The Underground — Issue #65
Everything you need to know about in this weekly series: The 10 worst shark attacks, is drinking all that caffeine every day good or bad, a little book with a lot of drinking games for you and your friends and family, and the 5 best documentaries that are on Netflix right now that you can watch instead of Breaking Bad again.
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. Here at the ten worst shark attacks that will make you even more afraid of the ocean. Sharks are so awesomely terrifying that they get an entire week of coverage every year. Shark attacks are pretty rare, but when they happen, they can be the stuff of nightmares. If you really want to see the damage a shark can do, go on to Google and do an image search. Just kidding. Don’t do that. DON’T EVER DO THAT! Pictures like that just makes me even more terrified of the ocean.
The sad reality of sharks is that humans hunt them down way more than they hunt us down. But, ever since that movie Jaws came out in the 70’s, it made everyone afraid to get into the water. I’m not afraid of sharks, but I am afraid of water and everything in the water. Screw the ocean. Let this video of the top ten worst shark attacks that will make you stand on the beach and flip the water the bird.
2. Is drinking all that caffeine every day good or bad for you?
When I used to go to the bar all the time, I would watch people order Red Bull and Vodka drinks all night. If they drink 10 drinks, they probably drank at least 8-10 Red Bull’s. Even thought the mixture of those two things has been pretty much been warned against, just how good or bad is it to drink a few cups of coffee everyday?
It seems there is a news story on television every other day telling you the benefits of caffeine or how caffeine can cause cancer. Then again, the news — especially local — warns against pretty much everything on a daily basis. The video below gives you the info you need about whether all that caffeine you drink on a daily is healthy.
I’ll leave you no spoilers from the video, but just remember that what you read about medical advice from your Aunt’s e-mail blast is probably full of sh*t.
3. The Little Book of Drinking Games will give you more options than just beer pong.
Whenever I play drinking games, they’re usually the same ol’ games like beer pong, quarters, flip cup, never have I ever, and so on, but they get boring. Sure, you get drunk and then try to hit on that who is sorta your friend, but you’ve always had a thing for her, but that’s a whole other story. This book is full of games you can play with friends when you want to try something new. If you have a fun family at Christmas, you can bring this book along or give it as a gift. It’s a great book.
Inside the book: Up the party with this heady collection of drinking games! Choose from brain-boggling classics such as Fuzzy Duck and Twenty-One or dizzying games of pure chance like “TV Drinking” and “Vodka Roulette”—whichever you play, you’re guaranteed to be gleeful and giggly by the end!
If you feel like switching things up from the games you’re used to playing, head over to Amazon and pick this up for under $10.
4. The 5 best documentaries available on Netflix.
Documentaries are the best. Movies and television can be great escapes from reality, but if you want to know about things that happened in the past and present, then documentaries are what you want to watch to soak up all of the information that you can bring up in conversation. Take a break from the History Channel talking about Hitler and aliens, and check out the 5 best documentaries that Netflix currently has to offer.
Exit Through The Gift Shop
Premise: Banksy is a graffiti artist with a global reputation whose work can be seen on walls from post-hurricane New Orleans to the separation barrier on the Palestinian West Bank. He fiercely guards his anonymity to avoid prosecution. An eccentric French shop keeper turned documentary maker attempts to locate and befriend Banksy, only to have the artist turn the camera back on its owner. Includes footage of Banksy, Shepard Fairey, Invader and many of the world’s most infamous graffiti artists at work, on walls and in interview. As Banksy describes it, “It’s basically the story of how one man set out to film the un-filmable. And failed.”
The Act of Killing
Premise: A documentary which challenges former Indonesian death-squad leaders to reenact their mass-killings in whichever cinematic genres they wish, including classic Hollywood crime scenarios and lavish musical numbers.
Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight For Freedom
Premise: A documentary on the unrest in Ukraine during 2013 and 2014, as student demonstrations supporting European integration grew into a violent revolution calling for the resignation of President Viktor F. Yanukovich.
Particle Fever
Premise: As the Large Hadron Collider is about to be launched for the first time, physicists are on the cusp of the greatest scientific discovery of all time — or perhaps their greatest failure.
Restrepo
Premise: Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington’s year dug in with the Second Platoon in one of Afghanistan’s most strategically crucial valleys reveals extraordinary insight into the surreal combination of back breaking labor, deadly firefights, and camaraderie as the soldiers painfully push back the Taliban.
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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