Friday YouTube Wrap Up 4/19/24

Went down a Penn & Teller Fool Us rabbit hole this week. Submitted for you, is the very best one I watched.

Friday YouTube Wrap Up 4/12/24

Kasso! This Japanese reality skateboarding competition couldn’t have aired originally in such a compressed format, but boy do I love carving off all the cruft and just getting to the exciting bits.

Media Log - March 2024 Edition

These months are flying by. Just like January and February, below is an accounting of my media diet for the past month. Tracking what I watch here and loading this draft up with show, movies, music, and games I might consume, a backlog, has been useful too.

Dan Soder: On The Road - I’ve been following Dan Soder via his podcast and old stand up clips since he did his first guest appearance on Pablo Torre Finds Out back in September. He has been promoting this straight to YouTube special for a bit and I was looking forward to it. Happy to say it delivered. (B+)

Adventure Zone vs. Dracula - The McElroy father and sons are back at it with a new setting and story in their ever evolving table top podcast. This one is monster themed D&D 5e and one of the best arcs they’ve done in a while. I’ve been keeping up with this podcast since it started and this might be my favorite version of this thing since the original story. (A)

Abbott Elementary Season 3 - It’s back, it’s great, and we always walk away from each episode with sore faces (from the laughing) and full hearts (from the positive vibes). (A)

Schoolboy Q: Blue Lips - My album of the year so far, hands down. A long awaited album from his last outing that delivers on so many fronts. Catch me talking more about it on the podcast. (A+)

Lil Guardsman - A light hearted Papers, Please with fun cartoon art? Didn’t work for me at all and was the first game I’ve ever returned on Steam. The game parts aren’t that compelling and the story conveyed through a lot of dialogue was tedious. I found myself looking for the “Skip” button within the first 15 minutes. (C-)

That Mexican OT: Texas Technician - This sophomore album dropped the same day as Blue Lips (3/1/24). It isn’t fair to compare them, but I had to pick how I spent my listening time this month and Q won. This is still a good album with 3-4 bangers that have made their way into the Rap Shit 2024 playlist. (B)

Shogun - A 2024 reimaging of a 1980’s adaptation of a 1970’s popular novel that is very well done. Killer acting, visuals, effects, music, it’s got it all, and set in a time period I have been fascinated by since watching the original show back in the mid-90’s. (A)

The Vince Staples Show - I wanted this to rival Atlanta or at least match it. I had very high hopes and Vince Staples might be on my top 5 rappers list. It didn’t disappoint, but this is not Atlanta. It is it’s own great thing that you should watch and enjoy. (B+)

Formula 1: Drive to Survive - Showing up late late late to F1’s moment in the sun, at least in the United States. Huge If True and Search Party both recently did videos on the 2024 season and that finally pushed me to watch this docuseries that starts with the 2018 season. It is made by the same folks that did Break Point. (B+)

FRIDAY YOUTUBE WRAP UP 3/8/24

Monster Factory is back! Everything else is icing on the cake.

Could have used this on a recent project.

Media Log - February 2024 Edition

I liked capturing and talking about the things I consumed for the January 2024 edition of the media log and I can say the same is true for this one. Lots of gaming per usual, some solid shows, and I really do need to make some time for the movies on my backlog.

Helldivers 2 - What a peach of a cooperative game. There are many games that come out and show promise in this space these days. But either they don’t quite stick the landing or they don’t amass a player base that reaches far enough into my friend group. Talked about it on last weeks podcast. (A+)

Taskmaster New Zealand s2 - I came for the Guy Montgomery, I stayed for the task, David Correos, and Laura Daniel. I stayed despite the host being flat and not really adding much. Hard for anyone to hold a candle to Greg and Alex, but Jeremy Wells barely feels like he is participating. (B)

Palworld - All the rage, no like a true rampage. 19 million copies sold in it’s first month compared to the last Pokémon game that sold 23 million copies in a year. But like all survive together games if you show up late, your friends will will spoon feed you the tech tree, and undermine everything that is compelling about the game. (B-)

Mr. and Mrs. Smith - Fun television based on a fun movie. Donald Glover is great, and it turns out Maya Erskine is also great. A lot of similar energy to Atlanta in how it is shot and written. I love how well it nails couples conversations. (A+)

Warzone Fortune’s Keep - They are playing their return of “old” map trump cards. It feels desperate, short sighted, and I can’t help myself to not enjoy it. Rebirth is up next and I can’t wait. (B+)

