Tag: WIlliam Shatner

YouTube, I Tube, We all Scream for YouTube

If you have watched YouTube lately you will learn everything you never wanted to know.

So many podcasts, short and determined to teach and inform us about topics we didn’t even know we didn’t want to know? YouTube validates what we need validated. It provides programs that help us escape, and teach us how to well, do pretty much anything. It provides entertainment in all forms. Want to rewatch Elvis on Ed Sullivan. Just type it in. Want to see an old favorite movie. It’s there. Want to turn a sponge into a glitzy wristwatch, someone will show you how. How to make a chocolate brownie with no sugar, no flour, no taste? There is talk, arguing, theories and the exact time the world will end and how. Just check, it’s all there. 

Despite the abundance of chatter, people seem to talk a whole lot without saying anything. The important issues in the world are never discussed while the most inane and nonsensical repeats at warp speed. And YouTube seems to capture it all in an unstoppable flow of what-the-hell-did-he-say? moments.

For example, and you knew I had a few, eleven government scientists connected to high clearance projects have disappeared since 2022. Have you heard much about it? Nope, me neither. Just that the government was initiating a probe to check it out.

A probe like the Kennedy Warren Commission, laugh laugh, that found, what the hell did they find anyway?

Yet the most foolish and inconsequential crap is all over YouTube, addictive and available 24/7.

Every time Meghan Markle defecates someone is reporting on who she dropped it on. Twenty-five experts on podcasts are debating whether Prince Harry can actually walk and chew gum at the same time. The consensus is he can’t. YouTube pundits have even coined a phrase about his wife. Now anyone who deals with her and gets screwed over, and it sounds like that’s everyone, is now referred to as having been “markled.” Oh, how does Webster’s Dictionary keep up?

Yet, the fact important, normal people are claiming to have evidence we are being visited by little green men gets no coverage at all on the nightly news.

And oh yes, many will say, “Well it’s not true. There’s nothing to discuss cause little green men don’t exist and they aren’t running around eating Reese’s pieces. People who think that are nuts.”

Really? Have you seen some of the people walking around lately? And eating Reese’s Pieces?

I must see ten people a week I swear have absolutely no relation to anything even semi human. And I live in LA, so sure, there’s lots more of them here. Many days I walk around here muttering, “Beam Me Up Scotty.”

So what’s my theory about why we seem to shy away from the really big scary stuff, and focus on silliness and trivia?

I imagine it’s the same reason Israel is now being blamed for William Shatner’s toupee. Crazy is easy, truth is hard.

Should one speak up more? I often heard that as you get older you are less inclined to keep your thoughts silent. With age comes the ability and guts to speak your mind and damn if anyone doesn’t like it. You’ve earned the right to honesty, to speak out, to stop caring about what others think.

But will you?

Can someone who has spent their life in fear of offending others suddenly wake up one morning, look in the mirror and say, “Okay, today I am going to say anything I want about everything and I couldn’t care less whom I hurt?”

I have trouble believing that.

This open mouth theory is simply wishful thinking on the part of those who want to, but probably never will. Being a truth teller takes real guts and there is no glory.

We shy away from truth because as Jack Nicolson said, “you can’t handle the truth.” He was right. It seems so much easier to simply hide beneath a mountain of stupidity and craziness and ignore reality. A reality that is so frightening and out of anyone’s belief system, we refuse to see or speak it into existence.

I believe human beings have limits on how much horrible they can endure. We are only equipped to accept so much bad into our psyche before we overload and begin caring about stupid stuff.

We seek content that somehow creates an illusion that all is right, life is good and bad people don’t really exist. Is it real or AI? Who cares anymore as long as it distracts us from the craziness. If a dog can dance and sing Putting on the Ritz in a tux and top hat diverts my attention for a few moments, I say dance, doggy dance.

YouTube allows us to believe the things we are actually witnessing with our own eyes aren’t really happening. And, if we focus on silliness the evil will disappear.

Podcasts distract us and allow us to accomplish this end. We escape into a nether world where life is as we knew it once. Where it made sense and good was good, and evil was bad and we could discern between the two.

When we all agreed on what was right or wrong and young people actually knew that being stupid, clueless and oblivious are bad things.

Blaming those you dislike for all the wrongs in the world won’t change the fact everything is upside down and sideways. That we live in a seriously unbalanced world, too frightening to even open our eyes and perceive.

