Latest news with #GenX'er
New Straits Times
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- New Straits Times
#SHOWBIZ: Fun time with kids rocking out
IN 2003, Hollywood actor Jack Black made a splash with his comedy 'School of Rock'. Written by Mike White and directed by Richard Linklater, it followed an out-of-work rocker who becomes a substitute teacher in an uptight private elementary school, where he tries to turn his class into a rock band. The hit movie eventually spawned a musical in 2015, with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, lyrics by Glenn Slater, and a book by Julian Fellowes, that has enjoyed successful runs on Broadway and the West End. The Cempaka Performing Arts Company recently staged its rendition of 'School of Rock The Musical' in KL. An iconic rock musical performed in a school production needed a serious look-in to see if our kids were all right. So theatre reviewers from two different generations were game to rate the results of the production by the Cempaka students. The Gen X'er, Elaine Tan, old enough to be a grand-aunt to the younger performers, said she never liked Jack Black. "All his characters are on hyperdrive. Which means he was perfectly cast as Dewey Finn in the 2003 movie 'School of Rock'. "Which means the lead actress in the Cempaka rendition of the musical did a great job, because I was almost rooting for her to skip the maths lesson and sneak her students out for Battle of The Bands despite the character's glaring lack of any responsible virtues." Tan added: "My co-guests, aged 10 and 16, when asked who they liked most, had no such compunction, with the little girl enthusiastically and approvingly declaring 'She's so loud and craaazy!'. My vote went to Miss Mullens for Best Voice." Tan mused that for grown-ups with all their adult problems, this was a time to sit back and watch the kids performing their hearts out, adding, "to chat with our young friends in the audience and hear their opinions; to note how well put together the event was, complete with a snack stand. "It is always a kind of pleasure experiencing kids doing things — even the prefect usher who asked to see my ticket when I stepped outside the hall to check my phone." Tan summed up the show by the Cempaka Performing Arts Company, known for winning Boh Cameronian Awards, as "a lovely family and friends evening with the young ones". Meanwhile, the Gen Z'er, Darren Tio, who was its target demographic when the movie that inspired it first came out, said: "I love Jack Black, his mannerisms, his energy, and I thought Illena Matin did an excellent job capturing his manic yet affable essence." "The original School of Rock was a staple school movie growing up, shown whenever English teachers felt like too lazy for lessons, and it isn't hard to see why. "It featured an actual likeable cast of child actors led by the fun, non-conforming rebel in Black to perform original and catchy mid-2000s pop-rock, all in a fun and cheery beat." Tio said his expectation for the musical was tainted by nostalgia, but also tempered by knowing it was a student production. "I wanted it to be good, but I wasn't sure if it was fair of me to have high expectations. In the end, I felt wowed by almost everything in this production. 'From the performances, some of whom were clear stand-outs, to the production quality to the music (especially Puteri Azahara's rendition of 'Where Did The Rock Go?')." He added that what impressed him most was the scale of the whole thing. 'In the end, when every performer, dancer, and actor comes on stage for their curtain call, you become aware of just how big the production was, and how excited each of them was to be there. "This was a show that brimmed with excitement and fun from every cast and crew member, imbuing it onto the audience easily so that even we were cheering at the closing number. Elaine Tan was a theatre and food critic while in communication, project management, and strategic planning. Darren Tio is a KL-based writer who grew up in Pontianak, Indonesia, and has a degree in creative writing.
