The Hodge Podge of Fall 2024

Over the course of this past week, I have received an unusual collection of emails and also stumbled upon some statistics that I found very interesting.

So, instead of putting together a column for this week focused on one specific topic centering on the world of entertainment, I wanted to share these items with our readers, and I hope you will indulge me.

1. The Golden Globe Nominations were announced today, and – no big surprise – nearly every single nominee is from a streaming service with only a few from cable networks and only two from one of the five major networks. This isn’t anything new, mind you, but just a further indication that if the major networks have any hope of holding onto their deeply diminishing viewership, they need to do something, anything to bring back a small glimpse of their former glory or it just might be time to throw in the towel.

Photo Credit: DeviantArt by GeorgiiG

2. Pop star Taylor Swift ended her 21-month, 149-date worldwide concert tour on Sunday night, and broke records in doing so. Her Eras Tour will now go into the record books as pop history’s first $2 BILLION tour. Yep, just a measly 2 Billion Dollars! Or to be precise her stadium tour grossed $2,077,618,725 “based on a total sold-out attendance of 10,168,008.” The only other tour that has officially crossed the $1 Billion mark was Coldplay’s Music of the Spheres World Tour, which reached that dollar amount after 2 ½ years of shows.

3. On Saturday, December 14, the first-ever National SISMAS Day, a brand-new holiday will be celebrated. What is this holiday you ask? Well, it’s “a day to celebrate sisterhood and friendship in the heart of the holiday season.” Founded by Simone I. Smith – who happens to be the wife of hip-hop legend and TV star LL Cool J – SISMAS is a “heartfelt tribute to the unbreakable bonds between women; it’s about coming together to host festive gatherings, share unforgettable moments and create lasting memories filled with joy and connection.” If you’re interested in celebrating this new holiday, you can learn more here.

4. Are you a fan of the Hallmark movies (whether they air during the networks “Countdown to Christmas” or any other time of the year)? Then you just might want to check out the consignment site Luxanthropy, which sells clothing provided by wardrobe departments and stylists to the stars with proceeds going to one of 25 selected charities. Check out their link to see what they currently have available.

5. What social media platform(s) do you use? Are you one of the old guard who still relies on Facebook? Do you prefer to be on TikTok and/or Instagram? Maybe you like Snapchat better? Or maybe you are slowly deciding to finally leave Twitter (I flat-out refuse to use the other name for this platform)? If you’re anything like me, I recently deactivated my account at Twitter after being over there for about 14 years. And, I happily moved over to Bluesky, the fairly new social media platform that is nearly a mirror-image of Twitter. Bluesky has existed since 2019, but until February of this year, it was invitation only; and boy has it grown in 10 months’ time. As of the precise moment I was putting this week’s column together, it had 24.7 MILLION USERS and quickly growing. You can see the stat page here for yourself. Take that you know who who runs Twitter! You’ve run that platform into the ground and pissed a LOT of people off in the process and all of us are happy to be at Bluesky now. If you haven’t given it a try, I suggest that you do. You can find me over there, by the way, @ruebensramblings.bsky.social.

6. Lastly, there was this one online article that I groggily stumbled upon on my cell phone while glancing over headlines this morning before I got up to start my workday. Here is the headline: “Texas Bans Sale Of Luggage To Pregnant Women.” Now, I have to repeat that I was half-asleep when I saw this headline, but that 8-word title bolted me nearly out of bed and sent me fuming before I realized that it was being published by the folks over at The Onion. What’s The Onion, you say? They are an online publication that posts satirical stories, using, as they say, “invented names in all of its stories, EXCEPT in cases where public figures are being satirized.” Their About Us page also states this: “The Onion is not intended for readers under 18 years of age.” In this instance, perhaps that should have said readers over 50 who are half-asleep shouldn’t read until they are fully awake. You can read the article here, and if you feel like laughing, I would be careful because while this is SATIRE, it feels just a bit too close to what could potentially happen to women once a certain orange-faced “bureaucrat” gets into office in January and the real Hellscape of the new United States of America (or more to the point the New Russian Regime of DJT) takes control of all of our lives.

Until that inevitable day happens, try to enjoy the rest of your week!

Featured Image Photo Credit: Quizizz