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0|0|0|||1||glancing back %28and forward%29|Gryphon||23:28:31|12/31/2019|[updated:LAST EDITED ON Dec-31-19 AT 11:29 PM (EST)]Twenty years ago right about now%E2%80%94as the world remarked to itself that%2C it having been the year 2000 in some parts of the world for a few hours now%2C nothing seemed to be happening to the computers%E2%80%94I was in the garage apartment at my grandparents%27 old place in Oxbow%2C working on... something%3F  The original %5Bi%5DAegis Florea%5B%2Fi%5D%2C maybe%3F  We had watched the New Year celebrations from London on CBC earlier in the evening%2C as by 11 o%27clock my grandparents were long since asleep%2C and I don%27t recall taking specific notice of when it turned midnight in the time zone where I actually was.  There wasn%27t a TV upstairs%2C and I wouldn%27t have gone down and turned on the one in the living room with Gram and Gramp in bed.%0D%0A%0D%0AThe 1999-2000 transition was not too momentous for me.  I was back from California and living in Waltham by then%3B I%27d have to dig out my resume to remind myself which of the largely interchangeable doomed tech companies I spent that period working for I was on at the time.  We were closing in on the end of the regular series of %5Bi%5DNeon Exodus Evangelion%5B%2Fi%5D %28the last episode to come out in 1999 was 3%3A7%29.  %5Bi%5DSymphony of the Sword%5B%2Fi%5D wouldn%27t happen for another year and a bit.%0D%0A%0D%0AThat was the last Christmas-New Year I spent in Oxbow%2C although I didn%27t know it was going to be at the time.  I didn%27t make it up there the next year%2C and in 2001 they abruptly sold up and moved closer to %28but still not %5Bi%5Dinto%5B%2Fi%5D%29 the nearest town that had a hospital.  I think about that sometimes%2C how you don%27t always know that the last time you do something %5Bi%5Dis%5B%2Fi%5D the last time you%27ll be doing it.%0D%0A%0D%0ANot directly related to the above%2C a random musing about 2020%3A%0D%0A%0D%0ABack in the 1970s sometime%2C there was a secondary feature in a few Superman comics featuring the Superman of the year 2020.  I%27m pretty sure he was meant to be the original Superman%27s son%2C although who his mother was never came up.  It didn%27t really matter%2C because he was presented as exactly like the regular Superman of the day%2C just in stories set in that unimaginably distant future year%2C 2020.  I only dimly remember the stories now%2C but one thing I distinctly remember is a scene in which Superman saves a rich person from jetpack bandits who were trying to carjack %28although that word was unknown when the story was written%29 his flying Rolls-Royce%2C as one does.  They weren%27t after the car itself%2C though%3B they were after the Lincoln Memorial penny the rich man was carrying%2C which%2C the narration solemnly assured the reader%2C was the most valuable collector coin in the world.%0D%0A%0D%0AAnd of course there was %5Bi%5DCyberpunk 2020%5B%2Fi%5D%2C which I played when I was 19.  The funny thing is that at 19%2C I couldn%27t really imagine being 46%2C but at 46%2C I can %5Bi%5Deasily%5B%2Fi%5D imagine being 73.  I dunno if I%27ll make it there%2C we can%27t predict these things%2C but I have no trouble envisioning what it%27ll be like if I do.%0D%0A%0D%0AOnly 12 years until %5Bi%5DBubblegum Crisis%5B%2Fi%5D becomes a period piece%21%0D%0A%0D%0A--G.%0D%0A-%3E%3C-%0D%0ABenjamin D. Hutchins%2C Co-Founder%2C Editor-in-Chief%2C %26 Forum Mod%0D%0AEyrie Productions%2C Unlimited  http%3A%2F%2Fwww.eyrie-productions.com%2F%0D%0Azgryphon at that email service Google has%0D%0A%5Bi%5DCeterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.%5B%2Fi%5D