Buzz Feed
06-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Buzz Feed
Older Women Are Sharing "Baffling" Things Younger Women Do, And I'm Actually Shocked At Some Of These
A while back, we wrote about things that older women find "puzzling" about younger women. And the responses range from majorly petty to SOoOOooOo valid. Then, some readers even shared their own responses. Here are the best ones: 1. "The short-ish shorts worn in combination with long T-shirts!! Why do you want to look like you don't have any bottoms on?!?!" —Anonymous, 43, NC 2. "Recycling and renaming trends. I know that trends are cyclical, but it seems to me like Gen Z has very few trends of their own; whereas, my generation came up with a bunch of our own trends and fashion statements. I feel like everything Gen Z wears is a copy of something I've seen before. They don't take many risks, and I don't see very much in the way of individual style." —Anonymous, 40, California 3. "What is it with young women these days who constantly video themselves burping and farting and thinking this is perfectly acceptable behavior! It's grim, whether you're male or female! Have some self-respect!" —Anonymous, 44 UK Max 4. "Why do younger women place so much priority on looks rather than getting educated and having a good career?" —Anonymous, 75, Vista, CA 5. "Gen X here. What is with everything anyone does being called 'core.' If the Zoomers at work (that's what we call Gen Z) ask what I did on the weekend and I say 'I went thrifting,' they respond, 'Oooh, you're so cottagecore,' or if I say I baked something, they say, 'So cute, so grandmacore.' Children, I made cookies, calm down." —Anonymous 6. "What's with all those furry spider false eyelashes? Everyone looks like Snuffleupagus every time they blink. It doesn't enhance their looks but rather looks ridiculous. Add the platypus injected lips and you have a cartoon!" —Anonymous, 60+ 7. "Shaving all of their pubes." —Anonymous 8. "Young women talk way too loudly in restaurants." —Anonymous, 73 Arlington Hts, IL 9. "Saying you have a personality disorder or are neurodivergent because you took an online survey, or you read someone's memoir, or however you came to the conclusion without an actual diagnosis from a licensed therapist. This bugs me to no end. I know people with personality disorders. Speaking as someone who is diagnosed on the spectrum, you young people probably don't have a personality disorder." — bribri18 Max 10. "The exaggerated acrylic nails... They're just so NOT FUNCTIONAL." —Anonymous, 39, Edmonton 11. "I marvel that young women still change their last names to their husbands'." — originalqueen177 Max 12. "I'm a divorced Gen X'er who now thinks big weddings are a colossal waste of money and who thinks the concept of marriage is totally archaic. The fact that younger generations haven't killed the whole 'huge rock on the finger,' 'big wedding,' and 'bridezilla' concept yet. On top of that, they have these super expensive bachelorette parties that cost thousands. Then they complain they can't buy a house. Stop this stupid wedding crap already and go have a small ceremony. And big rock is nothing more than him tying you down and showing the world you're taken before you actually are!" —Anonymous 13. "They eat too much junk food." —Anonymous, 63, Uganda 14. "I'm not in my 40s, but still, Gen Z feels multiple generations younger than me. Thong bikinis!!!!! OMGOMGOMG, WHY?! Sure, maybe it's my own problem that it makes me uncomfortable, but it 100% makes me uncomfortable, especially when you're at a beach with young kids/families. Why are you trying to be sexy in these situations? Nothing's wrong with a little bit of modesty, but seriously — do less. I feel like that's Gen Z's vibe in general. They're very in your face about everything and total try-hards. But yeah, I SO hope that this trend dies. I totally hate it." —Anonymous, 32, DC 15. "I don't get the slit in the eyebrow trend. It looks like they have a medical condition." — crispybutterfly80 Max 16. "Potty mouths! I cringe at how often they drop swear words into regular conversation. It's too bad they don't realize how unintelligent it makes them sound." —Anonymous, 34 Chicago, IL 17. "It's appalling to me how readily this new generation resorts to insults and name-calling when faced with any sort of difference of opinion. That is on display even in this comments section. Absolutely uncouth." —Anonymous, 52 Pennsylvania 18. "Guys who don't do 50% of the housework are babies? That's a recent idea in human history. If a guy is providing 90 or 100% of the money and does all the home and car repairs, etc. That's over the top." —Anonymous 19. Lastly, "I'm so, sooooo tired of this generation criticizing that generation. Don't we have enough stuff separating us? Do we really need more? Why can't we accept, enjoy, and learn from each other?" —Anonymous, 78 VA Max So, older women of the internet, do you agree with these? What other "puzzling" things do Gen Z do? Let us know your comments! Or, if you want to remain anonymous, leave a comment using the form below.
