Itsuo Inouye, AP

A seal wears sunglasses during a solar eclipse event at Sunshine International Aquarium in Tokyo, Japan, Wednesday, July 22, 2009. The longest solar eclipse of the 21st century pitched a swath of Asia from India to China into near darkness Wednesday as millions gathered in the open to watch the once-in-a-lifetime phenomenon.

Comments

There are no comments yet. Click here to start the conversation!

STORY TOOLS

• E-mail story
• Printer friendly

More Grudge Match

• Grudge Match: Meg Griffin vs. Peter Griffin
• Grudge Match: Robert Pattinson vs. Jay Baruchel
• Grudge Match: Jake Sully ("Avatar") vs. Jack Dawson ("Titanic")

Share and Enjoy

KNOXVILLE — We compare two pop-culture subjects to see which you like better. To be included in next week's tally, vote for your favorite before noon on Monday. This week's match:

2009 vs. 2012

Oh, sure, things are bleak now. In 2009, we've had record unemployment, general unrest and a lot of rain. Bummer. Well, hold onto your yellow teeth, East Tennessee. According to the new disaster flick "2012," things are going to be getting worse in less than three years. So go ahead choose. Which year would you favor: The here and now or the there and laters!

THE GOOD

2009: We got a hot first lady, a short period where "The Price Is Right" aired two times a day and the 'Hannah Montana' movie came out. What more do you want, people?

2012: With the Earth's crust shifting and solar flares destroying our planet, that dude from "Say Anything" turns out to be the hero we always knew he could be. (We were hoping Screech from "Saved by the Bell" would step up, but, alas, it was not meant to be.)

THE BAD

2009: Massive unemployment, rising prices and The Jonas Brothers movie was a flop.

2012: Besides a disaster that crushes cities and turns most of the planet into one big swimming pool? Well, it's all good.

THE UGLY

2009: Lady GaGa. Sure, her music is catchy, but, uh, she's the type of girl you'd fix up your roommate with — when you're mad at him.

2012: Since only the rich and beautiful are allowed to board futuristic arks to spare them from disaster, all ugly people will be extinct! Hurray!

BUT WHAT ABOUT TAYLOR SWIFT?

2009: Taylor Swift had one of the year's biggest-selling CDs with "Fearless," and she couldn't get a word in edgewise thanks to Kanye West.

2012: Taylor survives the disaster by barely getting onto a highly fortified ark, but she accidentally closes its door just as Joe Jonas is running to get aboard. Oops. Her bad. She later texted her apology as he burned in lava.

LAST WEEK: HOMER SIMPSON vs. RICHARD HEENE (Balloon Boy dad)

Our pick: Homer. Hey, who are we to go against the vast majority?

Your pick: Homer got 100 percent of the votes!