Do you feel the need — the need for speed?
Do you think Cenk looks puzzled at the idea that someone was going to be listening to him at 3.5x speed?
This week has been another fun one, this time getting behind in my work and keeping up with things online due to having cellulitis on one of my fingers. And apparently cellulitis can be a very huge deal, especially if it’s not treated in time.
As Bri, fellow member of the TYT Family, said to me, "You just can’t catch a break.” It’s been an eventful several months for me… Fortunately I’ve been taking it (relatively) easy in terms of typing and work from home, so I can put my finger in a bowl filled with warm, soapy water without people looking at me funny, or any funnier than usual.
Anyway, because of that and being overly wordy, I’ve gotten behind in keeping up on political news — apparently we haven’t found a good enough excuse yet to start a war with Russia, yay! — and watching TYT. So I took things to the next level.
I often listen to podcasts and audiobooks, and watch shows that are recorded (Democracy Now, TYT, even sometimes TV series) sped up. That way, even when I’m busy, I can still catch up with the news and not miss the show.
2x is pretty common for me, and I think people in general. For some podcasts, I crank it up to 2.5x. And for Democracy Now, I’ve been known to play the podcast back at 3x normal speed. (They sound so slow when I catch DN! live, it’s like they’re drunk or talking. very. carefully. for. someone. who. doesn’t. understand. English).
But today, I did the unthinkable. I cranked it up to 3.5x speed to catch up on yesterday’s TYT hours 1 and 2. (Which is maybe kind of like Spinal Tap cranking it up to 11?)
I actually was able to understand well overall, except occasionally Adrienne Lawrence would speak a little too fast (well, too fast for 3.5x speed) and I would miss something. I also wasn’t multi-tasking like I often do while I’m catching up on things. I’m able to speed it up that fast thanks to Video Speed Controller (a Google Chrome plug-in) — not an endorsement or ad, I’m sure there are other plug-ins that do this, too.
I can speed up almost any video that’s not live, which drives my wife absolutely crazy, so I only do it when watching/listening something on my own.
So my question is, do you watch or listen to things speed up? I did a Twitter poll about it and am curious to see what people say. Here’s the poll (it will be posted shortly here, after I tweet it out). Hopefully you were able to speed read to the end of this, if not maybe grab some popcorn and speed up that recording of Olympic Figure Skating you were planning to watch and be amazed at just how fast this year’s competitors are!
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For February, the $50 monthly donation poll is to decide which progressive candidate should get a donation to help them win the primaries.
Please vote in the poll today and spread the word, not just about the poll but also these and other progressive candidates. Especially in the primaries, they need all the support we can get — donating our time, our money, and getting the word out there.
Rana Abdelhamid (NY-12), primary on June 28
Greg Casar (TX-35), primary on March 1
Jessica Cisneros (TX-28), primary on March 1
Kina Collins (IL-07), primary on June 28
Morgan Harper (OH), primary on May 3
Odessa Kelly (TN-05), primary on August 2
I know that these are NOT the only progressive candidates running, and there are other important races, but this seemed like a good start for this month’s poll. If there’s another candidate that’s not in the choices, please suggest one in the comments of the poll or here.
Please vote in the poll today — it takes less than a minute according to Survey Monkey!
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