My Blog

aka, YouTube series to binge when you’re stuck indoors and you’d like to learn a little something.

ART!

Lindsay Ellis’ entire YouTube channel. It’s like film school for people who can’t afford film school.

Here she is teaching you about film theory… via the Transformers movies.

Here she is talking about the ways the potrayals of various characters have changed and developed over the years.

It’s Lit! A series hosted by Lindsay Ellis in collaboration with PBS, about reading, writing, and the publishing industry.

Brows Held High. Half comedy reviews, half artistic and political analysis of “highbrow” films – often both at once.

Also he has talked about Shakespeare a LOT. Like, so much, you guys.

ThugNotes. Advertised as “classic literature, original gangster.” Sparky Sweets, PhD, summarizes and analyzes some books you may have heard of.

Terrible Writing Advice. Teaching you how to write by telling you how not to write.

Maven of the Eventide. A very nerdy goth lady reviews vampire-focused content, and has thus talked quite a lot about the history of the vampire genre and how it’s developed over the centuries. It’s so awesome. She also has really cute kids who show up sometimes!

SCIENCE!

Sexplanations. One very smart lady answers all your sex ed questions. Yes, even that one.

Tibees. A PhD student explains physics and math… in the style of Bob Ross, baking videos, and shitposts.

Cool Worlds. Videos about astronomy and space and other planets, for when you want to think about how small you are.

Minute Physics. Complicated scientific ideas, in short, easy to digest videos.

SciShow: Hank Green and friends tackle serious scientific queries, like, “Why don’t we just throw trash into volcanoes?”

HISTORY!

Ruining History. Shane Madej infodumps about salacious periods in history that were left out of the books. People have always been weird, y’all.

On that note: Puppet History! It’s a new one, but it’s a lot like Ruining History, but with puppets and songs, too.

BuzzFeed Unsolved: True Crime. If I get mysteriously murdered with no leads, Ryan and Shane are the only people allowed to talk about it. 

Also Supernatural often has some interesting historical tidbits.

MISCELLANEOUS CRAP!

Adam Ruins Everything. One very earnest, very nerdy man annoys his friends and family by debunking common misconceptions about everything from chemistry to the TSA to the funeral industry.

Last Week Tonight. Comedy news program hosted by a sad British man in America. Depending on the episode, you might see him get in a jockstrap-related feud with Russel Crowe, troll the FCC with robocalls, or interview Edward Snowden. Constantly wastes HBO’s money on stupid shit. Always funny, always informative, and he hates Trump SO. GODDAMN. MUCH.

Defunctland. Our host Kevin gives us the rundown on theme park attractions, and sometimes whole parks, that don’t exist anymore – how they were developed, and why they ultimately shut down.

He also has a side-series about kids’ TV shows that don’t exist anymore.

And a miniseries about the works of Jim Henson.

Daily Moth. American news given in ASL, with full English transcripts.

Ali Abdaal. A Cambridge grad talks about life has a junior doctor, and how to study and work more effectively.

ART: 

- Sycra. Professional artist, he talks a lot about his own journey in learning anatomy, shading, and discovering his own art style. He also does critiques of art that has been sent in through his forums. I relied heavily on his content in the early days of my artistic journey.

- Baumgartner Restoration. Julian has both narrated and ASMR versions of his videos detailing the process of restoring antique paintings. Incredibly satisfying to watch while also being a wonderful way to learn to appreciate art.

HISTORY (mainly fashion and european oriented):

- Bernadette Banner. Fashion historian and costume maker as a hobby, Bernadette does a wonderful job detailing her process of making historically accurate garments both for costume purposes and everyday wear. She also does a wonderful job explaining the impact fast fashion has on the environment.

- Karolina Zebrowska. Polish fashion historian as well as Meme Mom ™, she has hundreds of excellent (and hilarious) videos debunking myths about fashion throughout history, as well as plenty of GRWM (get ready with me) videos of her in different eras of fashion. 

- Morgan Donner. Medieval fashion historian and leather worker by hobby, I cannot recommend her videos enough if you want to start learning about medieval fashion. 

- Angela Clayton. If you want to learn how to make vintage outfits, I have yet to find a better channel than Angela’s. With a series going through different sewing patterns by decade her videos are highly detailed and very soothing. 

- Townsends. I’ll admit I have yet to watch any of their videos, but if you’re looking for historical cooking and/or construction, this is one of the best places to look.

- English Heritage. So far I’ve only watched some of the Mrs. Crocombe series but English Heritage is a charity organization that strives to both teach and preserve english history. They take care of around 400 buildings alone and have multiple series on a few different topics. The Mrs. Crocombe series in particular focuses mainly on cooking, and gives an excellent look into what everyday life was like in that era.

PHILOSOPHY:

- Philosophy Tube. As stated in the channel’s about section, Oliver Thorn is “giving philosophy degrees away, for free”. His videos explain complex philosphical ideas through both historical and modern context in a way that makes it easy to understand. He has videos about such topics as: Queer philosphy, Trauma, Capitalism, Communism, and the Entertainment industry. Also he’s ridiculously handsome. 

Be warned though! Some of his videos delve into dark topics that may not be suitable for everyone!

LGBTQIA+:

- Rowan Ellis. Queer. Feminist. Geek. While mainly focusing on queer media in modern times, Rowan also has a few videos centered on queer history. Her recent three part video series about queer cinema in relation to assimilation vs liberation is incredibly well done.

