Holiday Party! is a podcast about the "important" holidays in our lives. Come celebrate with hosts Disa and Alyssa as they learn and talk about some of the most under-appreciated, yet so important holidays. It's party time!
HAPPY NATIONAL CANNOLI DAY! Join us as we celebrate the lovely dessert tubes of flavor! Today we're partying with dessert fan and one-time attempted cannoli chef Kevin Scott Brown (@truerealkevin on twitter)!! LET'S PARTY!! Find Holiday Party online – HOLIDAYPARTYPODCAST.COM Find Alyssa – Twitter: @alyssapants / alyssapants.com Find Disa – Spotify: open.spotify.com/user/1243777842 Find show notes for this episode at laughowenslaugh.com/holiday-party-june-16th-2021--national-cannoli-day-with-kevin-scott-brown
HAPPY NATIONAL NURSES WEEK! Join us as we celebrate the people out there doing heavy lifting in hospitals and saving lives. Today we're partying with sister, master Tweeter and nurse Deidre Emerson (@lilredrooster)!! LET'S PARTY!! Find Holiday Party online – HOLIDAYPARTYPODCAST.COM Find Alyssa – Twitter: @alyssapants / alyssapants.com Find Disa – Spotify: open.spotify.com/user/1243777842 Find show notes for this episode at https://laughowenslaugh.com/holiday-party-may-6-may-12-2020-national-nurses-week-with-deidre-emerson/
HAPPY NATIONAL NURSES WEEK! Join us as we celebrate the people out there doing heavy lifting in hospitals and saving lives. Today we're partying with sister, master Tweeter and nurse Deidre Emerson (@lilredrooster)!! LET'S PARTY!! Find Holiday Party online – HOLIDAYPARTYPODCAST.COM Find Alyssa – Twitter: @alyssapants / alyssapants.com Find Disa – Spotify: open.spotify.com/user/1243777842 Find show notes for this episode at https://laughowenslaugh.com/holiday-party-may-6-may-12-2020-national-nurses-week-with-deidre-emerson/
HAPPY NATIONAL GET OVER IT DAY! Join us as we celebrate moving on with your life or callously telling people to shut up about their problems! Today we're partying with someone who was really disconcerted when we told her what the topic was, Amy Cowan (AmyACowan.com)!! LET'S PARTY!! Find Holiday Party online – Patreon: patreon,com/HOLIDAYPARTY Twitter: @HOLIDAYPARTYPOD / Instagram: HOLIDAYPARTYPODCAST / Facebook: @HOLIDAYPARTYPODCAST / HOLIDAYPARTYPODCAST.COM Find Alyssa – Twitter: @alyssapants / alyssapants.com Find Disa – Spotify: open.spotify.com/user/1243777842 Find the show notes at https://laughowenslaugh.com/holiday-party-march-9th-2021--national-get-over-it-day-with-amy-cowan/
HAPPY NATIONAL PERSONAL SPACE DAY! Join us as we celebrate our personal bubbles and keeping our hands to our goddamn selves! Today we're partying with personal space aficionado and friend Adam (Twitter: @mrmadamadam / Instagram: @mrmadamadam)!! LET'S PARTY!! Find Holiday Party online – Patreon: patreon,com/HOLIDAYPARTY Twitter: @HOLIDAYPARTYPOD / Instagram: HOLIDAYPARTYPODCAST / Facebook: @HOLIDAYPARTYPODCAST / HOLIDAYPARTYPODCAST.COM Find Alyssa – Twitter: @alyssapants / alyssapants.com Find Disa – Spotify: open.spotify.com/user/1243777842
HAPPY NATIONAL MAGIC DAY! Join us as we celebrate sleight of hand, illusion and fun mystical stuff on this day where there's only one holiday happening (which is National Magic Day)! (NOTE: This episode is not about Magic: The Gathering, Magic Johnson, or Magic Mike.) Today we're partying with magic fan, beloved DJ and jewelry artist Annie Saunders (Twitter: @anniemated / Instagram: @anniemated / Radio Show / Shop: League of Shadows)!! LET'S PARTY!! Find Holiday Party online – Patreon: patreon,com/HOLIDAYPARTY Twitter: @HOLIDAYPARTYPOD / Instagram: HOLIDAYPARTYPODCAST / Facebook: @HOLIDAYPARTYPODCAST / HOLIDAYPARTYPODCAST.COM Find Alyssa – Twitter: @alyssapants / alyssapants.com Find Disa – Spotify: open.spotify.com/user/1243777842
HAPPY NATIONAL ONE-HIT WONDER DAY! Join us as we celebrate the artists that made a single thing people loved and then disappeared into the night. Today we're partying with Cody Skinner and Norm Quarrinton (@NormanQ on Twitter)!! LET'S PARTY!! Find Holiday Party online – Patreon: patreon,com/HOLIDAYPARTY Twitter: @HOLIDAYPARTYPOD / Instagram: HOLIDAYPARTYPODCAST / Facebook: @HOLIDAYPARTYPODCAST / HOLIDAYPARTYPODCAST.COM Find Alyssa – Twitter: @alyssapants / alyssapants.com Find Disa – Spotify: open.spotify.com/user/1243777842 Find show notes for this episode at https://www.holidaypartypodcast.com/september-25th-national-one-hit-wonder-day
HAPPY NATIONAL MUTT DAY! Join us as we celebrate those mixed breed dogs that fill our lives with joy. Today we're partying with dog pal Nicki Fuchs (@nfewks on Instagram and Twitter)!! LET'S PARTY!! Find Holiday Party online – Patreon: patreon,com/HOLIDAYPARTY Twitter: @HOLIDAYPARTYPOD / Instagram: HOLIDAYPARTYPODCAST / Facebook: @HOLIDAYPARTYPODCAST / HOLIDAYPARTYPODCAST.COM Find Alyssa – Twitter: @alyssapants / alyssapants.com Find Disa – Spotify: open.spotify.com/user/1243777842 Find show notes for this episode at https://www.holidaypartypodcast.com/july-31-2020-december-2nd-national-mutt-day-with-nicki-fuchs
HAPPY NATIONAL NURSES WEEK! Join us as we celebrate the people out there doing heavy lifting in hospitals and saving lives. Today we're partying with sister, master Tweeter and nurse Deidre Emerson (@lilredrooster)!! LET'S PARTY!! Find Holiday Party online – Patreon: patreon,com/HOLIDAYPARTY Twitter: @HOLIDAYPARTYPOD / Instagram: HOLIDAYPARTYPODCAST / Facebook: @HOLIDAYPARTYPODCAST / HOLIDAYPARTYPODCAST.COM Find Alyssa – Twitter: @alyssapants / alyssapants.com Find Disa – Spotify: open.spotify.com/user/1243777842 Find show notes for this episode at https://www.holidaypartypodcast.com/may-6-may-12-2020-national-nurses-week-with-deidre-emerson
HAPPY NATIONAL GRILLED CHEESE SANDWICH DAY! Join us as we celebrate those delicious cheese filled dreams. Today we're partying with pal, comedian and grilled cheese fan Dan Kapr (Twitch.TV/DanHasJokes)!! LET'S PARTY!! Find Holiday Party online – Patreon: patreon,com/HOLIDAYPARTY Twitter: @HOLIDAYPARTYPOD / Instagram: HOLIDAYPARTYPODCAST / Facebook: @HOLIDAYPARTYPODCAST / HOLIDAYPARTYPODCAST.COM Find Alyssa – Twitter: @alyssapants / alyssapants.com Find Disa – Spotify: open.spotify.com/user/1243777842 Find show notes at https://www.holidaypartypodcast.com/april-12-2020-national-grilled-cheese-sandwich-day-with-dan-kapr
MAKE UP YOUR OWN HOLIDAY DAY with Kevin Tit! Join us as we celebrate making up even more things to celebrate. Today we're partying with celebrated friend, celebrated comedian and celebrated music man Kevin Tit!! LET'S PARTY!! Find Holiday Party online – Patreon: patreon,com/HOLIDAYPARTY Twitter: @HOLIDAYPARTYPOD / Instagram: HOLIDAYPARTYPODCAST / Facebook: @HOLIDAYPARTYPODCAST / HOLIDAYPARTYPODCAST.COM Find Alyssa – Twitter: @alyssapants / alyssapants.com Find Disa – Spotify: open.spotify.com/user/1243777842 Find show notes at https://www.holidaypartypodcast.com/march-26-2020-make-up-your-own-holiday-day-with-kevin-tit
HAPPY INCONVENIENCE YOURSELF DAY! Join us as celebrate everything the stuff that gets in the way of other stuff. Today we're celebrating with the lovely and sometimes inconvenient Amy Cowan (aacowan.com)!! LET'S PARTY!! Find Holiday Party online – Patreon: patreon,com/HOLIDAYPARTY Twitter: @HOLIDAYPARTYPOD / Instagram: HOLIDAYPARTYPODCAST / Facebook: @HOLIDAYPARTYPODCAST / HOLIDAYPARTYPODCAST.COM Find Alyssa – Twitter: @alyssapants / alyssapants.com Find Disa – Spotify: open.spotify.com/user/1243777842 SHOW NOTES Definition of the topic Inconvenience, as defined by Merriam-Webster is: Something that is inconvenient….or not convenient especially in giving trouble or annoyance The top definition on Urban Dictionary, with 16 thumbs up, is that Inconvenience is “a version of baseball you play when you do not have enough people to field two full teams. The rules are that “you can only hit to right field or left field, which you have to call before you are up. If you hit to the opposite field, you are out. The outfield can throw the ball to the pitcher to get the lead runner out.” Conveniently, or inconveniently depending on how you look at it, this is also the most downvoted definition of “inconvenience” on Urban Dictionary, with 47 thumbs down. It was posted on July 12, 2004 by “Steve”. The only other definition of “inconvenience” on UD was posted on November 2, 2019, and states that inconvenience is the “trouble or difficulty caused to one’s personal requirements or comfort.” It has no votes either way, and was added by the user “TheUnseenWriter” (lol) History of the holiday According to Worldwide Weird Holidays, Inconvenience Yourself Day has been celebrated on the 4th Wednesday in February since 2006. The holiday was created by Julie Thompson, the then (and now?) president of Environmental Resources Network in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, to encourage everyone to recognize how our actions impact the lives of those around us I checked, and this sadly means that it will never fall on Leap Day, which is too bad because it would make it an incredibly inconvenient holiday “It’s easy to become so focused on our own crazy to-do lists that we forget to hold open a door, let a customer with only a few items get ahead of us in line, thank someone who has helped us or just be kind to others when there is no tangible benefit to us.” Its goal is not only to recognize a person’s self awareness in life, but also to acknowledge other peoples’ lives and actions as well. There are times where you need to put yourself first, but this day is meant to encourage you to try to put someone else before you And according to WWH, “the secret payoff of inconveniencing ourselves: it makes us feel good. Who knows? It could become a habit. Slow down, say thanks, and have a happy Inconvenience Yourself Day!” Fun facts and opinions A 2018 NYTimes opinion piece by Tim Wu, a law professor at Columbia, entitled “The Tyranny of Convenience”, says that “convenience is the most underestimated and least understood force in the world today.” Defining convenience as the more efficient and easier ways of doing personal tasks, Wu describes its effects on our individual lives and our economies. “Convenience seems to make our decisions for us, trumping what we like to imagine are our true preferences. Easy is better, easiest is best.” “Convenience has the ability to make other options unthinkable.” Why wash your dishes or clothes by hand when you can let machines do it? When you can watch streaming television or listen to a podcast anytime you want, why would you bother with waiting for a prescribed radio or television hour? Why would you use BIng when you have Google? Resisting convenience, such as refusing to get a smartphone or printing out Mapquest instructions instead of using a GPS, must “come to require a special kind of dedication that is often taken for eccentricity, if not fanaticism.” The “article describes two separate cultural waves of convenience,” with the first taking place in the early 20th century with labor-saving inventions for the home and industry, such as convenience foods, washing machines, electric vacuum cleaners, and factory farming. The inventions were quickly embraced, since people thought it would free them from extraneous labor and offer the possibility of leisure for the first time, meaning that time could be used instead for hobbies, education, or binge watching I Love Lucy or The Jetsons This first wave began to wane and people seemed to intentionally embrace some inconvenience in the 60s and 70s in order to resist conformity and retain a sense of individuality. So it was fitting that the second wave of convenience, which occurred in the 1980s, would co-opt this ideal by presenting the idea of personal technology with the invention of the Sony Walkman. According to Wu, “if the first convenience revolution promised to make life and work easier for you, the second promised to make it easier to be you. The new technologies were catalysts of selfhood. They conferred efficiency on self-expression.” This version of convenience is no longer occupied with saving physical labor or creating free time--”it is about minimizing the mental resources, the mental exertion, required to choose among the options that express ourselves. Convenience is one-click, one-stop shopping, the seamless experience of “plug and play.” The ideal is personal preference with no effort.” But convenience has a dark side. “With its promise of smooth, effortless efficiency, it threatens to erase the sort of struggles and challenges that help give meaning to life. Created to free us, it can become a constraint on what we are willing to do, and thus in a subtle way it can enslave us.” We pay a premium for convenience. As Wu states, “We are spoiled by immediacy and become annoyed by tasks that remain at the old level of effort and time. When you can skip the line and buy concert tickets on your phone, waiting in line to vote in an election is irritating.” (On the other hand, I miss the days of buying concert tickets in person. Not only were they cheaper, but I’m a sentimental fuck who loves keeping the physical tickets as a memento) Wu presents the concept of a paradoxical truth that today’s technologies of individualization are technologies of mass individualization, and that customization can be surprisingly homogenizing. Social media like Facebook and Instagram are vehicles intended to help you present your unique self, yet their formats and conventions force us to present ourselves as overwhelmingly the same He argues that “being a person is only partly about having and exercising choices. It is also about how we face up to situations that are thrust upon us, about overcoming worthy challenges and finishing difficult tasks--the struggles that help make us who we are.” “Today’s cult of convenience fails to acknowledge that difficulty is a constitutive feature of human experience. Convenience is all destination and no journey...We are becoming people who care mainly or only about outcomes.” Wu recommends that “we need to consciously embrace the inconvenient...if you want to be someone, you cannot allow convenience to be the value that transcends all others. Struggle is not always a problem. Sometimes struggle is a solution. It can be the solution to the question of who you are.” We already do this to a great degree, though we call these inconveniences other names, such as hobbies or passions. If you’re into wood carving, glass-blowing, exercise, or talking about inconvenience on your hobby podcast, you already making inconvenient choices in order to create your own character and give your life meaning. Wu concludes by insisting that “we must never forget the joy of doing something slow and something difficult, the satisfaction of not doing what is easiest. The constellation of inconvenient choices may be all that stands between us and a life of total, efficient conformity.” If you do find yourself annoyed by inconveniences that were not intentional, such as locking yourself out, dealing with intense traffic, or breaking your phone, sersanoconsulting.com has some advice for how to change your perspective and therefore your experience of the inconvenient. Remind yourself that these problems are almost certainly temporary Pay attention to your thoughts and emotions during these moments of inconvenience. See if you can take a different course of action that will counteract the typical build-up of frustration and irritation. For example, if you lock yourself out of your home and catch yourself in a spiral of blame or anger, see what else you can do with the time you’re about to spend locked out, such as taking a walk and exploring a different neighborhood, or in my case, developing a real appreciation for how fucking difficult it is to actually break into someone’s home thanks to modern door locks You don’t have to get mentally stuck when your plans go off the rails, since the misfortune is not likely to be eternal and you can make the choice to not let that time and emotion go to waste A thinkpiece from HackSpirit.com entitled “These 20 inconvenient truths about life are hard to admit but they’ll change your life when you do” highlight some “hard truths about life that will benefit you in the long run” to accept, including: We haven’t got that much control in life Our expectations are what cause are [sic] suffering Everything, even you, is imperfect Worrying is a complete waste of time The best lessons often come from hardships We often confuse being busy with being productive Most of us don’t need more to be happy, we need less As a society, we’re way too focused on outer beauty Most arguments we have are pointless It’s easier to hold onto the way things are than to learn and grow Everyone will die You give your own life meaning There is no such thing as a perfect partner Life isn’t that serious Everything will come to an end Be realistic Make a change or don’t complain The best lessons often come from hardships (see brutal truth #3) Most of us don’t need more to be happy, we need less (smh) Here’s mine: Proofreading is a necessary inconvenience Science shows that inconvenience can actually be really good for you, especially when helping others! Mentalfloss sites that “studies indicate that the very act of giving back to the community boosts your happiness, health, and sense of well-being”, and offers “7 Scientific Benefits of Helping Others” “Helping others can help you live longer” because activities such as volunteering or helping those in need can improve your “ability to manage stress and stave off disease” as well as reduce rates of depression and increase a sense of life satisfaction. This could be related to the fact that volunteering can alleviate loneliness and support our social lives, which are factors that strongly affect our long-term health One study shows that “altruism is contagious,” and found that “people are more likely to perform feats of generosity after observing another do the same”, which in turn can have a ripple effect within a community “Helping others makes us happy”! A team of sociologists “tracked 2000 people over a five-year period and found that Americans who described themselves as ‘very happy’ volunteered at least 5.8 hours per month.” This boost could come from being the byproduct of being more physically active, being more socially active, or even from providing volunteers with a neurochemical sense of reward “Helping others may help with chronic pain.” One study showed that participants who suffered from chronic pain experienced a reduction in their own symptoms after working as peer volunteers “Helping others lowers blood pressure.” Some research has shown that “older individuals who volunteered for at least 200 hours a year decreased their risk of hypertension by 40%. This could possibly be because they were provided with more social opportunities, which help relieve loneliness and the stress that often accompanies it.” “Helping others promotes positive behaviors in teens,” as teenage volunteers generally have better grades and self-image And finally, “helping others gives us a sense of purpose and satisfaction,” particularly when a person no longer holds a life-defining role such as “worker” or “parent.” Psychology Today echoes these sentiments with their article, “In Helping Others, You Help Yourself” The “warm glow” of pro-sociality that one can experience after helping someone else “is thought to be one of the drivers of generous behavior in humans [because] the positive feelings associated with helping others is that being prosocial reinforces our sense of relatedness to others, thus helping us meet our most basic psychological needs.” Activities such as volunteering, altruistic behavior, and spending money on others rather than ourselves have repeatedly shown boosts in well-being, a sense of meaning and purpose, general happiness, and lower rates of depression. There is even neural evidence suggesting a link between acts of generosity and happiness in the brain. Simply the intent and commitment to generosity can stimulate the neural change and make people happier fMRI studies show that donating money to charities activates the same (mesolimbic) regions of the brain that respond to monetary rewards or sex Other research from Columbia University shows that helping others regulate their emotions helps us regulate our own, decreases symptoms of depression, and improve our well-being since we are enhancing our own emotion regulation skills “Social regulation of emotion is a key component of our relationships. Whenever we navigate children through tantrums, help a friend through a breakup, or rely on our partners for comfort after a challenging day, we often engage in social regulation of emotion... “The two most common ways to help others regulate their emotions are through acceptance ([by] showing empathy by validating their feelings) and reappraisal ([or] helping others think about their situation in a different way).” The study was done over a 3 week period, during which “participants were provided with an anonymous online environment where they could share their personal stories of stressful life events.” They were also able to provide emotional support to each other by replying to entries with short, empathetic messages. “Participants helped each other by identifying potential distortions of thinking, suggesting reappraisal strategies or providing words of acceptance. Responses were rated for their degree of helpfulness and participants were given the opportunity to express their gratitude for the acceptance or reappraisal messages that they received from others. “The results showed that helping others to regulate their emotions predicted better emotional and cognitive outcomes for those participants who were giving the help. Moreover, because heightened levels of self-focused attention are common in depression, the more people helped others, the more their helping behavior predicted a reduction in their own depression, thanks to the use of reappraisal in their own daily lives. The article recommends that the “next time you find yourself helping someone with regulating their emotions, consider how your efforts may be providing you with an opportunity to practice for future situations at a distance, and consequently, improving your emotional well-being. Thus when it comes to the benefits of social regulation, St. Francis of Assisi’s words ring especially poignant: ‘For it is in the giving that we receive.’” There may be times when doing something kindly inconvenient will go south, though, such as the following examples from the Reader’s Digest article “14 Random Acts of Kindness That Went Totally Wrong” Reddit user dendaddy’s wife donated her kidney to a stranger, and the bills were supposed to be taken care of by the recipient. However, dendaddy and his wife learned that the recipient’s insurance hadn’t paid the bill in full and the recipient wasn’t paying it either. Since then, a collection agency has been after dendaddy’s family for the inconvenient sum of $10,000 Judith Re told Reader’s Digest,”I was purchasing fruit at a truck where several homeless men were congregating. As I purchased my fruits, I bought apples to give to each of the men. [but as I handed out the last apple, one of the men told me], ‘I’m sorry but we can’t eat these because our teeth aren’t strong enough.’” “Working out on the steps of an amphitheater, Scott Deuty, author of the book ‘Secrets of an Over 50 Fat Man’, noticed a woman and her daughter who were also working out on the steps. Inspired by the scene, Deuty responded by giving a copy of his book to the mother. Apparently, this gesture was not appreciated because the daughter responded by angrily throwing the book down the stairs!” I mean. a) what narcissistic maniac is just carrying around copies of his own goddamn book while working out and b) who the fuck wants to have to now carry a goddamn book around while they’re trying to work out that some idiot just handed them and c) the implication that the woman was fat is super obvious to everyone except apparently Scott Deuty When Veonne Anderson saw a pregnant woman smoking, she wanted to give her an encouraging word about quitting smoking for her baby’s sake. She started by telling her how pretty she looked, then asked her how many months she was. “How many…? What?”, the woman replied. “You’re pregnant, no? I mean, I thought…” “Not pregnant. Just fat.” Instant karma. Fuck you, Veonne. “When you see someone driving with a flat tire, it seems reasonable to flag them down. But Reddit user, whistledick, went beyond that simple kindness, pulling over and offering to take the driver to a convenience store to purchase a can of fix-a-flat. Unfortunately, according to whistledick, “Not only did they ride in my car silently, offering no thanks, but they also stole my wallet out of my console when I wasn’t looking.” When a homeless man asked Reddit user, hourmc, for food, hourmc gave the man the chicken salad sandwich he had with him. “Ain’t nobody gonna eat that,” the man said, refusing the sandwich. Hourmc recalled feeling “strangely rejected” Yet another Reddit user, capatiller, let a longtime friend stay in her spare bedroom when the friend was leaving an abusive husband. Capatiller’s friend then showed her gratitude by starting an affair with capatiller’s fiance, and the two of them then kicked capatiller out of the house and took up residency there together. Our final Reddit user named Thundernut was trail running when he encountered a fallen tree on the path. He decided to move the tree as a good deed, but then felt a pain on his knee. Then another. He soon realized he was being attacked by a swarm of bees that were nesting in the tree. Thundernut then spent three days in the hospital with anaphylaxis That all said, if your attempts to help someone backfire, take advantage of those emotional regulation skills of yours and remember that your discomfort is simply temporary and that anaphylaxis will only help your journey to being a better version of you :) What it means to me This was an incredibly inconvenient holiday to research “Inconvenient” is really inconvenient to type It’s more obvious that modern day conveniences are actually having some long-term consequences. Convenience food is terrible for you, single-use plastics and other similar inventions are terrible for the environment, and social media is terrible for your social life Activities to celebrate Whatever you do today, be sure to do it with the #InconvenienceYourselfDay hashtag on all your social media Worldwide Weird Holidays has a few suggestions to “slow the pace of [your] hectic lives, if only for today.” Call a friend instead of texting Write a letter instead of a Facebook message Cook a favorite meal instead of throwing something together (or getting delivery) Maybe even get the “good” china out of storage, because what the hell are you even saving it for? Take a walk without any mobile devices and look around at your neighborhood, not just the view of the sidewalk you see past your cell phone WikiHow, as always, comes to the rescue with the following breakdown of precisely how to Inconvenience Yourself today Be there for someone else emotionally--if someone you know needs to talk, give them your full attention. Give them advice and try to get them to see a positive aspect in whatever they’re going through. Everyone loves smiles and hugs, especially in a stressful situation Make children feel appreciated--”When parents are buried in work, household chores to maintain a clean & safe house, and bill payment deadlines to meet, it’s hard to set some time off to spend quality time with kids. Help them out with homework, have fun preparing for a test by creating index card games, take them to the park, or even play their favorite video game with them.” Perform a random act of kindness to a stranger--”don’t hesitate to let someone in the supermarket line before you if they have a few things while you have a full cart. Open the door for a senior citizen and allow them to walk in/out before you.” Be patient on the road--”Allow people to go in front of you to make a merge and never play the ‘bumper-to-bumper game’ so that people can’t merge. Avoid taking a parking space because it’s closer and more convenient for you; go further back to allow someone else the chance - it’s also good exercise to walk.” Achieve success at work--”Use this day to re-evaluate how you present yourself towards others. Offer help to someone first; don’t wait for them to come to you. Explain things with specific instructions instead of a basic overview. Take the time out and ensure that they are presented with the best assistance.” Avoid doing “me” things--”’Me’ things are activities or wants that people desire to do in their spare or leisure time by themselves. Examples could be sleeping in to a later time, taking a stress-free walk by themselves, or reading a book in a peaceful and quiet place. Agree to an outing with friends or attend your daughter’s stuffed animal tea party.” Reflect on “Inconvenience Yourself Day”-- “If you have put someone else before you, how did it make you feel? Were you satisfied or unhappy with the result(s)? Try to adapt and practice this everyday and see if it comes back to you.” Weekendnotes.com offers this comprehensive schedule for a proper celebration of the holiday “You start the day by waking up at 5AM, you need to celebrate the day to its fullest The first thing you do is start a load of all your bath towels Then, you take a freezing cold shower for 15 minutes When you’re done you realize you have no towel You figure out that problem and then you get dressed The thing is that you don’t get dressed the convenient way Put your clothes on backwards and inside out Once you’re completely dressed you go get the ingredients for cereal As you are pouring the milk you look at the time and then freak out, you’re late for work You spill the milk and then decide that you need something to eat You get your purse/wallet and then remember you need your coat You put your purse/wallet down and your coat on and get your car keys off the key hook You get in the car and hurry to the store Once you’re at the checkout you remember you have no money, because you forgot your purse/wallet You hurry to your car, just to remember that you locked your keys in the car You call the police to see if they can open the door, but the closest police man is over a half an hour away You call a friend who thankfully takes you to work But you’re late! And your boss is mad at you, for being late for the past week He gives you an insane amount of overtime, which you know you deserve You finish a hard day of work at 7PM, dealing with various inconveniences you made for yourself You didn’t wear your suit, so you had to borrow another employees extra one Well, you spilled coffee on it, so you had to find another just like it You yell at your friend, because she was yelling at you for ruining her suit and you just made the meaning of the special holiday come true You return to the store and a police officer arrives. He goes through many ID questions, but realizes you are legit You go home just to find spoiled, bumpy, smelly milk all over your kitchen floor After you clean it up you realize it is 8PM You put your cell phone in the charger and the power to the house turns off You change into your most uncomfortable outfit and go to sleep INCONVENIENCE YOURSELF DAY Mixtape Help! By The Beatles The Inconvenient Truth by Nervus Unsolicited by Disadvantages The Annoying Song by Butthole Surfers Watch Out For This (Bumaye) by Major Lazer, Busy Signal, The Flexican, FS Green Do Somethin’ by Britney Spears Help I’m Alive by Metric Pain In The Ass by Nina Kraviz Kitties and Inconveniences by Iamjakehill World of Inconvenience by Dub Trio featuring King Buzzo Lose Yourself by Eminem Find You by Zedd, Matthew Koma, Miriam Bryant https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3f9XQw3stUg8sZDSV24b3M?si=ensyNxXUQiKk0KiHw5wfIQ And never forget what our wise “prince of paradox” Gilbert K. Chesterton once said, “An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered.” GKC was an English write, philosopher, and lay theologian, often referred to as the “prince of paradox” [embed]https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3f9XQw3stUg8sZDSV24b3M?si=ensyNxXUQiKk0KiHw5wfIQ[/embed] SOURCES https://www.wikihow.com/Celebrate-Inconvenience-Yourself-Day https://www.worldwideweirdholidays.com/inconvenience-yourself-day/ https://www.weekendnotes.com/celebrate-national-inconvenience-yourself-day/ https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/inconvenience https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Inconvenience https://hackspirit.com/20-brutal-truths-life-will-make-better-person-1/ https://www.sersanoconsulting.com/2017/09/inconvenience-perspective/ https://www.treehugger.com/culture/why-convenience-overrated.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/16/opinion/sunday/tyranny-convenience.html https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/71964/7-scientific-benefits-helping-others https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/between-cultures/201805/in-helping-others-you-help-yourself https://www.rd.com/true-stories/acts-of-kindness-gone-wrong/
