My favourite ERB videos

On March 6, 2023March 13, 2023 By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn History, People, Social Media

I want to talk about Epic Rap Battles of History again. Why? A few weeks ago; though in the life of a parent, it was a couple of decades, I wrote a blog about Epic Rap Battles of History or ERB. Because of this shoddy piece of literature, I thought I’d follow it up with another.

If you haven’t read the previous blog about ERB, it mainly centres on what’s it all about, why I like them and discusses some rap battles involving people I had never heard of.

That being the case, and just like fireproof matches, I thought it could be a good idea to discuss my favourite rap battles from the different seasons of the show. I thought about having a top 10 list of my favourite rap battles, but what would the criteria be? The number of insults? The number of references that I understood? Or maybe the best soundtrack? Though to be honest, I would probably just break the criteria, even though I made them.

So in the interest of keeping things simple, like Trigger from Only Fools and Horses, I decided to list my favourite ERB videos per season, but only one winner per season. Along with naming the runners up, of course.

Like I said, this is an easy one for us, so let’s do it.

Season 1

Albert Einstein vs. Stephen Hawking

There are some gems from the first season, like Napoleon vs. Napoleon, Justin Bieber vs. Beethoven, and Dr. Seuss vs. Shakespeare, but the winner is Albert Einstein vs. Stephen Hawking. The rap battle has some brutal lyrics, but Hawking’s burn about the observable particles in the universe, is so good, I can’t stop singing and smiling at it. This rap battle is cruel, but funny as hell; even if you don’t know the references.

Season 2

Cleopatra vs Marilyn Monroe

Season 2 had some runners up like Season 1. These include Mozart vs. Skrillex, Batman vs. Sherlock Holmes, and Nikola Tesla vs. Thomas Edison. However even though my favourite rap battle is only 1.46 minutes long, it’s a knockout. From the opening bars, Cleopatra vs Marilyn Monroe is another brutal encounter, but it’s gets personal. Really personal. In all honesty, I think it could be one of the savage rap battles, because even though the two women are separated by about 1,950 years, they hate each other.

Season 3

Goku vs. Superman

In ERB’s third season, the quality of the rap battles were getter better. Whether it was the writing, acting, singing, costumes or special effects, or all of them, Season 3 was amazing. For me, the runners up were Sir Isaac Newton vs. Bill Nye, Bob Ross vs. Pablo Picasso, and Michael Jordan vs. Muhammad Ali. As for the winner, it was Goku vs. Superman. The lyrics were funny, the costumes were great, and the track was scarily catchy. But who won? Goku or Superman? The answer was the viewer.

Season 4

Zeus vs. Thor

This season was very close, for various reasons. The runners up were Romeo and Juliet vs. Bonnie and Clyde, Eastern Philosophers vs. Western Philosophers, and Steven Spielberg vs. Alfred Hitchcock. You’ll notice a collaborative theme with those rap battles. A special mention goes to the Jim Henson vs. Stan Lee battle, because; at least to me, it made sense that the two of them would stop fighting.

But speaking of fighting, the winner is Zeus vs. Thor. It was a genius idea to have the rap battle as Lego animation. It was outstanding, but so was the track and the lyrics. Zeus and Thor were both getting burnt for our entertainment and it was glorious.

Season 5

J. R. R. Tolkien vs. George R. R. Martin

For me, Season 5 was absolutely deadly, because just like the other seasons, the quality of the series was increasing. The runner ups for this season were Gordon Ramsay vs. Julia Child, Frederick Douglass vs. Thomas Jefferson, and Alexander the Great vs. Ivan the Terrible. They were awesome, but there was only one to rule them all: J. R. R. Tolkien vs. George R. R. Martin.

The make up for Peter and Lloyd was excellent, along with the soundtrack. Every time I hear the lyrics about the Tolkien’s tree branch and C.S Lewis, I can’t stop smiling, because they’re hilarious. I think they have three verses each; just like Zeus and Thor, which makes it more of an argument. I love it.

Season 6

Guy Fawkes vs. Che Guevara

This was extremely close, because the rap battles were mean, just mean. The runners up were Harry Potter vs. Luke Skywalker, Thanos vs. J. Robert Oppenheimer, and Mother Teresa vs. Sigmund Freud. A special mention goes to Ronald McDonald vs. The Burger King, because it was vicious and the funniest of the season.

However, the winner is Guy Fawkes vs. Che Guevara. I loved the rap battle, because it was packed full of historic and cultural references, as well as the special effects and costumes were superb. I’m a student of history, so this was, well, epic.

