Tag Archives: culture

A Weekend’s Worth of Amusement (Offset by Some Real World News)

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This entry is part 85 of 100 in the series Today's Tidbits

It’s been a little trying here in the real world. Lots of not-so-great things going on if you pay attention to the news. More not-so-great things going on for some people I give a damn about. ANd my own feelings of utter stagnation really aren’t helping any.

So… To The Internet!

There’s no shortage of feel-good, restore your faith in humanity, mind blowingly cute, utterly hilarious things out there. Thankfully, a lot of those turned up over the past few days. Seems that sharing them has done more than a few people a bit of good.

Of course, there’s also the real world news stuff that I can’t in good conscience completely ignore. (Once a news guy, always a news guy.) But there’s also some genuinely good news of good people doing good things (that whole ALS Ice Bucket Challenge has been a small goldmine of creativity and good will) some even doing good things at great risk to themselves (like they guys running aid and rescue missions in the mountains of Iraq).

The world can seem to be a really nasty place. It’s what we’re sold on TV–both in the news and in our entertainment. Visible, violent conflict is exciting (when it’s not happening to you or people you know). It gets eyeballs on the screen, which means eyeballs on the ads, which means money in someone’s pocket. “If it bleeds, it leads” remains true no matter where things are showing up.

But that’s not a fully accurate representation of the world. If it were, we’d all have been dead of one thing or another long, long ago. (And anyone who thought it was a good idea to bring a child into that fully bad world would be struck down by appalled mobs… who’d only be proving how bad things are.)

We’re still here. We’re still moving forward. There are still people fighting the good fight and many, many more quietly changing the world for the better.

Little by little, if we look, the light is there, holding the darkness at bay.

It’s still up to us to look, though. At both sides. To find the balance.

Here’s the feed…

More of a Mixed Bag

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This entry is part 84 of 100 in the series Today's Tidbits

Still kind of ridiculously busy… but I still found myself really digging in to some of the articles in the feed today.

Particularly the one about the guy who just kind of ran off to live in the woods for over two decades. Granted, he had no human contact and kind of stole everything he needed… but the basic idea is kind of appealing.

Of course, I’d also be just fine with a one way trip to Mars. So I may not be the best judge of these things.

There are also some neat tech bits. A totally tricked out “camping” trailer (not really camping if you have the equivalent of  a small house with you–complete with A/C and TV) and some revolutionary solar cells that are near indistinguishable from regular windows.

Other highs and lows make their appearance, as one would expect with the way the last couple of weeks have gone. I’m well on my way to being totally burnt out on outrage.

So, just check it all out for yourself… maybe get involved in one of the ongoing conversations I haven’t had time for.

Here’s the feed…

Weather, Ice Bucket Muppets, Free Range Kids, More From Furguson, and Some Movies

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This entry is part 83 of 100 in the series Today's Tidbits

The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge continues to spread (and pull in tons of money and awareness). Now we’re up to Muppets like Cookie Monster and Kermit the Frog participating.

I continue to be amused. (And, in some cases, impressed.)

There’s still lots of problems in Furguson… and there are so many media-types there to get a piece of the action that they’re becoming a bit of a problem themselves. Pro tip, news-hounds: if there are more of you than there are protesters, you should probably dial it back a bit and decide amongst yourselves who’s going to go cover another part of the story.

Then there’s a new survey out that says a whole lot of people don’t think any kids under 12 should ever be out and about unaccompanied. That’s just ridiculous. Most of the people who think that have obviously forgotten that they likely survived a whole lot of unaccompanied time growing up. (Especially if they’re my age or older.) These are likely the same parents that complain like crazy about being run ragged trying to get their kids to all the meticulously planned (and structured) activities they’ve pushed them into. Send ’em out to climb a tree, dammit. Falling teaches you about physics… and risk management. Coddling them until they’re in their teens gives you “adults” who can’t deal with the real world.

And, as you scroll through the feed, you’ll also see a few trailers for movies that look new and different and interesting. Probably not blockbuster theater “success” stories like Guardians of the Galaxy… but likely infinitely better writing and acting than all the movies everyone will hear about.

Here’s the feed…

More of Everything from the Past Few Days

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This entry is part 81 of 100 in the series Today's Tidbits

Yep. Up too late again, trying to catch up on non-day-job work that I didn’t get to last week (or the week before) because I was so wiped out by the day job work.

Much needed fun over the weekend, but my sleep schedule is still recovering.

Yeah, that’s the excuse I can use for at least one more day.

(We all know that the reality of it is that I’m naturally nocturnal and, left to my own devices, would rarely be up before noon and usually be going to bed around sunrise.)

Ah, well… so much stuff in the feed from the past few days. You’d best just take a scroll through it to see for yourself. (Since this is all going to be quick and haphazard as I should be asleep now… except I crashed out on the couch earlier in the night… which does exactly nothing to “fix” my schedule.)

Here’s the feed…

Stupid Humans, Bounty Hunting, Bad Geography, and Aquaman

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This entry is part 79 of 100 in the series Today's Tidbits

Another busy day at work, but some interesting things in the feed.

Some interesting interactions in the feed today.

A tragic story about some parents with some really poor judgement (which lead to them falling to their deaths in front of their children) stirred up some comment controversy. Two very different angles on humor and ways of dealing with tragedy among the friends and friends of friends who posted there. Not totally unexpected, knowing the people involved, but likely a bit confusing and disconcerting to those who don’t know everyone.

The much more unexpected and interesting thread is the one about Dog the Bounty Hunter going after MMA fighter War Machine (the latter of which is, officially, a fugitive from justice after beating his ex-girlfriend nearly to death). That little ditty was one of the “trending” stories on Facebook and, it seems, my post (likely because of the high amount of interaction I’ve engendered among my list) was showing up pretty high on the listing of people posting about it. This, of course, brought in a number of people with no discernible connection to anyone anywhere near my circle of friends.

Sometimes, I forget just how… different… those a few steps out of my various circles are from the people I interact with regularly.

A number of the comments were outright all-caps screaming about how awful one of the other main people in the story was. A number of Dog fans offered their (sometimes poorly spelled and grammatically challenged) support for the “hero” to go out and get the “bad guy.” Others lamented the lack of “good guys” in the story (with equally bad spelling and grammar).

I’m almost surprised there was no knock-down, drag-out fight in that thread.

It all subsided quickly enough as, no doubt, something else tabloid trashy caught the attention of the general population.

Ah, the Internet… you never cease to keep me entertained.

There are a number of other interesting news bits that didn’t garner anywhere near the attention they should (really, I think that Dog thread, one about suicide, and the casting of Aquaman for the Superman v Batman movie were the three most active threads today) down there that are definitely worth the read.

And with that, on with the feed…