Author: somegeektoldme@gmail.com

The Multi-millionaire who could not afford an umbrella

On By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn People, Politics

Being a parent means that if a child in your house starts coughing and sneezing, the odds of you starting to cough and sneeze are the equivalent of The Thing winning a fight against the Yancy St Gang; it’s always going to happen.

The doctor said I have a mild dose of man flu, if a mild dose of the virus even exists. Suffice it to say, this is a strange rant today, folks, so I’m sorry about that.

In the time allotted today, I want to talk to you about the 4th July 2024. My subscribers in the United States might think I’m discussing their Independence Day, which celebrates their Declaration of Independence from the United Kingdom. This declaration was ratified on 4th July 1776, and it became well-known around the world, even in little old New Zealand.

But, it’s the 4th July 2024 that I want to discuss, although the United Kingdom is still involved. On 22nd May 2024, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Rishi Sunak announced that the next UK General Election would be held on 4th July 2024, which is about six weeks away.

Some keen followers of Some Geek Told Me, may have noticed that some of the news or information that I write about, involves the UK. The obvious reason is no, I’m not an agent of SPECTRE, so I’m not trying to take down the country. I think they are doing that all by themselves.

The truth is that I lived in the United Kingdom for three years, so I have a soft place in my cold heart for the British people. Which brings me back to Rishi Sunak. Now, before I go on, let’s establish something:

  • I’m not going to discuss the motivations for Sunak and the Conservative Party for bringing forth this general election early.
  • I’m not going to talk about how after 14 years in power, the Tories have brought the NHS and the country to its knees.
  • I’m certainly not going to mention the greatest political version of self-harm, which is the apocalypse known as Brexit.
  • I’m not going to mention the recent UK local government elections, where the Tories were the victims of a humiliating defeat, on par with the Battle of Isandlwana or Newcastle losing 8-0 to the A-League Men All-Stars.
  • And I promise you, I am not going to discuss the Tories’ opening policies on the campaign trail, by bringing back national service for 18-year-olds.

I would never bring up or mention any of these things, I’m not that type of person.

CREDIT: James Veysey/Shutterstock

However, what I am going to discuss is Rishi Sunak’s announcement of the general election, because it was like a broken-down AI had written a movie script, where chimpanzees were the actors. No, that’s wrong of me, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have dragged chimpanzees into this, because chimpanzees would have done a better job.

If you have no idea what I’m talking about, oh, you’re in for a treat. Picture this, the Prime Minister of the sixth largest economy in the world, and the second largest economy in Europe, walked outside his residence at 10 Downing Street, and discussed the general election. It sounds like a standard boring press briefing, am I right?

Now hold that image, because we have to add some beautiful details. The first point is that Sunak was talking at a single wooden podium. No other person is there supporting him, by standing next to or behind him. It’s just the Prime Minister, standing outside his house, at a podium. That’s it.

The second point was that it was raining. Seriously, it was raining. Sunak was standing at the podium talking while wearing a very nice suit and getting drenched. To make it clear, Sunak wasn’t wearing a coat or jacket; he was wearing a suit.

This also means nobody is standing next to Sunak, holding an umbrella to protect him. Sunak is one of, if not the wealthiest Prime Minister the United Kingdom has ever had. With the combined wealth of his wife, Sunak is estimated to be worth about £651 million, which I now understand, means he’s richer than King Charles III.

But despite being worth about £651 million, Rishi Sunak could not afford an umbrella or a jacket. I didn’t realise that British inflation was that bad, that even multi-millionaires couldn’t afford those items. Damn, and here I thought the inflation in New Zealand was dire.

To make this scene even more bizarre and farcical, only about three years ago, the UK government had spent around £2.6m refurbishing 9 Downing Street as a media centre, to equal White House briefings.

The implications of this mean, that even though the Tories had a £2.6m refurbished media centre next door; where it’s spacious, warm, and dry, they still held the general election announcement outside 10 Downing Street. In the rain. It’s like nobody had the original idea, that maybe, just maybe, someone should check the weather forecast, because a general election announcement is sort of a big deal, and you don’t want to stuff it up.

And to bring the Westminister Amateur Acting Guild production to a close, let’s talk about the background music. As Sunak was talking about the Tories’ small victories and discussing the general election; and please remember, he’s getting soaked by the rain, some background music was being played. And it didn’t stop.

The song “Things Can Only Get Better” was released by the band, D:Ream in 1993. It gained attention when it was used by the Labour Party in their successful general election campaign in 1997. The song was being played by Steve Bray, a political activist.

Apparently, within 24 hours of the general election announcement, the song entered the top 10 on the iTunes Charts. Being the great supporter of Tory policies that he is, physicist Brian Cox would have loved that.

For someone living on the other side of the planet, this was amazing and comical to witness. For the British public, this was an unmitigated disaster, showcasing the level of Tory efficiency. 

A British Prime Minister standing alone, outside his house in the rain, without any protection, asking the public to vote for his party; because they know what they’re doing and the public should trust them. And all to the soundtrack of a rival political party’s successful ex-campaign song. 

It would be a hilarious movie scene if it wasn’t so tragically real.

My father has said some pearls of wisdom over the years, but currently, no other statement can top this when talking about a group of disorganised people:

They couldn’t organise a piss-up at a brewery.

I can’t help but think, that the Tories are one of the greatest living examples of this. Though to be fair, the Coalition of Chaos is not that far behind them.

Here’s the video from the BBC.

And with that positive and uplifting note, I need to go to bed. Thank you for reading, following, and subscribing to Some Geek Told Me, because this project helps me to navigate this crazy world.

Please don’t forget to walk your dog, read a banned book, go and slam a revolving door, and I’ll see you next week for the return of We Didn’t Start the Fire! Can’t wait.

Until last week, I had never heard of Harrison Butker

On By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn Parents, People, Politics, Social Media

I’m a sports fan, but even I find it difficult to follow every sport. I mean, it’s impossible. Well, maybe not for Chuck Norris, but for mere mortals like us, it is. Because of this obvious fact, I’m not an expert on North American sports, so a lot of NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL information can easily slip by me.

