Where are the 2012-ers?

DISCLAIMER: I absolutely do not intend to be insensitive or offensive to anyone or anything. Any statement that appears insensitive or offensive is intended as sarcasm and/or hyperbole (an exaggeration to make a point; I am providing that explanation so you don’t have to Google the definition as I once did). If anything offends anyone, I apologize sincerely in advance.

With all that’s going on with the 9.0 magnitude earthquake, tsunami, and radioactivity in Japan, where are all the people who have been insisting that an apocalypse is coming, particularly the ones who say it’s coming on December 21, 2012, or as my sister called them just now after I brought this up with her, the 2012-ers (patent pending…in my dreams!).

After other major disasters, such as Katrina and the Haitian earthquake, the 2012-ers and other Armageddon-ers were so quick to say those were signs of the upcoming apocalypse. However, the current Japanese disasters that are of much more Biblical proportions don’t seem to be generating the same apocalyptical warnings. Where are you, fear-mongering 2012-ers?

The current disasters seem so much more extreme than the previous ones, particularly since this time, nuclear radiation is involved, which could mean the beginning of some crazy genetic mutations, assuming humans survive at all. These disasters are far more doom-ridden than a mere ginormous hurricane and a mere 7.0 magnitude earthquake that happened in different locations.

I wonder if the difference is the perceived blasphemy happening in the location of the disasters. Maybe it’s only a sign of the apocalypse if the people are not strict Christians, like the blasphemous New Orleans people with their Mardi Gras and their New Orleans Voodoo, and the Vodou wielding Haitians. I’m pretty sure Christianity has infiltrated Japan, but then again, there must be lots of blasphemous Buddhists there too, so I really don’t understand where the Armageddon-ers are.

I found some 2012-ers when I googled for them (here is one example). It’s nice to see they are out there, mongering their fear, but they are not doing it loud enough, because I had to seek them out. Previously, they made themselves known, and I heard about them on the TV. Some religious extremists such as Glenn Beck are doing their traditional Pat Robertson-like blaming of the blasphemous, but there doesn’t seem to be enough Pat Robertson-like talk of the end of the world as we know it.

Come on, 2012-ers, you’re here, you fear, get loud about it!

UPDATE April 10, 2011
Finally, someone (that I’ve seen) made the connection between the 2012 apocalypse that the Mayans predicted and all the bad things happening now. And of course, it was that fear-monger (satirist) Jon Stewart! He also alluded to it during his beautiful farewell to Glenn Beck. Thank you, Jon Stewart!

Update May 7, 2011
OMG, I just discovered some relatives of the 2012-ers, and they are crazy – I mean they are May 21, 2011-ers. If you click on the “listen” thing here, you will hear that some of the May 21-ers sound like they are on drugs – seriously, their voices sound drugged to me, though I obviously make no claim regarding whether they actually are drugged. These people have left their families and quit their jobs because they are awaiting the rapture that will come on May 21, 2011. They explain that if you’re still here on May 22, then you are in Hell. I bet they will be in Hell, since they will have left their families and jobs for nothing and will then be left to either mend their burned bridges or find some way to move on from them, at least for the next 153 days, since that is when the universe will cease to exist. Maybe they can all join together and form a cult, or maybe they already have. Am I being too judgmental about the impending Judgment Day believers? Then I guess I’ll see you in Hell! Hahahahahahaha! Just kidding.

UPDATE May 20, 2011
When I wrote the previous update, I felt bad for the extent of my harshness, particularly the part about seeing ya’ll in Hell. However, I now feel better about that, since Stephen Colbert said the same thing, after providing a moving recap of Earth’s history. Thanks, Stephen Colbert!

UPDATE May 22, 2011

So, here we are in Hell. Hell seems an awful lot like Earth in the pre-Rapture days. The only apocalyptic sign that I witnessed was that in the part of Hell where I live, it was a beautiful sunny day until it suddenly became cloudy and rainy within an hour of the time of the Rapture, and the sun came back about an hour after. I guess G-d was being subtly apocalyptic. I didn’t see anyone floating up to the Heavens, but if you witnessed any floating virtuous people, feel free to comment below, Fellow Hell-dwellers.

UPDATE August 23, 2011


The 5.9 earthquake in Virginia that I felt in NY and that others felt throughout the Eastern part of the country (according to my Myface newsfeed and the CNN part of the TV) is clear and undeniable evidence of the apocalypse! This is particularly obvious since we are rapidly approaching December 21, 2012 and even more rapidly approaching October 21, 2011, Harold Camping’s new judgmentally apocalyptic prediction! Run!

Idol Post-Predictions

My DVR decided to not have enough room to record all of the first American Idol results show of the season (though I was sure it did), so I didn’t see most of the watered down wildcard portion of the program. I saw through Stefano Langone’s rather impressive performance, and then read about the rest here and here.

As I mentioned, the wildcard process this year has been grossly diluted in that the judges chose wildcard contenders only from the Top 24 they had selected previously rather than from all the contestants thus far as I recall they have in the past. By only selecting from the 14 contestants that America chose as losers, they are implying that only America could have made a mistake, and that the judges are infallible. However, it is clear that as a group, their judging skills are tepid at best, paling in comparison to those of a judging group containing both Simon Cowell and the somewhat Cowell-esque Randy Jackson. Of course, Cowell is not perfect either, and I certainly didn’t always agree with him, but I did always respect his opinion because he always had one other than “wow you’re spectacular.”

