Ranking the 00's
Well, here's the first of three end-of-the-year posts for all of you to enjoy. It's also the first of two ranking posts. Although it's technically not the end of the decade, the last year just doesn't fit well with the designation "00's." For me, this decade is best described as dramatic. There were so many changes in the world, in America, in my personal life...well, it at least made things interesting. If I were writing this post in 1999, I would be very different in a number of essential ways, and yet very much the same in a few others. Most of you know the things that happened to me in this decade because this blog serves as a documentary for most of them. All in all, I look forward to what the new decade brings. In the end, it's up to me and you and everyone else to contribute to making it what it can potentially be. With that ideal aside, let's rank the decade. Once again, I should note that when this sort of thing happens at thesecondchance, myspace and facebook fail to look cool anymore. Just saying. This one's a bit more simplified than the yearly one, which is coming next. My answers to the questions are in the thread. Cheers.
Questions/Rankings:
1. Better or worse decade than last?
2. Positive national event or highlight of the decade
3. Negative national event or highlight of the decade
4. Favorite sports moment of the decade
5. Best movie
6. Best TV show
7. TV show you'll miss the most
8. Best music artist
9. Best album
10. Best concert
11. Best author
12. Best book
13. Most notable fashion trend of the decade
14. The most surprising or impressive technological advance of the decade
15. Top prediction for new decade
posted by thewalrus at 12:51 AM
6 Comments:
Here's a list of the questions if you want to copy and paste for convenience. My answers are below.
1. Better or worse decade than last?
2. Positive national event or highlight of the decade
3. Negative national event or highlight of the decade
4. Favorite sports moment of the decade
5. Best movie
6. Best TV show
7. TV show you'll miss the most
8. Best music artist
9. Best album
10. Best concert
11. Best author
12. Best book
13. Most notable fashion trend of the decade
14. The most surprising or impressive technological advance of the decade
15. Top prediction for new decade
1:29 AM, December 30, 2009
1. Better or worse decade than last? Frankly, I'm not sure how to answer this question. Here's a yes and no - I like the technological advances of this decade, but I think music is just not as cool as the 90's. I know, I'm old, I get it.
2. Positive national event or highlight of the decade: I'm gonna take what will likely be the popular one - last year's election of Obama. On the other hand, I'm rather disappointed with the Messiah (did he forget that liberals elected him??) at the moment so this one's still pending.
3. Negative national event or highlight of the decade: The exponential growth of corporate ownership of our government...or the continued existence of the Religious Right, take your pick.
4. Favorite sports moment of the decade: The 2006 World Champion St. Louis Cardinals. Miss you Dad. Side note - Dear St. Louis, please sign Holliday. Thanks.
5. Best movie: Once again, movies don't compare to the 90's. This one was tough for me as they go in different categories. So here you have it: The Bourne Series (Action), Dark Knight (comic), Anchorman (comedy), The Saw Series (horror), Lord of the Rings trilogy (Fantasy), The Matrix trilogy (SciFi), and Mystic River (drama).
6. Best TV show: Boston Legal. Other notables - The Wire, Lost, and House.
7. TV show you'll miss the most: Boston Legal...and The Practice and Lost.
8. Best music artist: Thursday
9. Best album: Full Collapse by Thursday.
10. Best concert: I've been to dozens of amazing concerts this decade but the most memorable at the moment is seeing Thursday at Juanita's in Little Rock, AR with Coop and Steven. Amazing show in a small-ass venue.
11. Best author: Most of the books I've read have been from previous decades. My favorite author I have encountered in the 00's is Dennis Lehane.
12. Best book: Well again, I've read mostly older books but I did think Richard Price's "Lush Life" (2008) was brilliant.
13. Most notable fashion trend of the decade: the return of 80's fashion. Who thought this was a good idea??
14. The most surprising or impressive technological advance of the decade: the fact that house phones are now virtually obselete. Everyone and their housecat owns a cell phone.
15. Top prediction for new decade: I think the food industry is going to become a huge issue on two fronts. First, there's simply too much slipping under the radar in the corporate food industry. Second, the diabetes and obesity epidemic will bring this into the national consciousness. This is already happening but I think it will become a much, much bigger issue.
2:35 AM, December 30, 2009
1. Better or worse decade than last?
A little of both
2. Positive national event or highlight of the decade
The 2008 Presidential election.
3. Negative national event or highlight of the decade
George W. Bush, the September 11th attacks and a number of the changes that has brought about, Sara Palin
4. Favorite sports moment of the decade
Well, my trip to Fenway Park was pretty sweet, mainly because of the historical aspect of it (the Sox lost but it didn't matter). However, since then I have become a bigtime StL Cardinals fan, and my visits to Busch stadium were very fun and memorable. And also, on a less personal note, Roger Federer has been incredibly amazing all decade.