HAPPY NATIONAL NOTHING DAY! Join us as we celebrate the vast emptiness of the lack of anything. Today we're celebrating with writer and fellow fan of nothing Norm Quarrinton (Twitter: @NormanQ)!! LET'S PARTY!! Find Holiday Party online – Patreon: patreon,com/HOLIDAYPARTY Twitter: @HOLIDAYPARTYPOD / Instagram: HOLIDAYPARTYPODCAST / Facebook: @HOLIDAYPARTYPODCAST / HOLIDAYPARTYPODCAST.COM Find Alyssa – Twitter: @alyssapants / alyssapants.com Find Disa – Spotify: open.spotify.com/user/1243777842 SHOW NOTES History/Fun facts about the topic How do we define “nothing”? (What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think of “nothing”?) An article from Vice summarizes this conundrum pretty well. “Nothing is a concept so deceptively simple that it inhabits the strange intersection of science, philosophy, and language itself. Like a child asking “Why?” to the point of absurdity, trying to get to the bottom of this problem can be pretty frustrating” “‘Nothing’, used as a pronoun subject, is the absence of a something or particular thing that one might expect or desire to be present (“We found nothing”, “Nothing was there”) or the inactivity of a thing or things that are usually or could be active (“Nothing moved”, “Nothing happened”). As a predicate or complement “nothing” is the absence of meaning, value, worth, relevance, standing, or significance (“It is a tale/Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,/ Signifying nothing”; “The affair meant nothing”; “I’m nothing in their eyes”). Grammatically, the word “nothing” is an indefinite pronoun, which means that it refers to something. According to cute-calendar.com, “one might argue that ‘nothing’ is a concept, and since concepts are things, the concept of “nothing” itself is a thing. Many philosophers hold that the word “nothing” does not function as a noun, as there is no object to which it refers.” “Nothingness” is a philosophical term for the general state of nonexistence, sometimes reified as a domain or dimension into which things pass when they cease to exist or out of which they may come to exist, e.g. God is understood to have created the universe ex nihilo, “out of nothing”. Creatio ex nihilo is one of the most common themes in ancient myths and religions Western philosophy has been obsessing over “nothingness” for a very long time. To avoid linguistic traps over the meaning of “nothing”, philosophers will often use a phrase such as not-being to make clear what is being discussed One of the earliest Western philosophers to consider nothing as a concept was Parmenides, a Greek philosopher of the monist school who lived in the 5th century BC. He reasoned that “nothing” cannot exist because to speak of a thing, one has to speak of a thing that exists. Since we can speak of a thing in the past, this thing must still exist (in some sense) now. From this, he concludes that there is no such thing as change, there can be no such things as coming-into-being, passing-out-of-being, or not-being Parmenides was an influence for other philosophers such as Socrates and Plato, though Aristotle shrugged him off, concluding, “Although these opinions seem to follow logically in a dialectical discussion, yet to believe them seems next door to madness when one considers the facts.” Aristotle provided an escape from the logical problem posed by Parmenides by distinguishing things that are matter and things that are space. In this scenario, space is not “nothing” but, rather, a receptacle in which objects of matter can be placed. The true void (as “nothing”) is different from “space” and is removed from consideration. This characterization of space reached its pinnacle with Isaac Newton who asserted the existence of absolute space. Rene Descartes, however, espoused an argument similar to Parmenides, which denied the existence of space. For Descartes, there was matter, and there was extension of matter leaving no room for the existence of “nothing.” In modern times, Albert Einstein’s concept of spacetime has led many scientists, including Einstein himself, to adopt a position remarkably similar to Parmenides. On the death of his friend Michelle Besso, Einstein consoled his widow with the words, “Now he has departed from this strange world a little ahead of time. That signifies nothing. For those of us that believe in physics, the distinction between past, present, and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion.” Existentialists really like to spend a lot of time considering ‘nothing.’ “The most prominent figure among the existentialists is Jean-Paul Sartre, whose ideas in his book Being and Nothingness are heavily influenced by Being and Time of Martin Heidegger, although Heidegger later stated that he was misunderstood by Satre. Sartre defines two kinds of “being” or etre. One kind is etre-en-soi, the brute existence of things such as a tree. The other kind is etre-pour-soi which is consciousness. Sartre claims that this second kind of being is “nothing” since consciousness cannot be an object of consciousness and can possess no essence. Sartre uses this conception of nothing as the foundation of his atheist philosophy, since equating nothingness with being leads to creation from nothing. Hence, God is no longer needed for there to be existence Modern day philosopher Jim Holt describes nothingness as “a state in which everything is not self-identical. If for all x, x is unequal to x; that sentence in logic describes a state of nothingness. It doesn’t help the imagination, but it doesn’t give rise to any contradictions. It can only be true if nothing exists, because if anything exists, it equals itself.” He also contends that, “Nothing is the simplest way that reality could turn out; it’s the least arbitrary, because it excludes everything. Once you take that seriously, you begin to think, ‘That’s how it should have been; why should there be something rather than nothing?’” Of course, the understanding of ‘nothing’ varies between cultures. In some Eastern philosophies, the concept of “nothingness” is characterized by an egoless state of being in which one fully realizes one’s own small part in the cosmos. Sunyata, or emptiness, is considered a state of mind in some forms of Buddhism--achieving ‘nothing’ in this tradition allows one to be totally focused on a thought or activity at a level of intensity that they would not be able to achieve if they were consciously thinking. A classic example of this is an archer attempting to erase the mind and clear the thoughts to better focus on the shot Some have pointed to similarities between the Buddhist conception of nothingness and the ideas of Martin Heidegger and existentialists like Sartre Before moving on from the philosophical interpretations of “nothing,” I would be remiss to not mention Seinfeld, which is popularly known as “the show about nothing” as many of its episodes are about the minutiae of daily life. According to a BBC article, “Was Seinfeld Really ‘About Nothing’?”, the show “revealed the same problems of being that nauseated the existentialists: the tiniest acts of its characters come together to wreak havoc, sometimes on other characters, more commonly on unsuspecting strangers.” “...one could argue [the show] has a strong nihilistic streak throughout its run - if it’s about ‘nothing’, it’s about the nothingness of existence, the futility of it all.” Just as with ‘nothing’ throughout history, books have been written about Seinfeld since it’s conclusion, colleges offer classes on it that tend to fill to capacity, and think pieces still regularly pop up about the show, despite its finale airing over twenty years ago, on May 14, 1998. From the article, Seinfeld is one of many major works of pop culture that “show us why we say the things we do, do the things we do, thinking the things we think, like the things we like. Seinfeld teaches us what at least one sliver of life was like in 1990s America: silly, banal, self-indulgent, self-obsessed and maybe even nihilistic underneath it all” and shows us “the more universal tendencies we share: we’re probably still a little self-indulgent, even more self-obsessed and still questioning what it all means. And any show that makes us think about all of that - while making nihilism and existentialism fun - can’t really be about nothing after all, can it?” Both philosophically and mathematically, the concept of “zero” has a bumpy history. The ancient Greeks hated the concept of zero so much that they refused to incorporate it into their number system, even when their astronomical calculations called for it. They were uneasy, thinking, “How can nothing be something?” Aristotle once wrote, “Nature abhors a vacuum,” and so did he (I’m naming my next dog Aristotle). His complete rejection of vacuums and voids and his subsequent influence on centuries of learning prevented the adoption and the concept of zero in the Western world until around the 13th century, when Italian bankers found it to be extraordinarily useful in financial transactions Other terms for ‘zero’ include ‘nought’, which is where“naughty” is derived from because it was bad to be nothing. Zero was thought of as Devil’s work and the antithesis of God “Zero” was first seen in cuneiform tablets written around 300 BC by Babylonians who used it as a placeholder (to distinguish 36 from 306 or 360, for example). The concept of zero in its mathematical sense was developed in India in the 5th century, and popularized in Europe by Fibonacci in the eleventh century Any number divided by zero is...nothing, not even zero. The equation is mathematically impossible A mathematical concept of nothing proposed by science journalist Charles Seife, who authored “Zero: The Biography of of a Dangerous idea,” proposed starting with a set of numbers that included only the number zero, then removing zero, leaving with is called a null set In computing, “nothing” can be a keyword used in place of something unassigned, a data abstraction. Although a computer’s storage hardware always contains numbers, “nothing” symbolizes a number skipped by the system when the programmer desires. May systems have similar capabilities but different keywords, such as “null”, “NUL”, “nil”, and “None” In physics, the concept of “nothing” can be a touchy and complex subject to consider. Generally, a region of space is called a vacuum if it does not contain any matter, though it can contain physical fields. In fact, it is practically impossible to construct a region of space that contains no matter or fields, since gravity cannot be blocked and all objects at a non-zero temperature radiate electromagnetically According to theoretical physicist Sean Carroll, “Even if [space] is as empty as it can be, there are still quantum mechanical [properties] - they’re just in a zero-energy state not doing anything. But you could probe the vacuum, as particle physics does, and discover its properties.” Empty space is instead filled with pairs of particles and antiparticles, called virtual particles, that quickly form and then, in accordance with the law of energy conservation, annihilate each other in about 10-25 seconds These virtual particles popping in and out of existence create energy. In fact, according to quantum mechanics, the energy contained in all the power plants and nuclear weapons in the world doesn’t equal the theoretical energy contained in the empty spaces between these words Carroll suggests that, “It’s probably better to think of nothing as the absence of even space and time, rather than space and time without anything in them.” Forbes.com further reiterates that “not everyone agrees about what we mean, scientifically, when we talk about what ‘nothing’ actually is” and helpfully outlines the four scientific meanings of nothing: A time when your “thing” of interest didn’t exist--if something fundamentally arose where there was no such thing before Empty space--if you take all the matter, antimatter, radiation, and spatial curvature away Empty spacetime in the lowest-energy state possible--if you then take away any energy inherent to space itself, leaving only spacetime and the laws of nature Whatever you’re left with when you take away the entire Universe and the laws governing it A few more fun facts from the Discovermagazine.com article “20 Things You Didn’t Know About...Nothing” There is vastly more nothing than something. Roughly 74% of the universe is “nothing,” or dark energy. 22% is dark matter. Only 4% is baryonic matter, the stuff we call ‘something.’ And even something is mostly nothing. Atoms overwhelmingly consist of empty space. Matter’s solidity is an illusion caused by the electric fields created by subatomic particles There is more and more nothing every second. In 1998 astronomers measuring the expansion of the universe determined that dark energy is pushing apart the universe at an ever-accelerating speed. The discovery of nothing - and its ability to influence the fate of the cosmos - is considered the most important astronomical finding of the past decade But even nothing has a weight. The energy in dark matter is equivalent to a tiny mass; there is about one pound of dark energy in a cube of empty space 250K miles on each side In space, no one can hear you scream: Sound, a mechanical wave, cannot travel through a vacuum. Without matter to vibrate through, there is only silence Light can travel through a vacuum, but there is nothing to refract it. Alas for extraterrestrial romantics, stars do not twinkle in outer space Black holes are not holes or voids; they are the exact opposite of nothing, being the densest concentration of mass known in the universe It is said that Abdulhamid II, sultan of the Ottoman Empire in the early 1900s, had censors expunge references to H2O from chemistry books because he was sure it stood for “Hamid the Second is nothing” Medieval art was mostly flat and 2D until the 15th century, when the Florentine architect Filippo Brunalleschi conceived of the vanishing point, the place where parallel lines converge into nothingness. This allowed for the development of perspective in art Vacuums do not suck things. They create spaces into which the surrounding atmosphere pushes matter Current theories suggest that the universe was created out of a state of vacuum energy, that is, nothing In other words, nothing could be the key to the theory of everything Urban Dictionary’s top definition of “nothing” is: “Actually means ‘something,’ but is used when you don’t feel like explaining,” posted by user Melanie on October 21, 2003 The second most upvoted Urban Dictionary definition of “nothing” was posted by user Doomeyes, also on October 21, 2003, and is thus: “Nothing, put simply, is the deepest, shallowest, brightest, darkest, widest, thinnest, and incomprehensibly empty emptiness, so empty that it is only prevented from collapsing upon itself because there is no substance to collapse in upon, or no substance to do the collapsing, or even any substance to think or daydream about collapsing upon absence of presence or presence of absence, which is still utterly and completely absent of form and shape and mass and presence that is absent from the existence of anything. In short, nothing is the total, absolute, final, and complete spot that is both positive and negative, young and old, and to sum it all up the opposite of everything in existence, for there is no existence in nothingness. It has even been thought that nothingness itself doesn’t even exist, and that the existence of nothingness is so impossibly ludicrous and insane that if anyone were to actually realize or see nothingness, the entirety of the expanse of the Everything would simply vaporize, leaning even more nothingness in its place. Nothingness is nothing, to put it simply. (really, this time)” History of National Nothing Day According to WIkipedia and various other sources, National Nothing Day is an “un-event” proposed in 1972 by San Francisco Examiner columnist Harold Pullman Coffin, and has been observed annually since 1973, when it was added to Chase’s Calendar of Events. The purpose of the holiday is “to provide Americans with one National Day when they can just sit without celebrating, observing or honoring anything.” Now remember, the third Monday of every January has, since 1986, been celebrated as MLK Jr Day, which falls between the 15th and 21st. This means that one-in-seven January 16ths now fall on a public holiday, which effectively usurps the very nature of National Nothing Day Unfun fact: Some states were resistant enough to observing MLK Jr Day that it wasn’t until 2000 that it was officially observed in all 50 states for the first time In contrast, the Realist Society of Canada has a religious holiday called THABS or “There Has Always Been Something” Day), which is dedicated to the celebration of the “realization” that “if there was ever nothing, there would be nothing now”. It is celebrated on July 8 each year. Fun fact! Harold Pullman Coffin was born in Reno, NV on January 26th, 1905 and is buried at Masonic Memorial Gardens on Stoker Ave, near Idlewild Park and Reno High School. Activities to celebrate Do nothing! But use the hashtag #NationalNothingDay on social media when you brag about all the nothing that you’re doing Watch Seinfeld. You can start with the show’s self-mocking clips where Jerry and George pitch a show to NBC about “nothing” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQnaRtNMGMI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUWiv5r_CZw Watch the 2003 movie “Nothing”, a canadian philosophical comedy-drama about two friends and housemates who open their front door one day and discover that the entire world beyond their house is gone, replaced with a featureless white void Watch “A Short History of Nothing” on bbc.co.uk. https://www.bbc.co.uk/ideas/videos/a-short-history-of-nothing/p076bm46 You can post some of the following “nothing” quotes to your social media, and anyone under 14 on your friends list will think you’re really deep “We can know only that we know nothing. And that is the highest degree of human wisdom.” - Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace “I am the wisest man alive, for I know one thing, and that is that I know nothing.” - Plato, The Republic “To do nothing is the way to be nothing.” - Nathanial Hawthorne “Tired, tired with nothing, tired with everything, tired with the world’s weight he had never chosen to bear.” - F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Beautiful and Damned “I love to talk about nothing. It’s the only thing I know anything about.” - Oscar Wilde “I must be made of nothing to feel so much nothing.” - Michelle Hodkin, The Evolution of Mara Dyer “In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.” - Theodore Roosevelt “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” - Edmund Burke “Our nada who art in nada, nada be thy name thy kingdom nada thy will be nada in nada as it is in nada. Give us this nada our daily nada and nada us our nada as we nada our nadas and nada us not into nada but deliver us from nada; pues nada. Hail nothing full of nothing, nothing is with thee.” - Ernest Hemingway, A Clean Well Lighted Place “Nothing is impossible, the word itself says ‘I’m possible’!” - Audrey Hepburn From bustle.com, you could Watch or read “Much Ado About Nothing” Have a milkshake at Tom’s Restaurant in NYC, which is a nod to Seinfeld Watch GoT and remember that Jon Snow knows nothing Challenge yourself to do nothing for two minutes. This tip includes a link to the website donothingfor2minutes.com, which is essentially an ad for the Calm app and features an ocean at sunset in the background, the sounds of waves, and a timer that resets every time you interact with your computer in any way. Basically a beginner’s meditation session Chow down on a Nothing Bundt Cake, from the bakery Nothing Bundt Cakes Brush up on why we should all get comfortable doing nothing, five reasons for which we learn from The Guardian. First, “doing nothing” isn’t really doing nothing. “Savouring the pleasure of idleness” isn’t passive--according to psychologists, “It’s a learnable set of skills for relishing the moment, for example, by focusing on each of your senses in turn.” It could be considered synonymous with “feeling alive.” Second, aimlessness, rest, and even boredom can boost creativity. One reason why is the “incubation effect”: ceasing to focus on a project seems to give your unconscious permission to get to work. Other studies looking at boredom suggest it motivates people to find interesting ways to alleviate it, thereby triggering creative ideas. Aimless thinking can also combat the tunnel vision that can result from fixating on goals. When you have no specific end in mind, you’re less likely to exclude new ideas as irrelevant Third, too much busyness is counterproductive. The article explains that “we chronically confuse effort with effectiveness: a day spent on trifling tasks feels exhausting and virtuous, so we assume - often wrongly - it must have been useful.” However, Dutch work expert Manfred Kets de Vries informs us that busyness “can be a very effective defence mechanism for warding off disturbing thoughts and feelings.” Essentially, it’s when doing nothing that we can finally confront what matters. Fourth, the brain depends on downtime. Not only is downtime essential for “recharging”, but to process the data we’re deluged with daily, to consolidate memory, and reinforce learning. Downtime and rest strengthen the neural pathways that make these things possible. In a 2009 study, “brain imaging suggested that people faced with a strange task - controlling a computer joystick that didn’t obey the usual rules - were actively coming to grips (nice turn of phrase) with learning this new skill during seemingly passive rest periods.” And fifth, you’ll regain control of your attention. Doing nothing isn’t easy at first. It takes a good amount of willpower to resist the urge to do things. According to the meditation instructor Susan Piver, “busyness is seen as a form of laziness” in Buddhism. It’s a failure to withhold your attention from whatever random email, task, or webpage lays claim to it. One trick could be to schedule time to “do nothing.” “Just don’t expect others to understand when you decline some social event on the grounds that you’re busy not being busy.” Listen to Nothing. The band. Whisper sweet nothings to someone Read The Book of Nothing Take a trip to Nothing, Arizona. It’s now a ghost town, but once held an impressive population of 4 people and contained a gas station and small convenience store The town sign read, “Town of Nothing Arizona. Founded 1977. Elevation 3269ft. The staunch citizens of Nothing are full of Hope, Faith, and Believe in the work ethic. Thru-the-years-these dedicated people had faith in Nothing, hoped for Nothing, worked at Nothing, for Nothing.” Deseret.com has a couple of book recommendations, including “The Book of Nothing: Vacuums, Voids, and the Latest Ideas about the Origins of the Universe,” by John D. Barrow; “Nothing Matters: a book about nothing,” by Ronald Green; “The Book about Nothing,” by Mike Bender Deseret.com also encourages you to use “nothing” in as many phrases as possible, such as “All or nothing” “Nothing but…” “Thanks for nothing” “Nothing to lose” “Next to nothing” “I got nothing” NATIONAL NOTHING DAY Mixtape Nothing by Bruno Major Nothing’s Gonna Hurt You Baby by Cigarettes After Sex Zero Day by Nothing I’m Nothing by Violent Femmes Nothing From Something by The Offspring Nothing by The Script Particles by Nothing But Thieves Nothing Compares 2 U by Sinead O’Connor Nothing Breaks Like a Heart by Mark Ronson featuring Miley Cyrus Nothing Without You by The Weeknd Church by Fall Out Boy featuring nothing, nowhere Sweet Nothing by Calvin Harris featuring Florence Welch All or Nothing by O-Town Making Love Out of Nothing at All by Air Supply There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back by Shawn Mendes Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now by Starship SOURCES https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Nothing_Day https://nationaldaycalendar.com/national-nothing-day-january-16/ https://www.bustle.com/articles/59083-10-ways-to-celebrate-national-nothing-day-besides-doing-absolutely-nothing https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/jan/09/five-reasons-we-should-all-learn-to-do-nothing https://www.cute-calendar.com/event/national-nothing-day/36126.html https://www.deseret.com/2019/1/16/20663602/today-is-national-nothing-day-here-s-what-that-means https://www.brainyquote.com/topics/nothing-quotes https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/nothing https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Nothing https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/20-things-you-didnt-know-about-nothing https://www.livescience.com/28132-what-is-nothing-physicists-debate.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nothing https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2018/01/31/the-four-scientific-meanings-of-nothing/#3f2d15631a5f https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/vbk5va/what-is-nothing
HAPPY NATIONAL EMO DAY! ... I guess join us, as we talk about emo music or whatever. Do what you want, I don't feel good today. Today I guess we're celebrating with a super cool person and we're surprised he even noticed us, comedian and musician Cory Barringer (Twitter: @HunkyCory / Instagram: HunkyCory / The Kelps on Bandcamp)!! LET'S PARTY!! Find Holiday Party online – Patreon: patreon,com/HOLIDAYPARTY Twitter: @HOLIDAYPARTYPOD / Instagram: HOLIDAYPARTYPODCAST / Facebook: @HOLIDAYPARTYPODCAST / HOLIDAYPARTYPODCAST.COM Find Alyssa – Twitter: @alyssapants / alyssapants.com Find Disa – Spotify: open.spotify.com/user/1243777842 SHOW NOTES History/Fun facts about the topic Definition and history--What exactly is emo, you ask? To start, Dictionary.com gives a two-part definition of emo as a noun 1. A type of guitar-based music developed from emocore but having a softer, pop, or mainstream sound 2. A fan of emo, especially a person who is overly sensitive and full of angst or adopts a certain style characterized by dyed black hair, tight t-shirts and jeans Wikipedia further defines Emo as “a rock music genre characterized by an emphasis on emotional expression, sometimes through confessional lyrics.” Urban Dictionary has over 1400 entries for the definition of emo, with the top entry outlining three applications of the word as: an emotional person, a style, and a genre of music, from user “One of the few people who will say what the labels are instead of my opinion on them” in February 2008. This was their only submission to the site According to NME, emo might be “music’s dirtiest word,” one that “attracts scorn like few others.” As a genre, It emerged as a style of post-hardcore from the mid-1980s hardcore punk movement in Washington DC, where it was known as ‘emotional or emotive hardcore’ or ‘emocore’.” The origin of the term itself is hard to pin down, though evidence shows that it was coined in 1985. Some attribute its birth to a 1985 Thrasher article in which Embrace and other Washington DC bands were referred to as “emo-core,” while others claim that Minor Threat frontman Ian MacKaye used it self-mockingly in a magazine, and yet other people give credit to an audience member at an Embrace show, who shouted as an insult that the band was “emocore.” Either way, the general consensus is that the term was intended as an insult from the very beginning, and none of the flagship bands wanted anything to do it Though The Beach Boys’ 1966 album “Pet Sounds” was labelled “the first emo album” by Treble Zine’s Ernest Simpson, the first Emo band is often cited to be Rites of Spring, ostensibly because of their lyrics, such as, “I woke up this morning with a piece of past caught in my throat/And then I choked,” from their song “For Want Of.” Apparently the members of Rites of Spring hate being called emo, though, with Guy Picciotto once saying, “I’ve never recognized ‘emo’ as a genre of music… the reason I think it’s so stupid is that--what, like the Bad Brains weren’t emotional? What--they were robots or something? It just doesn’t make any sense to me.” In 1980, Minor Threat frontman Ian Mackaye founded the Dischord record label where it signed many DC hardcore punk bands. Later on, it went on to sign MacKaye and Picciotto’s iconic band Fugazi. Fugazi were not emo, drawing in elements of hardcore, funk, and jazz instead, but they did inspire bands in the mid 90s to abandon conventional hardcore roots The first wave of emo took off with Revolution Summer 1985, which was an attempt deliberately sought by emo-core bands like Gray Matter, Beefeater, Dag Nasty, Soulside, and Embrace to break the limitations of hardcore punk in favor for a fresh idea of creativity. It was a social movement that challenged the initial wave of hardcore music, the attitudes of fans and bands before them, and also the image mainstream media protrayed of punks. The bands that spawned from Revolution Summer often took a stand against violence, especially at shows in the form of slamdancing, as well as standing up against the sexism of the scene. During the 90s, a second wave of emo began to spread out and started splintering into different subgenres, and became to be defined by an emotional intimacy between bands and their fans. According to the altpress.com article “What is Emo, Anyway? We Look at History to Define a Genre,” this is where we saw the birth of screamo, with bands like Antioch Arrow and Swing Kids. In Seattle, Sunny Day Real Estate drew elements of grunge and alt-rock, and were in fact often pegged as the “next Nirvana” by industry insiders before they broke up for the first time in 1995. Farther down the West Coast in California, Green Day, Rancid, Jawbreaker, and Weezer were exploding onto the national scene The emo scene was particularly prolific in the Midwest at this time, giving us bands such as The Promise Ring, Cap’n Jazz, American Football, and The Get Up Kids, as well as many of the stereotypes that continue to this day--that emo is “boy-driven, glasses-wearing, overly sensitive, overly brainy, chiming-guitar-driven college music,” according to author Andy Greenwald, who wrote “Nothing Feels Good: Punk Rock, Teenagers, and EMO,” a 2003 book that explores the evolution of the emo scene and how this culture has affected its largest group, teenagers. According to The Chicago Reader critic Leor Galil, Midwest, or second-wave, emo was critical in transforming DC emo into “something malleable, melodic, and cathartic--its common features included cycling guitar parts, chugging bass lines, and unconventional singing that sounded like a sweet neighbor kid with no vocal training but plenty of heart.” The 2000s saw a third wave of emo music, and saw pop-punk and emo become inexorably intertwined. It was during this period when bands like Jimmy Eat World, Thursday, Taking Back Sunday, At The Drive-In, Saves The Day, and Brand New were at their respective peaks. We also saw the likes of Atreyu, the Faint, Bright Eyes, and Coheed and Cambria. As altpress notes, “one thing about all of these bands [is that] they all sound wildly different from one another. The sonic palette of emo is widening as quickly as outside influences can be embraced.” With the advent of MySpace in the mid 2000s, emo blew up into a full-blown counter-culture, with groups such as Fall Out Boy, AFI, My Chemical Romance, Paramore, Relient K, Plain White T’s, and Panic! At the DIsco at the