The Underground — Issue #25
Everything you need to know about in this weekly series: An adult animated comedy that you need to watch immediately, how history inspired one of the biggest shows on television, a city built from scratch, what would happen if you starved to death, a must-have gadget, and the backlash against the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
At Social Underground we go beyond the mainstream stuff and see what’s underneath the surface. What should we get into, listen to, read, eat or watch? If there is something in our culture that needs attention that’s our job: Show you the underground things that you need to know about: Books, music, television, movies, comedians, art, and whatever else we can find to get you into something you never knew about. That’s The Underground.
1. Rick and Morty is the adult animated comedy that will have you crying with laughter. Usually, when friends tell me about something that I need to watch, I often shrug it off because if I haven’t heard about it, it’s probably not that good. My stupidity aside, this show is hilarious. It’s like a take on the relationship between Doc and Marty McFly in Back to the Future, but wackier, more absurd, and filled with random adult humor.
You may have seen the cartoon featured in one of the most recent Simpsons couch gags and had no idea what was going on. The show is instantly as hilarious as the couch gag, and since it’s on Adult Swim, they can get away with a lot of crude humor and not have to worry about censoring humor for children.
You can check out the second season premiere of Rick and Morty on Sunday July 26th.
2. Check out this TED video that explains the history that inspired Game of Thrones. If you’ve been watching the show/reading the books, you’ll notice a load of interesting scenes that were actually inspired by real-life history. When you write fiction, you tend to borrow elements of history that humanity has gone through to make it feel realistic. George R.R. Martin did exactly that and it’s quite evident after watching this video that he did a lot of it. What is more crazy than rape and beheadings than our history (or present)?
Check out the video below, then tell your friends about it to make you seem knowledgeable about history.
3. Saudi Arabia is going to build a $100 billion city from scratch by 2035. It sounds unlikely to actually happen, but when you’re a super rich country that banks on selling liquid dinosaurs, you can probably pull it off if you have 20 years and a poor humanitarian record on pretty much every level imaginable.
The unusual business model of the city, literally built from scratch, required adjustments in the beginning, and the first phase was the hardest point, Fahd al-Rasheed, the Group CEO of Emaar Economic City (EEC), said in an interview with the Associated Press.
“Putting that first phase together is the most difficult point,” he said on the sidelines of a regional conference of the World Economic Forum hosted by Jordan on Friday. “Once you figure it out, the sky is the limit, so we are in that phase now.”
EEC is a subsidiary of the Emirati Emaar Properties that built the world’s tallest building Burj Khalifa in Dubai.“We are obviously creating a product that people want to invest in, and we are creating enough value that we can make profit,” he said, adding that the company has shown 20-30 percent growth in revenues for the past five years. He said the project is part of Saudi Arabia’s efforts to create jobs and thus “diversify away from oil.” (Via)
What stuck out in his quote is that they are looking to the future to diversify away from oil. I believe that is a hint towards the ever present realization of them realizing that we have hit peak oil. Peak oil is the point in time when the maximum rate of extraction of petroleum is reached, after which the rate of production is expected to enter terminal decline.
What will happen if peak oil is ever announced? Well, that is when everyone realizes that we should’ve put more effort into alternative energy. Saudi Arabia’s big announcement that they are building a $100 billion city from scratch to create jobs that’s distant from the oil business is a big tell.
4. Why does the human body need food, and what happens when you stop eating? As an American in a metropolitan area, I can’t go to any intersection without there being a McDonald’s or some other food place on the corner. So, if I have a dollar, I could probably get a “chicken” sandwich at any point in time. But, what happens when I simply stop eating?
This video breaks it down (get it?) and tells you what happens when your body stops getting food and how it responds.
5. The Rerii Swiss Knife Shape Multifunctional USB Cable 30 Pin, 8 Pin, Micro USB 3 in 1 Key USB cable with Folding Design for Apple 8 pin, 30 Pin Device and Micro USB ports Device is the Swiss Army Knife for nerds.
When you use as much tech as possible, it’s helpful to have a tool that can be used with it. The Rerii Swiss Knife Shape Multifunctional is what a modern tech person needs to have on them at all times. What does this little gadget have to offer?
- Charging and Sync Date Transferring for Apple 30 pin, 8 pin device and Micro USB port products
- Can be hung on a keychain
- With a switch and LED light to choose the right function
- Folding design: Very easy for taking, Easily charging from your laptop or igloon USB wall charger
The best part is that it’s under $10. That’s definitely within the range of the impulse buy zone. Throw this bad boy on your keychain and you’re ready if you’re on the road.
Head over to Amazon to pick yourself up on of these clever things.
6. The Internet is having fun at the expense of the clusterf*ck that is the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. If you have been living under a rock and haven’t heard of the human rights abuses in Qatar, you probably should. And if you are living under a rock, you probably are working on building stadiums in Qatar.
Before diving into the shame that Internet users are putting on corporate sponsors, here is a quick overview of why having the World Cup in Qatar is baffling in its idiocy:
- Rampant corruption
- An estimated 4,000 people will have died during construction (900 people have died already)
- High temperatures that can hit 120 degrees (bad for players and fans to sit in)
- Qatar has a population of 2 million. How are 1 million estimated fans going to go there?
- Slave labor. Literal, not figurative, slave labor
- You can’t do anything homosexual
- The change to January for the World Cup will screw up all the European leagues schedules
Sounds like fun, eh? It is going to be a pathetic display for everyone involved. That’s why the Internet took them to task by shaming the companies that are “proud to support” the World Cup being in Qatar:
Expect this to get even worse over the next few years. I dislike having to boycott my favorite event that happens every 4 years, but having the World Cup in Qatar is one of the dumbest ideas that FIFA has ever allowed to happen… and FIFA is pretty dumb.
FOLLOW JEFF SORENSEN ON TWITTER
Jeff Sorensen is an author, writer and occasional comedian living in Detroit, Michigan. You can look for more of his work on The Huffington Post, UPROXX, BGR and by just looking up his name.
Contact: jeff@socialunderground.com