Slow and Gassy Balloon is Social Media Fave

AS IT IS 2015-10-31 Slow and Gassy Balloon is Social Media Fave

Who knew a huge blimp – basically a 73-meter-long balloon – could become the social media star of the week?

When the blimp broke free of its tether Wednesday, it quickly captured the attention of the American public. With no pilot or crew, it floated over to Pennsylvania, and the Twittersphere went crazy. Some of the most clever tweets were from people who pretended to be the blimp. 

But that’s not all social media was talking about this week.

A pop star used Twitter to promote her newest video, preparations for the Halloween holiday began, and cats took over Twitter as something called “National Cat Day” let loose a stream of fur.

Those are the top trending stories for the week ending Oct. 30, 2015.

Blimp Escape

The blimp called JLENS is supposed to stay tethered to the ground at a military base in Maryland. But somehow it broke free and floated 160 miles to neighboring Pennsylvania.

The blimp does not have a pilot. So, fighter jets took off to make sure it didn’t cause too much damage. They later deflated¹ it and brought it to the ground by shooting it.

The blimp made news around 2 p.m. Wednesday while most Americans were at work. It was a good time for people to take a break and share jokes on Twitter, Facebook and other social media.

One of the funniest commentators³ was known as @AberdeenBlimp, named for the Maryland town where the blimp was based.

As jets tracked its progress through Pennsylvania, jokes started flying. There were over 17,000 tweets with the hashtag #blimp in the first two hours.

One commentator² made the connection between the idea of “grounding” the blimp by shooting it down, and the idea of “grounding” as a traditional punishment for misbehaving teenagers.

Goodyear, a company that makes car tires, is well-known for a blimp it owns that often flies high above sporting events with a camera. It joked that “airships” are always better with a pilot. 

Ariana Grande video

The pop singer Ariana Grande left hints Thursday that the video for her new song, “Focus,” would be released shortly. By Thursday afternoon, #focustonight was trending on Twitter. That night, Grande released the video and switched her hashtag to #buyfocusonitunes, which was used 243,000 times by Friday morning.

Halloween Arrives

The American holiday of Halloween is a mash-up of traditions. Some say it is about the end of the harvest season. Others say it is connected to remembering and celebrating the dead. It is celebrated⁴ every October 31.

But these days in the United States, it is a chance for most people to dress up in fun costumes and knock on the doors of their neighbors asking for candy. By early Friday morning, there were almost 2.5-million tweets about Halloween.

It is a chance to dress up our pets, too. On social media, people shared photos of their pets in costumes starting a week ago. On Facebook, one page is only for photos of pets in Halloween garb⁵.

Many costumes refer to pop culture from the past year. One costume comes from a photo of a dress that “went viral.” That means the photo was shared thousands of times on social media.

In this case, the platform was Tumblr. One website – Buzzfeed – posted a poll⁶ asking readers to vote on the color combination of the dress. It received over 3 million votes. And the hashtag #TheDress became one of the most viral topics of 2015.

Some are dressing⁷ up in half white and gold costume. Others are wearing a half black and blue dress for Halloween.

Processed Meats

People enjoy being scared around Halloween. Ghosts and goblins are traditional costumes. People get to tease⁸ death by laughing at it. Visiting a “haunted house” is a popular activity.

But really “scary” news came out that a beloved food – bacon -- causes cancer.

The World Health Organization announced Monday that processed meats like bacon, hot dogs and salami can raise a person’s risk for cancer. 

Someone would have to eat a lot of those foods to be harmed, but social media lit up with the news. 

Search terms related to “bacon” and “cancer” and “processed meat” were in Google’s top five Monday.

National Cat Day

Posting photos of cats on the Internet is very popular. So when National Cat Day was celebrated Thursday, people took advantage.

Over 50,000 tweets were sent in the first few hours.

Even President Obama sent along his wishes with an assist from Internet celebrity⁹ “Grumpy Cat.” President Obama’s message was retweeted over 2,000 times.