forefront, giving us all the inspo to go full “mall emo.” Through that entire decade, emo purists were incensed, claiming that “emo” is already dead, horrified that bands like the Used and Senses Fail were being called “screamo,” and referring to their precious OG screamo bands as “skramz” instead. According to NME, “this is an era that countless emo purists like to reject, but it saw the genre take flight like never before.” The last decade has seen emo take two clear paths. There has been something of an underground revival, with many newer bands finding inspiration from emo’s second wave the 90s, while the emo acts from the mid-2000s explosion have gone on to huge pop success and transitions to other genres. With artists such as Lil Peep, Princess Nokia, nothing, nowhere, and Ghostmane, the next generation of emo may see the continuation of blending emo elements with hip-hop. Wherever it goes, we can surely expect the OG emo gatekeepers to keep their pearls clutched close and their tissues even closer The most significant update to the world of emo, as least to me, is taking place practically as we speak. The return of My Chemical Romance commences tomorrow, December 20th, at the Shrine Expo Hall In LA. The saga to this reunion has been a long and painful one. First, they stomped on the souls of emos around the world when they announced their breakup on March 22nd, 2013. Then in July 2016, they posted to their social media for the first time in years a video with the piano intro from “Welcome to the Black Parade,” ending with a cryptic date, “9/23/16”, which stoked hopes for a reunion announcement. It ended up being the reissue date of The Black Parade with unreleased demos. Next, in June of this year, Joe Jonas claimed that he saw the band was rehearsing in a New York studio space. Frank Iero sort of quashed these rumors, and a lot of people speculated that Joe Jonas may have confused Iero’s band, Frank Iero and the Future Violents, with My Chemical Romance. Turns out that MCR just sucked at being sneaky. They announced on Halloween 2019 that they would be performing in LA, then followed up that announcement a week later with more dates in Australia, Japan, and New Zealand for 2020 Since the reunion announcement, Pitchfork issued a retrospective review of Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge, giving it an 8.2 score, describing it as “an operatic pop-rock behemoth that became an icon for outcasts.” Criticisms and controversies (from Wikipedia) Emo music was blamed for the suicide of teenager Hannah Bond by the coroner at her inquest and her mother, with emo music reportedly glamorizing suicide. She had an online presence in emo forums where she discussed the “glamour” of hanging, as well as telling her parents that her self-harm was an “emo initiation ceremony.” A qualitative study showed emo respondents reporting “attitudes including high acceptance for suicidal behavior and self-injury,” and concluded, “the identification with the emo youth subculture is considered to be a factor strengthening vulnerability towards risky behaviors.” Emo has been criticized for being androcentrist, with Andy Greenwald citing that there are few women in emo bands and those who are have little influence on lyrical content. “Emo’s popularity and its “lonely boy’s aesthetic” have lead to a litany of one-sided songs in which men vent their fury at the women who have wronged them. Some emo bands’ lyrics disguise violent anti-women sentiments with a pop-music veneer.” The emo genre experienced backlash in response to its rapid growth. Some bands rejected the label for its social stigma and controversy. The backlash intensified in 2008, when anti-emo groups attacked teenagers in Mexico City, Queretaro, and Tijuana. Legislation was proposed in Russia’s Duma regulating emo websites and banning emo attire in schools and government buildings, with the subculture perceived as a “dangerous teen trend” promoting anti-social behavior, depression, social withdrawal, and suicide. In 2012, the BBC reported that Shia militias in Iraq shot or beat to death as many as 58 young Iraqi emos. As we know, “emo” isn’t a term only to denote a genre of music, but also a fashion statement, a lifestyle, and a collection of personality traits Wikipedia succinctly informs us that “emo fashion was originally clean-cut and tended towards geek chic”, with comparisons made to Fred Rogers and Buddy Holly. As emo entered the mainstream, fashion began to include skinny jeans, tight t-shirts, studded belts, converse sneakers, Vans, and black wristbands. Thick black eyeliner and black fingernails also became common, though the most ubiquitous facet of emo fashion is the hairstyle: flat, straight, usually jet-black hair with long bangs covering much of the face. As emo became a subculture, people who dressed in emo fashion and associated themselves with its music were known as “emo kids” or “emos”. An “emo kid,” according to Urban Dictionary is: A social classification that has been bastardized by scenesters, rich preps, and wannabe goths united. A true emo kid does not label him/herself as being “emo”...often this label is foisted on him or her against the alleged emo kid’s will. True emo kids listen to whatever the hell music they feel like, and it is often poetic or expressive. Emo is not a clothing style, cutting our wrists, or being a frequent buyer at Hot Topic. Those who call themselves “emo” are most likely just trying to be “scene” and have really screwed up the genre through wearing generic, borderline gothic clothing that all their sad little friends wear.” In other words, a “true” emo kid is someone who gatekeeps being an emo kid The most common Emo stereotypes, as taken from thetoptens.com, wikipedia, Emos hate themselves They self harm or are suicidal They’re Emo for attention Emos have fake cut marks They whine a lot They’re depressed Their poetry is bad Emo songs are bad Emos wear their mom’s makeup (pro-tip: don’t share mascara or eyeliner with anyone unless you want some attention-grabbing eye infections) They wear black clothing in hot weather (this is a good idea though!) Have spiky hair Only wear converse Their hair covers one of their eyes (sounds painful if hair is indeed spiky) Worship the devil According to National Today, emo is responsible for starting some well known trends, including Ear gauges, which NT describes as “the default millennial piercing option Social media--”Back when you couldn’t see the point in getting a Facebook page, emos were tricking out their Myspaces with glitter, animations, and their favorite songs on autoplay” Selfies: “Emos pioneered the art of self-photography, before phones even had a selfie camera!” And skinny jeans, “the official ‘00s pants style for both men and women started in the emo community first” History of National Emo Day From definithing.com, “national emo day takes place on december the 19th, and is celebrated all around the world, by emo’s and non-emos alike. It is a day for emos to celbrate their sub-culture, and for non-emos to pretend to be emo, for a day, sometimes people use the day, as an excuse tyo National emo day A day for the all emos to congregate together for a m-ss non-celbration, and general whine about life. Celebrated on the 19th of december “Oh my god… my life is like, so totally hard.” “Yeah me too… i hate my life, like so much” “What” “Go to national emo day” “Omg yeaaaah!! I mean, like. Okay, whatever, man.” Also known as-ned Its where you act emo, dress emo, be emo! Its always on may 4th. Its to make fun of the fake emo kids who are scene! “Hey are you celebrating national emo day?” “H-ll yeah i am! I cant wait to act depressed all day!” Now according to Uncyclopedia, National Emo Day “was created in 1927, created by a group of Christians who wanted to reach out to more people. In a desperate attempt they had 10K people sign a document stating they would created a holiday to celebrate the life of Emos. As they continued to publicize the petition to create the holiday they got little to know [sic] results so they decided to change their approach on the topic, They decided to instead of publicising it as an emo holiday to publicise it as a petition to make “Girls Gone Wild” videos for free. Within only 6 days they had achieved 10k signatures.” But for real, the earliest reference I could find to National Emo Day was an Urban Dictionary entry by BlackSouledBeast from December 5th, 2009, which states, and this may sound familiar, “National Emo Day takes place on December the 19th, and is celebrated all around the world, by emo’s and non-emos alike. It is a day for emos to celbrate their sub-culture, and for non-emos to pretend to be emo, for a day. Sometimes people use the day, as an excuse tyo” There was another UD entry from December 5th, 2009, by user Johnatronn, which stated, “a day for the all emos to congregate together for a mass non-celbration, and general whine about life. Celebrated on the 19th of December.” There are a grand total of 4 entries on Urban Dictionary entries for National Emo Day. The other two were added May 1st, 2018, by CRIMSON_WOLF, and June 9, 2018, by Moncricket Killer. So take that information for what it’s worth Activities to celebrate Take part in our National Emo Day social media challenge, which is to post as many sad sack updates as you can throughout the day, ending each of them with the hashtag #NationalEmoDay and the :( emoji Become emo! WikHow gives a helpful breakdown of precisely how to be an emokid. First, look the part and get an emo appearance. Start with getting “emo hair,” which usually refers to a layered haircut in which long bangs are swept and styled to one side usually held in place with mousse, hair gel, or pomade. The color is mainly natural, but sometimes “emo hair” is dyed black and sometimes features a bright highlight of blonde or other “punky” colors Then break out the black eyeliner and don’t be shy with it. Get your full waterlines, and don’t skimp on the corners of your eyes You’re also going to need nail polish, specifically black. Don’t be afraid to wear different colors or mix them Consider getting piercings! Snake bites in particular are a very common piercing among the emos Dress in emo fashion. Stock your closet with skinny jeans, hoodies, vintage t-shirts, and checked shirts that will pair great with your concert tees. Wear emo bands t-shirts, even if you’ve never seen them live Wear thick horn rimmed glasses, even and especially if you have perfect eyesight Shoes should be converse or vans. WikiHow says that you do not have to buy them new, and that’s a lie. If you don’t have an outlandish collection of limited edition high-tops and canvas slip-ons, you’re a poser and not doing emo correctly Accessorize with scarves, stripy socks, wristbands, studded belts, safety pins that are doing nothing, badges, and fingerless gloves. Embrace androgyny. Don’t forget to cuff your jeans, cut thumb holes into your hoodies, and be sure to own at least two items with characters from The Nightmare Before Christmas Next, you have to understand Emo, so learn all about it. You’re off to a good start with this episode. Learn about the history as well as the subgenres, including emocore (Rites of Spring); post-emo indie rock/Midwest emo (Sunny Day Real Estate); Emo pop (Jimmy Eat World); screamo (Heroin); and emo rap (MC Lars). Understanding emo includes appreciating emo music. You can listen to the classics of the subgenres, as well as explore using music streaming services like SoundCloud, Bandcamp, Pandora, Spotify, and Youtube to find less well-known emo bands. Develop a passion for different kinds of music. Generally speaking, all emo music has two things in common: big, sweeping, extremely melodramatic guitar-based music, either aggressive and harsh or acoustic and gentle, that contain confessional or explicitly personal lyrics, often about heartbreak and loneliness. You can listen to Death Cab for Cutie or My Chemical Romance or both (you lunatic) and still be emo. Learn to tell the difference between emo and other subcultures. Emo is a subculture that is based around music, and deals with emotions, self-expression, and self-exploration. Being emo means you understand your roots, listen to emo music, and participate in the community Scene is a subculture which emerged from members of the chav subculture in England experimenting with alternative fashions. It’s a mixture of several styles including emo, indie pop, rave, and punk. Scenes tend to wear brighter colors, and have teased or backcombed hair which may feature “cool tails.” Scene kids tend to listen to genres like metalcore, deathcore, and crunk core Goth is a subculture which emerged from the British post-punk scene in the late 70s/early 80s. Goths primarily listen to goth rock, cold wave, deathrock, and darkwave. And finally, participate in emo culture by going to shows, cultivating a creative persona, picking up an instrument, or making or customizing your own clothes (pins, patches, color on your shoes) If you don’t know where to start with your emo music adventure, you have some options. If you’re feeling brave, you could throw a dart at Wikipedia’s list of emo artists, You can get some recommendations from Rollingstone’s article “40 Greatest Emo Albums of All Time”, which lists the top ten as 10. MCR “Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge (2004) 9. FOB “From Under the Cork Tree” (2005) 8. JEW “Bleed American” (2001) 7. Cap’n Jazz “Burritos, Inspiration Point, For Balloon Sports…” (1995) 6. American Football “American Football” (1999) 5. Braid “Frame and Canvas” (1998) 4. Jawbreaker “Dear You” (1995) 3. The Promise Ring “Nothing Feels Good” (1997) 2. Rites of Spring “Rites of Spring” (1985) 1. Sunny Day Real Estate “Diary” (1994) Make sure to check out our NATIONAL EMO DAY Mixtape. This is the first one I’ve made that intentionally doesn’t have a specific listening order, though I did put them in order of their album release dates. Since I don’t know what kind of ~emotions~ you’ll be needing to connect with when you listen, I encourage you to hit shuffle and keep clicking “next” until you find your emo unicorn song. Wouldn’t it Be Nice by The Beach Boys (1966) For Want of by Rites of Spring (1985) In Circles by Sunny Day Real Estate (May 10, 1994) Buddy Holly by Weezer (May 10, 1994) Here Come the Rome Plows by Drive Like Jehu (1994) Red & Blue Jeans by The Promise Ring (1997) Napoleon Solo by At The Drive-In (1998) Never Meant by American Football (1999) At Your Funeral by Saves the Day (2001) The Middle by Jimmy Eat World (2001) A Favor House Atlantic by Coheed and Cambria (2003) A Decade Under the Influence by Taking Back Sunday (2004) Vindicated by Dashboard Confessional (2004) I’m Not Okay (I Promise) by My Chemical Romance (2004) All That I’ve Got by The Used (2004) Sugar, We’re Going Down by Fall Out Boy (2005) Streetcar by Funeral For A Friend (2005) I Write Sins Not Tragedies by Panic! At The Disco (2005 Everything is Alright by Motion City Soundtrack (2005) Misery Business by Paramore (2007) 20 Dollar Nose Bleed by Fall Out Boy (featuring Brendon Urie) (2008) In Exile by Thrice (2009) Your Eyes Are Bleeding by Princess Nokia (2018) Uncomfortably Numb by American Football (featuring Hayley Williams) (2019) SOURCES https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emo https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=emo https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=emo%20kid https://www.thetoptens.com/false-emo-stereotypes/ https://www.dictionary.com/browse/emo https://www.wikihow.com/Be-Emo https://www.altpress.com/features/what_is_emo_history_definition/ https://www.nme.com/blogs/nme-blogs/emo-wave-guide-evolution-2302802 https://www.facebook.com/events/national-emo-day/1304009436379814/ https://nationaltoday.com/national-emo-day/ https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=National%20Emo%20Day http://mirror.uncyc.org/wiki/The_Only_Emo_Holiday:_National_Emo_Day https://definithing.com/national-emo-day/ https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/40-greatest-emo-albums-of-all-time-23526/my-chemical-romance-three-cheers-for-sweet-revenge-2004-158842/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_emo_artistshttps://www.ranker.com/list/emo-bands-and-musicians/reference
HAPPY NATIONAL UNFRIEND DAY! Join us as we celebrate kicking the squares out of your friends lists on social media! Today we're partying with funny dude and victim of unfriending Steven Chen (Twitter: @stevenchenshow / Instagram: gifilterfish)!! LET'S PARTY!! Find Holiday Party online – Patreon: patreon,com/HOLIDAYPARTY Twitter: @HOLIDAYPARTYPOD / Instagram: HOLIDAYPARTYPODCAST / Facebook: @HOLIDAYPARTYPODCAST / HOLIDAYPARTYPODCAST.COM Find Alyssa – Twitter: @alyssapants / Instagram: lettertalkpodcast / alyssapants.com Find Disa – Twitter: @cinnamonenemy / Spotify: open.spotify.com/user/1243777842 SHOW NOTES History/Fun facts about the topic Urban Dictionary defines unfriending as “removing a person from your list on a social network site, i.e. Facebook (292-87 thumbs up:down ratio) “Compulsive people prune their friend list periodically, removing people that they no longer have contact with. More often though, unfriending is only done when a particular friend’s updates and self-promotions become so annoying that you can no longer stand hearing about them. Or you might unfriend someone when they piss you off, however, this is not very effective since the person who is unfriended is not notified that you unfriended them and you’d be better off to keep them as a friend and plot your revenge.” Mirriam-Webster claims that the first use of ‘unfriend’ took place in 2003, which would put it in the same vocabulary time capsule as baby bump, binge-watch, clapback, flash mob, manscaping, muffin top, net neutrality, and SARS However, according to a 2016 article from curiosity.com and a 2016 article from interestingliterature.com, the first known usage of a form of “unfriend” took place in the Middle English poem “Brut” by Layamon. “We sollen...slean houre onfreondes and wenden after Brenne.” Here, the noun form of unfriend delineates someone who is not a friend, but not necessarily an enemy either This is apparently the same poem that provided us with the first presentation of the legends of Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, as well as the first instance of the word ‘muggle’ It was in the 17th century that ‘unfriend’ was first used as a verb, by good ole Shakespeare in “Twelfth Night” (1601-02) His use referred more to a passive losing of friends, rather than an active one, stating, “Being skilless in these parts; which to a stranger,/Unguided and unfriended, often prove/Rough and unhospitable.” In King Lear (1606), he says, “Sir, will you, with those infirmities she owes--./Unfriended, new adopted to our hate.” Regardless, the use of the term among social media references still predates Facebook. The first known recorded use was on Usenet in 2003 by a user named Woo-hoo who commented, “I have been “unfriended” by somebody in the LJ world today.”LJ is LiveJournal? In 2009, the New Oxford American Dictionary named “unfriend” the word of the year! According to an abcnews.go.com article from the same year, this was received in mixed fashion by Facebook users, who reportedly “erupted with commentary.” “It should be de-friend, not unfriend. I’ve been using facebook since it began and do not agree with unfriend. (and I guarantee my facebook friends agree with me),” “I also use ‘defriend’ and have never heard of ‘unfriend.’ For the record, I’m 24 and use Facebook most regularly. I first signed on Facebook when I was 19, right when it opened up to my college.” “No, unfriend is definitely more lexy. Defriend misses the whole point and is both boring and uncreative. Unfriend should be compared to undo--which is in social networking exactly what one does. It’s not befriending someone and making acquaintances in reverse, it’s just undoing a function--unhitting the friend button.” Ultimately, according to the folks at Oxford, “unfriend” was chosen because it’s much more common than defriend. According to a 2010 nytimes article and a 2014 article from theatlantic, research done by a graduate student at the Business School at the University of Colorado, Denver, gives the top four reasons that people unfriend each other on Facebook, in the following order of frequency: Frequent/unimportant posts; Polarizing posts, such as politics and religion; Inappropriate posts, such as sexist or racist remarks; Everyday life posts such as those about children, a spouse, or eating habits The student, Christopher Sibona, stated, “One of the interesting things about unfriending is that most real-world friendships either blow up or fade away. But on Facebook, users actively make the decision to unfriend, and people often don’t know why or what’s happened in the relationship.” According to the study, those who initiate a friendship are more likely to be unfriended than those on the receiving end, which seems to mirror how we treat friendships in the real world. Research has shown that those who make friendship overtures tend to be of lower social status than those they court. The recipient of the overtures seems to value those relationships less than the initiator does The study was done by Sibona reaching out to those who had tweeted about unfriending. He sent out over 7300 recruitment tweets, and received 1552 completed surveys. The survey asked the participant to identify the last person they unfriended on Facebook, and to classify the nature of the friendship Un-friends were most likely to be a high-school buddy, a work colleague, a friend of a friend, or “other” which included “didn’t know them,” “former student,” or “enemy.” Interestingly, work friends were more likely to be unfriended for their real-life behavior rather than their posting patterns Lee Siegel, the author of “Against the Machine: Being Human in the Age of the Electronic Mob,” is quoted as saying, “Unfriending reflects the instrumentalization and commodifying of friendship on Facebook. Why unfriend someone at all? After all, in the real world, you don’t just ignore an obnoxious relative. The very act of unfriending acknowledges that the Facebook definition of friend is different from the traditional.” Some stats and facts from wincalendar.com, cnn.com As of January 2019, Facebook is the leading social network with approximately 1.6 billion active monthly users. This is in comparison to WhatsApp (1 billion), Instagram (400 million), and Twitter (320 million) The average Facebook user has 338 friends. 27% of users have >500 friends, compared to an average of 100 friends for 72% of users who are older than 65 36% of Facebook users strongly dislike it when someone shares too much information or photos about themselves, as well as when they post photos of others without asking for permission After the 2016 US presidential election, a poll by the Public Religion Research Institute found that 13% of people reported unfriending, blocking, or no longer following someone because of political posts Democrats were the most likely to do so, with almost 24% reporting unfriending, blocking, or unfollowing someone due to political differences, compared to 9% of Republicans, and 9% of independents This is unfortunate, since it creates what author Eli Pariser calls “filter bubbles,” which is when we only consume content and talk to others who already agree with our ideologies There have been two movies made about unfriending: 2014’s “Unfriended” and its 2018 sequel “Unfriended: Dark Web” “Unfriended” is a found footage supernatural horror film, shot as a computer screen film. The film follows a group of high school students in a Skype conversation that is haunted by a student who was bullied and committed suicide after an anonymous person uploaded a video of her passing out and defecating at a party. The video goes viral, as does the video of her subsequent suicide. Two of the participants die, each seemingly of suicide (which we later find out was really the influence of the ghost), and then the rest of the group are forced by the anonymous user to play a game of Never Have I Ever, stating that the loser will die They are forced to reveal hurtful secrets which reveal their backstabbing against each other. Ultimately, three more of the group die by ghost-assisted suicide, and the movie closes with a shot of the ghost violently lunging at the final girl as the screen cuts to black The sequel, “Unfriended: Dark Web” is shot in the same computer screen film style, and follows a group of friends who find a laptop that has access to the dark web, only to realize they are being watched by the original owners While on a video call with friends, using a new laptop, the protagonist keeps getting messages for someone named Erica for the original owner of the laptop He then finds hidden videos, most of which are girls being tortured. The film continues on, revealing a group of hackers that threaten the main character in order for them to get the laptop back. They then engineer the deaths of the rest of the characters, including the protagonist. The entire scheme turns out to be basically a big game for the hackers A cnn.com article from the 2017 Unfriend Day highlights some safety reasons for culling your friends list, stating that “Facebook friends can do us a great deal of harm in the real world. They can use the information we share about ourselves to cause us devastating physical, emotional, and financial pain.” People can post directly to your page, which may include photos of you doing something inflammatory or offensive, which can lead to greater consequences. The example they gave was dubious though. They wrote about a woman whose “friend” posted a photo of her “making an obscene gesture at Arlington National Cemetery,” and then lost her job and fell into a depression after the photo went viral. This case was presented by the article as an example of a bad “friend,” but clicking through to the source article reveals that the photo was taken as a joke among these friends, posted WITH the woman’s permission, and she even said that the photo should stay up once criticism started trickling in They gave additional examples of how “friends” can betray you, including screenshotting and sharing your posts, sharing your post info with exes such as in custody battles, or stealing your identity or your shit (since vacation or other posts could reveal that you’re not home, and signal a good time to rob you) Cases of unfriending gone awry--From 2013 oddee.com article by Grace Murano, entitled “9 Crazy Stories about People Being Unfriended on Facebook” In November 2011, a Des Moines woman was arrested in an arson attack on the home of a former friend who had quarreled with her and unfriended her on Facebook. Jennifer Christine Harris, 30, was charged with first-degree arson after setting fire to the home of JIm and NIkki Rasmussen. Harris was a maid of honor at the Rasmussen wedding The unfriending came after the two women got into an argument while trying to plan a birthday party for Harris. Harris then began to disparage Rasmussen on Facebook, so Rasmussen decided to unfriend and block Harris. The Rasmussens woke up and escaped unharmed from the fire as it began to melt the siding on their house In February 2012, a woman attacked her boyfriend with a knife, a pair of scissors, and a fork after he “unfriended” her on Facebook and changed his status to “single.” William Hanz De Veyra Arriesgado, a 25 year old Filipina who is transgender but unable to change her name under Phillipine law, was then sentenced to two years in jail for causing her Australian lover grievous harm, as Arreisgado had inflicted 16 separate and serious injuries on 47 year old bank worker Colin James Peady. The couple first argued about Peady’s Facebook status while in a pub at Duston Road. Peady returned to his rented Sunhaven condominium in Changi (Singapore) alone. When Arriesgado, who was on a social visit pass (basically prohibits someone from engaging in employment of any kind), reached the home, they began arguing anew. Arriesgado grabbed a knife with a 20cm long blade, then proceeded to stab and slash Peady repeatedly. He was left with stab wounds to his abdomen and cuts to other parts of his body, including his face and eyes In 2012, 36 year old Billy Payne Jr. and his girlfriend, 23 year old Billie Jean Hayworth, unfriended 30 year old Jenelle Potter on Facebook. Jenelle was upset, but not as much as her 60 year old father, Marvin “Buddy” Potter. He was so angry when he learned about the unfriending that he and 38 year old Jamie Lynn Curd, who reportedly had romantic feelings for Jenelle, went out and murdered Payne and Hayworth. The couple is survived by an 8 month old baby boy, who was found unharmed in Hayworth’s arms In the weeks leading up to the murder, Potter, who is also Payne’s cousin, had two separate verbal confrontations with Payne. The year before, Payne and Hayworth complained to police that Jenelle was harassing them over the phone and internet after they unfriended her on Facebook There is a lot more to this case that we won’t get into for the sake of time and relevance, but Jenelle was essentially caught catfishing basically everyone, including her father, and engineered this entire situation because she was a jealous, feral, immature hermit of a human being who just super sucked A government minister in Venezuela, a country that offered asylum to Edward Snowden back in the day, urged her countrymen to cancel their Facebook accounts lest they be targeted by US snooping “Fellow Venezuelans: Cancel your facebook accounts, since you unwittingly have worked as CIA informants! Look at the Snowden case!,” prisons minister Maria Iris Varela said in a tweet She also said that victims of “gringo espionage” should file lawsuits to demand “fair compensation” and bankrupt the US government This lady sucks. According to Wikipedia, she condoned and pushed for police violence against protesters during peaceful protests that took place in April and May 2017. She’s been the target of sanctions by several countries, including the US, Canada, Panama, and Columbia for various offences including money laundering, financing of terrorism, financing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and the rupture of Venezuela’s constitutional order In August 2018 and in response to Venezuelans growing increasingly concerned with the nation’s economy, Varela tweeted telling people that all they need to do is share with friends and that they shouldn’t speculate or doubt, otherwise “they will end up worse off that Requesens, [where] they won’t be able to speculate.” This refers to Juan Requesens who was arrested as a suspect of the Caracas drone attack, an alleged assassination plot on the Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. His arrest and detention are controversial, and have been condemned by the National Assembly, as well as international diplomats, politicians, and organizations. His family and fellow politicians have stated that he was in fact arrested for criticizing Maduro Suffice to say that Requesens has been treated terribly while in custody, to say the least, and Iris Varela is in charge of the conditions of his incarceration and care. Requesens’s case is considered an example of a forced disappearance Paul Baier, a research consultant in Boston, paid his then 14 year old daughter $200 to keep her off Facebook until the end of June 2013 The two even wrote up a contract, stating, “I ______ agree to deactivate my Facebook account from 2/4/13 to 6/16/13. In return, my dad, Paul Baier, agrees to pay me $50 on 4/15/13 and $150 on 6/26/13. He/she will have access to my Facebook to change the password and to deactivate the account. This will prevent me from reactivating the account in the future. I plan to use the money for the following purposes: stuff.” In August 2013, Charlie Cooper claims that his Ecstasy addiction (you’re getting some wack X, dude. It’s probably cut with meth if you’re addicted to it) led him to rob the houses he cleaned and eventually get caught by the Canterbury, England police. After a local newspaper published the story of his arrest with a photo of him, Charlie started complaining about it to the paper on Facebook. He whined that the paper didn’t ask him if they could take a picture of him Charlie’s mom saw the post and decided to give him a good dressing down, commenting, “They don’t need your permission to take your picture if the courts have given them permission to be there to do so!” To which Charlie angrily responded, “They do, I don’t want my picture taken. End of.” Mom then retorted, in all caps, “IT DONE NOW. THAT LADY DIDNT WANT HER JEWLERY TAKING BUT YOU DID IT ANYWAY, END OF.” Charlie then threatened to block his mom, replying, “ This is why I didnt have you on facebook mum, you say things like that, im blocking you ok” Other folks followed up to confirm the mom’s assertion that the newspaper indeed did not need Charlie’s permission to publish his photo since he was arrested for the crime History/fun facts about the holiday itself According to abc.com, the inaugural holiday took place on November 17, 2010 when Jimmy Kimmel was inspired to create a holiday “to celebrate the act of getting rid of those Facebook friends you no longer need.” When he launched the initiative, he said, “Let’s say, on Friday, post a status update that says, ‘I’m moving this weekend and I need help.’ The people that respond? Those are your friends. Everyone else isn’t.” He’s also quoted as saying, “I encourage you to cut out some of the friend fat in your life. A friend is someone you have a special relationship with. It’s not someone who asks which Harry Potter character you are.” Jimmy Kimmel initially offered three criteria by which to judge whether to unfriend someone: Friends who post too often Friends who don’t use correct grammar often enough Friends who post too frequently about the weather, their kids, politics, or working out In 2011, Kimmel updated and expanded the criteria and created a point system: Change their profile picture more than once a month: 5 points Took their profile picture in the bathroom mirror using their cellphone: 5 points Posted more than three photos of food: 5 points each Posted the phrase OMG, my friends are the best: 5 points For every picture of a pet: 8 points Said the word yum in a status update: 10 points Posted a picture of a sunset: 15 points Uploaded an embarrassing picture of you from Jr. High and tagged you in it: 15 points Posted their opinion on gay marriage, no matter what it is: 30 points Invited you to see their band play more times than you've talked in person: 30 points Used the phrase amazeballs: 40 points If the person is your Mom: 50 points In a 2014 video, Kimmel released a video with a FURTHER updated list of criteria, which contained the following additions: Not spell-checking Writing about how you slept the night before Complaints about traffic Identifying with certain “Frozen” characters Tagging loved ones in photos where everyone appears “unflattering” except for the poster Too many images from vacation One too many body pictures Photos of feet, or your feet on vacation Throwback Thursday posts People who ruin television shows before others have had a chance to watch Questions that can easily be Googled A 2014 cnn.com article outlines 5 more types of friends that you should eliminate from your account: Third-grade classmates Oversharers That friend of Ricardo’s you met two years ago at that party Exes Those irritatingly fabulous couples The Facebook page for National Unfriend Day gives three additional “simple” guidelines If you wouldn’t loan someone $50, unfriend them If you wouldn’t invite them to your birthday party, unfriend them If you wouldn’t cry if they got hit by a bus, unfriend them Huffpost.com goes on to further outline 7 types of people you should unfriend on Facebook ASAP The Political Ranter The Negative Nancy--since research shows that stress is a contagious emotion The Attention-Seekers--the ‘vague-bookers’ et al The Braggart Anyone who makes you feel really crappy about yourself According to infomedia.com, the point is not to create a homogenous list of friends who are carbon copies of you, but to create a space that doesn’t annoy or potentially anger you every time you log on. Activities to celebrate Use #NationalUnfriendDay on social media Binge the Unfriended movies Wincalendar.com suggests going through your privacy settings on Facebook to control who can see your content; deciding who you’re going to unfriend; and reviewing your posting habits They also suggested watching movies about friendship, such as The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, Good Will Hunting, The Social Network, and As Good as it Gets, which would provide a healthy balance to the Unfriended movies, I guess If you decide to observe the holiday with a friend purge, cnet.com gives a list of things to consider beforehand, and the one I can most get behind is to avoid posting a status update to the effect of, “If you’re seeing this status update that means you made the cut!!!!!!” or anything similar. It’s arrogant and annoying, and might just get you unfriended yourself National Unfriend Day mixtape Blocked by Onyx Family Frenemy by Shaggy Unfriended by Francisco Bolsa Unfriend You by Greyson Chance Rich Friends by Portugal. The Man My Friend by Suburban Legends Dead End Friends by Them Crooked Vultures Internet Friends by Knife Party SOURCES https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unfriended https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unfriended:_Dark_Web https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unfriend https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Unfriend https://interestingliterature.com/2016/04/22/the-curious-origin-of-the-word-unfriend/ https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unfriendhttps://www.oddee.com/item_98811.aspx https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/04/how-to-get-unfriended/361394/ https://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/24/fashion/24Studied.html https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/AheadoftheCurve/unfriend-defriend-facebook-fans-debate/story?id=9106240 https://www-m.cnn.com/2014/11/17/living/national-unfriend-day/index.html?r=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F&rm=1 https://www.huffpost.com/entry/people-you-should-unfriend_n_568ab884e4b06fa68882fc94 https://www.cartoonstock.com/directory/u/unfriend.asp https://nationaltoday.com/national-unfriend-day/ https://m.facebook.com/NATIONALUnFriendDAY/ https://www.wincalendar.com/UnFriend-Day https://www.cnn.com/2017/11/17/opinions/national-unfriend-day-facebook-alaimo-opinion/index.html https://abc.go.com/shows/jimmy-kimmel-live/news/editors-picks/jimmy-kimmel-national-unfriend-day-11182015 https://www.ibtimes.com/what-national-unfriend-day-jimmy-kimmels-facebook-rules-social-media-unfriending-2447229 https://infomedia.com/blog/frazzled-social-media-happy-national-unfriend-day/ https://wordhistories.net/2017/07/23/unfriend-17th-century/ https://newrepublic.com/article/117857/unfriending-facebook-didnt-invent-verb https://curiosity.com/topics/the-verb-unfriended-is-way-older-than-facebook-curiosity/
HAPPY INTERNATIONAL ROLLERSKATING DAY! Join us as we celebrate putting wheels on our feet, traveling on a surface and then falling down! Today we're partying with roller skating aficionado and cool sis Deidre Emerson!! LET'S PARTY!! Find Holiday Party online – Patreon: patreon,com/HOLIDAYPARTY Twitter: @HOLIDAYPARTYPOD / Instagram: HOLIDAYPARTYPODCAST / Facebook: @HOLIDAYPARTYPODCAST / HOLIDAYPARTYPODCAST.COM Find Alyssa – Twitter: @alyssapants / alyssapants.com Find Disa – Twitter: @cinnamonenemy / Spotify: open.spotify.com/user/1243777842 According to Wikipedia, “roller skating has had a checkered past over its nearly-three century history. Given its ebb and flow of popularity, writers labeled each generation’s attraction a ‘craze!’ The caption in a 1904 Decatur newspaper read, ‘Old Craze Comes Back,’ adding, ‘Roller skating promises to be as popular as it was twenty years ago.’” In 1906, the Inter Ocean newspaper wrote that, “after 20 years of exemption from the affliction the desire to roll is again taking possession of American adults… the mania has struck Chicago!” SImilar reports surfaced again in 1941, when ball bearings revolutionized roller technology and roller skaters staged spectacle events and speed-skating marathons. I’d like to close out the history segment with a quote from Wikipedia: “Today, the acceptance for roller skating is not unlike a waning moon but the sport persists. Roller skating continues to thrive as a part of pop culture in the form of recreation for leisure, dance, and sport. Rollers, past and present, are diehards.” Facts about the holiday International Roller Skating Day seems to be either one component or a spin-off of a month-long celebration for National Roller Skating Month, which lasts through the month of October. I only found one mention of International Roller Skating Day, from listofnationalholidays.com. The site has no information on the holiday, just two sentences with observation recommendations: “Go to local roller skating rink. One could also rent skates and go down a boardwalk.” On the other hand, there are numerous mentions of National Roller Skating Month. Checkiday.com claims that the month-long holiday has been celebrated since October 1983 Stories/anecdotes/stats/fun facts--from Wikipedia, a 2013 Mental Floss article, a 2015 article from isccherryhill.com (international sport center, NJ) Some health benefits from roller skating, as per the Roller Skating Association, an article from skagitskate.com (PNW, holla), include: Providing a complete aerobic workout Burning 330 calories per hour while skating 6 miles per hour for a 143-lb person or 600 calories while skating 10 miles per hour Roller skating is equivalent to jogging in terms of health benefits The American Heart Association recommends roller skating as an aerobic fitness sport According to research conducted at the Universitat Konstantz (Germany), moderate roller skating increases the skater’s heart rate to levels ranging from 140-160 bmp, while skating at top speeds can increase heart rate up to around 180 bpm An infographic on skagitskate.com states that, “according to the American Heart Association, physically active people save $500 per year in medical costs.” I find this laughable, as my ER visit from my most recent skating adventure will probably be quadruple that number According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, roller skating is 2x safer than school playgrounds, 3x safer than football and baseball, 4x safer than basketball, and 5x safer than riding a bicycle According to a study at the University of Massachusetts, skating causes less than 50% of the impact shock to join compared to running, which is something like 3-7x a person’s body weight (each footfall may experience the force impact of up to 1000 lbs, but usually around 500-600) As the US readied for WWII, the government entertained the notion to add roller skates as essential equipment to move infantry around Europe to save gas The first marriage ceremony on roller skates took place in 1912 between a couple from Milwaukee between Miss Hattie Baldwin and Mr. W. McGrath In the 1950s and 60s, roller skating carhops became a popular staple in US culture, and still exist day with the Sonic restaurant chain. Sonic hosts an annual event called the Sonic Skate-Off, which is a competition to find the most skillful skating carhop from its 3600 drive-ins. From what I can tell, eager employees submit 1-2 minute long videos to Sonic, showing off their skills but also blowing a lot of smoke about how much they love their jobs, in order to get a shot at the final competition According to stories.inspirebrands.com, 2019’s Skate-Off was held on August 6 in Oklahoma City. The final 5 carhops were required to carry a tray full of Sonic menu items through an obstacle course, which included having to duck under, step over or around barriers, before making a final dash to the finish line https://stories.inspirebrands.com/2019-sonic-drive-in-skate-off-recap/ The winner not only received the championship title, but new skates and a cash prize. The champion for the 2019 Sonic Skate-Off was Ryan “Flyin’ Ryan” Pierce out of Pineville, Louisiana. I have included his audition video in the shownotes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsjsY5i4ZOg The day after the competition, the skaters finished off their trip with a team-building exercise at Oklahoma City’s Riversports Adventures, where they kayaked through river rapids, zip lined, and trekked through a ropes course One of the first modern MTV-style videos occurred in 1970 and featured Cher on roller skates in a zebra-print jumpsuit, along with truck drivers and bikers. The video was for the song, “Hell on Wheels” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rW_kIlaU41Y According to the mentalfloss article, “at the height of the 1970s roller revolution, each major American city developed its own skate style, though some styles were more distinctive than others. Chicago especially became known as a roller skating city ad became famous for JB skating, which borrowed many of its intricate moves from the Godfather of Soul or James Brown. Fancy footwork and standing dance routines are hallmarks of the JB style, and a well-known move is aptly called the “Crazy Leg” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcNWS8dsxIg The world’s largest roller skating parade took place in Paris in June of 2008. 1188 participants skates for 12.68 miles (20.4km) New York City’s last indoor roller rink called RollerJam USA was badly damaged during Hurricane Sandy. It took $750k and six months of repairs, but the rink was finally able to reopen. The owner, Joe Costa, is quoted as saying, “It was worth it. There’s still this whole underground skating community that you wouldn’t even know exists--people from the 70s who are still doing it. And there’s a new generation that’s definitely getting interested in roller skating. Gliding on skates to the music--there’s no feeling like it.” In Questlove’s 2013 memoir, Mo’Meta Blues, he recounts that Prince was a very talented roller skater. His experience took place in 2005 and started with a text message from Prince’s assistant, inviting Questlove to a Valentine’s Day roller-skating party and to bring some “cool people.”The “cool people” that Questlove was with at the time turned out to be Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, Common, Chris Rock, and Eddie Murphy. Among them, only Eddie Murphy accepted the invitation to go roller skating with Prince. Questlove, his girlfriend, and Eddie Murphy showed up to a mostly empty rink sometime around 1am. They skated around for about an hour before Prince arrived carrying a “mysterious briefcase,” and at which point he sternly instructed Questlove to check his phone at the coat check. Prince opened the briefcase and took out a pair of roller skates, that Questlove described as the “strangest, most singular pair of roller skates [he] had ever seen. They were clear skates that lit up, and the wheels sent a multi-colored spark trail into your path.” Prince then did a lap around the rink, leaving a rainbow trail of light and sparks in his wake. Questlove went on to say that Prince “could skate like he could sing.” Activities to celebrate Use #InternationalRollerSkatingDay and #RollerSkatingMonth on social media National Day Calendar basically indicates that your mileage may vary on how best to celebrate this holiday. Depending on where you live, you may have to consider when to contain your observation indoors, since fall weather can be treacherous in some places. Regardless, they do recommend getting together with a group of friends and going roller skating. Visit the National Museum of Roller Skating, established in 2000, is FREE (but accepts donations), and located at 4730 South St., Lincoln Nebraska. They are open Monday through Friday from 9-5 Rollerskating.com of Roller Skating Association International hosts a page with a National Roller Skating Month toolkit, which includes links to the 2019 Poster, Facebook Header, coupons, class lesson passes, the press release, a video for how to shuffle skate, and ideas on how to observe the holiday. Some of the suggestions include conducting social media challenges, such as having a skater show off a skill on video and then challenging others to do it as well Video contests Posting pictures or videos on social media at your rink, tagging your skating center for a special prize or discount Purchasing a VIP family package, which includes a ½ hour lesson, session, food, and drink for a special rate Conducting a food drive or charity skate Stream casting DJ’s into your skating center with videos across rinks nationwide Organizing a lip syncing flash mob video with staff and skaters for social media Making boomerang videos of skater skills Hosting games such as relay races, four corners, shoot the duck or squat contest, limbo, crazy couples and trios, freeze frame with last person rolling, follow the leader with a train or conga line, or a trivia contest Don’t forget to mark your calendar for the next Roller Skating Industry Convention and Trade Show, which will be held at the Tropicana in Las Vegas, NV on April 26-30, 2020 SOURCES http://listofnationaldays.com/international-roller-skating-day/ https://nationaldaycalendar.com/national-roller-skating-month-october/ https://www.checkiday.com/40e04d7b10d7177c74dd96ed93e2b7f8/national-roller-skating-month https://www.rollerskating.com/pages/national+roller+skating+month+tool+kit/169 https://www.rollerskating.com/pages/convention/50 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roller_skating https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roller_skates https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/05/whatever-happened-to-roller-skating/362100/ https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/26/nyregion/the-history-of-roller-skates.html http://mentalfloss.com/article/52168/11-things-you-might-not-know-about-roller-skates https://isccherryhill.com/fun-facts-about-roller-skating/ https://www.thrillist.com/entertainment/nation/prince-roller-skating-story-questlove https://www.fastcompany.com/1672183/the-legend-of-princes-rainbow-roller-skates https://uproxx.com/tv/a-few-quick-thoughts-about-questloves-story-about-roller-skating-with-prince/ https://www.yelp.com/biz/national-museum-of-roller-skating-lincoln https://skagitskate.com/other/healthy-skating-facts/ https://stories.inspirebrands.com/2019-sonic-drive-in-skate-off-recap/
HAPPY INTERNATIONAL ROLLERSKATING DAY! Join us as we celebrate putting wheels on our feet, traveling on a surface and then falling down! Today we're partying with roller skating aficionado and cool sis Deidre Emerson!! LET'S PARTY!! Find Holiday Party online – Patreon: patreon,com/HOLIDAYPARTY Twitter: @HOLIDAYPARTYPOD / Instagram: HOLIDAYPARTYPODCAST / Facebook: @HOLIDAYPARTYPODCAST / HOLIDAYPARTYPODCAST.COM Find Alyssa – Twitter: @alyssapants / Instagram: lettertalkpodcast / alyssapants.com Find Disa – Twitter: @cinnamonenemy / Spotify: open.spotify.com/user/1243777842 PART 1 SHOW NOTES History/Fun facts about the holiday Definition/history of roller skating/roller skates From Wikipedia: Roller skates are shoes, or bindings that fit onto shoes, that are worn to enable the wearer to roll along on wheels. The first roller skate was effectively an ice skate with wheels replacing the blade. Later the “quad” style of roller skate became more popular consisting of four wheels arranged in the same configuration as a typical car Skates generally come in three basic varieties: quad roller skates, inline skates or blades, and tri-skates, though some have experimented with a single-wheeled “quintessence skate” as well as other variations on the basic skate design Roller skating is the traveling on surfaces with roller skates. It is a form of recreational activity as well as a sport, and can also be a form of transportation. In America, roller skating was most popular between 1935 and the 1960s and then in the 1970s, when polyurethane wheels were created and disco music oriented roller rinks were the rage, and then AGAIN in the 1990s when in-line outdoor roller skating took hold, thanks to the improvement made to inline roller skates in 1981 by Scott Olson The first reported use of roller skates was on a London stage in 1743. The first patented roller skate was introduced in 1760 by Belgian inventor John Joseph Merlin, which was essentially a version of what we would call an inline skate today, with wheels where the blade on ice skates would go. They were hard to steer and to stop because they didn’t have brakes. The initial “test piloting” of the first prototype was in the city of Huy, which had a party with Merlin playing the violin. According to a 2013 mentalfloss.com article, Merlin’s plan was to “suavely skate into [the] salon [of a fancy masquerade party] while simultaneously playing the violin. Unfortunately, Merlin hadn’t practiced skating much prior to the soiree, nor were his skates engineered for turning. Merlin ended up crashing into a large mirror and suffering serious physical injuries, though his pride might have been the part of him most severely bruised.” It was until the 1860s that “trucks” were employed. James Plimpton created a four-wheeled skate that made use of springy carriages called trucks that allowed the skater to turn by leaning in the direction of travel. This was a vast improvement on the Merlin design due to its ease of use, and ended up driving the huge popularity of roller skating, dubbed “rinkomania” in the 1860s and 1870s. The Plimpton skate is still in use today According to a 2014 article from The Atlantic, it was greatly due to the advent of the disco age that roller skating took off in the latter part of the 20th century, since songs with an up beat and a down beat really help the sport. However, as with all things in the 70s, roller skating took a hit when the economy started to tank. Many rinks were forced to closed, and some of those that survived weren’t adequately prepared for the inevitable wane of the disco era and ended up closing as well The popularity of rollerblading in the 90s offered an option for the remaining rinks to adjust and even continue to thrive The article goes on to detail an experience at the Roller Skating Association Convention and Trade Show for that year, where it appeared that attendees were optimistic for renewed interest in the sport. The Top 40 songs at the time appeared to be compatible with skating culture, with 80s nuwave vibes in abundance. One such example is Avicii’s “You Make Me.” The video is set in a roller rink, and has a Scott Pilgrim kind of vibe, but with synchronized roller skating and only one ex https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GADx4Hy-Gg&feature=kp Eventually, roller skating evolved to become a competitive sport, including speed skating, racing on skates, inline figure skating, jam skating, and roller derby. In the mid 1990s, roller hockey, which is played with a ball instead of a puck, became so popular that it even made an appearance in the 1992 Olympics. While roller skating was considered for the 2012 Summer Olympics, it has never become an Olympic event Roller skating popularity exploded during the disco era but tapered off in the 80s and 90s Jam skating! Is a combination of dance, gymnastics, and roller skating. The style has its roots in traditional roller disco, but has been greatly influenced by breakdancing, artistic skating, gymnastics, and modern dance. Successful jam skaters are well practiced in these different forms and must have the ability to translate these movements while on skates. Jam skating first became popular in the early 1990s and is still going strong throughout the nation Example of jam skating in pop culture can be found in the music videos: 1, 2 Step by Ciara ft. Missy Elliott Disease by Matchbox 20 My Shoes by Murphy Lee I Heart You by Toni Braxton Ladies of the World by Flight of the Conchords Blow by Beyonce Cool Patrol by Ninja Sex Party Gold by Chet Faker As well as an Apple iPod commercial featuring the song “Feel Good, Inc.” by Gorillaz SOURCES http://listofnationaldays.com/international-roller-skating-day/ https://nationaldaycalendar.com/national-roller-skating-month-october/ https://www.checkiday.com/40e04d7b10d7177c74dd96ed93e2b7f8/national-roller-skating-month https://www.rollerskating.com/pages/national+roller+skating+month+tool+kit/169 https://www.rollerskating.com/pages/convention/50 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roller_skating https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roller_skates https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/05/whatever-happened-to-roller-skating/362100/ https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/26/nyregion/the-history-of-roller-skates.html http://mentalfloss.com/article/52168/11-things-you-might-not-know-about-roller-skates https://isccherryhill.com/fun-facts-about-roller-skating/ https://www.thrillist.com/entertainment/nation/prince-roller-skating-story-questlove https://www.fastcompany.com/1672183/the-legend-of-princes-rainbow-roller-skates https://uproxx.com/tv/a-few-quick-thoughts-about-questloves-story-about-roller-skating-with-prince/ https://www.yelp.com/biz/national-museum-of-roller-skating-lincoln https://skagitskate.com/other/healthy-skating-facts/https://stories.inspirebrands.com/2019-sonic-drive-in-skate-off-recap/
HAPPY INTERNATIONAL PODCAST DAY! Join us as we celebrate the thing that we're doing while we're celebrating it! Today we're partying with pal and beloved guest Amy Cowan (aacowan.com)!! LET'S PARTY!! Find Holiday Party online – Patreon: patreon,com/HOLIDAYPARTY Twitter: @HOLIDAYPARTYPOD / Instagram: HOLIDAYPARTYPODCAST / Facebook: @HOLIDAYPARTYPODCAST / HOLIDAYPARTYPODCAST.COM Find Alyssa – Twitter: @alyssapants / Instagram: lettertalkpodcast / alyssapants.com Find Disa – Twitter: @cinnamonenemy / Spotify: open.spotify.com/user/1243777842 SHOW NOTES History/Fun facts about the holiday According to Wikipedia, a podcast is “an episodic series of digital audio or video files which a user can download to listen. Alternatively, the word “podcast” may refer to the individual component of such a series or to an individual media file Podcasting often uses a subscription model, whereby new episodes automatically download via web syndication to a user’s own local computer, mobile application, or portable media player Some have labeled podcasting a “converged medium,” that is bringing together audio, the web, and portable media players, as well as a disruptive technology, having caused some in the radio business to reconsider established practices and preconceptions about audiences, consumption, production, and distribution Listeners typically consume podcasts for free, and producers can usually create them for little to no cost. This sets podcast apart from the traditional 20th-century model of “gate-kept” media. Podcasting is a horizontal media form--producers are consumers, consumers may become producers, and both can engage in conversations with each other Variants of podcasts include Enhanced podcasts, which can display images synchronized with audio. These can contain chapter markers, hyperlinks, and artwork Podcast novels, also known as serialized audiobooks or podcast audiobooks. This is a literary form that combines the concepts of a podcast and an audiobook. Like a traditional novel is a work of long literary fiction; however this form of the novel is recorded into episodes that are delivered online over a period of time and in the end is available as a complete work for download. They can vary from new works from new authors that have never been printed, to well-established authors that have been around for years, to classic works of literature that have been in print for over a century Video podcasts, which include video clips. Web television series are often distributed as video podcasts Oggcast, which is a podcast recorded and distributed exclusively in the Vorbis audio codec with the Ogg container format, which is a format state that is unrestricted by software patents. The name is derived from “ogging”, jargon from the computer game Netrek, which came to mean doing something forcefully, possibly without consideration of the drain on future resources Political podcasts, which focus on current events, usually last 30 minutes to an hour, often featuring journalists, politicians, pollsters, writers, and others with credentials in the public sphere. Most have a host-guest interview format and are broadcast each week based on the news cycle Podguide, an enhanced audio tour podcast. It’s a single audio file where each chapter displays a picture and a number of what to look at a certain stopover. The numbers correspond to the numbers on a map that can be downloaded via the link incorporated into the artwork of the chapters in the podguide. Wikipedia describes it as being like a soundseeing tour but with pictures and a map, so users can take the tour themselves It was previously known as “audioblogging”, and has its roots dating back to the 1980s. With the advent of broadband internet access and portable digital audio playback devices, podcasting began to catch more mainstream hold in late 2004. In the 1980s, Radio Computing Services (RCS) provided music and talk-related software to radio stations in a digital format Before online music digital distribution, the MIDI format as well as the Mbone, Multicast Network was used to distribute audio and video files. The Mbone was a multicast network over the internet used primarily by educational and research institutes, but there were audio talk programs In 1993, Carl Malamud launched Internet Talk Radio which was the “first computer-radio talk show, each week interviewing a computer expert.” It was distributed “as audio files that computer users fetch one by one.” Malamud said that listeners could pause and restart the audio files at will, as well as skip content they didn’t like In 2001, Applian Technologies introduced Replay Radio, a TiVo-like recorder for Internet Radio Shows. One of the features was a Direct Download link, which would scan a radio publishers site for new files and copy them directly to a PC’s hard disk. The first radio show to publish in this format was WebTalkGuys World Radio Show, produced by Rob and Dana Greenlee In September 2000, the first system that enabled the selection, automatic downloading and storage of serial episodic audio content on PCs and portable devices was launched from early MP3 player manufacturer, i2Go, which introduced a digital audio news and entertainment service called MyAudio2Go. This enabled users to download episodic news, sports, entertainment, weather, and music in audio format for listening on a PC, the eGo portable audio player, or other MP3 players. The app could be programmed to automatically download the latest episodic content from user selected content types to a PC or portable device. Unfortunately, the service succumbed after a little over a year, due to the i2Go company running out of capital during the dot-com crash. In October 2000, the concept of attaching sound and video files in RSS feeds was proposed in a draft by Tristan Louis, and implemented by Dave Winer. Winer had received other requests for “audioblogging” features and had discussed the enclosure concept with Adam Curry in the same month. They are credited in 2004 for coming up with the idea to automate the delivery and syncing of textual content to portable audio players In September 2003, Winer created a special RSS-with-enclosures feed for his colleague Christopher Lydon’s weblog, which previously only had a text-only RSS feed. When Lydon had accumulated about 25 audio interviews with bloggers, futurists, and political figures, Winer gradually released them as a new RSS feed. Winer challenged other aggregator developers to support this new form of content and provide enclosure support. Lydon’s blog eventually became Radio Open Source and is now the oldest, still-running podcast Matt Schichter’s The Backstage Pass is widely believed to be the first podcast to be published online, despite lacking a commonly accepted identifying name for the medium. The chat show was launched in October 2003 Ben Hammersley originally suggested the word “podcast” as a portmanteau of “iPod” and “broadcast” in February 2004 Other names in limited use include “net cast,” which is intended as a vendor-neutral term without the loose reference to the Apple iPod. Other sources have suggested “portable on demand” or “POD” for similar reasons In September 2004, blogger and columnist Doc Searls began keeping track of how many “hits” Google found for the word “podcasts”. His first query reportedly returned 24 results. On September 28, there were 526 hits on Google for “podcasts”. On October 1, there were 2750 hits. The number continued to double every few days In June 2005, Apple released iTunes 4.9, which added formal support for podcasts, thus negating the need to use a separate program in order to download and transfer them to a mobile device. While this made access to podcasts more convenient and widespread, it also effectively ended advancement of podcatchers by independent developers. Additionally, Apple issued cease and desist orders to many podcast application developers and service providers for using the terms “iPod” or “Pod” in their products’ names In July 2005, US President George W. Bush became a podcaster of sorts when the White House website added an RSS 2.0 feed to the previously downloadable files of the president’s weekly radio addresses Also in July of that year, the first People’s Choice Podcast Awards were held during Podcast Expo, with awards being given in 20 categories. The Awards are still held annually and now better known as the Podcast Awards, and the now-22 categories are the following. I also added who won for 2018: People’s Choice--The Fantasy Footballers Best Produced--N/A Best Video Podcast--N/A Best Mobile Podcast--N/A Arts--We Like Drinking Business--Extraordinary Women Radio Comedy--2 Girls on a Bench Education--Our Fake History Entertainment--We’re Drunk and We Know Things Food and Drink--N/A Games & Hobbies--Trivial Warfare General--N/A LGBQ--Derek and Romaine Health--A Better Night’s Sleep Government & Organizations--Democracy Works Kids & Family--Cool Facts About Animals Mature--Turn Me On Music--The Modern Vinyl Podcast News & Politics--Consider This Religion & Spirituality--For the Love with Jen Hatmaker Science & Medicine--Curiosity Daily Society-Culture--Travel Oddities Sports & Recreation--The Fantasy Footballers Technology--Why’d You Push That Button? Travel--N/A TV & Film--Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Podcast This year’s award ceremony was live streamed on September 29 On September 28, 2005, Google found more than 100M hits on the word “podcasts” In December 2005, “podcast” was named the word of the year by the New Oxford American Dictionary, and added the word to the dictionary in 2006 In February 2006, Lance Anderson became the first to take a podcast and create a live venue tour with his podcast The Lance Anderson Podcast Experiment In 2014, This American Life launched the first season of their Serial podcast, and went on to achieve 68 million downloads by the end of Season 1 and became the first podcast to win a Peabody Award. The show is also credited with popularizing true crime podcasts. As of December 2018, Serial is the most downloaded podcast of all time, with 420 million total downloads NPR is the most popular podcast publisher with 175 million downloads and streams every month. According to a Chartable blog post by Dave Zohrob published in February 2019, we are entering the “Golden Age of Podcasting.” “Podcasts have been around since at least 2004. But unlike text-based news and blogs, which have gone through waves of centralization and disruption thanks to Facebook and Google, the podcast industry has remained stubbornly decentralized. There are dozens of popular podcast players, and no single gatekeeper in the industry. Despite many attempts, there has never been a ‘Netflix of podcasts.’” Spotify appears to be on an acquisition spree and will be spending hundreds of millions of dollars purchasing podcast hosting platforms, studios, and podcasts themselves. The article states that “Spotify CEO Daniel Ek explicitly referenced Netflix’s strategy as part of their motivation This could signal that we’re on the cusp of a Netflix-style change for podcasting, with “a marked increase in the amount and quality of original audio programming.” Between 2018 and 2019, weekly and monthly listenership jumped from 15% to 23%, or 20 million more frequent listeners in the US alone In total, around 60 million people are listening a few times a week or more, and 91 million people are listening at least once a week In 2018, an average of 575 podcasts were started every day, or about 1 every 3 minutes. Chartable is tracking over 670K podcasts in the Apple Podcasts directory, and over 210K of those published their first episode in 2018 In contrast, there are 35 million YouTube channels, so there is still plenty of room for new entrants in the audio world The article goes on to say that podcasting is exploding because they’re a great way to connect directly to an audience. “There’s no single gatekeeper, or gatekeeping algorithm, that will prevent you from reaching our audience. Edison Research data shows that 87% of podcast listeners listen to most or all of each podcast they listen to, even despite the fact that many episodes may run for hours. This is in contrast to the way that our attention works with other media. Some sources claim that our average attention span is down to 8 seconds. The average watch time for Facebook Watch videos is around 23 seconds. A “good” YouTube consumption rate is somewhere around 50% Listeners binge on podcasts the same way that they binge a new Netflix season Chartable also explains why the podcasting boom is happening now, 15 years after the creation of the medium. There are several broad trends converging, starting with Spotify and getting serious about competing with Apple, increasing their investments in podcasting in 2018. Google launched a native Google Podcasts app for Android, which has the advantage of working on any Android device without requiring an app installation, meaning that hundreds of millions of Android users now have a “universal link” for podcast listening While Spotify has allowed podcast listening for about three years, they didn’t open the platform to all podcasters until 2018. Spotify has significantly increased the prominence of podcasts, which is showing in their downland stats, having doubled from 2017-2018 from 4.4% to 8.5%. Most of those listeners are new to podcasts, meaning that Spotify didn’t poach listeners from other hosting platforms, but rather created new listeners simply by exposure Additionally, the prevalence of smartphones is crucial for the podcast boom, since smartphones are by far the most popular device for audio listening. Streaming media make up the majority of mobile data usage, and that share is continuing to grow Another factor is connected car adoption. A quarter of all listeners do most of their listening in the car, and as more cars adopt Apple’s CarPlay and Android Auto, people are choosing to listen to podcasts or streaming services like Spotify or Apple Music rather than traditional AM/FM radio Other converging trends include the popularity of smart speakers, and that generally more audio of various kinds are being more widely consumed and easily accessed, such as streaming music services, meditation apps, and audiobooks. Chartable predicts that this Golden Age of Podcasts will lead to more high-quality shows, podcasts will continue to grow their share of overall attention, new models for funding the production of a show will emerge, advertisers and other funders will be able to expect more precise and transparent measure of audience engagement (other than download numbers), Spotify will create more exclusive content to aggregate and retain listeners, but Apple will maintain a strong position The blog post closes out with this optimistic comparison: “Our current Golden Age of Television started 80 years after the invention of TV, and a decade after the invention of the Web. And despite some dire warnings, the trend in more and better TV programming has yet to slow. In comparison, the Golden Age of Podcasts only took 15 years since the invention of the medium, and it’s just getting started.” International Podcast Day history The holiday was co-founded in 2014 by a father and son team, Steve and Dave Lee. They also co-host the podcast The Waves of Tech, which was launched in March of 2007 and currently consists of nearly 500 episodes. From a 2018 article by Morgan Hines on discoverpods.com, it was seven years after they started their podcast that they had the idea to create the holiday. Steve was driving and “heard a radio commercial for National Senior Citizen Day and wondered immediately why there wasn’t a day to celebrate podcasters and podcasting.” They chose September because the first podcast was released in September 2004, and the day after their 2014 National Podcast Day event, they “heard overwhelmingly from the international podcasting community to be represented and involved--hence, the birth of International Podcast Day.” From their website, internationalpodcastday.com, they describe the day a “great opportunity to connect with fellow podcasters, podcast listeners, podcast enthusiasts, and leaders in the podcasting industry.” Since the inaugural holiday, Steven and Dave have featured podcasters from 55 countries. The day is comprised of several events that take place in both an official and unofficial capacity. They host a 33-hour live video stream, where podcasters present their story or topic in their own language, though the majority are presented in English. The holiday events start at 8AM on September 29 and end at 10PM on the 30th. They note that podcasters around the world also take part in their own ways, coming up with unofficial events of their own. Internationalpodcastday.com has a page listing such events, and continues to take submissions from podcasters trying to spread the word about their own. When I checked the page in mid-September, there were events listed in Poland, Paris, Germany, North Carolina, Wisconsin, India, and Brazil According to nationaldaycalendar.com, they created the holiday as a way to raise awareness of podcasting as an excellent entertainment and educational medium Fun facts/stats--from weeditpodcast.com, wikipedia, podcastinsights.com, podcastprogress.com Of 300K podcast listeners, 63% bought something that the host had promoted on their show. Of that same group, 71% said they had visited a sponsor’s website, while 62% said they would consider paying for the advertised product or service Podcast subscriptions soared past the 1 billion mark back in 2013 There are 7 billion mobile devices worldwide, and 58% of Americans own a smartphone. One in four podcast consumers play their audio device in their car “nearly every day.” Only 6% of all marketers are using podcasting as a form of content (2016) Podcast listeners consume more than 105 minutes of audio per day than the average American. They spend more than 35% of that total audio time listening to podcasts Today, there are more than 115K English-language podcasts available, and dozens of websites available for distribution for little or no cost to the producer or listener According to one 2017 survey, 42M Americans above the age of 12 listen to podcast on at least a weekly basis As of June 2019, there are currently over 750K podcasts, with over 30million episodes A huge jump from April 2018, at which point FastCompany stated that there were “over 525K shows and over 18.5million episodes” (podcastprogress.com) According to Chartable in 2018, an average of 757 podcasts were launched every day, or about one every three minutes. There is a high level of podfading--few people keep it going after a few episodes. Between 50% and 75% of podcasts end up podfading after 7 episodes 51% of the US population has listened to a podcast 49% of podcast listening is done at home. 22% is done in the car 80% of listeners listen to all or most of each podcast episode and listens to an average of 7 shows per week Listenership is split between women and men at about 44%/56%, respectively 50% or over 60 million homes are podcast fans 70% of the US population is familiar with the term “podcasting”--up from 64% in 2018 51% of the US population has listened to a podcast--up from 44% in 2018 32% (90 million) listened to a podcast in the last month 22% (62 million) listen to podcasts weekly 16 million people in the US are “avid podcast fans” 45% of monthly podcast listeners have household income over $75K--vs 35% for the total population 27% of US podcast listeners have a 4-year college degree 36% of podcast listeners are non-white Podcast listeners subscribe to an average of 6 shows 19% of listeners increase the speed 65% of monthly podcast listeners have been listening for less than 3 years Comedy is the most popular podcasting genre, followed by education and news Podcast listeners are much more active on every social media channel (94% are active on at least one vs 81% for the entire population) Listeners are more likely to follow companies and brands on social media Listeners are also more likely to subscribe to Netflix or Amazon Prime--meaning that they are less likely to be exposed to TV advertising Listeners are more likely to own a smart speaker such as Amazon Alexa or Google Home 51% of bottled water households are podcast listeners, as are 57% of baby food households 53% of beer households 56% of juice households 54% of milk households 54% of cereal households 69% agreed that podcast ads made them aware of new products or services South Korea leads the world in the percentage of people who have listened to a podcast in the past month with 58% The top five are rounded out with Spain at 40%, Sweden at 36%, Australia at 33%, and the US at 33% Classes of MBA students have been commissioned to research podcasting and compare possible business models, and venture capital flowing to influential content providers Podsafe music refers to tracks, by independent as well as signed acts, that are available for use on podcasts without significant cost or licensing difficulty Podnography is also becoming a thing. Also called sexcasts, these are audio clips that may contain porn reviews, kinky storytelling, and interviews with porn writers Activities to celebrate Use #InternationalPodcastDay and #PodCastDay to share on social media Visit internationalpodcastday.com, who suggests that you can celebrate by spreading the word about the day to your friends, share the celebration on your podcasts and social media feeds Grab your mic and camera, ask someone about their favorite podcast. Share the response on social media Join in events in your region and around the world Promote by posting the official banner image on your website Play the International Podcast Day audio or video promo on your show Change your social media image to the International Podcast Day logo Explain to someone what a podcast is and get them hooked Share your favorite podcast with someone Send feedback to your favorite podcasters and tell them thank you Provide a rating and review in Apple podcasts and other platforms Subscribe to a new show and talk about it using one of the hashtags Not a podcaster? Become one! Internationalpodcastday.com also has merch for sale, including shirts, hoodies, hats, mugs, and tote bags. If you order a shirt, you can send a selfie of yourself wearing it that the site will display on their Podcast Day Proud page They also have a podcasting quiz, where you can test your knowledge about podcasting. I got 7/11 right, or 63.63%, or a solid D National Today suggests Finding a new podcast: “With apps like Pocket Cast (for Android) and Downcast (for IOS), it’s never been easier to find an interesting podcast. Browse by category, or by popularity, and you’re bound to find at least a dozen that you’ll have a hard time turning off Creating your own: “You can create your very own podcast, and you’ve likely already got the tools you need to get started. Between your mobile phone and your computer, you’ve likely got a microphone, and some app like Garageband or Audacity. Recording the podcast is the easy part--the real challenge comes when you’re trying to pick a topic worth listening to!” Donating to your favorite podcaster: “Many of the most popular podcasts survive on minimal ad revenue and donations ‘from viewers like you.’ As much as even hearing those words can put one to sleep, they’re there for a reason! Consider throwing a few dollars toward your favorite podcasts so that they can keep on broadcasting.” SOURCES https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podcast https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_podcasting https://internationalpodcastday.com/podcasting-history/ https://internationalpodcastday.com/promotion/ https://internationalpodcastday.com/ https://nationaldaycalendar.com/international-podcast-day-september-30/ https://nationaltoday.com/international-podcast-day/ https://discoverpods.com/founding-creation-international-podcast-day/ https://www.weeditpodcasts.com/14-podcasting-facts-that-will-blow-your-mind/ https://www.podcastinsights.com/podcast-statistics/ https://podcastprogress.com/podcast-facts-and-figures-2019/ https://musicoomph.com/podcast-statistics/ https://chartable.com/blog/golden-age-of-podcasts https://musicoomph.com/podcast-statistics/
HAPPY NATIONAL TYPO DAY! Jon us as we celebrate those typgrpacial erros that we all kno and love! Today we're celebrating with pal and comedian Pete Musto (midnightgardenersleague.com / Facebook: MidnightGardenersLeague)!! LET'S PARTY!! Find Holiday Party online – Patreon: patreon,com/HOLIDAYPARTY Twitter: @HOLIDAYPARTYPOD / Instagram: HOLIDAYPARTYPODCAST / Facebook: @HOLIDAYPARTYPODCAST / HOLIDAYPARTYPODCAST.COM Find Alyssa – Twitter: @alyssapants / Instagram: lettertalkpodcast / alyssapants.com Find Disa – Twitter: @cinnamonenemy / Spotify: open.spotify.com/user/1243777842 SHOW NOTES History/Fun facts about the holiday A typo, or typographical error, or misprint, is a mistake made in the typing of printed or electronic material. According to Wikipedia, the term includes errors due to mechanical failure or slips of the hand or finger, but excludes errors of ignorance, such as spelling errors, or the flip-flopping of words such as “than” and “then”. Most typos include simple duplication, omission, transposition, or substitution of a small number of characters. “Fat-finger syndrome” is a slang term that refers to an unwanted secondary action when typing. When someone’s finger is bigger than the touch zone, there can be inaccuracy in the fine motor movements and accidents occur. This action happens often with touchscreens, particularly when a person hits two adjacent keys on the keyboard in a single keystroke. For example, “buckled” instead of “bucked” There may also be “intentional” typos, which are typos that may be used deliberately for humorous purposes. For instance, the British newspaper The Guardian is sometimes referred to as the Grauniad given its reputation for frequent typesetting errors in the era before computer typesetting. Intentional typos are in notorious use on the internet. Some, such as “teh”, “pwned”, and “zomg”, have become in-jokes among groups and subcultures Then there’s typosquatting, which is a form of cybersquatting which relies on typographical errors made by internet users. A cybersquatter will typically register a likely typo of a frequently-accessed website address in the hope of receiving traffic when internet users mistype that address into a web browser. Deliberately introducing typos into a web page, or into its metadata, can also draw unwitting visitors when they enter these typos into search engines Cybersquatting refers to the act of registering, trafficking in, or using an internet domain name with bad faith intent to profit from the goodwill of a trademark belonging to someone else. The squatter then offers to sell the domain to the person or company who owns a trademark contained within the name at an inflated price. Once in the typosquatter’s site, a user may be tricked into thinking that they are in fact in the real site. Spam emails also sometimes make use of typosquatting URLS to trick users into visiting malicious sites There are several reasons why a typosquatter may buy a typo domain: In order to try to sell the typo domain back to the brand owner To monetize the domain through advertising revenues from direct navigation misspellings of the intended domain To redirect the typo-traffic to a competitor To redirect the typo-traffic back to the brand itself, but through an affiliate link, thus earning commissions from the brand owner's affiliate program. As a phishing scheme to mimic the brand's site, while intercepting passwords which the visitor enters unsuspectingly To install drive-by malware or revenue generating adware onto the visitors' devices To harvest misaddressed email messages mistakenly sent to the typo domain To block malevolent use of the typo domain by others To express an opinion that is different from the intended website's opinion Since the emergence of online auctions, misspelled auction searches have quickly become lucrative for people searching for deals. The concept is based on the incidence that, should someone post an auction and misspell its description or title, regular searches for the item won’t find that auction. A search that includes misspelled alterations of the item would find most misspelled auctions. In fact, a series of third-party websites have sprung up allowing people to find these items. There have been different ways of marking typos over the course of typography technology When using a typewriter without correction tape, typos were commonly overstruck with another character such as a slash. This saved the typist the trouble of retyping the entire page to eliminate the error, but as evidence of the typo remained, it was not aesthetically pleasing. In computer forums, sometimes ^H (a visual representation of the ASCII backspace character) was used to "eras" intentional typos: Be nice to this fool^H^H^H^Hgentleman, he's visiting from corporate HQ. In instant messaging, users often send messages in haste and only afterwards notice the typo. It is common practice to correct the typo by sending a subsequent message in which an asterisk precedes the correct word. In formal prose, it is sometimes necessary to quote text containing typos or other doubtful words. In such cases, the author will write "[sic]" to indicate that an error was in the original quoted source rather than in the transcription. Sic is derived from the Latin “sic erat scriptum” or “thus it was written” An “atomic typo” is a typo that happens to result in a correctly spelled word that is different from the intended one, and since it’s spelled correctly, the spellchecker cannot find the mistake. Examples include “unclear” instead of “nuclear”, “you” instead of “your”, “Sudan” instead of “sedan”, “Untied States” instead of “United States”, and “the” instead of “they”. The term was used at least as early as 1995 by Robert Terry. The Sedan/Sudan example actually happened in real life in 2005, leading to a diplomatic issue with Sudan. Storax Sedan was an underground nuclear test conducted in Area 10 of Yucca Flat at the Nevada National Security Site on July 6, 1962 as part of Operation Plowshare, a program to investigate the use of nuclear weapons for mining, cratering, and other civilian purposes. The radioactive fallout from the test contaminated more US residents than any other nuclear test. The Sedan Crater is the largest human-made crater in the US, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Ellen Tauscher, a Democratic member of the US House of Representatives from California, used Sedan as an example of a test which produced a considerable amount of radioactive fallout while giving Congressional testimony on the containment of debris from nuclear testing. However, the name “Sedan” was incorrectly transcribed as “Sudan” in the Congressional Record The international community quickly took notice, and Sudanese officials responded by stating that “the Sudanese government takes this issue seriously and with extreme importance”. The Chinese Xinhua General News Service even published an article claiming that the Sudanese government blamed the US for raising cancer rates among the Sudanese people. Despite the US embassy in Khartoum issuing a statement clarifying that it was a typographic error, Mustafa Osman Ismail, the Sudanese Foreign Minister, stated that his government would continue investigating the claims Gives a whole new dimension to the term “atomic typo” Fun facts and anecdotes! From a 2009 mentalfloss.com article and a 2017 article on listverse.com In 1631, a widely distributed Bible came to be known as the “Sinner’s Bible” when readers noticed that a very important “not” had been omitted” from Exodus 20:14, making the 7th commandment read “Thou shalt commit adultery.” This resulted in printer fines and recalled copies, with only 11 copies known to still exist today On July 31, Austin M. Patterson, chemistry editor at Merriam-Webster, sent an internal communication to the printers that included the phrase “D or d, cont./density.” The intention was to add “density” to the existing list of words that the letter “D” can abbreviate. The printer misunderstood, and instead printed a single, run-together word: dord, meaning density. The typo got past proofreaders and appeared on page 771 of the dictionary in 1934. It wasn’t until February 28, 1939, that an editor noticed “dord” lacked an etymology, and an urgent plate change soon followed The Therac-25 was a device from the 1980s that was designed to treat cancer patients with controlled bursts of radiation. Radiation is obviously extremely dangerous, so the machine came with a program to keep exposure strictly limited. This program came with a manual to ensure that the operator knew how to handle any issues. Unfortunately, the manual was apparently “written by someone with no knowledge of how communication works.” The “nonsensical word salad” was completely confusing to doctors, so they basically ignored it. When error messages popped up on the Therac-25, they just did what they thought was best. They ended up blasting patients with up to 100 times more radiation than is considered safe. Three died. For 12 hours on April 5, 2006, an Alitalia business class fare from Toronto to Cyprus was listed as $39 instead of the usual $3900. Someone at farecompare.com posted the news online, starting a buying stampede that lasted until the fare was corrected. Alitalia initially tried to cancel the already issued tickets but eventually relented, and approximately 2000 people flew to Cyprus for under $200, including taxes In early 2009, an Oregon company had to place a rush order for new packaging for its Peace Cereal. It seems a typo on the box sent callers to a phone sex line instead of the cereal maker’s 800 number. So, instead of reaching the Golden Temple consumer relations department, callers were greeted by a recorded voice asking, “Do you love sex?” A spokesperson for the company attributed the incident to human error In 2005, a typo by a Japanese stock trader cost one investment bank $224M. The broker meant to sell 1 share of J-Com at 610,000 yen, not 610,000 shares at 1 yen each In 1991, a single mistyped character in a line of computer code left 12 million people without telephone service. DSC Communications and Bell Systems confirmed that massive outages on the East and West Coasts could be traced back to that one, tiny error On August 14, 2003, a misplaced character buried deep in an Ohio power plant’s XA-21 energy management system began a cascade of glitches that rippled across the NE US and into Canada. Within hours, other power stations were failing, and entire cities were going dark, including New York City. In the end, over 50 million people were left without power, communication, and infrastructure for about 7 hours. To make matters worse, the whole thing could have been avoided if one power plant employee hadn’t turned off an alarm. When the initial glitch appeared, the error alarm was disabled while it was “fixed.” The alarm was never turned back on, meaning when the bug acted up again, it remained hidden until it was too late On July 22, 1962, the Mariner 1 space probe was launched from Cape Canaveral for its journey to Venus. Shortly after liftoff, however, it became clear that something was wrong. The rocket carrying the probe began to veer off course, putting it into a path that would carry it not only to a crash landing, but one in a populated area. With no other choice, NASA officials sent a self-destruct signal, destroying the probe and spreading debris across several states. While coding the spacecraft’s guidance system, a programmer forgot a single hyphen, causing the $80M project to literally go up in flames before it even left the atmosphere On October 8, 2013, President Obama’s senior advisor for strategy and communications, Dan Pfeiffer, was discussing politics with a few of his Twitter followers. After a few tweets back and forth about political polarization, Pfeiffer intended to respond with “also a much bigger factor on the right.” Unfortunately, his errant finger found not the “b” key, but its neighbor “n,” as he spelled “bigger.” He didn’t catch it before sending it to his followers, but he was quick to point out that it was “obviously a horrendous typo.” In 1870, German chemist Erich von Wolf was researching the nutritional benefits of different foods, including spinach. While testing for iron content, he mistakenly placed the decimal point for spinach one spot too far to the right. This meant that the vegetable’s 3.5 grams was inflated to 35 grams. Wolf’s mistake was taken as fact until 1937, when the mistake was discovered and attempts were made to correct public opinion. But by then, the popularity of spinach-munching Popeye had solidified its undeserved reputation In 2013, the Vatican wanted to commemorate the beginning of Pope Francis’ papacy with a big, bold gesture, so they commissioned a series of gold, silver, and bronze medals from the Italian Mint. These tokens featured an image of Jesus with a Latin phrase that the new Pope found particularly inspirational. They were then sold at the Vatican Publishing House in St. Peter’s Square. However, thousands of holy tokens rolled off the line with Christianity’s most revered figure’s name spelled “Lesus.” However, only four were purchased before the rest of the batch was yanked In 1997, Larry Page was in his office at the Gates Computer Science Building at Stanford University with several graduate students, including Sean Anderson. They were having a brainstorming session to think of a name for a website where immense amounts of data would be indexed. Sean suggested “googolplex,” and Larry shortened it to “googol.” Sean immediately ran a domain name search, but mistakenly typed in “google,” which was available. Larry liked the name and within hours he took the step of registering google.com for himself and Sergey Brin That wasn’t Google’s last fuck up! While updating a list of harmful sites on January 31, 2009, one employee accidentally listed “/” as a malicious site, which would be blocked by Google. Since nearly every web address contains a slash, the entire internet came to a halt for about an hour as Google prevented access to every single website. Visitors were turned away with a warning screen, and a complete block page if they continued anyway History of the holiday According to whatnationaldayisit.com, the first detection of National Typo Day occurred on April 6th 2015, but it seems that that may be an error from the algorithm, since National No Typo Day was also first detected on April 6th, 2015 and is actually celebrated on April 6th each year. I searched the hashtag #nationaltypoday on Twitter, and found it in Tweets attached to numerous different dates, including 1/22, 1/28, 3/7, 3/27, 9/9, 6/21, 10/28, 10/17, 11/17, among many many others. Couldn’t find a single one for 9/24 One other social media mention I found was a Facebook post from Gannon’s Gourmet, a family-owned and operated restaurant and catering business in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The post was dated January 29, 2013, and stated, “Today is national typo day so if you are grammaticallyincorrect [sic] you