Chip

Dude: OK, guys, let’s assign the disasters. Hum, tsunami. Who wants the tsunami?

2004: Yeah, I’ll have the tsunami.

Dude: OK, 2004 has the tsunami. 2012, do you still want the asteroid?

2012: Nah, no need.

Dude: Cool, let’s schedule that for 2030. OK, 2020, I have-

2020: FIRES.

Dude: OK, we can do fires, no problem-

2020: NUCLEAR TENSION.

Dude: Fires and… nuclear tension?

2020: PANDEMIC.

Dude: 2020, you can’t just- just have EVERYTHING-

2020: KOBE BRYANT DIES IN A HELICOPTER ACCIDENT.

1986: Wh-who’s Kobe Bryant?

1347: Heli-what?

Dude: So, you’re asking for fires, nuclear tension, a pandemic AND the death of basketball legend in your year!?

2020: TILL MARCH.

Dude: C’mon. Guys, help me with this.

1986: I would say something, but… CHERNOBYL! Oops, am I right?

2014: At least you still have the twin towers.

2000: Wait, what do you mean?

1347: I agree that 2020 is pushing it-

1945: YOU’RE LITERALLY- You’re the high point of the Bubonic plague!

1347: Oh, much apologies, Sir TWO ATONIC BOMBS!

1945: It’s ATOMIC, you f*ing medieval-

1347: Who are you calling medieval, G.I. Joe. Go play with your-

1945: Here we go again-

2000: Now, seriously, what-

1: Y’all want BREAD?!

art by the wonderful @franshookie-art (DO NOT REPOST this image without their specific permission. check out more of their art on twitter.)

hi, all.. i know that a lot of our focus is on the BlackLivesMatter movement atm (which is wonderful and should’ve happened a long time ago), and i hate to distract you from that, but there’s something horrible happening in my country, the Philippines (yes, the one being lead by the so-called Filipino version of Donald Trump), right now.

our national government has passed a bill that’ll essentially take away our constitutional rights to freedom of speech and fair trial. it’s called the Anti-Terrorism Bill, but we’ve dubbed it Terror Bill. here’s a summary of what it entails:

if you want to read the actual bill in its entirety, here’s a link to the official Senate of the Philippines website, where you can download a pdf copy. i’d like you to keep in mind the political climate in our country, though, and just how rampant corruption and police brutality are here.

it has already been passed by the Senate; all it needs is the House of Representatives’ approval, and it will be enforced. if you want to help stop this from happening, here are a few ways:

sign and share this petition. we’re so close to 300,000 signatures!!!

send e-mails to the Office of the President and the Senate. there’s an e-mail protest currently going on. i have qualms about copy-pasting the message, but ultimately, this method is a lot more effective than petitions:

these posters were made and posted by @tentenyukki on twitter.

educate yourself about the bill and how it will affect us when it’s approved. here are some news articles, editorials, and thought pieces to get you started:

🗞 gov’t endorsing/defending the bill: 1, 2, 3, 4

🗞 reactions to the bill’s passing: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

spread the word. on social media, our tags are #JunkTerrorBill and #JunkTerrorBillNow, but don’t stop there; tell your friends and family. please. people need to know this is happening.

your help could save the lives of millions of Filipinos, and we’d really, really appreciate it. i don’t usually ask for much, but when it comes to urgent issues like this, i can’t stay silent. unlike with BLM, i can speak my truth about this because i know personally what it’s like to be a Filipino citizen and to live in the Philippines. i hope it’s heard, and we keep an ounce of what little dignity we have as a “sovereign” country and rights as a “sovereign” people.

some of you might unfollow or get mad because this isn’t strictly studyblr content, but it’s not about aesthetic right now. i need your help. we need to hurry.

“Rogue ShaWarma”

Good evening, folks, and welcome to today’s Eurovision map, which, following my usual traditions, shows what I deem - with the help of some research - to be the main lyrical content theme of each year’s song. It was certainly one of the more heterodox years when it came to what people are singing about, but as always, these can be simplified into a few key categories. Sometimes, a song can fit into more than one category, in which case I’ve gone for the one that feels more principal to me.

The first and once foremost, although not this year, is songs about positive interpersonal relations. I remember when I first started doing this map and this category comprised over half the songs - but after 2019, when all of the top 3 sang about negative ones, perhaps it’s no surprise to see this category at an almost historic low. Given the cyclical nature of ESC, perhaps one of these songs could have won - I particularly fancy the chances of Iceland’s ode of parental love, though I could also see the Mamas’ profession to do anything for their love managing a high position, especially with the juries.

The biggest category this year is songs about negative interpersonal relations, and what I find extremely striking is how many of these are found in a contiguous area in eastern and south-eastern Europe, from Belarus’ tale of forced marriage and Ukraine’s song of frustrated love down to Croatia being left behind in the autumn colours in the aftermath of a love as destructive as a wild wind, or Bulgaria’s scars and wounds.

We also have a bumper amount of songs with a motivational message or songs about overcoming difficulties, something quite apt for this sad, demotivating year. They cross Europe - from Ireland’s song about being true and what you want to be to Azerbaijan’s about standing up for yourself - but I am interested to see three little clusters of such songs: two of the three main Germanophone nations, two of the three Baltics (Latvia’s message of perseverance and Lithuania’s of not letting age define you or defer your dreams) all the Caucasian countries (yes, even Armenia, who use diamonds as a metaphor for one’s self-worth, or Georgia, whose song is ultimately about knowing your value as an individual). Some of these motivational messages veer into the realm of the self-aggrandising… but given the situation of this year, I’ve given them the benefit of the doubt.

Every year also has a handful of songs with a political, philosophical or existential message, and 2020 is no exception. Switzerland’s song is a string of rhetorical questions about our existence, Spain is a song to the universe about not using our voice, San Marino’s is all about life being too short to not be yourself, no matter how eccentric; Poland’s is about today’s politics, climate change and empires building and destroying themselves; Slovenia’s is a pretty deep reflection on the duality of nature typified by water, a source of life that can also destroy life.