Man, I miss the Nineties...

[JohnT]

Remember when the most popular form of music was guys with bad voices mumbling (or screaming, it was one or the other) some form of vague melody? We laughed at such acts like the Spice Girls, blessedly ignorant that their descendants (the Brittany's, the Augualarias (or however you spell their names)) would knock our music back to the "alternative" section.

Who here secretly (or openly) cheered Bill Clinton as he fought back from pummelling after pummelling, daring the world to declare the emperor had no clothes, inviting it even, and still getting away with it? How many times did you think "That's it. He can't survive that" only to see him survive whatever the latest scandal was (for me, I thought it was the Lincoln bedroom thing. How foolish was I!) It was fascinating watching a man with pretty large character flaws on the world stage, and how he handled the inevitable lapses of judgement that he made.

For the vast majority of the West's population, the Internet was "invented" sometime in the '90s, DARPA be damned. All of a sudden a torrent of money went to anyone who could dummy up a computer demo for financial savvy, but tech-foolish, venture capitalists. Who here didn't dream of riding that gravy train, somehow, anyhow, to Easy St. and beyond? And even if you were just an end-user, what wonders the net brought! "Talking" to people living thousands of miles away, for FREE! (or $19.95 a month... or $21.95... or $23.95...) The net made it possible for the first time in history to easily and inexpensively form global communities of people with convergent interests but different backgrounds. And, on the fun side, playing computer games with opponents a continent away, talking smack as you fragged their ass was and is a heady experience the first time you try it.

And then we had Dolly and the advances in genetics and medicine. No cure for AIDS and cancer yet, but then, neither disease is an automatic death sentences if caught early enough. Unfortunately, I think the "pill culture" really dug itself in in the nineties, so not all things were perfect.

The breakup of the Soviet Union and the end of state-imposed Communism as a substantive ideology for the West... The first WTC attack and the successive instances of Islamic/Western antagonism... OJ and the "trial of the month" period that American news went through for a couple of years... Michael Jordan lighting it up with the Bulls... The damned Yankees... My beloved Braves... A booming economy...

Now Jordan is a joke, the Braves are retracting while the Yankees are not, the Islamic/Western relationship has gone on the skids, and worst of all imho, we have no idea whether or not the economy actually boomed during the nineties (that might be worth another thread - "Did the Economy really boom in the Nineties?" Would that be GD or GQ?).

Oh, wait. I forgot that America might be turning into... something that's not America. Hell, I don't know and I don't want to turn this thread into another politics thread. Anyway, that's the worst of all.

Man, I miss the Nineties. Anybody else?

[Shi Huangdi]

Nope. Cause in the 90's I wasn't in college. Now I am.

[Lorizael]

If it weren't for all the crap that's happening now, I'd still be unconscious. As good as the nineties were, I wasn't a person then, and I can't really give you an opinion that reflects my current self.

[Sava]

All the crap in the nineties have given us these problems today.... so no... ignorance is not bliss.

[Buck Birdseed]

Restricting myself to music, I'd have to say that the nineties were easily the worst decade of music since the forties (even that is debatable). Some words that by themselves bring me out in cold sweats: Britpop *shudder*. Post-Grunge *eek*. Boy Bands *aaargh*. Celebrity DJs *gah*. The Lighthouse Family *erk*. Radiohead *AAAAAAHNONONONONOPLEASENOOOOOO*.

Whereas this decade is shaping up very, very nicely indeed. The most neglected lo-fi forms are resurfacing, garage rock is rampant, alt-country has gone past the teething phase. There's a refreshing lack of artiness about this new decade, and a willingness to work outside the boundaries of flat nineties production. Britpop, commercial dance, horrible "Alternative" post-grunge and teen pop are all pretty much dead. Both black american and jamaican music is better than they've been for decades. In fact, there's been a pretty clean break from the utter boredom of the last decade in favour of interestingly produced, creative music again. Dance-Rap, Dancehall/R&B Crossover, New-Sound Garage Rock, I salute you.

[Lancer]

I guess I'm a '60s guy...

Not that anything particularly wonderful happened, but I'm one of the few here that can claim to be a '60s guy.

The '90s were very good to me, I met and married my wife...

hmm, I guess that's it, but that's good enough.

Regarding the 'Divas', I kinda like the one that shakes her butt, but I gotta turn the volume all the way down to enjoy it.

Actually, the whole millenium was above average. We had the emergence of europe, the discovery of the americas, colonial empires, world wars that demolished the nasty colonial powers and sent all their gold to the US. Then, there was the cutting of the gold standard which means we still got it. Then, the US got to be the major power, the Sovs imploded. I guess my main problem w/ the millenia was the demise of the Bysantine empire, that kinda sucked. Then again, the moors got booted outa Spain. There's always a silver lining...

Ketchup was invented...among other things. Hell, 3000+ years ago triremes met in combat in the med, 2000 years later they were still basicly the same vessels bumping into each other at the battle of...of...hmmm. All those millenia couldn't hold a candle to this one for coming up with new stuff.

Apolyton was created, and in a related event, Civilization itself...

[Al B. Sure!]

Snapcase:

Nah, rap and rnb was better in the 90's... Rap had its lowest sales since the early 80's between 1992 and 1997 but it was, in my opinion, at it's highest point... the Jazz or Funk instrumentals to the street lyrics of everyone from AZ to Tupac. Maybe it was because of the nostalgia of my youth hearing songs like Hip Hop Hooray and gangster's paradise, but I think rap has only fallen off since 98... now there's all the Jay-Z's and Cash Money Millionaires... even the production today sounds very computerized (the neptunes and timbaland), and not at all like the smooth jazz and bumping funk of the 90's


thanks

[Solver]

I always prefer the present .

I love the Internet and everything associated with techs, that way yes, I prefer 2002 for an even higher tech level. Though I do here admit that the number of scientific breakthroughs made in 90's was quite impressive. Events like the first cloning, for instance.

[Dis]

I miss the 80's.

But actually the present is better than then. I have a lot more money