Month: March 2023

MLMM Friday Faithfuls — What Is TikTok?

Fandango17 Comments

For Friday Faithfuls this week, Jim Adams has challenged us to write anything we want to about TikTok, the Chinese short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, which allows users to submit short videos, which can range in duration from 3 seconds to 10 minutes.

Jim noted that, on March 23, members of Congress grilled TikTok CEO Shou Chew during a hearing and many called for TikTok to be banned in the U.S. because this social media site is seen as being a potential national security threat.

I don’t know much about TikTok. I know what it is — a social media site sort of like Instagram and YouTube, I think — but don’t have the app and have never actually seen or used it.

I’ve read about the controversy in the news, but don’t know enough to take a position one way or the other between the alleged threat to national security and the threat to freedom of speech or expression.

So this is a rare instance where Fandango has no opinion to contribute to the discussion. I’ll be interested in reading others’ comments.

Three Line Tales — Old School

Fandango15 Comments

“Wouldn’t it be easier if you used a GPS device or Google Maps on your smartphone?” Ellen said to her husband when he pulled the car over to the side of the road and unfolded the large roadmap. “That large paper map is so twentieth century.”

Richard looked at his wife with disdain and simply said, “I’m old school.”

Written for Sonya’s Three Line Tales. Photo credit: Taras Zaluzhnyi @Unsplash.

TGIF — ‘Nuff Said

Fandango5 Comments

Paula Light, at Light Motifs II, has this prompt she calls TGIF. She encourages us to take this opportunity to openly chat or jabber about anything we want.

Given the headline of today’s San Francisco Chronicle, I don’t think I need to say anything more.

I do, however, want to congratulate Paula on having completed all of her A to Z Challenge posts. I plan to start writing my “A” post at some point today. No pressure!

And on that note, happy TGIF, everyone.

Fibbing Friday — Who’s the Author

Fandango7 Comments

Di (aka Pensitivity101) hosts Fibbing Friday, a silly little exercise where we are to write a post with our answers to the ten questions below. But as the title suggests, truth is not an option. The idea is to fib a little, a lot, tell whoppers, be inventive, silly, or even outrageous, in our responses. For this week’s Fibbing Friday, Di is asking who the authors are to the fictitious books.

1. The Mystery — Sherlock Holmes

2. Dances with The Wolverine — The Incredible Hulk

3. Who killed Roland Rabbit — Alex Forrest (the character played by Glenn Close in the movie “Fatal Attraction”)

4. The Taming of the Crew — Captain Merrill Stubing of the Love Boat (played by Gavin MacLoud in the TV show)

5. Far from the Maddening Crowd — Donald Trump when he returned to the White House after he gave his speech on January 6, 2021 encouraging the mob of MAGA maniacs to storm the Capitol Building

6. The Golden Crown — Donald Trump after finding out from his dentist that he needed to get a crown on a tooth and he insisted that the crown be made of gold

7. Up, Up and Away — The singing group, The 5th Dimension

8. Bottoms Up — Actor Timothy Bottoms

9. For Whom the Bell Tinkles — Tinkerbell, of course

10. A Dog’s Day. Lassie

Fandango’s Flashback Friday — March 31st

Fandango5 Comments

Wouldn’t you like to expose your newer readers to some of your earlier posts that they might never have seen? Or remind your long term followers of posts that they might not remember? Each Friday I will publish a post I wrote on this exact date in a previous year.

How about you? Why don’t you reach back into your own archives and highlight a post that you wrote on this very date in a previous year? You can repost your Flashback Friday post on your blog and pingback to this post. Or you can just write a comment below with a link to the post you selected.

If you’ve been blogging for less than a year, go ahead and choose a post that you previously published on this day (the 31st) of any month within the past year and link to that post in a comment.

This was originally posted on March 31, 2018.

Time to Write — Baby It’s Cold Outside

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“Come on, hurry,” Veronica called out to her husband.

“Why, again, are we doing this?” Tim asked.

“I told you. It’s for my blog,” Veronica said. “Do you ever listen when I’m talking to you?”

“Yes, I listen. I just forgot what you said.”

“But you just asked me why I needed my camera,” Veronica said, “and I told you I have to get some pictures for my blog.”

“So what is your post about that we need to go out in the freezing cold?” Tim wanted to know.

“It’s in response to a photography challenge,” Veronica explained. “We’re supposed to post pictures that reflect all four seasons. I already have some that I took when we were at Virginia Beach last summer. And remember when we were in New Hampshire last fall and I took those stunning pictures of the autum leaves?”

“Yeah,” said Tim.

“And for spring I’m going to use one of the pictures I took of the cherry blossoms on the Potomac during our trip to DC a few years back,” Veronica said.

“So now you need a shot to show a wintry scene,” Tim said.

“Exactly,” said Veronica. “I was thinking of something artistic, like bare, snow-covered branches contrasting against the deep, blue sky. That would really depict winter well, don’t you think!”

“Can’t you just use one of the pictures from that week we spent skiing at Taos? I know you have pictures from that trip.”

“Yes, but I just wanted something unusual, unique, and interesting,” Veronica said. “And we are here in Montreal, aren’t we?”

“Fine,” Tim said. “But let’s make it quick, okay? Because baby it’s cold outside.”

Written for Rachel Poli’s Time To Write prompt, which is no longer around, although Rachel has a different blog these days.