Jim Flanigan Looks at the World
Turning the Mundane into Fundane Since 2015
I’m always surprised when I get an unsolicited Facebook friend request from someone I don’t know. I don’t accept all friend requests, but I do accept a few when I see we have mutual friends who I trust. Well, not all of them work out.
I was mildly interested to see this new Facebook friend is into weight loss.
Hey, me, too! I even have my own diet. We do have something in common. But why was this post in my notifications? Oh, right, this is why.
Continue reading “Facebook Friend Fat Fail”
I received this notification from Facebook.
I was hoping that Street Sweepers was a band or a political organization or anything other than this …
Continue reading “Facebook Hates Me”
Why Republicans support Trump has confounded me over the past 4 years. Seemingly intelligent family and friends blindly follow Trump regardless of what idiocy he spouts or does. It is truly bewildering. But I’ve finally solved the mystery, thanks to Facebook.
I noticed this Facebook challenge that one of my Facebook friends did.
That Facebook friend is a staunch Democrat, hence the blue D. Okay, I’ll admit it. 24 is not the correct answer. There are 18 triangles. How can I be sure? I used to be a math major in college, I’m an annoying smarty-pants, and in my spare time, I enjoy looking at brightly colored geometric shapes for hours on end. 18 is the correct answer.
Now take a look at how a loyal Republican answered.
Continue reading “Why Do Republicans Support Trump? Mystery Solved!”
After yesterday’s Part 1 post, I am sure that most readers would have preferred if I had taken the Tide Pod challenge to eliminate any possibility of a Part 2. Sorry, but here it is. Let’s get right into another 6 albums that shaped my musical landscape.
Before Steely Dan fans stone me, I know this is not their best album. But it was the Dan album that caught my attention with the funk of “Kid Charlemagne” and opened my eyes and ears to their whole catalog. No regrets. Listening to Steely Dan has helped refine my musical sensibilities.
I regret I never saw them in concert. Walter Becker has now passed away, but Donald Fagen is still touring as Steely Dan. I don’t feel good about that. I think he should tour as Donald Fagen or Steely or Dan, but not Steely Dan. RIP Walter.
Now this next guy looks out of place on this album cover …
Continue reading “My Non-Tide Pod Facebook Challenge, Part 2”
Finally, I received a Facebook challenge that didn’t require me to eat a Tide Pod or dump a bucket of ice over my head or eat ice or dump a bucket of Tide Pods over my head. One of my nieces who will remain nameless to protect her anonymity challenged me to name 10 albums that influenced my musical tastes. Thanks a lot, Karen. I am supposed to offer 1 album a day over 10 days, but I fear that between my short attention span and memory loss, I won’t make it past 2 days. So, I am going to offer 6 albums a day for 2 days. I know what you’re thinking. Math? 6 x 2 = 12, not 10. Consider it coloring outside the lines and refusing to make hard decisions. Oh, I am also not supposed to comment on them. Well, that’s not happening. So, here are the first 6 in no particular order with full commentary.
Okay, so I lied. London Calling is the most influential album for me, hands down. The sprawling musical genres and styles contained within this masterful double album greatly expanded my musical horizon. It’s an album that still sounds fresh and timeless to me when I listen to it today. I regret I never saw The Clash in concert, but one of my bosses went to see them (I’m recalling at the Aragon Brawlroom maybe?) and was thrilled when they spat upon him. Good times.
Okay, now the rest will be in totally random order …
Continue reading “My Non-Tide Pod Facebook Challenge, Part 1”
I have purged my Facebook successfully of all ridiculous, right wing, conspiracy theory posts. I just don’t see them anymore. I now see all sorts of cute kitty and animal videos.
Now there’s a clickbait gif if I ever saw it. I still get new Facebook friend requests daily from people I don’t know, but it is easy enough to delete those.
I thought Twitter would be better than Facebook. Then I see a tweet like this …
Last weekend, I was an active participant in democracy, and now my Facebook is all askew. I blame a billionaire who I embraced on Sunday. I never thought I would type those words, or that my Facebook would be turned topsy-turvy. I will explain …
I fear I am not a good enough friend to one particular person. I have known him since high school. We drifted apart for a few years and only saw each other at bachelor parties where I and other friends always succeeded in getting him sick drunk in some very questionable, disreputable places. Ah, memories. So at this time, your answer to the title of this blog post is probably an enthusiastic “Yes!”
We have gotten closer over the past few years, but it always seems to be me suggesting we get together, never him. We have seen some concerts together, done some bike rides, and I got him into one of my fantasy football leagues. He’s a decent man date. But then I see him posting comments like this on Facebook …
That title is just a little preview of the absurd logic used by people on social media, twisted a bit to suit my need to make a point. Of course that title is logically not correct. Yes, there are stupid people. Yes, memes are a problem these days, especially the ones created by foreigners.
I ran across a meme similar to this one on social media …
No, I don’t agree, so I didn’t share. The logic used is riddled with holes like Swiss cheese. Gee, what a surprise, another example of failed logic embraced by NRA lovers. In previous posts, we have already explored the Fallacy of the Alternative Disjunct in a post on Syrian refugees. What’s that? You don’t recall the Fallacy of the Alternative Disjunct? I warned you that there may be a test later. I suppose we can review …
If you are any sort of a rock music fan, you will recognize this blog post title as lyrics from Sympathy for the Devil by the Rolling Stones. It’s a really good song, although it did not get tagged as my favorite Stones song in this My Fave Faves post from a couple weeks ago. Yep, still trying to cross-promote posts with little success. But this is not a music blog post. It’s about one of my family members alleging that I worship Lucifer. Huh? I think we’re hosting Easter this year for the family. Could be more interesting now that that’s on the table. I’m thinking of decorating all the Easter eggs with pentagrams.
Continue reading “Pleased to meet you. Hope you guess my name.”
Republicans surprisingly offered an official response to this Facebook meme that has been going around regarding recent USA mass shootings asking people “See a pattern?”
I am very grateful to the Chicago Cubs baseball team, and I am not even a Cubs fan.
Maybe we have been given a glimpse into the future as the withering Trump Presidential campaign has launched a nightly Facebook Live 30 minute show. This may be a ghastly peek into what Trump TV will look like after the Orangetan gets clobbered in the November general election. The problem for the Trump team is not just the content, which so far is horrifying, although not any different than the normal Trump campaign speech or debate, but that there are hundreds of new Facebook Live shows launched daily that are similar in content.
I’m so tired of seeing Facebook posts challenging me to find a person’s first name that begins with O, or to find a city’s name that doesn’t have an O in it, or some other “challenge.”
I’m not sure who fired the first shot in the supposed “War on Christmas,” but I think it is over and I’m pretty sure we won. Continue reading “I Declare the War on Christmas Over!”
I feel the need to explain to all those expecting to see the American flag superimposed over Facebook profile pictures after the San Bernadino mass shooting why they don’t and shouldn’t expect to. Continue reading “The American Flag on Facebook”
Jim Flanigan Looks at the World 