Remembering Super Bowl XXXIV

Super Bowl XXXIV (34, if you're not into reading Roman numerals) was the first major sporting event of the New Millennium. Held in Atlanta, Georgia, it saw the St. Louis Rams win their first-ever Super Bowl title with 23 points, against the Tennessee Titans with 16 points. The Rams' Kurt Warner was named MVP of the season. The Halftime Show featured such luminaries as Phil Collins, Christina Aguilera, and Enrique Iglesias, with Edward James Olmos as host.

I was in 7th grade at the time, and Mom and I were in Florida, paying a visit to our condo in Naples. It was just about the worst trip we had: I was in school (it was after Christmas Break), and, since I hated it so much, I didn't do any of the homework that I was supposed to do. On top of that, it was very cold, even for Florida, and the trip was so impromptu that we both forgot to pack several things.

Our condo in Florida--No. 201.  I'm not sure when we took this picture, but it's just here to give you an idea.

The trip home is my overriding memory. To save money, we took a flight home with a stopover in Atlanta, and the smallish plane was literally packed with guys coming home from the Super Bowl. You could practically smell the beer! And then, AirTran lost our luggage, and the check-in desk was absolutely no help at all. Foolishly, we had packed our coats in our luggage, and we had to ask Dad to bring coats for us.

The story ended happily, as the airline brought our suitcases the very next day. [Not so happily from the angle of the unfinished homework, though...Eh, to hell with it.]

Have a BBC New Year!

 I thank the fine folks at TV-ark.org.uk for this graphic, which they sent to me in an email in 2011. I saw it as a brief still-frame at the end of “BBC World News” on WYCC-20 in 2001 or so, and I’d been hunting it down for ten years after that to no avail. Fortunately, those knowledgeable webmasters had it for me. Note that this image says "BBC One" on the bottom; when shown overseas, the caption would instead read either "BBC World News" or "BBC World Service."

What I saw was a still taken from a larger animated promo for the "2000 Today" 24-hour coverage. The "flames" you see in the background are in fact fireworks. The first icon is a "2" (though it's not the one used by BBC Two); the second is the BBC's "globe balloon" icon; the third is a distorted silhouette of a cheering crowd (I thought it was clock gears for a long time); and the fourth is, of course, Big Ben's clock face.

Well, we're now very into 2013...

Dad's been out of surgery for a while now, and his doctor's pleased with how he's doing. Yay! I admit, that was a scary patch. Job hunt's still rocky, but I'm working on it.

Meantime, here are a couple of new items.

 

My score at Bejeweled from January 14th. It's not exactly a Year 2000 item, but the coincidence was just too good to ignore. :)

Life updates and a new item

So, my Dad's had to go in for surgery on a popliteal aneurysm behind his knee last Tuesday. He got out last night, and is starting to walk again. Everything's OK so far...now for the physical therapy, which will start in a couple of weeks.

I've been looking for a job, and may have found something on a site called www.textbroker.com. It's a copywriting service...here's hoping I can get some assignments through them.

We're all still going strong, I assure you. Meanwhile, here's a new item!

   I’m not entirely sure about this one. Dad always had it in with his ties, and I’ve never really noticed it until now. I have no idea where it came from, or what champagne has to do with Tabasco sauce. It probably doesn’t matter—it’s a fun tie all the same. Actually, come to think of it, this necktie kicked off the whole “Millennium Museum” concept when I found it a couple of years ago, in a bag of ties that were destined for Goodwill.

Another site you may be interested in.

There's another site, out there on the frontier of the in-tar-webs, which also deals with Millennium-themed stuff, and I think it's well worth a look.

So, without further ado, may I direct you to Mr. Norman Hulme's absolutely jaw-dropping Millennium Dome collection? Simply go to Dome2000.com, and see his vast archives for yourself.

There's more stuff to see, yes, but the focus of it is a little narrower than the Museum's: Where I deal with 2000 and Millennium kitsch in general, Dome2000 deals exclusively with souvenirs from the Millennium Dome in London.

Having only recently come to appreciate just what the change from the 20th to the 21st Century meant (and still means), I commend Mr. Hulme's website for offering up another piece of the jigsaw puzzle, and I hope all of you out there enjoy his site as much as I do. :) :)

Love and peace,

The MillenniuM MuseuM

Millennium Double Feature

 This was my 16^th Birthday Present in 2003. This movie was actually shown in the Millennium Dome as a part of Great Britain’s 2000 celebrations. In it, Lord Blackadder and his lackey, Baldrick, journey through Britain’s history in a Leonardo da Vinci-designed (and suspiciously TARDIS-like) time machine. If you don’t know anything about “Blackadder,” it’s still funny, but it helps to be a fan of the original show. There's a lot of sparkling writing on display, but the toilet humor gets old after a while. Rik Mayall's Robin Hood is definitely a high point.

A new year...a new logo.

A couple of days ago, I promised I'd have a new logo by New Year's Day.

Well, here it is.