Cliché: “1979 called, they want their pants back.”
Joke: React as though full duplex communication channel with the past has actually been established.
(see above)
Ah, seems so clear when explained. Thanks.
It’s also a reference to this T-shirt that was a brief phenomena in 2008-2009. Not sure if you knew that, but figured I’d share.
Why? 
I mean, I’ve seen shirts like that; probably starting in the '90s. I’ve always associated them with the lower socio-economic strata and/or people who have no taste. In 2008-2009, were they being worn ironically?
Dude, nobody irons t-shirts.
I don’t know if this is the genesis of the meme, but the Amazon page and amusing reviews certainly helped popularize it.
Funny. Like JLA I think I remember them being popular way earlier.
For the definition that passes for irony these days, yes. Hipster fashion, don’t you just love it?
Sorta related question: What, exactly, could Japan have done if they HAD known, even a decade before the earthquake, what day it was going to happen? Would everyone have fled the islands or what? They’re already leading edge in earthquake damage control.
They could have kept people away from the hardest-hit areas, evacuated any buildings that saw significant casualties, and shut down the nuclear reactors and other power plants in a controlled manner, for starters. And with years of warning, they probably could have evacuated the entire island.
Moved MPSIMS --> Cafe Society.
Strictly a geographical move, no time travel involved.
Plus they could have put the waste rods somewhere else and fixed a few of the shortcuts they’d made in building the reactors.
Or made the tsunami protection walls an additional 3 feet or so higher, since it was the earthquake dropping those walls 3 feet that seems to be why the wave was able to damage the generators.
Ah, well.
They could have worn their Three Wolf Moon Tees, and the power of them would have averted the crisis. Duh.
If they’d known a decade ahead of time, they could have evacuated the population of NE Japan to a nice tropical island, like Haiti.
Now ***that ***would be irony.
I thought the “_______ called, they want their ______ back.” bit came from one of those recurring, non-funny SNL sketches.
No, I know the sketch you’re talking about, and the phrase was known long before that. It was used in the 1985 movie The Breakfast Club, for instance, and I remember it as being old even then.
So in other words, 1985 called and they want their cliche back?
What d’you mean, Do Notte Buye Betamacks?