get a free pass. Apple is set to release a 128 gb. Apple ipad 4th. Gen with retina display. Our page would look so good on it. Oh did you know our chicken products are all made with white chicken meat. We focus primarily on the breast for perfect tenderness. Quality produce for you keeps us in business. Thank you all for your continued interest and support. See you at the show….” The post has one comment, from the Gannon’s Gourmet page, saying, “The release date is said to be around feb 5th and geared toward business solutions.” In short, I think Typo Day may be a typo Activities to celebrate Use #NationalTypoDay on social media Visit Gannon’s Gourmet in Allentown PA to enjoy some of their specialties such as their famous “Mom’s Potato Salad”, “Irene’s Tuna Salad”, or a harvest pasta salad with balsamic vinaigrette, all of which are made with NO PRESERVATIVES! Take a typing class? As with every episode, you should celebrate NATIONAL TYPO DAY with our custom mixtape, which I will now present to you in the form of a novel synopsis. This is an age-old story of love, betrayal, loss, and inevitable nihilism from never learning from our fucking mistakes. Most of this story is presented from a female perspective simply due to the nature of the musical artists that sing each song, but our listeners should feel free to imagine themselves in whichever perspective they can most relate to, regardless of gender: Part 1-Chapter 1: Oops by Little Mix featuring Charlie Puth Oops, my baby, you woke up in my bed/Oops, we broke up, we’re better off as friends/Now I accidentally need you, I don’t know what to do/Oops, baby, I love you Chapter 2: Mistakes by Tove Styrke Oh baby, gimme highs and lows/Wanna get close, no clothes/Probably better if I go now/You make me, you make me, you make me wanna make mistakes/Love how bittersweet it tastes/Hey,hey,hey/You make me, you make me, you make me wanna make mistakes/Bend my heart until it breaks/Hey, hey, hey Chapter 3: Mistake by Middle Kids One day you’re fine, the next you’re crying/And suddenly your engine just stops going/Thought you were healthy but you’re choking/It must be catching up, your smoking/I wish that you never played/You’re standing out in the rain tonight/Like you’ve going something to say to God/And you got a debt to pay back/For something you did way back Chapter 4: Whoops by 12th Planet, Mayhem, and pennybirdrabbit He stayed/and I let him/And I swam/To the bottom/He ripped my heart out/I’ve bought my soul out/Whoops I have nothing left to give/Who knows if I’ll sink or swim/Whoops I’ve got nothing left to give/Nothing, Nothing Chapter 5: Hit ‘Em up Style (Oops) by Blu Cantrell Hey ladies/When your man wanna get buck-wild/Just go back and hit ‘em up style/Put your hands on his cash and spend it to the last dime/For all the hard times/Oh, when you go then everything goes/From the crib to the ride and the clothes/So you better let him know that/If he messed up you gotta hit ‘em up Chapter 6: Typo by Lyrica Anderson You say this is the last time/You say you wouldn’t make me cry/You cheated and I don’t know why/You make me feel/You make me feel some typo way Interlude: Typo by Vhsceral Part 2-Chapter 7: Whoops Now by Janet Jackson Out with your friends and/Fun in the sun now/That’s when the phone rings/Friday evening and I’m all alone at home/And all my friends are having fun/Another week and I’ll leave the machine on/Next time he calls/He’ll hear my voice/Saying loud and clear/Whoops now/Sorry I can’t go Chapter 8: Oops (Oh My) by Tweet featuring Missy Elliott I looked over to the left/A reflection of myself/That’s why I couldn’t catch my breath Chapter 9: Typo by cupcakKe Finger me like a typo/Finger, finger me like a typo, ayy Chapter 10: Oops!...I Did It Again by Britney Spears Oops, I did it again/I played with your heart, got lost in the game/Oh baby, baby/Oops, you think I’m in love/That I’m sent from above/I’m not that innocent Chapter 11: Trade Mistakes by Panic! At The Disco I may never sleep tonight/As long as you’re still burning bright/If I could trade mistakes for sheep/Count me away before you sleep/I’ll still wait till I trade my mistakes/So they fade away Interlude: Typo by Rozada Part 3: Chapter 12: Error: Operator by Taking Back Sunday Sometimes I swear I can see right through you/Concentrate, concentrate, control, concentrate/This doesn’t feel like anything/We can’t go back, can’t go back, can’t go back Chapter 13: You Fucked Up by Ween You fucked up, you bitch, you really fucked up/You fucked up, you fuckin’ nazi whore/Well, you dicked me over but now you’ll pay/You fucked up, ahh! Chapter 14: Fucked Up World by The Pretty Reckless It’s a fucked up world/What do you get/Sex and love and guns, light a cigarette SOURCES https://whatnationaldayisit.com/day/Typo/ https://whatnationaldayisit.com/day/no-typo/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typographical_error https://www.memecenter.com/search/typo http://mentalfloss.com/article/21687/7-interesting-typo-tales https://listverse.com/2017/03/19/10-horrifyingly-high-profile-typos/ https://www.facebook.com/126014720802614/posts/today-is-national-typo-day-so-if-you-are-grammaticallyincorrect-you-get-a-free-p/432741296796620/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sedan_(nuclear_test) Sedan Crater, Nye County, NV
HAPPY NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS MONTH! Join us as we celebrate having our shit together when life surprises us with disastrous bullshit! Today we're celebrating with friend and comedian Dan Kapr (danhasjokes.com / Twitter: @danhasjokes / Instagram: danhasjokes)!! LET'S PARTY!! Find Holiday Party online – Patreon: patreon,com/HOLIDAYPARTY Twitter: @HOLIDAYPARTYPOD / Instagram: HOLIDAYPARTYPODCAST / Facebook: @HOLIDAYPARTYPODCAST / HOLIDAYPARTYPODCAST.COM Find Alyssa – Twitter: @alyssapants / Instagram: lettertalkpodcast / alyssapants.com Find Disa – Twitter: @cinnamonenemy / Spotify: open.spotify.com/user/1243777842 SHOW NOTES History/Fun facts about the holiday Lifted straight from Wikipedia: “Preparedness refers to a very concrete research-based set of actions that are taken as precautionary measures in the face of potential disasters. These actions can include both physical preparations, such as emergency supplies depots, adapting buildings to survive earthquakes, etc., and trainings for emergency action. Preparedness is an important quality in achieving goals and in avoiding and mitigating negative outcomes.” There are different types of preparedness, including public health preparedness, local emergency preparedness or snow preparedness, and “disaster preparedness,” which is probably the most developed type. “Disaster Preparedness” is defined by the UN as involving “forecasting and taking precautionary measures to an imminent threat when advance warnings are possible.” Along with natural disasters, this type can include all kinds of severe damage caused in a relatively short period of time, including warfare. Preparedness is a major phase of emergency management, and is particularly valued in areas of competition such as sport and military science Methods of preparation include research, estimation, planning, resourcing, education, practicing, and rehearsing In the US, preparedness used to be largely viewed as the responsibility of first responders and other emergency services. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, it became evident that first responders can and will become overwhelmed in a large-scale disaster; unable to effectively respond to the emergency. The idea of whole community preparedness is, “By working together, everyone can keep the nation safe from harm and resilient when struck by hazards, such as natural disasters, acts of terrorism, and pandemics.” National Preparedness Month has been observed every September since 2004, and is sponsored by FEMA. It is part of a governmental effort to strengthen the United States’ preparedness capabilities. The national preparedness architecture encompasses prevention, protection, response, and recovery efforts to prepare the US for all hazards, whether terrorist attack or natural disaster September was chosen “as the tragedies of the September 11, 2001 highlighted to the nation the importance of being prepared.” It was also partly chosen because the peak of the Atlantic hurricane season occurs in mid-September As of 2016, the National Household Survey revealed that while more than 75% of Americans surveyed report having supplies set aside in their homes just for disasters, less than 50% have a household emergency plan National Preparedness Month serves to encourage people to take important preparedness steps including: getting an emergency supply kit, making a family emergency plan, being informed about the different emergencies that may affect them, as well as taking the necessary steps to get trained and become engaged in community preparedness and response efforts Some big-picture basics that you can personally assess and adjust may include (from consumer.ftc.gov) organizing your finances by having your financial documents up-to-date, in one place, and portable; replacing missing documents; checking your insurance to see if any of them will pay for temporary shelter, replacement clothing, furniture, or other items; preparing your home against fires, earthquakes, high winds and tornadoes, storms, or flooding; planning for your pets; and signing up for alerts and warnings in your area A typical emergency or survival kit could include a knife (often a Swiss army knife or a multi-tool), matches, tinder, first aid kit, bandana, fish hooks, sewing kit, and a flashlight. The American Red Cross recommends an emergency preparedness kit that is easy to carry and use in the event of an emergency or disaster The general contents of an emergency kit depend on the location, though basic components address the needs of first aid, food, water, shelter and warmth, navigation, and signaling The Wikipedia article for Survival Kits has a relatively exhaustive list of options for each of these components, so you can check there or the American Red Cross for ideas to customize your own kit The article also includes information for other types of survival kits, such as for lifeboats, military, spacecraft, mini-survival or “Altoids tin” kits, and vehicle kits The spacecraft kits are provided due to the difficulty of predicting where a spacecraft will land on its return to earth, especially in the case of an equipment failure. For example, the Apollo program kit was “designed to provide a 48-hour postlanding survival capability for three crewman between 40 degrees North and South latitudes” and contained “a survival radio, a survival light assembly, desalter kits, a machete, sunglasses, water cans, sun lotion, a blanket, a pocket knife, netting and foam pads.” “Altoid tin” kits generally contain a few basic tools, such as a small compass, waterproof matches, minimum fishing tackles, large plastic bag, small candle, jigsaw blade, craft knife or scalpel blade, and/or a safety pin For natural disasters, the US government Homeland Security provides a list of recommended in-home kit items, with the content focusing on the basics of survival: fresh water, food, clean air, and materials to maintain body warmth. These items comprised into a kit are known as a bug-out bag, and include: At least one gallon of water per person for each day of drinking and sanitation Non-perishable food for at least three days, which does not require being cooked or refrigerated Emergency food bars, preferably products with 2400 or 3600 calories and contain no coconut or tropical oils to which many people may have an allergic reaction Battery- or hand-powered radio with the Weather band LED type flashlight, either battery- or hand-powered Extra batteries for anything needing them, lithium being preferred for shelf life First aid kit Copies of any medical prescriptions A whistle for signaling Dust mask, plastic sheeting and duct tape to shelter in place Moist towelettes, garbage bags, and plastic ties for personal sanitation Wrench or pliers to turn off water valves Can opener Local maps Spare keys for household and motor vehicles Sturdy, comfortable shoes and lightweight rain gear Contact and meeting place information for the household Bug-out bags, or BOBs, are variably known as “Personal Emergency Relocation Kits, or PERKs, or “get out of dodge” (GOOD) kits. They’re typically backed into backpacks or duffel bags, and designed specifically to be more easily carried by the individual in case alternate forms of transportation are unavailable or impossible to use Some additional pointers to consider, from epa.gov, include How to report emergencies: Call 911 if you are in immediate danger--although that might not work anyway, as we can glean from a very recent case in Arkansas. According to the Daily Wire, 47-year old Debra Stevens called 911 on August 24 while on her newspaper delivery route when her SUV was trapped in a flash flood. The call lasted 22 minutes, during which time Debra conveyed her fear and confusion and the dispatcher responded dismissively and callously. NOTE: I will not be going over the full details of this case, because they’re deeply upsetting. I made the mistake of listening to some of the audio of the 911 call and I greatly wish I hadn’t SYNOPSIS: Stevens called 911 when her car was suddenly swept away from rapid flash flood waters and into a grove of trees. The dispatcher was dismissive, rude, and condescending throughout the call, in response to Stevens’ panic and distress. By the time first responders were attempting to reach Stevens, she had drowned. Stevens, while in her car that was trapped amongst a group of trees: “I have an emergency--a severe emergency. I can’t get out, and I’m scared to death, ma’am. Can you please help me”? Dispatcher: “You’re not going to die. I don’t know why you’re freaking out...You freaking out is doing nothing but losing your oxygen in there. So, calm down.” “Stevens said that she hadn’t seen the water and had plunged into it; that the water was now as high as her chest. She added that she could see people in the distance who were likely laughing at her. She apologized to the dispatcher, adding that she felt she was about to throw up.” Dispatcher: “Well, you’re in water, you can throw up. It’s not going to matter.” Stevens: “Please help and get me out of this water, dear Father.” Then she apologized again for her rudeness. Dispatcher: “This will teach you next time don’t drive in the water.” Stevens: “I couldn’t see it ma’am. I’m sorry or I wouldn’t have.” She said she had delivered the newspaper on the same route for 21 years and never seen anything like it. Dispatcher: “I don’t know how you didn’t see it. You had to go right over it. The water just didn’t appear.” The dispatcher went on to take other calls, including relaying to first responders that “she is legit freaking out.” When Stevens said, “I’m going to die!”, the dispatcher responded, “ Miss Debbie, you’re breathing just fine because you’re screaming at me. So, calm down. I know you’re scared. Hold on for me.” Roughly an hour later, rescuers found Stevens’ car. She had drowned. The dispatcher had already submitted her resignation earlier in August. Her last day was reportedly the day Stevens died. That dispatcher had previously been awarded Police Dispatcher of the Year To report oil, chemical, or hazardous substance releases or spills, call the National Response Center at 1-800-424-8802 For pesticide poisoning, call Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222 For individuals and homeowners, you should know ahead of time where you can run a generator. Generator exhaust is toxic and can sicken or kill you. Always put generators outside well away from doors, windows, and vents. Never use generators inside a home, basement, garage, crawlspace, tent, shed, or any other indoor or enclosed area. Carbon monoxide, the deadly gas produced by generator use which you cannot see or smell, can build up quickly, and linger for hours In April 2015, a father and his seven children were found dead in their Maryland home from carbon monoxide poisoning from a generator they were using because they could not afford their electricity bills. The father, Rodney Todd Sr. was 36, and his childrens’ ages ranged from 6-16 Extended family noted that he’d purchased the generator to keep his family warm after the electricity was cut off due to an outstanding bill. The generator was out of fuel and turned off when the family was discovered If your drinking water is from a private well, know your state or local contacts for inspecting the safety your drinking water after a flood. Keep at least a 3-day drinking supply per person, as well as additional water for any pets If your home is on a septic system, know whom to call to have it inspected after a flood before you use it Preppers! The term “prepper” generally refers to an individual who participates in a movement known as “survivalism” and who actively prepares for emergencies, including possible disruptions in social or political order, on scales from local to international. The survivalism movement also encompasses preparation for personal emergencies, such as job loss or being stranded in the wild or under adverse weather conditions. Overall, there is an emphasis on self-reliance, stockpiling supplies, and gaining survival knowledge and skills, and it’s not uncommon for preppers to acquire emergency medical and self-defense training, stockpile food and water, prepare for self-sufficiency, and build structures such as survival retreats or underground shelters that may help them survive a catastrophe Use of the term “survivalist” dates back to 1976 The use of the term “prepper” appears to have taken on the more pejorative use around the year 2000, after Y2K failed to bring about “the end of the world as we know it”, and preppers were subsequently mocked for their panic and ridiculed as “kooky” The origins of the modern survivalist movement in the UK and US include government policies, threats of nuclear warfare, religious beliefs, and writers who warned of social or economic collapse The Cold War era civil defense programs promoted public atomic bomb shelters, personal fallout shelters, and training for children. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints had long directed their members to store a year’s worth of food for themselves and their families in preparation for such possibilities, but the current teaching advises only a three-month supply The Great Depression is often cited by preppers as an example of the need to be prepared “Interest in the movement picked up during the Clinton administration due in part to the debate surrounding the Federal Assault Weapons Ban and the ban’s subsequent passage in 1994. Interest peaked again in 1999 triggered by fears of the Y2K computer bug Another wave of survivalism began after the 9/11 attacks and subsequent bombings in Bali, Madrid, and London. Additional events that have nudged this ideology along include the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, Hurricane Katrina, the 2008 Great Recession, the advent of H1N1 Swine Flu in 2009 Following the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, the “prepper” community worried they would face public scrutiny after it was revealed the mass murderer’s mother was a survivalist To recap, on December 14, 2012, 20-year old Adam Lanza shot and killed 26 people, 20 of whom were children under the age of 7, after shooting his mother at their Newtown home. He then shot himself in the head. In addition to the three firearms that Lanza took with him to the shooting, he had access to three additional firearms at the home that he shared with his mother, and she was described as a “gun enthusiast who owned at least a dozen firearms. She often took her two sons to a local shooting range, where they learned to shoot.” Common preparations among the community include the creation of a clandestine or defensible retreat, haven, or bug out location, in addition to the stockpiling of non-perishable food, water, water-purification equipment, clothing, seed, firewood, defensive or hunting weapons, ammunition, agricultural equipment, and medical supplies Survivalist terminology!--survivalists maintain their group identity by using specialized terminology not generally understood outside their circles. So I’m about to bust. That. Shit. Down. They often use military acronyms such as OPSEC or Operations Security, and SOP or Standard Operating Procedure, as well as terms that are unique to their own survivalist groups, including: Alpha strategy: the practice of storing extra consumable items, as a hedge against inflation, and for use in barter and charity Ballistic wampum: ammunition stored for barter purposes BOB: Bug-Out Bag BOL: Bug-Out Location BOV: Bug-Out Vehicle Doomer: A peak oil adherent who believes in a Malthusian-scale social collapse EDC: EveryDay Carry. What one carries at all times in case disaster strikes while one is out and about. Also refers to the normal carrying of a pistol for self-defense, or the pistol which is carried EOTW: End of the world EROL: Excessive rule of law, describing a situation where a government becomes oppressive and uses its powers and laws to control citizens Goblin: a criminal miscreant Golden horde: the anticipated large mixed horde of refugees and looters that will pour out of the metropolitan regions WTSHTF (when the shit hits the fan) G.O.O.D: Get out of dodge. Fleeing urban areas in the event of a disaster G.O.O.D. kit: Get out of dodge kit, synonymous with BOB I.N.C.H. pack: I’m Never Coming Home pack, or a pack containing everything needed to walk out into the woods and never return to society. It is a heavy pack loaded with the gear needed to accomplish any wilderness tasks, from building shelter to gaining food, designed to allow someone to survive indefinitely in the woods. This requires skills as well as proper selection of equipment, as one can only carry so much. For example, instead of carrying food, one carries seeds, steel traps, a longbow, reel spinners, and other fishing gear Pollyanna or Polly: Someone who is in denial about the disruption that might be caused by the advent of a large-scale disaster Prepper: A synonym for survivalist that came into common usage during the early 2000s. Used interchangeably with survivalist much as retreater was in the 1970s. Refers to one who is prepared or making preparations SHTF: Shit hits the fan TEOTWAWKI: The end of the world as we know it. The expression is in use since at least the early 1980s, however others claim the acronym may have been coined in 1996 Uncivilization: A generic term for a great catastrophe WROL: Without rule of law, describing a potential lawless state of society YOYO: You’re on your own Zombie: Unprepared, incidental survivors of a prepped-for disaster, “who feed on… the preparations of others” Zombie apocalypse: Used by some preppers as a tongue-in-cheek metaphor for any natural or man-made disaster and “a clever way of drawing people’s attention to disaster preparedness”. The premise of the Zombie Squad is that “if you are prepared for a scenario where the walking corpses of your family and neighbors are trying to eat you alive, you will be prepared for almost anything.” Though “there are some… who are seriously preparing for a zombie attack.” Some famous preppers include (from trueprepper.com): Nathan Fillion, who apparently is a self-taught welder so that he can armor up his SUV for the zombie apocalypse. He was on Conan and jokingly argued that he’d be valuable in such an environment, and people would be incentivized to help him survive Ronda Rousey is a prepper that lives on her homestead in Southern California with her husband and a ton of goats. She has stated, “A lot of these skills that were common place, every generation we know less and less and less about them because it makes people for us not to know. Every single person in here their survival plan is a grocery store. If all the grocery stores closed, what would you do? That’s a scary thought.” Zooey Deschanel also outed herself on Conan as something of a prepper, mentioning that she tries to dress in order to be able to make a quick getaway at any time--flat shoes, a cross-body bag, “agile” clothing. She also looks for the exits in any room, has an earthquake kit including a tent Roseanne Barr is a very active advocate for prepping. In one of her tweets, she’s said, “In America: be prepared by organizing with your neighbors to grow wholesome food/store water/vitamins/guns.” Jamie Lee Curtis is a Red Cross advocate and has consistently supported them in their mission to teach the importance of preparedness, including shooting a 2-minute video showing how to customize an emergency kit. Her recommendations included a photo of the family to comfort any children, candy and games for said children, rechargeable flashlights, dental floss, comfort food, sturdy shoes for foot protection, and a mobile means of keeping the kit such as a backpack. The National Enquirer “outed” Ryan Seacrest in 2017, with his staff reported that he stocks up on protein bars and that he’s “gripped by weird, unreasoning terror that LA is waay overdue for another devastating earthquake!” In November 2018,, a hunter in Wisconsin discovered a door “peeking out from behind some thick underbrush off a dirt trail.” The door had been built into the earth and hidden strategically behind branches and shrubs. He reported the finding to police, but authorities were “unsuccessful with any results” during their follow-up. The hunter, Thomas Nelson, ruminated on his creepy discovery for nearly a year before he decided to retrace his steps to further investigate the door on his own, and returned to the location in August of this year. When Nelson opened the door, he found a man lying in a bed in the cave-like hideout. Nelson quickly contacted police and lead them directly to the site, where officers made 50-60 verbal commands and banged on the cave roof until the mystery man emerged about 20 minutes later, fully dressed in camouflage The guy turned out to be Jeremiah Button, a man who had been two weeks away from standing trial for charges of child sexual assault and child pornography charges before he abruptly disappeared in February 2016. Button had been out on $25k bond for 18 months, and in that time he built his small, wooden bunker into an embankment along the Ice Age Trail in a state park near Ringle, Wisconsin When he emerged from his cave with his hands up, he stated, “I am a wanted man,” and officers noted that he was “extremely chatty and remarked how ‘it was nice to talk to some human beings.’” Button apparently chose the location due to its remoteness and proximity to a local landfill, which he would regularly forage for food and supplies. This is even where he found his camouflage outfit, which he called “a really great find.” Other than his landfill excursions, Button had stocked up with backpacks of canned goods, and other supplies, including a flat-screen TV. On top of the cave, officers found several solar panels and car batteries, which Button later stated he used to power his radio, TV, lights, and fans For backup power, he created a generator using a bicycle that he would pedal He ensured that he always had water by seeking out a particularly wet part of the woods and building a well. He would then filter the water through charcoal and sand-lined filters before boiling it Prior to his disappearance, “Button was set to stand trial for four counts of child sexual assault and child pornography from 2014, including first-degree sexual assault and incest with a child,” charges to which he had pleaded not guilty In order to trick people into believing he fled the midwest, Button left his wallet at his mother’s house with a note that he was moving to Florida. “He then hopped into a train’s coal car in Stevens Point and covered himself with coal. Once he got to an area near his bunker, he got lost, taking two days of walking to find his way back to it. Fortunately, he is currently in custody and awaiting his next day in court, which is September 16. From the Cracked article “6 Odd Things Doomsday Preppers Stockpile (That Make Sense)”, preppers are known to have a more-than-healthy supply of the following: Non-lubricated condoms, since they’re apparently useful for starting fires by protecting tinder from moisture, hunting for food by turning it into a slingshot, transporting up to 2 liters of water, using as stand-ins for rubber gloves, and protecting the muzzle of your gun Dog gear. Dogs can carry their own supplies without complaint, sniff out food and water, and search for and bring down prey. They also “have a long...history of offensive and defensive combat use. Essentially, prepping for your dog’s survival may be imperative to your own odds of survival Booze, and not just for partying or drowning your lonely sorrows after everyone you know has died of syphilis because they didn’t pack any condoms. In the past, adding spirits to potable water that’s been sitting around for a long time will make it much more palatable. Liquor distillation was originally invented in part for medical purposes, and alcohol can be used as a solvent to dissolve medicinal herbs, as well as to knock out patients for surgery when modern anesthesia wouldn’t be available. If the ABV is high enough, alcohol can also be used as ignition fuel. It may also be useful as a bartering good, since money will basically be worthless Baking soda, to be used for brushing your teeth so that you can continue to easily eat, cleaning your dishes, preventing body odor for when you’re sneaking up on a prey animal with a keen sense of smell, dousing an accidental fire, and preventing “trench foot” by absorbing the moisture your feet produce every day. Trench foot occurs when your feet are wet for long periods of time, with extreme cases leading to the tissue dying and falling off which may result in the loss of toes, the heel, or the entire foot. We learned on National Laundry Day that you perspire about 1.6 gallons of sweat each day, and half of that is through your feet. Cigarettes for currency. In traumatic situations, like war for example, cigarettes are often valued more highly than food. Cigarettes are also useful for starting fires, and the filters can be used to clean water. You can also use water-soaked cigarette butts as natural pest control on any produce you attempt to grow And finally epinephrine, AKA adrenaline, which can be used as a drug for blood pressure support and vasoconstrictor. The latter is particularly useful to aid in faster wound repair, which would be especially desirable in the even that sanitization resources become limited. The longer a wound stays open and bloody, the more likely you are to get infections, which are not always easily survivable even with today’s medical treatment options. Epinephrine also increases your heart rate and blood flow to your muscles, which could obviously prove life-saving in a harrowing situation If you want to be a prepper, or consider yourself one already, you might appreciate the website prepperwebsite.com! The font is super annoying, but the front page will regale you with many, many recent blog posts with tips and ideas, including such gems as: “How Long Do Potatoes Last? 7 Tips to Maximize Shelf Life” “All-Natural Fruit Tree Bait for Insects: It Works!” “Disinfecting Instruments” “4 Canning Dangers to Be Aware Of” “Silkie Chickens: Should You Get Them?” Activities to celebrate Each year features a different theme. According to ready.gov, the theme for 2019 is Prepared, Not Scare. Be Ready for Disasters This theme is then broken down into weekly themes, with specific suggestions included on the website for each week Week 1: Save early for Disaster Costs Week 2: Make a Plan to Prepare for Disasters Week 3: Teach Youth to Prepare for Disasters Week 4: Get Involved in Your Community’s Preparedness They recommend using the following hashtags during the course of the month: #YouthPrep, #ReadyKids, #Prepare Now, #FloodSmart Share public service announcements and instructional videos https://www.ready.gov/videos Print, share, or order FREE emergency preparedness publications https://www.ready.gov/publications Download the FEMA app for disaster resources, weather alerts, and safety tips https://www.fema.gov/mobile-app Sign up for preparedness text messages. Text PREPARE to 43362 (4FEMA) to receive preparedness tips https://www.ready.gov/get-tech-ready Share preparedness information from ready.gov in 12 other languages https://www.ready.gov/languages Remember to include emergency preparedness messages in your social media, email signature, monthly newsletters, or other messaging tools From National Day Calendar: “Preparing for a disaster might seem like an impossible task and we hope you never have to experience one. But if you do, government agencies like FEMA and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as organizations like the American Red Cross, provide excellent websites with enough information to get you started. These websites also offer suggestions on how to plan in specific instances, like being without power for weeks. Your insurance companies will also have information you can use as you prepare. Insurance companies encourage families to prepare for disasters. It makes their jobs easier once the emergency is over and it also gives you peace of mind that were covered correctly.” Use #NationalPreparednessMonth in social media postings An organization can become a National Preparedness Month Coalition Member by agreeing to participate in a preparedness activity or event in the month of September. Coalition members have agreed to promote emergency preparedness through a variety of different ways. Members can sponsor events, coordinate Disaster Preparedness Days, create Disaster Checklists, assist with the creation of emergency kits and survival kits, along with many other Preparedness activities SOURCES https://nationaldaycalendar.com/national-preparedness-month/ https://www.ready.gov/september https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Preparedness_Month https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preparedness https://www.redcross.org/get-help/how-to-prepare-for-emergencies/national-preparedness-month.html https://www.epa.gov/natural-disasters/september-preparedness-month https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/blog/2018/09/its-national-preparedness-month-make-plan https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survivalism https://www.prepperwebsite.com/ https://www.cracked.com/blog/6-odd-things-doomsday-preppers-stockpile-that-make-sense/ https://www.dictionary.com/e/slang/prepper/ https://www.trueprepper.com/famous-celebrities-survivalists-preppers/ https://www.theorganicprepper.com/rich-famous-preppers/ https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/briannasacks/a-man-wanted-on-child-sex-assault-charges-disappeared-3 https://allthatsinteresting.com/debra-stevens-donna-renneau-911-call https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/dad-who-died-7-kids-carbon-monoxide-rodney-todd-never-n337341
