January 10, 2000
Another year, and some tiresome fanfare - THE COMMENTARY
By Joseph Planta
VANCOUVER - Since it’s safely a week past the New Year celebrations around our globe, a look at the whole mess. I’ll admit it was kinda interesting.
Well by New Year’s Eve, I was sickly tired of all the ‘millennium’ buzz, Y2K harping and century talk, that I needed another hundred, or even a thousand years to recoup and re-group. The editors at Time selected Einstein the person of the century, a week before they named Jeff Bezos the person of the year. Both Rafe Mair and Fotheringham selected Churchill the person of the century, and rightfully so. A&E went them one better, or probably 900 times better with their selection of Guttenberg as the person on the ‘millennium’, forgetting to note that a new ‘millennium’ is not forthcoming until one year from now. I couldn’t begin to nominate my person of the century or year even. Even the thought, makes me bored about all the hyping.
Then there’s all the magazines that put that absurd ‘Collector’s Edition’ or ‘’Millennium’ Edition’ on their covers. Which we all know why, because it sells. Then there’s the TV networks and cable joints that had hours upon hours of programming planned to showcase the dawning of the ‘millennium’. Right there’s a year’s worth of programming.
Tell me, I’ve been shitting on the auspiciousness of the occasion, but I’ve been tired and hyped out. It’s all a wonderful and interesting time, but come on, aren’t we working up to too much? Don’t you think we’ve wasted a hell of a lot of money and energy on another New Year’s. I mean, I don’t want to be a party pooper, but if we direct this hype into scientific research, who knows, we might be around to see 2999 turn into 3000.
Well, I did buy into all the hype. I was watching the coverage: CBC, CBS, ABC, CNN and everything in-between, put on the air. I bought into the Pacific Press hype machine, buying all three of the papers (National Post, Vancouver Sun and Province) collector’s edition kits. I spent 18 bucks on those things, damnit. CKNW had this amazing chronicle of the century, that was a little self aggrandising, but rather interesting. I had a hell of a time, throughout the day following the exhaustive television coverage. I have to say I admire Peter Jennings and his coverage ontop of Times Square in New York, as well as Peter Mansbridge’s on the CBC. Peter Warren, (Have you got the feeling that this was the day and night of Peter’s?) held down the fort accross Canada on the WIC network, as well as the local CKNW. I guess, capitalism was rampant in it all, as on CNN, some 6 minutes to midnight, pacific time, they were already flogging a video retrospective on all the CNN coverage of the “millenium” celebrations.
With that, another year was born, and to the ignorant, another ‘’millennium’’. Whatever the case maybe, the first week of 2000 was a terrifically amazing and interesting time. A time to pause and look back, perhaps look forward. Whatever you did, you probably thought that too. Ah! The fanfare and excitment, another year or is it something else?
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