Category: Random Musings

A Reminder Of The Long-Defunct Vidme

So while digging through this old tablet thing, I came across this update post dated November 2017 entitled “Vidme Progress Report”. Vidme, for those who don’t know, was an alternative video site that I came across and began adopting as a back-up for the Youtube and Dailymotion pages, since those had… issues. I recall uploading quite a bit of material on there until the site eventually shut down due to lack of funds.

To the best of my knowledge, only one or two videos that were part of the Vidme run failed to make the cut. I still have most of the videos from on there, including alternate cuts of older reviews and it’s my hope that those videos will eventually see the light of day once more.

Anyway, here’s the post in question… for old times sake:

“For those who care for this sort of thing…

“I just finished uploading the last twenty or so reviews of last year (501 to 520) onto the Vidme channel and they’ll be “shared” online on a daily basis when there isn’t new content. Sad to say that the conversion and slight editing of this older content to prep it for re-upload on this alternate video sharing service is what’s been taking up most of my time as of late. And this is one of the few things I’ll be addressing on the Sunday vlog.”

Did I mention how much I miss Vidme?

Went To Bed Before Midnight For The First Time In A Decade

About a decade ago, I had started a job at a food factory in the evening shift, meaning that I would be finishing past midnight. This inevitably ended up meaning that I would be sleeping at late hours. As the years went on, this became the new normal and I had grown accustomed to it. Even welcomed it.

When I started a day job in the morning, I’d still be up until 12:30 to 1 o’clock in the morning. Partly doing some last minute dubbing or other things in order to get me tired enough to fall asleep. I didn’t mind it; it was part of my routine.
Then something happened last night. For the first time in ten years, I went to be at 11:30 P.M.
I couldn’t explain it. There was no reason for it. There wasn’t anything urgent. There was no change in the routine. I just felt tired, found myself falling asleep, and so I decided to turn it and go to bed. And I’ll tell you what. It was the best sleep I had in years.
Part of me is wondering if this was just a one-off. As if the past few weeks of busywork is finally catching up to me and I’m making up for loss sleep. Maybe this is the beginning of a new sleeping pattern. I haven’t a clue for sure.
But I guess we’ll find out, won’t we?
Later.

Congrats To Joe Bison

So… after days of counting votes, the outlaw mudshow otherwise known as this year’s U.S. presidential election has reached its conclusion, as Joe Bison gained his votes to defeat the Orange Man.

Of course, Orange Man is crying foul at the results, claiming this is stolen and illegal counts are being voted or whatever. Indeed, we have a winner, but the shitstorm is just getting started.

As I said Wednesday, whatever happens afterwards is what you folks down south deserve. What that ends up being… I’m not entirely sure, but hopefully Sleepy Joe will able to figure it out soon while his meds are still a thing.

In all seriousness, though, congrats to Joe Biden for winning the election. What exactly he won is something he’ll have to discover for himself, but I guess CNN will happy that they no longer have to shit on the Orange Man.

Depressed Doggy… Also Depressed Me…

So a week has passed since I stayed at home. Spent more time with the dog indoors keeping me company, but only got to take her out for a walk once or twice this past week. Not necessarily in the mood for the great outdoors… honestly can’t blame her.

For my part, I’ve been doing alright. Other than a nagging cough that has been with me since the dawn of time – or so it seems – I’m weathering this whole thing fairly fine and I’ve been able to run a few errands here and there while taking care of the folks. I have to be honest, though; I dread stepping outside these days. Not just because of the pandemic, but also because the general atmosphere is a little worse for wear.

Being on an island that makes up for half of Quebec’s cases is bad enough to warrant certain crowd control methods to maintain physical distancing and some places have proven to do a good job of this. Other places, like the groceries and larger department stores selling essentials, still need work. For my part, I try to keep my distance. If I see a crowded lane, I avoid it completely and look for an opening, or wait for one to clear… I try to keep my distance and yet nobody else cares.

Montreal, as of this writing, is in a state of emergency. A great majority of public spaces are closed off until further notice. Places where I would go for a walk to clear my head and just get away from people are no longer accessible. I am barely holding it together and it scares me shitless… especially considering that nobody has bothered to explain which parts of Montreal I should avoid going to since this is a fairly sizable chunk of land.

All of a sudden… this one island, one city bullshit people were pushing a decade or so back…. nah, it was stupid back then even. Dumb fucks.

All you folks on the front lines – the health care workers, the store employees, and likewise – you have my utmost respect for dealing with this shit and putting on a brave face while doing it. I honestly couldn’t do what you do daily and if anything, you are much more courageous than I could ever hope to be.

Yeah, I think I’ve said enough now. I’m off to bed.

