Matt of All Trades blog, like the title suggests, is by a Vermont author and offers offbeat musings on pop culture, media, journalism, humor, weirdness, stupid people, smart people, my life as a journalist, landscaper, photographer, married gay man, dog lover and weather geek and more. It's run by me, Matt Sutkoski, a native Vermonter living in St. Albans, Vt.
As is the case every year, there's all kinds of compilation videos to say so long to the year just past.
They are wonderful time wasters if you are having a quiet New Years Day or are nursing a hangover or whatever.
So, without further ado, here's a few of those time wasters.
The first one just has a hodgepodge of odd moments and such from the year. It's all over the place, just like the entire year was:
There's one or two repeats of the above video in this next one. But it's still worth watching to prove that other people had a worse 2019 than you did:
If you weren't feeling it at work in 2019, it could have been worse. Here you go!
Finally, on a good note, here's a compilation from 2019 of people (and some animals) doing things better than you can. Much better. The very last clip in this long compilation is one of my favorites, and certainly the most moving. Happy New Year!
Adam Lambert's version of Cher's "Believe" was stunning and moved many to tears, including Cher at this past month's Kennedy Center Honors. Strip down that song, and it can be pretty amazing. A 14-year-old Britain's Got Talent contestant had the same idea two years ago, to magnificent effect.
There's always a gala televised thing for these honorees and of course, the highlight was people performing songs by Cher.
For some reason, I've never been a huge fan of Adam Lambert. Nothing against the guy; he just never wowed me. Until now.
One of Cher's biggest hits was "Believe" a sort of dance club, Auto-Tuned but catchy hit from 1998. Hidden in that dance tune is some heartbreaking, great lyrics and Lambert took full advantage of them.
The result was a great rendition that moved Cher and many others to tears.
Below are two videos. I'm doing that because Lambert wasn't the first person to strip down and slow down "Believe." In 2016, a contestant on "Britain's Got Talent,"Jasmine Elcock, who was only 14 years old at the time, did an even more outstanding job with "Believe" than Lambert, if you can believe that.
First video is Lambert's, second is Elcock's. Which one do you like better?
A new Christmas ad from Apple is one of the better ones this year.
Most everyone who knows me understands that I'm not all that into Christmas.
I'm especially not into the constant onslaught of holiday ads, most of which are stupid, a waste of time, and just harangue you to buy, buy, buy.
The unmistakable message in these ads is you are a horrible person if you don't buy the perfect material gift. If you don't make Christmas memorable and perfect for everybody, you're a failure.
Some ads are better. At least they try to give an uplifting message. Like this year's offerings from Apple and John Lewis, the British retailer. Yes, the purpose of the ads is to get you to buy Apple products and merchandise from John Lewis. Bur they do seem to go beyond the consumerist intent and remind us there are other things to think about.
First, I'll tackle the Apple ad, then get into John Lewis/Elton John, which I have more mixed feelings about.
In the Apple ad, I nice Pixar-like production called "Share Your Gifts," a young woman is seen in her apartment with her dog, writing or creating art on her Apple laptop, printing the work out, then being bitterly disappointed in her talent and stuffing the papers into a box.
The young woman is obviously creative and bright, but fears sharing her talent with anybody. Maybe they won't like it. Maybe they'll think her talent is stupid or something.
The dog finally takes matters into his own hands, pushing the apartment window open and sending the papers from the box flying out into the gusty, snowy city where they live.
The woman frantically runs outside trying to collect the papers, but to her horror, they blow onto the clothes and into the hand of passersby. Those passersby look at what's on the papers, and their reactions are completely different from what she expected.
The soundtrack makes the ad complete. It's the marvelous song "Come Out and Play" byBillie Ellish.
Here's the ad
Every year, John Lewis, the British retailer, releases an elaborate Christmas season ad meant to touch everybody who sees it.
Some bah-humbugs usually hate them. I'm personally not fond of the Christmas season, so I skew to the bah-humbug crowd. Still, a good ad is a good ad, so I do get all verklempt if the ad touches all the right emotional buttons.
Elton John is the subject of this year's John Lewis Christmas ad.
Usually,John Lewis comes through. This year, I have mixed emotions. The ad this year is certainly touching. And it involves Elton John. I've always been a big fan of his. Ever since I was a little kid.
