A Guide to Children’s Culture for Out-of-Touch Adults: Who Is the “Girl From the Tunnel”?
This week we’re enjoying the post-holiday glow as we observe some worthwhile developments in the world of youth. They dig tunnels under their houses, surprise their grandparents with impromptu sleepovers, beat Tetris and throw themselves through tables to attack county court judges. (Wait, that last one isn’t helpful at all.)
Who is the “Girl from the Tunnel” and why is everyone digging her so much?
I love it when people become famous for something weird and unexpected, and this week a star was born on TikTok: “Tunnel Girl” has captured America’s heart thanks to the complex mining operation she runs underneath her suburban home. She dug for over a year and documented the process in a fascinating series of TikTok videos . Kala started her secret tunnel project with the idea of digging up rocks to build a castle, and over the past 12 months or so, she’s learned how to do electrical wiring, excavation, pouring cement, and more—and she’s created an army of devoted viewers dedicated to watching her progress.
But, of course, nothing so beautiful can last long. With her growing fame, haters have emerged online, one of whom appears to have tipped off authorities about her unauthorized construction project. The Tunnel Girl’s tunnel was reportedly closed because The Man insisted that her work be inspected by a professional engineer. Boo! I don’t know much about digging underground tunnels, but Tunnel Girl seems to know what she’s doing, so I say let her keep doing it. She says she hopes the engineer will give her permission so she can return to excavation to the center of the Earth.
“Girl from the Tunnel” made me question whether homeowners really own what’s underneath their home. It turns out that in general this is true. Ownership includes all space above and below the surface of the Earth, down to the other planets and the center of the Earth. However, in practice, you can’t stop planes from flying over your home (usually), and you don’t necessarily own the mineral rights to your land just because you own the land itself.
Helpful TikTok Trend: Grandparent Sleepovers
My favorite new meme on TikTok is grown kids surprising their grandparents with sleepovers. It’s easy to do, just grab your brothers, sisters, cousins, nephews and nieces and come to Mima and Pop Pops with some linens. They probably don’t have much to do since they’re retired, so they’ll probably be very glad you stopped by. I think some curmudgeonly older people would say, “Damn, don’t show up at my house like a bum, But most grandparents aren’t like that. All the grandmothers in these videos are crying, and the grandfathers look shocked. I wish my grandmother were alive and that I could visit her. I fully expected her to make me breakfast in the morning, but she wouldn’t mind. Please enjoy each of these helpful videos:
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” We surprised our grandparents with a sleepover at our cousin’s “
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” Let’s surprise our grandparents with a sleepover for the big kids”
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” Let’s surprise our grandparents by spending the night above them”
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“ We surprised our grandmother with a sleepover. They haven’t done this since they were little “
Waffle House has its own label.
TikTok user @thesleepyparamedic has found a new way to annoy Waffle House employees and customers . Breakfast locations are equipped with TouchTunes jukeboxes and can be accessed remotely. So the giveaway is to download the TouchTunes app , click “Find Waffle House” and then send him some music. A little music about waffles. TouchTunes not only has a dedicated Waffle House playlist, but also an entireWaffle House label that produces parody breakfast songs that can be heard at Waffle Houses across the country.
The “best” of these tunes, according to the sleepy paramedic, is ” There’s Raisins on My Toast,” but personally I prefer the amped-up disco sounds of ” Why Would You Eat Your Grits Anywhere Else ?” Either way, whichever tune you choose (and you should only choose one), you can listen to it for an hour at any Waffle House across the country for about 10 bucks. This is money well spent! According to its website, “Waffle House is a place that serves waffles AND music,” and who are we to argue?
Thirteen-year-old gamer beat Tetris
Thirteen-year-old gamer Willis Gibson, also known as “Blue Scuti”, is the first person to ever beat the Nintendo version of Tetris. Tetris has no “official” ending. In theory, the blocks will fall forever, but in practice it turns out that Tetris only goes up to about level 157 before the game gives up and crashes, leading to the coveted kill screen.
Winning Tetris has been an ongoing project in the extreme gaming community for many years. Level 29 was once thought to be the “ending” because that’s when the bricks start falling faster than a person can press a controller button with their thumb. But players have invented techniques called “hypertapping” and “rolling” that allow for faster data entry. Using these tricks, Blue Scuti was able to advance far enough to beat Tetris, a landmark achievement. Luckily, he was broadcasting live at the time, so his reaction to the incredible feat was captured for posterity. Bonus: It’s adorable.
Viral video of the week: the accused attacked the judge
Perhaps the most widely shared video on the Internet this week is footage of a criminal trial in Las Vegas . In it, defendant Deobra Delone Redden expresses his dissatisfaction with his sentence for attempting to cause bodily harm by jumping over the bench and attacking Circuit Court Judge Mary Kay Holthus, only to be stopped and beaten by court staff. Sure, it’s one hell of a jump, but it’s all depressing. So instead, watch this video from YouTube comedy video creator Drew Gooden , in which he watches only the final scenes of 10 terrible Christmas movies. It’s funny and won’t make you wonder how long society can hold together.