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Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, time to explain why: I’ve just found this blog thanks to a tweet from @kanter, and I love it! 

If, like me, you imagine you’re far more down with the *kids than you actually are, then you probably need to update your own mental Twitter dictionary with those acronyms you often see, but don’t understand.

TIL - Today I learned. Pretty self explanatory, often used to prefix something you’ve just learned. Usually with a humourous angle

rn - Right Now. As in, it’s happening right now.

OH - Overheard (Not Other Half, which is what I first assumed). 

..... Comment below, or tweet me at @pdarigan with the  acronyms you’d like added

   Check out the tweet here

Oxfam posted a really powerful tweet yesterday. In the space of fewer than 140 characters and an image, they managed to communicate three key things:

The remarkable support that they’re trying to provide to civilians in Yemen,

The very serious difficulties they face,

Their commitment to battling  on, despite the challenges.

The fact that Oxfam are committed to delivering support in tough conditions probably won’t be news to any of us,  but their choice of imagery, juxtaposing the ordinary (we’ve all sworn under our breath when we get home to find a card from the postie) with the extraordinary is what makes this so affecting.

A failed postal delivery normally means an extra day waiting  for re-delivery or a trip to the depot for us to pick up our latest merch from Amazon, but failed aid deliveries cost lives.  

Oxfam aren’t the first to try this juxtaposition, we saw a number of charities ‘news jack’ the tube strikes in April 2014. these examples from Save the Children and Leonard Cheshire particularly stand out:  

Check out Save’s tweet here

Check out LCD’s tweet here

Oxfam could have used images of prone, starving victims, without agency and waiting for white saviours, but they didn’t. I’m not going to cover the reasons why that’s important. The reasons demand much more care, attention, space and critique than I’m capable of providing, but you could start reading up on them with these two pieces:

Media Diversified -  Charity, Philanthropy and Media Stereotypes: Africa’s new colonialists?

BBC News -  Africa image harming aid effort, says charity Oxfam

Too often promoted tweets can be a little on the downside, running with the same tired old clickbait,  or discounts codes.

It’s rare that one makes you smile, but Walkers Crisps made em smile with this one:

There’s a 1 in 6 chance that… LUNCH IS ON US #freelunch #canthelpbutsmile http://t.co/g6WSRL0gVH https://t.co/wJkGJ1nRxy

If this is an example of  a modern feminist film, give me more!

Pic from The Poke, Mad Max Poster Improved with DailyMail Comments

The film was gut-busting, tense, coarse, sweaty. It had it’s fair share of CGI and remarkable feats, but as Mark Harris writes in his piece Artisanal Macho: The Clash of Action Stylings in ‘Avengers’ and ‘Mad Max’:

The vibe of Avengers: Age of Ultron is “No sweat, we’ve got this” — a tone that was set with Robert Downey Jr.’s first appearance as Iron Man seven years ago and has been largely adhered to since... But Fury Road never, ever says “No sweat.” It sweats.    

Charlize Theron’s ass-kicking and heroic acts, in this post-apocalyptic world, were awesome. she Max’s role, the unfortunate soldier of circumstance & the driver in need of gas, turned anti-hero, need Theron. Max is a reluctant warrior, but he’s deeply emotionally flawed. He can fight, but he’s weak. Furiosa is strong. If this causes some viewers to ge their knickers in a twist, then I feel pretty sorry for them.

I’m not going to try to delve in to a feminist critique of the film - I have neither the words, knowledge nor experience to do that sort of critique justice. I know that I saw it, and I loved it. It was richer for having Theron in a strong role. Suffice to say, give me more!

Give me more strong female characters in action films.

Give me a lead woman that doesn’t need to get funky with the lead man, on the pretext of a dodgy love/lust angle, before the end of a film. 

“ Whether you’re fairly new to social media or consider yourself an ‘old hat’, here are some little-known social media features you’ve probably never heard of. The secret’s out… “

An actual MP replies. An actual MP, who gets to vote on laws. (@davidschneider) pic.twitter.com/k1w6SxoWyr

Save do some really interesting things, and I’ve been impressed by them again with the Grand Designs / McCloud tie-in for Den Day!

Had a cracking email from Pop-up Screens hit my inbox earlier, promoting their Science Flicktion series. You can read it here, but first, check out some of the awesome artwork that accompanied it!

Alien

Apollo 13

Terminator 2

Shaun of the Dead

Good Will Hunting