Are You a Millennial? Take My Unscientific Buzzfeed-Style Quiz!

Welcome to the arbitrarily-curated 90s Millennial Quiz! Do you have the knowledge/cultural savvy of an American 90s-era Millennial according to my caprice? Scores and answers at the bottom!

1. Finish the Simpsons quote. Give yourself 1 point for each right one.

a. “Don’t blame me! I voted for____________!”

b. “Do you find something funny about the size of my____________?”

c. “I used to be with it. ____________.”

d. “And that talking coyote was really just____________.”

e. “I am so smart! ____________!”

2. What does a/s/l mean? 3 points.

3. Growing up did you consume any of the following? Give a point for each.

4. Nickelodeon Shows: Did you watch…? (1 point for each)

5. Disney/Other Kids Shows: Did you watch…? (1 point for each)

6. Does this image mean anything to you? (1 point)

7. Do you remember these? (2 points)

8. What about this squadron of horribleness? (1 point)

9. Switching gears, would you know how to respond to the following 90s slang terms/phrases? (1 point each)

a. Someone said you’re “all that and a bag of chips”

b. Someone called you “fly”

c. Mid-conversation a friend says “as if!”

d. Someone called you “homeskillet”

e. Someone shouts “psych!” or “not!”

10. Did you play any of these computer/video games? (1 point each)

11. Can you name these band’s biggest hits from the 90s? (1 point each)

a. Green Day (album: Dookie)

b. Blind Melon (album: Blind Melon)

c. Coolio feat. L.V. (album: Dangerous Minds Soundtrack)

d. Chumbawamba (album: too similar to the song)

e. Lauryn Hill (album: The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill)

f. Oasis (album: What’s the Story Morning Glory?)

g. Moby feat. Gwen Stefani (album: Play)

h. Cypress Hill (album: Black Sunday)

i. Snoop Dogg (album: Doggystyle)

j. Santana feat. Rob Thomas (album: Supernatural)

12. Give one point each to the fad you participated in/remember being a big deal:

   

13. On to fashion! Give yourself a point if you ever wore:

a. hi-top sneakers/sneakers that lit up

b. a sweatshirt tied around your waist/fanny pack

c. choker collar/scrunchies. so goddamn many scrunchies.

d. crop tops/denim tops

e. big ol’ black boots/pants so baggy you ought to be ashamed of yourself

14. And finally, 90s news stories!  Can you remember the significance of the following terms, as related to 90s news?

a. Dolly the sheep

b. Good Friday Agreement

c. Kenneth Starr

d. “The mother of all battles”

e. Kyoto Protocol

First the answers, then the scores:

Answers:

1.  a. Kodos; b. automobile; c. Then they changed what ‘it’ was; d. a talking dog; e. S-M-R-T

2. ‘age/sex/location’ – a common query from the AOL chatroom era.

3. –

4. Salute Your Shorts; Rocko’s Modern Life; Guts; Doug; Clarissa Explains It All

5. Dinosaurs; Goof Troop; Bill Nye the Science Guy; TaleSpin; Animaniacs

6. Hamsterdance.com – an early ‘viral’ 'web' sensation from 1998

7. Screen savers from the 90s After Dark software.

8. Microsoft Office assistants c. 1997

9. a. A good thing; b. stylish; c. 'Clueless' reference; d. variant of ‘homeslice’ or homeboy’; e. obnoxious anti-humor that should be groaned at and condemned

10. Sonic the Hedgehog 2; Doom II; Myst; Super Mario World; The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

11. a. Basket Case or When I Come Around; b. No Rain; c. Gangsta’s Paradise; d. Tubthumping/ Tubthumper; e. Doo Wop (That Thing); f. Wonderwall or Champagne Supernova; g. Southside; h. Insane in the Brain; i. Gin & Juice; j. Smooth

12. Tamagotchis; snap bracelets; Beanie Babies; pogs

13. –

14. a. the name of the first cloned animal, 1997; b. the end of hostilities between the United Kingdom and Ireland, 1998; c. the special prosecutor of Bill Clinton regarding Monica Lewinsky, 1998-99; d. a phrase used by Saddam Hussein referring to the Gulf War, 1990-91; e. The international agreement on climate change, which the U.S. later withdrew from, adopted in 1997.

Scores:

0-10. You are not at all a 90s Millennial. Congratulations!

11-20. You know a bit about these ‘Millennials’. But luckily not much.