It could be that some team has a new manager, another team has won 13 games in a row, another team has a new stadium, or a player has a new $200 million contract, and I wouldn’t know. My interests in these sports annually peak around the Superbowl, the World Series, the Stanley Cup playoffs, and the NBA finals, then they die down.

I do know enough, however, to understand that the New York Mets and New York Jets are terrible. At least, according to late-night hosts.

As a New Zealander, I’m just pleased I can roughly match the name of an American team to its sport. If it’s not rugby union, rugby league, cricket or football, I shamefully filter things out. However, despite all of this, I had never heard of Harrison Butker, until last week.

Image by StockSnap from Pixabay

I was on my lunch break, resting my weary feet and enjoying my Vegemite sandwiches when I read an article about Harrison Butker. This led me to discover that I didn’t know who he was, but I knew about the Kansas City Chiefs because they won Super Bowl LVIII. That news even reached New Zealand.

I’m getting off-topic as usual, but after reading the short article regarding Butker’s commencement speech at Benedictine College; which I thought was a prank, I discovered videos about him from various news sources.

It was about that time when I realised that this news story was about a real event, it wasn’t a prank. After discovering the real existence of this speech, I made the decision not to mention it to my wife. The reason was I knew it would piss her off, so I wanted to avoid mentioning it to her. The joke was on me, though.

When I got home from work, my wife asked if I had heard about some guy in America who gave a speech. With a deep and regretful sigh, I said I had. I’m not going to repeat what my wife said, but she used a lot of adjectives about Butker’s speech.

In his speech, Butker seemed to throw a lot of shade at various things, including, men, women, Joe Biden, COVID lockdowns, IVF, abortion, LGBTQ+ and others, which have brought praise and criticism across the United States, but also around the world.

Am I going to add my opinion on this topic?

No, I’m not.

Why not? Everybody has an opinion, what’s yours?

My answer is in two parts. Firstly, any person who reads, follows, and subscribes to my daily/weekly posts, will already realise my views and opinions on these topics. If not, please read three years’ worth of nonsense.

Secondly, why would I want to add my voice to the thousands of comments about the speech, when other people have already done so, with far more articulated and wittier results? 

So, sit back, relax and enjoy social media and its amazing responses to Butker’s speech. I’ve removed people’s names on the posts because I hope that’s the correct thing to do.

From X

From Mastodon

From Facebook

Free speech is a double-edged sword; no one can physically stop you from speaking your mind and giving your opinion. However, it doesn’t mean you are free from consequences or repercussions, because of your words.

I’m a not smart man, but I’m wondering how long those consequences and repercussions will catch up to Harrison Butker. Maybe it won’t, I mean, we do live in reality and things don’t always go the way we want or need them to go. 

Anyway, thanks again for reading, following, and subscribing to Some Geek Told Me. 

Please don’t forget to walk your dog, read a banned book, go and divide by zero, and I’ll see you next week.

Tour of the Solar System: Titan

On By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn Science

You know the feeling when you receive your monthly electricity bill, or when you discover a speeding fine you didn’t know about? When reading this blog, you will experience the opposite of those feelings, because it’s back again! Some Geek Told Me’s Tour of the Solar System returns for another month, and a collective sigh of relief can be heard across neighbourhoods around the world!

There are 13 previous stops on our magical Tour of the Solar System, which are:

1.) Meet the Family

2.) The Sun

3.) Planets vs. Dwarf planets

4.) Mercury

5.) Venus

6.) Earth

7.) The Moon

8.) Mars

9.) The Asteroid Belt

10.) Ceres

11.) Jupiter

12.) The Galilean moons

13.) Saturn

As much as possible, I try to fact-check all the information I write here, as well as on X and Mastodon; especially about pizzas and ice cream. The problem is that there’s a community that doesn’t believe me; or dare I say, even like me for some strange reason.

The Hastings chapter of The New Zealand Sour Cream and Chives Preservation Society was recently quoted in The New Zealand Herald about New Zealand’s 5th least favourite website by saying:

“Do you see last month’s blog from that Geek Told Me Twit’s Solar System Tour? That man is making stuff up, he’s a fraud! He claims that Saturn has 146 moons and as any reality-based person would know, that’s a lie. Saturn can’t have 146 moons, because Saturn isn’t real! That guy is a disgrace to this beautiful country, and we fully recommend the Serious Fraud Office investigate him.”

I have three official responses for them:

1.) Firstly, I make no money from my accounts. It costs me to run them, so the Serious Fraud Office would be wasting their time, like Sun Tzu writing a book on marriage counselling.

2.) I’m not sure if this is a general trend with The New Zealand Sour Cream and Chives Preservation Society, but I feel some Flat Earthers, or at least Space Deniers are filling their ranks. 

3.) Just because The New Zealand Sour Cream and Chives Preservation Society mentioned Saturn’s moons, I’m going to talk about them. In all honestly, I was going to mention a few of them, but since they have annoyed me, I’m just going to discuss one of them; arguably the most famous of them, Titan.

A composite image of Saturn’s moon Titan taken by the Cassini spacecraft. Credit: NASA

So, why have I selected Titan to discuss? Apart from being the homeworld of Thanos, Spock would agree that Titan is a fascinating place. To start our tour off, you’re probably thinking, “Damn, Salt and Vinegar chips are the best!” And you would be correct!

You’re also thinking, “But Scott, there are no planets in our Solar System named Titan.” And once again, I have to agree with you. Yes, it’s the name of Matt Damon’s spaceship, but it’s also not a planet, because Titan is a moon. 

Titan is the second moon to feature on our Tour of the Solar System, after, you know, the Moon. Titan is the largest moon of Saturn and was discovered by Christiaan Huygens, a Dutch astronomer on 25th March 1655. 

Because Titan is one of Saturn’s moons, it won’t come as a surprise to you that it orbits Saturn. Imagine that. Titan is 5,149.46 km in diameter, which makes it larger than Mercury, and the Moon; but also the ninth-largest object in the solar system, after the Sun of course.

