Maybe this is too niche, but for 2000’s I was thinking something along the lines of “do you remember who Chris Moneymaker is and did he get you into playing online poker?”
Also Seinfeld >>>> Friends and I’m frankly astounded any neurologically intact person would or could think differently. Do people actually think Friends is funny? (Unless the author thinks differently in which case that’s perfectly fine, mea maxima culpa.)
Totally totally. I'm Seinfeld all the way. Just trying to be inclusive here!
I do remember Chris Moneymaker! I even remember a kind of touching scene where his dad was being interviewed on ESPN and said, "I knew he was good at poker but I didn't know it was like this."
In the lead up to the Iraq war, I was in a protest in NYC. A woman held a sign that was made of clear plastic framed in duct tape. I still have a picture of it. It took me a second before I realized she was referring to a government official at the time telling us to stock up on plastic sheets and tape to protect ourselves from chemical weapon attacks. It was the best protest sign I’ve ever seen. Too bad we couldn’t stop that invasion.
Here in Australia the government lead by our Prime Minister John Howard who was sometimes and quite rightly called a lying rodent sent a fridge magnet to every household after 9/11 emploring/reminding people to report suspicious activity.
He was given the freedom medal by the village idiot from Texas for services in support of the coalition of the killing.
Yeah. I was pro-war (in my defense, I was really young) and have been haunted by that. The US killed a lot of people in Iraq, and burned through a lot of credibility, and for no gain whatsoever. That was a real lesson in being suspicious of US imperialism as well as in waves of orchestrated public sentiment.
1. USSR + large screen plasma TVs - just those two things - mean the best of all worlds. Throw in listening to Mazzy Star in, like, a used record store or a coffee shop while talking to a girl with thrillingly disheveled hair and you’ve got the best of all possible worlds.
2. CNN coverage. Made me feel like I was in Baghdad at the time. Now that you wrote this I’m wondering if the war actually happened.
3. Clinton. I’ve got to go with the unpopular opinion: that sax stuff annoyed the shit out of me. I didn’t buy it.
4. I was on a roof, painting a house and doing a shit job. And oh yeah I cared a bunch.
5. Open and shut case. I never believed that the people cheering his release though he was innocent.
6. Seinfeld, but it’s closer than people remember.
7. Lifeboat: Christ YES. That always bothered the shit out of me. I mean they didn’t even try. And I liked him better than her.
8. “Did you view Wag the Dog as playful satire or did it kind of perfectly seem to match up to the US’ intervention in Kosovo?” Response from 90s me: a blank, stoned stare
9. Blue dress: it was such epic grossness that it will never have an equal. People think that mainstream media jumped the shark in 2016. Sorry, but no: it was when they spent like a year talking about a 20-year olds dress drenched in the cum of. US President.
9. Britney: 100%. It always felt like a big step too far, like when Miley Cyrus did that tongue thing.
Haha great answers! It's nice to go down memory lane.
Mazzy Star is really wonderful! I have a short story about her.
I was too young to remember the Arsenio Hall thing, but it does seem annoying AF. From everything I've heard about the '92 campaign it sounds like a real schmaltz fest. Surprising that anybody bought it.
Totally guilty, right?
Yeah, I think Rose was pretty over Jack by the end. I'm sure she married well!
Absolute power is in! For some reason I had a thought of Trump and Musk announcing that they were building a fleet of dragons as part of our military resurgence.
Law school, 90-93, married 92, started working, and it was hard and all-consuming, started having kids, so babies and children in the house, and never owned a TV.
I missed most of this!
Vividly remember 9/11, though. What a day.
Supported the Iraq invasion, vocally and publicly, and now regret that.
DFW's essays are amazing - especially the cruise ship one. I think he's a much less interesting reader whenever his first-person persona drops out i.e. in his fiction.
I know I know. But I can kind of only really speak to my US-centric life experience. I'd be curious to see somebody do a version of this anchored in Europe or elsewhere.
lol do you expect people to actually answer these questions in the comments?
No no, just goofing around
lol i figured. it is a funny way of framing a critique.
Maybe this is too niche, but for 2000’s I was thinking something along the lines of “do you remember who Chris Moneymaker is and did he get you into playing online poker?”
Also Seinfeld >>>> Friends and I’m frankly astounded any neurologically intact person would or could think differently. Do people actually think Friends is funny? (Unless the author thinks differently in which case that’s perfectly fine, mea maxima culpa.)
Totally totally. I'm Seinfeld all the way. Just trying to be inclusive here!
I do remember Chris Moneymaker! I even remember a kind of touching scene where his dad was being interviewed on ESPN and said, "I knew he was good at poker but I didn't know it was like this."
