Respect Authority

Believe it or not, but thick plastic frames were once called “emo glasses.” This is, of course, before everyone from Bono to Kanye West to your very own mother started wearing them. Trends come and go, and in the case of atrocities like JNCO jeans, we can only hope they’ll stay gone. And while it seems like everybody was riding a fixed gear bike this year, there were actually a few other things that were popular as well, and not all of them so prone to killing their overeager adopters in traffic.

imamoron.com
I’m old enough to remember a time when the most valuable thing on the internet was a short and succinct domain name. In 2008, however, the hottest thing in marketing seemed to be registering an overly specific and disposable domain name. Eventually showmehowtosavemoneyonmycarinsurance.com and whatisthecloverfieldmonster.info became fodder for cheeky college kids (and campaign staffers), creating the easiest laughs in 2008 - ironicphrase dot com. — lou

Gladiator Sandals
Typically when I daydream about obnoxious 20-something females getting their limbs caught in high-powered escalators, there’s no real chance of my fantasies becoming reality. But when gladiator sandals hit the streets this summer, suddenly seeing a fashion-forward hipster lose their leg to heavy machinery wasn’t such a far-fetched idea. You know who actually wears gladiator sandals? Gladiators. You know who should wear gladiator sandals? No one. — kira

Voting
It was a tough decision between voting and neon colored wayfarers, since god knows everybody couldn’t get enough of those this year. Ultimately, however, voting’s sudden popularity benefited the world just a little bit more. Whether it was due to everybody simply being terrified by the hot breath of Armageddon on our necks or because, this time, Puff Daddy wasn’t threatening to kill us if we didn’t vote, we may never know. But at least one thing is for certain: the world is still very much ending. Does anybody else miss Pogs? — aaron

Well fellow patriots, that wraps up our favorites for the year. Thanks for reading… if you actually did, that is. Now, don’t forget to get good and plastered tonight, throw up all over your nice new dress, and in general make a fool out of yourself in front of everyone you know. You gotta have some fodder for those New Years resolutions, after all.

I know the election is good and done and it’s high time we stopped writing about it, but I just had to comment on the grand irony emerging in New York City. After swarms of people waited in two-block lines to vote last Tuesday, and office water coolers buzzed with chatter of new voters and black voters, and everyone wondered how many politically apathetic residents would get their lazy asses off the couch this time around, it seems only about 60,000 more people voted in New York this year than in 2004.

I know that seems like a big number, but when you consider the Big Apple’s population has skyrocketed to more than eight million, many of whom aren’t even registered to vote, well it’s just a tad disappointing. 

Now, there was a higher turnout in traditionally nonchalant neighborhoods, including Bedford-Stuyvesant, where a surprised Lou and smug Kira waited for 45 minutes in a significant line last week. But overall, New Yorkers seemed to care just about as much as they did four years ago, which might mean we were already well-informed and politically minded Americans, or might mean it takes more than “change” to get people out of bed early. You decide.

[NY Times]

Well it was several years after the fact, but Diddy finally did it. Though I have yet to hear whether this year’s non-voters actually died, there is abundant and growing evidence that voting was not only popular in 2008, it was also, well …cool.

Propelled by the fairly new prevalence of both Facebook and YouTube, neither of which had taken hold of the 20-something psyche in 2004, hordes of over-eager Americans bombarded their friends and peers with reminders, notifications, photos and even videos documenting their voting experience.

Anecdotally, I can say with some confidence that no less than 70 billion Facebook members had some version of the “John Smith is happy about voting!” status, but if you won’t take my word for it, take the Associated Press’. In an article Tuesday evening, the news organization documented the prevalence of Facebook photos and YouTube videos of young people casting their ballots.

Ironically, in several states it’s actually illegal to have any sort of recording device in polling places, or the public display of a marked ballot, including Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Nevada, North Carolina and Texas. But considering the majority of those states took the red brick road to defeat last night, it’s probably safe to say those people weren’t memorializing much of anything.

With voting becoming so cool, maybe in 2012 Paris Hilton will actually register.