Brainrot made productive
& internet's latest cravings (ft. Matthew McConaughey)
It’s Ashe on the intro. This week on the internet has required stamina (an unhealthy level of being chronically online). I mean, c’mon -
The virality, all because one interviewer asked if the Wicked co-stars knew that people online were ‘holding space’ for the lyrics of the song in the musical ‘Defying Gravity’, and people’s confusion at the reaction (and the question). The interviewer did clarify later - after a lot of undeserved hate went her way - that the question was in reference to the themes of exile in the song that LGBTQ+ people (and other minorities) might relate to.
Is it really all that humorous? No. But why is the nail hold always in my head, as I find myself asking ‘but are you holding space’ and then dramatically reacting when I have employed people activities to do? I feel like the more I start actually finding painfully internet humor funny and understanding many references, I lose a bit of self-respect.
And I’m not even talking about this one with y’all - find out yourself.
Hope you hold some space for the rest of this post.
🗞️🗞️
Kendrick Lamar dropped new album ‘GNX’ - a surprise. It’s doing amazing on the charts - not a surprise. MUSTAAAAAARD memes ensued.
SIDENOTE: Drake has filed two lawsuits against UMG regarding Kendrick’s “Not Like Us” - accusing UMG of ‘artificially inflating’ the song, and defamation.
Clean slate: Instagram will soon let you reset your recommendations & retrain the app’s algorithm about the content you enjoy.
Jaguar’s rebrand sparked massive discourse online. Some seemed to be pissed it’s got people of color in the advertisement (🙄), and others that it follows the trend of overly minimal ‘just-a-basic-font’ rebrands of many companies.
Cambridge Dictionary's word of the year isn’t brat. It’s 'manifest'.
People are desperately waiting for Spotify Wrapped 2024 - but many are worried it’s going to be an AI generated superlative clusterf-ck. Oh well.
🚨trends:
#WomenInMaleFields
The gender wars are here—at least on the internet. It kicked off with women parodying toxic male behavior under the hashtag #WomenInMaleFields. Now men clapped back with #MenInWomenFields, sharing their dating mishaps.
Celebs on Stream
The A-list celebs seem to be ‘hopping on stream’ a lot more than usual these days. Kai Cenat especially has given a platform to many celebs - from Bill Nye the Science Guy to SZA - in his recent ‘subathon’. Drake hopped on a stream with xQc (and even previously streamed himself).
Is this signalling the death of celeb culture as we know it? With the popularity of ‘relatability’ media a few years ago, this might just be next step in marketing having to creatively make us believe we’re getting a more ‘real’ (but entertaining) side to our celebs. Our verdict: celeb culture isn’t going anywhere - marketing tactics might evolve, but the traditional laudation with a removed sense of parasocial admiration will only be bolstered.
Just a Chill Guy
This meme has been delighting (or agitating) many online. The original post was from 2023 by Phillip Bankss on X (formerly Twitter), having drawn a new character who was "just a chill guy”. It’s all over feeds, even used for social media points by various companies - even inspiring a spin-off ‘chill girl’ meme. Much to the creator’s dismay, it’s now the name of a meme-coin (something, crypto, something).
The creator has now copyrighted “chill guy” to prevent its usage for crypto and for-profit unauthorized merchandize. + he’s releasing a plushie of the chill guy
PDF to Brainrot
Students have figured out the hack for tackling endless uni reading lists: pairing an automated voice reading the dry theory PDFs with oddly satisfying, ASMR-style visuals aka brainrot content (think Minecraft gameplay or close-ups of mixing paint). A whole bunch of PDF-to-brainrot tools have been rolled out such as Coconote, StudyRot, Memenome.
Micro beanies
If you’re in unfamiliar territory hunting for a decent caffeine fix, prepare to put in some extra legwork—because the long-time trusted sign of quality, a barista in a teeny beanie, has officially gone mainstream. One TikToker suggests it’s all about not blocking your oversized headphones, a theory The Guardian partially backs up by tracing the teeny beanie’s roots to maritime and military life, where rolling it up kept ears unobstructed for better hearing.
Savory Cocktails
Pickle juice, jalapeño slices, swamp martinis, and everything so dirty it’s filthy - savory drinkies are so in. We love it salty.
Drinking a bevvie that’s basically a salad dressing, broth, maybe even a stew is what the internet wants. Even Logan (the resident cold noodle/cucumber salad king) shared a blue cheese martini recipe. That seems to be the thing right now.
Maybe it’s just big martini comeback - the symbol, the vibe, the opulence of a martini rather than a specific cocktail. A Martini on the rocks is making a return too, we hear. Hailey Bieber even had a martini theme to her 28th birthday.
On the topic of martinis - Shrunken, not stirred: the mini martini is big news.
‘tappi Mac n Cheese
Tini - food creator on TikTok - re-released her mac n cheese recipe that went viral. No changes, nothing. But people are mad about everything from it needing a roux (that apparently people are burning) to the use of cavatappi pasta. They’ve even got Keith Lee - viral food reviewer - making it just to find out.
Granted, this is more of a US Thanksgiving table issue, but mac n cheese lovers around the globe are salivating.
Here’s Tini’s recipe, and a half-sized recipe.
Matthew McConaughey’s Tuna Salad
Unhinged or alright-alright-alright? McConaughey shared the recipe on an episode of podcast 2 Bears, 1 Cave. The Salad Lab recreated the recipe, blowing it up all over TikTok.
Tiktok failed to load.Enable 3rd party cookies or use another browser
we’ll see ya next time
 |
|