HAPPY NATIONAL TOILET PAPER DAY! Join us as we celebrate the amazing rolls of paper we rub our nether regions with! Today we're celebrating with friend, sister and toilet paper user Amy Cowan (aacowan.com / Twitter: @aacowan / Instagram: aacowan)!! LET'S PARTY!! Find Holiday Party online – Patreon: patreon,com/HOLIDAYPARTY Twitter: @HOLIDAYPARTYPOD / Instagram: HOLIDAYPARTYPODCAST / Facebook: @HOLIDAYPARTYPODCAST / HOLIDAYPARTYPODCAST.COM Find Alyssa – Twitter: @alyssapants / Instagram: lettertalkpodcast / alyssapants.com Find Disa – Twitter: @cinnamonenemy / Spotify: open.spotify.com/user/1243777842 SHOW NOTES “Toilet paper is a tissue paper product people primarily use to clean the anus and surrounding area of fecal material after defecation and to clean the perineal area of urine and other bodily fluid releases. It also acts as a layer of protection for the hands during these processes.” --Wikipedia According to WordHippo, other names for toilet paper include: toilet tissue, TP, bum wad, loo paper, loo roll, bog paper, or bog roll According to Urban Thesaurus, additional synonyms include: shit ticket, ass polish, geneva convention, US constitution, bill of rights, certificate of deposit, bung fodder, bum fodder, poop eraser, manpon, rectum ribbon, moon squares, moon tape, bowel towels, poop mittens, clint eastwood paper, poo or poop tickets, dookie tickets, parachute, mountain money, shistapape, dunny roll, shatner, hole roll, yugio cards, moon floss, daily mail, alpha whiskey, ghetto kleenex, and butt scroll Among many, many, many other terms with definitions adjacent to toilet paper but not direct slang terms for it Most modern toilet paper in the developed world is designed to decompose in septic tanks Toilet paper comes in various numbers of plies, or layers of thickness, from 1- to 6-ply, with more back-to-back plies providing greater strength and absorbency Toilet paper products can vary greatly in the distinguishing technical factors, such as size, weight, roughness, softness, chemical residues, “finger-breakthrough” resistance, and water-absorption Quality is usually determined by the number of plies, coarseness, and durability. Low grade institutional toilet paper is typically of the lowest grade of paper, has only one or two plies, is very coarse and sometimes contains small amounts of embedded unbleached/unpulped paper. Mid-grade two ply is somewhat textured to provide some softness and is somewhat stronger. Premium toilet paper may have lotion and wax and has 2-4 plies of very finely pulped paper. If it’s marketed as “luxury”, it may be quilted or rippled, perfumed, colored or patterned, medicated, or treated with aloe In order to advance decomposition of the paper in septic tanks or drainage, the paper used has shorter fibers than facial tissue or writing paper. Manufacturers try to reach an optimal balance between rapid decomposition (which requires shorter fibers) and sturdiness (which requires longer fibers) Another use for toilet paper is toilegami, which refers to a common practice by hotels to fold the first sheet of a toilet paper roll to indicate to guests that the room has been cleaned The practice has been considered an emblematic example of a meme copied across the world from one hotel to another to the point that most of them now do it There are recreational uses for toilet paper such as “TP-ing”, which is the act of throwing rolls of toilet paper over cars, trees, houses, and gardens, causing the toilet paper to unfurl and cover the property, creating an inconvenient mess Children and cats may take to unrolling an entire roll of toilet paper by spinning it until it completely unravels on the floor, or as a game by children wadding up one end, putting it in the toilet bowl without tearing it and then using the flushing of the toilet to pull new paper into the toilet with the objective of flushing the entire roll down the toilet section at a time without the toilet paper breaking Toilet paper pranks include musical toilet paper holders and inserts that are activated by the unrolling of the toilet paper and will loudly play an embarrassing song, calling attention to the person defecating Other gags include custom toilet paper printed with jokes, stories, or politicians’ images From toiletpaperhistory.net, wrapping and padding material known as paper was invented in China in the 2nd century BC, and there are “many evidences” that confirm that they used that paper like toilet paper as well. The first modern toilet paper was created in 1391 for the Chinese Emperor family, and each sheet of toilet paper was perfumed. It wasn’t until the late 15th century that paper became widely available, though mass manufacturing of modern toilet paper didn’t begin until the late 19th century Prior to toilet paper, wealthy people would use wool, lace, or hemp to wipe, while poorer people would often use their hand when defecating into rivers, or cleaned themselves with materials such as rags, wood shavings, leaves, grass, hay, stones, sand, moss, water, snow, ferns, plant husks, fruit skins, seashells, or corncobs In Ancient Rome, a sponge on a stick was a popular option. The tool would be placed into a pail of vinegar or heavily salted seawater after use Other sources indicate that ancient Jewish practice included the use of small pebbles that would be carried in a special bag, as well as the use of dry grass or the smooth edges of broken pottery jugs In 1857, Joseph C. Gayetty created the first commercially available toilet paper, which were comprised of loose, flat sheets of paper medicated with aloe. It was dubbed “Gayetty’s Medicated Paper,” with Joseph Gayetty’s name printed on every sheet. Sadly, this invention ultimately failed. In 1879, the Scott brothers founded the Scott Paper Company, which offered the first toilet paper sold in rolls. However, they struggled to get the public to openly buy the product because Americans were so embarrassed by bodily functions. In fact, the Scott brothers were so ashamed of the nature of their work that they didn’t take proper credit for it until 1902 In 1871, Zeth Wheeler patented rolled and perforated toilet paper, and began selling the paper in 1897 By the end of the 19th century, more homes were being built with sit-down flush toilets attached to indoor plumbing systems. Because people required a product that could be flushed away with minimal damage to the pipes, widespread acceptance of toilet paper finally took hold In 1935, Northern Tissue invented splinter free toilet paper It was popular in the 1960s to buy colored toilet paper to match or complement the colors of one’s bathroom. Colors included pink, lavender, light blue, light green, darker green, purple, and light yellow. US manufacturers fully discontinued color paper lines in 2004, though colored paper remains commonly available in some European countries In 1973, Johnny Carson allegedly created a toilet paper shortage in the US after a joke he told on The Tonight Show. From Snopes, which lists the rumor as a “mixture” of fact and fiction: “In December 1973, Carson made a joke during his opening monologue of The Tonight Show about an upcoming toilet paper shortage. While Carson was not the first to comment on the situation, [he] was blamed for causing a nationwide toilet paper shopping spree.” 1973 was a rough year economically for Americans. In the beginning of the year, the stock market crashed and lost over 45% of its value. In October, an Arab oil embargo saw gas prices rise from $3/barrel to nearly $12/barrel After inflation, that equates to a rise from about $17/barrel to about $69/barrel (for reference, our prices today appear to range from $55-65/barrel) The US experienced a period of economic stagnation that it hadn’t seen since the Great Depression As a result, gas, electricity, and onions were heavily reported to be in limited supply, and Americans cultivated a “shortage psychology.” The toilet paper shortage started with an unsubstantiated rumor in November 1973 with several news agencies reporting a tissue shortage in Japan. A republican congressman in Wisconsin, Harold V. Froelich, then released a series of press releases stating that “the US may face a serious shortage of toilet paper within a few months...we hope we don’t have to ration toilet tissue...a toilet paper shortage is no laughing matter. It is a problem that will potentially touch every American.” The media took this and ran with it, setting the ground for a consumer panic. Johnny Carson’s reference to the shortage on his shown is oft-cited as the spark that ignited the legitimate shortage that followed. He said, “You know, we’ve got all sorts of shortages these days. But have you heard the latest? I’m not kidding. I saw it in the papers. There’s a shortage of toilet paper!” Millions of Americans went on toilet paper shopping sprees, leading to some store owners setting limits on two rolls per customer. Some creative thinkers requested toilet paper as gifts to their baby showers. The shortage last for four months. Toilet paper was bartered and traded, and a black market even emerged before the panic subsided in February of 1974 Carson issued a serious apology on his talk show, saying, “I don’t want to be remembered as the man who created a false toilet paper scare. I just picked up the item from the paper and enlarged it somewhat...there is no shortage.” In 2015, Venezuela faced a similar crisis. Reports surfaced that the country’s government’s price controls may lead to a lack of toilet paper, the citizens panicked and induced their own shortage. The situation got so out of hand that President Jorge Arreaza occupied a toilet paper factory, and issued this statement: “[We] will not allow hoarding or failures in the production and distribution of essential commodities. There is no deficiency in production.” Wet wipes were first introduced in the UK in the 1990s. It was promoted as a flushable product but it has since been implicated in the creation of fatbergs (a congealed mass in a sewer system formed by the combination of non-biodegradable solid matter, such as wet wipes, and congealed grease or cooking fat Since 2013, there have been a number of notable fatbergs that have been discovered and extricated from sewers in Great Britain, Australia, and the US In September 2017, a fatberg of congealed fat, wet wipes, and waste was discovered under the streets in Baltimore, Maryland that caused the spillage of 1.2 million US gallons of sewage into Jones Falls In February 2019, the largest fatberg in UK history, so far, was discovered in a sewer at Birchall Street in Liverpool. It weighed 400 tons and was 250 meters long. As of recording, it is still in the process of being removed, as it is proving to be difficult to break down using conventional tools and equipment In many parts of the world, especially where toilet paper or the necessary plumbing for disposal are unavailable or unaffordable, toilet paper is not used. Many people also consider using water as much cleaner and more sanitary practice than using paper. Cleansing may then be done with other methods or materials, such as a bidet, a lota (a small water vessel made from brass, copper, or plastic used in parts of South Asia), rags, sand, leaves, corn cobs, animal furs, sticks, or hands History of the holiday It was tough to pin down the inaugural Toilet Paper Day, but I did manage to find a mention of it in an article from 2010 on theyearoflivingunofficially.com The date was chosen to commemorate the first time toilet paper was ever sold on a roll, August 26, 1871 Fun facts and anecdotes! More than 7 billion rolls of toilet paper are sold yearly in the US. Americans use an average of 23.6 rolls per capita per year The average American uses 50 lbs of tissue paper per year, which is 50% more than the average person of other Western countries or Japan. This may be explained by the fact that people in other countries use bidets or hoses to clean themselves Americans use an average of 8.6 sheets of toilet paper each time they go to the restroom One tree produces about 200 rolls of toilet paper and about 83 million rolls are produced per day Global toilet paper production consumes 27k trees daily Millions of trees are harvested in North and South America leaving ecological footprint concerns It takes 37 gallons of water to make a single roll of toilet paper Friction from toilet paper contributes to and exacerbates the 23 million annual cases of hemorrhoids, UTIs, and anal fissures During Desert Storm, the US Army used toilet paper to camouflage its tanks--this is a fact I found listed in several places, but I wasn’t able to find anything to corroborate it or to explicate what that looked like About 4 billion people in the world do not use toilet paper An average of 666 rolls are used every day in the Pentagon 7% of Americans admit to stealing toilet paper rolls from hotels When asked what they’d bring if they were stuck on a deserted island, 49% of people said they’d bring TP before food Renova is the most expensive brand of toilet paper in the world. From Portugal, the paper is three-ply, perfumed, available in red, black, blue, and green, and is apparently a favorite among celebrities like Beyonce and Kris Jenner. It’s about $15 for a 6-roll pack On the International Space Station, they still use regular toilet paper but it has to be sealed in special containers and compressed Women tend to wad paper, while men tend to fold. Women wipe from front to back, and men just wipe however they want to From a 2016 AskReddit thread, titled “What is your ‘there’s no toilet paper’ horror story?”, here are some of the better answers “I’m Venezuelan… Do I have to say more?” “Every time I have a ‘there’s no toilet paper’ situation I turn it into “I need a replacement pair of socks’ situation.” “Got food poisoning while staying on a friend’s couch. In the middle of the night I went to the bathroom about to burst from both ends. There was no toilet paper, so I searched for about 15 minutes everywhere in the house for any paper product. There wasn’t anything. I was really sweating at this point because I just couldn’t hold it anymore. I ended up grabbing some old wrestling magazines printed on newspaper that my friend had lying around (she’s a hipster) and using that. It wouldn’t flush, so after I was done, I had to fish it out of the toilet and throw it out.” “One day, when I was a kid, I had to take a huge shit at little league practice. Of course, we were at a baseball field with not a single restroom around. So I went behind the dugout and took the biggest shit a 6 year old has ever taken. Obviously, there wasn’t any TP. So I tried using grass, to no avail. At the end of practice, everyone was checking their shoes to make sure they hadn’t stepped in any dog shit. And as you would guess, it was me they were smelling.” In July 2019, a man was caught on camera stealing toilet paper from a Fresh Value Marketplace in Trussville, Alabama. The toilet paper was on pallets on the sidewalk by the store, and a man in a hat, white wifebeater, and jeans, smoothly steals four packs of toilet paper and yeets out of there In 2006, a town employee in the Bavarian village of Fuchstal accidentally ordered two truckloads of toilet paper. When the first vehicle rolled up to the small town of 4k people, the authorities realized the mistake and managed to cancel the second truck, but the village was left with the logistical problem of storing the paper Officials set up a four-person team to distribute the toilet paper in several public buildings, filling the attic of the local storage building as well as all available closets and cabinets in local schools, the town hall, and the firehouse. Ordinary citizens showed little interest in the paper, as it turned out to be a gray, single-ply brand that tended to yellow and grow brittle under prolonged exposure to sunlight It took the village 12 years to get through all of the toilet paper, with the last roll used in March 2019 There was an upside--the town saved over $1,130 because the price of wood went up the following year, which lead to higher prices for toilet paper The village has already placed its next large order of toilet paper, however the paper this time would be white, two-ply, and not delivered all at once In 2017, German non-profit Goldeimer took to pulping Nazi federal election pamphlets and turning it into toilet paper, as well as any other material the group deemed hateful, as part of a “hate is for assholes” campaign They’re quoted as saying, “In Germany, hatred has once again taken hold of the political climate. This is somewhat unfortunate. That is why Goldeimer is calling for a hate-free campaign. Up until the federal election, all campaign material that incites hatred and causes hurt will be taken out of circulation. Afterwards, from the crude slogans, we will make a velvety-soft special edition toilet paper.” All money raised was donated to the CURA organization, which aids victims of right-wing violence The paper, dubbed “Shitty Paper-Made from hate”, sold out in less than 24 hours SOURCES https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toilet_paper http://www.toiletpaperhistory.net/toilet-paper-history/history-of-toilet-paper/ https://www.checkiday.com/e84b3688c059d0c7918a4b78549aba22/national-toilet-paper-day https://home.howstuffworks.com/toilet-paper.htm https://www.trussvilletribune.com/2019/07/26/video-man-caught-on-camera-stealing-toilet-paper-from-fresh-value-marketplace-in-trussville/ http://mentalfloss.com/article/23210/toilet-paper-history-how-america-convinced-world-wipe https://www.cleanitsupply.com/blog/happy-national-toilet-paper-day/ https://www.bostonstandardplumbing.com/15-facts-to-help-you-celebrate-national-toilet-paper-day/ https://hellotushy.com/blogs/the-posterior/why-is-national-toilet-paper-day-a-thing https://www.lifehack.org/343424/fun-facts-about-toilet-paper-that-will-blow-your-mind https://blog.restockit.com/2016/08/03/21-fun-facts-about-toilet-paper/ https://priceonomics.com/the-great-toilet-paper-scare-of-1973/ https://www.dw.com/en/wiped-out-town-flushes-final-roll-of-12-year-toilet-paper-supply/a-47884449 https://www.dw.com/en/german-non-profit-flushes-away-right-wing-hate/a-40534628
HAPPY NATIONAL UNDERWEAR DAY! Join us as we celebrate everything from thongs to bodysuits or whatever we wear underneath! Today we're celebrating with friend and underwear expert Brenna Cully (Twitter: brenna_jo)!! LET'S PARTY!! Find Holiday Party online – Patreon: patreon,com/HOLIDAYPARTY Twitter: @HOLIDAYPARTYPOD / Instagram: HOLIDAYPARTYPODCAST / Facebook: @HOLIDAYPARTYPODCAST / HOLIDAYPARTYPODCAST.COM Find Alyssa – Twitter: @alyssapants / Instagram: lettertalkpodcast / alyssapants.com Find Disa – Twitter: @cinnamonenemy / Spotify: open.spotify.com/user/1243777842 SHOW NOTES “Undergarments” are items of clothing worn beneath outer clothes, usually in direct contact with the skin, although they may comprise more than a single layer. They serve to keep outer garments from being soiled or damaged by bodily excretions, to lessen the friction of outerwear against the skin, to shape the body, and to provide concealment or support for parts of it.” Undergarments are generally of two types, those that are worn to cover the torso and those that are worn to cover the waist and legs, although there are also garments which cover both. Different styles of undergarments are generally worn by females and males (though do you, bb). Undergarments commonly worn by females today include bras and panties (known in the UK as knickers), while males often wear briefs, boxer briefs, or boxer shorts. Items worn by both (and any, all, or none) genders include T-shirts, sleeveless shirts, bikini underwear, thongs, and G-strings. Undergarments are known by a number of terms: Underclothes; underclothing; underwear, smalls, unmentionables, Reg Grundys, or Reginalds. Reg or Reginald Grundy was an Australian entrepreneur and media mogul. I could not find the origin of this use of his name, and it seems he was well-liked. It appears that the primary goal to use “grundies” is that it simply rhymes with “undies.” In the US, women’s underwear may be known as delicates due the recommended washing machine cycle or because they are, simply put, delicate Women’s undergarments collectively are called lingerie, intimate clothing, and intimates An undershirt (or “vest” in the UK) is a piece of underwear covering the torso, while underpants (or “pants” in the UK), drawers, and shorts cover the genitals and buttocks Not wearing underpants under outer clothing is known in American slang as “freeballing” for men, “free buffing” for women, and as “going commando” for either sex. The act of a woman not wearing a bra is sometimes referred to as “freeboobing.” The function of underwear can range from the following: preventing outer garments from being soiled by perspiration, urine, semen, menstrual blood, and feces; women's brassieres provide support for their breasts (although this is now in dispute due to some recent studies which claim that bras may worsen breast sagging due to the inactivity of the ligaments that already support them); men’s briefs serve the same supportive function for their balls and dick; a corset may be worn as a foundation garment to alter a woman’s body shape; men often wear more tightly fitting underwear, such as jockstraps and protective cups, for additional support and protection when playing sports; sports bras provide greater support to women, thus increasing comfort and reducing the chance of damage to the ligaments of the chest during high-impact exercises such as jogging. In cold weather, underwear may also constitute an extra layer of clothing to help keep the wearer warmer. Underwear may also be used to preserve the wearer’s modesty, such as camisoles and slips under clothes that are sheer Conversely, some types of underwear can be worn for sexual titillation, such as edible underwear, crotchless panties, and thongs Some undergarments may also have religious significance (PICTURES IN THE SHOWNOTES) In Judaism, the tallit katan is often worn beneath the shirt. This is a fringed garment traditionally worn either under or over one’s clothing by Jewish men. It is a poncho-like garment with a hole for the head and special twined and knotted fringes known as tzitzit (TASSELS) attached to its four corners While all four cornered garments are required to have tzitzit, the custom of specially wearing a tallit katan is based on a verse in Numbers 15:38-39 which tells Moses to exhort the Children of Israel to “make them throughout their generations fringes in the corners of their garments.” Following their endowment in a temple, Mormons wear special temple garments which help them to remember the teachings of the temple. These are worn both day and night, and are required for any adult who previously participated in the endowment ceremony to enter a temple They are intended to provide the member “a constant reminder” of the covenants they made in the temple, since members are instructed to wear the garments day and night--i.e. They “should not partially or completely remove any portion of the garment to participate in activities that can reasonably be done with the garment worn properly beneath the clothing,’ such as ‘working in the yard.’” Swimming is given as an example of an activity that would justify removal, but members are further instructed to “put it back on as soon as possible.” The nature of the protection is ambiguous and varies between adherents. In fact, they are sometimes derided as “magic underwear” by non-Mormons Researchers who interviewed a sample of LDS who wear the garments reported that virtually all wearers expressed a belief that wearing the garment provided “spiritual protection” and encouraged them to keep their covenants Some of those interviewed “asserted that the garment also provided physical protection, while others seemed less certain of any physical aspect to protection.” In Mormon folklore, tales are told of Latter-Day Saints who credit their temple garments with helping them survive car wrecks, fires, and natural disasters The garment was first described in the 1840s as a one-piece undergarment extending to the ankles and wrists, resembling a union suit, with an open crotch and a collar. It was made of unbleached cotton and held together with ties in a double knot A union suit is a type of one-piece long underwear, created in Utica, NY, originating as women’s wear during the 19th century as an alternative to constricting garments. The first union suit was patented in 1868 as “emancipation union under flannel.” It was traditionally made of red flannel with long arms and legs, buttoning up the front, with a button-up flap in the rear covering the buttocks (which was colloquially known as the “access hatch,” drop seat,” fireman’s flap,” and “crap flap,” among other things”) In 1923, a letter from LDS Church president Heber J. Grant stated that after careful and prayerful consideration the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the LDS Church had unanimously decided that specific modifications would be permitted to the garments: Sleeves could end at the elbow; Legs could be shortened to just below the knee; Buttons could be used instead of strings The collar was eliminated And the open crotch was closed Protestors against the LDS church have used the garments to publicly mock and parody the wearing of the garments, including spitting and stomping on them in view of attendees of an LDS Church General Conference in 2003. One protestor reportedly blew his nose into a garment he was wearing around his neck. A scuffle broke out between a protester and two church members who attempted to take the garments from him In response, the municipality of Salt Lake City planned stronger enforcement of fighting words and hate speech laws for the 2004 conference, in order to avoid a repeat of the conflict. They also enacted new protest buffer zones In Sikhism, one of the five articles of faith is a certain style of underpants similar to boxer shorts and known as the kacchera This tradition started in 1699 as a religious mandate from Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Guru of Sikhism, and the garment is worn by baptized Sihks, serving as a symbol of one’s commitment and dedication to the order of the tenth master It is considered the Guru’s gift and remind the Sikh’s of the Guru’s message regarding the control of the Five Evils or Five Thieves. These are the five major weaknesses of the human personality at variance with its spiritual essence, known as “thieves” because they steal a person’s inherent common senses. They consist of lust, wrath, greed, attachment (love of and attachment to worldly things and relations), and pride. he primary aim of a practicing Sikh is to subdue these five vices and render them inactive. I hadn’t previously known about the parallels to the Christian Seven Deadly Sins, which are lust, wrath, greed, envy, sloth, gluttony, and pride. The Sins are often thought to be abuses or excessive versions of one’s natural faculties or passions It’s intended to remind the Sikhs that they should control their sexual desire or lust, and meant to give a feeling of dignity, modesty, and honor to the person who wears it, as well to remind the Sikh of the Guru’s commandment to think of members of the opposite sex as he or she would think of immediate family and not as objects of lust The kacchera is secured and tied with a drawstring, so as to remind them that when one is untying it, one is given time to think about what one is about to do Zoroastrians wear an undershirt called a Sedreh that is fastened with a sacred girdle around the waist known as a Kushti The Sedreh contains a small pocket in the front, which is supposed to collect one’s good deeds It is considered a spiritual shield from evil History of underwear as a concept! The loincloth is the simplest form of underwear and was probably the first undergarment worn by humans. In most civilizations this was the only undergarment available. It continues to be worn by people around the world Archeologists have found the remains of loincloths made of leather dating to at least 7000 years ago, including on our old pal Otzi the Iceman. Otzi was found sporting not just some of the earliest evidence of tattoos, but also a goatskin loincloth under his furry leggings. I included two photos of Otzi in the shownotes, one of his original form and one of a reconstruction of what he may have looked like King Tut was apparently buried with 145 spare loincloths In ancient Rome, pants were known as subligaculum, which was a unisex garment. Female performers were known to have also worn an additional “boob tube’ (a flat bit of stretched cloth) to protect their modesty Bras were worn at least somewhat during the 15th century, as evidenced by four medieval bras that were found in a hidden vault underneath floorboards in an Austrian castle. This 2012 discovery “astonished costume historians, who had always declared the bra to be a 20th-century invention.” During the Middle Ages, the loincloth was replaced by loose, trouser-like clothing called braies, which the wearer stepped into and then laced or tied around the waist and legs at around the mid-calf. Wealthier men often wore chausses as well, which covered only the legs By the Renaissance, braies became shorter to accommodate longer styles of chausses, which were also giving way to form-fitting hose, which covered the legs and feet. Braies were usually fitted with a front flap that was buttoned or tied closed. Know