21-30. Gen Xer? Gen Z? Millennial parent? You have a pretty decent grasp of 90s kid culture, but it's not likely that you were a part of it.

31-40. On the cusp. Maybe you just weren’t very observant? That or you are very, very clever.

41-50. Clearly a Millennial. In the immortal words of Cantaloop: “boogie woogie jam slam.”

50-60. You are *totally* a Millennial. So, you know, good luck paying your student loans…

San Francisco Nouveau

San Francisco grew to prominence after the Gold Rush of ‘49, with a population swelling from around 200 in 1846 to about 40,000 ten years later.

Indeed, the Victorian era that heralded this incredible growth is well-documented and associated with San Francisco history and architecture. In the decades proceeding the Gold Rush, from the influx of wealth, were produced some stupendous Victorian architecture, much still extant, with some lost:

And the city continued to grow, steadily, into the 20th century.

By 1880 the population was a vastly larger 234,000, and by 1900 it had increased another approximate 100,000 to 343,000.

This time period was moving away from Victorian styles. For example, the famous “Painted Ladies” row of houses on Alamo Square were completed by 1896. The Victorian style continued into the 19-teens, but was fading.

Due to the Gold Rush the city has been cosmopolitan since it rose to prominence. Obvious examples include the Chinese population in Chinatown, established in 1848, and now the largest Chinese population outside of Asia. Many thousands of Europeans and Latin Americans also flocked to the area for gold, and stayed on in the thriving, wealthy city. With the European influence came another style of architecture: Art Nouveau.

Art Nouveau is found throughout western Europe, for example in France, Spain, and Belgium. The style is based on curves and proportions found in natural forms - which makes it aesthetically very pleasing. It flourished between 1890-1910, and San Francisco, as a city that had a history of only a few decades with a large European immigrant base, and money available for showing off, was prime for the style’s influence. Many American cities have no Art Nouveau for the same reason - Boston wasn’t about to tear down its heritage district for this new, European style. (In fact the only American Art Nouveau artist of note on the global stage is Louis Comfort Tiffany, famed for his decorative windows and lamps.)

So for a brief window Art Nouveau influence could be seen in San Fran. But of course this all came crashing down (and burning) with the 1906 earthquake and fire.

Growing up in San Francisco I saw glimpses, hints, of this beautiful style hidden throughout the City. The first photo in this post is from Golden Gate Park, taken by excellent local photographer of the era, Willard Worden shows the European influence of the time. The Portal is still there: 

Most notably, of course, were the Art Nouveau constructions of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in 1915, most of which were designed to be temporary, and were subsequently torn down. Indeed, the only remnant remaining is the reconstructed Palace of Fine Arts:

Other than this well-known city monument, the offerings are few and far between. San Francisco was one of the few places in America where Art Nouveau could thrive - and it was almost all lost:

With a few pleasing exceptions:

The Palace Hotel - rebuilt after the fire.

The Hammersmith Building

And little ruined reminders:

The Sutro Heights Gardens - then and now

Spreckles Temple of Music, Golden Gate Park - known as the ‘bandshell’

But for these few remnants, and a couple others scattered here and there, the legacy is lost.

A Book List and a Movie List

Movies first.

I saw Spotlight last night, which was a very good film. On leaving the theater I mentioned that it reminded me of Argo, another engrossing drama which, despite winning Best Picture, took away no acting accolades from the Academy. Were these isolated incidents? 

Turns out: no.

Nearly half of all Best Picture winners didn't win any awards in acting categories, which I find remarkable (38/89 - 43%). Some weren't even nominated (12/89 - 13%). Here's the breakdown by decade:

2010s

2015 - Spotlight

2014 - Birdman

2012 - Argo

2000s

2009 - The Hurt Locker (no nominees)

2008 - Slumdog Millionaire (no nominees)

2006 - The Departed

2004 - Crash

2003 - The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (no nominees)

1990s

1997 - Titanic

1995 - Braveheart (no nominees)

1993 - Schindler's List

1990 - Dances With Wolves

1980s

1987 - The Last Emperor (no nominees)

1986 - Platoon

1985 - Out of Africa

1981 - Chariots of Fire

1970s

1976 - Rocky

1973 - The Sting

1960s

1969 - Midnight Cowboy

1968 - Oliver!

