2008: A Reflection
Aug 21, 2018 17:30:22 GMT 10
Post by SharksFan99 on Aug 21, 2018 17:30:22 GMT 10
I have had this idea for quite a while, but I just haven't got around to making a thread based on it until now. I've been thinking about doing a series of threads based on certain years and we could discuss what each year was like for us personally, as well as what we thought of the pop culture at the time as well.
To start off with, let's talk about the year when Barrack Obama was first elected as President of the United States; 2008. What was the year 2008 like for you? What did you think of the pop culture at the time?
I was 9 years old in 2008 and in Year 3. For some reason, it really hit home for me when I came to the realisation that 2008 is over a decade ago, probably because it's the first year which well and truly feels like "yesterday" for me. I can remember 2003-2007 just as well as 2008, but because I was only 4-8 years old during those years, they naturally feel more removed from the present time and they don't quite have the same impact.
From a pop cultural perspective, 2008 was quite an interesting year for a number of reasons. It really felt as though it was the end of an era and a beginning of a new one. Interactive Whiteboards were introduced to my primary school during the middle of the year, which seemed like such a groundbreaking thing at the time. They revolutionized the way kids learn in the classroom and they continue to be used today. I can remember my school's technician promising my teacher that we would be able to video-call a class from the opposite side of the country (which we never ended up doing
). It was simply unheard of at the time, because we only had chalkboards prior to that and you obviously can’t use a chalkboard to access the internet. 
Music wise, some of my favourite songs at the time were “Where The City Meets the Sea” by The Getaway Plan, “Untouched” by The Veronicas, as well as Linkin Park’s Minutes to Midnight album. I actually fell out of touch with music towards the end of the year due to the emergence of Electropop and the fact that “My People” by The Presets was a huge hit. Also, rock music was seemingly starting to die a slow death, despite the fact that it still had a significant presence in the mainstream. Putting all that aside though, I remember 2008 being quite a decent year for music and there are a number of songs from the year that I enjoy listening to.
2008 was also an momentous year in the political world. Here in Australia, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd delivered the Stolen Generation Apology speech on the 14th February, which was a very historic moment in Australian history. The Stolen Generation is a term used to describe Indigenous Australians who were forcibly removed from their homes and families by the state governments and assimilated into "white" Australian society. They were either placed into missionaries or were adopted by "white" Australian families. The act was a nationwide policy and the policy was in act from the start of the 20th Century to the Early 1970s. The 2008 apology was a significant moment in Australian history, as it was the first time that the Government had acknowledged that their acts were wrong and they mistreated the Indigenous population.
Then, of course, 2008 also saw the election of Barrack Obama as the 44th President of the United States. I remember there was an overwhelming sense of support for Barrack Obama (at least here in Australia) and it felt like real progress had been made when he was elected as President, as he was the first African-American to be elected for the position. It’s such a shame that his successor turned out to be an idiotic buffoon, but that’s a discussion for another time...
I know many people like to paint a bleak picture of 2008 by mentioning the Global Financial Crisis and while there’s no doubting that it did indeed have a negative impact (for a variety of reasons), I also remember there being a huge sense of optimism at the time as well. In retrospect, I think 2008 was the year when the 21st Century had truly established itself. With America electing its first African-American President, the advancement of social media and an increased awareness of environmental concerns (as embodied through the Earth Hour movement), there was a clearer sense in the direction we were heading in as a society and there was optimism for the years to come, which can't exactly be said about the present time.
Moving on from discussing pop culture, my personal life at the time was reasonably good, for the most part. I fell in love for the first time around the beginning of the year and my "de-facto" relationship (we both had feelings for each other, but it wasn't a proper relationship as such) with the girl who lived in the house behind me would last until my last year of primary school (2011). We would hang out with each other during class, so much so that the other kids in the class began to joke about it.
Everyone in my class had to vote for who they wanted to see as the SRC school representative for the class and I received six votes, which was the highest amount of votes anyone had received. Unfortunately though, there was another boy in the class who received six votes, which meant that we were tied for the most amount of votes. As a result, my teacher voted for who she wanted to see and she voted for the other kid, which was so disappointing for me. I missed out on becoming the SRC representative because of my teacher.
As I briefly alluded to though, my personal life wasn't particularly good at times. It was the first year where I truly became aware of my Dad’s drinking and smoking habits. I can remember one occasion where my Mum dropped me off to his house and he had been up all night, just browsing the internet on his desktop computer. About a month later, My Dad had promised me that he would stop smoking and I believed him at first, but just two months after he promised me he would stop, I spotted him smoking on the back balcony when I stayed over at his house one night.