as a codpiece, this allowed men to urinate without having to remove the braies completely Henry VIII, whose reign ran from 1509-1547, began padding his codpiece, which caused a spiralling trend of larger and larger codpieces that only ended by the end of the 16th century It’s been speculated that the King may have had syphilis, and his large codpiece may have included a bandage soaked in medication to relieve its symptoms He also wanted a healthy son and may have thought that projecting himself in this way would portray fertility Codpieces were sometimes used as a pocket for holding small items During the 16th century, the farthingale became popular. This was a petticoat stiffened with reed or willow rods so that it stood out from a woman’s body like a cone extending from the waist (AKA a hoop skirt. Photo rendition is in the shownotes) Corsets also began to be worn about this time. At first they were called “pairs of bodies,” which refers to a stiffened decorative bodice worn on top of another bodice stiffened with buckram, reeds, canes, whalebone, or other materials. These were not the small-waisted, curved corsets familiar from the Victorian era, but straight-lined stays that flattened the bust The mass production of underwear became possible with the invention of the spinning jenny machines and the cotton gin in the latter half of the 18th century, since they made cotton fabrics widely available Women’s stays of the 18th century were laced behind and drew the shoulders back to form a high, round bosom and erect posture. Stays became shorter and were unboned or only lightly boned, and started being called corsets. As tight waists became fashionable in the 1820s, the corset was again boned and laced to form the figure. By the 1860s, a tiny (“wasp”) waist came to be seen as a symbol of beauty, and the corsets were stiffened with whalebone or steel to accomplish this. Tight lacing of a corset sometimes led to a woman needing to retire to the “fainting room”--this was a private room used during the Victorian era to make women more comfortable during the home treatment of female hysteria, particularly for privacy while receiving pelvic massages Jumping through time to discuss used underwear :( The sale of used female underwear for sexual purposes began in Japan in stores called burusera, and they were even sold in vending machines. With the advent of the internet, which made anonymous mail-order sales possible, some women began selling their dirty panties and other underwear. Some men find the odor of a woman’s bodily secretions sexually arousing, and will use the panties as a masturbatory aid The sale of dirty panties, sometimes worn for several days and sometimes customized with requested stains, is a significant niche in the sex work field. A far smaller market sells used male underwear to other men Celebrity underwear is sometimes sold. A framed pair of Elvis Presley’s dirty underwear sold for $8k in 2012. Undergarments of Marilyn Monroe, Queen Elizabeth, and Franz Joseph have been sold at auction. Some celebrities, including Jarvis Cocker, Alison Goldfrapp, Nick Cave, Sacha Baron Cohen, Ricky Gervais, Jah Wobble, Fergie, and Helen Mirren have donated their underwear to be sold for charity History of the holiday itself can be traced back to 2003, according to nationalunderwearday.com. The holiday was founded by Freshpair, which is a privately held online retailer of men’s underwear and women’s intimate apparel, headquartered in Fairfield, NJ. The company was founded in 2000. So that means this holiday is now old enough to drive! Freshpair established National Underwear Day in an effort to “shine light on ‘unmentionables’”, starting by advertising heavily congested areas of New York City. In 2012, they promoted the holiday by launching a pop-up shop near Columbus Circle. In 2013, they advertised the holiday in Times Square by attempting to break the Guinness World Record for the largest gathering of people in their underwear. However, the company was tragically unable to break the record, which is currently held at 2,270 by the Utah Undie Run. The event topped out at around 800 people The Undie Run is an event where a large number of people disrobe down to their underwear, and then run. The Utah record was set on September 24, 2011. That run was held to protest Utah’s conservative laws. COED Magazine, a US magazine marketed to college students, reported that Undie Runs are the “number one university sanctioned event.” The earliest known Undie Run was started by student Eric Whitehead at UCLA in the fall of 2001 Freshpair participates in the annual Underwear Run in Manhattan, sponsored by Aquaphor (my favorite post-tattoo protectant!) According to nationalunderwearday.com, a website run by Freshpair, the holiday has been featured on CBS, Good Morning America, Fox News, Live with Kelly and Michael, The Huffington Post, and dozens more! In 2018, it was endorsed by the Ellen Degeneres show, and I included a link to part of the segment in the shownotes. There are a lot of screaming middle-aged women ogling the many male models, Justin Bieber, and Mario Lopez cuts included in this clip. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMCrflGHOFQ Fun facts and statistics! From online articles “11 Weird Facts About *Panties* We Bet You Didn’t Know!”, “39 Amazing Facts About Underwear”, “63 Interesting Facts about Underwear” The average American woman owns approximately 21 pairs of underwear Approx. 10% of women own over 35 pairs Trend analysts observe that a woman who wears a g-string is typically a woman who feels more uninhibited and more confident to display her body. Sexually, she is more willing to try different and creative positions Thongs were invented in 1939, after NYC Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia passed a law that nude dancers needed to wear them rather than going bare Sexual researchers note that a woman who chooses to wear white cotton panties tends to be a low maintenance and no-frills type. Researchers note that this is akin to letting a man see her without makeup The same sexual researchers also observe that men who wear the “boyish” briefs “may not be ready to grow up” The average woman will wear six different bra sizes throughout her life A recent survey found that nearly ⅔ of women are wearing the incorrect bra size, and 29% of those women are completely unaware of it Most bras should be replaced every 6 months The size of an average woman is 5’4” and 135 lbs. The average size of a Victoria’s Secret model is 5’10” and 112 lbs. The typical measurements for a Victoria’s Secret model are a 34” bust, 24” waist, and 34” hips A 2008 survey revealed that 9% of American men have underwear that is at least 10 years old. 15% own underwear that is between 5-9 years old Italians consider it good luck to bring in the New Year wearing red coloured underwear On October 14, 1996, a student pledging for the Kappa Alpha frat at Texas A&M required emergency care after receiving injuries from a wedgie. He had to have one of his testicles removed as a result of the injury After Michael Hirschey gave Erik Kurtis Low a wedgie on May 8, 2003, Low fatally shot Hirschey. The prosecutor for the case said in his closing arguments “that receiving a wedgie is not a reason to kill somebody.” The word “wedgie’ is allegedly derived from “wedge-heeled shoe” and became popular in the 1970s from the effect it gave the victim Single people are less likely to change their underwear on a daily basis than married people--82% vs 88% respectively To avoid urinary tract infections, among other things, physicians recommend changing underwear at least once a day There is also an estimated 1/10 of a gram of fecal matter in most people’s underwear Quick reminder that Disney World made their employees wear communal underwear until 2001, when they finally killed that policy due to lice and scabies outbreaks The world’s most expensive underwear is a chastity belt that costs $2000. It’s a gold, diamond, and pearl chastity belt created by jeweller Uwe Koetter for a private client The most expensive lingerie set is the Susan Rosen Diamond Bikini, which was designed exclusively for the 2006 Sports Illustrated’s Swimsuit issue and is worth $30M This thing is just basically threads tying together what look like upside down heart-shaped nipple pasties made of diamond and metal mesh. On the crotch, it’s just a g-string with a heart-shaped cover over the model’s pubic mound, with a massive diamond in the center. Photo in the shownotes. Panty raids were a popular American college prank in the 1950s, consisting of large groups of boys who would invade the womens’ dorms to steal panties, later putting them on display as a trophy of a successful raid Jack Singer of New York wore 215 panties simultaneously on June 13th, 2010, setting a world record for panty wearing and breaking the previous record of 200 pairs Kindergartners in Siberia run outside in their underwear and dump freezing water over themselves to strengthen their immune systems On August 14, 1945, more than 1K Japanese officers raided the Imperial palace to destroy the recording of the Emperor’s speech of surrender. Confused by the layout of the palace, the rebels never found the recording. It was later smuggled outside in a basket of women’s underwear for broadcast. In 1995, Boris Yeltsin, the then president of Russia, and when visiting DC was found drunk in his underwear trying to hail a cab to find pizza Actress Tallulah Bankhead was infamous for not wearing underwear. During the filming of Lifeboat, the crew complained about her flashing them when she had to climb a ladder. Director Alfred Hitchcock reportedly quipped that he didn't know if it was a matter for wardrobe or hairdressing. The British Army issues antimicrobial underwear that can be worn for three months at a time Carrie Fisher wore no underwear in Star Wars because George Lucas convinced her “there is no underwear in outer space” We learned on National Laundry Day that this is a lie! Astronauts incinerate their underwear In Finland, the word ‘kalsarikannit’ means to get drunk at home, alone, in your underwear The makers of Edible Underwear were denied patent protection on the grounds that “candy and pants were incompatible” Major league baseball umpire required by rule to wear black underwear, in case they split their pants Abercrombie & Fitch was forced to remove a line of thongs in childrens sizes made specifically for pre-teen girls. The front of the underwear read phrases such as “Eye Candy” and “Wink Wink” An 18-year old man tried to eat his underwear in the hope that the cotton fabric would absorb alcohol before he took a breathalyzer test A majority of American women prefer to wear bikini underwear, coming in at 37%. Briefs are second at 23%, thongs at 19%, boy shorts at 17% and “other” at 4% Some early American settlers had themselves sewn into their underwear for the winter, since it was easier than having to button so many buttons. It also meant that they didn’t bathe until spring. I’m guessing these were some variation of the union suit, with a crap flap option Scholars note that women seemed to wear corsets during times in history when their lives were severely restricted and they had few rights. As women gained more rights, they rejected the more restrictive underwear In the 1990s, hip-hop artists made it fashionable for men to wear their pants below their waists and showing their underwear. This style, called “sagging,” is said to have originated in prison when jail inmates had their belts removed because they might be used as possible weapons. Other historians believe this style as a sign of availability among homosexuals After police in Colfax, Washington (about a 5 hour drive from Seattle, basically the Idaho border), arrested Greg Flaherty for hanging around an apartment laundry room, they discovered he had stolen over 1613 (so...1613.5?) pairs of women's underwear. “Reports do not indicate whether they were stolen before or after they were washed.” SOURCES https://www.historyextra.com/period/ancient-egypt/from-loincloths-to-corsets-a-brief-history-of-underwear-with-horrible-histories-greg-jenner/amp/ https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Undergarment https://mashable.com/2015/07/22/underwear-facts/ https://www.popxo.com/ampstory/2017/04/surprising-facts-about-panties/ https://www.kickassfacts.com/39-amazing-underwear-facts/ https://www.factretriever.com/underwear-facts https://nationaltoday.com/national-underwear-day/ http://nationalunderwearday.com/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Undie_Run https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freshpair https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/underwear-day/ Tallit Katan Temple garments Kacchera Sedreh Farthingale OTZI!! OTZI ALL GLOWED UP :/
HAPPY NATIONAL TATTOO DAY! Join us as we celebrate getting inked and heart shapes that say "Mom"! Today we're celebrating with comedian, engineer in biotech, and tattoo owner and enthusiast Nicki Fuchs (Twitter: @nfewks / Instagram: @nfewks)!! LET'S PARTY!! Find Holiday Party online – Patreon: patreon,com/HOLIDAYPARTY Twitter: @HOLIDAYPARTYPOD / Instagram: HOLIDAYPARTYPODCAST / Facebook: @HOLIDAYPARTYPODCAST / HOLIDAYPARTYPODCAST.COM Find Alyssa – Twitter: @alyssapants / Instagram: lettertalkpodcast / alyssapants.com Find Disa – Twitter: @cinnamonenemy / Spotify: open.spotify.com/user/1243777842 SHOW NOTES History + fun facts about the holiday First, let’s define what a tattoo is, for those listeners who may not be familiar with the term. According to Wikipedia, a tattoo “is a form of body modification where a design is made by inserting ink, dyes and pigments, either indelible or temporary, into the dermis layer of the skin (the layer between the epidermis and subcutaneous tissues) to change the pigment.” Tattoos generally fall into three broad categories: purely decorative (or no specific meaning); symbolic (with a specific meaning pertinent to the wearer); pictorial (a depiction of a specific person or item) Tattoos may also be used for identification purposes such as ear tattoos on livestock, tattoos denoting that a domestic animal (such as a cat or dog) has been sterilized, or you know, good old fashioned concentration camp style The word “tattoo,” or tattow as it was stated in the 18th century, is derived from the Samoan word for “tatau” meaning “to strike.” Before the word was imported to the western world, the practice of tattooing was described as painting, scarring, or staining. The American Academy of Dermatology distinguishes five types of tattoos: amateur tattoos, professional tattoos (both via traditional methods and modern tattoo machines), cosmetic tattoos (or “permanent makeup”), traumatic tattoos, and medical tattoos Traumatic tattoos, also known as “natural tattoos,” occur when a substance such as asphalt or gunpowder is rubbed into a wound as the result of an accident or other trauma. For example, coal miners may develop characteristic tattoos from coal dust getting into wounds. Another example is an amalgam tattoo, which occurs when amalgam particles (a liquid mercury and metal alloy mixture used in dentistry to fill cavities) are implanted into the soft tissues of the mouth during filling placement and removal Accidental tattoos can also be the result of deliberate or accidental stabbing with a pencil or pen, leaving graphite or ink in the skin Medical tattoos are used to ensure that instruments are properly located for repeated application of radiotherapy and for the areola in some forms of breast reconstruction. They may also convey medical information about the wearer, such as blood group or a medical condition. Medical tattoos may also be used in skin tones to cover vitiligo, a skin pigmentation disorder SS blood group tattoos (Blutgruppentatowierung) were worn by members of the Waffen-SS in Nazi Germany during WWII to identify their wearer’s blood type. After the war, this evidence of belonging to the Waffen-SS lead to arrest and prosecution, so a number of ex-Waffen-SS would shoot themselves through the arm, removing the tattoo and leaving scars like the ones resulting from pox inoculation, making the removal less obvious Tattoos may also serve as rites of passage, marks of status and rank, symbols of religious and spiritual devotion, decorations for bravery, sexual lures and marks of fertility, pledges of love, amulets and talismans, protection, and as punishment, like the marks of outcasts, slaves and convicts People also choose to be tattooed for artistic, cosmetic, sentimental/memorial, religious, and magical reasons, or to symbolize their belonging to or identification with particular groups, including criminal gangs or a particular ethnic or law-abiding subculture Tattoos have been and are still used for the purposes of identification, and people have also been forcibly tattooed for this reason. During the Holocaust, an infamous Nazi practice was to forcibly tattoo concentration camp inmates with identification numbers, a practice that began in the fall of 1941. Of the Nazi camps, only Auschwitz put tattoos on inmates. The tattoo was the prisoner’s camp number, sometimes with a special symbol added. For example, Jews would sometimes receive a triangle, and Romani received the letter “Z” to denote the German word Zigeuner or “Gypsy.” As early as the Zhou dynasty, which lasted from 1046-256 BC, Chinese authorities would enforce facial tattoos as a punishment for some crimes or to mark prisoners or slaves The Roman Empire would tattoo gladiators and slaves. Exported slaves would receive a tattoo with the words “tax paid,” and it was also common to tattoo “Stop me, I’m a runaway” on their foreheads The practice came to an end when Emperor Constantine the Great came to power. He heavily promoted the Christian church, and banned facial tattooing around AD 330 due to the Biblical strictures against the practice. The Second Council of Nicaea banned all body markings as a pagan practice in AD 787 During the period of early contact between Europeans and the Maori, the Maori would hunt and decapitate each other for their moko tattoos, which they then traded for European items such as axes and firearms. “Moko tattoos were facial designs worn to indicate lineage, social position, and status within the tribe. The tattoo art was a sacred marker of identity among the Maori and also referred to as a vehicle for storing one’s tapu, or spiritual being, in the afterlife.” Forensic pathologists occasionally use tattoos to identify burned, putrefied, or mutilated bodies. As we mentioned earlier, tattoo pigment lies encapsulated deep in the skin, so tattoos aren’t easily destroyed even when the skin is burned Tattoos may also be used on animals, such as cats, dogs, show animals, thoroughbred horses, and livestock. Tattooing in these cases may serve for purposes of identification, ownership, or to signify that the animal has been surgically sterilized Cosmetic tattooing, sometimes called permanent makeup, is the use of tattoos to enhance eyebrows, lips, eyes, or even moles, typically using natural colors. Placing artistic designs over surgical scarring is a growing trend, particularly over mastectomy scarring. Rather than received reconstruction surgery following a mastectomy, many women choose to tattoo over the scar tissue instead, as a truly personal way of regaining control over their post-cancer bodies As an artform, tattooing has been practiced globally since at least Neolithic times, as evidenced by mummified preserved skin. The oldest discovery of tattooed human skin was found on the body of Otzi the Iceman, dating to about 3250 BC. Otzi had 61 carbon-ink tattoos consisting of 19 groups of lines simple dots and lines on his lower spine, left wrist, behind his right knee and on his ankles. It’s been argued that the tattoos were a form of healing because of their placement, though other explanations are plausible The oldest figurative (derived from real object sources, or representational) tattoos in the world were discovered in 2018 on two mummies from Egypt which are dated between 3351 and 3017 BC Other tattooed mummies have been recovered from 49 archaeological sites, including in Greenland, Alaska, Siberia, Mongolia, western China, Egypt, Sudan, the Philippines, and the Andes. The earliest possible evidence for tattooing in Europe actually appears on ancient art from the Upper Paleolithic period as incised designs on the bodies of humanoid figurines. One example is the ivory Lowenmench (“Lion-Man”) figurine from the Aurignacian culture, which dates to about 40K years ago and features a series of parallel lines on its left shoulder. This figurine also happens to be the oldest-known uncontested example of both zoomorphic sculpture and figurative art Ancient tattooing was most widely practiced among the Austronesian people (Southeast Asia, Oceania, East Africa). It was one of the early technologies developed by the Proto-Austronesians in Taiwan and coastal South China prior to at least 1500 BC It may have originally associated with headhunting, and employed the characteristic skin-puncturing technique, using a small mallet and a piercing implement made from Citrus thorns, fish bone, bone, and oyster shells The oldest known physical evidence of tattooing in North America was made through the discovery of a frozen, mummified Inuit female on St. Lawrence Island, Alaska who had tattoos on her skin. Radiocarbon determined that she lived sometime in the 16th century Early explorers to North America made lots of ethnographic observations about the Indigenous People they met. As they didn’t have a word for tattooing, they instead described the process as “pounce, prick, list, mark, and raze” to “stamp, paint, burn, and embroider.” In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, tattoos were as much about self-expression as they were about having a unique way to identify a sailor’s body should he be lost at sea or impressed (taking of military or naval force by compulsion) by the British Navy. The best source for early American tattoos is the protection papers issued following a 1796 congressional act to safeguard American seamen from impressment. These proto-passports catalogued tattoos alongside birthmarks, scars, race, and height. Using simple techniques and tools, tattoo artists in the early republic typically worked on board ships using anything available as pigments, even gunpowder and urine. Men marked their arms and hands with initials of themselves and loved ones, significant dates, symbols of the seafaring life, liberty poles, crucifixes, and other symbols.” It is commonly held that the modern popularity of tattooing stems from Captain James Cook’s three voyages to the South Pacific in the late 19th century. The dissemination of the texts and images from them brought more awareness about tattooing, however, tattooing has been consistently present in Western society from the modern period stretching back to Ancient Greece. Tattoo historian Anna Felicity Friedman suggests a couple reasons for the ‘Cook Myth,’ including that the modern words for the practice (“tattoo,” tatuaje,``''tatouage,``''Tatowierung,``''tatuagem”) derive from ‘tatau,’ which was introduced to European languages through Cook’s travels. However, earlier European texts show that a variety of metaphorical terms for the practice were in use, including pricked/marked/engraved/decorated/punctured/stained/embroidered. The growing print culture at the time of Cook’s voyages may have increased the visibility of tattooing despite its prior existence in the West New York City is largely considered the birthplace of modern tattoos, since the first recorded professional tattoo artist in the US was a German immigrant, Martin Hildebrandt, who opened a shop in NYC in 1846. He quickly became popular during the Civil War among soldiers and sailors of both Union and Confederate militaries In 1891, New York tattooer Samuel O’Reilly patented the first electric tattoo machine, which was a modification of Thomas Edison’s electric pen Some of the earliest appearances of tattoos on women during this period were in the circus. Other than their faces, hands, necks, and other readily visible areas, these “Tattooed Ladies” were covered in ink. The earliest women would claim tales of captivity in order to draw crowds, claiming to have been taken hostage by Native Americans that forcibly tattooed them as a form of torture, though those stories were eventually replaced with narratives of the women’s personal liberation and freedom. The last tattooed lady was out of business by the 1990s The percentage of fashionable NYC women who were tattooed at the turn of the century has been estimated at around 75%. Popular designs were butterflies, flowers, and dragons Tattoos were an early way that women took control of their own bodies When Social Security numbers were introduced in the 1930s, it became a trend to get your numbers tattoos on your arms, chest, or back to make them easier to remember A Tattoo Renaissance began in the late 1950s and was greatly influenced by artists such as Lyle Tuttle, Cliff Raven, Don Nolan, Zeke Owens, Spider Webb, and none other than our fave, Don Ed Hardy In 1961, however, this renaissance experienced a temporary setback, at least in New York City, as a hepatitis outbreak prompted the health department to ban tattooing, leading tattoo artists to either move their shops out of the city or work out of their apartments This ban wasn’t lifted until 1997 by Mayor Rudy Giuliani According to National Day Calendar, the holiday has been observed since 2016, but the source and founder are currently unknown Americans for the Arts, a nonprofit organization for advancing the arts and arts education in America, also recognizes the holiday. In recognition of the 2016 holiday, they released a series of findings on the country’s perceptions and attitudes towards tattoos as an artform. The survey was conducted in December 2015, polling 3,020 adults online They found that 73% of Americans believe that at least some tattoos are art (a graph breakdown by age and whether all or some tattoos are art can be found below the sources in the shownotes) 27% of Americans have at least one tattoo. 15% have one, 12% have more than one There is no significant difference between genders on the likelihood of having a tattoo (27% of men vs. 25% of women, respectively). Men are more likely to have just one tattoo (17% vs 12%), women are more likely to have multiple (13% vs. 10%) Americans with full-time jobs are the most likely to have at least one tattoo (34%), compared to those who work part-time (26%), are unemployed (27%), or retired (9%) I got the following statistics from historyoftattoos.net and the article, “Tattoo Statistics: 23 Facts You Won’t Regret Reading,” from creditdonkey.com, published in June 2015: 40% of American households report having at least one person with a tattoo. This is a significant increase from 1999, when about 21% of households did so 22% of millennials aged 18-24 report having at least one tattoo 30% of millennials aged 25-29 report having tattoos, and 38% of adults aged 30-39 are tattooed Nearly 30% of 40-49 years olds, 11% of seniors between 50-64, and just 5% of seniors 65 and older report having tattoos Women are more likely to have their ankle or upper back tattooed (27% and 25%, respectively), while men overwhelmingly choose getting inked on their arm (75%) Tattooing is a $3billion industry, at least as of 2015 As of 2013, there were at least 21K tattoo shops operating nationwide The number grows by one every day Miami boasts the highest number of tattoo parlors per capita, with about 24 shops for every 100K people Salina, Kansas has the fewest, with just one tattoo parlor that serves all of its 47K residents, which is a per capita rate of about 2 per 100K (this is inaccurate as of 2019--I found four tattoo parlors listed in the Salinas area, bringing the per capita rate to 8 per 100K) The most expensive “tattoo” is a temporary one composed of 612 half-carat diamonds individually adhered to the skin in a floral pattern, and costs $924K. It was created by Shimansky, a luxury store based in South Africa Average tattoo prices range from $45 for smaller ones to $150 for larger pieces The term “tattoo” became the #1 searched term on the Internet in 2002 31% of those that have tattoos feel that tattoos made them sexy, 29% feel that it made them (or shows them as) rebellious, while 5% feel that a tattoo shows them as intelligent The most searched language as an inspiration for tattoos is Japanese When looking to get a tattoo, 49% of those polled considered the reputation of the tattoo artist or studio as a most important factor, 43% needed a tattoo with personal meaning, and 8% considered priced as a most important factor 32% of people with tattoos claim that they are addicted to getting inked 69% of people don’t see people with tattoos any more or less deviant than people without tattoos 10% of Americans who have at least one tattoo say they don’t like them Somewhere between 17 and 25% of tattooed people regret their decision. Men are more likely than women to have second thoughts. The most often cited reason for regret is “It’s a name of another person.” 5% of Americans have cover-up tattoos The average cost to remove a tattoo is around $588 Tattoo removal is booming, with a yearly revenue in the ballpark of $80 million Earliest tattoo inks were made of carbon and ash If a tattoo ink has metals there is a rare chance that it will become hot during an MRI The current world record holder in number of tattoos is Gregory Paul McLaren, AKA Lucky Diamond Rich, whose skin is 100% covered with tattoos, including the insides of his eyelids, mouth, ears, and foreskin. He’s held the title since 2006 Britain’s most tattooed man, King of Ink Land King Body Art The Extreme Ink-Ite (born Matthew Whelan) currently has over 90% of his body covered. In 2013, the Passport Office refused to issue him a passport, claiming that his unusual name doesn’t fit their policies, however he successfully challenged the UK Government and obtained his passport in 2014 On July 1st, 2019, he whined to The Daily Star that he’s having trouble finding love Key quotes: “A lot of women are put off by my tattoos or it makes them really curious. I’m a bit like Marmite so you either like them or you don’t. I’ve had about 15-20 relationships in my life and have definitely got more attention since I got my tattoos. But since my last relationship ended two years ago I haven’t had anything serious. I’m nearly 40 so I would like to settle down and have a family. But at the same time I understand that the way I look might create an issue for some people. A lot of women are really shallow and only go for guys with Love Island-type bodies. Then I get other women who are just interested in me because of my tattoos.” He has also dyed his eyes black and had his nipples removed to allow for a smoother canvas. He also has a huge labret gauge, a subdermal piercing in his forehead, carved “teeth marks” in his ears, and split his tongue in half George C. Reiger Jr. has special permission from Disney to have tattoos of some of their copyrighted material, and specifically Disney characters. He has over 1000 Disney tattoos, including all 101 Dalmatians SOURCES https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tattoo https://authoritytattoo.com/history-of-tattoos/ https://medium.com/daliaresearch/who-has-the-most-tattoos-its-not-who-you-d-expect-1d5ffff660f8 https://www.creditdonkey.com/tattoo-statistics.html http://www.historyoftattoos.net/ http://www.historyoftattoos.net/tattoo-facts/tattoo-statistics/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_tattooing http://time.com/4645964/tattoo-history/ https://nationaldaycalendar.com/national-tattoo-day-july-17/ https://www.checkiday.com/a3686928f7e2e9f083f5305e64bd3054/national-tattoo-day https://www.facebook.com/National-Tattoo-Day-117291474977030/ https://www.americansforthearts.org/news-room/press-releases/americans-for-the-arts-recognizes-national-tattoo-day https://www.tattoodo.com/a/2014/12/14-facts-about-tattoos/ https://www.thefactsite.com/tattoo-facts/ https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/788973/britains-most-tattooed-man-king-inkland-body-art-women-dating-birmingham
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