THE UNDERGROUND — ISSUE #58
Everything you need to know about in this weekly series: What it’s like to live on the International Space Station, the top space events happening in 2016, mysterious sounds that can’t be explained, and a series based on one of the greatest books ever put to paper.
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. What it’s like living on the International Space Station. When you watch the more recent films in the theater, you forget that living in space isn’t even close the living on a fiction spaceship. There is no gravity, no sex, no easy way to go to the bathroom, no easy way to sleep, no easy way to work out, and there’s pretty much nothing there easy to do. I would rather go onto one of the vomit comet planes that rise and fall to create weightlessness rather than be in space.
However, it would still be amazing to be on the ISS because duh. You’re in space, you’re doing the necessary stuff that needs to be done in zero-gravity, but you’re also up there doing some science work in the most dangerous environment imaginable. Seriously, watch any space movie that you think is “soooo realistic!” and then watch this. The video below tops it.
2. These are the top skywatching events of 2016. If you don’t have a telescope, you should probably get one. You can get one for around $250 that can still see some pretty cool stuff compared to years past. In 2016, there will be a lot of stuff to use a telescope for. One thing you don’t want to use a telescope for is a solar eclipse. I’m sure that won’t matter since most of you don’t live in or be in South-east Asia in March.
Below is a wonderful infographic that tells you every significant event happening in the skies in 2016. Some of them I had no idea about, so reading through it all made me put a bunch of reminders in my phone. It will be pretty funny when an alarm goes off and my phone reads: “Occultation of Aldebaran” on it.
3. Top 10 unexplained sounds that… no one can explain. Do you ever hear something that you can’t explain? It’s probably because you have an diagnosed brain disorder or something. Have you ever heard someone whisper your name in your house when no one is home? You’re probably just lonely. Jokes aside, these unexplained sounds are pretty damn creepy.
The more that they try to explain away the mysterious sounds with science, the more your brain will interpret it as even more creepy than it is. They say the mysterious “Bloop” noise heard underwater some years ago was probably just from a glacier or something, but I think it was Cloverfield.
4. The trailer for the must-see epic series War and Peace. From the legendary book by Leo Tolstoy comes the BBC adaptation of War and Peace. It’s probably one of the best books I have ever read, and probably one of the most daunting books anyone can read because it’s so damn long. It’s worth it, though. Once you finish the book you feel a great sense of accomplishment, but you also get overwhelmed by the historical details of the book. It’s a fictional tale based on Napoleon’s invasion of Russia, and it also gives you a lot of information about what Russia was like before the Communist takeover of the country.
Premise: By 1812, Napoleon’s forces controlled much of Europe. Russia, one of the few countries still unconquered, prepares to face Napoleon’s troops together with Austria. Among the Russian soldiers are Count Nicholas Rostov and Prince Andrei Bolkonsky. Count Pierre Bezukhov, a friend of Andrei’s and self-styled intellectual who is not interested in fighting. Pierre’s life changes when his father dies, leaving him a vast inheritance. They all face their lives changing in the face of war.
It will begin airing in the United States on January 18th. It will be simulcast across three networks: A&E, Lifetime, and History Channel. It will air in four two-hour blocks over four weeks, at 9pm ET/PT. I’ve watched the first 3 episodes and can pretty clearly say that this show will be up for all the awards.
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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