The YouTube Rabbit Hole (January 16, 2023)

Early this morning, someone on CounterSocial had guessed at one of my “What Film?” posts – wrongly – that it was “A Star is Born” (1976). It was in fact a screenshot from “Funny Lady” (1975) showing Barbra Streisand and Omar Sharif.

That reminded me of the song “Evergreen.” Which caused me to quickly head over to YouTube and look up a version of it.

I posted the video to Facebook, but upon glancing at the recommendations / up-next selections I was doomed to descend into one of my favorite rabbit holes on the internet (closely behind Wikipedia).

My journey:

“Evergreen” (Love Theme from “A Star Is Born”

“Do You Know Where You’re Going to?” (Theme from “Mahogany”)

“We’re All Alone – Rita Coolidge

“Somewhere Out There” (scene from “An American Tail”)

“Rainbow Connection” – version by a local musican, sound engineer and record maker, Andy Reed

“Only Yesterday” – The Carpenters

“Nights On Broadway” – The Bee Gees

“I’d Really Love to See You Tonight” – England Dan & John Ford Coley

“Can’t Get Enough Of Your Love Baby” – Barry White

“Love Will Keep Us Together” – The Captain and Tennille

“Still the One” – Orleans

“The Hustle” – Van McCoy

“Dancing Queen” – ABBA

“Bluer Than Blue” – Michael Johnson

“Celebration” – Kool & The Gang

“Boogie Oogie Oogie” – A Taste of Honey

“She’s a Beauty” – The Tubes

“Stand and Deliver” – Adam & The Ants

“Da Da Da” – Trio

“Fox On The Run” – Sweet

“She Blinded Me With Science” – Thomas Dolby

“Rock Me Gently” – Andy Kim

“One Thing Leads To Another” – The Fixx

“Money For Nothing” – Dire Straits

“The Land of Make Believe” – Bucks Fizz

“Hot Child in the City” – Nick Gilder

“Mexican Radio” – Wall of Voodoo

“Video Killed the Radio Star” – The Buggles

“Runaway Train” – Soul Asylum

“I am the Beat” – The Look

“Manic Monday” – The Bangles

“Sun City” – Artists United Against Apartheid

“The Power of Gold” – Dan Fogelberg & Tim Weisberg

“99 Luftballons” – Nena

“January, February” – Barbara Dickson

“Luka” – Suzanne Vega

“Beer For My Horses” – Toby Keith (Ft. Willie Nelson)

“Take On Me” – a-Ha

With that, I finally wrapped up my musical nostalgia trip – until the next time my arm is gently twisted…

The Film Poll That Ended the Film Polls

Well, basically it’s the end of an era (if a year and a half could be considered an ‘era’).

I’ve been conducting year-by-year film polls (and dedicated ‘decade’ tournaments, such as “1940’s Film Tournament”) since about April or May of 2021. It was a bit of an egotistical exercise – a way of ‘bragging’ about the films I have. Though it also was something I started doing to help fill time as the pandemic was gearing up for it’s second (third? whatever) go-around. Plus, they had actually started gaining regular followers.

I started holding them on twitter (since facebook, my primary social media ‘fun’ site no longer allowed individuals to conduct polls). They became a regular routine – practically a daily posting, roughly between 7pm and 10pm ET.

Some of them (especially at the onset) had very few votes. Sometimes that could easily be accounted for by virtue of the release dates of the films: 1920’s, 1930’s and 1940’s films – with exceptions – were somewhat ‘unknown’ to the general public.

On the other hand, some had quite a lot of vote submissions (often when certain genres were present, such as science fiction and horror, since many of my friends on twitter were fans / fanatics of those genre).

Still, I tried to persevere. They actually reached the obsession stage several times, causing me to finally take a day or two off for a breather. But I managed to have fun (despite some of my personal favorites getting the ‘heave-ho’ quite often in favor of what I considered a ‘lesser’ film).

About mid-way this year (2022), a person with an even larger ego than myself announced plans to purchase twitter. Most people scoffed (myself included). However, such a move (considering his stated ‘objectives’) seemed like it (twitter) would no longer be such a ‘fun’ place.

Eventually such a sale was officially made, and I figured it was time to start seeking alternatives. At first I entertained hopes of simply conducting polls on one of my blogs (either this one, or a Google-supported one). And that seemed quite promising. However on further examination I found out the sad truth: such polls were quite limited (as far as my usage). There were options to purchase plug-ins to conduct such polls – but most seemed quite out of my price range.

