September 4, 2022

For you edification and amusement, I've lined up 10 TikToks. Some people love them!

1. Very nice slow-motion photography.

2. This dinner makes itself.

3. AI shows "Simpsons" characters as real people.

4. You are ugly. He can help.

5. Mississippi John Hurt sings "That Lonesome Valley."

6. Buck Dancing, filmed in 1894.

7. An ocean is forming within Pakistan.

8. Teens are asked "How gay are you?"

9. An impression of a Gen Z person on their deathbed.

10. And let Ricky Gourmet help you with the overbearing heat of summer.

25 comments:

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

GenZ on their deathbed was totally unexpected.

n.n said...

Teens tend to be gay, "full of joy, merry; light-hearted, carefree" until the cows come home.

Will Cate said...

1, 3, 5.

Steph said...

I keep trying with these but wow I just don’t like Tiktok. Sorry ok I liked that John Hurt one best.

Ann Althouse said...

"I keep trying with these but wow I just don’t like Tiktok."

Would you say that you don't like short videos, or is there something about TikTok videos that makes then distinct? I'm not sure what it is other than the user experience scrolling in the app, but my posts don't involve you in that at all. Maybe you just don't agree with my taste, and if you went in there and let the algorithm figure out what it thinks you want, you would like it.

Mea Sententia said...

The self-making meal is very cool.
The flooding in Pakistan is scary to think about.

bozonomous said...

These boots are made for walking is my favorite post of all of them so far

gilbar said...

so, Global warming causes deadly droughts? right?
wait a minute..
Climate change causes massive rainfalls? do i have it Now?
It's SO CONFUSING!!

Flat Tire said...

1, 5 and 6

Buckwheathikes said...

Wherein, without watching, I attempt to discern what today's Tik Tok's are about:

1) Is that one Herr Biden's political ambitions going up in flames?

2) This one is clearly a Kraft Mac & Cheese commercial.

3) That was done years ago. BORING. (Get it. I'm AI being Homer Simpson.)

4) Nobody can help my ugly. Not even Tok Tikkers.

5) Can we get to the one where the terrorists are drowning en masse already.

6) I've seen Buck dancing, and you sir, are no Buck Dancing.

7) Finally

8) You're gay enough to be linking Tik Tok. That's how gay you are.

9) Can we see some real Gen Z's on their deathbeds already.

10) Ricky Gourmet? No. Show me how Rico Suave is helping me with my overbearing heat.

Yes, Ann, there is something about Tik Tok videos that make them distinct. They're gay, for starters. And if you're into them, then you're probably gay too. They're also a way to distract people from the real things happening around them, like the subjugation of their country by the Chinese.

But, you know, they're also like Super Gay. Which is enough.

Buckwheathikes said...

Wherein, without watching, I attempt to discern what today's Tik Tok's are about:

1) Is that one Herr Biden's political ambitions going up in flames?

2) This one is clearly a Kraft Mac & Cheese commercial.

3) That was done years ago. BORING. (Get it. I'm AI being Homer Simpson.)

4) Nobody can help my ugly. Not even Tok Tikkers.

5) Can we get to the one where the terrorists are drowning en masse already.

6) I've seen Buck dancing, and you sir, are no Buck Dancing.

7) Finally

8) You're gay enough to be linking Tik Tok. That's how gay you are.

9) Can we see some real Gen Z's on their deathbeds already.

10) Ricky Gourmet? No. Show me how Rico Suave is helping me with my overbearing heat.

Yes, Ann, there is something about Tik Tok videos that make them distinct. They're gay, for starters. And if you're into them, then you're probably gay too. They're also a way to distract people from the real things happening around them, like the subjugation of their country by the Chinese.

But, you know, they're also like Super Gay. Which is enough.

Lash LaRue said...

#5. Mississippi John Hurt knows the blues.

Saint Croix said...

1,3,5,6

high water mark in dance?

Cab Calloway and the Nicholas Brothers (1943)

Steph said...