This year's ad shows Elton John, this year, sitting at a little piano in a modest living room lit up with a Christmas tree.
The piano, we think, is probably one he got as a young kid. It shows him playing three notes, then launching into the familiar chords of "Your Song." He's been through a lot, and at age 71, the ad does not mask the time that has passed.
The ad then journeys backwards through Sir Elton John's life. It goes through recent concerts, his wild days as the ultimate international star in the 1970s, back to when he recorded that beautiful love tune "Your Song," which basically launched his career. Then we see him in small clubs, wowing people with his talent.
It goes back further, with a very young Elton performing at an elementary school recital, with his confident, encouraging mom in the audience. Then it goes back further, on Christmas morning, when he unwraps the piano his mother gave him.
As a toddler, Elton looks at the piano, and plays three simple notes. Then we go back to present-day Elton, and he plays those same three notes, looking wistful and emotional, wistful and grateful.
The reason I have mixed emotions over this ad, is I just hate how companies these days stretch to find "synergy" with current pop moments, with the cooperation with current pop stars. Elton John is on his big farewell tour currently.
It looks like John Lewis is hanging its pitch on this current pop moment, and Elton John is promoting his tour by hooking up with some big retailer.
Still, the ad is touching and to be honest, it does have a great message. The tagline at the end of the ad says, "Some gifts are more than just a gift."
No pressure here. It looks like John Lewis expects you to buy your loved ones something as life-changing as that piano Elton John got as a little kid.
But still. I can think of numerous things that kind people have done for me over the years. On the surface, those nice gestures were no big deal. It might have been a thoughtful compliment, a supportive word when I was down, a joke when I needed it
The people who did these things for me probably don't even remember them. But they had a profound influence on my life. Maybe not as big as Elton John's piano, but significant enough. I'll always cherish and remember those giving, warm moments people gave me.
I'm sure we've all had the benefit of these random moments people gave is that helped us so much. I also hope that I've done things that, however subtlely, changed the direction of someone's life. I bet you hope that, too.
I hate the Christmas season because of the manufactured pressure to give the perfect gift, decorate just perfectly, and just be shallow consumers.
The John Lewis ad does expects us to engage in that superficial buying to create some commercial idea of a "perfect" holiday. The part of our modern Christmas culture that I hate.
But I hope the ad, intentionally or not, also encourages us to dig deep, or maybe not so deep. Perhaps just a kind word. A compliment to somebody who thinks they don't deserve it. Or even just a smile in the long, boisterous line at the big box store.
You never know what just a mellow, friendly, brief gesture can do to a person. That person's life.
Anyway, you be the judge. Here's that John Lewis/Elton John ad. Tell me what you think:
The remains of a Turkish mansion after an out of control ship hit it in the Bosphorus Straight.
Sometimes, things just don't go right during a day on the job.
Lately, quite a few people have had that happen in a huge way.
A lot of what you are about to see look like at least potentially fireable offenses. So keep checking out this post every time you make a mistake at work.
It could always be worse.
First, we go to Denmark, where it was time to demolish an old silo. It was all set up. The giant silo would come down, and tilt to the right and crash into an open lot.
Bummer. The damn thing tilted to the left. Where, of course, there was a building in the way. Part of the silo landed on a library and cultural center.While that building was badly damaged, most of the books inside were saved, even though they were covered in dust.
Watch:
Next, we go to the Bophorus Straight near Instabul, Turkey, where, unfortunatly, a ship's rudder recently failed.
Not after the ship hit it. It was quite an impact, as you can see from the video below. Luckily no injuries were reported
Now we go to our nice close neighbors in Montreal, where, on an icy day in early April, the cargo hold of a truck lifted up as it sped along Highway 40. Nobody is sure why yet, but it sure led to a dramatic crash into a pedestrian bridge
The load of corn went everywhere, and a motorist nearby filmed the whole thing.
Strang truck mishaps seem to be an epidemic. A truck loaded with empty beer kegs plunged off a Pennsylvania overpass recently, spilling the kegs all over Interstate 95and forcing a temporary closure of one of the world's busiest highways.
