Derive: Splashback
As I prepared to enter my digital derive, I pulled out one of my favorite records, Daft Punk’s “Random Access Memories,” and dropped the needle to set the mood. As the explosive guitar riff kicked in and the synth pop progressions began to dip in and out, I opened Reddit to begin my new digital adventure.
As I mindlessly scrolled through the front page of Reddit I stumbled upon a post in one of my favorite subs, r/MidlyInteresting. R/MidlyInteresting is exactly what it sounds like: users post images, videos, and gifs of things that are… well, mildly interesting (note: for those feeling a little bolder, I’d recommend r/InterestingAsFuck).
The post that initially caught my attention was titled “Urinals that protect your shoes from splash back” which had a photo attached. The image was so moving that I feel like I must have audible muttered “finally.” The image shows a set of urinals with small plastic boards built into their bases that guarantee no unwanted splash back on the ground (or even worse your shoes!). A simple solution to a problem that has never been big enough to address but concerning enough that its crossed my mind every time I’ve been at a urinal.
After reeling from this reality-shattering achievement in human ingenuity, I decided to dive deep and learn more about urinals. I began with a Google search that lead me to a well sourced Wikipedia article that stated that urinals can be traced back to 1930s Paris, France. Originally called “vespasiennes,” after the Roman Emperor Vespasian, who according to an anecdote imposed a tax on urine, urinals eventually grew in popularity thanks to what we would now call Portable Restrooms. The idea was that they’d improve public hygiene and appease tourists. The article also notes how some Ancient pottery and fountains might have been used as urinals of sorts during the Western Jin Dynasty.
Eventually I hit the sections about female urinals and “Art and Interactive Urinals,” and that’s when I decided I had had enough and instead hopped onto YouTube and started looking at predictions for the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3 — basically the Super Bowl for video games). I watched some Kinda Funny content, some IGN content, and lastly some Easy Allies content and started to get hyped for this year’s expo. While keeping the content playing on one window, I opened Google Docs in another and started to jot down my own predictions and eventually challenged a friend to a bet via Twitter DMs. So basically, if Studio Bend’s game, “Days Gone,” gets a 2019 first Quarter release date I’m getting a free beer.
30 minutes later I was spit out of the rabbit hole with a chance at some free booze.
