New meme - Friday 5

Friday's Feast is having technical difficulties and thus not updating, so I think I'll try out a new Friday meme.

Friday 5:

1. Of television programs that aired before you were born, what’s your favorite?

I'm trying to think if I have seen any TV shows from before my birth. I know I used to watch the old Batman TV show, so that's what I'll use for an answer.

2. What person of historical significance was from your neighborhood or city?

Someone actually born in the city . . . probably NBA basketball player Danny Ainge. He went to my high school!

Steve Prefontaine wasn't born in Eugene, but he became famous here.

3. What’s a story that’s often been told about someone in your family in the years before you came along?

We don't really have many 'old family tales,' but the stories I like best are about the hockey players in our family. My mom's second cousin played in the NHL, as did his father.

4. Which of previous generations’ dumb mistakes (in deed or thought) baffles you the most?

Aside from the biggies (war and such), I think the city of Eugene made a huge mistake in converting downtown to a pedestrian mall. Once the big stores left, so did the shoppers, and the street kids and druggies moved in. The streets are now open again, but the riff-raff are still around. This is something we are continuing to struggle with. I saw some photos of the old downtown this week, and it looked like a normal downtown. It makes me realize how ugly today's downtown really is.

5. What aspect of life in the good old days would you love to see a return to?

I'd like to go back to the days when criminals, druggies and creeps were in the minority, not the majority. But did such days ever exist?