So we turn on YouTube and watch, and watch, and scroll and watch some more. The cat and dog videos cooking alone are worth the price of admission. It’s a diversion we desperately need to keep us sane and protected from the insanity surrounding us.

I’d love to chat more but I have to go. Joe Rogan is interviewing a cat chef that can debone a chicken blindfolded.

Beam Me Up, Scotty

So as I was watching an old Star Trek the other night for I can’t even fathom how many times, it occurred to me there must be a reason. There are certainly no surprises there.

Shatner is pompous, conceited and overacts without any competition, then or now. And we loved him for every minute.

Spock is as usual calm, logical and an earful.

All the characters are so familiar, Bones, Uhura, Scotty, Sulu, plus the anonymous crewman who won’t live through the episode.

Why does the Star Trek franchise, especially originals like The Trouble with Tribbles or The City on the Edge of Tomorrow continue to fascinate and hold the attention of fans?

Simple answer; beats me.

More complicated answer, better than watching the news.

Or is it that we are amazed that what we once thought of as science fiction is now our new reality?

Is our escape into the past just a way to avoid the anguish of today’s world?

Or is it more? Is it the fact we are surprised at how fantasy has now become real, and how frightening that prospect may be?

Is there really such a genre as science fiction any longer?

It should be obvious to all who watched in awe as the Enterprise soared through space that science fiction is no longer fiction.

So If that is true, how frightening is a future filled with Dystopian and Star Wars battles?

If we are incapable of getting along with one another on Earth, how will we unite enough to overcome enemies from outer space?

Sure, many doubt there is life anywhere but here, and to those egocentric humans I ask the question; seriously are you so special that in all eternity and endless space earth is the only planet to have life?

Okay, now that we’ve dealt with the egos let’s get real?

Is the fact we are so at war with each other a deterrent to success against otherworldly enemies?

And is the fact that mankind, despite Darwin’s’ theories on evolution, actually devolving?

There is certainly a strong case to be made for that point of view. Hello, Congress, People!

Yet if and when the day comes when the millions of earthlings who have been ridiculed and mocked for their belief that we are not alone are proven right; does man have the ability to join forces to battle such formidable foes?

Are we capable of putting aside our ideologies and pettiness for even a moment to agree on how to combat such horrific threats?

Who would lead? Who would make decisions?  Who would fight? Whom would deliver daily Le Cirque meals to the hypocritical despots at the United Nations?

These are questions that would have to be answered, and I’m just thinking we may have a problem, Houston.

Science fiction which once told tales of man landing on the moon, 1967 check; reaching Mars 1976, check; robots, check, AI, check, time travel, working on it right now in Switzerland, check, check, check.

We did it all despite the fact when Jules Verne, HG Wells and Ray Bradbury were spinning tales of futuristic adventures, readers shook their heads in disbelief and called it all fantasy.

Sadly, I’m afraid I must point out the obvious here. Yes, indeed mankind has achieved a mastery over technology once only dreamed about.

Yet man himself has forged a path backward through time to become once again a primitive and warrior creature incapable of reason or a sense of ethics.

The “cave-man-take” mentality where everything was fair for the grabbing has returned to earth. Now, far too many see death and destruction as a means to an end.

Oh boy, would old Machiavelli be happy about how man has digressed into his old primal self once more.

So what is to be the ultimate conclusion here?

How can a life form with a caveman mentality handle the weight and gravitas of a high-tech existence?

Guess we can’t. Then what in the end will it take to force humans to jump start evolution once more?

To leave behind iniquity and its constant defense as a justified means to commit evil? To accept their better angels instead of their most primitive barbaric selves? To use what they have invented for good?

Can it be done? Sadly, probably not without something so horrific and mind shattering that man will be forced to face his inner demons and drive them out. Then and only then will earth ever see peace. Can our children and grandchildren ever have hope for a better future. Will we once again begin the trek toward progress and the light.

So, if you think science fiction still exists, I invite you to look around and see how little science is now fiction, but sadly how much mankind has lost in the process?

I pray there is still hope we can Live Long and Prosper! Kirk Out!

Staying Relevant Isn’t Irrelevant Anymore

Staying Relevant Isn’t Irrelevant Anymore

Okay, so I had always believed as you age you gain wisdom. You get smarter and more savvy about the human condition and even stop making silly mistakes.

I am now extremely puzzled because it seems all those conclusions I had previously drawn, were sadly incorrect.