1|1|0|||1||RE%3A glancing back %28and forward%29|Verbena||08:44:21|01/01/2020|Amen. And Happy New Year%2C everyone.%0D%0A%0D%0AI%27m not going to get into my personal life--things are actually going well now for me generally speaking%2C far better than in 2000%2C but that%27s not the topic here.%0D%0A%0D%0AI%27m only a couple years younger than you%2C Gryphon%2C and I%27ve felt much the same way. They say that youth is wasted on the young%2C and it wasn%27t until I hit my mid-30%27s that I really understood how little I was even -trying- to understand how the world really works. Now I%27m older%2C wiser%2C and reflecting that 1000 years ago I%27d be on my deathbed now%2C barely able to share that hard-earned wisdom with anyone. Instead I%27m in a good IT job%2C training people half my age%2C and it feels good.%0D%0A%0D%0AMind you%2C even in the 90%27s I looked at Cyberpunk 2020 and Shadowrun %28originally set in 2050%29 and realized that the latter might not and the former definitely would not reflect what technology is really like in that year. A lot of the gritty realism of any cyberpunk genre piece is about how no matter how cool the technology is%2C human nature %28particularly%2C corruption and greed%29 is still what drives the story. That general principle is just as true for virtually any sci fi anime.%0D%0A%0D%0AThat said%2C we may have a unique opportunity upcoming. I don%27t know how old Mike Pondsmith was when he invented Cyberpunk 2020%2C but he%27s deeply involved in the new CD Projekt Red Cyberpunk 2077 game. Since he%27s seen that same sort of change%2C I%27m interested to see if that sort of insight translates to the new setting. %28Of course%2C in game technology still reached unreasonable heights in 2020%2C so if the rate of change didn%27t slow down%2C the point may be moot.%29%0D%0A%0D%0A------%0D%0A    Authors of our fates%0D%0A    Orchestrate our fall from grace%0D%0A    Poorest players on the stage%0D%0A    Our defiance drives us straight to the edge
2|2|1|||1||RE%3A glancing back %28and forward%29|Mephron||15:29:02|01/09/2020|As far as Mike Pondsmith feels about 2020%3A%0D%0A%0D%0AYou may have noticed the cars don%E2%80%99t fly yet. But we have tiny boxes that can reach out across the world and cause robotic slaves to do our bidding. We shape metals and plastics to our personal wills%2C and yes indeed%2C we make real cyberwar we can put on our children.%0D%0A%0D%0ASo it looks like I got that part right.%0D%0A%0D%0ABut we also have inherited other 2020 things. We have more guns and weapons than we know what we do%2C and people are shot down every day.  There isn%E2%80%99t enough money%2C not enough food%2C never enough drugs %28except for the corporate approved ones%29.  Our world is running on the edge of self destruction from so many sources it%E2%80%99s an extinction roulette.  And the Megacorps do rule almost everything%2C from the stuff we buy on the vast consensual hallucination we call the Internet%2C to the entertainment we wallow like a brain dance on stems%2C to our actual identities and scraps of personal privacy.%0D%0A%0D%0ASo it looks like I got THAT stuff right too.%0D%0A%0D%0A%E2%80%94 Mike Pondsmith%0D%0A%0D%0A%0D%0A%0D%0A%5Blink%3Awww.instagram.com%2Fp%2FB6x3v_0BZCW%2F%3Futm_source%3Dig_web_copy_link%7CThe original.%5D%0D%0A%0D%0A--%0D%0AGeoff Depew - Darth Mephron%0D%0AHaberdasher to Androids%2C Dark Lord of Sith Tech Support.%0D%0A%22And Remember%21  Google is your Friend%21%21%22