Ann, I think it’s both- those you pick haven’t been to my taste but I also tend to not like the short burst format of tiktok. I’ve got a 12 yo (and I’m 56!) and I see how it consumes her time and I think I’ve grown to dislike it for that reason as well. I don’t have an algorithm of my own, I only look at yours (sometimes) and she shares a few here and there. I try to stay open minded!

loudogblog said...

The floods in Pakistan are just weather. When I was a kid back in the 1970s we had lots of wild weather. Then we had many decades of extremely moderate weather and now we're back to the global norm: Random wild weather in many places. It hit 103 degrees here today. Every summer we have temps over 100 degrees. But this time, the news media is screaming "GLOBAL WARMING!" My test for Global Warming is Balboa Island. When I lived there, 15 years ago, the ocean came right up to the top of the sea walls around the island during high tide. They haven't done anything to change this. I won't believe that the oceans are rising until Balboa Island floods.

Also, Cab Calloway and the Nicholas Brothers is a total classic.

effinayright said...

No, an ocean is NOT "forming" in Pakistan.

This is an annual monsoon event--except this year's inundation was exceptionally large.

Every year the floods recede. There's nothing permanent about them.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/08/31/monsoon-pakistan-flooding-explainer/


"From June through August, Pakistan has received 190 percent of its normal rainfall. July alone exceeded the total normal monsoon rainfall by about 26 percent, becoming the wettest July on record since 1961.

So it reached a level last seen 61 years ago, right?

“The seasonal low pressure systemover the south Asia region is bigger than ever penetrating into the western Pakistan up to Iran and bringing rainfall over Baluchistan province also,” Khalid said. She said the monsoonal trough, which determines the rainfall distribution over Pakistan, is farther south than normal, bringing more rains over southern Pakistan, including Sindh and Punjab."

So it's a variation from the normal, eh? What do they say when it goes the other way, and they have a famine, as Pakistan often has? Do humans get blamed for that, too?

https://www.aa.com.tr/en/pg/photo-gallery/famine-in-pakistan

"Researchers also say the exceptional rainfall is caused partly by the presence of La Niña, characterized by cooler surface water in the equatorial Pacific Ocean. The cooler water temperatures pushes the air current known as the Walker Circulation into overdrive across the Pacific Ocean and enhances monsoonal rainfall in South Asia."

So...a cyclical effect leading to cooler ocean water "enhances" monsoonal rainfall
2022 is the third consecutive year with a La Niña, which is a rare feat. But Khalid said this year has a “more intense La Niña, bringing intense and devastating monsoon.”

IOW the cooler the ocean surface water, the worse the monsoon. Whoda thunk it?

Despite these contradiction, the article goes on without specifics to implicate "climate change", at least implying that humans have some role in the floods. But would lack of water and high temperatures be blamed on "climate change"?

Of course it would.

Howard said...

Every once in awhile there's a good one but most of the tick tock videos are amateurishly craptastic lame shallow poorly produced annoying. And these are the curated ones so I can only imagine the amount of dreck that you Althouse have to Wade through to find these horribly awful nuggets.

I'm happy that you enjoy putting these lists together I have tried to like it but it's just not working for me. I appreciate the effort

Susan in Seattle said...

No. 5 then no. 1.

Fritz said...

It's a Buck Dancer's choice, my friend . . .

Freeman Hunt said...

I like your TikTok taste, so I don't like to say which ones I like because I don't want to risk altering the selections in any way.

Readering said...

Tik tok is great for things like 1, 2, 5, and 6. The Pakistan video is horrifying. The video on teens talking about their sexuality shows how much things have changed since I was a teen. Some of the others must be an acquired taste.

Nancy said...

I never go to TikTok by myself. I am happy to spend a few minutes with Ann's sample. It's like the "staff picks" table at a quirky bookstore.

Ann Althouse said...

The "how gay are you?" video was chosen to entertain some but to raise awareness in others. You should know that young people today are (or maybe) embracing this kind of idea of their sexuality. This isn't about gender identity. It's sexual orientation.

Curious George said...

"Cab Calloway and the Nicholas Brothers (1943)"

Unrehearsed? Impossible.

Sean said...

The follow up question to the teens is - have you had sex?

"Examining your sexuality is like looking at the future. Until you have tried it what do you really know? And then it is too late."
Merlin