Then there's the famous 11 foot, eight inch bridgein North Carolina, which continues to claim the lives of many trucks which are too tall for the low overpass. Despite numerous safety measures and warnings that have been installed there over the years, trucks continue to hit the railroad bridge.
Yeah, people are stupid.
Here's the Montreal crash
Finally, this is what happens when a car stalls out on a California freeway. This video was taken a couple months back.Yikes!
In their never ending quest to be as stupid as humanly possible, some teens and adults are eating Tide Pods, apparently because it's funny on YouTube, or something.
Teenagers and some adults are always finding creative ways to be stupid, get sick and endanger themselves.
The latest seems to be the Tide Pod Challenge. Please don't be stupid enough to try this at home.
Tide Pods are those brightly colored little balls of concentrated laundry detergent Tide puts out. It's supposedly easier and less messy than pouring laundry powder or liquid into the washing machine.
Whatever.
First, there was the concern that little toddlers were starting to eat them because they look like candy. Understandable. A three year old doesn't know better, so best to keep the Tide pods up on the high shelf, away from curious little hands.
But teens, some of whom are always looking for fame and fortune and internet clicks on YouTube, have taken up the Tide Pod Challenge. On camera, they bite into and chew and grimmace eating these things.
In case you don't already know this, laundry detergent is great if you want clean clothes. It's dangerous if you eat it. Duh!
Swallowing even a small amount of the detergent causes vomiting and diarrhea, and it can get into the lungs to really cause breathing difficulties. Plus, not everybody knows if they have underlying health problems, which can make illness from this worse.
Just this month the American Association of Poison Control Centers has reported 37 incidents of exposure to Tide Pods among teens, and at least half of those were intentional,says the Chicago Tribune.
It might now be hard to find Tide Pod Challenges on YouTube, because YouTube is wisely pulling them off the internet. You don't want more copycats than there already are.
Christmas carols are MUCH better after having been run through Google Translate a couple times.
A fun trend on YouTube and elsewhere is to use Google Translate and convert song words in English to some other language and back to English again, with hilarious results.
Tis the season, so here's a couple videos that will let you know what I'm talking about, using holiday music. They're great time wasters, and I must say, the Google Translate versions of Christmas songs are a vast improvement over the original.
She has a great voice, but the translations to the songs are hilarious. My favorite part is one of the songs gets into Saudi Arabian monetary policy. Who knew Saudi Arabian financial rules make sentimental holiday wishes. After this video, I got another one, below this:
Next, we have a very recent episode of Jimmy Fallon teaming up with Rebel Wilson to do Google Translate versions of other Christmas songs. In "Deck the Halls," we learn that ancient sparrows fight with Carol. (I don't know who Carol is or why the old sparrows are mad at her.)
Oh, and "Walking In A Winter Wonderland" becomes much better, with an awesome new name: "I Ran Through The Land Of Cold Unknowns" Here it is:
The kids came in during the Skype interview and the expert's wife frantically came in and scooted the kids out of the room while the BBC interview continued.
The viral video was funny, in that both the BBC reporter and the Korea expert unflappably continued the interview.
A nearly-as-viral video has surfaced that imagines how things would have worked out had the expert on Korean been a woman and how she would have managed various interruptions.
In the parody, the woman calmly explains the Korean political crisis to a BBC reporter while attending to the kids, cooking a turkey, cleaning a toilet, even defusing a bomb.
I think some busy women, and the men in their lives might relate:
If things aren't going your way today, just watch the two videos in this post to know that things could be worse.
The first is a giant spool of cable that got loose on a Pennsylvania highway in the past couple of days. Luckily, it didn't hit any cars and nobody got hurt, but whoever owns the truck or the spool certainly had a bad day:
The next is a video out of England, where somebody tried to lift a fat tire bike over a fence but accidentally dropped the bike.
It turned out to be an electric fence, so here's three minutes of comedy gold as the guys try to free the bike from the electrified fence. Note: Definitely some NSFW language in this clip!
This woman went on an epic 45-minute pro-Trump rant
after a Michael's craft store had the gall to charge
her $1 for a reusable shopping bag
There seems to be an, um, delightful trend among fans of Donald Trump:
A few of them are engaging in incredible, hugely embarrassing pro-Donald Trump rants in which they revel in the Donald's victory, whine about supposedly anti-white discrimination and pride themselves at being allegedly on top of the heap.