I also didn't like the man my Mum started to date at the time, not because I didn't want my Mum to date anyone, but rather for the fact that I just didn't like him as a person. It was a really difficult situation for me; he was the first person my Mum had ever dated since my parents split-up (back in Late 2000) and I wanted my Mum to enter a relationship with someone, so I just had to bite my tongue and not say anything. They eventually broke up a year later and my Mum has now been with her fiance' for almost eight years, so it all worked out well in the end.
One thing that particularly stands out about 2008 is watching the Beijing Olympics and also collecting the limited edition Olympics glasses from McDonalds (which I still own). Fortunately, my primary school had installed the interactive whiteboards before the Beijing Olympics began, so we actually watched some of the Olympics coverage during class. It made class-time a lot more interesting, that’s for sure!
For Christmas 2008, I received a Nintendo Wii and a limited-edition Nintendo DS Lite. The only reason why I received a DS was because my Gameboy Advance SP had been smashed by a baseball earlier in the year and it was too badly damaged for it to be repaired. My Mum had gave me the option of either getting a PSP or a Nintendo DS Lite, but I chose the latter, because my two cousins already owned DS’ and I would be able to play Mario Kart with them.
I'd say that 2008 was the year where my interest in the media really flourished. Although I had been making my own mock TV Guides since Early 2006, 2008 was the year where I began to hypothesize my own TV channels and programs. I have several drawing books which are full of mock TV Guides. To add on from that, whenever my Grandparents, two cousins and I went on a day trip, I would use my Grandparent’s video camera and pretend as if I was commentating on TV.
I particularly liked Channel Nine's "We ♡ TV" on-air package and I actually think it played a part in developing my interest in the media.
My favourite video games at the time were "Runabout 2", "Happy Feat" (a GBA SP game based on the movie), "Wii Sports", "Nintendogs", "Deal or No Deal" and "Burnout 2: Point of Impact". I've never been much of a gamer (as you can probably tell by my selection of games), however I did enjoy playing those games from time to time.
To start off with, let's talk about the year when Barrack Obama was first elected as President of the United States; 2008. What was the year 2008 like for you? What did you think of the pop culture at the time?
I was 9 years old in 2008 and in Year 3. For some reason, it really hit home for me when I came to the realisation that 2008 is over a decade ago, probably because it's the first year which well and truly feels like "yesterday" for me. I can remember 2003-2007 just as well as 2008, but because I was only 4-8 years old during those years, they naturally feel more removed from the present time and they don't quite have the same impact.
From a pop cultural perspective, 2008 was quite an interesting year for a number of reasons. It really felt as though it was the end of an era and a beginning of a new one. Interactive Whiteboards were introduced to my primary school during the middle of the year, which seemed like such a groundbreaking thing at the time. They revolutionized the way kids learn in the classroom and they continue to be used today. I can remember my school's technician promising my teacher that we would be able to video-call a class from the opposite side of the country (which we never ended up doing
). It was simply unheard of at the time, because we only had chalkboards prior to that and you obviously can’t use a chalkboard to access the internet. 
Music wise, some of my favourite songs at the time were “Where The City Meets the Sea” by The Getaway Plan, “Untouched” by The Veronicas, as well as Linkin Park’s Minutes to Midnight album. I actually fell out of touch with music towards the end of the year due to the emergence of Electropop and the fact that “My People” by The Presets was a huge hit. Also, rock music was seemingly starting to die a slow death, despite the fact that it still had a significant presence in the mainstream. Putting all that aside though, I remember 2008 being quite a decent year for music and there are a number of songs from the year that I enjoy listening to.
2008 was also an momentous year in the political world. Here in Australia, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd delivered the Stolen Generation Apology speech on the 14th February, which was a very historic moment in Australian history. The Stolen Generation is a term used to describe Indigenous Australians who were forcibly removed from their homes and families by the state governments and assimilated into "white" Australian society. They were either placed into missionaries or were adopted by "white" Australian families. The act was a nationwide policy and the policy was in act from the start of the 20th Century to the Early 1970s. The 2008 apology was a significant moment in Australian history, as it was the first time that the Government had acknowledged that their acts were wrong and they mistreated the Indigenous population.
Then, of course, 2008 also saw the election of Barrack Obama as the 44th President of the United States. I remember there was an overwhelming sense of support for Barrack Obama (at least here in Australia) and it felt like real progress had been made when he was elected as President, as he was the first African-American to be elected for the position. It’s such a shame that his successor turned out to be an idiotic buffoon, but that’s a discussion for another time...
