h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Today is the Feast of the Epiphany. Among other things, no doubt, this religious festival involves Magi. Also known as Wise Men.

Oh, the irony.

How are we celebrating our epiphanies? Let us count the ways:

1. This past week, a 'tell-all' book was released about the White House - you know, the asylum where the US government houses its executive branch, Number Ten for the Hopelessly Confused. On Thursday evening, a Twitter wag posted a satirical mock-extract from said book, in which it was claimed that the current occupant of the Government Nuthouse insisted on watching 'the Gorilla Channel', and that White House staffers produced such a channel on closed-circuit television using Youtube clips of gorillas fighting.

Note that we said 'satirical'.

There were, of course, those who didn't get the satire. They retweeted this information gleefully, then were mocked with equal glee. The piece de resistance was perhaps the tweet by Netflix US reading, 'please stop calling our customer service hotline to ask if we have The Gorilla Channel'.

For some reason, the satire uproar seems to make White House supporters feel like they've won something. We will gladly give them a kewpie doll if they'll just stay off Twitter.

2. The aforementioned White House inhabitant, who is NOT busy watching The Gorilla Channel because there is no Gorilla Channel (although, perhaps, there should be), started tweeting in response to the book in question - the actual book, not the gorilla-flavoured parody.

This person, who will not be named, tweeted, 'I went from VERY successful businessman, to top T.V. Star...to President of the United States (on my first try). I think that would qualify as not smart, but genius....and a very stable genius at that'.

Whereupon 'Fredo Corleone' began trending on Twitter.

Fredo was the Corleone brother who famously shouted, 'I can handle things! I'm smart! Not like everybody says...'

All of this is going on today, 6 January, the Feast of the Epiphany.

I am having an epiphany of my own. I don't like it.



PS I spoke too soon about The Gorilla Channel. It is now streaming live on Youtube. At this moment, someone is tickling a gorilla.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAfiAUTDCW0

Alternatively, watch some Wise Men:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sX0B1XV1i2E


Or you can go all trippy with the Mediaeval Babes. They're sort of 'Sirens Meet Magi':

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TrZB74DALs

I'd if it wasn't all so serious and sad. There's been nothing else on our news all day except that damned book. And the Twitter responses... (I've never been a fan of braggers, and big red buttons belong on clowns)

I wonder how it's all going to end.

Indeed. Stay warm, avoid Twitter.

like the plague...

I reckon that channel will feature a lot more gorilla tickling than gorilla fighting. Gorillas don't really fight, they're very peaceful.

Hehe, that was my first thought, too, Willem. I suspect that neither Twitter nor the White House know this.

I think the gorillas could teach them a thing or two.

I am beginning to despair of the rapid demise of the English language. Just seen this: http://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/devos-defends-trump-would-a-moron-hire-me from someone who claims they are "Secretary of Education"

>>"My intelligence can be very intimidating", (Betsy) DeVos said. "And if Donald Trump was a moron, he would not want to be around people who are intelligenter than him."<<

, indeed. Yes, this person is in fact Secretary of Education. She's the one who thought firearms should be allowed in schools in case of bears...

However, she may not have said 'intelligenter'. That column is the Borowitz Report, which is a satire column.

She did say something about bears, though.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3xBGq3bvcQ

That is very intimidating

I think it's more behind the times...200 years ago, I'm sure grizzly bears at school were more of a problem.

Completely ran out of grizzly bears in California back in 1915.

I'm sure school got much more boring...

Don't get me wrong. I think it's intimidating that a person like Betsy DeVos can become Secretary of Education. I would have preferred a gorilla

So would we.

Aha, caught out by a satirical website. I will note the addy and remember this

"I'd if it wasn't all so serious and sad."

Yes indeed...

Thank you for the Mediaeval Baebes link, DG - We Three Kings is my favourite carol, and they do sing it superbly... I enjoyed the trip

, Sasha! I thought they had amazing voices.

You'd like Borowitz, GB - he's usually good for a laugh. But he's like all the satire columnists. If you didn't get the news report, they'll make you wonder what they're making fun of. I usually have that problem with British news.