Buzz Feed
20-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Buzz Feed
"She Arrived High An Hour Late": 21 Baffling First Dates That Unfortunately Took A Nasty Left Turn
We wrote a post about the most horrifying dates people have ever, ever, everrrrr been on. There were a ton of shocking and baffling stories. Unfortunately, they inspired our BuzzFeed Community to share some of their worst first-date experiences. Like, "I want to retire from dating for the rest of my life" kind of experiences. So, here are some people who've been on horrendous dates and lived to tell the tale: Note: Some submissions include topics of sexual harassment, domestic violence, and racism. Please proceed with caution. 1. "I met this guy at a bar (yeah, I know — great start). We exchanged numbers, and the next day, he asked me on a date. When it came time, he told me I needed to pick him up because he lost his license for a DWI. We went to a restaurant, which was nice enough. He got two drinks there, and I got one. He asked if I wanted to go play pool and get some drinks, and I said yes. While we played pool, he had three more drinks and watched a basketball game the whole time. We then went to a different bar, where he got five more drinks (I'd had maybe three drinks total by this time). He got so drunk and proceeded to tell me all about our future wedding and the song we'd dance to..." "I told him I needed to go, implying that he needed to wrap it up so I could take him home. He said I could go and that he'd find a ride. Two hours later, while I was in bed, he called me asking for a ride home. Against my better judgment, I picked him up and took him home. He was veryyyyy drunk. Before he got out of the car, he kissed me sloppily and told me he loved me. The end. Of the date and any future dates." —Anonymous 2. "I'm a Gen X'er, and the closest thing to 'online dating' I had in the late-'90s was the wonderful world of AOL. I'd met this guy in a locally-based chatroom, and we hit it off. We exchanged pictures, and he was strikingly handsome. I (21F at the time) didn't have a lot of dating experience, but he was a few years older than me and very patient. This endeared me to him more, and we went on our first date after about six weeks of regular online chats. We met at a trendy 'see and be seen' sushi restaurant in the heart of the city. He said he would meet me at the bar with a single orchid because it was my favorite flower. I come sweeping into the restaurant, heart all aflutter, and see this grey-haired man in a three-piece suit holding an orchid at the bar. He recognized me from MY pictures, and while he seemed familiar, he WAS NOT the same person in the pictures I'd received." "I walked up to him and he blurted out, 'Please don't be cross with me. I sent my son's pictures. Otherwise, I knew you wouldn't have anything to do with me.' I smacked him in the face with the orchid and told him I'd rather date a significantly older man than date a liar. I'm bawling my eyes out as I storm back out of this bougie restaurant with everyone's eyes on me. I'm just thankful this took place long before camera phones. Never heard from that guy again." —Anonymous 3. "This isn't my story, but it put me off ever using a dating app. My friend signed up for several apps, and she was ready to get back into dating after a divorce and raising four kids. She went out for drinks with a guy and realized he was the divorced father of her daughter's best friend. They had a good time, so they decided to continue the date by going to dinner. He asked if she would mind if he stopped and fed his dog. She went to his apartment with him. She asked to use the loo, and when she walked into the living room afterward, he was standing there buck-naked with an erection! She ran out of there and went home and deleted all of her dating apps." —Anonymous 4. "I was 17, 'pretty enough,' shy, and mostly 'innocent.' My older cousin set me up with a young coworker of hers whom she considered friendly and polite. He picked me up and drove very fast up a long hill on the wrong side of the road to his parents' home. They weren't home. He started prowling on all fours and making big cat sounds, then suddenly got up and turned off all the lights. Even though we were up a large hill in the boondocks, I ran to the door and tried to unlock it, but it had an extra lock. Then he came up behind me and put his hands around my neck. I suddenly took my power back and demanded he take me home 'right now.' He dropped his hands and quietly complied. I didn't say another word to him but had a lot to say to my cousin. She was shocked. I wish I'd been a fly on the wall when she confronted him — I also wish I made a police complaint for his actions that night." —Anonymous 5. "This guy struck up a conversation with me when I was grocery shopping, and we exchanged numbers. We met up for coffee a few days later, and it was fine at first until he admitted he'd been casually 'stalking me,' waiting for the perfect moment to ask me out (I should have run then). He then went into a detailed description of everything he wanted to do to me sexually. I ended the date at that point and thought that was that. He texted me later, saying he had a great time and that for our second date, we should go get ice cream and take it back to his place so he could lick it off my body. I blocked