Season 7

John Wick vs. John Rambo vs. John McClane

Currently there are only four rap battles in this season so far, but I have to go for John Wick vs. John Rambo vs. John McClane. Jokes about dogs, Vietnam and marriages, along with the background and costumes, make this quite memorable. I’ve seen all of their films, and the ERB crew did a cracking job at bringing them to life.

Are you a fan of ERB? Do you agree with my choices? What are your favourite rap battles? Please let me know.

Alright, that’s another blog finished and my reward is to watch Last Week Tonight, and to think about next week’s blog. I’m sure something lame will come to me.

Thanks for reading, go walk your dog, watch a banned movie and I’ll see you next week.

Epic Rap Battles of History and the people I had never heard of

On January 23, 2023January 30, 2023 By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn History, People, Social Media

I want to talk about Epic Rap Battles of History. Why? ERB is one of my favourite YouTube channels for all of the best reasons. History, music, pop culture and burns. A whole lot of burns.

If you don’t know about ERB, don’t worry, I used to be just like you. ERB creates videos that have two or more individuals involved in a rap battle. These individuals are either fictional characters from books, movies, tv shows, video games, and comic books; or real people from history, whether they are living or dead.

The first ERB video I saw was Batman vs. Sherlock Holmes and I loved it. I mentioned it to my girlfriend at the time (later my future wife) and she was dismayed that I had only just discovered it. Because of this, she mentioned some insult about my age that I can’t remember ¹.

The series was created by Nice Peter (Peter Shukoff) and EpicLLOYD (Lloyd Ahlquist) and has evolved from a sketch in an improvised show to legendary status; at least to me. The first rap battle was released on YouTube in 2010 and since then, the channel has had multiple guest actors, performers and writers.

Apart from the fact that the rap battles are as funny as Wile E. Coyote failing, they do actually educate people; especially concerning historic icons. With each new rap battle, my wife and I will sit and watch it together, because you know what they say…the couple that watch rap battles together, um…watch rap battles together.

Anyway, I love picking up subtle references with the lyrics, so I get to polish my geek badge after each rap battle. Well, that is not entirely true. Now I love history. I love learning weird and bizarre things about historic people and events, because it keeps me semi-sane. To prove a point, while my classmates were going to school dances, I was at home reading the oldest set of encyclopedias, humanity had ever seen. Why? Because some geek didn’t tell me about history, so I had to learn about it myself.

Coming back to ERB, there have been some rap battles where I have looked at one of the historic or pop culture figures in the opening credits, and had no idea who they were. This would mean I would have to quickly research the person before the rap battle started, so I had an idea on what to expect.

I’ve decided to list them in order of release and for your entertainment. In my defence, the five people listed are all Americans, and being a non-American myself, means I don’t know everything about America. Yet.

Season 1

Billy Mays vs. Ben Franklin

I had no idea about Billy Mays, I had never heard of him. I understand he was a salesperson on the Home Shopping Network, however I did know about Benjamin Franklin, so that’s a plus! I felt like I should have known about Billy Mays, but I didn’t; I let the team down.

Season 2

Mozart vs. Skrillex

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was easy, but Skrillex?! Skrillex?! Since my musical appreciation ended about 2000-2005, I really didn’t know of any new bands or artists. My future wife at the time; whom is 9.5 years younger than me, was shocked that I didn’t know who he was. Leave me alone, I’m old. I thought Skrillex sounded like an antidepressant, so after researching him and watching the rap battle, I considered myself educated. Not like the Tories.²

Season 3

Bob Ross vs. Pablo Picasso

I knew of Pablo Picasso, but never met him, because….he died before I was born. Yeah, that’s the reason. Anyway, my issue was with Bob Ross. I knew of some artist that taught people to paint happy little trees on television, but I didn’t know that guy was Bob Ross. After matching the name to the face, I now know about cadmium yellow.

Season 5

Gordon Ramsay vs. Julia Child

Now before you get excited, yes, I have heard of Gordon Ramsay. It’s Julia Child, I had never heard of. When the opening credits for the video started, I said, “Who the hell is Julia Child?!” My wife had worked in the food industry, so unknown to me, she was the perfect person to educate me. Upon wondering how I had lived my entire life having never heard of Julia Child, she told me all about her. The rap battle made a lot more sense because of that, even with my beloved ignorance.

Season 5

Frederick Douglass vs. Thomas Jefferson

Out of the five entries on this list, Frederick Douglass is the one I’m the most ashamed of not knowing. As soon as I read the title of the video, I realised we didn’t know a single thing about Frederick Douglass, so my wife and I paused the video and researched him. As I was reading about his life, it reinforced the concept that even though I knew some things about US history, there are equally as many things that I didn’t know. Because of this, it quickly became my favourite rap battle for Season 5.

