The Final Experiment: The Flat Earth Fallout

On January 27, 2025 By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn People, Science

So, how are things with you? Hmm.. that’s a mixed bag, isn’t it? As for me, I’m back at work, with UMC1 and UMC2 returning to school this week. Suffice to say, they are not too happy about that. Would you like to know some other people that are not happy? Flat Earthers.

But why are Flat Earthers unhappy, because we all know they’re such an upbeat, positive, open-minded, tolerant community. The answer is in the title because they are losing their collective minds over the Final Experiment.

Let’s do the responsible thing, and not let our friends use Comics San and go over what the Final Experiment was all about. To quote a somewhat lazy writer, “The Final Experiment is an observational showdown/trip between Team Globe (people who accept and understand we live on a globe) and Team Flat Earth (people who believe that the Earth is flat and deny reality).

It was created by Will Duffy, a pastor in Denver, Colorado, USA. It involves the concept of settling the argument about the shape of our planet, by inviting people to travel to Antarctica, this December, to confirm whether the 24-hour Sun exists or not.”

To the best of my understanding of the Flat Earth community, there is no official Flat Earth model, however, one of the most popular and beloved is the Alexander Gleason map. This map represents the planet on a 2-D surface, with the Arctic in the middle, with the other land masses centred around it.

Members of “The Final Experiment” group explore Antarctica in December 2024. (Photo courtesy of Will Duffy)

This of course means that on this map, Antarctica is not a massive continent at the bottom of the globe, but rather land that runs along the edge of the Earth, the so-called ice-wall. I know, I’m a Game of Thrones fan as well.

One of the many, many issues with that map, is the explanation of the Midnight Sun or the 24-hour Sun. Basically, on a Flat Earth, a Midnight Sun is only possible in the Arctic, as you can imagine, but impossible in Antarctica.

So imagine the idea, that you could travel to Antarctica in December; because remember, a Midnight Sun is only visible during Summer in the Southern Hemisphere, and you could witness it. This would either prove the existence of a Globe Earth or a Flat Earth. Simple enough, isn’t it?

Antarctic Logistics & Expeditions’ 757 lands directly on the ice in Antarctica in December 2024. (Photo courtesy of Will Duffy)

If we’re up to speed, let’s discuss the Final Experiment. Will Duffy and a mixed group of Globe Earthers and Flat Earthers travelled to Antarctica in December 2024, which is where Flat Earthers said you were not allowed to visit.

I think Duffy paid for three people to go, while the others crowdfunded to pay for the trip. I mean, it’s not like you’re travelling to the other side of a large city.

Because the Antarctic Midnight Sun only allows for a small window of time to witness it, the expedition was organised so they could arrive in time for the event. And so, what happened? I’ll give you a clue, you don’t need to be a rocket scientist to figure out what happened.

No, it wasn’t a penguin turf war, but a 24-hour Sun. Wow, but a surprise. Here is a time-lapsed tracked view of the Midnight Sun in Antarctica, by Dave McKeegan, who went on the Final Experiment expedition.

But the point of this blog post is not to discuss that all of the observational and investigational science was correct, because of course it was. Oh no, the point is to discuss the fallout and aftermath to the Flat Earth community.

In a previous blog post about the Final Experiment, I hypothesised about what the Flat Earth community might say or do, pending the observations of the Midnight Sun. These included:

1.) Some people will believe and accept the images and footage presented to them by fellow Flat Earthers of a Midnight Sun to be real and accept the truth, that the world is a globe and not flat.

2.) Some people will believe and accept the images and footage presented to them by fellow Flat Earthers of a Midnight Sun to be real, but will deny that it proves the shape of the planet, one way or another.

3.) Some people will deny the evidence of the Midnight Sun, and of the Globe. This will be because they weren’t there to confirm the validity of the claims, but images and footage can be changed, so why would they believe anything? The photos are fake, the footage is CGI, and the Flat Earther participants are lying and can’t be trusted.

A special camp for “The Final Experiment” is seen in the foreground, with Union Glacier Camp in the middle and Mount Rossman in the background, in Antarctica in December 2024. (Photo courtesy of Will Duffy)

I’ll be honest here, I do feel like a terrible human being, and I’m a little ashamed of myself, because I’ve taken great delight in the Flat Earth community’s desperate responses to explain the Final Experiment, and they have not let me down.

In some cases, it’s like a civil war has broken out within the community because they don’t know what to do. Some of their responses and conspiracy theories have included and are not limited to:

The footage is genuine, but it was previously filmed in the Arctic, six months earlier. (This conspiracy theory falls apart concerning the live-streaming.)
The footage is genuine and live-streamed, but it was not filmed in Antarctica, but on location somewhere else. (This conspiracy theory falls apart because even if it wasn’t filmed in Antarctica, a Midnight Sun should not be possible on a Flat Earth in December.)
The footage is fake and edited because you can’t travel and visit Antarctica because of the Antarctic Treaty. Antarctica is guarded and protected by the world’s military. (Where do I even begin with this?)
The footage is fake and edited because it was filmed in a studio in front of a green screen. (This conspiracy theory is destroyed because of the live-streaming.)
All Globe Earthers are not to be trusted, because they are all liars. (The response does not help or promote the Flat Earth model.)
The Globe Earther participants in the Final Experiment lie for a living, and the Flat Earther participants are sell-outs, so it’s all lies. (So everybody involved in the expedition are liars because they said they went to Antarctica?)
Analysing the footage and deciding that different angles of shadows and their length, prove it was staged and fake. (This has been debunked by images of non-Antarctic regions.)
The absence of the participants’ breath, proves they were not in a cold environment like Antarctica. (Footage has shown people’s breath as they exhaled.)
Someone caught vaping (It’s been called Vapegate) on live-stream, proves they were trying to mimic breath, so the whole project is fake. (Dave McKeegan does an excellent job of explaining this.)
Flat Earthers are complaining about the lack of footprints because it proves the snow is CGI; there are too many footprints, which proves it’s filmed on a set, and the Sun changes shape, which means it’s CGI.
One Flat Earther built a working Flat Earth model to explain the Midnight Sun in Antarctica, by having some sort of sky that is fluid. (The problem is that nearly every other natural phenomenon fails in this working model, like rainbows and solar eclipses).
One Flat Earther said the footage was filmed at Amazon Studios LED Wall Virtual Production Stage. (They have no real evidence apart from an AI voiceover).