Titan is about 1.2 million km from Saturn, which if you remember from last month, is about 1.4 billion km from the Sun. Because of this distance, it takes 80 minutes for light from the Sun to reach Titan. By comparison, it only takes eight minutes for the Sun’s light to reach Earth. Sunlight is about 100 times fainter on Titan than on Earth.

Two more awkward points about Titan’s rotation and orbit, are that Titan’s seasons last more than seven Earth years and a Titan year lasts 29 Earth years.

Titan orbits Saturn around every 15 days and 22 hours. And similar to how Titan has a kick-arse name, just like the Moon, Titan is also tidally locked. This means that its rotational period (the time it takes to turn on its axis) is the same as its orbital period (the time it takes to orbit Saturn), so one side of Titan is permanently facing Saturn since it is in a synchronous rotation with Saturn.

These facts about Titan are cool, don’t get me wrong, but the real things to talk about Titan are its atmosphere and surface. There are only two known places in the Solar System where liquid forms on the surface. One is Earth, the birthplace of rugby and dogs, with the other being Titan.

On Earth, the liquid on the surface is David Dunn’s and Elphaba Thropp’s weakness; water. While on Titan, the liquid is not water because of Titan’s vast distance from the Sun, which creates temperatures around −179 °C. It’s not a retreat for a Summer holiday.

The liquid on the surface is methane and ethane, which have carved out river channels and filled lakes. Because of the low temperatures, which create the process of condensation, these natural gases have changed their state of matter from gas to liquids.

Titan’s atmosphere consists of about 95% nitrogen and 5% methane, which makes it quite thick. Titan’s atmospheric pressure is about 60% greater than Earth’s, which is like the equivalent of swimming below the surface of a lake or ocean at a depth of 15 m. 

Since Titan is smaller and less massive than Earth, its atmosphere extends to an altitude 10 times higher than Earth’s, nearly 600 km because of the weaker gravity. This is why Titan looks like it’s covered in smog or haze. Cool. 

Another rad thing about Titan is the possibility of life. On 15th October 1997, a space probe was launched by NASA, the European Space Agency, and the Italian Space Agency. Its mission was to study Saturn, its rings and moons. The space probe was called Cassini–Huygens, named after Giovanni Domenico Cassini, an Italian astronomer who made some discoveries about Saturn’s rings and moons; as well as our old friend, Christiaan Huygens.

The probe reached the Saturn System in 2004, with Cassini being part of the probe that did mapping and research. Cassini spent 13 years working and orbiting Saturn and was decommissioned in 2017, where it was de-orbited so it could burn up in Saturn’s upper atmosphere.

Huygens on the other hand had a different mission, because it was designed to detach from Cassini, and land on Titan to conduct measurements. On 14th January 2005, Huygens landed on Titan and recorded measurements of the wind and temperature, but also took images of the landscape. 90 minutes after Huygens landed, the probe stopped transmitting. 

Data from Cassini and Huygens revealed that Titan has an underground ocean of liquid water, which could harbour life. Years later, researchers conducted many experiments to test the viability of life on Titan, because of complex molecules being found. Whether life exists on Titan or not, let’s hope it’s not in the form of Thanos.

And with that, another chapter of the worst Tour in the Solar System is brought to a close. What is your favourite fact about Titan? As always, please let me know. Thanks for supporting this tour, even though the tour guide is a bit dodgy.

Thanks once again for reading, following, and subscribing to Some Geek Told Me. I’m also on Twitter/X and Mastodon, where I usually fail at sounding humorous. 

Please don’t forget to walk your dog, read a banned book, keep pushing for a ceasefire in Palestine, and watch the Mighty Wellington Phoenix in the second leg of the A-League semi-final. Look after yourself and I’ll see you next week.

What is it like being married for 10 years?

On By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn Parents, People

I hope everybody enjoyed Star Wars Day and Free Comic Book Day over the weekend! We did and we also enjoyed something else too. The main person to blame about anything concerning New Zealand’s 5th least favourite website just celebrated his 10th wedding anniversary. And for those of you not keeping up, that’s me, by the way.

I’ll be honest with you about something. Celebrating 10 years of married life wasn’t something I ever thought I was capable of doing, let alone getting married in the first place! Seriously.

Image by Pexels from Pixabay

So what is it like being married for 10 years? Is it good, bad or somewhere in between? Before I begin, I’m talking about this from a male’s perspective, but some of these observations can easily be transferred to females as well.

  • You listen to the same stories your spouse tells new people and pretend you’ve never heard them before. And vice versa.
  • You can’t remember what you gave to your spouse for their birthday and anniversary, for the last four years. 
  • Your spouse has an instant recall of a conversation you had with them five years ago, but you can’t remember what you had for dinner last night.
  • You can trust your spouse to order takeaways on your behalf and get the order 95% correct. 
  • Your house is littered with half-finished projects that you or your spouse have started and then abandoned for different reasons.
  • Your spouse knows your sleeping habits better than you. 
  • Because you’re a one-income family, you save money by having your spouse give you and your children the same haircut. 
  • You and your spouse have an unofficial rule of swapping the “good parent, bad parent” routine around when dealing with your children. 
  • When you or your spouse mention an ex’s name that has not been discussed before, the mood in the room changes.
  • Any form of competition between you and your spouse must be handled with respect and fairly. No Monopoly!
  • Your spouse seems to know where everything is in the house, except their belongings.
  • You and your spouse have different chores that you do around your home, so when your spouse does one of yours, your brain wants to shut down because it can’t compute what’s just happened. 
  • When you’ve made your signature dinner meal, and your spouse politely mentions that it’s the 18th time that month, that you have made that exact meal.
  • The amazing music you played at your wedding, is now mall/supermarket background music. 
  • You both have different ways to fold the washing; which you argue over, but you never want to fold the washing alone. 
  • If someone other than your spouse flirts with you, you don’t even register it.
  • Gaslighting your spouse is either extremely funny, brave or dangerous. 
  • Looking back at photos of your wedding, makes you rage because you and your spouse look so refreshed and young. 
  • You still make rookie mistakes with your children, after your spouse has pointed it out. 
  • You and your spouse can be each other’s translators in new social situations. 
  • If you or your spouse have taken the wedding ring off for whatever reason, you’re reminded in a semi-friendly way to put it back on. 

