Two stories seeem to sit at the heart of it all. The first is technology: the explosion in self-expression that we have witnessed has only been made possible by the boom in ways of transmitting thoughts, images, feelings, ideas - the cornerstones of culture. Computer software and the internet have democratised creatively: everyone's an artist now.

看来有两件事是这一切的核心。第一，是技术：它使得思想、图像、感觉和想法能够被转化为现实、使得自我表达的爆炸成为可能——而这一切，就是文化的奠基石。电脑软件和互联网赋予创造力以民主：现在人人都是艺术家了。

But, more than that, everyone's a critic. This was the decade of the whirlwind recommendation, when a song or an image, a film clip or a piece of writing could be shared instantly and praised or attacked by anyone - right here, right now.

但更重要的是每个人都是评论者。这是一个疯狂推荐的十年。一首歌、一张图、一段电影剪辑或是一段文字都可以被立刻分享、被赞颂或攻击，人人都可以做到、就在此时、此刻。

At the opposite end of the scale from this intangible digital world sit the other dominant figures of the decade: buildings. The rise of the big culture shrine has been as remarkable as the numbers who have turned up to look inside.

而这个难以描述的数字世界的另一端，同时也定义着这个时代的另一特征：创造。伟大文化的神龛被树立，于此同时，小型的文化事件同样值得关注。

Let us not forget Kylie Minogue's bottom, however. Or the first tweet sent by Stephen Fry. For at the same time as the serious play has flourished in the West End, this has also been a decade of froth and celebrity, one in which, at times, the whole world seemed to go pop.

请不要忘记凯莉米洛的完美臀部曲线，还有英国传奇演员Stephen Fry在Twitter上的第一条微博。当正统的高雅话剧在伦敦西区（沪江小编注：伦敦富人区）上演，八卦和明星也同时存在。就让全世界一起high吧。


2000 May: Tate Modern open

2000年5月：泰特现代博物馆开馆

When the Queen opened Tate Modern on May 11, London acquired its most important new museum since Edward VII opened the Tate Gallery at Millbank more than 100 years before. In transforming Sir Giles Gilbert Scott’s Bankside Power Station into a pristine space for contemporary art, Swiss architects Herzog and de Meuron lit a match that kindled a British love affair with modern art. The love affair turned obsessional and 10 years later, every single major museum in London had devoted at least one show to contemporary art.

当女王在5月11日为泰特现代博物馆剪彩开幕，伦敦就迎来了它自爱德华七世在100年前揭幕泰特艺术馆以来最为重要的博物馆。泰特现代由一座旧电站改建，重新赋予它生命的瑞典建筑师Herzog和de Meuron借此点燃了英国民众对现代艺术的热情。接下来这十年来，每一间伦敦博物馆都至少举办过一次当代艺术展。

2000 June: Kylie Minogue steps out in her hot pants

2000年6月：凯莉米洛重回舞台

Flaunted in the video for Spinning Around, the Aussie’s perfect buttocks become the pop symbol of the new millennium, in what already seems like a more innocent era.

凯莉米洛在经历过和乳腺癌的坚强斗争后，依旧作为性感女神重返舞台。这一次，粉丝们不仅仅迷恋她的曼妙身材，更爱上了她的灵魂。

2001 March: Destruction of the Buddhas of Bamyan

2001年三月：巴米扬大佛被塔利班政权毁坏


Historic Afghan cliff carvings are blown up after the Taliban deems them idolatrous.

这个政府也算绝了，人家都忙不迭在保护自己国家的历史遗产。他们倒好，直接自己炸掉。该组织领导人奥玛尔解释毁坏佛像的原因是伊斯兰教义相信，所有神像，包括那些远古时代的佛像，都是对伊斯兰教的侮辱。而评论家普遍认为此举旨在唤起国际社会对塔利班政权的关注，因为国际社会对塔利班政府的孤立让他们感到绝望。