden of caring for children and for aging parents whose lifespans are increasing. It could also be something like having to go back to work because of the economy, loneliness, and feeling that the world is out of control.

What's up with your amygdalas these days? On a scale of 1 to 10, how happy are you now?

Los Angeles Time television critic Robert Lloyd had a few good things and a few bad things in his recent review about Betty White's appearance on Saturday Night Live.

"In the end, like Keith Richards or Bob Dylan in their little corner of their arts -- they're younger than Betty, though not in rock years -- older performers like White give us hope that not only is it possible to last, but also to last even into old age and just seem cooler than ever. They hold out the promise that you might grow up to be the granny or gramps the yet-unborn whippersnappers of the future will regard as something better than invisible, not to mention disposable."

-- Robert Lloyd, TV critic/Los Angeles Times

Dear Lord, I hope not to be invisible or disposable.

I've passed up many Senior Day events at Belk Department Store, even though I am over 55. I just can't get over being called a "senior." But I need new clothes for an upcoming vacation and the idea of getting an extra 20 percent off "all" sale and clearance purchases is enticing.

But it's not as simple as it sounds. First, you have to have your Belk Rewards Card. Don't know how hard it is to get one. If you don't have one you get 15 percent off all sale and clearance purchases.

Funny how the word "all" is in the fine print. Here's the offer.

*If you're 55 or older, take an extra 20 percent off storewide, or 15 percent off in our home & shoes departments with your Belk Rewards Card. Get 15 percent off storewide or 10 percent off home & shoes with any other form of payment, on your sale & clearance purchases

*Only excludes Red Dot, Earlybirds, Night Owls, Doorbusters, Bonus Bulys, Everyday Value, Assets, b.tempt'd, BCBG, Ladies' Better Swimwear, Brighton, Burberry, Casio Cosmetics/Fragrances, Coach Dansko, designer sunglasses, Donna Karan/DKNY, Ed Hardy, Eileen Fisher, Free People, Lacoste, Lucky, Ladies Designer & Contemporary Sportswear & Dresses, St. John, Stuart Weitzman, Citizens of Humanity, Cole Haan, Columbia, Donald J Pliner, Dooney & Bourke, Ferragamo, Furla, Joe's Jeans, Juicy Couture, Kate Spade, Keen, Vineyard Vines, Joseph Abboud, Hanky Panky, Hugo Boss, Hickey Freeman, Hart Schaffner Marx, Austin Reed, Levi's Dockers, Lilly Pulitzer, Mattel, Merrell, Munro, Nautica, Not your Daughter's Jeans, Ralph Lauren/Polo, Seven for All Mankind, Spanx, Tommy Bahama, Ugg, Wacoal, Ladies', Kids' and Men's Designer Shoes, Designer Handbags, small electrics, fine jewelry watches, gifts, trunk shows and service plans: non-merchandise dept., lease depts. and Belk gift cards. Not valid on prior purchases, phone or special orders. Cannot be redeemed for cash, credit or refund, used in combination with any other discount or coupon offer or on belk.com.

That's a lot of exceptions to the sale.

It's not a fun shopping day. It's just a frustrating day.

When I signed up for AARP it was out of curiousity. I thought I would learn more about helping my aging parents. Unfortunately I didn't realize I would receive more mail from that one organization than I did from any of the other non-profit organizations. I toss the AARP information without opening.

Before my parents died they often feared they didn't have enough health insurance. They had more than enough but I can't help thinking the mailings they got from AARP added to their fear.

There's the AARP life insurance program from New York Life, the AARP lifetime income program through New York Life, the AARP long term care insurance, AARP medicare supplement plans through United Health Care Insurance Company, AARP auto insurance program from The Hartford,  AARP rewards Visa platinum credit cards issue by Chase Bank USA (the only credit cards endorsed by AARP) and on and on and on.

I understand that AARP would say these programs are "benefits" of membership. But I wonder. The April 2010 AARP Bulletin had an above-the-fold headline, SCAM ALERT: Crooks in the Mailbox. Imagine this: there are more than 40 million members of AARP ages 50 and older; that's 40 million come-ons. What I do know is it's too much to deal with no matter how old you are.

Have you had any experiences with AARP you'd like to share?

Chubby Checker is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Twist.

Flipping through The New York Times a few weeks ago, two words jumped out at me: Chubby Checker. I thought he was dead, but nooooooo. He was performing at Feinstein's at Loews Regency in New York on the 50th anniverary of his hot dance the Twist.

He was born Ernest Evans in Spring Gulley, S.C., and raised in the projects of South Philadelphia. He had lots of jobs and often entertained customers. He got his nickname, Chubby, because of his weight. When he was invited to sing on American Bandstand, Dick Clark's wife heard him do an impression of a Fats Domino song, and she told him his last name should be like a game piece, like a domino. And that's how he became Chubby Checker.

First time I saw Chubby Checker he was in a movie, probably Twist Around the Clock. I was watching this movie in 1961 in Tuscumbia, Ala., while visiting my aunt. Chubby must have twisted four or five times. By the time I got home to east Arkansas I was a twisting fool.

My uncle invited my cousins and me for a week at his cabin near the Cache River in Woodruff County. He always filled up his juke box with the latest '45s. We played The Twist and danced in our socks on a slick linoleum floor. Even bad dancers like myself could do The Twist. My old aunt from Tuscumbia said Chubby Checker ripped the dance off the Charleston. She demonstrated her prowess and we had to agree that it was pretty much like the Twist.

Take off your shoes and see if you can still be a twisting fool. We want you baby boomers to give us a full report.

Steve Stephens in 1958

Some Little Rock baby boomers will recognize this great photo of Steve Stephens in 1958 when he was a senior weatherman for Channel 11, the CBS affiliate. He believes he was the first weatherman in the U.S. to show Santa Clause on radar. He said I should check it out for authenticity. Heck, I always believed the weatherman because he was on television, and I believed everything on television.

Didn't you? What are some of your earliest television programs you remember?

Robert Plant, Little Rock. Little Rock, Robert Plant. Just doesn't seem right. We never thought Robert Plant would perform in Little Rock, not in a million years. But it's true. The vocalist/lyricist of Led Zeppelin and 2009 Grammy Award for album of the year, Raising Sand, will perform with The Band of Joy Thursday, July 15, at Robinson Center Music Hall.

Tickets went on sale at 10 a.m. Friday, April 2, through TicketMaster.

Of course I ordered tickets. What dyed-in-the-wool baby boomer wouldn't? My only fear is that I won't be able to stay awake if the concert goes past 9 p.m. Perhaps we should all take the next day off.