5. Best movie
I can't narrow it down to just one: High Fidelity, Lost in Translation, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Traffic, Everything is Illuminated, for indie films; Pan's Labyrinth and the Lord of the Rings movies for fantasy; and The Gleaners and I, A Year at Kew Gardens, and Andy Goldsworthy's Rivers and Tides for documentaries. I also liked Appaloosa for westerns. Oh, and all the Wes Anderson films...
6. Best TV show
The original British "The Office"
7. TV show you'll miss the most
Arrested Development
8. Best music artist
probably Radiohead (even though they started out in the 90's)
9. Best album
U2's All That You Can't Leave Behind
10. Best concert
Saw Tom Waits 4 times one year, which was very cool. Also seeing Elvis Costello at The Tabernacle two nights back to back on the front row was pretty awesome too.
11. Best author
David Wroblewski ("The Story of Edgar Sawtelle")
12. Best book
"A Clearing in the Distance: Frederick Law Olmsted and America in the 19th Century" by Witold Rybczynski
13. Most notable fashion trend of the decade
Sexy tramp clothes for young girls. I really don't get it.
14. The most surprising or impressive technological advance of the decade
Ipods and the changes in how people listen to music, digital cameras (though I still prefer film!), wireless internet, all the things you can do with a cell phone/pda these days.
15. Top prediction for new decade
Not that I watch much TV anyhow, but I'm crossing my fingers for less reality television...
7:51 PM, December 30, 2009
Questions/Rankings:
1. Better or worse decade than last?
Hm. The last involved some life-changing moments for me, such as getting a sibling, starting kindergarten, and the like. (Also, much less stress over taxes.) Gonna have to go with worse.
2. Positive national event or highlight of the decade
Hasn't been great. The shoe-throwing incident was enjoyable, vicariously.
3. Negative national event or highlight of the decade
Lets not try to rank them... each atrocity in Iraq, Afghanistan, Honduras, Pakistan, Palestine...any number of places...all bother me. And really, the US's response to the Tsunami in Indonesia might be the thing that rankled the most.
4. Favorite sports moment of the decade
Hm. I was really excited about Vandy's '06-07 basketball season. That was one of the most fun times I've had following any team, ever.
5. Best movie
Pan's Labyrinth?
6. Best TV show
Arrested Development
7. TV show you'll miss the most
ditto..
8. Best music artist
Radiohead--or, maybe just Yorke. He's pretty impressive alone.
11. Best author
! Very hard to answer! THe previous 2 were also hard--so hard I deleted them... well, I'm impressed with Michael Pollan, but, I will probably think Wendell Berry is the best until he dies.
12. Best book
Wow. No idea. I enjoyed "Atonement" a surprising amount.
13. Most notable fashion trend of the decade.
Elitist tennis shoes. Air Jordans, All Stars, Louis Vuitton high-tops...
14. The most surprising or impressive technological advance of the decade
maybe electric cars, although they're not widely disseminated yet.
15. Top prediction for new decade
more stuff found to cause cancer.
10:25 PM, January 04, 2010
1. Better or worse decade than last?
Considering that for the earlier part of the 90's I had a femme mullet and wore oversized glasses, I would say that the 2000's have served me well.
2. Positive national event or highlight of the decade
The invention of facebook
3. Negative national event or highlight of the decade:
The moral and intellectual erosion of society due to the invention of facebook.
4. Favorite sports moment of the decade:
Tiger Woods and his 3,512 mistresses (I am clearly an avid sports fan). That or the Cardinals winning the World Series
5. Best movie:
No Country for Old Men comes to mind, really anything by the Cohen Brothers.
6. Best TV show
Hmmm, The Office (first three seasons). I didn't have a functioning TV for the last two years so that's all I can come up with.
7. TV show you'll miss the most:
I won't miss any of them. Not a one.
8. Best music artist:
Hmmm, don't think they qualify as the best of the decade, but my personal favorite for the past few years are the Avett Brothers. Oh, and Fiest, Gillian Welch, David Gray, Patti Griffin, Ben Harper, Ben Kweller, Ben Folds, Counting Crows, Old Crow Medicine Show, and Ray LaMontagne
9. Best album:
All of the albums produced by the aforementioned artists within the past decade. I'm lazy.
10. Best concert:
Not much of a concert go-er. Hmm, I saw Damien Rice at the Ryman, that was fun.
11. Best author:
Considering most of the literature I have read during the latter part of this decade was published before the 20th century, I am worthless on this question and #12.
12. Best book
13. Most notable fashion trend of the decade:
Umm, wearing leggings as regular pants, most notable and most ridiculous.
14. The most surprising or impressive technological advance of the decade
The snuggie
15. Top prediction for new decade
The rapture will happen in 2013
--Kim H.
6:31 PM, January 12, 2010
As I did in the Ranking 2010 thread, I just wanted to thank you guys for participating in this thing. I hope you enjoy it as much as me! Cheers.
2:41 AM, January 26, 2010
Post a Comment
<< Home