Thursday, January 8, 2015

New Year, New Post—and Old Battles Still Being Fought on Twitter

            Happy New Year, y'all!  It's 2015 and EVERYTHING SUCKS already!  *sniffles*  Sorry, just went through a hard time, and still doing so; I'll explain why when the time is right.  However, I have a few things to express.  First of all, I have a few goals for this year: EDUCATE people about how vaccines do NOT cause Autistic Spectrum Disorders AT ALL(!); explore how humanity is getting worse and worse (especially American society and government); how ghosts MAY exist or how your brain can trick you; celebrating science and positive changes being made in the world, etc!  I'll also continue to review books, movies, television shows, and continue to nerd my pants over certain shows and celebrities.  I plan to lose mass (at least better than I have been last year—it fell apart from lack of momentum!) and become more confident, and I have an even better reason to do so now (the hard time stuff).
            Anyways, I should also add that what happened with the satirical magazine in France is TRAGIC!  ISIS is a group full of assholes and they should be EXTERMINATED!  They retaliated in the wrong manner in response to a cartoon that was published by a SATIRICAL newspaper!  The following tweets express my feelings:


            I am Charlie, and I'm not afraid!  (More will be expressed on my DeviantArt page….)

            Anyways, onwards to this blog entry's topic: Celebrities, Trolling and the Schedule Conflicts of Television!  For the optional theme song, check out the Steve Angello x Jacques Lu Cont remix of Depeche Mode's "Soothe My Soul":


Two Shows I Nerd My Pants Over, One Time Slot (Porno, Anyone?)

            So, yeah, that subheading title is a reference towards that Two Girls, One Cup porno (which should NEVER be watched or googled), but it's in regards to a dilemma I decided to tweet about, tagging Adam Savage of MythBusters on Discovery Channel, and Zak Bagans of Ghost Adventures on the Travel Channel:


            I did not expect to get a response….but I totally DID!!!!  From Adam Savage—SQUEEEEEEEEE!!!!!  His response was almost typical because I expected something along the lines of "MythBusters because we're real."  I did NOT expect the fans' reactions!  My cell phone (Obamaphone, free unlimited text messaging, I get mentions, direct messages, favorites and retweets directly on my phone through text message…) started blowing up with responses!  A ton are funny, but a lot were REALLY uncalled for!  I can't just embed them ALL into my blog post at once because that's a LOT of tweets to embed and it makes the blog post here TOO DAMN LONG!!!!  So, I've decided to Storify it…..

            Those last few tweets bashing on Adam is just really dickish!  Since when is it okay to tweet to an influential someone to say, "FUCK YOU!  I'm never watching your show again!  Your an asshole!  Suck a dick and go die from a demon attack at Bobby Mackey's!"  (For your information, I would NEVER endorse the last one!  Bobby Mackey's, if you're unfamiliar with their reputation beyond being a country club already, is really infested with demons!  These dickhead demonic entities are really nasty to the point where if you ever mention Zak Bagans' name inside that place, you get attacked!  It's really insanely bad energy inside there, and to suggest to a skeptic to go in there, mouth running off with insults and saying Zak's name over and over is irresponsible, mean, dickheaded, immoral, and all out WRONG!  Especially if they did not have any experience with a demonic entity scratching you, insulting you, trying to possess you, oppression and attachment, etc.  It's a real danger—which is why I vehemently CONDEMN such a response!)

            Has anyone ever heard  of Wheaton's Law?  Anyone?  If you're that good of a nerd, you'll already know it by heart, but I'll share it here as a refresher:
DON'T BE A DICK!!!!!!
It was first stated by Wil Wheaton (friendly co-performer at W00tstock to Adam Savage) to his team at PAX one year, and before long, it was being quoted in forums and on websites and it earned the name "Wheaton's Law," and it's a REALLY GOOD LAW TO HAVE!  In fact, when I was in Nerf Club at college, when we first drafted up the rules, Wheaton's Law was Rule #1; Rule #2 was "Always follow Rule #1!"

            So, when one is a fan of Ghost Adventures and MythBusters and reads Adam's tweet, they're obviously going to take it a bit too personally, assuming that it's negating their beliefs in an afterlife.  Granted, Adam is a definite skeptic, and he doesn't believe in ghosts and demons and what-not, but to raise a stink over a single tweet?!  That's immature and ridiculous!  I'm sure that Adam did NOT mean it like that at all (then again, he could have—I don't know for sure; I also am not affiliated with him in any way beyond being a fan of his and MythBusters), but don't call him a cunt and a dick and an asshole just because he shared his opinion and input in response to my dilemma to ME.

