Amp the New Year up to 11

Well it's a new year, 2011.

The Great Recession is long over unless you've hit 99 weeks on your unemployment. Or if you just lost your job, then it's just starting.

The stock market is doing great, as long as you look at the 1 year or 2 year average, and not the 3 year or 5 year.

We have a new Congress, the 112th, starting January 3. They'll sit from January 3, 2011 to January 3, 2013. OK, the leaders are all the same as the old Congress: Boehner, Pelosi, Reid, and McConnell. But Boehner and Pelosi switched places.

The double zeroes are conclusively behind us. Goodbye 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010. You can give the 0 on your keypad a bit of a rest. Get ready to pump out 11s.

Nigel: The numbers all go to 11. Look, right across the board, 11, 11, 11 ...

Marty: Oh, I see. And most amps go up to 10?

Nigel: Exactly.

Marty: Does that mean it's louder? Is it any louder?

Nigel: Well, it's one louder, isn't it? It's not 10. You see, most blokes, you know, will be playing at 10. You're on 10 here, all the way up, all the way up, all the way up, you're on 10 on your guitar. Where can you go from there? Where?

Marty: I don't know.

Nigel: Nowhere. Exactly. What we do is, if we need that extra push over the cliff, you know what we do?

Marty: Put it up to 11.

Nigel: 11. Exactly. One louder.

Marty: Why don't you just make 10 louder and make 10 be the top number and make that a little louder?

Nigel: [pause] These go to 11.