I was reading some stuff about Orwell and 1984 and something occurred to me which I’m sure has occurred to many others. There are no more iconic dates in the future. The most important ones from my lifetime were 1984, 1999, 2000 and 2001. 1984 was, of course, made famous by the book. 1999 was much less famous, but still had some cultural cache thanks to the artist-once-known-as-Prince-then-known-as-some-pagan-symbol-then-known-as-Prince-again as well as that classic of American cinema Class of 1999. 2000 was always going to be a big one, what with the millennium and Conan O’Brien and all. And 2001 was a big deal because of that (overrated) movie (we won’t rehash that again, btw).
But there are no more dates that have that literary-cultural oomph ahead. Someone should write a song or book about 2222 or something (Party like it’s 2017!) . Because, right now, the “future” is past.
Update: Jeepers! Good thing I’m pulling an all-nighter. If I waited ‘til morning the mail box would have filled-up and burst.
Some representative emails:
Uhhh, hello? Does the year “2112″ ring any bells? An album by a certain quasi-Randian Canadian power trio? How can an intellectual of your caliber forget about Rush (the band, not the EIB dude)?
Sheesh,
Jon
PS: Yes, I once was a 15-year-old white boy.
And:
I feel your pain. 2112 was iconic , and one of my favorite albums. But a total knockoff of the 1984 concept, plus without the cultural oomph (itself mild) of 1999.
Still, 2112 is the last year standing, icon-wise.
And, of course:
In the year 2525
Zager and Evans
Reached #1 in July of 1969
In the year 2525
If man is still alive
If woman can survive they may find
In the year 3535
Ain’t gonna need to tell the truth, tell no lies
Everything you think do and say
Is in the pill you took today
In the year 4545
You ain’t gonna need your teeth won’t need your eyes
You won’t find a thing to chew
Nobody’s gonna look at you
In the year 5555
Your arms hangin’ limp at your sides
Your legs got nothin’ to do
Some machine’s doing that for you
In the year 6565
You won’t need no husband, won’t need no wife
You’ll pick your son, pick your daughter too
From the bottom of a long glass tube
In the year 7510
If God’s a comin’ He oughta make it by then
Maybe He’ll look around Himself and say
Guess it’s time for the judgement day
In the year 8510
God is gonna shake His mighty head
He’ll either say I’m pleased where man has been
Or tear it down and start again woh oh
In the year 9595
I’m kinda wonderin’ if man is gonna be alive
He’s takin everything this old earth can give
And he ain’t put back nothin woh oh
Now it’s been ten thousand years
Man has cried a billion tears
For what he never knew
Now man’s reign is through
But through eternal night
The twinkling of starlight
So very far away
Maybe it’s only yesterday
In the year 2525
If man is still alive
If woman can survive, they may find……
http://www.jacquedee63.com/intheyear2525.html
And I should have seen this one coming:
Good grief Jonah! How could you, of all people, have missed that most
iconic of future dates — March 22, 2233?
And here’s another:
Jonah –
There are two more end dates to look forward to.
For the New Age fans, you’ve got the Mayan End Date of December 12,
2012: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_calendar#End_of_the_world.3F
For computer geeks, the day in 2038 that all 32-bit UNIX machines stop
working: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year_2038_problem
Y2K38 is the Y2K of this millennium. Lots of extra money for aging UNIX
geeks in the run up to that one. The Mayan one is much more fun, but, as
is true of much New Agey-ness, is based on a fundamental
misunderstanding of the Mayan Long Count. The actual date is October 13,
4772. Unless Glenn Reynolds is right about all this life extension
stuff, I don’t think I’ll be worrying about that one…
And:
Some people insist that as the ancient Mayan calender ends with 2012,
we’re all going to die that year. If you listened to Art Bell and
George what’s his name, you would know this. But they are the same
folks who sold a lot of freeze dried food and water filters prior to
Y2K. I plan on sticking around.
And, I really do think this should close out this post, I’ve got to get back to work:
Jonah,
I nominate your post on future dates as:
“Best Worst Post Ever”.
You are a Genius! You managed to fit in the lyrics
for the horrible “In the Year 2525″ and the birthday
of Captain Kirk.
Dave