This is my favourite conspiracy theory though:

Two of the Flat Earthers that went on the expedition have had their faces scanned by other Flat Earthers. The conclusion is that these two men have female skulls, which means that they are female; or at least transgender. The implications are that if these two men can not be truthful about their identity and gender, then they can not be trusted to tell the truth about the Midnight Sun. (So if they are transgendered, and everything they have said about the Midnight Sun is a lie, then everything they said before the expedition, about the Flat Earth model, was a lie as well?)

It’s also interesting that some Flat Earthers like to dabble with other conspiracy theories about the trans community as well.

After everything they have responded to, the consensus of the Flat Earth community regarding the Final Experiment seems to be, that yes, the participants did travel to Antarctica, and yes, they did witness a Midnight Sun.

However, witnessing the Midnight Sun in Antarctica is a single observation. It happened, but it doesn’t mean anything. The existence of a Midnight Sun does not prove the geometry of the Earth. It’s just an observation, like seeing rain clouds or a rainbow; it doesn’t mean or prove anything to them.

To quote Creaky Blinder, everyone’s favourite Welsh YouTuber, regarding Flat Earthers dismissing evidence:

You all ignore any piece of evidence that’s presented to you unless it backs up what you already believe.

As I said previously, the results of the Final Experiment would cause some Flat Earthers to abandon their crusade, namely Jeran Campanella, but not all of them. Being a professional Flat Earther means you’re a grifter, whether on purpose or by accident, so players are going to play, haters are going to hate, and grifters are going to grift. This is how they make their living, it’s their job. A real Flat Earther would never let evidence stop them from grifting.

What’s been your favourite response from the Flat Earth community about the Final Experiment? As always, please let me know.

That’s another blog for another week. Thanks again for reading, following, and subscribing to Some Geek Told Me. Please don’t forget to walk your dog, read a banned book, remember that #FactsMatter and I’ll see you next week, where I’m going to be discussing the Last Son of Krypton.

Tour of the Solar System: The Literary Moons of Uranus

On January 20, 2025October 27, 2025 By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn Science

And so it begins again. With a new year and a new month comes another sensational blog post about a tour that nobody on our planet has ever requested. Yes, Some Geek Told Me’s Tour of the Solar System is back!

We are entering the third year of the tour, and this is our 19th stop. Amazingly, the tour is still ongoing, though I can’t understand why given my writing skills. If you missed the previous entries, don’t worry! Here’s a helpful list of important tour stops:

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

14.) Titan

15.) The Moons of Saturn

16.) Uranus

17.) Titania

18.) The Moons of Uranus

Now some of you good people would have noticed that we are sitting at an unusual junction, since we don’t have three entries related to a single planet, but four. I know, it’s odd. Saturn was our last planet, which covered Saturn, Titan, and the Moons of Saturn.

However, Uranus is sick of being in their big sibling’s shadow and has demanded an additional entry to accompany the blog posts of Uranus, Titania, and the Moons of Uranus.

And if you’ve got eyes like Sherlock Holmes or Batman, you would have also noticed that this is the third entry concerning the Moons of Uranus. No, I haven’t run out of ideas yet. It’s just that the Moons of Uranus need an additional entry, in my biased and humble opinion.

I have waffled on about this before, so today, I want to expand upon it, mainly because when it comes to bad ideas, I’m extremely well-versed in them. So have your cameras ready, because we are going to be discussing the names of the Moons of Uranus. Booyakasha!

A montage of Uranus’ large moons and one smaller moon: from left to right Puck, Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania and Oberon. Other moons are not yet photographed in detail. Original pictures were taken by NASA’s Voyager 2. Size proportions are correct. Credit: NASA

You could be reading this blog post on the bus, at home, at work, or standing in line to purchase some glorious Salt and Vinegar chips, but you would be guilty of thinking of one question; no, not that one. Yes, that one. What is so special about the Moons of Uranus? It’s a fair question, so your mother would be proud of you.

Not only does Uranus belong to several social clubs like the gas giants, planets with rings, and ultracold, but it also belongs to another selective group. In this case, it has multiple natural satellites or moons. Uranus has 28 known moons, and they are all different and unique, whether it’s their size, shape, rotation, or composition.

I apologise if I’m repeating myself, but I want to highlight what makes the moons of Uranus unique compared to other moons in the Solar System. Unlike most moons, which are named after deities from Roman or Greek mythology, the moons of Uranus have different origins for their names. Even our own Moon has a name that sounds like it came from a group of astronomers who got drunk at a meeting.

No, the Moons of Uranus, which are also known as the Literary Moons of Uranus, are named after characters from the works of William Shakespeare and Alexander Pope, both literary geniuses in their own way.

With Shakespeare, 24 characters from several of his plays have had moons named after them in the Uranian system. As for Pope, his contribution to the naming process lies in his poem called, The Rape of the Lock. First published in 1712, it contains three characters that have moons named after them.

The trend started with John Herschel, who was by all accounts, an overachiever. He was the son of William Herschel, the astronomer who discovered Uranus, Titania and Oberon, and made other astronomical observations and discoveries. Titania and Oberon were discovered in 1787 but did not receive names until 1852.

Since then, the trend for naming Uranian moons after literary characters, instead from Roman or Greek mythology caught on, and for over 150 years, people have still been doing it to maintain the tradition.

In my infinite wisdom and because I like data, I’ve decided to present these moons in a table, to best represent how amazing, cool, and a little nerdy, these moons actually are. I’ve ranked them by the order they were discovered in. Enjoy!

