YouTube Digger

Last time on YouTube Digger, we began to look at history’s most notorious insane asylum, Bethlehem Royal Hospital in London (now in Kent), better known as “Bedlam”. It’s unknown how the nickname came about — since the modern word Bedlam is from the asylum’s nickname and did not exist before the asylum. Perhaps that was the best way some of the locals or unlucky inmates could pronounce it.

Conditions inside Bedlam were hopeless and despairing, very similar to a castle dungeon. The only medication you got was a thump on the back of the head and possibly a bucket of cold water. Although the original Bedlam was shut down before photographs, written letters from visitors still survive. They point out that if you weren’t mad by the time you enterred Bedlam, you definately were after a couple of days.

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Our month of madness and mania would not be complete withut a peek into the world’s most famous asylum — Bethlehem Royal Hospital, better known as Bedlam (and, yes, the source for our word “bedlam”.)

Trying to treat the insane is baffling today — but imagine what it must have been like hundreds of years ago. Thousands of years ago, the insane would have either perished at the mouths of sabre-toothed tigers or risen to become the undisputed leader of their tribe. But hundred of years ago began the notion that everyone deserves some sort of care and that everyone can be cured.

Unfortunately, what came up was arguably not much better than letting get a person tough it out in the woods. It’s because of Bedlam that anyone is terrified of being diagnosed as having a metal illness like depression because they were scared of getting tossed in a modern equivielent of Bedlam. But there’s a big difference between a person with major depression — who still has a grip on reality — and someone who thinks the neighbor’s dog is the Devil.

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People with autism aren’t insane, although the popular belief is that they are. I’m including autism in our month-long look at madness just because so many people are under the impression that autistic people are insane or psychotic.

This is because they can have several problems in communicating with others or that they have the mental capacity of an infant. Once you get to know a person with autism, there tends to be a kind of logic in the things that they do that at first seem crazy, such as flapping their arms, walking in tight circles or rocking constantly. (Actually, rocking constantly can get very soothing, no matter if you’re autistic or not.)

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The fun continues here at YouTube Digger as we continue looking at YouTube clips devoted to various aspects of madness. Today, we’ll take a look at mercury poisoning. Hey, you can’t blame all forms of madness on genetics (such as you can with some forms of mental illness that induces psychosis.)

Mercury (or quicksilver) used to be a comon element in many industries, but now it’s being phased out due to risks of mercury poisoning. Even dental fillings are starting to come in other materials other than the usual quasi-reliable mercury fillings. However, mercury is now being blamed for everything from autism to bad plot lines in soap operas.

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Our month long look at insanity turns now to look at a figure from history who was known as The Mad Monk — Grigori Efimovich Rasputin. He’s known best for helping ease the pains of hemophillia of the Tsarist family, his huge sexual appetite and that it took him seemingly forever to die (despite being shot and poisoned, it took drowing to finally do him in).

Now, one problem with looking at an historical figure commonly known to be insane is that history is always written by the winners. In this case, the winners were the communist revolutionists of 1917, Russia. But historians of all political persuations seem to agree that he was definitely a whacknoodle, albeit a really entertaining whacknoodle.

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Our month-long look at madness continues with a look at a common symtom of psychosis: hallucinations. These can be not just seeing things that aren’t there or hearing things that aren’t there but also smelling things that aren’t there.

These vary in intensity from person to person, depending on how healthy the person is and what the cause of the hallucinations are. For example, the hallucinations may be mild, as in you see a person sitting on a couch that isn’t there — yet the chair is.

Hallucinations can happen very briefly, or for some time. If they repeat or last longer than a few hours, I’d really urge you tocall someone. If you are too worried to call a doctor, then call a trusted friend or loved one who you can talk to and they can help you get back to reality. But if the symptoms still persist, please see a doctor. The hallucinations could be the result of a deep seated illness that needs attention.

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I usually let the muse move me whenever figuring out a topic for these YouTube Digger blogposts. But I thught I should be a little more focused for this month. If you live in America, you hear a lot about March Madness. You hear about March Madness in basketball and you hear about March Madness in retail and car sales. But what about actual madness in March Madness?

So, I’ve decided that for the entire month of March, I’ll find the best or at least most amusing You Tube clips pertaining to the many facets of human insanity. Today, we’ll look at symptoms of psychosis. We use the word “psychotic” all of the time, but do we really know what it means? (Let me add that nowhere in the DSM-IV is the word “psychopath”):

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The argument over the origin of crop circles is still going on, despite many human artists coming forward and showing how they did it. Some simple crop circles do seem to be made by the wind. Many people firmly believe that crop circles are messages sent to us by aliens who pilot UFOs. The controversy continues on YouTube.

At this point, let Aunt Rena give you a friendly tip: crop circles are a serious subject in Southern England, especailly in the Western Counties like Somerset and Wiltshire were many of the crop circles appear. If you meet someone over there you happens to firmly believe that crop circle are the work of extra-terrestrials, do not argue. Trust me on this one.

But one thing is sure about crop circles: many of them sure are pretty.