1965 - The Sound of Music

1963 - Tom Jones

1962 - Lawrence of Arabia

1960 - The Apartment

1950s

1958 - Gigi (no nominees)

1956 - Around the World in 80s Days (no nominees)

1952 - The Greatest Show on Earth (no nominees)

1951 - An American in Paris (no nominees)

1940s

1943 - Casablanca

1940 - Rebecca

1930s

1938 - You Can't Take It With You

*1936: Best Supporting categories introduced*

1935 - Mutiny on the Bounty

1933 - Cavalcade

1932 - Grand Hotel (no nominees) (!)

1931 - Cimarron 

1930 - All Quiet on the Western Front (no nominees)

1920s

1929 - The Broadway Melody

1927/8 - Wings (no nominee)

Now, to switch to books. Have you ever wondered when authors wrote their classics? Basically the answer is: whenever. From their teens unto the brink of death, authors have written classic works at all ages. So if you are wondering when you're best work may be coming, don't worry - Goethe didn't complete Faust until his eighties, and Rimbaud became world-renowned before 20.

Here's a sample of what I mean:

18

19 Pablo Neruda – Twenty Love Songs and A Song of Despair; Arthur Rimbaud – A Season in Hell

20

21 Mary Shelley – Frankenstein

22

23 Aristophanes – The Clouds; Stephen Crane – The Red Badge of Courage

24 Alexander Pope – The Rape of the Lock; Norman Mailer – The Naked and the Dead

25 Zadie Smith – White Teeth

26 Percy Shelley – Ozymandias; Thomas Mann – Buddenbrooks

27 Charles Dickens – Oliver Twist; TS Eliot – The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

28 Anton Chekhov – The Bear; Douglas Adams – The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

29 Franz Kafka – The Metamorphosis; William Wordsworth – The Two-Part Prelude

30 Flannery O’Connor – A Good Man is Hard to Find; Jack London – White Fang

31Edward Albee – The Sandbox; Charlotte Bronte – Jane Eyre

32 Herman Melville – Moby Dick; William Faulkner – The Sound and the Fury

33 Lewis Carroll – Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

34 Edgar Allen Poe – The Tell-Tale Heart; Harper Lee – To Kill a Mockingbird

35 William Shakespeare – Julius Caesar; Calderon – Life is a Dream

36 Walt Whitman – Leaves of Grass; Charles Baudelaire – Les Fleurs du mal

37 Edgar Rice Burroughs – Tarzan of the Apes; Corneille – Cinna

38 Jane Austen – Pride and Prejudice; Racine – Phedre

39 Boccaccio – The Decameron

40 James Joyce – Ulysses; Emile Zola – Nana

41 Oscar Wilde – The Importance of Being Ernest; Leo Tolstoy – War and Peace

42 Jorge Borges – The Garden of Forking Paths

43 Virginia Woolf – Mrs. Dalloway; Murasaki Shikibu – The Tale of Genji

44 Moliere – The Misanthrope; Lucretius – On the Nature of Things

45 Joseph Conrad – Heart of Darkness

46 Chaucer – The Canterbury Tales

47 Stendhal – The Red and the Black; Kurt Vonnegut – Slaughterhouse-Five

48

49 Euripides – Medea; Mark Twain – The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

50 Virgil – Aenied; Matsuo Basho – Narrow Road to the Deep North

51 Ovid – Metamorphoses; Rabelais – Gargantua and Pantagruel

52

53 George Eliot – Middlemarch

54

55 Dante – The Divine Comedy

56 Gustave Flaubert – Three Tales; Marcel Proust – In Search of Lost Time

57

58

59 Fyodor Dostoevsky – The Brothers Karamazov; John Milton – Paradise Lost

60 Victor Hugo – Les Miserables

61

62

63

64

65 Aeschylus – Oresteia

66

67 Cao Xueqin – Dream of the Red Chamber; George Bernard Shaw – Saint Joan

68 Cervantes – Don Quixote; Jonathan Swift – Gulliver’s Travels

69

70

71

72

73 La Fontaine – Fables

74

75

76

77

78

79

80

81 Alice Munro – Dear Life

82

83 Goethe – Faust

84

85

86

87

88 Sophocles – Philoctetes

NaNoReMo 2016

For a number of years the excellent John Wiswell creation The Bathroom Monologues has led the charge on National Novel Reading Month (NaNoReMo). The basic idea is that you will read a novel by the 31st of March that you've been meaning to read for too long, but putting off. Some work on the shelf that it's never been quite the right time for, or that classic tome you always said you'd get around to. For the month of March we set aside excuses and read the thing.