Name of Moon	Year of discovery	Source of name	Name of work	Who the character is
Titania	1787	William Shakespeare	A Midsummer Night’s Dream	Queen of the Fairies
Oberon	1787	William Shakespeare	A Midsummer Night’s Dream	King of the Fairies
Ariel	1851	Alexander Pope	The Rape of the Lock & The Tempest	An airy spirit & a spirit in service to Prospero
Umbriel	1851	Alexander Pope	The Rape of the Lock	The chief gnome
Miranda	1948	William Shakespeare	The Tempest	Daughter to Prospero
Puck	1985	William Shakespeare	A Midsummer Night’s Dream	Oberon’s knavish sprite
Cordelia	1986	William Shakespeare	King Lear	Lear’s youngest daughter
Ophelia	1986	William Shakespeare	Hamlet	Polonius’ daughter
Bianca	1986	William Shakespeare	The Taming of the Shrew	Sister of Katherina
Cressida	1986	William Shakespeare	Troilus and Cressida	Calchas’ daughter
Desdemona	1986	William Shakespeare	Othello	Othello’s wife
Juliet	1986	William Shakespeare	Romeo and Juliet	The 13-year-old daughter of Capulet, is the play’s female protagonist
Portia	1986	William Shakespeare	The Merchant of Venice	A rich heiress; later the wife of Bassanio
Rosalind	1986	William Shakespeare	As You Like It	Duke Senior’s daughter
Belinda	1986	Alexander Pope	The Rape of the Lock	A young lady with beautiful hair and the victim of a vile crime
Caliban	1997	William Shakespeare	The Tempest	An enslaved servant of Prospero
Sycorax	1997	William Shakespeare	The Tempest	A witch and the mother of Caliban
Perdita	1999	William Shakespeare	The Winter’s Tale	The daughter of Leontes and Hermione, unaware of her royal lineage
Stephano	1999	William Shakespeare	The Tempest	The King’s drunken butler
Prospero	1999	William Shakespeare	The Tempest	The rightful Duke of Milan and a magician
Setebos	1999	William Shakespeare	The Tempest	The deity purportedly worshipped by the witch Sycorax
Francisco	2001	William Shakespeare	The Tempest	A lord serving under Alonso
Trinculo	2001	William Shakespeare	The Tempest	The King’s jester
Ferdinand	2001	William Shakespeare	The Tempest	Alonso’s son
Cupid	2003	William Shakespeare	Timon of Athens	The Roman God of desire, erotic love, attraction, and affection
Mab	2003	William Shakespeare	Romeo and Juliet	The queen of the fairies
Margaret	2003	William Shakespeare	Much Ado About Nothing	Waiting-gentlewoman attendant on Hero
S/2023 U 1	2023	This moon is not named yet

As you can see, The Tempest wins the award for the most characters named after moons, though I’m not sure what the prize is. I bet Shakespeare has been pointing that out to Kit Marlowe.

Also, S/2023 U 1 was only discovered in November 2023, and to my best understanding, it has not been given an official name yet. Whether the name comes from The Rape of the Lock or one of Shakespeare’s plays, we will just have to wait and see.

What’s your favourite Moon of Uranus or literary character on the list? As always, please let me know. That’s another blog for another week. Thanks again for reading, following, and subscribing to Some Geek Told Me. I’m still on Twitter and Mastodon, posting daily things about different subjects, but I do love #FactsMatter.

Please don’t forget to walk your dog, read a banned book, look out for the time travellers at the inauguration, and I’ll see you next week.

A 78-year-old convicted felon gets his facts wrong

On January 13, 2025 By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn Geography, History, People, Politics

Welcome back to New Zealand’s 5th least favourite website! I’ve had my break, so Some Geek Told Me is ready for 2025, with more incoherent rants and poorly written topics. I was going to start with something a lot more positive, but my OCD got the better of me.

You see, a certain 78-year-old convicted felon held a press conference the other day and made some fascinating and entertaining statements that were, in the nicest way possible, incorrect.

Before I stumble my way through this blog post, I need to go over something with you. A few weeks ago, I posted a blog about TIME’S Person of the Year. When talking about a certain 78-year-old convicted felon, I said,

“Any attention that man gets is good attention, because it means people are talking about him, and that’s what he wants. And we have all given it to him, which is why he has dominated the news cycle.

By ignoring his crazy rants and lies, along with his illegal dealings, we are condoning his behaviour; therefore, we are enabling him. By calling out his crazy rants and lies, along with his illegal dealings, he can play the “I’m a billionaire victim because the false news and the deep state are out to get me” card; therefore, we are enabling him.

Moving forward into 2025 and beyond, I’m going to talk about him, without talking about him. I’m going to do this by doing two things:

If his behaviour is truly that terrible, I will name him. Otherwise, I will do my best to avoid naming him. Words have power, so I won’t give him any more attention than he needs or deserves, starting with his name.
If I discuss his antics, I won’t repeat the lies or absurdities; instead, I will provide a counterpoint or the truth to his unfounded claims. For instance, if he were to say, “We’re going to cure people of being gay because it’s a disease,” or “Vaccines are immoral and illegal,” or “Sour Cream and Chives is the greatest flavour in the world,” I will not echo the falsehoods.
Instead, I will explain that homosexuality is not a disease, vaccines are legal and one of humanity’s greatest inventions, and as for the last claim, I’ll make an emphatic argument in favour of Salt and Vinegar.

What I’m trying to say is that if he or anyone from the League of Losers makes a false statement or says something that’s utterly outrageous, I won’t repeat it here. Instead, I’ll counter with his kryptonite: facts and logic. Even if Mark Zuckerberg no longer agrees with it, I believe that #FactsMatter.

So, without further delay, let’s establish the facts over six things the famous 78-year-old convicted felon boasted about at his recent press conference concerning the Western Hemisphere. Someone is in big trouble for showing him either a globe or an atlas.

1.) There is no scientific evidence of any type to suggest that wind turbines hurt or kill whales, let alone drive them crazy.

2.) There is no criminal evidence of any type to suggest that Hezbollah were involved in the United States Capitol attacks and riots on 6th January 2021.

Rioters storm the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Credit: Ricky Carioti / The Washington Post via Getty Images file

3.) The Gulf of Mexico shares a border with Mexico, Cuba, and the United States. The gulf’s name first appeared on maps used by Spanish explorers from the 16th century. Apparently, there is a map that displays the name, Gulf of Mexico, from 1607.

No single individual can change the name of a body of water. Such a decision would need to be made by a recognised authority, like the International Hydrographic Organization. Even if the United States were to change the name from the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, countries like Mexico, Cuba, and others around the world would not be obligated to adopt the new name.

