Speaking of ways around something, any fans of Tiktok out there? I'm not a member but occasionally Tiktok videos show up in Facebook Shorts and I am a major fan of those. 45/47 was for the Tiktok ban---which people in the intelligence field say is a threat to our national security---until recently when its CEO cozied up to our recycled, old fart of a president to the point that the guy earned (aka bought himself) a prime seat at the inauguration, next to the other media billionaires. But I don't want to write about them today. I want to write about the choreographed workouts called the Wellerman Challenge going around the internet. Those videos keep showing up on my Facebook Shorts. (The power of clicking on one like.) Here's two from YouTube that will show you what I'm taking about. I dare say if you watch enough of these super-fit guys do this challenge, like I have, you won't be able to get that song out of head.
Do you ever wonder if the universe puts things in front of you in patterns of three that are connected? That happened to me with the Wellerman Challenge and a book I'm listening to and a Netflix movie. I discovered them all in the same week. The Wellerman song is about a whaling ship. The movie is about a whaling ship and the non-fiction book, An Immense World, that I'm listening to for book club has a chapter about how whales communicate.
If you haven't seen The Heart of the Sea I gave it two thumbs up. According to its synopsis "the Heart of the Sea isn't just an epic tale of man versus nature, it's also a dramatic recounting of a real attack. The 2015 Ron Howard film was based on Nathaniel Philbrick's 2000 nonfiction book of the same name, which investigates the 1820 sinking of a whaling ship that was caused by a sperm whale attack."
By chance or the powers in the universe the day after watching the movie I just happened to be at a chapter that explained how whales communicate. It gave me chills and I could imagine a conversation the whales were having at the time and I wondered if they still tell tales about their famous ancestor, Moby Dick, and how he finally got even with those damn whale-killing ships? They might even credit him for the decline in sperm oil harvesting when, in fact, it was the discovery of oil coming out of the ground in Pennsylvania that changed the fate of the whaling industry.
Some people might say I was subconsciously attracted to the movie because the Wellerman Challenge planted the whaling ship theme in my head and that might be true but logic can't explain away how the book chapter entered my life at the exact time it did. I didn't even know whales were going to be covered.
An Artificial Intelligence explanation popped up when I googled 'patterns in the universe' as: "In psychology, the concept of the 'universe putting things together' is often associated with the idea of synchronicity, which refers to meaningful coincidences where seemingly unrelated events occur together, often interpreted as a sign of a deeper underlying connection or pattern in the universe, sometimes linked to the idea of a collective unconscious as proposed by Carl Jung." Oh, yes, Jung! His theories on dream interpretation was fad reading for me back in the '80s when I kept a dream diary and, oops, I just downloaded a book titled, Dreams, Memories and Reflections by Jung. I listened to the sample introduction and was hooked by this: "He looks at his own soul with a telescope. What seemed all irregular he saw and showed it to be beautiful constellations and he added to the consciousness in the hidden worlds within worlds."
That last paragraph was my feeble attempt to take an ordinary post and give it a little more depth but instead me makes me laugh at how "wordy" Artificial Intelligence can get and how it could use a human editor.
Until Next Wednesday. ©
Post Script: I love the internet and Patterns in the Universe! I just ran into another Facebook Short that was set to the rhythm of the Wellerman song only the words are about the Elon Musk's Tesla.
I am so glad you mentioned not being able to pronounce words. I learn a lot of not everyday words from reading and when I find myself using them in conversation often find I have no idea how to pronounce them.
ReplyDeleteAt least now days their are apps that we can listen to for pronunciation, but sometimes I'll forget between the time I listen to it and the time I try to use a word in conversation. I often say I wish I would talk as well as I can write.
DeleteI do believe things come together, or occur in patterns for a purpose. It's interesting that you can go for months without any kismet in your life, and then, wham, everything is clicking into place. Watching those male specimens is one way to while away this difficult winter!
ReplyDeleteI believe in patterns in the universe, too, the collective consciousnesses.