For the past few years I've been reading 19th century French authors of which there are quite a few and whom I don't usually seek out. Diderot, Balzac and Hugo have all come up (Dumas and Zola I'll get to you yet...) This year is no different with Stendhal joining the ranks, specifically his novel The Red and the Black. So far, three pages in, I can affirm that it is pretty interesting.

What novel or classic have you been meaning to read?

Oscar Localities

Of the 89 films to have won Best Picture, Spotlight is only the second that takes place in Massachusetts (the first was Departed). Here are some other useless facts on the same subject:

In the United States, the Academy loves New York the most. 18 of the winners come from that state, essentially exclusively New York City.

California, by contrast, has 4 winners, all of whom are based in Los Angeles.

Other states that do okay: Illinois has 3, Louisiana 2, Texas 2, Wyoming 2, Georgia 2, New Jersey 2. The U.S. category is then rounded out with 1 each for Ohio, Hawaii, Pennsylvania (arguably 2), Virginia, Mississippi, and Oklahoma.

Internationally you have the UK dominating. with 13 wins - the next most after New York. France does well too, with 6. Europe rounds out with 2 for Austria, 1 for Germany, 1 for Denmark, and 1 for Poland.

Asia comes in next with 2 for India, 2 for Vietnam, and 1 for China. The Middle East gets 1 for Iran, 1 for Iraq, 1 for Jordan/Syria, and 1 for Israel. North Africa gets 1 for Morocco, 1 for Libya, and one for Tunisia. Sub-Saharan Africa gets 1 for Kenya.

No Best Picture Winners have taken place in South America. Or Australia.

Eight films are essentially impossible to ascribe a single locale to: The Greatest Show on Earth (vaguely midwest?), One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (no context), American Beauty (midwest again?), Titanic (OCEAN), Forest Gump (too many places), and Around the World in 80 Days (too many places). Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans takes place in some vaguely allegorical land.

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King takes place in Middle Earth, which is not real.

Many of these could be disputed and argued. (For example, I count Patton as France, but there's a lot that takes place in Italy. Etc.) But as a rough shakedown, it's okay, I think. The real question is: how many can you match to their films?

My Deal-breakers and Goddamn Millennials

This is not a post about what I find to be turn-offs. Rather, this is a post on what turns women off about me.

Right off the bat, cheery topic.

I’m single, and staring down the barrel of turning 30 in 2016. So, facing this sort of a conundrum, it’s natural to ask yourself what you can do make yourself more marketable. What are the big issues you’ve not tackled that you need to finally conquer?

Fortunately, I don’t really have any obvious ones.

Obvious deal-breakers don’t apply. I don’t weigh 386 pounds. I don’t steal money to buy drugs. I’m not disrespectful towards my partners or women generally. I’m not emotionally, physically, or verbally abusive. I don’t cheat. I’ve no crippling addictions. The category of ‘clear red flags’ is pleasantly absent. I’m pretty swell, after all.

But deal-breakers have I. I have been told this by nice ladies on the internet. Here are the big four:

1)  I want to have kids. This is the most commonly cited explicit deal-breaker. A high number of women say you sound nice, but kids? No way.

2) I don’t drink. This one is inevitable. Even when I talk and meet up with women who also are sober, it always must be explained. Usually it’s a curious inquiry, but not always.

3) I am an atheist. The people this is a deal-breaker for probably wouldn’t be great matches with me anyway, but statistically I think they’re the next largest group.

and finally

4) I am way too snobbish in my tastes. If they’re willing to look past the teetotaling, and my desire to settle down and have a family, and don’t care much about God, War and Peace may prove too much. Or watching black and white Soviet films. Or spending Saturdays in art museums instead of lounging on the beach.

These are the things that have been a problem whether during the initial online forays or in actual relationships. The key – the most worrisome part – is that I don’t want to change any of them.

At some level it comes down to principle. Looking back on a life of drinking beer and watching football on the couch has no appeal to me. Going to church each Sunday to mumble about something I don’t believe strikes me as cowardly. Trading a rich family life for ‘adventures’ into my 40s sounds very particularly millennial and, honestly, increasingly pathetic. (If I go camping with my spouse in King’s Canyon it won’t be any more memorable than doing so with my spouse and our kids.) Having kids is second childhood – you get to experience their inquisitive wonder of the world all over again as they experience and see things for the first time and piece the world together.

So what to do? I can’t just go to the gym, join a support group, see a therapist, or start meditating. My ‘problems’ to me are some of my best attributes – a character defined by my principles and a life, to my mind, well-lived.