Millions, if not billions of dollars would be wasted in changing maps, websites, and books to alter the name, which only one country on the planet would use. And there’s no guarantee it would last because the next administration could just change it back.

Map of the Gulf of Mexico. Credit: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

4.) The Panama Canal, to everybody’s surprise, is located in Panama. It’s a shortcut that allows ships access to the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, through the use of locks. Construction started in 1904 and was only finished in 1914, at a cost of roughly, at the time, US$500 million.

The waterway stretches 82 km, and it is vital to shipping and trade around the world. Yes, it is true that the United States did build the canal in Panama, through negotiations for economic, geopolitical, and strategic reasons, among others.

It’s also true that the United States owned and administered the Panama Canal, which was a very lucrative operation for them. That changed in the 1970s when President Jimmy Carter transferred the administration to a joint agency of the United States and Panama. Panama gained full control of the canal in 1999.

It’s been recently criticised that Carter was wrong and stupid for giving up control of the Panama Canal for nothing, but there were valid reasons for this.

Carter wanted to show the countries of Central and South America, that the United States was their friend and ally, not a bully. Basically, it was because of peaceful diplomacy.

The 1956 Suez Canal crisis, reinforced the notion that the world’s waterways should be neutral and for everybody; even communist countries like the Soviet Union and China, to prevent them from constructing their own canals.

The cost of keeping and maintaining the Panama Canal, especially since the introduction of nuclear silos, instead of deploying warships with nuclear weapons, meant that administering the canal outweighed the benefits.

The Panama Canal is owned by the Government of Panama, and operated by the Panama Canal Authority, not the Chinese Government. The United States has no legal right to annex the Panama Canal.

Map of the Panama Canal Credit: Thomas Römer

5.) Canada is the United States’ northern neighbour and shares the world’s longest international land border with them. Canada is made up of 10 provinces and 3 territories and has a population of about 40 million people. The country’s head of government is the Prime Minister, currently Justin Trudeau, but not for long; while the Governor General is Mary Simon, and the Monarch is King Charles III.

Although Canada and the United States are distinct independent sovereign countries, they share significant cultural and historical ties, as well as being crucial trading partners, allies, and friends. Both countries must address the harm done to Indigenous and First Nations peoples, but their relationships with the United Kingdom have varied. This has led the two countries into conflict with each other.

Having said that, the Dominion of Canada is not the United States of America, and the United States of America is not the Dominion of Canada. The United States has no legal right to annex Canada.

Canada is also a member of NATO, which means if the United States, a member of NATO itself, invades or attacks Canada, Canada could invoke Article 5 of the NATO charter, so all of the other charter NATO members will come to the defence of Canada, against the United States.

6.) Greenland is the world’s largest island at 2,166,086 km2 and has a population of 55,000 people. Greenland is physically and geographically closer to North America, but it is economically and politically tied to Europe, Denmark in particular.

Greenland is an autonomous territory of Denmark, but it has an interesting history because people have lived in Greenland for at least 4,500 years. However, in the context of the Greenland/Denmark debate, the following history is this:

In 1721, the first Danish settlement was established in Greenland.
In 1814, the Treaty of Kiel (Unification with Denmark) brought Greenland formally under Danish control.
In 1940, Nazi Germany invaded and occupied Denmark, cutting links to Greenland. The United States steps in and administers the island.
In 1945, after Nazi Germany’s surrender, Denmark is given control back over Greenland, but the United States kept a base of operations there.
In 1949, Denmark joined NATO.
In 1953, having integrated with Denmark and representation in the Danish parliament, the citizens of Greenland were also citizens of Denmark.
From 1979-2008, Greenland attains home rule and greater autonomy.

Simply put, Greenland has autonomy, but it has limits and restrictions, as it’s still formally under Danish control. There has been a push for greater autonomy for Greenland, in the form of independence, over the last decade.

Having said that, the United States has no legal right to annex Greenland, and just like Canada, if it did, Denmark could invoke Article 5 of the NATO charter, so all other charter NATO members would come to the defence of Denmark, against the United States.

Now why this 78-year-old convicted felon said those inaccurate statements, could be boiled down to five things:

a.) He made up some of those things on the spot to sound powerful and important, forgot what he said, read about what he said, and then talked about what great ideas they were, so he’ll take the advice and follow them through.

b.) He knows how to gaslight and scare people and the media, so he has no intention to follow through with any of them. He’s saying it because he can, just for shits and giggles since there is no such thing as bad attention for him. He loves and craves the drama.

c.) He’s serious about some of them, and less so about the others, but it’s the media’s job to figure out which ones are which.

d.) He’s honestly going to invade Canada, annex Greenland and the Panama Canal, and rename the Gulf of Mexico.

e.) The whole thing is a distraction, to stop people from realising that his campaign promises will go unfulfilled, like ending the war in Palestine and Ukraine quickly, decreasing the cost of groceries and fuel, and increasing employment.

As for the correct answer, take your pick, because maybe he doesn’t even know. Anyway, buckle up because the next four years will be chaos.

That’s another rant for another week. Thanks again for reading, following, and subscribing to Some Geek Told Me. Please be generous and donate to the aid and refugee funds for the conflicts in Sudan, Palestine, and Ukraine, as well as for the emergency responses in Tibet and California.

Look after yourself and I’ll see you next week, because nobody’s favourite Tour of the Solar System is back!

Happy New Year MMXXV

On January 1, 2025January 4, 2025 By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn People

If you’re still nursing a headache from the party, I won’t shout. If you’re still partying, then you’re better than me. And with that, 2024 has eaten the last slice of pizza, spilt wine on the couch, vomited on the carpet, and left the house for good.

Don’t panic, though. It’s time for 2025 or MMXXV, if you prefer, to party hard for 365 days. The Gregorian Calendar is still popular at our house; however, there is a small campaign to swap to the Shire Calendar. I’ll let you know how that goes.

Happy New Year and I hope this year will be better for you than the last one.

You can expect more badly written and ill-advised weekly blog posts from me because I don’t know how to do anything else.

I’m currently on holiday and hoping that UMC1 and UMC2 will be willing to be seen in public with me, even if I’m not wearing Minecraft clothes. I’ll continue posting daily on Twitter and Mastodon, but my unofficial return is on 6th January, and my official return to New Zealand’s fifth least favorite website will be on 13th January.

