The Underground — Issue #95
Everything you need to know about in this weekly series: President Obama drops his favorite science fiction films, the differences in different dog breeds, Planet Earth II shows off the beauty of our planet, and Mr. Rogers shows you the art of dealing with a troll.
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. President Obama wrote for Wired and named his essential Sci-Fi films/series.
Watching Obama on television now is becoming more and more depressing when you remember that the election is a complete joke. We have to savor as much of him as we can before it could turn into a nightmare or a passable mess that we can put up with. Obama took to Wired and introduced his essential science fiction films/series’, and they do not disappoint:
- 2001: A Space Odyssey
- Blade Runner
- Close Encounters of the Third Kind
- Star Wars: A New Hope
- Star Trek (The Original Series)
- The Martian
- The Matrix
- Cosmos: A Personal Voyage
I’m going to have to agree with all of these. From the older to the newer, Obama really knows his science fiction stuff. Even though Cosmos is science, I will allow it to be on the list because it did throw some hypothetical theory out there when it came out. I can also imagine that the conspiracy idiots out there will look at this list and think it’s some sort of indirect message about aliens or something. Let’s be honest here, people: aliens want nothing to do with us. Also, why the F isn’t Alien on this list?! Or The Twilight Zone?! Or CNN?!
When asked what Trump’s favorite sci-fi film was, he replied with “That scene in that movie where Sharon Stone uncrossed her legs.” Okay, that didn’t happen, but it’s not out of the realm of stuff he would say. Hillary would probably say something like, “The best sci-fi film is… Howard the Duck.” I make fun of people equally.
2. How different are the types of dogs? Dogs are the best thing on the planet. You could walk in from the worst day ever, your dog will know you are feeling bad, and they will jump to your side to be there because they’re really the best friend of man… whereas a cat will not notice you and probably sleep under the bed for 17 hours.
There have been a lot of things said about the different breeds of dogs. Things like the Golden Retriever is the most loyal dog, the Corgi is the cutest dog, and the Jack Russell Terrier should be thrown of a tall building. It’s all subjective, but the video below goes into detail about how different dogs are from each other. I know it may sound weird, but watching a Pug mindlessly fall down a flight of stairs will always be a breed of dog that I respect.
3. The Planet Earth II trailer is breathtaking. 10 years ago we were fortunate enough to watch a documentary series about our planet, but the BBC felt it necessary to bring the series back for another beautiful look at our planet. It’s one of those series that not only makes you marvel in what is all around us, but also makes you marvel in how the filmmakers manages to capture everything so perfectly.
This series should instill into all humans that we need to take care of the planet. Trending all over social media today was that the Great Barrier Reef was close to death because of it being bleached by warmer waters and pollution. If you need evidence of humans destroying the environment, all you have to do is look at that to be convinced. We’re talking millions of years of flourishing in the waters off of Australia, but then we come in and ruin it. Bah!
Check out the trailer below, and also remember that all of this could be gone if we don’t stop treating everything like an ashtray.
4. A troll tries to troll Mr. Rogers, but they forget that Mr. Rogers is Mr. Rogers.
I grew up watching Mr. Rogers on PBS. He’s who you want your kids to watch to know how to be a good person. There is nothing he ever did that was bad on his show or in real life (I hope. Please, no Wikileaks stuff about Mr. Rogers being into BDSM). Everything he said or did was to teach kids about being a good person.
With a good person on television trying to be helpful, you will get a troll trying to bring them down. That was the case in this episode of Mr. Rogers where he asked his fans to send him food ideas for him to try. Some unoriginal troll sent him the idea of eating a banana with a slice of cheese wrapped around it. It was an obvious act of trolling on who I consider one of the greatest people who ever lived, but Mr. Rogers ran with it. He even made it pleasant. Rogers knew he was being trolled, but that doesn’t stop him from being accepting to it.
Lesson here? Mr. Rogers will always win the day with kindness. Watch below and make your weekend a little bit better in your neighborhood.
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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