DeleteThose guys ---some of them are so good at that challenge they mesmerize me. It doesn't hurt that the song is so catchy.
I always skip the AI result when I Google something. I just don't trust the answers there for some reason I can't quite explain.
ReplyDeleteAlgorithms are showing us lots of similar things once we click on something. It is weird that the whaling chapter came up after you had just seen the whaling movie. I think sometimes my computer and cellphone are listening in to what I am talking about as I often see something on the screen that I was just recently telling someone about. Creepy!
I don't trust the AI results either BUT I read them because I want to learn how to tell the difference between that kind of content and regular human generated content and what better way than when AI is clearly marked as such.
DeleteI learned a long time ago not to 'like' something unless I want to keep seeing similar stuff. In turn, there's a movement that's trying to get traction on Facebook to get people to check 'hide' and then check 'irrelevant' on all ads as a protest to them stopping Fact Checking. This will help drive their income down dismiss their ads. And never, ever click on a product advertised on Facebook. If it interests you, open up another box and google the product.
First: beware of depending on AI. It's filled with what are called 'hallucinations' -- erroneous information offered as fact. Most recently, it primly informed me that Monarch butterflies are white. Google's AI is so bad I go to other search engines much of the time -- if only to avoid innumerable listings of commercial ventures that get listed first.
ReplyDeleteBut, that's a side note. What I loved about this post is two personal connections that I wouldn't have expected. For one thing, Nathaniel Philbrick is a cousin of Richard Staigg, with whom I exchanged blog comments for years. The Philbrick family owned Philbrick’s Snack Shack on Nauset Beach, in Cape Cod. Jim & Jean Philbrick started it in 1954. It's still in business. Richard wasn't involved in that, although he grew up on the Cape. When we met, he was living aboard and cruising the islands; eventually, he landed in Florida, because of health issues. He mostly stopped blogging; I need to drop him a line and see what's up.
The second connection involves the Wellerman. I learned the song in 1990, on board Alaska Eagle halfway between Hawaii and Alaska. There's a lot of reading and knot-tying that goes on during a long passage, but there's sometimes singing as well. Sea chanties originally were work songs, and after one of them was sung by a couple of crew members while changing sails, we started going through the repertoire. "Soon May the Wellerman Come" was my favorite.
It's got quite a history. The "wellermen" were supply ships owned by the Weller brothers, three merchant traders who set up a whaling business in Otago, New Zealand around 1830, and their employees became known as "wellermen." They'd make regular runs out to the whaling ships to bring them supplies like sugar, tea, and rum. My favorite version of the song might be a live performance by Kimber's Men at the Harwich Shanty Festival: about a decade before the song hit TikTok. Hearing a shanty sung by men of the sea always is the best.
Thank you for sharing so much information! I love the history you've shared. I knew a little of this from researching this song, which by the way, I still can't get out of my head. I can see why these kinds of work "chanties" help keep people forced and puts a rhythm to whatever work they are doing. Thanks for the link to your favorite version.
DeleteIn my next life I want to live on Cap Cod. I have romanticized that place since my teens when I bought a little sail boat but I gave it up for a boy who didn't like the water five years later. Bad decision. One of my prize possessions is a whale oil lamp, that I bought it out east in the early 1960s. I had three at one time but downsized two when I moved. Makes me feel closer to our historical roots to have things like that.
I ran into a guy on YouTube awhile ago, his name is Nathan Evans. He is a postman in Scotland whose recording of The Wellerman went viral. He has done other sea shanties too.
DeleteNina
Thanks, I think, for giving me yet another venture on the internet. I have a TikTok account but have only used it to talk to the Teen Grandson. Today's blog is fascinating history I knew nothing about. It's always a great day when I learn something. THANKS!
ReplyDeleteI always learn stuff from your bog too.
DeleteI liked the Wellerman song, not as much as I like the Cyber Truck Song
ReplyDeleteI love it too!