Until then, Happy New Year, be safe and I’ll see you next week.

Merry Christmas 2024

On December 25, 2024January 4, 2025 By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn People

So this is Christmas
And what have you done?
Another year over
And a new one just begun
And so this is Christmas
I hope you had fun

Thanks, John and Yoko.

On behalf of everybody involved with Some Geek Told Me, we hope everybody has a Merry Christmas! I’m on my Christmas break, so I’m taking time away for the blog. However, I’ll still post daily nonsense on Twitter and Mastodon, so don’t fret.

The Pōhutukawa tree, often referred to as the New Zealand Christmas tree, is an iconic symbol of the holiday season. Its bright red flowers, blooming in December, are not only used for decoration but also feature on Christmas cards. This tree’s association with Christmas dates back to the mid-1800s and is deeply rooted in local culture.

Thank you for reading, following, and subscribing to Some Geek Told Me through 2024. Look after yourself and your family, and I’ll see you on 1st January 2025.

Forever a Summer Christmas

On December 23, 2024 By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn People

I’ve been saving this blog post for some time, for obvious reasons. I mean, why discuss Christmas in March or September? Even for me, that’s a little strange. No offence to Emily and Stephen.¹

Christmas is just around the corner, and from an advertising standpoint, it has been present since late September or early October. Whether through cards, literature, songs, movies, or posters, we have all been exposed to the essence of Christmas—the birth of Jesus Christ, among other themes.

Other themes include snow, fireplaces, eggnog, snowmen, ice skating, jackets, jerseys, snow, snow, and more snow. I know this because different mediums have explained this to us for years.

Bing Crosby had a massive hit with White Christmas, Charles Dickens succeeded with A Christmas Carol, and Die Hard 2, Home Alone, and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, showcase snow-related Christmas violence. These works of pop culture, and many more, have helped to reinforce the notion that Christmas is an event that involves snow—or at the very least, happens in Winter.

We sing songs about dashing through the snow, display pictures of snowmen on windows, and dream about having the perfect Christmas Day experience by having it snow. It’s great and it sounds like a lot of fun. It does. We are told that this is the most superior Christmas experience on the planet, and it’s what everybody strives for and wishes for.

If you’re a follower of this wayward blog, you will realise that something is coming; and you would be correct. I don’t have a problem with a white Christmas. I lived in London for three years and the closest I got to that was a white Boxing Day. I loved it, and I enjoyed the experience of being cold on Christmas Day.

I do have a small issue with how Christmas is portrayed in the media though, specifically as a Winter holiday. It seems to be presented as the only version. The truth is, and this might frustrate Flat Earthers, that the Earth’s axis is tilted at an angle of 23.45° relative to its orbit. This tilt means that countries in the Northern Hemisphere experience Christmas in Winter. If they’re fortunate, they may even have snow on Christmas Day.

The thing is that not everybody gets that, and it’s not because they don’t want it. It’s because they can’t have it, since countries in the Southern Hemisphere will experience Christmas in Summer. Like myself in New Zealand.

Christmas here involves shorts, jandals, t-shirts, sand, barbeques, cricket, sunglasses, sunscreen, and pavlovas. That being the case, it can be difficult sometimes to take media seriously when you see children having snowball fights at Christmas in a movie, when your Christmas Day is 25°C in the shade.

Stuff like that I find hilarious, however, what really twists my undies is not Christmas media from the United States or the United Kingdom, or any other Northern Hemisphere country promoting white Christmases. I understand that and accept it.

No, to my eternal dismay and horror, the biggest promoters of a white Christmas to New Zealanders, are other New Zealanders. I would love to joke about this, but I’m not. In a Southern Hemisphere country, which means we have Christmas in Summer, what do other New Zealanders do? You’re smart, so I know you’ll get it.

Yes, businesses dealing with customer services, whether they are hairdressers, clothing stores, or supermarkets, decorate their businesses with snowflakes and snowmen. It could be on their windows, website, or hanging from the ceiling, but they are covered in Winter-related paraphernalia. Why do you have Frosty the Snowman in your window? It’s 32°C outside!

Not that I’m huge into Christmas decorations, except for the tree and wreath, but I often think about how having more accurate decorations would be better. Sorry, I’m a geek that judges, but I’m trying really hard not to do it!

Seeing Santa Claus wearing shorts and sunglasses, Rudolph playing cricket, kiwis wearing Santa hats, or a sandman at the beach, are more apt for us. Do we complain about it? No, not really. Who’s going to listen to us anyway?

I would love for us to stop looking as intelligent as the Coyote, after his new ACME product has failed, yet again. I love my quirky country, I just wish we could stop trying to be like our Northern cousins and just be the best vowel-slaughtering version of ourselves.

That was a weird one, so I hope somebody might relate to it, though my blogs can be off-centre sometimes.

Since Wednesday is Christmas Day, I’ll put up another blog post, but it will be shorter…..because I’m on holiday. Yay!!! This means I’ll be having my Christmas break, which will be for two weeks.

Thank you once again for reading, following, and subscribing to Some Geek Told Me. Please don’t forget to walk your dog, read a banned book, go watch Merry Little Batman and the Superman teaser trailer, and I’ll see you on Christmas Day.

¹Bonus geek points for understanding those two references.

TIME’s Person of the Year is not what you think it is

On December 16, 2024 By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn History, Literature, People, Politics

I realise there are more pressing issues confronting the world currently. These include the danger of climate change, the Sudanese civil war, the cryptocurrencies of Cristiano Ronaldo and the Hawk Tuah girl, Israel’s genocide of Palestine, when the Superman trailer is going to drop, and whether The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, will rule them all at the box office.

In saying that, I must acknowledge last week’s announcement of TIME’s 2024 Person of the Year. If you’ve been living under a rock or listening to Chumbawamba’s Tubthumping at full volume for a week, then you would have heard that the lucky winner was 2016’s winner, Donald John Trump. You know, the star of Zoolander, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, Two Weeks Notice, The Little Rascals, and Eddie.

