New Year GOOD or BAD

[coalescent]

At the weekend, concern was expressed that I hadn't run a GOOD or BAD poll for a while. There was a fear that people might have gotten out of the habit of making arbitrary judgements. Hence: a new year treat for you all! Don't think, just click.

[Poll #1325707]

Comments

[peake.livejournal.com]

The '90s being almost two decades ago???

The 90s aren't even one decade ago yet.

[coalescent.livejournal.com]

Transcribed from requests at the weekend -- I believe the intent was that it's almost the last-but-one decade.

[coalescent.livejournal.com]

Of course, in the spirit of GOOD or BAD it could be literally referring to the time, not yet occurred, when the nineties are twenty years ago.

[the-gardener.livejournal.com]

Don't overlook the phenomenon known as "decade lag", first identified by David Pringle over twenty years ago, in which the events or sensibilities characteristic of a particular decade conclude some years after the calendrical end of the decade in question. Thus the 1950s ended with the assassination of JFK in 1963, the 1960s ended with the oil shock of 1973, and the 1970s ended with the re-election of Thatcher in 1983.

Given that he was writing twenty years ago, he had no closing date for the 1980s, but I'd nominate sterling being pushed out of the ERM in 1992. So the 1990s ended with....? The nationalisation of Northern Rock earlier this year? But that seems a bit late....

[surliminal.livejournal.com]

Wow that's your baddest poll in aaaaages..

[surliminal.livejournal.com]

I'd fprgotten that was DP but it's very true. In Scotland the Sixties didn;t even get started till the Seventies..

[bohemiancoast.livejournal.com]

The 90s ended on September 11, 2001.

[brixtonbrood.livejournal.com]

just as they started on November 9th 1989 with the End of History and the Triumph of Western Liberal Democracy - which rather knocks Pringle's theory on the head.

[rosefox]

"Xakus's kicking feet disappeared. The lips of the vegetative tube squelched shut. Jelly glistened. The flaps quivered like an epileptic vulva".

Where's my AWESOME! checkbox?!

[http://users.livejournal.com/la_marquise_de_/]

I want a button saying 'ick', please.
And hell, I remember an MTV VJ declaring Sade by Enigma the track of the 90s. In 1991. Which is all too close to 20 years ago. Sigh.

[coalescent.livejournal.com]

It is an actual quote from an actual published novel, terrifyingly enough.

[wychwood]

Spaghetti hoops are vile and squidgy and covered in an allegedly tomato-based sauce which is even more disgusting than the usual run of tomato-based products. DISGUSTING.

[coalescent.livejournal.com]

NOM NOM NOM.

[iainjclark.livejournal.com]

NO NO NO.

[nuttyxander.livejournal.com]

Indeed. And to me it'll be two decades ago as soon as 1st Jan 1990 is 20 years ago, hurrah for my maths exam failing logic.

My chronological translation is simple

[applez.livejournal.com]

Thinking about all the cases of:

Pre-Internets OR societies who more or less missed all the tech and goodstuff (TM) of the 90s 'cause they were busy killing eachother or somesuch at the time.

[applez.livejournal.com]

Ooo, good ones.

The anniversary victory-over-communism-by-thrashing-then-threatening-Saddam doesn't quite fit the mould either.

[ninebelow.livejournal.com]

A delicious recipe for you.

(And what is with that giant orange?)

[twic.myopenid.com (from livejournal.com)]

I am glad there is at least one other righthead on this post. The poll reveals a depressing amount of wrongthink.

-- tom

[twic.myopenid.com (from livejournal.com)]

And i'm fairly confident it's not the worst bit.