Grumpy, old-man Ross can’t help but think that were this a different decade I’d not have the same complications. On OKCupid I put that I was only interested in women who ‘might be interested’ or were ‘interested’ in having kids. I had about 20 matches above a 75%. Then I took the kids filter off, and kept all the rest the same – the atheism, the lack of drinking, etc. I now had 20 matches over 90% alone.

Millennials aren’t marrying. They aren’t settling in. I totally get why we didn’t after the recession – we were royally screwed by a shitshow of an economy. But, for those of us who have been working on paying off those student loans and credit cards all these years, the next few years are going to be big. All of a sudden our disposable income is going to shift. We’ll hopefully have been professionals long enough to be somewhat comfortable. Sure – retiring is still too scary to even contemplate. Finally, though, now that we’re hitting the end of this bad spell called our twenties, home-ownership, marriage, and families are possible, economically, so we don’t have to live like scared rats wondering where our next meal will come from.

An argument that we can’t afford it is going to slip away, starting, you know, right around now. Our generation hasn’t yet married – only 26% of us have tied the knot. Gen Xers, by this age, were at 36%. 48% of Boomers. 65% of the Silent Generation.

Consequentially children will be an issue. Just thinking biologically the healthiest babies are born when the mother is between 26 and 32, more or less. According to women polled, 29-34 were the best years to have a child, based on their own experiences. 35, though, is basically the cutoff. After that it’s medically worse for all involved – mother and child.

That means if Millennials are going to, you know, pass on their genes, they better get cracking. It’s kind of sad, really – if you want a family you’ll actually only have a few years of partnership before embarking on a lifelong redefinition as parents. Oh well – no use crying over spilled milk. Our twenties are over, or ending, and we can’t go back and meet a nice boy or girl at 22 anymore. The only option now is making the best of what we’ve got left.

As a young, smart, trim, and devilishly handsome man, I find it odd that I’m the only one thinking about this. I grow scruff as well as the best of ‘em. I can rock skinny jeans (if I owned any). I can wear flannel or suits, or my corduroy jacket with the distinguished leather elbow patches. And I’m tired of enviously looking at the guys my age who look like me pushing strollers.

Best end this post before I start sounding like Wesley Snipes. But in conclusion: harrumph.

Grammy Awards?

So far as I can remember I've never done a post on the Grammys. I don't think about them a lot. But here goes.

The Grammy Award for Best Album is always off by a year. So, for example, the 1967 release of Sgt. Peppers was awarded the 1968 Grammy. A bit confusing. But keeping that in mind here’s who ought to have won, and who actually did win – including albums that weren’t nominated.

59 Winner: The Music from Peter Gunn by Henry Mancini. Not-nominated-should-have-won: Somethin’ Else by Cannonball Adderley.

60 Winner: Come Dance With Me by Frank Sinatra. Not-nominated-should-have-won: Kind of Blue by Miles Davis.

61 Winner: The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart by Bob Newhart.

62 Winner: Judy at Carnegie Hall. Nominated-should-have-won: West Side Story Soundtrack by Various Artists.

63 Winner: The First Family by Vaughn Meader. Nominated-should-have-won: Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music by Ray Charles.

64 The Barbara Streisand Album by Barbara Streisand. Not-nominated-should-have-won: Live at the Apollo by James Brown

65 Winner: Getz/Gilberto by Stan Getz and Joao Gilberto. Not-nominated-should-have-won: A Love Supreme by John Coltrane

66 Winner: September of My Years by Frank Sinatra. Nominated-should-have-won: Help! By The Beatles. Not-nominated-should-have-won: Bringing It All Back Home by Bob Dylan

67 Winner: A Man and His Music by Frank Sinatra. Nominated-should-have-won: Revolver by The Beatles. Not-nominated-should-have-won: Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys.

68 Winner: Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles

69 Winner: By the Time I Get to Phoenix by Glenn Campbell. Nominated-should-have-won: Bookends by Simon and Garfunkel. Not-nominated-should-have-won: Astral Weeks by Van Morrison.

70 Winner: Blood, Sweat & Tears by Blood, Sweat & Tears. Nominated-should-have-won: Abbey Road by The Beatles. Not-nominated-should-have-won: Five Leaves Left by Nick Drake.

71 Winner: Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon and Garfunkel

72 Winner: Tapestry by Carole King. Not-nominated-should-have-won: What’s Going On by Marvin Gaye

73 Winner: The Concert for Bangladesh by George Harrison et al. Not-nominated-should-have-won: The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars by David Bowie.