As you can imagine, the concept of Donald Trump winning TIME’s 2024 Person of the Year, has delighted millions of people and equally enraged millions more. On one hand, people are praising the decision, because he’s the OG of MAGA, defeated Kamala Harris in the US Presidential election, survived an assassination attempt, and is the proud father of three of his five children.

On the other hand, Trump’s been busy. He was convicted on 34 felony charges for falsifying business records related to hush money payments to a porn star, found liable for sexual assault and defamation, and has more legal issues concerning the IRS, and the Trump Organisation, among others.

So the two questions on many people’s minds are, yes, bananas do grow upside down, but also, why was a convicted felony and President-elect selected as TIME’s 2024 Person of the Year? Sadly, the answer is boring and nuanced, because, and say it with me, TIME’s Person of the Year is not what you think it is.

Let’s go back a few steps to 1927, when TIME, the American news magazine, first introduced the award of Person of the Year to Charles Lindbergh.¹ Now you would think gracing the cover of TIME for the Person of the Year, would be a great honour, worthy of the amazing contributions you have made to humanity for the past year.

Again, you could imagine that it was because you had developed a vaccine, brokered a peace treaty and ended a war, discovered a new early human species, won the World Cup, was the star of a $2 billion blockbuster, or won an election. If you thought this, you would be wrong, oh so wrong.

According to TIME editors, to be awarded Person of the Year, you need to fit this criteria:

“Featuring a person, group, idea, or object that “for better or for worse … has done the most to influence the events of the year.”

I’m going to let that sink in for you. Influence the events of the year. Not curing children’s diseases; not clearing mines from a warzone; not freeing sex slaves; not persecuting racists, like the Ku Klux Klan, or Neo-Nazis; not developing carbon capture devices; or not fighting for human and animal rights; but influence the events of the year.

After reading that, and for better or for worse, tell me that person(s) is not Donald Trump. Did I want it to be him? Of course not, because both my grandfathers would return from the grave to beat some sense into me if I did.

However, this is the reason Donald Trump was awarded the title; not because he’s a good, honest, positive, decent, law-abiding and amazing person, but because he has dominated the news cycle in 2024. He really has. Even here in New Zealand, we have read and watched his shenanigans this year, whether they were election-based or legal-based.

To highlight the selection, I give you two quotes from TIME”s website on the announcement, to better explain the choice from their point of view:

“For 97 years, the editors of TIME have been picking the Person of the Year: the individual who, for better or for worse, did the most to shape the world and the headlines over the past 12 months. In many years, that choice is a difficult one. In 2024, it was not.”

“Today, we are witnessing a resurgence of populism, a widening mistrust in the institutions that defined the last century, and an eroding faith that liberal values will lead to better lives for most people. Trump is both agent and beneficiary of it all. For marshaling a comeback of historic proportions, for driving a once-in-a-generation political realignment, for reshaping the American presidency and altering America’s role in the world, Donald Trump is TIME’s 2024 Person of the Year.”

Nobody on the planet had dominated and influenced the news cycle in 2024 more than Donald Trump. Even Palestine was drowned out by the MAGA Emperor. Using TIME’s definition of “Featuring a person, group, idea, or object that “for better or for worse … has done the most to influence the events of the year”, Donald Trump is the clear winner.

I know this decision has upset people, but I want to leave you with two things; one negative and one positive. If you’re angry about the choice, don’t blame Trump. He’s a 78-year-old narcissist, who doesn’t have the need, desire, or ability to change.

Don’t blame TIME, by trash-talking or boycotting them. It’s their rules and they are just following them.

If you want someone to blame for Trump winning this award, blame yourself. Blame your parents, children, spouse, siblings, neighbours, and politicians. Blame teachers, lawyers, journalists, reporters, scientists, librarians, talk show hosts, activists, social influencers, podcasters, singers, actors, and world leaders, for this mess.

You could blame everybody and anybody you’ve ever talked to in the last 10 years. Hell, you can even blame me. The reason is that all of these people, regardless of their political philosophy and beliefs, or mine, all have something in common: whether it’s positive or negative, we all talk about Trump.

Any attention that man gets is good attention, because it means people are talking about him, and that’s what he wants. And we have all given it to him, which is why he has dominated the news cycle.

By ignoring his crazy rants and lies, along with his illegal dealings, we are condoning his behaviour; therefore, we are enabling him. By calling out his crazy rants and lies, along with his illegal dealings, he can play the “I’m a billionaire victim because the false news and the deep state are out to get me” card; therefore, we are enabling him.

He’s like a male succubus, but instead of feeding and living off sexual energy and activity, he thrives on communication. The more people discuss him, the stronger he becomes. His ego feeds off the attention. But hey, what do I know? Even writing this stupid post will probably mean Trump will reach Super Saiyan God status now.

As for the positive part, just remember that even though Trump won this award, he joins some other previous top-quality winners of the award like Chiang Kai-shek and Soong Mei-ling (1937), Adolf Hitler (1938), Joseph Stalin (1939 and 1942), Richard Nixon (1971 and 1972), Henry Kissinger (1972), Ruhollah Khomeini (1979), Jeff Bezos (1999), Vladimir Putin (2007), and Mark Zuckerberg (2010).

Trump and the rest of the League of Losers can’t hold a candle to recent winners like The Ebola Fighters (2014), Angela Merkel (2015), The Silence Breakers (2017), and Greta Thunberg (2019); along with my favourites, The Protester (2011), The Guardians (2018), and Volodymyr Zelensky and The Spirit of Ukraine (2022).

And with that, I’m going to shut my mouth and go to bed. We are well into Summer here, which I’ll discuss somewhat next week. Thanks again for reading, following, and subscribing to Some Geek Told Me. Please remember to walk your dog, read a banned book, keep watching Syria and Palestine, and I’ll see you next week. Christmas is coming!

¹The award was actually first named Man of the Year, but eventually, equality caught up.

We Didn’t Start the Fire: 1955

On December 9, 2024 By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn History, Music, People, Politics

And here we go again! One of my infamous bad ideas is still continuing to pay dividends, with the 7th entry detailing the historical references in We Didn’t Start the Fire by Billy Joel. Yes, I know the song is 35 years old, and other people have already done this before, but they haven’t done it this badly.