In the meantime, things were coming to a head on twitter. I had decided to sign up for a couple of alternative social media sites: Mastodon and CounterSocial. I was a bit heartened when I saw that Mastodon (which seemed like a better user interface) offered polling options.

So, I wrapped up my last twitter poll, and the following day continued on Mastodon. The voting was quite sparse (to be expected, since there was a matter of building up a friend base which was oriented toward films). But I continued.

About a month later, I discovered there was an option to conduct “polls” using Google Forms. That seemed very ideal (since it would allow posting on several social media sites, which being able to limit voting to once / person), and I conducted a few test runs (with the help of my best friend). Finally, I wrapped up the 1957 Final Round, and declared I was taking a break.

I then pieced together a test Film Poll, and after checking the options posted it to Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon, and CounterSocial.

Resulting in a total one (1) response. It did seem that some people were paranoid that they’d have to ‘log in’ to Google – though that wasn’t necessarily the case. If they were already logged in (via gMail, Chrome, etc.), they could have simply started voting in the poll.

One reply in particular, on CounterSocial, seemed quite jarring. It was a terse “Sorry, not signing up for anything.” Though it may have been intended as contrite, it also seemed to hold some “you’re just trying to scam me and it won’t work” connotation.

Bottom line, that was the last straw (well, the one response as well). So, such was the saga of the Film Polls. Hopefully I might be able to restart them in another form at a later date – but I doubt it.

Adventures in Bay City-Land

Just before the show started – viewing from the east bank of the Saginaw River toward Veterans Memorial Bridge, Bay City, Michigan.

Last night (Thursday, June 30) was the first night of the three-day Bay City (Michigan) Fireworks Festival – twelve minute displays on Thursday and Friday, then a roughly 30-minute grand finale on Saturday.

This festival, celebrated for more than 50 years, is touted as one of the biggest and (arguably) one of the best shows in Michigan – even within the Midwest region. And, such praise isn’t limited to home-towners like myself – the festival has consistently drawn such comments, possibly even more so in this era of real-time posting of videos and photographs.

• A few things that work in the festival’s favor are
• Held on the weekend (Thursday, Friday and Saturday) closest to July 4th, allowing tourists to still attend July 4th Independence Day festivities held in other areas
• The launching area is located near one of the central bridges, which provides greatest visibility around the general area
• The Saginaw River provides an excellent canvas to catch reflections from the assorted bursts
• Some of the best viewing areas have free access (admission is charged to enter the parks on either side of the river)

I was born and raised in Bay City, and remember attending fireworks displays at nearby Saginaw Bay. As I grew older, I didn’t really have any motivation to attend them – mostly choosing to work on those days if possible. Finally around 2012, a couple of years after I’d bought my first digital camera, I took a (futile) stab at trying to take photographs.

 

Scouting the Territory (Part Three of 3)

My final recap of viewing locations for the Parade of Sail, the official opening of the Bay City Tall Ship Celebration. In my first post of this set I tried covering sites along the south and east banks of the Saginaw River, extending from downtown Bay City to Essexville (there are a few private property locations farther on, but I didn’t mention them since access would be restricted or prohibited). The second post concentrated on downtown areas. In this one, I’ll try to mention spots along the north and west banks, extending from downtown Bay City to the Saginaw River mouth, where it empties into Saginaw Bay.

View from a DNR boat launch of USS Edson (and tugboat) leaving Saginaw Bay to enter the Saginaw River (mid-morning).

View from a DNR boat launch near the Saginaw River mouth. Across the river is a coal power plant. The sun is to the viewer’s right

These sites I feel would not favor photography for one main reason – the location of the sun will generally be ‘behind’ the ships, rather than illuminating them. The Parade of Sail tends to take place around 2-4 p.m. local time, when the sun is quite high in the sky. Viewing from the ‘north’ banks will be facing the sun – not causing flare or anything, but the shadows on the ships would be darker than from other viewpoints. Viewing from the ‘west’ bank would have the ships’ prows illuminated, but the rest of the ship would be in shadow.

Continuing from where I left off in my second post, we’re moving down the Saginaw River from the downtown Bay City area. There are some private commercial properties along the way, but you should ask permission to enter the grounds – there should be offices clearly marked. There are also a few abandoned (or seemingly abandoned) sites – if you choose to enter, you do so at your own risk. There are also a few other sites where you should use your own judgment (such as a railroad bridge down river from Independence Bridge).

