fun internet things for you! (this dispatch's got everything...)
youtube docs, truecrime, pokemon lore, and more !!!!
30 minute doc to watch while you eat. Before there were incels, there were Shy Boys. The 2011 documentary “Shy Boys IRL” stars five so-called “shy boys” who met on the proto-incel-forum site, “Love Shy,” and bonded over their shared disaffection with women. Incels aren’t the most talkative bunch (call ‘em Media Shy!) so the documentary is a fascinating examination of the incel culture, particularly before it swelled up into Red Pilled industrial complex it is today.
True Crime tidbit you didn’t need. Along with a robust research program and stellar football team, UofM’s most salient legacy might just be “Michigan boys know how to party,” a gay porn video. The video from BigDaddy’s “Haze Him” series is something of a gold standard in the gay community. The exact data on the video is muddled, so nobody really knows just how popular it is, but a quick survey through Twitter reveals its enduring popularity. Hail to the dick-tor, am I right, haha.
Now here’s where things get kind of dark. The guy with the “M” painted on his torso was actually arrested for murder back in 2010. “Bryce,” real name “Damon” helped an accomplice stab a teenager back in El Reno, Oklahoma. Damon, who was arrested and held on 11k bail, later took his own life in 2012. You can read the full article for yourself here.
Another disruptive social media app!!! “Ugh, Instagram sucks, right?! Well, our app is different. It’s not about likes! We’re in our community-era, girly pop! ” is pretty much how I interpret the punchy copy on Lapse’s website. Here’s the elevator pitch: Everyday, users get 36 shots that will be “developed” into disposable camera style photos which can be archived or shared via a Tinder-like swiping process. There are no likes, you get a chronological feed, yadda yadda yadda, ad nauseam.
Okay, I’m being super mean about the whole thing, but the unending procession “Instagram but better” brand of photo-sharing apps feels like a fruitless project. Like, why fight fire with fire? Let’s decentralize and return to Geocities. (Tangentially related, but I highly recommend playing “Hypnospace Outlaw” if you miss web 1.0 like me. You click through Geocity-y sites, solve crimes, and uncover a dark conspiracy!!!)
Good gift idea. The calendar featuring hot (actual) priests, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year! Catholicism had a bit of a come-up among the youth in recent years. “Fleabag” helped transform the idea of a “hot priest” from predatory to aspirational, and scene-y hipsters’ maybe-ironic-maybe-not embrace of Catholicism Made Organized Relition Cool Again.
The hot priest calendar is hot, it’s timeless, it’s cool.
Meowth lore. Team Rocket’s scheming, mewling, mischief machine is - without a doubt - my favorite Pokemon. I’ve been on scrolling on Bulbapedia for fun Meowth facts instead of looking for jobs and I want to share them with you!!!!
Meowth loves circular, especially shiny, objects.
Money. He loves money.
“Highly intelligent and prideful, it’s famously difficult to handle—but that’s also a reason for its popularity.”
He’s also a Pokemon who can’t fight! What a trailblazer. Bulbapedia claims “his ability to talk and walk upright came at the expense of battling ability.”
My favorite Meowth pics
On Meowth not evolving, there are tons of different theories thrown around. I read a post on Tumblr years back that claimed he didn’t evolve because he’d lose his ability to talk and then wouldn’t be able to hang out with Team Rocket! Another theory suggests he won’t evolve because he hates Persians ever since one stole a girl he liked. Meowth actually evolves into a Mecha-Meowth in a recent game, but I’m not that into this!!! I don’t understand the evolution, and I won’t respond to it.
Personal update. I was walking back home around midnight yesterday and 3 women in red vests asked if I wanted an escort because “it’s dangerous.” It was so nice!!! Only in Seoul, baby!!!
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