3|1|0|||1||RE%3A glancing back %28and forward%29|Sofaspud||18:16:47|01/28/2020|%0D%0A%3E%0D%0A%3EOnly 12 years until %5Bi%5DBubblegum Crisis%5B%2Fi%5D becomes a period piece%21 %0D%0A%3E%0D%0A%0D%0AMy roommates and I have plans for New Years Eve 2032%2C and it absolutely involves a marathon viewing of %5Bi%5DBubblegum Crisis%5B%2Fi%5D.%0D%0A%0D%0ANot sure what else it involves yet -- tacos%2C probably%2C but that%27s a given for NYE -- but we first planned that viewing almost ten years ago.%0D%0A%0D%0A--sofaspud%0D%0A--I kind of want to play the %27spot the anachronism%27 drinking game but I suspect we%27d be shitfaced before the intro to %5Bi%5DTinsel City Rhapsody%5B%2Fi%5D is even finished
4|2|3|||1||RE%3A glancing back %28and forward%29|Gryphon||18:19:33|01/28/2020|%3E--I kind of want to play the %27spot the anachronism%27 drinking game but %0D%0A%3EI suspect we%27d be shitfaced before the intro to %5Bi%5DTinsel City %0D%0A%3ERhapsody%5B%2Fi%5D is even finished %0D%0A%0D%0AThat would happen %5Bi%5Dnow%5B%2Fi%5D%2C let alone in 12 years.  Pay phones%21  Sylia getting her morning newspaper by fax%21  Cathode ray tubes%21  Cabled network connections everywhere%21%0D%0A%0D%0A--G.%0D%0A-%3E%3C-%0D%0ABenjamin D. Hutchins%2C Co-Founder%2C Editor-in-Chief%2C %26 Forum Mod%0D%0AEyrie Productions%2C Unlimited  http%3A%2F%2Fwww.eyrie-productions.com%2F%0D%0Azgryphon at that email service Google has%0D%0A%5Bi%5DCeterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.%5B%2Fi%5D
5|3|4|||||RE%3A glancing back %28and forward%29|Star Ranger4||10:50:50|02/03/2020|%3E%0D%0A%3EThat would happen %5Bi%5Dnow%5B%2Fi%5D%2C let alone in 12 years.  Pay phones%21  %0D%0A%3ESylia getting her morning newspaper by fax%21  Cathode ray tubes%21  %0D%0A%3ECabled network connections everywhere%21 %0D%0A%3E%0D%0AYea%2C Verily%2C shut up and pass the booze%2C Gryph.
6|1|0|||1||RE%3A glancing back %28and forward%29|The Traitor||21:44:29|02/07/2020|Twenty years ago%2C I was... seven. Yeah. Things have moved on a bit since then. I%27ve changed a lot. Taller. Longer hair. Girl now%2C so that%27s wild. Also%2C and this is a recent development%2C I%27ve just got my Masters degree in Creative Writing. A lot of that is down to reading fanfic in general%2C and UF in particular.%0D%0A%0D%0ASo thanks Gryph. %3D%5D%0D%0A%0D%0A---%0D%0A%22She%27s old%2C she%27s lame%2C she%27s barren too%2C %2F%2F %22She%27s not worth feed or hay%2C %2F%2F %22But I%27ll give her this%2C%22 - he blew smoke at me - %2F%2F %22She was something in her day.%22 -- Garnet Rogers%2C %5Bi%5DSmall Victory%5B%2Fi%5D%0D%0A%0D%0AFiMFiction.net%3A we might accept blatant porn involving the cast of My Little Pony but as God is my witness we have %5Bi%5Dstandards%5B%2Fi%5D.
7|2|6|||1||RE%3A glancing back %28and forward%29|Sofaspud||01:57:00|02/11/2020|%3ETwenty years ago%2C I was... seven. %0D%0A%0D%0A... well%2C now I feel old.%0D%0A%0D%0A--sofaspud%0D%0A--they don%27t make these standard-issue canes like they used to%2C I tell you what
8|3|7|||1||RE%3A glancing back %28and forward%29|Verbena||16:49:58|02/11/2020|%3E%3ETwenty years ago%2C I was... seven. %0D%0A%3E%0D%0A%3E... well%2C now I feel old. %0D%0A%0D%0AYeah. So do I. %3A%2F%0D%0A%0D%0A%0D%0A------%0D%0A    Authors of our fates%0D%0A    Orchestrate our fall from grace%0D%0A    Poorest players on the stage%0D%0A    Our defiance drives us straight to the edge
9|4|8|||1||RE%3A glancing back %28and forward%29|BobSchroeck||19:52:19|02/11/2020|%3E%3E%3ETwenty years ago%2C I was... seven. %0D%0A%3E%3E... well%2C now I feel old. %0D%0A%3EYeah. So do I. %3A%2F %0D%0A%0D%0ATwenty years ago I was celebrating my tenth wedding anniversary...%0D%0A%0D%0A-- Bob%0D%0A-------------------%0D%0AMy race is pacifist and does not believe in war.  We kill only out of personal spite.
10|5|9|||||RE%3A glancing back %28and forward%29|Star Ranger4||06:14:49|02/12/2020|%3ETwenty years ago I was celebrating my tenth wedding anniversary... %0D%0A%3E%0D%0A%3E-- Bob %0D%0A%0D%0Awhich does not make me feel any older than I know I am%2C but DOES fill me with an entirely different melancholy.