DeleteWhy were they always referring to skinning Cats as a saying in the Old Days? *LOL but the Horror of even an Imaginary doing of such things* I do Believe in the Laws of Attraction and it can be quite eerie what Lines Up in Patterns so often. I get some of those Algorithm Feeds on my Book of Faces and it does amuse me. I get a lot of Kittens and Cats doing hilarious things and very fit Geriatric Asian Men doing amazing Physical feats effortlessly. *LOL* How or Why, I have no Idea, must have done a random Like and also, when I put a simple Word in my Blog Posts, oddly, it sends Algorithms that match up to my FB Feed too... I'm so very glad they do take the phrase Food Porn literally and not just the 2nd Word randomly tho'. *Bwahahahahaha* I have never watched TikTok but Princess T was over the Moon that they only banned it for like 14 Hours before caving in. She said The Chinese have already secretly taken over anyway... so... *Bwahahaha, she could be Right*
ReplyDeleteI wrote a post on the history of the phrase more than one way to skin a cat here https://misadventuresofwidowhood.blogspot.com/search?q=skin+a+cat
DeleteI get the ban on TikTok and how they are afraid the Chinese will start brainwashing our young people by using influencers. But the same could be said for American owned media like FOX "news" does with the Cult. That said, people on all those platforms that show short videos should resist clicking on 'likes' which helps their algorithms figure out the best ways to brainwash you.
That's funny about you FB giving you geriatric men doing physical things. I get guys in great shape doing challenges or jumping ropes. One of the jump ropers I can't quit watching. Cats and Dogs - I get them too. And woodcrafters doing amazing things or upcycling things found at the curb. They call some of it wood porn and that's not a phrase you want to google.
OMG Wood Porn, I can only imagine what that might take you to, so, nope, wouldn't risk to Google it. LMAOROTF And Oddly, the Geriatric Jedis are always Old Asian Men... but, their feats are quite remarkable.
DeleteThe TikTok ban means nothing to me one way or the other. It's just another superficial distraction designed rile up people for no reason other than to create a feeling of chaos. I yawn.
ReplyDeleteI adore the Cyber Truck Song. Thanks for sharing it here. "The dumbest thing on wheels," you bet it is.
I was playing that cyber truck song at dinner a few nights ago and the young waitress came over and was impressed and blurted out, "That's cool that you [old] ladies know about this song." lol
DeleteFascinating post and comments that followed!
ReplyDeleteScott Galloway talks frequently about the damage being done to our youth, and specifically our boys and young men by social media, video games and porn. Watching too much is guaranteed to make a person feel worthless and kill motivation to do anything productive. I agree, so when I see a school banning cell phones, it gives me hope some kids will start to enjoy interacting with other kids again.
It's heartbreaking to see so many people using their phones to thwart the social interaction humans need to survive and remain healthy.
Too much screen time for young people really does stunt them socially. I wasn't aware there are school banning phones in school. I'm happy to hear that!
DeleteAh, the curse of readers -- all those words you only realize that you don't know how to pronounce when you try to use them in conversation. It took me years to learn that the name of Nancy Drew's friend (not George, the other one) was not pronounced PEN-uh-lope and that things that went wrong were not going AWE-ree. My mother was shocked when she went to see the movie of "Ali Baba and the Arabian Nights" as a child and discovered that his magic phrase was not "Open seh-SAME." I'm impressed that your book group is reading An Immense World. I started it months ago, but never managed to get to the end; I found it pretty dense.
ReplyDeleteIf you think that one is dense you should see The Covenant of Water, over 900 words. We are allowing two months for that one. We have five retired professors in our book club here at the CCC. And when we have our yearly meeting to pick the books for the upcoming year, we each get to pick a book. We get some serious non-fiction reading. I need to do a post about some of our reads again. Thanks.
DeleteLove the Wellerman song and Irish Shanty songs and English Madrigals.
ReplyDeleteMe too!
DeleteOh I love the sea shanti's
ReplyDelete