him after that and thankfully haven't seen him since." —Anonymous 6. "I went on a date with a man who I met through a dating app. I quickly found out that he lied about his age — he was actually 10 years older than me, and he was recently divorced. He then took me to a gentleman's club 30 minutes away. He kept saying, 'You're like a sister [to me]' on the way there while stroking my leg because of how 'awesome I was' to agree to go see strippers with him. After the show, he drove us back drunk and speeding in his convertible. He was messaging other women on the dating app at the same time. He ended the night by saying, 'So I'll be hearing from you again? Because I'm such a cool guy, and dates with me are the best.'" — u/[deleted] 7. "I matched with a guy who lived four hours away, so we agreed to meet halfway, have a date, stay in that town overnight, then head home the next day. Now I'm very, very honest with my online pics and info. As soon as I stepped out of my car, he looked me up and down, frowned, and quietly said, 'Noooo.' The dude was far from an oil painting himself. We talked awkwardly for a bit and decided to get some food. It turned out to be a pretty dead down, and there was only a Subway open. So we ate at Subway. He had about as much of a personality as a wet sock. Then he asked if we could go look in some 'geeky' store, so we went. He then proceeded to flirt with a girl working there and told me how hot she was." "Then we went to see a movie to kill time at a tiny cinema. After that, he told me, 'I'm sorry, I've got to go. I have to mow my lawn tomorrow.' I couldn't even be bothered staying and drove an hour to my friend's house overnight. He was a huge jerk, and I regret making the effort." — u/magical_bunny 8. "She arrived stoned an hour late to the bar and decided to get her nails done five minutes before the date. She talked about her life and problems without pause for the entire hour we were out (she was a 'daddy's girl' with an internship at his company. Her bills were paid by her father, and she had no real problems beyond not getting enough spending money from her dad to buy her a Cartier bracelet). I decided not to text her after the date. Three days later, she texted me saying I was a sexist piece of shit for not continuing the conversation." — u/maejaws 9. "We matched on a dating app, and he kept messaging me persistently, but he seemed like a nice guy. So he picked me up and took me to a decent sushi place. The actual dinner went fine, aside from him being VERY nervous and visibly sweating. As he drove me home, he continually asked if he could come up to my room with me and literally professed his love for me. By the time we got to my building, I was ready to book it as fast as possible into the entrance door, which would lock behind me and he would be unable to enter without a key. This dude was literally screaming, 'I love you, please let me in!!!' as I politely but quickly went inside I blocked him immediately." — u/Helpful_Finding78 10. "A guy picked me up on his motorcycle to take me back to his place. He pulled up to a shed by the house so I could get off, and he could store the bike, right? Wrong. The shed was his room (this could already be a horror story, but we're talking worst date — not near-death experience). He invited me in where there was only one place to sit: a recliner, which he sat in. The only other place to sit was his lap, which he alerted me to. I chose a crate instead. He shared his airplane bottle of mouthwash-flavored vodka with me and, within maybe 15 minutes, said I looked like I wanted him to kiss me." "What I wanted was to pee, so he took me to the house on the property (which was his mom's). She was watching TV on the couch, and when I came out of the bathroom, he ushered me from the couch to sit and chat with his mom. Shortly after that, I used our initial agreement to request a ride back home. The next day, I texted something about feeling we were incompatible and wishing him well. He said, 'Your loss.'" — u/jay8996 11. "I went on a second date with this guy. The first one was just a quick lunch, but the second date was an evening movie. After the movie, we went to his car (I had driven separately). We started kissing and maybe three minutes later, he asked, 'Do you want me to put it in?' I was initially confused by the question since it was so out of nowhere. When I realized what he meant, I said 'no.' Then he asked for a blowjob instead. When I said 'no,' he said, 'Okay, how about just a handjob then?' I said 'no' again, of course. He then said, 'Okay, well, I'm going to have to go home and finish this myself. I have it down to 10 minutes.' I promptly got out of the car and was so glad I drove separately! The next morning he had the nerve to text me and ask me out again?! What an idiot." — casualprincess58 12. "I went on a date, and things went well for the first half. But, after an early dinner, things went downhill quickly. We chose a Mexican restaurant for dinner. I had never been to that one, but the reviews were good, so I was excited. He ordered, then I ordered. I ordered partially in Spanish because the waiter asked me something in Spanish. My date: 'Wow, your Spanish is good for a white girl!' Me: 'I'm not white :).' Him: 'What?! I feel catfished right now!' Me: 'What?' Him: 'I don't date outside of my