2016 Is the Spiritual Sequel to 1999

This is a huge week for 1999 in Portland. Arguably it's the biggest week for 1999 since Dec. 31, 1999! With a new Blair Witch Project movie and concerts by Blink-182 and Garbage, it's time to put down the Pokémon and toss on your vintage Rasheed Wallace jersey and some Adidas snap-up pants for a night out.

Yes, 2016 is the spiritual sequel to 1999, definitely canon and part of the 1999 universe. But as in any reboot, some details have changed from the original 1999.

The Blair Witch Project

Then: The found-footage thing is new and weird enough that there's some plausibility to it.

Now: Young people have no idea what a Blair Witch is, but might like a "Flashlight Face" Snapchat filter.

Britney Spears

Then: Britney bursts onto the pop landscape. Everybody talks about her age.

Now: Britney bursts back onto the pop landscape. Everybody talks about her age.

Pokémon

Then: CNN airs warnings that the Pokémon card game is "a fantasy world so compelling that children would quickly become obsessed."

Now: CNN warns obsessed Pokémon Go players to stop using it while they're driving, while in the cemetery next to grieving widows, and while trespassing on federal property.

RIP

Then: Gorilla Monsoon

Now: Gorilla Harambe

Beyoncé

Then: Talking to her man on the phone, encouraging him to say her name so she knows he's at home, by himself, and not at the crib with another lady.

Now: Praying her man catches her listening as he whispers to another woman on the phone. Bey loves the wrong men.

Then: Chuck Palahniuk's Fight Club fares well with critics, but struggles at the box office.

Now: Chuck Palahniuk's Fight Club 2 fares well at comic stores, but struggles with critics.

Bill Clinton

Then: Outgoing president

Now: Incoming first gentleman

Blink-182

Then: Enema of the State hits No. 9 on the Billboard 200 and sold 15 million copies.

Now: California hits No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and sold 236,000 copies.

Harry Potter

Then: Children line up at bookstores around the world at midnight to get the first copies of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

Now: Twenty-somethings line up at bookstores around the world at midnight to get the first copies of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

Pressing question about upcoming Star Wars movie

Then: "Jar Jar is gonna die soon, right?"

Now: "We finally get to see Jar Jar's slow, painful, violent death, right?"

Specter of coming apocalypse

Then: Y2K

Now: Donald Trump

Willamette Week