Occasionally my wife reads these posts, so I need to tread carefully. So in case she does read this, I think being married for 10 years is wonderful!

Have you been married for 10 years or more? Have I missed any observations? As always, please let me know.

That’s another post for another week. Thanks again for reading, following, and subscribing to Some Geek Told Me. Don’t forget to walk your dog, read a banned book, go Phoenix FC, and I’ll see you next week because the Tour of the Solar System is crawling back again!

Happy Star Wars and Free Comic Book Day!

On By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn Books, Comics, Movies, Television

As you can tell, today is not a Monday; so why is there a short blog post from me? That’s a simple answer, because not only is today Star Wars Day, but it’s also Free Comic Book Day!

Star Wars Day is always held on the 4th of May, regardless of what day it is, just so people can say, May The 4th Be With You. Free Comic Book Day (FCBD), however, is traditionally held on the first Saturday in May. 

I feel they are two of the largest pop culture dates on the geek calendar, so it’s not often that Star Wars Day coincides with FCBD, but I think it just gives people twice the reason to celebrate the day.

I have mentioned it before, but Star Wars has a special place in my family. We enjoy it through movies, books, toys, board games, TV shows1 and cosplay. This also includes comics. Throughout the years, I have gathered a collection of Star Wars comics, so FCBD holds significant importance for me.

Credit: Disney/Lucasfilm & DC/Marvel/FCBD

So, what’s the point of this post? Easy, if you’re a fan of the adventures of characters from a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, then today is your day to watch the movies or TV shows, read that book, play that computer game, or simply wear that Darth Vader t-shirt to the supermarket. Own this day, own it!

If you’re a fan of comic books, you need to get yourself down to your local comic book store; if possible, so you can support them by picking up some free comic books, cosplaying as your favourite characters, and buying some items. These stores are the lifeblood of the industry, so please support them.

And if you’re a fan of both Star Wars and Comics, well…today’s the day you can live your best life! My family recently made their own fantastic Stormtrooper helmets, which UMC1 and UMC2 will be wearing somewhere today.

How are you celebrating Star Wars Day and Free Comic Book Day? Please let me know. Ok, that’s it for me. Enjoy this amazing day and I’ll see you on Monday.

1.) One day I’m going to get Disney +. It’s not today, but one day.

We Didn’t Start the Fire: 1950

On By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn History, Music, People, Politics

Welcome to the latest instalment of my breakdown of Billy Joel’s We Didn’t Start the Fire. The two previous entries in this strange franchise are We Didn’t Start the Fire: The Beginning and We Didn’t Start the Fire: 1948-1949.

This is where I’m attempting to talk about the historical references in the song and try to relate them to our contemporary society. I know this sounds like a terrible idea, but apparently, the group known as Beetroot Awareness Aotearoa sort of agrees. After publishing my blog post concerning 1948-1949, this New Zealand-based group released their own harsh review:

“Does this idiot know that the song came out in 1989, and since then, numerous people have already talked about the historical references? Can he not think of anything original or does he just steal other people’s ideas? What a buffoon!”

And with that positive and uplifting feedback, let’s check out the We Didn’t Start the Fire’s historic references for 1950.

Image from the We Didn’t Start the Fire music video

1950

Joseph McCarthy:

We briefly discussed Joseph McCarthy last time with 1949’s Walter Winchell, but we’ll expand it like a dog taking over your bed. McCarthy was a US senator for Wisconsin, who had a few issues that he liked to talk about. Early on in the Cold War, and during his Lincoln Day speech, McCarthy launched an anti-communist crusade.

He promoted the concept that Soviet Union and communist spies and sympathizers had infiltrated American society, through the federal and local governments, as well as in academic and entertainment circles. This led to the persecution and political repression of many people, based on being un-American and their opinions. It was during this period that the terms “The Second Red Scare” and “McCarthyism” were born.

For a modern equivalent to McCarthy, just think of everybody’s favourite twice impeached, four times criminally indicted, ex-US President, Donald Trump.

Credit: Biography.com

Richard Nixon:

Richard Nixon makes the list because in 1950, the future President of the United States of America was first elected to represent California, in the US Senate. If you’re a student of history, you’ll realise this will not be the last time Nixon makes the list. He will return.

For a modern version, I’m a bit stumped over this. I can’t compare Richard Nixon of 1950 to Richard Nixon of 1972, because they are two people with different life experiences. However, when comparing Nixon of 1950 to modern times, it would be any young politician moving up the ladder, to become a long-term politician. I’m sure every country has some. I’m looking at you Winston Peters, I’m looking at you.

Nixon in Yorba Linda, California, c. April 1950. Credit: Orange County Archives.

Studebaker:

Studebaker was an automobile manufacturer, which was based in the United States. For about 50 years, Studebaker was one of the leaders in the car industry and had built up a great reputation for their vehicles.

That changed around 1950 when Studebaker started having some major financial problems. In 1954, they merged with Packard, another automobile company to ease their financial difficulties. It didn’t work the way they thought it would, so in 1967, Studebaker ceased production and the company shut down.

Some modern equivalents would be Oldsmobile and Pontiac, or even some non-automobile companies like Kenner and Toys “R” Us.

Studebaker’s “Lazy S” logo, designed by Raymond Loewy, was used from the 1950s until 1966/1950 Studebaker Champion. Credit: Андрей Перцев/Classic Auto Mall.

Television:

Is there a greater icon for the 20th century other than television? I think not. Television or TV had been developed, improved and marketed for years before 1950, but it was slowly becoming an important household product. In the context of US history, TV was becoming an attractive way to transmit information to the public.

Data on sales of TV sets in the United States for 1950 varies. An estimated 9%-20% of households in the United States had at least one television set, but by the end of the decade, that figure had grown to nearly 90%. The age of television was upon us, and it changed the way people from around the world, consumed news and entertainment forever.

In the 21st century, the easiest and best example of a different communication network would be the Internet. You can watch your favourite team play live while riding on the train, watch your favourite TV show on your lunch break, or stream the latest news via your phone or laptop. Outrageous.

