It seems that Facebook, the be-all-to-end-all spot within the social media cyberworld, isn’t what it used to be in terms of placing one’s self on the line for all to see!
A recent poll conducted by Toluna, a marketing firm geared for so-called “influencers” that exist in cyberspace to market products and/or services, asked 100 consumers in December of 2018 about the places on the ‘net that they would not trust in terms of keeping one’s information safe and secure, away from sources that may use such data for questionable, and perhaps evil purposes.
It seems that Facebook is now the least trusted company. Some 40% of those polled noted that Facebook holds the least amount of honor with it comes to keeping details safe from those that shouldn’t know those details.
Although 40% may not be a large amount from the 1000, its second place in line, Twitter and Amazon, a both tied in at 8%.
Uber, the ride hailing service, comes in next at 7% Google is cited by 6%. And Lyft, Uber’s biggest competitor, also ranks in at 6%. Apple comes in next at 4%, Microsoft, Apple’s biggest rival, comes in at 2%. Right at the very bottom of the heap is Netflix, coming in at 1%
It isn’t much of a surprise why Facebook has been ranked this bad. Within the past year, there have been reports that those outside (and perhaps inside) of the Facebook universe has been going through security breeches. Those in Russia and other places on the globe have been using this social media spot to place posts about activities and events geering to be steered toward another direction. And with those hacking away as real, imagined, or otherwise, gave those using the site a real reason to limit themselves, or just to totally back off!
This writer isn’t as surprised as well. Although we do hold a presence on the Facebook site, we don’t necessarily post anything that hasn’t been reviled on these pages on Accessibly Live Off-Line beforehand. And even thought this writer never had a personal place via Facebook, anything yours truly wanted to have others know about would also be listed through this head articles.
In fact, this same writer made a point to find out if we were able to get details from other Facebook “friends” without making any attempt to ask or prompt then to provide us with anything! Back around 2010, “a long, long, time ago” in terms of postmodern technology, we started an experiment to purposely post fake people on the site, creating a backstory for these folks that were eventually “never-weres”! We contacted others we found asking for “friendship” with these people. Soon over time, we ranked up a robust number of “friends”. We even went ahead of posting pictures (stock photos in reality) of people and events we claimed that were ours. There were people passing a real friends, relatives, family members, etc., as well as events that the fake person was involved with. In other words, we created a profile of a person and their activities that were anything but real.
Sure enough, we were able to mine some personal details of others based upon information provided by the other folks. For instance, we were able to get details of a (then) 14 year-old girl living in a small town in central Illinois, getting her address, phone number, where she went to school, etc. We also received information from others (adults mostly) that provided the same information. Again, none of this data was asked for. We just found it!
Over time, people got rather wise in listing such details. Some even went through a state to delete themselves off. A few walked away from their site, not posting anything for years! And the number of phony people we created still exist, although we did lose track of a few! And one of those people we created, a middle aged woman we called “Tiffi Purewhite” was part of a column we called “Tiffi’s Friends Say…”, that reprinted some of the comments and on-liners posted through Tifii’s 2500+ friends!
An example of that column, appearing in ALOL Vol. 17, No. 2-Week of January 9, 2012 is listed below..
I made it back safe and sound. Going to bed now.
-Paula
FYI It’s thundering and raining. Time for bed i’m tired gnite!
-Laura
Sun pm -Weekend ending. (Darn, have to work a Monday again!) Giggled over parts of the “Twilight” movie dialogue, got lots done on projects, ate at Renate’s deli, visited with Angie, read three books, good sermon on surviving tough times (like now for many)…reading, praying!
-Elisa
Long day but good day … I’m off to dreamland 🙂
-Aggi
Sometimes I really need to learn how to bite my tongue. Not sure if I’m praying for tact, or just how to count to a zillion before speaking. (What is a zillion anyone? Is that even a real number?)
-Kristine
As of January 9th, Tiffi has 1357 Facebook “friends” and counting!
So there you have it, folks! Granted, we won’t necessarily say that we told you so, but we were aware of the fact that one day, the ol’ cat’s gonna get out of the bag. However, with anything one does in cyberspace, one has to be careful. And although one can delete anything one could post, that doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s gone forever. There has been examples that posts, comments, tweets, or anything that can be linked to the source, is out there somewhere. It may exist as a saved file existing on a hard drive or in a “cloud”. It may have been reposted on another website somewhere, ready for access. In other words, it may be gone, but it’s not forgotten. All it would take to find it is in a search. And for those that do this as a hobby, that search is a lot easier to do than one can imagine!