Not sure where I was when DFW died, but the Wall Street Journal published “This Is Water” shortly after and it convinced me to start reading him.
I think the same piece at the same time as you did and had the same reaction!
“David Foster Wallace On Life And Work”
In the lead up to the Iraq war, I was in a protest in NYC. A woman held a sign that was made of clear plastic framed in duct tape. I still have a picture of it. It took me a second before I realized she was referring to a government official at the time telling us to stock up on plastic sheets and tape to protect ourselves from chemical weapon attacks. It was the best protest sign I’ve ever seen. Too bad we couldn’t stop that invasion.
Here in Australia the government lead by our Prime Minister John Howard who was sometimes and quite rightly called a lying rodent sent a fridge magnet to every household after 9/11 emploring/reminding people to report suspicious activity.
He was given the freedom medal by the village idiot from Texas for services in support of the coalition of the killing.
God, I miss people railing on George W. Bush. It's been a while!
Yeah. I was pro-war (in my defense, I was really young) and have been haunted by that. The US killed a lot of people in Iraq, and burned through a lot of credibility, and for no gain whatsoever. That was a real lesson in being suspicious of US imperialism as well as in waves of orchestrated public sentiment.
Ok this is awesome
I’m a 90s boy, so I’ll do those:
1. USSR + large screen plasma TVs - just those two things - mean the best of all worlds. Throw in listening to Mazzy Star in, like, a used record store or a coffee shop while talking to a girl with thrillingly disheveled hair and you’ve got the best of all possible worlds.
2. CNN coverage. Made me feel like I was in Baghdad at the time. Now that you wrote this I’m wondering if the war actually happened.
3. Clinton. I’ve got to go with the unpopular opinion: that sax stuff annoyed the shit out of me. I didn’t buy it.
4. I was on a roof, painting a house and doing a shit job. And oh yeah I cared a bunch.
5. Open and shut case. I never believed that the people cheering his release though he was innocent.
6. Seinfeld, but it’s closer than people remember.
7. Lifeboat: Christ YES. That always bothered the shit out of me. I mean they didn’t even try. And I liked him better than her.
8. “Did you view Wag the Dog as playful satire or did it kind of perfectly seem to match up to the US’ intervention in Kosovo?” Response from 90s me: a blank, stoned stare
9. Blue dress: it was such epic grossness that it will never have an equal. People think that mainstream media jumped the shark in 2016. Sorry, but no: it was when they spent like a year talking about a 20-year olds dress drenched in the cum of. US President.
9. Britney: 100%. It always felt like a big step too far, like when Miley Cyrus did that tongue thing.
10. The Matrix: dude, I BEEN knowing that
Haha great answers! It's nice to go down memory lane.
Mazzy Star is really wonderful! I have a short story about her.
I was too young to remember the Arsenio Hall thing, but it does seem annoying AF. From everything I've heard about the '92 campaign it sounds like a real schmaltz fest. Surprising that anybody bought it.
Totally guilty, right?
Yeah, I think Rose was pretty over Jack by the end. I'm sure she married well!
Brilliant! Too much for me to say in the comments, but you’ve given me a hell of a lot to think about.
Lol! Thanks Petra!
Fun to answer as i was reading.
Had to look this up.
"There were 444 babies named 'Khaleesi' in 2022, ranking #662 in the top 1000. Could this be a permanent thing?"
Wow! I guess it didn't bother anybody that she nuked King's Landing!
Absolute power is in! For some reason I had a thought of Trump and Musk announcing that they were building a fleet of dragons as part of our military resurgence.
Law school, 90-93, married 92, started working, and it was hard and all-consuming, started having kids, so babies and children in the house, and never owned a TV.
I missed most of this!
Vividly remember 9/11, though. What a day.
Supported the Iraq invasion, vocally and publicly, and now regret that.
My kids loved Harry Potter, so no shame there.
Still haven't read DFW. So many books, man ...
Me too re Iraq. Fool me once.
Thanks for the comments!
DFW's essays are amazing - especially the cruise ship one. I think he's a much less interesting reader whenever his first-person persona drops out i.e. in his fiction.
I was hoping you would start a couple of decades earlier 🙂. I read my kids' Harry Potter books when they were done with them...
I will I will! I'll do another round of this.
Too US-centric. You have an international audience! Also: Friends!
I know I know. But I can kind of only really speak to my US-centric life experience. I'd be curious to see somebody do a version of this anchored in Europe or elsewhere.
How about some of your touchstones for the 70s and 80s?
To be continued....!
I just don’t know enough pop culture for most of this and note that the 80s were skipped.
The '80s are coming! (Although I wasn't alive for most of it, so it's harder for me to really be inside the culture.)