Credit: © Frank Martin/ Getty Images

North Korea, South Korea:

This is the first time that I need to discuss two references together, because in 1950, North and South Korea dominated the news around the planet. At the time, North and South Korea were two separate countries, having been divided at the 38th parallel north, by the Soviet Union and the United States, after the end of the Second World War.

On 25th June 1950, the North Korean army crossed the 38th parallel and invaded South Korea. Given that the Cold War was the political climate at the time, this conflict slowly became a proxy war for democracy vs communism.

On one side, there was the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea), and the People’s Republic of China (China), along with the unofficial support of the Soviet Union; against the Republic of Korea (South Korea), along with the United Nation Forces, which consisted of the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Netherlands, Canada, France, New Zealand, Philippines, Turkey, Thailand, South Africa, Greece, Belgium, Luxembourg, Ethiopia and Colombia; with many more countries supplying support through different means.

This conflict became known as the Korean War and was fought for three years, with the war ending in a stalemate in 1953, with the Korean Armistice Agreement. The war claimed an estimated 2.8 million military and civilian deaths. Much like the Chinese Civil War, the geo-political repercussions of the Korean War are still being felt in 2024.

Sadly, the Korean War will make another entry in the song.

Credit: Map Porn

Marilyn Monroe:

Born Norma Jeane Mortenson, Marilyn Monroe was a model and actress who became an international sex symbol, during the late 1940s-early 1960s. In 1950, Monroe landed some breakthrough roles in films and actually starred in five different films in that year. (A Ticket to Tomahawk, The Asphalt Jungle, All About Eve, The Fireball, and Right Cross). From there, Monroe’s career took off and she soon became a household name.

It’s hard to determine which contemporary model/actress would be like Marilyn Monroe of 1950, so I’ll let you decide on that one. Sorry.

Marilyn Monroe in All About Eve (1950). Credit: 20th Century-Fox

So for 1950, we have covered two US Senators, a failed automobile company, the explosion of television sales, the Korean War, and a model/actress. Like I said last time, this project is going to take some time, so I’ll try and cover 1951-1952 next time. Cool.

That’s it for another week. Thanks once again for reading, following, and subscribing to Some Geek Told Me. Don’t forget to walk your dog, read a banned book, call for a ceasefire in Palestine, and I’ll see you next week because I’m going to be discussing a milestone. It could be interesting.

The Christchurch Half Marathon: 21.1 km of more regret

On By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn Sports

Since our two old friends, COVID-19 and the current living crisis1 have been stalking the land and intimidating people, like two high school idiot bullies, my half marathon running experience has been rather poor.

To remedy this oversight, I entered in the 2024 Christchurch Half Marathon, which at the time of publication of this average blog post, was held yesterday.

If you’re a supporter, follower, or subscriber of this account; firstly, thank you. Secondly, thank you again. Thirdly, I wrote about my last Dunedin Half Marathon, which you can find here.

Map for the Christchurch Course

It’s interesting to point out that my wife encourages me to run. Since I don’t hang out at pubs or underneath bridges while buying or selling manga, I’m allowed to have this vice. Plus she likes being a semi-professional spectator, as it allows her to drink vast quantities of coffee, waiting for her husband to appear, who has the speed of a tortoise.

Anyway, where was I? Oh right, the race. My preparation for any race can be divided into two different categories: training and diet. To be honest, I don’t know which one is more difficult to stick to; it’s easy to fall off the wagon with both of them. I usually let myself down in these categories, and the preparation for the Christchurch Half Marathon was no exception.

As for the actual race, the course had a loop of 10.55 km, so I did two laps. It started outside of North Haley Park and ended inside it. I enjoyed it, however, I’m starting to find half marathons are becoming difficult for me to run. There are some reasons why:

1.) Once I’ve hit roughly 12 km, I can’t get slower or faster; I’m stuck in the same gear. It means that when I should be speeding up, I can’t. My body has developed a fail-safe device. When it identifies the measurement of 12 km, my body activates the fail-safe device that locks me at the speed, to try and mitigate the damage.

2.) If I haven’t checked my watch in some time, I can trick myself into believing that I’m running at a great pace. This illusion is destroyed when pace runners go past me, with their stupid flags and a hareem of runners. As I look up and see that estimated time of finishing on the flag, suddenly 5 m, 10 m, 25 m, 50 m ahead of me, my broken ego takes another pounding.

3.) I’m running out of excuses to explain what is happening around me, during the race. To explain this, I have to admit, yes, I’m getting older. Yes, I’m getting slower. Yes, I don’t train enough. Yes, my diet isn’t good enough leading up to a race. Yes, I daydream while I’m running, and I get distracted. These factors add up to the finishing time.

In saying that, I’ve tried to shift the blame. If a person that’s 20 years younger than me, runs past me like I’m standing still, I usually point out that person is younger, so they should be faster.

If a person that’s 20 years older than me, runs past me like I’m standing still, I usually point out that person is older, so they should have more experience.

If a person is wearing expensive shoes and breezes past me, I usually point out that it’s because they’re wearing fast shoes; and I’m not. My excuses for not achieving my dream finishing times are scraping the bottom of the barrel.

Having said all of that, plus the fact I can’t currently bend my knees probably, I still love running; it makes me happy, and in this crazy world of climate change, wars, tax cuts, Brexits and hush-money payments to porn stars, finding a sliver of happiness is sometimes all that matters. Maybe.

That’s it for another week! Once again, thank you for reading, following, and subscribing to Some Geek Told Me. Don’t forget to walk your dog, read a banned book, eat a grapefruit, and I’ll see you next week for the return of We Didn’t Start the Fire. Nice.

1.) Thanks inflation.

My 15 favourite Hellboy covers (So far): Before Seeds of Destruction Edition

On By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn Comics

The World Destroyer. The Right Hand of Doom. The Beast of the Apocalypse. Anung un Rama. Hellboy has been called many things over the years, as well as being an outstanding arse-kicker. Supporters of New Zealand’s 5th least favourite website will undoubtedly know that I’m a fan of Hellboy. I’ve seen all five movies (three live-action and two animated), and I even have The Right Hand of Doom money box on my set of drawers, minus the money.