We don’t know if that one-time fourteen year old girl in Illinois ever knew that we were able to find her if we wanted to. We has the chance, but just didn’t take it. But for the rest of you, just use common sense and play it safe! Besides, Facebook in our personal opinion isn’t the place to be as it once was. At first, it was rather amusing. In today’s scope, it’s now rather dull and even annoying! (See examples above!) But there are other places to go on the ‘net. After all, doesn’t one believe that people are as obsessed with their phones because they call call anyone they wanted on a whim! Right…?
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NEWS AND REVIEWS
Theatre 40 presents for its alternate program, ROD SERLING’S STORIES FROM THE ZONE, a pair of staged tales to astonish taken from Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone TV series.
The first saga, Mr. Garrity and the Graves takes place in the Arizona territory post of Happiness c.1890. A mysterious stranger arrives in this community who claims he can bring back the dead. The townsfolk at first find this man holding a questionable talent. But when they become convinced upon seeing a dead dog brought back to life, they take upon his offer, only to realize that those berried at boot hill should remain where they are, and pay this stranger handsomely to keep them where they belong–dead!
The second entry, Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up?, takes place in a rural isolated area. There’s been a report that some kind of object falling from the sky. A pair of stare troopers visit a nearby diner to investigate where a bus loaded with passengers has just arrived. The bus driver knows he had six passengers aboard. But there are actually seven that departed the bus. Is one of these passengers an alien from another world in disguise?
These two stories, written by Rod Serling and adapted for the stage by Jeff G. Rack, are short pieces that fall between fantasy and science fiction with a narrative that is in line to a O. Henry scenario, complete with a surprising climax! A cast of performers that feature Mark Bate, John W. Combs, Yancey Durham, Henry Herman, Richard Large, Meghan Lloyd, Brianna Parcel, Brian Pope, Phillip Sokoloff, Toni Trenton, and Jeffrey Winner appear in both productions performing in repertory. Jeff Rack, director of “Martian”, appears as the narrator of these two short stories. Charles Mount directs “Mr. Garrity”, and Mr. Rack once again designs all of the sets.
The Twilight Zone has been called upon as one of the best recalled and most beloved TV series that have been part of the domestic video landscape for the past sixty years, and is one of the few forms of television that refuse to die! It’s been revised twice with new stories, and is subject to yet another revival! But the original run, with Serling writing a good number of these tales, had been part of repeats, marathon showings, and in today’s video landscape, the subject of binge viewing that keeps those tuning in coming back!
This program may become the first of a possible series of additional Serling penned T-Zone tales appearing on stage. There’s a lot more of these mini-epics to showcase culled from the dimension of sound, sight, and a state of mind that fall between shadow and light. Just look for the signpost up ahead…
ROD SERLING’S STORIES FROM THE ZONE, presented by Theatre 40 and performs at the Reuben Cordova Theatre, located within the campus of Beverly Hills High School, 241 South Moreno Drive (off little Santa Monica Blvd.) Beverly Hills, until February 17th. Showtimes are Monday, January 28th and February 11th, Tuesday, February 5th and 12th, Wednesday, February 6th, Thursday, February 7th, Friday, February 8th, and Saturday, February 16th at 8:00 PM, and Sunday, February 17th at 2:00 PM and 7:00 PM.
Also performing in rep at Theatre 40 is Alex Goldberg’s It Is Done through February 19th. (See review Vol. 24. No. 3)
For ticket reservations or for more information on both shows, call (310) 364-0535, or visit online at http://www.Theatre40.org
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Continuing at The Lounge Theatre of Hollywood is Cindy Lou Johnson’s BRILLIANT TRACES, a play about a man and a woman that meet through very unusual circumstances at an equally unusual location.
The location is an isolated cable somewhere in the wilds of Alaska, the homestead of Henry (Chris Cardano). He works at an oil rig located in the state as a cook. When he’s off duty, he lives alone in the cabin leading a hermit’s life. One night during a blinding snowstorm, in walks Rosannah (Caitlin Carleton). She has been driving for days after her escape from a wedding ceremony–hers! Her car gets stuck in a snow drift, and nearly becomes frostbitten wandering in the snow and cold, still wearing her wedding gown! She barely arrives at the cabin alive but in semi-hysterics! Henry wonders what she is doing there. Upon her entrance while sleeping it off for a while from frostbite and her hysteric situation, the two begin to trace each other’s existence in where they are and where they came from. This meeting isn’t by chance, nor it resembles a “meet-cute” setup. It’s the tale of a modern hermit verses a runaway bride that took her fleeing into a very new extreme.