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Whether you are in or out of a relationship, no one’s a winner on Valentine’s Day. You either feel miserable that you don’t have anyone to shag or you’re miserable because you either forgot it was Valentine’s Day or you got the wrong gift. Or, even worse, you can’t get out of a relationship with someone who adores you but you can’t stand any more. This feeling of misery may make you think that you are the only person in the world having a crappy Valentine’s Day.

You’d be wrong. You can take comfort in the face that many millions are having an even crappier Valentine’s Day than you are. Let’s celebrate together with a few YouTube clips, shall we?
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“Vision is controlled hallucination” — Max Clowes

Vision is a tricky sense. According to my home state, I’m legally blind, so maybe my vision is trickier than most other people’s. I have monocular vision, which means that it is technically impossible for me to see in three dimensions (or, at least, that’s what they tell me).

I do remember all of those terrible times trying to walk up and down stairs because I could not see where I should put my feet. I usually just gave up walking and scooted on my hands and knees. However, at my advanced age, I can tell through color and shadow where my feet should go.

Although we filter light and color through our eyes, it’s our brains that actually do the seeing. The images our retinas project to our brains are all upside-down, but out brains easily switch things around. And this is where the fun begins, especially if you are digging around YouTube.
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I have a client who wants me to write about how Bangledesh should become more eco-friendly and cut down on urban sprawl. Is he kidding me? The poor people in Bangledesh are probably looking forward to the end of the world. Ecological Armageddon would probably be a relief.

Does any good news ever come out of Bangledesh? It seems that’s a place set up to be as bad as possible so their governments rake in all of the charity money. Not that the people (or other critters) of Bangledesh ever see any of it. The first big charity rock concert was in 1971 for Bangledesh, organized by ex-Beatle George Harrison. Fat lot of good that did. But it does make for some interesting YouTube clips.

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Because you just can’t get enough change in your life, YouTube Digger presents the second installment of Some Change May Do You Good. That, and I forgot to add this classic video clip which I meant to add to Part one. It’s of Tony Blair murdering David Bowie, but, as “Graham Golden” points out, “Tony’s no stranger to murder”.:

Right — now that’s out of the way, let’s go on to the rest of this post and look more deeply into the ramifications and excitiations of change.
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Last time on YouTube Digger, I did a post entitiled “Hackney Horse People Are Nuts” and now all I can think is:

Mmmm…..nuts!

Of course, there is a peanut butter product recall currently going on the United States, and that has driven my craving for peanut butter and peanut butter products through the freakin’ roof. There’s nothing like the government teling you “Don’t eat that” in order to really make you want to eat something. Especially since the government is paranoid about a few deaths from salmonella, while meanwhile, drunk driving fatalities…anyway, I think you know where I’m going with that.

So, in honour of nuts of all kinds, here’s a sampling of nut-related YouTube video clips. Enjoy.
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After yesterday’s brief hiatus (which was stupid, I know), we are now back looking at the many facets of stupidity. Like Einstein said, only two things are universal — hydrogen and stupidity. And he wasn’t entirely sure about the hydrogen. One way stupidity is celebrated in all civilizations is with stupid celebrations. What are stupid celebrations? These are events celebrating life by having the participants engage in competitons almost guarenteed to kill them. Ah, what fun. And, I guess, a good way to get all the bad genes from swimming in the gene pool. For even more mind-blowing examples of human stupidity, check out the infamous, the notorious Darwin Awards. (What a way to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Charles’ birth in 2009).

Let’s make with the clips. First up is an oldie but a goodie, from that land of culture and sophistication, England. And no — it’s not cricket (although I really considered adding a cricket clip or a car racing clip). No, it’s the Gloustershire Cheese Rolling Event at Cooper’s Hill, which is nearly vertical. Entries are open for the May 2009 event (You know you want to do it!):

If that was child’s play, then why not take on a real challenge — like going over Niagrara falls in a barrel? Or a kayak? Or a hat and dress?

And although not lethal, it’s still stupid — hog calling contests. You ever notice they don;t actually get hogs as judges for these things? Shouldn’t that be a requirement? Much thanks to the Associated Press for allowing bloggers like me to snatch the code for this one. It’s why we love you guys:

Not all Christians are stupid, but the ones that are should be teased mercilessly and mocked with sarcastic YouTube videos. Even other Christians believe in that. How do I know? I used to be a Born-Again Christian for nearly 20 years before I grew up and realized that Christianity was not for me.

My parents are still Christian and I do not try to convert them to Paganism. I figure, it’s their business what they believe. Fortunately, they don’t try to bring me back to the fold. They also sometimes find really good Christian jokes, for which I will be eternally grateful. I tell them Paganism jokes, but they don’t seem to get the punchlines. Oh well.

Let me make clear that these are my views and not necessarily the views of 451 Press, the nice folks who host this blog and pay me to be snarky. These videos will most likley be offensive to some people. If you don’t want to be offended, see you tomorrow.

What makes a Christian stupid? One who believes in what they are told to do, even if their spiritual leaders are doing really dumb things. Also, stupid Christians do not have a sense of humor. That’s my definition. Your definition may be a little different.
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