I love ERB and I will write more about it. Eventually. Do you watch ERB? Has there ever been a rap battle with a person you had never heard of? Please let me know.

Well that’s it for me. I’m still making my way through Star Trek: Discovery. I’m at the halfway point of Season 4, so wish me luck. So thanks for reading, go watch some football, walk your dog, read a banned book and I’ll see you next week.

¹I lied, I remember exactly what she said.

²Sorry, I couldn’t help it.

Happy Two Year Anniversary

On December 5, 2022December 8, 2022 By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn Blogs, Social Media

I know the world is a little crazy at the moment with the World Cup; climate change; interest rates and cost of living rising; Russia forgetting how to read a map; the United Kingdom’s Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, has survived past five weeks; and Twitter is doing what Twitter does best; trolling people.

Having said that, I just wanted to point out that this week, I’m celebrating two years of Some Geek Told Me. In the history of humanity, this achievement is not quite ready to be cemented into the history books, but that’s ok with me.

So looking back over another year, what have I learnt?

I’m still enjoying this, though my pay rate is still pretty bad. I mean after two years, I still haven’t had a pay rise. I’ll have to continue on with my $0.0 hourly rate.
Every time someone leaves a comment, I’m like a kid that has just been told the school has been flooded and I need to stay home.
My wife reading one of my posts, just to remind me that I’m not as funny as I think I am.
I still get halfway through writing a post, then realise that it’s not humorous at all.
I’ve created a list for future blogs, by writing down key words. I just need to remember what the key words mean.
Proofreading and editing my work at 11 pm is still a stupid thing to do, but I’m still doing it.
Various sports this year featuring World Cups, have greatly aged me, along with help from UMC1 and UMC2.
I told my parents about the blog and they wanted to know if I got paid for it. I changed the topic very quickly.
I’ve written about various people in pop culture that have died this year, but I failed to write about all of them.
I should do more reviews about different projects that I like, while trying to sound funny; emphasising on being funny.
I’m not reading enough content of the amazing bloggers out there.
I’m still trying to create some more entertaining science communication posts, but still sounding original.
It’s the Kiwi in me, but I’m still trying to promote the blog, without promoting the blog.

That’s it for today. I know this post was small, but I have another blog post coming out on Thursday. Thanks for reading, go watch the World Cup, walk your dog, read a banned book and I’ll see you on Thursday.

What does living in a Post-COVID society look like?

On October 3, 2022October 10, 2022 By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn Parents, People, Politics, Science, Social Media

I want to talk about living in a society that has moved past COVID-19 and what it looks like. This could have been achieved through the use of magic, time travel, or just good old science. There are many countries that have come out of the other side of COVID-19, while others are still battling and fighting to keep their country afloat.

On 13th September 2022, the New Zealand Government scrapped the COVID-19 Protection Framework (traffic lights system), and on 28th September 2022, the last government vaccine mandates ended for health and disability workers.

It’s only been a few weeks, but what is life like now in Aotearoa New Zealand? Having given COVID-19 a flying kick in the face, along with an atomic elbow, how is our society responding to the lifting of vaccine and mask mandates? How are we progressing on getting back to normality?

My incoherent and insane observations are based on things that I have seen, hear, or read about in the last few weeks, whether it’s local or national. Whether this information is positive, negative, or in the middle…I’ll let you be the judge for that.

So without further ado, I will get straight to the matter. I will not be farting around discussing matters that are not important to the topic. Delaying this message will not help anybody; there will no procrastination here. I want to be direct with my information, so there will be no ambiguity or vagueness. Dithering, prolonging, or dawdling with this content, would be extremely unproductive and inefficient. I will not be dragging my feet, giving the you runaround, or shilly-shallying; there’s no way I would ever do that to you. No way; I would never waste your time…wait, what was I talking about?!