I know many people like to paint a bleak picture of 2008 by mentioning the Global Financial Crisis and while there’s no doubting that it did indeed have a negative impact (for a variety of reasons), I also remember there being a huge sense of optimism at the time as well. In retrospect, I think 2008 was the year when the 21st Century had truly established itself. With America electing its first African-American President, the advancement of social media and an increased awareness of environmental concerns (as embodied through the Earth Hour movement), there was a clearer sense in the direction we were heading in as a society and there was optimism for the years to come, which can't exactly be said about the present time.
Moving on from discussing pop culture, my personal life at the time was reasonably good, for the most part. I fell in love for the first time around the beginning of the year and my "de-facto" relationship (we both had feelings for each other, but it wasn't a proper relationship as such) with the girl who lived in the house behind me would last until my last year of primary school (2011). We would hang out with each other during class, so much so that the other kids in the class began to joke about it.
Everyone in my class had to vote for who they wanted to see as the SRC school representative for the class and I received six votes, which was the highest amount of votes anyone had received. Unfortunately though, there was another boy in the class who received six votes, which meant that we were tied for the most amount of votes. As a result, my teacher voted for who she wanted to see and she voted for the other kid, which was so disappointing for me. I missed out on becoming the SRC representative because of my teacher.
As I briefly alluded to though, my personal life wasn't particularly good at times. It was the first year where I truly became aware of my Dad’s drinking and smoking habits. I can remember one occasion where my Mum dropped me off to his house and he had been up all night, just browsing the internet on his desktop computer. About a month later, My Dad had promised me that he would stop smoking and I believed him at first, but just two months after he promised me he would stop, I spotted him smoking on the back balcony when I stayed over at his house one night.
I also didn't like the man my Mum started to date at the time, not because I didn't want my Mum to date anyone, but rather for the fact that I just didn't like him as a person. It was a really difficult situation for me; he was the first person my Mum had ever dated since my parents split-up (back in Late 2000) and I wanted my Mum to enter a relationship with someone, so I just had to bite my tongue and not say anything. They eventually broke up a year later and my Mum has now been with her fiance' for almost eight years, so it all worked out well in the end.
One thing that particularly stands out about 2008 is watching the Beijing Olympics and also collecting the limited edition Olympics glasses from McDonalds (which I still own). Fortunately, my primary school had installed the interactive whiteboards before the Beijing Olympics began, so we actually watched some of the Olympics coverage during class. It made class-time a lot more interesting, that’s for sure!
For Christmas 2008, I received a Nintendo Wii and a limited-edition Nintendo DS Lite. The only reason why I received a DS was because my Gameboy Advance SP had been smashed by a baseball earlier in the year and it was too badly damaged for it to be repaired. My Mum had gave me the option of either getting a PSP or a Nintendo DS Lite, but I chose the latter, because my two cousins already owned DS’ and I would be able to play Mario Kart with them.
I'd say that 2008 was the year where my interest in the media really flourished. Although I had been making my own mock TV Guides since Early 2006, 2008 was the year where I began to hypothesize my own TV channels and programs. I have several drawing books which are full of mock TV Guides. To add on from that, whenever my Grandparents, two cousins and I went on a day trip, I would use my Grandparent’s video camera and pretend as if I was commentating on TV.
I particularly liked Channel Nine's "We ♡ TV" on-air package and I actually think it played a part in developing my interest in the media. My favourite video games at the time were "Runabout 2", "Happy Feat" (a GBA SP game based on the movie), "Wii Sports", "Nintendogs", "Deal or No Deal" and "Burnout 2: Point of Impact". I've never been much of a gamer (as you can probably tell by my selection of games
), however I did enjoy playing those games from time to time. 
. I remember being with my older sister at our new house (my mum was renovating) complaining that we were bored so my mum agreed to drive us back to our old house (we were still living there at this point) and is she dropped us off and she was already reversing out the drive by the time we went inside. But t\when we went inside there was smoke everywhere and it turns out my oldest sister (who had been home alone at the time) had started a fire while we were gone. Luckily, it was brought under control and our newly sold house didn't burn down 
really bad. One day it rained so much we were literally trapped in by a mudslide that blocked the driveway hahah. Luckily we took lots of board games. I remember my sisters walking to the top of a nearby hill to get reception on their flip phones. 
Either way, it's good to hear that it was all brought under control in the end.