race, and you deceived me, making me think you were white like me. You are ethnically ambiguous. I feel taken advantage of.'" "Then he proceeded to go on some racist rant about my 'looks' — I was shook. I got up and literally walked out of the restaurant, tipping my waiter on the way out. I know racism exists, but the anger in his voice is something I had never experienced before." — ninabell1206 13. "I met a guy on Bumble, and we texted back and forth several times. He seemed easy to get along with. I agreed to meet him for a date. I got to the restaurant before he did and decided to grab a drink at the bar while I waited. As I was doing that, a platonic guy friend of mine came in, and we were chatting just as my date arrived. I introduced the two of them, explained who my platonic friend was, and how we knew each other, and then we went to our table. He proceeded to talk about himself pretty much the entire time, which was already starting to turn me off. But then he turned nasty, and he got angry with me for 'flirting with a guy' when I was on a date with him. I literally got up without a word and left. Hard no." "That night, I texted a different guy I knew about some tickets my date had offered me, and complained about the date and the struggles of online dating. I thought this guy was still married, but he let me know he had gotten divorced. 14. "Some weeks ago, a guy I was talking to on Instagram invited me to have a drink. It was pretty boring, and all I wanted was to leave and watch a movie on my sofa, but the absolute worst part was when he told me (in a good mood) that he accidentally KILLED HIS CAT. He told me that like it was funny. When he was about to return from vacation with his family, he was putting away his belongings in a trunk and his cat got in when he wasn't looking. Fast forward some months, he opened the trunk and found his cat's skeleton, and he recognized him because of the collar. He was pretty amused when he told me this..." — calaveratur 15. "I went on a first (and last) evening date years ago. I wore a long black summer dress, and as he and I walked along the Seaport District in Boston, the sun had set. The sky became dark, and the street lights were spaced apart. As we walked through a dark little stretch, he casually said that if he pushed me into the water, no one would notice. When he asked to see me again, there was no second-guessing that hard 'no.'" — artisticpizza47 16. "I coincidentally went on a date with a woman who worked in the same field as me. She knew of my boss and went on and on about how hot she was. I didn't have the heart to tell her that I worked for my mom's company, meaning my date was actually talking about how hot my MOM was for the entire date." 17. "This was a while ago when I was still in college. This guy I had a class with asked me out to hear a Celtic band that was going to be playing on campus. First of all, he kept calling me Kathy. There's nothing wrong with that name, except IT ISN'T MY NAME! I corrected him twice, and he still called me Kathy. After the concert (which was really good btw) we went out for a drink. He told me he thought he was becoming Buddhist against his will because he felt like he was slowly breaking the bonds with the physical world and moving to the spiritual world. He thought this 'was a shame' because he really loved the physical aspect of life. He creepily winked at me, then nudged me. Yuck! I told him to go find someone else to experience the physical side of life with because it wasn't going to be me!" —Anonymous 18. "First, she said, 'I've dated men, and I've dated women — I guess I can check 'nonbinary' off my list!' This was in reference to my gender identity. Then, after I'd made it clear that I was not interested in sex until we knew each other better, we were watching movies at her house (she lived with her parents). Her parents came home early, and she went to talk to them, and I heard her say, 'You weren't supposed to be home. I'm trying to get some.' I left and ghosted her." 19. "This was a blind date (me: 28M) set up by a friend who's an actor. This woman was in his improv class. I had to travel all the way from Brooklyn to Hoboken, NJ, where she lived. This was an hour by train. I got to the restaurant first. A woman comes in, and I think it's her. I wave her over. She walks up to the table and says, 'You don't look like Jon Stewart! You're not even attractive!' Without saying a word, I got up and walked past her. Apparently, she had a crush on Jon Stewart and my friend said we look alike. Other than being Jewish, yeah...I'm not Jon Stewart, lol." —Anonymous 20. "At first, this date went well — we had some good conversation until he asked me my ethnicity. I explained how my mom is Anishinaabe, and his response? 'That's awesome. I've always wanted to have sex with a Native American woman.' I paid my half and left. I had to block him on every social media platform because he wouldn't stop harassing me." — happylittlebea 21. And finally, "This date explicitly told me after I ordered my first drink that he wouldn't pay for my drinks unless I went home and slept with him after. I didn't drink any of my drink, immediately went to the bathroom, and I had to pass him on the way out, so I went up to him and told him I was leaving. He then proceeded to try to walk me to my car..." — u/eltas13