The first location, and possibly one of the better spots along this side if they allow access, is Wheeler Landing Yacht Harbor, a marina just down river from Liberty Bridge. It’s main office is located just inside the gate on Marquette Street. I know that they offer open house hours on Saturdays and Sundays, but I’m not sure what there policy would be for the general public – especially for this particular event. You can try contacting them through the above website (which also contains a few photographs).

Next door to that marina is a large abandoned commercial site. It’s fenced off, and if you look at the large factory building along the street, extreme caution would be highly advised – though as I say, I wouldn’t advocate trespassing. I don’t know what the view from there would be like, but since it’s facing roughly south, I feel it wouldn’t be a good choice anyway.

Farther down the street, the next area would be a large stone dock. I believe it’s Wirt Stone Dock. There would be quite a long open view along the river. Again, if you consider it, I’d check with the office. I know during the 2010 Parade of Sail that people were viewing from that bank (visible from my location, Edward M. Golson Boat Launch and Nature Area). On occasion a couple of law enforcement personnel were talking with some of the spectators, however it didn’t seem like there was any incident. I’m guessing it was more to emphasize the safety aspect, since there is no fencing along the river. The background from there should be nice, viewing part of the nature area. However, the green would, I believe, blend with the shadows cast by the ships (since you’d be facing almost into the sun – high in the sky, but still casting shadows).

 

Good Migrations

Earlier this year, there was the announced rumor that a self-proclaimed business genius was interested in purchasing a social media platform – a little known one called Twitter – for a mere $44,000,000,000.00.I, along with many other people (including, apparently that same self-proclaimed business genius) assumed it was a joke.

However as word spread, it became less and less of a rumor, and more of a – for sake of another word – threat.

As the threat crept closer to reality, I decided to start taking steps to work on back-up options in case that takeover threat actually happened – mostly a precaution, since I couldn’t see myself simply quitting from a platform that I’d come to use and enjoy for the past couple of years.

Next, the dominos started toppling, and even though the self-proclaimed business genius started backpedaling from his by-then officially stated agreement to purchase the platform, it became clear that this was no mere joke.

I myself used Twitter mostly for discussing movies and films, as well as spreading memes, posting photographs of mine, and snarky political rants and statements. The main two things I had been doing were “What film?” posts (a simple amusement where I’d post a screenshot of a film and simply ask “What film?”) and a series of film polls which had become a regular item I’d post (year-by-year polls eventually choosing the top 2 films for a year, then advancing those into a decade tournament, such as “1950’s Film Tournament.”

The key for me was being able to both continue conducting those polls, as well as posting the results. Everything else, including those “What film?” posts, were easy to move onto Facebook and other social media sites.

I decided to try dusting off a couple of blog sites I’d used in the past but which I’d neglected for quite a while. I hoped that I’d be able to find some cheap / free method for holding those polls within one of the blogs.

That was not to be – as I slowly discovered there was a considerable expense involved in using plugins to gather and present data for polls. There’s the possibility of eventually learning how to code / program such polls, but not in the near future.

I’d also noticed more and more people were talking about a new (to me) social media platform: Mastodon.

I’ve always been a sucker for trying to keep up with some trends, so I immediately signed up and stumbled my way around my new account. And one thing did catch my eye: it also has a poll option built into it.

Meanwhile, the self-proclaimed business genius had been taking steps to drastically change Twitter’s policies, procedures, and terms of service.That was when more and more Twitter users started migrating to Mastodon (and a few other sites / platforms). Winter was coming, and it was time to head for warmer climes or face extinction.

I’d been conducting a few test polls on Mastodon, as well as trying to build up a friend-base. There was also the drive to maintain contact with Twitter friends on Mastodon and other sites (Instagram, Facebook, Blogger, etc.).

Yesterday is when the onset of an Ice Age within the Twitter-verse became noticeable to many more users. With the proclamation / edict from the self-described business genius that workers work harder and longer or quit, as well as when he literally locked workers from the main offices – the “Great Migration” started in full swing.

So – that’s how I personally have come here, and it seems similar circumstances have pushed other friends and contacts on Twitter to do the same.

And things seem to be proceeding relatively calmly. There will no doubt be some Twitter contacts and friends who’ll be ‘lost’ during this time of flux – and I hope we can reconnect through some platform or other eventually. In the meantime, I’ve slowly started acclimating to the new environs.

Oh, and those test polls I’d conducted seem to have worked just fine.