The Internet Of Things

It goes without saying that the internet is a weird place. But it can also be entertaining while (mostly) harmless depending on the subject material. This month I’ll be taking you in no specific direction with any particular theme or topic. Just a bunch of stuff I find interesting and hope you all do as well. Always keep in mind I’ll giving you the “tourist” level of exposure with any of these subjects. A deeper dive and rabbit hole awaits you should you decide to pursue them. I’ll do my best to add color commentary in the audio blog so things aren’t so cut and dry as they appear. Historidame brings us the appetizer with dangerous theme parks of the olden days.

There is no direct agreed source where “Weaboo” came from. But it’s fun to see the various permutations of it around the internet over the years. Whang! brings us some myth busting in regards to one particular Weaboo made famous back in the early 2000’s named Ken-Sama. And it goes exactly how you think it probably does.

To the handful of younger visitors to my site, let it be known that I have memories of cassette tapes, but they are not good ones. To all my international visitors, a lesson in English vocabulary is in order. The word I’m about to teach all of you is called nostophobia. It is literally the antithesis of nostalgia, something you’re all probably more familiar with. On one hand, it’s nice to be able to physically own your music and not just a license to it digitally. On the other hand, there’s way better mediums to do that. I leave the choice up to you, but Cheapaudioman does a good job bringing everyone up to speed on the subject.

Iceberg videos are a guilty comfort of mine, as they are (mostly) a concise way to digest a lot of information on various obscure topics. Conor’s Curiosities has come a long way when I started to watch him back in Part 1 of the series, and I think he’s only going to get even better over time. If you like the above video, there’s an entire series he’s done for you to marathon.

This maybe me projecting my personal interests, but there seems to be a very small steady rise in popularity with “outdoors” streaming. With the recent news of one of the biggest YouTube channels The Outdoor Boys retiring, there’s also going to be an influx of younger content creators trying to fill the void. Harmen Hoek is one of those up and coming creators, and he deserves anything good coming his way.

Artist of the month is the extremely talented ももやまかねちち. Absolutely drop dead gorgeous work, especially with a more modern look. Please show a lot of love to them over on their socials and send them an encouraging word. If you have the money, they also are currently accepting commissions.

Appreciate The Moment

I’m writing off personal experiences this month, doing my best to collect my thoughts to coherently share with all of you. I wanted to express the joy of consistency and having a sense of stability, even if it appears mundane. In other words, this month’s update kind of has a theme. The theme is appreciating what you have and where you are at the moment, because what we focus on not having tends to take away from what we do own. More details in the audio blog of course, and the video above is a bite size explanation at what I’m getting at in regard to Plato’s Allegory of the Cave.

I promise you this entire update is not just about caves. This is pure coincidence on my part that a video I wanted to share helps illustrate the previous point I wanted to make about reenforcing good habits and practices in the face of new things. Whenever we experience something that goes terribly wrong, it makes us appreciate the times when it didn’t much more. Lots of other close encounters on Chilling Scares YouTube channel.

I still visit theme parks whenever I have the chance to do so. Not once in my entire life have I ever felt that I was going to be in danger of getting hurt when I go. But there’s always something in the back of my mind that it may go wrong, and maybe that adds to the allure of it all. Sometimes I wonder if the long wait times is divine intervention protecting me from becoming a stain on a concrete floor. In any case, thanks to Coaster College for bringing the accident details in a clear coherent way.

My boy EmpLemon has another banger of a video, looking into the philosophical implications of the movie Office Space. Further illustrating what I’m trying to convey this month, it’s funny to dig so much thought and content out of a movie over 25 years old that didn’t do well upon release. The irony is also not lost that this movie was (and is) remembered fondly more so than anything that has been released in the last 10 years in terms of lasting cultural impact.

Artist is Cacao

There is a good chance that I’ve mentioned this artist of the month before. But their work is so stunning, I’m just going to go with my gut and recommend them again. Cacao is the artist of the month, and you can see their vast array of jaw dropping work on Pixiv and Artstation. Always share your appreciation when you can with them.