This single act play written by Cindy Lou Johnson takes upon a massive twist to a romantic comedy premise, and creates a drama of two lost souls that are misfound for totally different reasons. The pair of players, Caitlin Carleton and Chris Cardano, perform as an unlikely pair of people that maintain a personality-based chemistry with one another holding on with more conflict and pathos rather than with romantic intentions! The dialogue and drama moves within a quick pace once it gets itself going. With an eighty minute or so running time, one won’t know what will occur next! Kiff Scholl directs this program with those same rapid intentions in mind.
Among what is seen on the stage is John Mahr’s set design of the single room cabin, a place that is cozy and rather clean looking for a shack located in the middle of Alaska’s nowhere!
The only caveat to this play? It needs a second act! Perhaps the playwright left a few story stones unturned on purpose. That is what makes this play unique without being odd or strange. Then again, runaway brides may go far, but for 3000 miles?
BRILLIANT TRACES, presented by Red Sage Productions, and performs at The Lounge Theatre, 6201 Santa Monica Blvd. (one block east of Vine Street at El Centro), Hollywood, until February 10th. Showtimes are Friday and Saturday nights at 8:00 PM, and Sunday evenings at 7:00 PM.
For tickets reservations, call (440) 465-8878, or via online at
http://our.show/BrilliantTraces
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THE POW & THE GIRL, Katrina Wood’s new play that’s speaks for a relationship between a grandfather and his granddaughter while the two become part of a struggle between one’s present and one’s past, makes its world premier at North Hollywood’s Sherry Theatre.
The setting is London in the 1980’s. Living in a small yet comfortable flat is Sarah (Samantha Mallory) a young adult attending a public university to obtain an educational certificate as a paramedic. She’s into the punk/new wave movement as many of her peers are, while working on hobbies such as playing the recorder (flute) and making plants grow by exposing music to them. She lives with her granddad (Chas Mitchell) as he is the only relative in her life. There is one element that keeps her granddad at bay. He still struggles with the memories he had while he was in the service during World War II. He was imprisoned in a Japanese POW camp, and although that was forty years after the fact, much of those harsh memories still linger. But Sherry has her own life to live, even taking upon a relationship with Paul (Adrian Burks) a young man also into the new wave movement as he lives with his disabled mother (Natalia Bibao). In spite of these trails and tribulations, Sarah stands true to her granddad, her boyfriend, and most importantly, herself.
This single act play written by Katrina Wood is based upon her own relationship with her father, British character actor Percy Herbert whose appearance in many TV programs and feature films made him as a familiar figure. His best known movie was The Bridge Over the River Kwai, where he played a prisoner of war inmate. When Percy served in WWII, he was actually imprisoned inside a Japanese POW camp. As to the play itself. It sparks an honest look between a young woman and her grandfather that come from different backgrounds. The granddad tends to live with his inner past suffering to what was once known as “shell shock”. Sarah as sassy as she tends to be at times, desires to do good for herself. She’s within the period where she is a responsible adult while holding the spirit of somebody much younger. She and her elder repel with one another at times, but it all comes out as good in the end. This is the idea to what this play is all about without attempting to provide a lesson to what is proper or what should be done about it. This notion is shown throughout. Trace Oakley’s stage direction keep the pacing in gear following this conviction in a progressive stretch.
Arron Grazer’s set design shows a number of the spots the story takes place with a few simple yet proper pieces of props and furnishings. But for most of the play’s stage time, it’s the humble flat of the named POW and the girl.
Also appearing is Lucas Helersson as Kyle, a bully-type that doesn’t take Sarah very seriously in what she wants in her life, and Jeffrey Gibson as the ghost of the Japanese soldier that kept guard at the POW camp during the war.
THE POW & THE GIRL is a story where two people generations apart still learn from one another, even with those demons still dwelling in the far off backdrop. Although those same demons are from long past, there is always that element to rise up to the occasion through its genteel moonlight serenade.
THE POW & THE GIRL, presented by Strongerwood Productions, and performs at The Sherry Theatre, 11052 Magnolia Blvd. (between Lankershim Blvd. and Vineland Avenue), North Hollywood, until February 16th. Showtimes are Friday and Saturday nights at 8:00 PM, and Sunday afternoons at 5:00 PM. For ticket reservations, call
(800) 838-3006, or via online at https://www.BrownPaperTickets.com/event/3742908
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Megan Dolan’s solo show LEMUR MOM, a so-true-it’s-got-to-be-real tale on a post-modern mother who attempts to handle her toddler-aged child and the “special” needs he requires, performs at The Whitefire Theatre of Sherman Oaks for a limited run.
