Odds 'n' Ends

The old year ends, the new year begins, and another piece of what I once regarded as "the future" is chipped away. I think about this a lot, but especially in January, going all the way back to January 1981, seven months after I graduated from high school, or, as I use to think of it, the center of time. However, I no longer consider the years leading up to high school graduation that way. No, thanks to everything from 20th century science fiction books and movies to a popular Prince song to biblical timekeeping, I now see the center of time as extending all the way to December 31, 1999. The future began the very next day. Of course that was quite some time ago. To a boy or girl born that next day, whose high school graduation is now a mere five months away, the present day may not seem very much like the future at all. Well, that's their loss. Not every generation has an end of a millennium to either look forward to or dread.

So, is this future living up to expectations? Well, if it's not quite the future of Star Trek or The Jetsons, neither is it Mad Max or Rollerball. So to make sense of it all, I'd like to give you good people a little quiz, one that requires from you extreme honesty and a good memory of what exactly your mind set and expectations were at any given point in time. Let's begin:

1. In 1969, if you were asked which technological feat would most likely have already occurred 49 years in the future, would you have said:

A.) Colonization of the moon.

 B.) Pagers in restaurants that light up, beep, vibrate, etc, when your food is ready.

 2. In 1974, if you were asked which of these two mechanical devices would still be in widespread use 44 years in the future, would you have said:

 A.) Electric typewriter

 B.) Gasoline-powered automobile

 3. In 1985, if you were asked which of these two types of businesses would still be operating 33 years in the future, would you have said:

 A.) Video stores

B.) Television networks

4. In 1970, if you were asked which of these would be the greater threat 48 years in the future, would you have said:

A.) Computers taking over the world

B.) Spam taking over computers

5. In 1987, if you were asked which of these would be more controversial 31 years in the future, would you say:

A.) Marijuana

B.) The casting couch

 6. In 1974, if you were asked which of these pop stars were more likely to still be alive 44 years in the future, would you have said:

 A.) Michael Jackson

B.) Brian Wilson

7. In 1999, if you were asked what name 20th Century Fox  would go by 19 years in the future, would you have said:

A.) 21st Century Fox

 B.) The Walt Disney Company

8. In the last few months of 2001, if you were asked which of these two men had a more promising political future, would you have said:

A.) Rudy Giuliani

B.) Donald Trump

9. In the last few weeks of 2016, if you were asked which of these two individuals had a more promising career in government, would you have said:

A.) Steve Bannon

B.) Danica Roem

10. In 1976, if you were asked which would be more likely 43 years in the future, would you say:

A.) Jesus Christ's return to Earth

B.) Saturday Night Live still on the air

OK, that's the test. So how did you do? If you answered B.) on all 10 questions, what the hell are sitting at home and staring at a computer screen for?

This is the place you ought to be!