YouTube Embeds Not Working

So the old YouTube Embeds aren’t working for some reason. Whenever I try to run a video, I end up getting an error message. However, the video itself works fine when you’re watching it off the Youtube page itself or appropriate YouTube app.

It’s not just my stuff, either. I’ve tried other video embeds on other sites and I got the same problem.
I’m wondering if it has anything to do with the fact that I updated my video drivers and that I’d need to restart. Who knows?
But then, if that’s the case, why are the Dailymotion embeds working fine?
Anyway, I’ll let you folks know if anything changes on that front. In the meantime, I’ve got reviews to finalize and prep for the next little bit. With any luck, the first review should up tomorrow.

UPDATE 3:02 P.M.
The embeds work now… not so much this morning, but whatever the issue was seems to have been resolved. Thank goodness for small favors.

New review tomorrow.

Desensitized By Twitter

So we’re in the middle of a very serious, very unsettling period in our world.

We have a rapidly spreading pandemic that has claimed the lives of thousands and have infected a hundred thousand more. Our way of life have been disrupted as a result with the closures of major public institutions, the cancellations of live events, and in sweeping lockdowns. And with news of panic buying and concerns over the slightest of symptoms… things are pretty grim.
Over on the Twitter world, there’s a thing going on urging people to stay at home. It’s a thing that’s trending at the moment. Most notably, people are amazed that this serious thing that’s been claiming lives isn’t being taken more seriously by the general public.

I’m not surprised that people aren’t taking something being pushed as urgent on Twitter seriously… partly because it’s Twitter and more often than not, it’s populated by idiots… but also, something else comes to mind… maybe we’re just desensitized by Twitter and the social media bubble.

Think about it… something relatively minor turns up; whether it’d be a critical viewpoint of something beloved or a naughty thing that someone said years ago suddenly popping up – it usually results in a Twitter uproar. Things of sociological and political natures – no matter how minor – result in protests and online petitions and stuff that in the grand scheme of things, don’t matter or are approached in a way that a lot of noise is made over nothing.

It seems like every other day, there is a big controversial nature that starts trending on Twitter and everyone jumps on the bandwagon in agreement, all for the sake of more likes. So when something like this comes along and it’s something that you need to take really seriously, but you ultimately don’t because every blow-up that came before was over something so trivial and pointless that this ends up being something that’s trivial and pointless.

And this is not me saying that treating others equally regardless of sex, race, or orientation is trivial – I’d love to live in a world where everyone is treated as humans and not branded with labels – but rather, this is a plea to the so-called social groups who cause outrage because of a single word in a piece of fiction that doesn’t matter to tone it down a little. This is a plea to the folks who live their lives on social media platforms to show a little restraint and thought into your posts that doesn’t come across as something that’s posted for the sake of a few likes.

What I’m trying to say is… don’t treat every minor piece of business like it’s a big colossal disaster. Because when a real big colossal disaster comes along, nobody is going to care.

Use social media to keep track of your loved ones, the news as it happens, to keep informed on this pandemic that’s going, and basically not to be an ass. There’ll be plenty of times down the road where being an ass will be fine for a lark, but this isn’t it.

And while you’re at it, try not be an ass in the real world, either. My faith in humanity chips away each time I see obese women fight over toilet paper that they shouldn’t be hording in the first place.

That’s all I got for today… I’ll see about getting another video up sooner or later.

Taking Its Toll On The World

So the NBA and NHL have suspended the remainder of their seasons until further notice. Major League Baseball has also postponed their season kick-off. E3 has been cancelled. A lot of little wrestling shows are postponing or outright cancelling their events until further notice. Some major corporations are having their employees work from home. Broadways are cancelled until further notice. Movies are being pushed back to later dates. Some sporting events are going ahead with empty arena shows. And the United States has instituted a 30-day travel ban to and from Europe and its denizens. Even some folks are calling in sick for the sake of self-isolating themselves from the rest of the world.

If this isn’t a sign that what we’re witnessing is to be taken seriously, then I don’t know what is.

Meanwhile, you have dumb shits panic buying supplies by the dozen, leaving nothing but empty space and shit, all the while defeating the purpose of closing down public centers and cancelling events that might bring in more than a couple hundred people.

Look, I don’t have the words to properly convey or comfort anyone facing this latest obstacle in life. Either you’re off the hook, you’re infected, or you know someone who may have contracted this virus.

All I can say is be careful out there, take good care of yourselves, wash your hands, avoid unnecessary prolonged contact or crowded spaces, and most of all, don’t give in to panic and mass hysteria. Stay informed, stay safe, and wash your hands.

Also, stay away from Twitter. Twitter is shit. Especially now.