Except these people are at the bottom of the heap, given the derision, and punishment these ranters and ravers get.
Then there was the woman who ranted exhaustively for 45 minutes about the anti-white discrimination against her because some black store clerks charged her $1.00 for a reusable store bag Never mind that the clerks in question were charging everyone, regardless of race, creed, sexual orientation, age or whatnot.
If you can stand it, I've posted a couple of the videos of the rants at the bottom of this post. It's actually fun to laugh at how unhinged these people are.
I love the stupidity of these people. Trump won, the "logic" goes, so they have free rein to spout whatever nonsense they can. Finally! A chance for revenge against the blacks/illegal immigrants/Muslims/gays/liberals that oppressed us all these years!
The ranters forget that there are still repercussions for what they do..They get their 15 minute of internet fame, but instead of fun, they're exposed as fools.
This guy is banned for life from flying on Delta
because of his obnoxious Trump rant aboard
one of Delta's planes recently.
Some of them go on to complain how "discriminated" against they are. The Florida Starbucks ranter, David Sanguesa, said he was having a "bad day" when he ranted, but was still angry at Starbucks
According to the Miami Herald, Sanguesa had this to say about supposed bias against him because he's a white Trump supporter:
"My attorneys want to file a lawsuit. No one saw the first part of the video. I was completely done wrong. I was racially discriminated against. I was refused service. I was wrong to get upset, but I was racially discriminated against. She wouldn't serve me.....She knew I was a Trump supporter and wouldn't give me coffee."
No, actually, they wouldn't serve you because you were being a jerk and bothering everybody else. It's really still OK in America to discriminate against morons like you, Mr. Sanguesa.
Oh, and by the way, the First Amendment still says the government can't tell you what to say and what not to say. But private companies, including your employer? They can pretty much do what they want.
Surprise! Your free speech rights don't, er, Trump our free speech rights to call you out as an idiot.
Take the incident at a Floor and Decor store in Colorado. A gay man named James Shawlin and his four year old son went into the store and were given permission by a clerk to look through boxes of stonework samples to determine which one he wanted to buy.
A store manager came up and rebuked Shawlin for looking in the boxes, and Shawlin basically said, "Geez don't treat me this way. My husband and I spend a lot of money in this store."
That set off the store manager. The manager called Shawlin "the faggot that voted for Hillary," and another customer chimed in to bully Shawlin.
Naturally, Shawlin took to social media to note this incident, and Floor and Decor quickly fired the store manager. I guess Trump wasn't able to keep that store manager's job, huh? So much for job creation.
Delta has since banned the idiot from flying Delta. For life. And Delta gave full refunds to all the other passengers on the flight who were subject to the Trump moron.
Sometimes, the rants are a work of art. The woman in Chicago went on for 45 minutes (!!!!!) about how she is discriminated against because she's a white Trump supporter.
This happened at a Michael's craft store. It's remarkable in the video how calm and professional the store clerk and manager sounded as this woman went on, and on and on.
"And I voted for Trump! So there! What, you want to kick me out because of that!" the Chicago unhinged woman yells. "And look who won! And look who won! And look who won!"
You didn't, lady. You've become a national laughingstock, upper management at Michael's congratulated the store workers for their professionalism, and other witnesses stood up in support of the employees.
This Trump fan really went off the rails at an Arizona
Trump rally, giving him his second 15 minutes of fame.
Social media is rattling around the past couple of days with the idiot at a Phoenix Donald Trump rally who informed the press at the gathering they were the enemy, and starting chanting "Jew S.A" while making anti-semetic hand gestures.
He was dressed "fashionably" in a Hillary For Prison t-shirt.
Of course, everybody thinks this guy is an idiot, and he is. And he was too stupid to think that the media against which he was railing would have cameras. Imagine! Television reports with camera crews. And print reporters with cell phones equipped with cameras!
What is this world coming to?
The man, identified by the Arizona Republic as George Lindell, wasn't even getting solace from the Trump camp.
Trump campaign managerKellyanne Conway had this to say about the guy while being interviewed on CNN: "(The man's) conduct is completely unacceptable and does not reflect our campaign or our candidate. Wow.....That man's conduct was deplorable. And had I been there I would have asked security to remove him immediately."