One of these days, I’m going to write about my love for the character and his world, but not today. In saying that, as a fully-fledged geek, I’ve been reading and collecting Hellboy comics since Adam was a cowboy. Because of this useless fact, I thought it would be a wonderfully terrible idea to discuss my favourite Hellboy comic book covers.

I feel stupid for admitting this, but I’m not a huge fan of variant comic book covers; however, there is an exception. If there is a variant cover drawn by Hellboy’s creator Mike Mignola, then you can bet your bingo money that I’m going to choose that one. I meant, come on, it’s a Hellboy cover drawn by Mike Mignola, you can’t ignore it!

For a lot of geeks like myself, our introduction to Hellboy was through his first mini-series, Seed of Destruction. And just like with the Legends Star Wars Universe, the timeline was divided into BBY (Before the Battle of Yavin) and ABY (After the Battle of Yavin), with Hellboy being somewhat similar.

For me, Hellboy comics can be divided into five groups:

  • 1.) Before Seed of Destruction: Detailing Hellboy’s adventures from his discovery in 1944, to Seed of Destruction in 1994.
  • 2.) After Seed of Destruction: Detailing Hellboy’s adventures after the Seed of Destruction mini-series, from 1994 onwards.
  • 3.) Out of continuity: These comics deal with stories about Hellboy involving crossovers with many out-of-company characters, as well as the Hellboy: Weird Tales series.
  • 4.) Spin offs: Characters that have been involved with Hellboy, are given comics to flesh out their stories like B.P.R.D., Rise of the Black Flame, Koshchei the Deathless, Sir Edward Grey: Witchfinder, Rasputin: The Voice of the Dragon, Frankenstein Underground, Sledgehammer 44, and The Visitor: How & Why He Stayed.
  • 5.) Collected Editions/Trade Paperbacks: Sometimes when Hellboy comics are collected into a trade or an anthology edition, they include some Hellboy short stories that are only found in those editions; you can’t find them anywhere else.

The comic book covers I’m going to be focusing on will be in the first group, because I’m a geek. Now there are some key points I would like to establish before I do this.

  • Obviously Mike Mignola is going to feature on this list as a cover artist, but not all entries will be drawn by him.
  • I’m only looking at comic book covers and not the actual issues themselves, because that is another list for another day.
  • I’m not looking at the covers of collected editions or trades, only single issues.
  • The comics are listed according to when they occurred in Hellboy’s timeline; not when they were published or how awesome they are.

I’ve chosen these covers as my favourites in the Before Seed of Destruction era for a lot of different reasons that include their colour, symbolism, character poses, shadowing, and of course, just how amazing Hellboy looks!

One more thing before we start, 14 of the 15 comics I selected have Hellboy on the cover; with only one that doesn’t. This is because the cover is gorgeous, so I decided to swipe right.

With all of the entries, I’ve included the title, the year it was published, the cover artists (artist and colourist), and also what year the comic was set in Hellboy’s history. Ok, without a drum roll, let’s do this!

B.P.R.D. 1946 #1, 2008, Mike Mignola and Nick Filardi (1946)

Hellboy: The Midnight Circus HC (one-shot), 2013, Mike Mignola and Dave Stewart (1948)

Hellboy and the B.P.R.D. 1953 #1: The Phantom Hand and Kelpie, 2015, Mike Mignola and Dave Stewart (1953)

Hellboy and the B.P.R.D. 1953 #2: The Witch Tree and Rawhead & Bloody Bones, 2015, Mike Mignola and Dave Stewart (1953)

Hellboy and the B.P.R.D. 1954 #1: Ghost Moon, 2017, Brian Churilla and Dave Stewart (1953)

Dark Horse Presents #151, Vol 1, 2000, Mike Mignola and Dave Stewart (1954)

Hellboy in Mexico (one-shot), 2010, Richard Corben and Dave Stewart (1956)

Dark Horse Presents #31, Vol 2, 2013, Mike Mignola and Dave Stewart (1956)

Hellboy: The Crooked Man #3, 2008, Richard Corben and Dave Stewart (1958)

Hellboy: The Corpse and the Iron Shoes (one-shot), 1996, Mike Mignola and James Sinclair (1959 & 1961)

Hellboy: Long Night at Goloski Station (one-shot), 2019, Mike Mignola and Dave Stewart (1967)

Hellboy: Krampusnacht (one-shot), 2017, Mike Mignola and Adams Hughes (1975)

Hellboy and the B.P.R.D: Her Fatal Hour and The Sending (one-shot), 2020, Mike Mignola and Dave Stewart (1979)

Hellboy: The Bones of Giants #4, 2022, Matt Smith and Chris O’Halloran (1988)

Hellboy: Makoma (or A Tale Told by a Mummy in the New York City Explorers’ Club on August 16, 1993) #1, 2006, Mike Mignola and Dave Stewart (1993)

Do you agree with my choices or have I missed out on some of your favourite Hellboy comics from the Before Seed of Destruction era? As always, please let me know. At a later time, which is very inconvenient for me, I’ll look at some other Hellboy covers from the other groups. Awesome.

Well, that’s it for another week. Thanks once again for reading, following, and subscribing to Some Geek Told Me. Don’t forget to walk your dog, read a banned book, call for a ceasefire in Palestine, look after yourself, and I’ll see you next week.

Tour of the Solar System: Saturn

On By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn Science2 Comments

The cost of living crisis is rampaging around the planet, celebrity rappers are on the run, Associate Education Ministers want to send sick children to school, Israel and Russia need a time-out, rainbow pedestrian crossings are now dangerous, and the former most powerful person in the world is now selling bibles for US$59.99 to pay legal bills. What a mess.

I wonder if there is a blog out there that can heal the divisions in our societies, and bring people to the negotiation table. If you’re looking for that blog, then you need to keep on looking, because you won’t find it here.

What you will find is an appalling awkward attempt at astronomical alliteration, because the worst tour in all of science is back! Some Geek Told Me’s Tour of the Solar System is here once again, but be warned, a statement about the Tour from The New Zealand Sour Cream and Chives Preservation Society said:

“The so-called Tour of the Solar System is an embarrassment to all science-loving people, but especially to the hard-working people of New Zealand. The author needs to be arrested and charged with gross negligence towards New Zealand’s scientific community. He’s a moron.”