I’m not just saying these things about the new wildcard process because it inherently removed any possibility that I could be right about who the wildcards would be, or because it inherently meant that the two pre-Top 24 contestants I was most hoping to see as wildcards, Colton Dixon and Chris Medina, couldn’t possibly be selected. It is the arrogance implied in the new wildcard process that bothers me most.

With all of that being said, I am generally happy with the Top 13. The Top 24 contestants that I loved most made it through (Thia Megia, Lauren Alaina, Scotty McCreery, and James Durbin). A couple of the contestants that I liked made it through (Naima Adedapo and Jacob Lusk), as did the contestant that I newly like, Stefano Langone. I was sad though not heartbroken to see Brett Loewenstern and Rachel Zevita go. I was obviously thrilled to see the evil and untalented Clint Jun Gamboa get voted out. Finally, of the Top 13, I only really dislike two contestants, Paul McDonald and Ashthon Jones.

While Paul McDonald simply has the kind of voice and musical preferences that don’t generally appeal to me, Ashthon Jones is just not that good in my opinion. I admit that she is all right, maybe even sort of good, but I really don’t like the tone of her voice, and I find her arrogant attitude absolutely irritating. The judges think she is confident, but in my opinion, she ran past confidence a long time ago and resides deep in the depths of arrogance. I might like her a little better if she realizes she’s not as great as she thinks she is.

SPOILER ALERT – Glee Season 1 is briefly mentioned below.

Speaking of over-praised contestants, I’m rather puzzled by the judges’ reactions to Pia Toscano’s rendition of “I’ll Stand by You.” I thought it was good, but not great, and I really can’t understand what greatness they saw in that performance. I think Pia’s standing ovation might have been a delayed reaction to Thia’s performance, since the mix-up is understandable considering the rhyming names. However, assuming the ovation was intended for Pia, perhaps my perception is unfairly biased. I was not only comparing Pia’s performance to the original Pretenders version of “I’ll Stand by You,” but I was also comparing it to the greatest version of that song that I ever heard: Cory Monteith as Finn singing it to what he believed was his unborn baby on Glee. If that is in fact why I stared stolidly at the TV during Pia’s performance, then the TV has gone full circle and has begun to eat itself. American Idol gave rise to Glee, and Glee has reduced what might have been a great American Idol performance into a somewhat-better-than mediocre one. Perhaps this is a sign of the Apocalypse.

UPDATE March 9, 2011

Well, it seems that Ashthon Jones took my advice and tried to show a less arrogant version of herself tonight…and now I like her even less.  Her attempt to soften her image came off as blatantly fake, and her arrogance still seeped out from her essence, along with her obscene lack of talent.  I don’t think she sang a single note on key, and I’m pretty much tone deaf.  The judges frantically tried to make sense of their horrible decision to keep her in the competition by praising her alleged ability to find her way back when she went off key, and they tried so hard to make that sound like a good thing.  I suppose it is a good thing, but I don’t think it’s so great when she had to spend the whole song doing it repeatedly.  If she had any real talent, she wouldn’t have had to spend more time finding her way back to the right notes than she did on the actual notes.

Idol Thoughts and Predictions

WARNING: The following contains mildly explicit language. Viewer discretion is advised.

In my previous blog posting, I wondered if American Idol will have wildcard contestants this season, and I suggested two potential candidates. Idol confirmed tonight that there will be wildcard contestants. I think they will be Colton Dixon, Chris Medina, and either Ashley Sullivan or Jessica Cunningham the 7-timer.

As I implied in the blog posting I mentioned above, I think they kicked the former two out before the Top 24 for publicity – to get people talking about them and about American Idol in general, and then they planned from the start to bring them back as wildcards. Time will tell if I’m right.

To further my predictions, I am guessing that Jennifer Lopez will choose Chris Medina (because of all her tears for him), Steven Tyler will choose one of the girls, and Randy Jackson will choose Colton Dixon because he is the best judge we have right now and must surely see the talent they passed over. Alternatively (and to increase my chances of being right lol), Steven Tyler might choose Chris because he clearly hearts Chris and his fiancé.

I’ve become very much disappointed in Steven Tyler as a judge. On tonight’s episode he just loved almost everyone, just as J-Lo did – even when certain contestants were just horrible. I’m not as disappointed in J-Lo as I am in Steven Tyler because my expectations of the former are significantly lower than they are for the latter because I don’t believe J-Lo has much musical talent and because I think at times, she tends toward fakeness. I was relieved that Randy Jackson showed some judging balls, proving that he does belong in the Cowell position…ewww, that sounds inappropriate lol.

Getting back to the singing people, my favorite male contestants other than the two mentioned above are James Durbin and Scotty McCreery, and to a lesser extent Brett Loewenstern and Jacob Lusk. Of the females, I might only like Lauren Alaina, but to be honest, I hardly remember the rest of them. Perhaps I will like s’more of them tomorrow.

UPDATE March 2, 2011

Well, it seems that I do like a few of the female contestants. In addition to the previously mentioned Lauren Alaina, I also like the contestant with the cartoon character name Thia Megia, and to a lesser extent, Naima Adedapo and Rachel Zevita. If the people I like don’t make it though, it will be entirely my fault, for I have not been voting this season.

I remain baffled at the level of praise given to most of the contestants.

UPDATE: March 17, 2011

I’m happy to see that the judges’ judging has improved somewhat, based on last night’s episode. Obviously, that can only mean that they have all read my blog. Perhaps a portion of their improvements reflects a shift in my perception, in that my expectations of all three judges have been lowered. I no longer hold any of them to the Cowell standard; instead, I regard the revelation of any glimmer of a critical thought as a sign of improving judging skills.