Words in This Story

blimp – n. a large aircraft without wings that floats because it is filled with gas

anchor– n. a heavy device that is attached to a boat or ship by a rope or chain and that is thrown into the water to hold the boat or ship in place

costume – n. the clothes that are worn by someone (such as an actor) who is trying to look like a different person or thing

candy – n. a sweet food made with sugar or chocolate

cute – adj. having a pleasing and usually youthful appearance

garb – n. a particular style or type of clothing

giant – n. much larger or more powerful than normal

ghost – n. the soul of a dead person thought of as living in an unseen world or as appearing to living people

grumpy – n. easily annoyed or angered : having a bad temper or complaining often

lit up – v. to cause excitement; All of the lights on the display suddenly lit up.

mooring¹⁰ – n. a place where a boat or ship can be anchored or moored¹¹

tether – v. to use a rope or chain to tie (an animal) to something in order to keep it in a particular area

tease – v. to laugh at and criticize (someone) in a way that is either friendly and playful or cruel and unkind

went rogue¹² – v. used to describe something or someone that is different from others in usually a dangerous or harmful way

1 deflated   

adj. 灰心丧气的

参考例句：

• I was quite deflated by her lack of interest in my suggestions.他对我的建议兴趣不大，令我感到十分气馁。
• He was deflated by the news.这消息令他泄气。

2 commentator   

n.注释者，解说者；实况广播评论员

参考例句：

• He is a good commentator because he can get across the game.他能简单地解说这场比赛，是个好的解说者。
• The commentator made a big mistake during the live broadcast.在直播节目中评论员犯了个大错误。

3 commentators   

n.评论员( commentator的名词复数 )；时事评论员；注释者；实况广播员

参考例句：

• Sports commentators repeat the same phrases ad nauseam. 体育解说员翻来覆去说着同样的词语，真叫人腻烦。
• Television sports commentators repeat the same phrases ad nauseam. 电视体育解说员说来说去就是那么几句话，令人厌烦。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

5 garb   

n.服装，装束

参考例句：

• He wore the garb of a general.他身着将军的制服。
• Certain political,social,and legal forms reappear in seemingly different garb.一些政治、社会和法律的形式在表面不同的外衣下重复出现。

6 poll   

n.民意测验，民意调查，选举投票

参考例句：

• The result of the poll won't be known until midnight.选举结果要到午夜才能揭晓。
• They expected a heavy poll.他们期望会有很高的投票数。

7 dressing   

n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料

参考例句：

• Don't spend such a lot of time in dressing yourself.别花那么多时间来打扮自己。
• The children enjoy dressing up in mother's old clothes.孩子们喜欢穿上妈妈旧时的衣服玩。

8 tease   

vt.戏弄，取笑，挑逗，撩拨；n.戏弄人者

参考例句：

• The other boys tease him because he is fat.因为他很胖，所以其他男生都取笑他。
• His friends used to tease him about his tatty clothes.他的朋友过去常常笑话他破旧的衣服。

9 celebrity   

n.名人，名流；著名，名声，名望

参考例句：

• Tom found himself something of a celebrity. 汤姆意识到自己已小有名气了。
• He haunted famous men, hoping to get celebrity for himself. 他常和名人在一起, 希望借此使自己获得名气。

10 mooring   

n.停泊处；系泊用具，系船具；下锚v.停泊，系泊（船只）(moor的现在分词)

参考例句：

• However, all the best mooring were occupied by local fishing boats. 凡是可以泊船的地方早已被当地渔船占去了。 来自汉英文学 - 散文英译
• Her mind was shaken loose from the little mooring of logic that it had. 就像小船失去了锚，她的思绪毫无逻辑地四处漂浮，一会为这个想法难受，一会为那个念头生气。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

11 moored   

adj. 系泊的 动词moor的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London. 该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。
• We shipped (the) oars and moored alongside the bank. 我们收起桨，把船泊在岸边。

12 rogue   

n.流氓；v.游手好闲

参考例句：

• The little rogue had his grandpa's glasses on.这淘气鬼带上了他祖父的眼镜。
• They defined him as a rogue.他们确定他为骗子。