- Lets Talk About Stuff. Sarah Zedig is a queer writer and film student who discusses a multitude of important topics such as: how socialist ideals and policies can save lives, the labour of art, as well as what makes the Mcelroy’s humour so appealing. Her fun sense of humour and soothing tone of voice make for easy understanding and a wonderful time. She also hosts multiple podcasts and has some killer fanfiction. 

Be warned though! Some of her videos delve into dark topics that may not be suitable for everyone!

- Boyform. While newer in comparison to lots of the other channels mentioned, Dylan Clark does a fantastic job discussing masculinity and the specific issues that transmasc folks face. His video about Dorian Electra still stands out as my favourite. 

Be warned though! Some of his videos delve into dark topics that may not be suitable for everyone!

MISCELLANIOUS:

- Lovely Lor. Lolita fashion youtuber, she has a wonderful series reacting to different lolita fashion documentaries. With a degree focusing on documentative filming herself, she teaches you how to watch documentaries with a critical eye.

Eliza, walking downstairs: Go to bed!!

Voyage of the Damned - Behind the Scenes (Part One)

Excerpts from The Times article by Caitlin Moran - December 15, 2007

July 2007 First Script read-through, Tottenham Court Road, London.  The script meeting is like this: everyone who was at the tone meeting is here, plus the cast, plus people who’ve blagged their way in so they can meet Kylie.  Everyone is very, very excited.  The smell of aftershave is palpable.  New shoes squeak.  New shirts rustle.

Russell T. Davies enters.  “Kylie!  Kylie!” he says to the room at large, waving his hands in the air, voicing everyone’s hysteria.  David Tennant enters shortly afterwards, looking rock'n'roll in jeans and a Lou Reed T-shirt, to a hubbub of “David!"  It’s a bit like a jubilant Fonz walking into Al’s diner.

Julie Gardner bustles into the room.  "Guess what!” she hoots with excitement.  “Security found a Sun photographer hiding in a cupboard!  Trying to get Kylie!  They’ve just thrown him out!"  This provokes an outraged hubbub - topped only a minute later when someone discovers that there are no plastic cups for tea.

Five minutes later, Kylie finally enters the room - bang on time, and with an entourage of one, her PA.  She’s in jeans and a silky top and her hair - still short and curly, growing back from the chemotherapy - is pinned close to her head.  She looks nervous - understandably, as she has just walked into a village of people who’ve known each other intimately for three years - and hovers by the conference table, not quite knowing where to go.  David Tennant bounds over and slaps his script down on the table next to her.

"I’m going to sit next to you,” he says, beaming.  She smiles up at him, and they sit down together.  She puts her pencil box and make-up bag on the desk and fiddles with them as if it’s the first day at school.  Davies smiles at her encouragingly, and only looks a little bit like a giant grinning at a tiny sugar mouse.

Everyone introduces themselves, from the tea boy up.  “I’m David Tennant, and I play the Doctor,” Tennant says, to huge yells.  “And I’m Kylie Minogue,” Kylie says, to a gigantic roar of approval.

David Tennant Tossing & Catching Things (…that aren’t the sonic screwdriver)

If memory serves, this set was requested by @alaska-riversong an absolute AGE ago.  Yay!   I finally did it!

Source

“Image Credit: Carol Rossetti

When Brazilian graphic designer Carol Rossetti began posting colorful illustrations of women and their stories to Facebook, she had no idea how popular they would become. 

Thousands of shares throughout the world later, the appeal of Rosetti’s work is clear. Much like the street art phenomenon Stop Telling Women To Smile, Rossetti’s empowering images are the kind you want to post on every street corner, as both a reminder and affirmation of women’s bodily autonomy. 

“It has always bothered me, the world’s attempts to control women’s bodies, behavior and identities,” Rossetti told Mic via email. “It’s a kind of oppression so deeply entangled in our culture that most people don’t even see it’s there, and how cruel it can be.”

Rossetti’s illustrations touch upon an impressive range of intersectional topics, including LGBTQ identity, body image, ageism, racism, sexism and ableism. Some characters are based on the experiences of friends or her own life, while others draw inspiration from the stories many women have shared across the Internet. 

“I see those situations I portray every day,” she wrote. “I lived some of them myself.”

Despite quickly garnering thousands of enthusiastic comments and shares on Facebook, the project started as something personal — so personal, in fact, that Rossetti is still figuring out what to call it. For now, the images reside in albums simply titled “WOMEN in english!“ or ”Mujeres en español!“ which is fitting: Rossetti’s illustrations encompass a vast set of experiences that together create a powerful picture of both women’s identity and oppression.

One of the most interesting aspects of the project is the way it has struck such a global chord. Rossetti originally wrote the text of the illustrations in Portuguese, and then worked with an Australian woman to translate them to English. A group of Israeli feminists also took it upon themselves to create versions of the illustrations in Hebrew. Now, more people have reached out to Rossetti through Facebook and offered to translate her work into even more languages. Next on the docket? Spanish, Russian, German and Lithuanian.

It’s an inspiring show of global solidarity, but the message of Rossetti’s art is clear in any language. Above all, her images celebrate being true to oneself, respecting others and questioning what society tells us is acceptable or beautiful.

“I can’t change the world by myself,” Rossetti said. “But I’d love to know that my work made people review their privileges and be more open to understanding and respecting one another.””

LOOK

AT

THESE

LETS APPLAUD CAROL ROSSETTI EVERYONE