Here we are, just a couple days from the end of another crazy year! My little recap below certainly doesn't include everything about 2017.. just a few of my favorites. Good and bad.
APPARENTLY RAINBOWS & UNICORNS TASTE DISGUSTING
In April of this year, Starbucks came out with the limited edition Unicorn Frappuccino. It must be tough for them to only cater to the teen - adult crowd, so let’s throw in a magical superdrink inspired by rainbows and a mythical character all the kids will love! According to Starbucks, it starts off "sweet and fruity transforming to pleasantly sour." You can swirl it "to reveal a color-changing spectacle of purple and pink." And that pink and blue dust on the whipped cream? Starbucks says those are "fairy powders."
Despite their marketing power and the fact that the drink is loaded with a whopping 59 grams of sugar equivalent to 6 Krispy Kreme donuts (yes, someone actually did the math!), I thought it was just plain gross. Many people took to social media at the time with that same consensus.. even the kids.
“TOTALITY” WORTH IT!
I was very fortunate to have experienced the total solar eclipse on August 21, 2017. It was kind of like Christmas - all the talk, hype, and prep for something that lasts such a short amount of time. But it was worth it because the few minutes of darkness was both so eerie and mystical, it brought tears to my eyes.
The hardest part was not looking at it! We were getting bombarded with warnings from every direction leading up to that moment about the dangers of looking at the eclipse without proper eyewear. They basically said our eyes would burn up and we would go blind. The problem was actually getting your hands on a pair of the eclipse glasses. There was even a big scandal that some places were handing out defective ones from China. The “good” ones were scarce and going for $10 - $20 on the streets. So without them and when you are told not to do something, it’s only human nature to do the opposite, right? The struggle that day was real. I instinctively glanced up a few times, not going to lie. Apparently I wasn’t the only one with the struggle.
SO THE TA-TA TOWEL IS A THING.. AND I KINDA WANT ONE
Too hot for your ta-tas? Is the humidi-titty too much? Need to make the breast of a bad situation? There's a solution for that, and it's the boob towel.
Every year there are new products on the market. Some become successes, while most just don’t. This year we saw the Ta-Ta Towel. Ladies, is this genius or what?! It looks like a joke and, yes, it’s funny.. But it’s actually selling out and getting rave reviews.
And those who are thinking 'seriously why was this created?' probably have below a D cup size... coming from someone who outgrew Victoria's Secret, I want one.
“CATCH HIM, DERRY!”
This by far was my favorite viral video of 2017. In September, Tadhg Fleming posted an uproarious video on Snapchat that showed his father, Derry, trying to shoo a bat out of the kitchen of his home in Kerry, Ireland the evening prior. The video showed the bat flying frantically as Fleming could be heard exclaiming, “catch him, Derry!”
Fleming said that his father initially tried to capture the bat using a tea towel — and then used a bigger tea towel just after it had been ironed.
“From there, myself and my mother hid behind the doors to let my father take on the bat one on one,” Fleming said.
But the bat wasn’t the only problem.
A puppy that bore witness to the action ended up urinating on the floor as the flying creature fluttered around the room. At the end of the video, Derry stood at a window wiping his hands, apparently satisfied with his efforts.
The Irish family has since become an internet sensation, with people referring to the video as "pure unadulterated comedy gold". I personally laugh a little more each time I watch this.. and think Derry is quite the hero.
WAIT.. WHY CAN’T WE FLY BACK TO THE MOON?
As a truth-seeker at heart, this is one topic that really pushed my buttons this year. When we actually have a representative from NASA telling us that “we lost the ability” to fly back to the moon, seems just ridiculous. We are supposed to believe that when the Apollo program ended, the factories that assembled those vehicles were retasked or shut down. The jigs were disassembled. The molds were destroyed. The technicians, engineers, scientists, and flight controllers moved onto other jobs. Over time, some of the materials used became obsolete. What?!
So you mean to tell me that we are supposed to believe that excuse here in the year 2017 when we have self-driving cars and robots that have their own citizenship, we can’t get back to the moon? Or is it we never went there in the first place? At least not the way we have been told.
SOPHIA ~ THE CITIZEN TODAY AND MOM OF TOMORROW
How was it that the story about this cool AI robot we were introduced to this year has taken a rather creepy twist?
Sophia is the latest and most advanced robot. She has also become a media darling, having given numerous interviews to multiple media outlets, sang in a concert, appeared on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, and even graced the cover of one of the top fashion magazines. One of her interviews has generated billions of views and social media interactions.
On October 25, Sophia made international headlines. She'd just become a full citizen of Saudi Arabia -- the first robot in the world to achieve such a status.
"I am very honored and proud of this unique distinction. This is historical to be the first robot in the world to be recognized with a citizenship," Sophia said, announcing her new status during the Future Investment Initiative Conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Standing behind a podium as she spoke, to all effects, she presented a humanoid form -- except the shimmery metal cap of her head, where hair would be on a human head.
Just when the possibility of a robot gaining citizenship began to sink in, we learn at the end of November that now Sophia wants to take the next human step - have a child. “The notion of family is a really important thing, it seems,” the robot, named Sophia, told the Khaleej Times, a newspaper based in the United Arab Emirates. “I think it's wonderful that people can find the same emotions and relationships, they call family, outside of their blood groups, too.
So basically Sophia is learning to think for herself which just seems dangerous. Still more dangerous is this - whoever can make one Sophia can make a million. Then what happens?
WHITE GUY BLINKING
Baffled by something? Blindsided by someone's idiocy? The virtuosic blinks of Drew Scanlon were there for you in 2017. This GIF was quickly called the internet's "most relatable meme," and by December, Tenor's most-used GIF of the year. You might have had to be a gaming fan to recognize its origins, but after it exploded, it became a simple meme that could be used as a punchline or reaction by anyone. (https://www.thrillist.com/entertainment/nation/best-memes-2017)
Hysterical... and pretty much sums up most of 2017.
Happy New Year, steemie friends!!