Megan herself is the mom in question. Her son Tyler is the focus of her story. As a mother raising her child in the second middle decade of the 21st Century, she could strive to be what’s known as a “Tiger Mom”, a mother figure that keeps her child in check by using an intense aggressive measure where the best is placed upon the kid to be the best as (s)he could be! However, she is quite the opposite as a mom who is rather passive and even timid in nature, wanting her child to be the best without the aggression and stress that comes with holding on to a Tiger Mom handle. What makes things complicated, Tyler isn’t quite the same as his peers. He is a rather picky eater, and won’t speak to the other kids during playdates. It seems that there is something not quite right. So thanks to her friend, good ol’ Google, she finds a specialist that can diagnose these behavior patters. It appears that Tyler may be autistic, or perhaps as someone with Aspergers, or maybe diagnosed with ADHD–or even with another ailment that could begin with the letter “A”! It’s a slice of life episode featuring a mom finding out more about her child as she finds out more about her own self.
This single person one act program written and performed by Megan Dolan, takes a situation that may become a crisis for some parents, while develops a presentation that is comical in substance, in spite of the seriousness to what her son holds emotionally. Her performance is rather bouncy, high in spirit, and shows that she is teetering close to being on the verge of having a nervous breakdown. But the trouper that she is, she rises to the occasion in the same notion that moms of this day and age holds on to! Wendy Hammers directs this program that flows in a very fast pace. With the use of a few props on stage as well as some semi-animated illustrations illuminated onto a rear screen as projected by Fritz Davis, the audience can witness the real story of one mom’s family, and how that kid with “special needs” can indeed be special in his own right!
This form of solo storytelling (illustrated), is part of those eight million stories found in the naked city–and this has been one of ‘em! With being a mommy-type in the eon where mothers must do everything for this child no matter what, it’s nice to know that Megan isn’t the only one like her out there! This performance is that living proof!
LUMUR MOM, presented as part of Solofest 2019, performs at The Whitefire Theatre, 13500 Ventura Blvd (at Sunnyslope), Sherman Oaks. Performances take place on Sunday, March 31st, and Sunday, April 28th, both at 3:00 PM. Ticket reservations can be obtained online at http://www.BrownPaperTickets.com/event/3570240
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The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences (AMPAS) announced their nominations for the 91st annual Academy Awards on January 22nd.
The following titles and names received the nomination for the following categories:
Best Picture
Black Panther (Disney)
BlacKkKlansman (Focus Features)
Bohemian Rhapsody (Fox)
The Favourite (Fox Searchlight)
Green Book (Universal)
Roma (Nexflix)
A Star Is Born (Warner Bros.)
Vice (Annapurna)
Best Actor
Christian Bale-Vice
Bradley Cooper-A Star Is Born
Willem Dafoe-At Eternity’s Gate
Rami Malek-Bohemian Rhapsody
Viggo Mortensen-Green Book
Best Actress
Yalitza Aparicio-Roma
Glenn Close-The Wife
Olivia Colman-The Favourite
Lady Gaga-A Star Is Born
Melissa McCarthy-Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Best Director
Spike Lee-BlacKkKlansman
Paweł Pawlikowski-Cold War
Yorgos Lanthimos-The Favourite
Alfonso Cuarón-Roma
Adam McKay-Vice
As of this writing, a host has yet to be named for the awards ceremony, taking place on Sunday, February 24th at the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center-Hollywood, and airs on ABC.
For a complete listing of all nominations, visit the official AMPAS web site at
http://www.Oscars.com
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During the previous week, The Golden Raspberry Foundation announced their list of nomination for the 39th RAZZIE Awards for the worst in feature films released in the previous calendar year.
The following titles and names has been selected for the worst in the following categories:
Worst Picture
Gotti (Vertial Entertainment)
The Happytime Murders (STX Entertainment)
Holmes & Watson (Sony/Columbia)
Robin Hood (Summit Entertainment)
Winchester (Blacklab Entertainment)
Worst Actor
Johnny Depp (Voice Only)-Sherlock Gnomes
Will Ferrell-Holmes & Watson
John Travolta-Gotti
Donald J. Trump (As Himself)-Death of a Nation and Fahrenheit 11/9
Bruce Willis-Death Wish
Worst Actress
Jennifer Garner-Peppermint
Amber Heard-London Fields
Melissa McCarthy-Happytime Murders and Life of the Party
Helen Mirren-Winchester
Amanda Seyfried-The Clapper
Worst Director
Etan Cohen-Holmes & Watson
Kevin Connolly-Gotti
James Foley-Fifty Shades Freed
Brian Henson-Happytime Murders
The Spierig Brothers (Michael & Peter)-Winchester
The RAZZIE Awards will take place on a date and location to be announced shortly.
For a complete listing of all nominations, visit the official RAZZIES web site at
http://www.Razzies.com
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