For the uninitiated, here are the previous entries:

Because you’re clever and eat carrots, you will realise we are up to the glorious year of 1955. And just like last time, strap yourself in because I’m going to be firing some facts at you! Good luck!

Credit: Collinson & Cunninghame Ltd: Publisher

1955

Albert Einstein

Arguably, the most famous scientist of the 20th century, if not for the last 3,000 years, was Albert Einstein. Born in 1879, Einstein was a theoretical physicist who researched and published work on the photoelectric effect, Brownian motion and the Einstein relation, special relativity, the principle of mass-energy equivalence (E=mc2), statistical mechanics, and many more outstanding contributions to science.

I would be as mad as a guest at one of the Mad Hatter’s tea parties if I didn’t mention his work on general relativity, which changed the world. Einstein’s theory of general relativity was once described as, “…the highest intellectual achievement in the history of humanity.” In my poor opinion, I believe it’s an accurate statement.

Einstein died on 18th April 1955, at Princeton, New Jersey, USA. In scientific and academic circles, Einstein was a rock-star scientist, and he crossed over to become a pop culture icon. For the death of a modern famous scientist, I’m going to offer the late great British theoretical physicist and cosmologist, Stephen Hawking, who died in 2018.

Albert Einstein (1879-1955) at home in Princeton. 1944. Credit: Unknown

James Dean

1955 was a difficult year for science lovers and movie fans because just five months after Einstein died, James Dean died on 30th September 1955, aged only 24 years old.

Dean was a Hollywood heartthrob, who had a bad boy image. He became a professional actor in 1951, and his acting experience covered theatre, television, and film. In saying that, the two films, East of Eden and Rebel Without a Cause, helped to boost his rising star into the stratosphere, both being released in 1955.

Dean was driving his new Porsche 550 Spyder on U.S. Route 466, when he crashed at the junction of SR 46 and SR 41 near Cholame, California. His passenger, Rolf Wütherich, survived and sustained multiple injuries, but Dean was killed instantaneously.

A contemporary example would be the actor, Paul Walker, who died in a car accident on 30th November 2013.

James Dean in the 1955 film “Rebel Without a Cause.” Credit…John Kobal Foundation/Hulton Archive, via Getty Images

Brooklyn’s got a winning team

We’re going to break free of celebrities dying and focus on a sports team. A baseball team to be precise. In the 1950s, the Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team operating out of, you guessed it, Brooklyn, in New York City.

They were in the National League, where they had won the pennant 10 times previously. However, 1955 was a big year for the Dodgers, because they won the National League again, but this time over the Milwaukee Braves. In the World Series, they met the New York Yankees, which was the fifth time in nine years that the Dodgers and the Yankees met in that format.

The 1955 World Series was special for the Dodgers, since they defeated their rivals 4-3, winning the trophy for the first time. If you remember Roy Campanella from the 1953 post, you’ll also remember that Campanella played for the Brooklyn Dodgers.

In 1957, the New York Giants and the Brooklyn Dodgers moved to California, becoming the San Francisco Giants and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

I’ve said this before, but baseball is not in my wheelhouse of expertise, so I’ll leave it up to a baseball fan to give us a modern equivalent for the 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers, because I have no idea. However, I do know that the Los Angeles Dodgers won the 2024 World Series, beating the New York Yankees again, 4-1.

The team photo of the 1955 World Champion Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field. The Dodgers won their first World Championship in Brooklyn. Credit: walteromalley.com

Davy Crockett

This is an odd one, but I’m sure we’ll bumble our way through it. The great Davy (David) Crockett was a folk hero in American culture, being a politician, militia officer and frontiersman, from 1786-1836. He became famous for his hunting, coonskin cap, politics, military service, and his death, at the Battle of the Alamo.

In 1954, a television mini-series named Davy Crockett was released, and it became extremely popular as Davy Crockett-mania swept the United States, with Davy Crockett merchandise exploding everywhere. The show had five episodes, with Fess Parker starring as the “King of the Wild Frontier.”

In 1955, Walt Disney Productions edited and recut the original first three episodes into a theatrical film named Davy Crockett: King of the Wild Frontier. The film made $2.15 million at the box office, which would be $25.3 million today, adjusted for inflation.

In contemporary times, turning a television programme into a movie, via means of a reboot, is commonplace now. Just look at 21 Jump Street, Alvin and the Chipmunks, Baywatch, Charlie’s Angels, and so many more.

But even though Hollywood of 2024 can be guilty of rehashing and rebooting movies, as well as pumping out sequels, editing episodes of a television show and repackaging them as a theatrical film, is a line that Hollywood of 2024 would not cross. Maybe.

This is a poster for *Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier*. Credit: Walt Disney Studios

Peter Pan

The character of Peter Pan, the leader of the Lost Boys, and eternal foe of Captain Hook, has been translated into many mediums over the years, such as plays, literature, animated and live-action films, and television programmes, since his creation in 1902.

On 7th March 1955, NBC Television did something quite radical. The Peter Pan Broadway Show was ending soon, so the studio decided to broadcast a television adaption of Peter Pan, using the original Broadway cast.

What makes this production so special, was that it was broadcast live and in colour. It amassed 65 million viewers, even though colour television sets were still developing in popularity. It was such a success, that NBC did it again in 1956 for a second live broadcast.

Comparing this reference to a modern one is difficult because live colour broadcasts are the standard for television viewing in 2024, however the ability to stream your favourite television programmes via devices like tablets, computers, or phones, has changed the way people interact with the world, but also how we consume our entertainment, for good or for ill.

Mary Martin, Kathleen Nolan, Joseph Richard Stafford, and Robert Harrington in Peter Pan (1955) Credit NBC Studios

Elvis Presley

It’s taken us until 1955, but we are ready to talk about the King of Rock and Roll, Elvis Presley. Like James Dean, Presley’s star power was developing, so on either 20th or 21st November 1955, aged only 20 years old, Presley signed a record contract with RCA Records. Although he was legally a minor, technically, his father signed the contract.

His previous contract with Sun Records was purchased for $40,000, which was audacious for the time. During this period, Presley also signed a contract to create two new music businesses to showcase his musical talents and to expand his growing stardom.

I’m not down with the kids today, but some contemporary equivalents would be Justin Bieber, Adele, or Rihanna.

