Cultural artifacts, but more experiential. NOT things, but the influences things, books, art, comedy, jokes, authors, Gods, places(spaces) and times have had on individuals (personal view) or groups (broader, more general look).
This is NOT the end of this node, only the beginning. Bear with me, keep checking back over the next several days as this evolves and completes. I did want to start anyway just to begin to nail down the ideas (before they float way too far)
As I watch my kids grow I feel older. Nothing else manages to do that; birthdays don't - I still feel ageless, I watch a body grow old, but I still am and I still dream, I still see and I still evolve in that seeing.
I watch for things that are/were part of my being that can/might become part of theirs. Things like Dr. Suess, sure, but that's pretty universal, enough to be cliche. The process has caused me to look into what I was most influenced by as I moved to now.
Cultural artifacts, but more experiential.
How about a list to start.
Robert A. Heinlein. From Starship Troopers to Time Enough for Love.
Dune. Just the first book.
Bond. James Bond.
Star Wars
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Casablanca.
The Big Sleep ("You know how to whistle, don't you? Just put your lips together and blow...")
Humphrey Bogart period. A slight, not very big guy, but just comes across as tough as fucking nails, and illuminates the screen, just captures it completely. I had a friend in L.A. who bought a life-sized Bogart complete with suit and cigarette. He stuffed on the stair landing above the entry, just beyond the front door. He ended up painting it gray, otherwise people kept embarassing themselves saying hello...
Lauren Bacall
Firesign Theatre. Nick Danger and even the Sherlock Holmes spoof (Giant Rat of Sumatra) haven't dated as comedy yet. Humboldt County is still as painful as it is funny.
GI Joe. And Barbie and Ken and the Nissan 300Z... Best gratuitous use of a rock-and-roll song last millenium.
more to come...