I now find myself in a constant state of puzzlement and confusion.

It turns out I’m not as smart as I’d hoped to become, and now instead I’m more befuddled than ever.

So many things I never thought I’d have to deal with and yet here they are. Mostly, how to stay relevant? I mean as we age it seems our lives change in extraordinary ways.

One day we’re speaking English to our grandchildren and the next they are speaking in tongues. Using words I can’t comprehend and the ones I do sort of recognize have taken on new meanings.

I guess it’s now a compliment among kids to say “you ate.” To them it means you did great or you blew it up. Another concept I always deemed rather negative. Blowing up something didn’t that used to mean buildings or something? And that’s good?

Also, if memory serves me saying, “you ate” would usually imply “wow you are looking bloated. I see you ate.”

Get my drift? Nothing positive there.

But now I’m supposed to be flattered when someone says I “ate.” It’s definitely a strange new world.

They say learning a new language is good for the brain at our age. Maybe learning teen speak will turn out to be a positive after all.

So besides understanding what your grandchildren are talking about how else can we stay relevant.

I have recently learned to play chess with my grandsons. Not too easy when you are trying to fight off a Queen with a King with arthritis and your brain screaming, “Hey take it easy I’m not as sharp as I used to be!”

Where I once watched cooking segments on You Tube my grandsons and I now watch a group of guys doing difficult sports shots and contests called Dude Perfect. They are super funny, but I never expected to be watching guys who throw balls out of an airplane trying to land on some target.

There is also someone called Mr. Beast on You Tube. I hear he’s richer than Rockefeller from blowing up Ferraris. Okay, I don’t get that one at all.

Trying to fight back I coerced my grandson into watching golf with me. I felt I had won one for the Gipper.

Of course I know that language and phrases change with each generation, but I don’t remember having to provide a translation book for my grandparents. From what I recall we pretty much spoke the same language and they were from Europe!

Or perhaps they didn’t understand what I was saying, but were hard of hearing so it didn’t matter anyway. Whatever the reason it just seems trying to stay part of the world today is a difficult task. Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok, streaming channels? Who am I, Tesla?

I adamantly believe it is social changes that do make it somewhat easier to remain relevant today.

After all, few women worked outside the home. Ultimately, they went from housewife to grandmother to caregiver.

Now many women stay productive and active well into their seventies and eighties, some even nineties.

Men still play golf and play with their grandchildren. Although many now have found pickleball to be a viable alternative or addition to their activities.

Grandmas, if they are blessed with good health teach cooking classes. And believe it or not many men have discovered the fun of culinary endeavors. Seniors join wine clubs and even travel to Europe on wine excursions. All I ever knew about wine was it was sweet and syrupy and we had it on Friday nights and holidays.

My mother hit the beauty parlor once a week for her manicure and hairdo and drove to my house daily to ensure I was taking proper care of her grandchildren.

That was pretty much her schedule until she rediscovered Maj Jong.

My father went to my brother’s business every day, and tried to understand and comprehend the complexities of the new world and heights to which my brother had lifted his former business. Not always easy for the two of them as they were speaking a different language as well.

Yet my father tried to be a valuable sounding board and help my brother any way he could.

This was his way of staying relevant.

For me it’s always been super important to be busy and discovering new adventures and challenges.

One of the most difficult acknowledgements in this process is accepting the fact that you may now be faced with certain limitations. If not mental than certainly physical.

Despite some who age amazingly well, many others face limitations. They are faced with the inescapable fact that they will never be able to run a marathon, walk for miles, even stay up past midnight without a nap.

The spirit as they say may be quite willing, but the body can fight you like you’re going ten rounds with Tyson.

I envy my friends who play pickleball or have the stamina to play eighteen holes of golf. Even those able to stand in the kitchen all day prepping and cooking without the help of Motrin.

So, I choose to engage in less physical activities.

I have now embraced TikTok, and with the help and support of my grandsons have secured over 101,000 followers playing something called Roblox, which is pretty much an online XBox or Atari.

Yes, I am a nerd and now I wear it proudly. On Roblox and Tik Tok I am exploring new frontiers and spending more quality time with my boys.

I’d love to be like Iris Apfel who died at 102 as an active and reigning fashion icon. Or William Shatner still actively seeking new worlds.

I really believe everyone has to define their own way to stay relevant. Still, I’m certain if one searches, they will find some fun and unexpected new adventures await them, whatever their age.