Elvis signs his first contract with RCA Records. Credit: Graceland

Disneyland

Disneyland opened on 17th July 1955, in Anaheim, California, USA. It was the first theme park created by the Walt Disney Company and the only one that Walt Disney personally designed and constructed.

It took only a year to build for $17 million, which adjusted for inflation, works out to be around $153 million. 28,000 people attended the opening, but things didn’t go exactly to plan, with several mistakes happening, which drew negative attention and press.

Walt Disney went on to refer to the opening day as Black Sunday. In 2024, there are six Disney theme parks located in California, Florida, (United States) Hong Kong, Tokyo (Japan), Paris (France), and Shanghai (China).

An aerial view shows Disneyland as guests attend opening-day festivities in Anaheim, California, on July 17, 1955. Credit: Associated Press.

So for 1955, we covered the deaths of a theoretical physicist and an actor, a baseball team, a movie, a television broadcast, a music contract, and a theme park. This took longer than I had anticipated, so 1956 isn’t going to be any easier. Cool.

And that’s it for another week. Thanks again for reading, following, and subscribing to Some Geek Told Me. I’m still haunting Twitter and Mastodon, so please drop by for some useless daily information.

Before I go, keep your eyes on Syria, because after ruling and brutalising the country for 24 years, Bashar al-Assad has been overthrown and fled to Russia. Having survived 13 years of civil war, will Syria be able to keep moving forward with progress, justice, and democracy, or will Assad’s absence cause more conflict? I have no idea, but I hope it’s the former and not the latter.

Please remember to walk your dog, read a banned book, go and tell a Nazi to fuck off, and I’ll see you next week. Christmas is coming!

Food and Prejudice: Volume 2

On December 2, 2024December 3, 2024 By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn Uncategorized

After smelling something disgusting at a market the other day, it reminded me of two things; vomiting and writing a new Food and Prejudice blog post. Because the original blog post was such a success, let’s pull a Terminator 2: Judgment Day, and be better than the original.

For any unfortunate culinary fans that missed the first entry on this journey of truth, you can find it here, where I explained my disdain for Sour Cream and Chives, Corn, and Beetroot. I feel I need to clean my fingers because I just typed their names.

To give our fellow homo sapiens some context for this thoroughly thought-out project, the idea is this:

I enjoy eating food, mainly because it helps me to live, but also because of the fantastic tastes and flavours. However, as you can imagine, I don’t love everything. There are some foods that I dislike so much, that I’m prejudiced against them.

I would also like to mention that if you like and enjoy any of the entries on the lists, please don’t get upset too much, because you’re a better person than me, since you can actually eat those foods. Ok? One small thing to add is that the word “food” in the context of these blog posts, also covers drinks. Awesome.

Without further time wasting, because as we all know, The Honourable Simeon Brown MP does not like time wasting, or going slow, so let’s crack on with Food and Prejudice: Volume 2!

Asparagus

Where do I start on this hybrid of woe? Asparagus is not as dangerous as Corn, but that’s like comparing an orca to a wolf. One is more dangerous than the other, but they are both predators and out to get you; just like Corn and asparagus.¹

On paper, asparagus has a lot going for it, but in what I like to call reality, it doesn’t. It really doesn’t. This limp and flaccid spring vegetable, which is what people call asparagus and eat, are the young shoots of the plant.

Its texture is slimy like a mutated worm with an algae addiction, the smell is like pure petrol, and its taste is like the offspring of a leprosy-afflicted cockroach and a depressed bamboo.

An interesting fact about asparagus is that if the shoots are allowed to develop and grow, it can produce fruit in the form of red berries, which to nobody’s surprise, can be toxic to humans. Yet another reason to fester ill thoughts about this terrible vegetable.

I hate asparagus.

Pears

This is an odd entry because I love fruit, so I should enjoy eating pears. I’m emphasising on the word should, since I really want to like pears. I just can’t. I feel disappointed in myself over this, however, this pity party for one ends, when I remember that pears are deceptive.

They look like an apple that has been on one too many rides around a particle accelerator, hence the shape. I can overlook this since it’s not the pear’s fault it looks like that. The problem is that my support for pears fades when it comes to the taste.

Even though the pear looks like a misshaped apple, it tastes nothing like an apple; unless there is a new variety of apple that tastes like sawdust and sand. It’s so gritty, seriously, it’s gross. Like I said earlier, I really want to like pears, but my body is allergic to foods that make me want to clean my tongue after eating them.

I hate pears.

Ginger Beer

Like myself, and every other member of the human race, we all make mistakes and have faults.² My wife is no exception to this rule, because not only does she love Corn, she also enjoys ginger beer. Yes, yes, I know nobody is perfect, but I was devastated to learn that ginger beer was one of her favourite beverages.

I try to be a supportive and loving husband by sometimes purchasing ginger beer for her. I never think it through though, because if she wants to drink it, the bottle/can will need to be opened, and frankly, when that happens, that’s it for me.

Ginger beer tastes of regret and guilt, mixed with disappointment, stress, and failure; however, it pales in comparison to the smell of ginger beer. Once I can smell that awful odour from my wife’s open bottle or can, I have to fight the instinct to start twisting and distorting my body in discomfort.

My mind is screaming at me, “Even though you love that woman, you need to get away from her and that smell. Run, don’t walk. Run as fast as you can and get away from that smell, because if you don’t, she’ll offer you a taste of that ginger-flavoured septic discharge, and the words that fall out of your mouth will result in a divorce. Run!”

I hate ginger beer.

Do you agree with any of my food prejudices? What are yours? As always, please let me know.

We are officially in December now, so the Christmas chaos can officially start. Are you ready for it? I’m not, but what’s new?

So that’s it for another week. Thanks for reading, following, and subscribing to Some Geek Told Me. Please remember to walk your dog, read a banned book, go and lose a board game to a child, and I’ll see you next week because we’re going back to 1955. See you there.

¹I spell Corn with a upper case C, because Corn is dangerous and deserves your respect. When you’re not paying attention, Corn will get you, because Corn is always stalking you.

²This of course does not include Chuck Norris, since he is the exception to the rule. I mean, why would he not be?

SOME GEEK TOLD ME

Author: somegeektoldme@gmail.com