Clearing Out The Cobwebs

I’m going on a journey this month to clean out some things hanging out in my brain for a while now. I promise you it’s not a journey into narcissism but rather information I made a mental note of to talk about but never got around to doing so. It may change some of your lives for the better, but more than likely it’s just (hopefully) interesting to note. We’re starting off with the philosophical appetizer of luck vs hard work and the “misuse” of the terms fortune and luck. A ton in the audio blog, but for you reader only folks - read this article. Unfortunately, I think it’s AI generated (the site) and copied from multiple sources and authors. The information checks out (to me), but there are no citations. Sucks, but I really tried on this one to credit the original folks.

I would assume correctly that a lot of my typical monthly visitors are a much older crowd than my weekly regulars. It’s strange to have two audiences, but it’s a byproduct of my unhinged interests across many things. A lot of modern pop culture was built off the back of frauds and misinterpretation of the facts, and it’s funny to see this decades later for what it was. Ironic that in the modern era it takes a few minutes to fact check anything practically yet claims by various influencers on social media are taken as fact and gospel. In other words, people will believe what they want to believe, death touch or TikTok recipe be damned.

You don’t have to record everything you do in your life digitally. I think this factoid gets lost in translation with the younger crowd. Making a memory and sharing a story verbally is just as good, if not ironically better if podcasts are to measure against. As a word of encouragement, everyone who’s reading this right now (you) have interesting stories to tell. You just have to make sure to document them in some form. Eventually family, friends or thousands of people will be curious about your tales; and you better hope that you have the details squared away.

Artist is Mitsu Art

Artist of the month is Mitsu Art. Not only do they have their own website, but they’re also very talented. As with my more “distinguished” monthly viewers, we like our waifus a bit classier. Nothing screams classy than 2B from Nier Automata and an Egyptian themed costume!

March Mildness

Another year in the books for me, as March is my birthday month. I find myself at odds with the world at large not on a grand scale, but from what I’ve been familiar with for the last 10 years. Thinking back to 2015 and how different things were and now (from a nerd’s perspective), I’m kind of left a bit speechless. In any case, this month we’re going to dial things back a bit and go through all the motions that make sense to me as a middle-aged nerd. Maybe it might make sense to some of you as well, in which I can be proud I saved some souls along the way.

I promise you this isn’t going to be a long-winded self-advice monthly update. But I did want to share with you something I always revisit from time to time whenever I get a bit confused or overwhelmed with life. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs has helped me keep organized for a better part of a decade now. Sometimes we dedicate a lot of time to one part of life while ignoring others, and without taking some time to look at the scale of what we’re doing every day, it’s easy to get caught up in the moment.

Over 20 years ago, when I was a hopeless college (university) student, I remember scraping everything I owned together to buy a $300 used laptop. That busted, nearly broken thing lasted me almost my entire school life until near graduation. What is it with kiddies (and adults) now wanting $3200 graphic cards? Are we still trying to play games anymore or has the paradigm shifted to… whatever it is now. I guess showing everyone around you how to burn money is a thing. In any case, I don’t think I’ll be building a “PC gaming” rig anytime soon within the next 5 years if trends continue. I’ll stick to the amazing advances in smaller form factors, and gaming on the go that isn’t a laptop. Fuck technology, and long live technology, I guess.

It’s never too early or late in your life to change the narrative you (or someone else) have made. If tomorrow you suddenly decided to have “the” yard sale of everything you own and move to another country; I’ll be the last to stop you. Robcdee has been someone I’ve followed for a long time and enjoyed his many adventures with. Although I’m not asking anyone to make a living streaming outdoors, it is a fun diversion to see how it’s actually like. I linked you to his first cycling around Japan video, he actually has two more for 2023 and 2024. 2025’s cyclathon will be live on Twitch in March in a different country than Japan.

A recently released track from a newly formed group (from what I can gather) called In Color. Literally their first track, and I’m hooked like no other. Do me a favor and the next time you take an evening cruise clearing your mind, load up this track and sing along. I highly look forward to what the band has in store for future releases if they come out the gate swinging like this. Please refer to my April 2024 blog to do this song justice and not play it through some horrible phone speakers.

Artist is Secretly Saucy

Star Wars is dead. Star Trek is barely recognizable… but still holding on. It seems to me the last frontier of my fading memories is Warhammer / 40K. For whatever reason for the last couple of years, this particular franchise has been able to hold the archenemy at the gates. But for how long? Time will tell, but at least artist of the month (and they’ve been featured before many times) Secrety Saucy will help stem the endless tide. Ever vigilant.