Image by Jeyaratnam Caniceus from Pixabay

How Aotearoa New Zealand is adjusting to Post-COVID life

The Anti-Vaxxers are still proclaiming the pandemic was fake, because a.) they never were infected or b.) they were infected, but they had little to no symptoms.
Children’s illnesses like chicken pox; measles; hand, foot and mouth; and school sores have returned. This is because after two years, the public have forgotten every single lesson COVID-19 taught us.
Some candidates in local regional council elections are promoting their anti-vaxx, anti-mask and climate change denying beliefs; while some are trying to hide these beliefs.
Interest rates, supply chain issues, food and petrol prices are increasing; but house prices, community health measures, and the public’s support of the All Blacks are decreasing.
Since the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the concept of New Zealand becoming a republic, has been an increasing topic of conversation at the water cooler, dinner table, and at the pub.
Wearing a face mask in public has gone from being viewed as idiotic, to heroic, and back to being idiotic again.
Some businesses and companies have removed their plastic barriers, centred on interactions with the public; while others are committed to keeping them, to protect their staff.
Many extroverts across the country are now having a “livin’ la vida loca” lifestyle, while many introverts are remaining home, because they feel unsafe.
Regardless of gender, ages, and codes, some team sports are finding it difficult to field players, because people don’t want to be around other people. However individual sports are booming, especially hiking, surfing, biking, running, swimming, tennis, and golf.
Jehovah’s Witness are back knocking on doors. When I met the two guys at my house, they were so excited to be back talking to the public, that I talked to them for 15 minutes before letting them down.
And this is not even diving into the unemployment, domestic violence, youth suicide, crime, or mental health statistics.

On a brighter note, we are hosting the 2021 Rugby World Cup, from 8th October to 12th November. It features the 12 best women’s rugby teams on the planet…but because of COVID-19, the tournament was delayed a year, and the games are only being played in three stadiums; two in Auckland and one in Whangarei, which are all near the top of the country. It would take me some time to hitchhike there.

I’m not sure what else to say about this; somehow New Zealand is better off, and equally, worse off because of surviving COVID-19. The biggest change for me is the number of conspiracy groups that were on the fringe of society, are now nearly mainstream. It’s the realisation that a family friend is an Anti-Vaxxer, or your barber is an Anti-Masker.

There are some deep lines of division in this odd little country, that I fear will we never really be able reconcile. It’s a hell of a thing to listen to people that you admire and respect, start discussing conspiracy theories about climate change, vaccines, masks, and anything else. Somehow, I think COVID-19 has emboldened them, like taken away their fear of sounding crazy. But that could be another blog for another day.

The new House of the Dragon episode is up, so I need to watch it before I read spoilers. I’m stupid and read too many things I shouldn’t. Thanks for reading my little project, walk your dog, read some banned books and I’ll see you next week.

Happy One Year Anniversary Being On Twitter

On April 25, 2022April 7, 2023 By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn Social Media

I want to talk about Twitter. Why? Last week, I celebrated one year of posting on Twitter. I know, I know, thank you, thank you. Now why did I join Twitter in the first place?

That’s a very boring question, so I’ll give a very boring answer. In my total naivety or hubris, ¹I thought I could attract lots of people from the blog to Twitter, and vice versa. Wow, I have learnt that Twitter is tough. Like a school bully that steals your lunch every day, tough.

So after one year, and over 540 tweets later, what have I discovered about being on Twitter? These are my top 15 discoveries.

WARNING, there are spoilers, so read at your own caution.

1.) It’s very easy to fall into a rabbit hole of toxic waste containing disinformation.

2.) Reading someone else’s tweet thinking, “That was funny, I wish I had thought of it.”

3.) Before you realise it, you’re living in an echo chamber, reading about everything you believe is to be true.

4.) It’s fascinating looking at other people’s positive and negative responses, over the same piece of news.

5.) Someone liking or retweeting a tweet of mine, is strangely quite satisfying.

6.) Gaining a new follower, then losing them, less than 24 hours later, because you’re not what they thought you were.

7.) Playing a game with my wife, by reading out a tweet, and getting her to guess whom the tweet is about, or written by.

8.) It’s very easy to offend someone on Twitter, but I suppose that’s the point?!

9.) I probably spend far too much time writing tweets, when I could be sleeping.

10.) Never leave your Twitter page open, when your children are conscious.

11.) It’s a fine line between gaslighting and being a troll.

12.) Responding to tweets about hate, stupidity, and ignorance with humour, is far better than going into beast mode.

13.) There are some truly creative people in the world.

14.) Sometimes I’ll read a tweet and think, “Damn it, I never thought of it like that.”

15.) I am very grateful for every single person that follows me. That’s so sad!!!

If you are on Twitter and curious, I have the totally unoriginal name of Some Geek Told Me; if you are interested in following. I’m getting used to Twitter, but it’s taken some time to do it!

Anyway, I’m there every day for my 7 am (NZ Time) tweet, because, you know, it keeps me off the streets dealing comics in back alleys. Thanks for reading, and I’ll actually see you in two days, for a rare Wednesday blog post.

¹Please take your pick.