Let's Break It Down!  *Beatboxes*


            MythBusters is an excellent show, promoting critical thinking and applying common sense to life so that you don't have to spend time and energy worrying about something that isn't true or factual (i.e., water heater explosions, earthquake survival, the JATO rocket Darwin Award myth), and learn what it takes for things to be real, as well as being surprised by things that are real.  So, even though Adam isn't, as Phil Plait would put it, a "classically trained scientist," he still has experience with the Hollywood special effects tricks of the trade, being able to bust myths that stem from movies, television shows, etc.  And who (besides terrorists) can go wrong with explosions?!  That cement truck just disappeared like Alderaan!  So, even though the show's name is "MythBusters," it's not proof that they're "fake"!  It's a short, easy title that describes EXACTLY what they do: they bust myths!  Also, they're based in San Francisco; Hollywood is a "little" TOO FAR SOUTH to be where they're at!  (However, if they want to take a field trip there, they certainly can!)

            As for Ghost Adventures, it's not a show that "looks for ghosts," the way Finding Bigfoot tries to find a Sasquatch; it's actually a show that is all about gathering evidence in support of  proving the existence of ghosts, as well as researching what a ghost could be, and even possibly helping homeowners or property owners and their families and friends realize that they aren't crazy!!!  Or that what they're afraid of really isn't dangerous at all.  So that weird feeling that trolls get in their pants when tweeting their rage at Adam with misspellings and all isn't a ghost; it's just them cranking one out from being a dick (thereby violating Wheaton's Law).  It's obvious that a lot of fans love this show, especially since the members of the investigation crew are the producers, the camera crew, the host, etc.; they created the show, they film the show themselves, there's no glamour or Hollywood involved—it's raw, it's real, it's almost indie and very, very organic.  Stemming from a self-shot documentary from the early-mid naughties (2000-2009), this is also a way to help boost tourism to certain locations, which helps generate revenue for the locations and tax dollars for the cities and states these are all located in.

            Also, I should point out that the science labs aren't the places that are haunted, it's these places such as the Washoe Club, the Winchester Mystery House, the Sun Inn located in Bethlehem, PA, etc.  And any good scientist should know that if you can't create this situation in the lab to study, you should conduct a field study.  So, discounting ghosts completely without fully investigating the culture and approaches and the evidence is just…..I don't have a word to describe it, but it's equivalent to mixing up, "close-minded, presumptive," and either "fearful of the results" or "lazy".  And don't assume that one show was running longer than the other: Ghost Adventures started airing in 2008, and MythBusters definitely started earlier than that, with 10 YEARS under their belt!  So, they both have a ton of positive points.  So, tweeting, "FUCK U!" to someone really isn't the way to go…..

Ethical Criticism: Why the Internet Has a Larger Underbelly Than It Should

            Most hate-tweets are very unproductive and have a total lack of class and character.  Criticism is helpful because it allows people to improve in the areas that are addressed.  However, haters and trolls just do it to be a dick.  Trolls gonna troll, haters are gonna hate, and even them Sontaran taters are gonna tate, no matter what.  BUT, you can ditch these labels and provide tweets that are better constructed.  Adam won't listen to "EAT A DICK!" (I received this tweet directly; my response was, "As long as it's not yours!") but it's very likely that instead of allowing your emotions to be in charge of your twitter feed, you provide a calmer response that goes along the lines of "I disagree with your statement, because…"

            Bad: "Ghost Adventures is REAL!  So, fuck you, loser!"
            Good: "I disagree: it's real because….."

            Bad: "You're an asshole!  I'm never watching your show again!"
            Good: "I now feel like my beliefs have been devalued.  Thanks!"

            I hope everyone gets this, because I don't ever want to cover this topic ever again!  We have the ability to use a wide range of words that will make us sound educated; why not use it?  (Flame wars are pointless; don't engage in them!)

Diffusing the Rage


            As many of the tweets have suggested, several Ghost Adventures fans believe that Mr. Adam Savage should go on Ghost Adventures to prove his point.  "Why?  It'll just be a waste of time!"  How would you know that if you've never conducted an experiment to prove or disprove this hypothesis?  The only way to prove that it's a waste of time is to 1.) Be patient and 2.) just join Zak and crew on a lockdown.  Just make sure that it's the Ghost Adventures Crew, and not some other paranormal investigation crew, because if it's someone else, the camera crew might be allowed in, and their job would be to film the talent, not the evidence or activity.  So, if it's just Zak, Nick, Aaron, Billy, and Jay, with the camera crew hanging out at nerve center, there's less contamination, and a better likelihood of capturing evidence that isn't easily debunked.

            So, I agree: Adam Savage should go on a full 12-hour lockdown with the GAC on their show, and try to debunk the evidence if he would wish to.  At least he'll know (without assuming anything) that ghosts do exist, and that Ghost Adventures isn't fiction.

            But I'm very sure that I've said all I needed to say, and that it seems like I should start taking cover before the bullets start flying between the fans of Mythbusters who are hardcore skeptics of ghosts, and the fans of Ghost Adventures who are hardcore skeptics of skeptics!  (HA!  See what I did there?!)  In the meantime, keep it cool, keep yourself warm, enjoy your tacquitos, and above all, DON'T BE A DICK!!!!!

            *dons dragonskin vest and other armor, then takes cover in a warm bunker!*


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