If I didn’t know any better, I’m starting to think that The New Zealand Sour Cream and Chives Preservation Society are getting a little personal, don’t you?

Anyway, if you’re lucky enough to have dodged the last 12 stops, well…you’re in for a shock. The 12 stops of the Tour of the Solar System are as follows:

1.) Meet the Family

2.) The Sun

3.) Planets vs. Dwarf planets

4.) Mercury

5.) Venus

6.) Earth

7.) The Moon

8.) Mars

9.) The Asteroid Belt

10.) Ceres

11.) Jupiter

12.) The Galilean moons

Since you’re a person who eats carrots and goes to bed before midnight, you would have guessed that this tour stop is all about Saturn, so let’s stop gasbagging and get on with it.

Image: NASA, ESA and Erich Karkoschka (University of Arizona)

Ask any number of people to name their favourite planet, and the chances are it’s going to be Earth, Vulcan, or Saturn. The main reason people like Saturn is because it’s so gorgeous, but just like the mysterious hot person at the party, there is a lot more to them than just their looks.

Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second of the gas giants or Outer Planets. If Saturn needed to purchase some alcohol, its ID would show that they are about 4.6 billion years old, which still makes it slightly older than the terrestrial planets or Inner Planets.

Continuing along the good ideas of naming planets after deities from Roman Mythology, Saturn was the god of wealth and agriculture. His Ancient Greek equivalent was Cronus, the father of Zeus (Jupiter).

Being a gas giant, Saturn is massive. It’s the second largest planet in the Solar System, obviously following Jupiter, though Saturn is still smaller than the Sun.

It has a diameter of 120,536 km, which compared to Earth, means that Saturn could fit 700 Earths inside it. You’ve heard of the very old saying, “Inside every gas giant, an Earth is trying to break out.” In Saturn’s case, it’s 699 more. Saturn also has 95 times the mass of Earth, and that’s even without the help of a personal trainer.

The eight siblings of the Solar System share many things in common with each other, and having an elliptical orbit is one of them. Saturn’s perihelion is about 1.35255 billion km, and its aphelion is 1.51450 billion km. Another way to look at it is Saturn’s average distance from our local star is 1.4 billion km, with 9.68 km/s being its orbital speed.

And speaking of speed, Saturn has the second-shortest day in the solar system. 10.7 hours is the time it takes Saturn to rotate once, with Saturn taking 29.4 Earth years or 10,756 Earth days to complete one orbit of the Sun. What were you doing 29.4 years ago? The world was watching Heat, Twelve Monkeys, and Sense and Sensibility, along with the biggest movie of December 1994 and of all time, Cutthroat Island. 

We’ve finally arrived at the point of the blog, that would make the Mandarin jealous: the rings. Saturn is famous for its rings because they are so obvious and beautiful; like a bowl of Salt and Vinegar chips at a pub. This ring system is one of the most complicated in the Solar System and was first discovered by our old mate, Galileo Galilei in 1610 CE.

There are eight main rings, some smaller rings, along with some gaps. Some of the rings and gaps have some amazing and original names like A, B, C, and D, as well as names like Pallene Ring and the Roche Division. 

The rings are made up of different materials like ice, rock, and dust of various sizes; numbering in their billions. As for the origin of the rings, it’s believed they are from broken pieces of moons, asteroids, or comets, that have been ripped apart by Saturn’s gravity.

Another idea is that cryovolcanoes from one of Saturn’s moons are also helping to create and maintain the rings. Their age is believed to be about 400 million years old, and it’s interesting to note that each of the rings orbits Saturn at a different speed.

Saturn is like a sibling that’s an annoying overachiever because it also has another claim to fame; it has 146 recognised moons, making it the planet with the most moons in the Solar System. That’s more moons than Trump has court cases! There are some truly fascinating moons like Titan, Rhea, Iapetus, Dione, Tethys, Enceladus, and Mimas, along with hundreds of others.

I’m not spending too much time talking about these moons today because I’m going to discuss them next time on the Tour. In saying that, scientists believe life could exist on several of Saturn’s moons, so let’s watch this space, shall we?

Just like how Sour Cream and Chives is similar to Demon’s Arse Breath, Saturn is similar to Jupiter in certain areas. Because Saturn is a gas giant like Jupiter, it doesn’t have a true surface. Saturn’s atmospheric pressure is over 1000 times the atmospheric pressure on Earth’s surface. The pressure is so strong, it can squeeze gas into a liquid.

To put it another way, the further down into Saturn’s atmosphere you go, the stronger the pressure becomes, so if you were on board a spacecraft, you’ve purchased a one-way ticket.

And speaking of Saturn’s atmosphere, it consists of about 75% hydrogen and 25% helium, the two main elements in Jupiter and the Sun. Saturn also has trace amounts of water ice, propane, acetylene, phosphine, ammonia, ethane, and methane.

Here’s another fun fact about Saturn; it has an average density that’s less than water. This means if it was ever possible to build one larger enough, Saturn could float in a bathtub of water.

The weather on Saturn makes it another reason it’s an overachiever. The cloud formations come in faint stripes, jet streams, and storms. Within the upper atmosphere, winds can reach 500 m per second, and compared this with Earth, where hurricane winds can reach 110 m per second.

At Saturn’s north pole, there is a crazy thing happening. There’s a hexagon-shaped pattern, which is a six-sided jet stream. After observations from Voyager 1 and Cassini, the hexagon was measured to be 30,000 km across, with winds reaching 322 km per hour. To me, that’s Ludicrous Speed, and I’m sure Dark Helmet would agree.

There are so many more amazing things I would love to discuss about Saturn, but I’m out of time. I’ve been distracted by world events and the fact that I need more sleep. However, I’m going to leave you with this; although Saturn’s magnetic field is not as large as Jupiter’s, it’s still 578 times more powerful than Earth’s. Sucks to be us, I guess.

And with that, this week’s rant has finished. What is your favourite fact about Saturn? As always, please let me know. I hope you’re enjoying the Tour because, with inflation, it’s still pretty affordable. Terrible, but still affordable.