Yeah, Conway used Hillary Clinton's word, "deplorable." So you know the guy was bad.
However, now he's gone viral in a different way, just like some other whack jobs out there who have to face their families, employers and acquaintences with their shameful behavior. Like the woman who just voted for Trump twice, because "the system is rigged against Trump."
So she tried in her own little way to rig the election in his favor. But isn't Trump supposedly against election rigging? I think this woman is confused.
But maybe they're not ashamed, who knows? But they've gotten their 15 minutes of fame, and I'm sure everybody is proud.
The Trump campaign should have done more to at least try to tamp these extreme Trump fan boys and girls down, because it contributes to the caricature of Trump voters as mentally unbalanced racists who are resistant to the idea of a functioning democracy in favor of some weird authoritarian mess.
Trump supporters are usually characterized in the media as being mostly struggling white working class, uneducated people, but I got a surprise when listening toNPR's On The Media the other day.
It turns out the average Trump supporter has a higher income and a somewhat greater percentage of them have a college education than the average Clinton supporter.
Go figure.
But, we will always be entertained by the side shows of a few Trump fans going off the rails. I guess we need the distraction of sorts.
If you can stand it, here's the video of that idiot at the Arizona Trump rally:
Florida Gov. Rick Scott, bald guy on the far left of
this photo, being berated in a Starbucks by Cara
Jennings, in the green shirt. Scott's people
later released an attack an against Jennings.
The other day, Florida Gov. Rick Scott went to a Starbucks to get a coffee.
While he was there, a woman started yelling at him for what she said was a terrible job he is doing as governor, how he's screwing low income residents, that he's a jerk and an "embarassment to the state"
Based on the evidence, the woman might well be right, but still, it was kinda rude of her to cause a scene when the gov was just trying to get a simple cup of coffee for crissakes.
Especially since she yelled at the gov that he is a, quote, "asshole."
The video of this incident went viral, so a lot of people saw it. Most normal politicians, if there is such a thing, would have let it go by, and the whole thing would have quickly been forgotten.
But Gov. Scott, Important Man that he is can't let it go. How dare somebody insult the Exalted Governor Of Florida!
So, in a very Trumpian move, he, or at least his political action committee, quickly issued an attack ad against this woman, reports The Hill.
Both the original video of the woman yelling at Scott, and Scott's response attack ad are at the bottom of this post for your viewing pleasure.
The governor's ad, up on Scott's official YouTube channel, pulls no punches. 'Well, that woman clearly has a problem, and it turns out she's a former government official who refused to recite the Pledge of Allegiance and calls herself an anarchist!"
Ooooh! She won't recite the Pledge of Allegiance! That automatically disqualifies her for expressing her First Amendment rights. Especially since her First Amendment exercise was demonstratively rude!
Will we have another Donald Trump in Rick Scott? Trump thinks Megyn Kelly of Fox News insulted him during a Republican debate last year and he still can't let it go. Will Rick Scott forever hold a smoldering, hateful grudge against the woman in Starbucks for preventing him from enjoying that All Important cup of coffee?
The woman in the video is Cara Jennings, who told the Florida Sun-Sentinel she's a bit perplexed about why the goverorn would release a video attacking a private citizen.
"So I guess he doesn't want to meet me for coffee?" she asked.
Um, probably not.
I just hope Rick Scott won't make an attack ad against me now because I'm criticizing him. Hey Ricky! (Can I call you Ricky?) I promise not to call you an off-color name.
I'll just call you way, wayy too sensitive. Sorry you got your feelings hurt.
Maybe Jennings can make a retaliatory attack ad against Rick Scott. Won't that be fun!
Here's the original viral video of Jennings yelling at the governor:
And here's the attack ad against Jennings from the governor's camp:
Bostick knows dogs need activity and fun, so he likes to take them to a nearby creek. But how to get them there.
Well, all aboard the doggie train! Here's the video from 2013, and then there's one more great doggie video to share after that:
In the other bit, a man named Scott Moore said at first, he kept his new baby away from beagle, named Buddy, because he didn't want either to get hurt.
Welcome to 2020, and say goodbye to 2019.
