Saturday, May 03, 2008

Hey, hey...LBJ?

You know those sites that help you find the #1 song for the day you were born, and it's supposed to tell you something about your life? (Mine's "Daydream Believer," make of that what you will.)

I propose a new meme: Who was Time Magazine's Man/Woman/Couple/Person/Object of the Year for the calendar year in which you were born? Find out here.

I thought this was a great idea until I discovered that for both Rob's and my birth years (1964 and 1967), it was LBJ. It could have been worse. It could have been Hitler (1938). Or Stalin (1939 and 1942). Or Nixon (1971 and 1972). Or The Middle Americans (1969. Also, what?). Wow, they even picked Willy Brandt, back in the days when we still pretended we cared about other countries (1970). 

Other weird picks: The generation under 25 (1966). Harlow Curtice (1955. Also, who?). Konrad Adenauer (1953, also, did TIME have a thing for Germany?). The computer (1982). American women (1975). The Endangered Earth (Planet of the Year for 1988!). And, of course, You (2006).

There's also a Canadian version, but I ain't going there.

Maybe this isn't such a great game after all.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Mine is Willy Brandt--I had to look him up!

My #1 song is way cooler: "War," by Edwin Starr. ("Good God, y'all!")

Talia Felix said...

Hm -- my years Man of the Year was a dual: Ronald Reagan and Yuri Andropov.

I think the song on the day I was born says more of me: David Bowie, "Let's Dance."

Dimestore Lipstick said...

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1963)

My husband (1958) got Charles DeGaulle. Which is better, I guess, than 1957's Nikita Khrushchev, or Ike in 1959.

Crabby Apple Seed: said...

Since I was born in 1975, I think it's kinda cool that American Women took that year:)

Anonymous said...

Mikhail Gorbachev.

Woo.

Rays profile said...

Great. I got Kruschev.

*bangs shoe on table*

Anonymous said...

I got The Computer - 1982. My song was "Don't You Want Me Baby?" By Human League. I don't know what the song says about me, but I think the TIME choice fits me perfectly.

Maria Hayward said...

Dude, I got the Ayatollah Khomeini.

Jo Anne said...

Don't know what I have in common with Nikita Krushchev. I'm so old there is no song of the year for me! Sad face.

andrea said...

I got Lech Walesa. Not too bad.