My Favorite Things in January
Another month brings another list of awesomeness!
Favorite things in January
SOCIAL MEDIA
The Tee Medlin saga – Twitter and Instagram
Wow. I’ve been harassed online before, but @teemedlin– I have no idea who you are, nor was I at a conference/meet-up/event w/ you 4 days ago. Lying about this is next level- also, ++ photo is from my @NewCo article I published years ago/from a conference 3 years ago. Get a life. pic.twitter.com/tk3Vc2zhLX
— Chloe Condon 🎀 (@ChloeCondon) January 11, 2019
It’s full of diabolical intrigue, double-crosses, and fake-outs, and it’s all true! This guy, Tee Medlin, posted a photo of a somewhat prominent woman in technology, saying that she was following him around at a tech conference, stalker-like. She wasn’t. The photo was one she herself posted three years prior.
As her followers dug deeper, they found that Tee Medlin had a long history of lies on his accounts, including posting a stock photo of a woman in a bikini and saying it was his girlfriend (#lovehertopieces), or a scholarly article he didn’t write, but photoshopped his byline onto to make it look like he did. The kicker: a selfie of himself and Seth Rogen’s wax statue, saying they’re at a golf tournament together. Seriously, you’ve gotta read the thread. It’s head-scratchingly absurd.
And here’s the lesson for Tee and other idiots like him: DO NOT ANGER THE NERDS! We are tenacious and inquisitive in nature, easily discovering things that had heretofore gone unnoticed.
STREAMING
American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace – Netflix
Wow, this season of American Crime Story is like poetry. It’s rare that I describe a TV show that way because it suggests a sort of lyrical beauty. Season 4 of Dexter comes to mind. Or the Gus Fring storyline of Breaking Bad. And now this
Season 1 of the show, The People v. O.J. Simpson, was compelling. I want to watch it all over again. I don’t know that I would even compare seasons 1 and 2 against each other, They’re both so good, but exist in entirely different worlds. The story of Versace and the twisted mind of Andrew Cunanan is fascinatingly told and acted.
STREAMING
Fyre Fraud – Hulu
Take your pick – watch Fyre Fraud on Hulu or watch Fyre: The Greatest Party that Never Happened on Netflix. Or do what I did and watch both. The tale of the Fyre festival is fascinating and strange. How in the world did they think they could pull something like that off?
Being in marketing, it seems even more offensive that they, their influencers, and those in charge were so misleading. The influencers have responsibility in this. The marketers, organizers, and promoters have responsibility in this. Ja Rule has responsibility in this. And Billy McFarland especially has responsibility for the debacle.
It’s almost funny to see the wealthy dude bros (male and female varieties) whine about the debacle, until realizing that they, too, were defrauded and put in a dangerous situation.
PODCAST
Broken Harts – iHeartRadio and Glamour
Oh, wow. This podcast really does leave me broken-hearted. In March 2018, two caucasian moms packed their six African-American kids into the van and drove off a cliff. All of them died.
This podcast explores the tragic story of the Hart family and what went wrong. There are a lot of things to explore here. The self-satisfied role one of the moms played on social media was a big factor. Or the public personas they cultivated. The child abuse that managed to go unchecked And the race issue can’t be ignored.
The saddest part if getting to know each of the kids through the series. They should have had the chance to grow up. The world should have had the chance to benefit from them being in it longer than they were.
SUNDRIES
Gnome-Eating Godzilla
A couple of years ago, our family friend, Seth, gave us this amazing gnome-eating Godzilla as a Christmas gift.
I love gnomes. I even have a couple of them (and badly want more). I also like to be silly. So when I saw this, I fell instantly in love with it. To this day it remains one of my favorite gifts of all time. It’s just so awesome.
