If you didn’t read this week’s post “How to Ask for Help” I will read it to you, dramatically and enthusiastically, below. 👇
Reading commences as soon as you hit play. Enjoy!
Notes from the Captain
Why is it so hard to ask for help?
I say this as someone who’s trying to get better at it. I’m fine with the couch moving requests, but when I get overwhelmed with stuff, I just find it so difficult to turn to friends and say “Hey, I could use some help.”
So dumb.
Humans. Pft!
Do you have trouble asking for help? Why is that? Just stubborn? Independent? Any tips for aliens about to embark on their journey in the hunt for toilets and beignets?
Ah, crew. If you ever need a hand rowing the boat, your Captain will… hire more crew. Ha! That was a joke.
Happy helping
Your Captain, Janeen 🫡
Thangs from this episode…
👩✈️ A classic TV Trope (that works)
The site TV:Tropes lists HELP on a beach under Island Message Help, gives numerous examples across a range of media as reference, and defines it as such:
A character(s) stranded on a Deserted Island (or a desert) builds a message with sticks and/or stones for a passing plane to see. It usually reads "HELP", although "SOS" is common as well.
Examples:
Here’s a Joey moment.
Mythbusters did an episode on what to do with the whole desert island thing. Here’s the SOS part.
As I mentioned in the video, while a TV Trope, it is also a Truth in Television thing.
“3 Men Rescued from Pacific Island After Writing ‘Help’ with Palm Leaves” - NYT
“In a remarkable testament to their will to be found, the mariners spelled out ‘HELP’ on the beach using palm leaves, a crucial factor in their discovery,” Lt. Chelsea Garcia, who coordinated the search and rescue mission on Sunday, said in the statement.
The same island, in 2020.
“3 Men Rescued from Pacific Island After Writing SOS in Sand” - AP News
👩✈️ The Beatles “Help” and Flag Semaphores
What does the Beatles Help album cover mean? - Snopes
This video goes into the making of the semaphores, and also the differences in the Parlaphone vs Capitol Records pressings.
Robert Freeman photographed so many of the iconic Beatles album covers (and more). This video is a bummer - I hadn’t heard about his archive being stolen - but also brings you up to speed on the images.
The Stolen Archive of Robert Freeman - Apollo
Robert Freeman obit from the NYTimes
And of course, if you’ve never seen the movie, “Help!” you’re missing out.
👩✈️ Tears in the Rain
Always be posting
👩✈️ Where is the toilet?
Back in my nerd ST:TNG days, I made an effort to learn Klingon. I still have the dictionary. Weirdly, the only phrase I’ve never forgotten is: “Where is the bathroom?” which looks like this:
nuqDaq 'oH puchpa''e'
And sounds like this:
Not going near Klingons in the near future? Here’s ten ways of asking in Earth-based languages.
Thanks for listening/watching and sharing this week. If you want to chat about any of the concepts in this week’s post—or just in general—feel free to leave a comment for the Captain (it me.)
Do. Make. Be.
Ask for help if you need it.
I’ll see you out there.
🫡
Shameless Podcast Plug
Listen to audio versions of early issues of The Stream on my podcast, Field of Streams, available on 👉 all major podcasting platforms 👈
Here’s Apple
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