Against the Storm - The game release cycle in 2024 has already netted us a great list of games. But sometime you go wandering into OpenCritic to see what you missed last year. Good game, but the turn time on each map at 30-40 mins is a little too long for me. (C+)

Total Forgiveness - Still getting a ton out of my year subscription to Dropout. I am watching a ton of the new content, but also dipping into the old stuff too. Back in 2019 there was a show that pitted two cast members against each other in a series of challenges to pay off their student loan debt. It stars off Jackass and quickly gets a lot more compelling than simple pranks. And it is all free on YouTube. (B+)

Rap Shit 2024 - Lastly this years playlist is taking it’s first steps towards toddlerhood:


Friday YouTube Wrap Up 3/1/24

I used to watch a lot more car and motorcycle process television when I consumed cable television as a primary feed. I haven’t really established new sources for this content, but this Killer Mike + Grand National build series feels like something old made new.

FRIDAY YOUTUBE WRAP UP 2/23/24

An eclectic mix presented, but not really representative of how much of a deep dive I made into diorama YouTube this week.

Friday YouTube Wrap Up 2/16/24

A fascinating 33 minute video on inventing the blue led. Something I assumed would have been trivial and absolutely was not.

Media Log - January 2024 Edition

Instead of trying to accumulate all of my thoughts into one big post at the end the year (I may still do that too), I’ve decided to test out a running summary of the month. Kottke style. It will probably be more comprehensive than the year end bit at the very least.

Captains of the World - 2022 World Cup, mostly through the lens of the team captains. It barely touches on the human rights issues in Qatar and steers completely clear of how the event ended up there in the first place. It is in direct association with FIFA so that makes sense. (B)

Eater: Mise En Place - YouTube series that goes behind the scenes at Michelin star restaurants. They focus on a day in the life, they vary from good to great, but all clock in at 15-20 mins and don’t overstay their welcome. This stuff falls into the category of companion videos to other activities, but still holds up on its own too. (B-)

Tombs: Junji Ito Story Collection - Horror manga is not a medium or genre I’m well versed in, but I like Ito’s work a lot. You probably know him from the spirals, but this collection of short stories is a great introduction. (B)

Alan Wake 2 - Proper spooky video game in pretty package. The graphical fidelity mixed with FMV would be a technical achievement by itself. But then it tells a truly creepy story that constantly bends the lines between reality and nightmare. Gameplay wise it isn’t doing much new, but it felt like an evolution of the story telling and world building Remedy achieved with Control. (A)

Spots - Picked up this light and cool board game for one of the kids for Christmas. We ending up playing it a ton over the break and into the new year. It is a push your luck dice rolling game, with fun art, that is easy to teach, and quick to play. (A+)

Very Important People - Improv comedy show in the vein of a Barbara Walters interview. The guest is in full make up + costume and decides who they are on the spot. The host follows suit and hilarity and chaos ensue. (A)

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown - The first great game of 2024, simple as that. A modern entry into the metroidvania (search action) genre on par with Metroid Dread (2021) and Hollow Knight (2017). If you want more, I talked about it at length on Episode 225 of the SAMCast. (A+)

Dimension 20: Fantasy High - Started this when the third season was announced and have continued to make my way through the first season this month. This is solid entertainment, but also inspired me to kick off a campaign at home with my wife and youngest. More on that later. (B)

NikeCraft General Purpose Shoe - I’ve been eyeballing a second pair of one of my favorite shoes in a new color for a while. It seems like the partnership with Tom Sachs is dead in the ground, so there are no new runs or colors on the horizon. (A)

Tommy Fingers - I dedicated a Friday post to this channel. It is so excellent and I want so much more of it. (A+)

FRIDAY YOUTUBE WRAP UP 1/26/24

Some carry overs from last week that are still worth a watch, and some new ones from this week too. Enjoy!

FRIDAY YOUTUBE WRAP UP 1/19/24

I had a whole post ready to go with a decent variety of videos for today and then I ran into Bobby Fingers. I pushed them all to week and dedicated this post to just one channel. The unfortunate part is that I can share the whole of his channel in just one post, in that I want more of them. But the fortunate part is you dear reader viewer can sit back and soak in the glory that is Bobby Fingers. I recommend watching them in order, as each builds and escalates on the last. Enjoy!

FRIDAY YOUTUBE WRAP UP 01/12/24

Bamford’s goal over the weekend in the FA cup was special.

Our 11 year old convinced us to this thing to our family room setup. It shows up today, more later?