RE: Begining of Millennium

["Javier Miranda V." <gnominus@earthling.net>]

I think Greg is speaking from cultural conditioning.  There is a great deal
of tortured and misshapen arguments and notions in the US.  Starting from
thinking that it's cool to use gallons instead of liters, miles instead of
kilometers, and that everybody in the Universe speaks English (Star Trek).
Same old argument, what's real?  The truth is that a millennium starts on
the first year (that's why it's written with a number one), not on "year
zero," as there was no "year zero."  The "Seventies" are not the seventh
decade-- they're the eighth decade.  The Nineteenth Century ended in
December 1900, and the Twentieth Century in December 2000-- see the
connection (19, 1900-- 20, 2000)?  To say that 2000 is not as cool as 1999
is like thinking that it's OK to have strange aliens in Star Trek talking
English like they grew up in Kansas.  From the outside this looks really
uncool.  And I'm a good outsider, I can tell you that unanimously.

  | -----Original Message-----
  | From: G716 [mailto:g716@hotmail.com]
  | Sent: Wednesday 24 November 1999 2:36 PM
  | To: Loopers-Delight@annihilist.com
  | Subject: OT: begin of millenium.
  |
  |
  | > The 21st century begins January 1st 2001.
  |
  | I've always like this philosophy.  Too bad I didn't know about
  | it until this
  | year, otherwise I would've enjoyed being in my 20's while I was
  | still 30!
  | It's 31, 41, 51, etc. that we all get to dread from this point forward.
  |
  | I love it!
  | Greg
  |
  | (yeah, yeah, I've heard all the arguments about starting at
  | "1".  It's just
  | so boring and mundane.  Who'll celebrate 2001 with as much excitement 
as
  | 2000?  Just the Kubrick fans I suppose.  And no one wants to hear a 
song
  | line like "Two throusand zero one party over oops out-a time.
  | Gonna party
  | like it's 2000.... ".  It's the chronological equivalent to calling 
some
  | guitar bridges "tremelos".)
  |
  |
  |