Thanks once again for reading, following, and subscribing to Some Geek Told Me. I’m also on Twitter/X and Mastodon, spitting out useless daily information.

Please don’t forget to walk your dog, read a banned book, keep pushing for a ceasefire in Palestine, check out the Solar eclipse, and I’ll see you next week.

Because of its size, Jupiter has the largest and strongest magnetic field of any planet in the Solar System, however, the Sun’s magnetic field is stronger. Jupiter’s magnetic field is 16-54 times stronger than Earth’s, and it extends 1-3 million km, in the direction of the Sun, as well as 1 billion km towards Saturn. This works out to about 7-21 times Jupiter’s diameter; which is larger than Rishi Sunak’s ego.

In addition to this, Jupiter acts as a bodyguard for the rest of the Solar System. Jupiter’s gravity well is so massive, that it attracts and diverts comets and asteroids into the Jovian System. This accounts for the extremely high rate of impacts in the Jovian System, and some scientists speculate, that this is why life on Earth has survived, because Jupiter keeps taking bullets for us.

Well, that’s it for another week. What’s your favourite fact about Jupiter? As always, please let me know. Some Geek Told Me’s Tour of the Solar System will return next month, so please keep your tickets, as there are no refunds.

My wife likes to quit TV shows

On By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn People, Television

I noticed that I haven’t written about my wife recently. Since she’s the main person I try to impress, I thought I’d better rectify that small oversight. Some of my previous posts involving her are her favourite books, our age gap, Les Misérables, King Charles III, and the entertainment differences between us.

For those of you who have read about our entertainment differences, you know how brave my wife would have to be to try out a new TV show; especially if she knows next to nothing about it. Having said that, my wife is like any other person because she has books, music, and movies that she enjoys, along with some TV shows.

The opposite is also true because just like other people, there are books, music and movies that she dislikes, as well as TV shows. And this darling little cupcake of displeasure is what we will be discussing today.

My wife will watch a new TV show for several reasons. It could be because the show has been recommended to her by myself, friends, or the internet community. Another is that it’s connected or linked to something that she is familiar with; like an adaption of something she already likes, or similar to an already existing TV show.

The reasons for her to start watching a TV show are small, and yet, they can actually be measured against the TV shows she doesn’t like. This is because she has quit them, and once that’s done, they don’t get to come back. Ever.

Image by Tomasz Mikołajczyk from Pixabay

To be fair to her, she never sets out to dislike a TV show. She always has the intention of liking and following the show, through season after season. But yet, and just like relationships, not all of them can last.

When I start watching a new TV show, there would need to be some major problems with it, for me to quit watching. Whether this is a positive or negative trait, I’m not smart enough or cool enough to answer that foreboding question.

With my wife on the other hand, the reason to stop watching a TV show doesn’t have to be complicated, because she has a lot of reasons to quit watching a TV show. Some are very fair, honest and reasonable, while others make me ask, “You can’t be serious?!”

Having discussed this blog post with her, I’ve created a list of 12 TV shows that my wife started watching, but quit for multiple reasons; though some are quite similar. A TV show doesn’t have to do much to lose my wife’s interest, so I had better take close and personal attention to this.

Anyway, let’s see what these poor TV shows did, for my wife to leave them. I’ve also added the episode that made her quit. Enjoy!

The Tick (Remake): Episode 3

When Arthur was being interrogated by the police, it gave her the “ick”, which to her is second-hand embarrassment. She hates watching people embarrass themselves.

The Tudors: Episode 1

She just thought it was really boring, and she said, “Life is too short for this.”

Ghosts (American remake): Episode 4

She saw clips of the British show on YouTube, and she thought it seemed funny. She couldn’t find it on any streaming service, so she tried the American version instead. She said, “It just wasn’t funny and I was super disappointed.”

Supergirl: Episode 4

She really wanted to like Supergirl, but I’ll let my wife explain this one: “Calista Flockhart was too distracting for me. I can only see her as Ally McBeal.“

I Hate Suzie: Episode 1

She loves Billie Piper, but she couldn’t stand the second-hand embarrassment. Please see the Tick.

The Office (American remake): Episode 2

She thought the show wasn’t funny and kind of boring. Similar to The Tudors, she mentioned that, “Life is too short to wait around for it to get good.”

The Tourist: Episode 3

This is a weird one, even for her. Since we live in New Zealand, we receive a lot of Australian TV shows. However, she believed that actors having Australian accents in a drama situation like The Tourist was just wrong; very, very wrong.

Supernatural: Episode 2

She really wanted to like it, because she thought the memes were funny. After watching two episodes, she just wasn’t interested anymore.

Invincible: Episode 3

I’m a fan of Invincible, having read and collected the comics, so I thought she might have liked it. She didn’t, because whenever J. K. Simmons was talking as Nolan Grayson, aka Omni-Man, she could only hear J. K. Simmons’ Tenzin from The Legend of Korra.

Battlestar Galactica (Remake): First episode of the Mini-series

I had seen the remake before, and I had loved it. I missed the final season, so I talked my wife into watching the entire series with me. She lasted until Number Six killed a baby, by snapping their neck in the first episode. Once that was done, she was out of the show. She said that she wasn’t prepared to watch a TV show, that murdered babies.

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power: Episode 2

My wife watched it with me because we are both fans of Middle-earth. Like many other people, she thought the dialogue sounded like a school play, so she just couldn’t get into it.

House of the Dragon: Episode 3

Even though she was a fan of Game of Thrones, and we watched that show together, she wasn’t too interested in House of the Dragon. This was because she knew what was going to happen to the main characters. She used the “Life is too short” quote again for this show.

Do you agree with any of my wife’s TV-watching decisions? As always, please let me know.

This list will be updated, but in the meantime, I’ll have to make a list of movies that my wife has quit; and I promise you there are many.

That’s it for another week. Thanks once again for reading, following, and subscribing to Some Geek Told Me. Don’t forget to walk your dog, read a banned book, call for a ceasefire in Palestine, and I’ll see you next week, for the return of the Tour of the Solar System!