74 Winner: Innervisions by Stevie Wonder.

75 Winner: Fullfillingness’ First Finale by Stevie Wonder. Nominated-should-have-won: Court and Spark by Joni Mitchell.

76 Winner: Still Crazy After All These Years by Paul Simon. Nominated-should-have-won: Heart Like a Wheel by Linda Ronstadt. Not-nominated-should-have-won: Physical Graffiti by Led Zeppelin.

77 Winner: Songs in the Key of Life by Stevie Wonder.

78 Winner: Rumours by Fleetwood Mac. Not-nominated-should-have-won: Exile on Main Street by The Rolling Stones.

79 Winner: Saturday Night Fever: The Original Movie Soundtrack by The Bee Gees et al. Not-nominated-should-have-won: The Cars by The Cars.

80 Winner: 52^nd Street by Billy Joel. Nominated-should-have-won: Breakfast in America by Supertramp. Not-nominated-should-have-won: London Calling by The Clash.

81 Winner: Christopher Cross by Christopher Cross. Nominated-should-have-won: The Wall by Pink Floyd.

82 Winner: Double Fantasy by John Lennon and Yoko Ono. Not-nominated-should-have-won: Ghost in the Machine by The Police.

83 Winner: Toto IV by Toto. Not-nominated-should-have-won: Avalon by Roxy Music.

84 Winner: Thriller by Michael Jackson.

85 Winner: Can’t Slow Down by Lionel Richie. Nominated-should-have-won: Purple Rain by Prince and Born in the USA by Bruce Springsteen (tie).

86 Winner: No Jacket Required by Phil Collins…I got nothing. 1985 was a terrible year for music.

87 Winner: Graceland by Paul Simon.

88 Winner: The Joshua Tree by U2.

89 Winner: Faith by George Michael. Nominated-should-have-won: Tracy Chapman by Tracy Chapman. Not-nominated-should-have-won: It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back by Public Enemy.

90 Winner: Nick of Time by Bonnie Raitt. Nominated-should-have-won: Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1 by The Traveling Wilburys. Not-nominated-should-have-won: The Stone Roses by The Stone Roses and Paul’s Boutique by The Beastie Boys (tie).

91 Winner: Back on the Block by Quincy Jones. Not-nominated-should-have-won: I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got by Sinead O’Connor.

92 Winner: Unforgettable…With Love by Natalie Cole. Nominated-should-have-won: Out of Time by R.E.M. Not-nominated-should-have-won: Nevermind by Nirvana.

93 Winner: Unplugged by Eric Clapton. Nominated-should-have-won: Achtung Baby by U2.

94 Winner: The Bodygaurd: Original Soundtrack Album by Whitney Houston. Nominated-should-have-won: Automatic for the People by R.E.M.

95 Winner: MTV Unplugged by Tony Bennett. Not-nominated-should-have-won: Illmatic by Nas.

96 Winner: Jagged Little Pill by Alanis Morissette.

97 Winner: Falling Into You by Celine Dion. Nominated-should-have-won: The Score by The Fugees.

98 Winner: Time Out of Mind by Bob Dylan. Nominated-should-have-won: OK Computer by Radiohead.

99 Winner: The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill by Lauryn Hill. Nominated-should-have-won: Ray of Light by Madonna.

00 Winner: Supernatural by Santana. Not-nominated-should-have-won: Play by Moby.

01 Winner: Two Against Nature by Steely Dan. Nominated-should-have-won: Kid A by Radiohead. Not-nominated-should-have-won: Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea by PJ Harvey.

02 Winner: O Brother Where Art Thou? Soundtrack by Various Artists. Not-nominated-should-have-won: Is This It? by The Strokes and Discovery by Daft Punk (tie).

03 Winner: Come Away with Me by Norah Jones. Not-nominated-should-have-won: Sea Change by Beck (tie).

04 Winner: Speakerboxxx/The Love Below by Outkast. Nominated-should-have-won: Elephant by The White Stripes.

05 Winner: Genius Loves Company by Ray Charles. Nominated-should-have-won: The College Dropout by Kanye West.

06 Winner: How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb by U2. Not-nominated-should-have-won: Illinois by Sufjan Stevens.

07 Winner: Taking the Long Way by The Dixie Chicks. Nominated-should-have-won: Stadium Arcadium by Red Hot Chili Peppers. Not-nominated-should-have-won: Fox Confessor Brings the Flood by Neko Case.

After this I can't speak with anything even slightly looking like authority on the nominees and winners.