Let's see, sliced bread--as everyone knows--was first made available to the public in 1928 in Missouri (that's right my state invented sliced bread, fly-over state my ass). So whatever it was the best thing since had to have been invented before 1928.
The Automobile?
The Airplane (though since it predated the DC-3, probably not)?
The Sandwich? (A good candidate, though since sliced bread just made sandwich-making easier, it doesn't seem quite right)
Electricity? (A good one)
Special Relativity? (Strong candidate there!)
The Boat? (Very important, but perhaps too old.)
Fire? (Same problem as boats)
Communism? (In retrospect, maybe not)
Capitalism? (Just coming off the early 1900s, not the best time for Capitalism really, though coming in just before 1929 does help.)
The Spork? (Another strong contender!)
Hard to decide
(even if the uncensored promo for last night's first ep did ruin the real show for me)
It didn't so much ruin it as be WAY funnier. I wish I'd seen the show first, then both of them would have been funnier.
However, I am continually amused by the Lem/Phil no look chest bump.
Why does everyone envision a future where we wear jumpsuits?
I think there's an assumption--judging from Star Trek--that the gay disappears in the future.
Why does everyone envision a future where we wear jumpsuits?
Because that sort of futurism was mainly written in the 70's.
"The best thing since pay at the pump."
No such thing.
Wait.
Heated mattress pad. Okay, THAT is better than pay at the pump.
At least until June. Then pay-at-the-pump regains its title.
In the 80s (the Reagan Years) futurism seemed less jumpsuits and more post-nuclear-apocalypse hellscape, when really it should have been less nuclear apocalypse and more financial apocalypse since it seemed to herald in the age of massive deficit spending and financial institution collapse.
A website devoted to future fashion discusses the jumpsuit:
[link]
Union suits, long underwear, jammies-- call them what you will; the uniform of Future Past is the jumpsuit and its near kith and kin. For men, at least. For women, really, really short skirts are always an option.
Why this love of jumpsuits is so strong remains a mystery. Certainly they have an air of simplicity and efficiency that implies a go-ahead world of tomorrow, but they also tend to lack pockets, are extremely unflattering on spacemen beyond a certain age and girth, tend to ride up in unfortunate places and, in some cases, makes going to the toilet a matter of disrobing completely.
Forbidden Planet
had jumpsuits before Trek did....
Haiti's Prime Minister: Hundreds Of Thousands Dead
The prime minister of Haiti, Jean-Max Bellerive, told CNN today that hundreds of thousands of people have died following the catastrophic earthquake that struck near the capitol of Port-au-Prince yesterday.
Jeez.
There are only nine million people in the entire country. Which makes the percentage -- just staggering.
