"What on Earth?" Fall 1999 Catalog and Grammy Awards 2000 recap

·         I’m not sure when What on Earth? started coming to our door, but this two-page spread on 88 and 89 comes from the Fall 1999 issue. I found it in a drawer in my room just last night.

Page 88 starts with a gorgeous woven throw and decorative linen calendar. Both of them share a Henry David Thoreau quotation: “The heavens are as deep as our aspirations are high.”

Next is a game called Millenniumopoly, published by USAopoly, which has a license to publish themed Monopoly games without using Parker Brothers’ Monopoly trademarks. They also published a do-it-yourself version called Make Your Own-opoly when home desktop publishing first took off in a big way. Parker Brothers did publish a Millennium-themed Monopoly game, with special board, houses, hotels, tokens, and money. A deluxe version featured special, oddly-shaped dice.

The Millennium Bear sports a coat of sparkly, black fur of plush; paws of light purple plush; and a holographic “2000” patch on its chest. When you shake its paw, it says, “Make my millennium,” and gives a snippet of futuristic music.

Next are two T-shirts. The first reads: “Are you prepared? Millennium 2000,” and the second reads: “Y2K…tick, tick, tick.”

Page 89 kicks off with a sleep-shirt and pajama bag bearing the likeness of that naughty little scamp, Milo the Millennium Bug. To Milo’s left is the “Merlin 2000” Fireworks Kaleidoscope, a portable light and sound show powered by three AA batteries.

Below, there’s a sweatshirt reading, “Global Unity—Year 2000,” with a Keith Haring-inspired image of our planet. There are also two more T-shirts. The first, white T reads, “Queen of the Millennium;” the second, black T bears a simple silver rectangle with “01-01-00” printed inside. Finally, there’s a purple pullover dress printed with stars and galaxies.

  Grammy Awards 2000 Recap:

On February 23, 2000, the world watched the first Grammy Awards festival of the new millennium. Held at Los Angeles, California's Staples Center, the awards show saw guitarist Carlos Santana walk away with eight awards; his album, Supernatural, earned nine. A then 19-year-old Christina Aguilera became the youngest Grammy winner, and Jennifer Lopez, ahem, captivated the world (in more ways than one) with her green, Versace-designed dress, which closed in the middle and left practically nothing to the imagination. And, in a heartwarming moment, Elton John won the MusiCares Person of the Year award. David Crosby won the first of these back in 1991; alumni include Tony Bennett, Phil Collins, and U2's Bono. 

The list of awards given out is far too long to reproduce here, so I shall simply redirect you to Grammy.com's Past Winners database.

February 10, 1999: The Reverend Jerry Falwell declared that Tinky Winky, one of the "Teletubbies," was gay (Chicago Tribune). The people of the world simply went about their merry business and paid him no heed.

February 10, 2000--Vern would no longer be irritated by the knocking at his doors and windows, for lung cancer claimed the life of comedian Jim Varney. Best known for his dim-witted character, Ernest P. Worrell, he also voiced Slinky Dog in the first two "Toy Story" movies, and Cookie, the "lethal chef" in "Atlantis: The Lost Empire" (his final role).