Codex 9/11

A new 9/11 documentary attempts to explain what happened using original research and gaining clues from raw footage from the day. Check it out before it's deleted, if you're interested.

Pool Cleaning Videos Are Almost My Thing

 Continuing my series of discovering and cataloging Youtube genres, I've discovered Pool Cleaning Videos and they're somewhat compelling but not compelling enough, for reasons I'll explain.

There are at least two types of pool cleaning videos. In the first type, the pool is empty and they're cleaning the cement. These are fine, these are pleasing but you'll note they don't differ in any meaningful way from the Pressure Wash genre so I will omit talking about them. See below for an example.

Categories: "Things Going from Disorder to Order", "Cleaning", "Pressure Washing", "Oddly Satisfying."

The other type of pool cleaning video - the main one for the topic of this discussion - is a pool cleaning where the pool is full of water. You'll find my favorite example below.

Categories: "Things Going from Disorder to Order", "Cleaning", "Bright Colors", "Oddly Satisfying."

There are two aspects of this example I need to point out. First, you'll see the pouring of chemicals, the churning of the water and the color of the pool changing from dark dirt to a crystalline blue. It's an amazing phenomenon and one that I'd never seen before. This process is the main feature that all videos in this genre have in common. But as much as I find the color change satisfying, it's also too slow and usually involves "checking back in" periodically so you don't really get the satisfaction of watching it change before your eyes. This is the main disappointment of the genre - the pretty color change that I want to watch mostly happens off-screen.

The second aspect of this video to discuss is pretty rare and the reason this one rises above the rest... The part where they run some sort of pool vacuum and you watch the pool bottom getting cleaned in neat strips - the part starting around 11:00 - that's superb. That's the best. More of that please, because I haven't seen other videos that feature it.

So in summary, I find the Pool Cleaning Genre to be compelling but not as satisfying as other similar genres.

NOPE

 

NOPE.

Fixing Up a $1 House

Another video I found fascinating: it's just a timelapse on renovating a beaten down shack. Makes me wish I could do this. But maybe not... When it seems like they're still getting started and it says "Week 15" maybe it's not as satisfying as I imagine.

Upscaled Film From WWI

Film footage from WWI that has been cleaned, upscaled, increased in framerate, colorized, etc.

Apologies if this is boring to you. I saw it and was struck, once again, at how close this is to time travel.

The Blind Mike Project - Alec Baldwin

 

I don't understand it all but Alec Baldwin makes a video about his dead mother (for some reason) and it somehow turns into comedy gold.

RLM - The Future of AI Cinema

Mike and Jay discuss the state of AI in cinema and what it means for the future.

When a Youtube Suggestion Offers Nothing

 

Gordon Ramsey Makes Pancakes?

A clever edit of Gordon Ramsey cooking.

I love how this is such a simple idea but so effective.

Simulated Marble Races

I've posted a number of youtube genres over the years under the heading of "oddly satisfying" but this one has to be the most pointless. Not just a marble race, but a virtual marble race. There are a million of these and they all have millions of views.

Please, no wagering.

I'm wondering if the same race is run multiple times, if the result is exactly the same each time.

Youtube's Thumbnail

 

The thumbnail for "The Hunt for Red October" on youtube is blue. Who are the ad wizards who came up with that one?

What are Sugar Plums?

It's Christmas time, basically, so naturally I've been wondering what sugar plums are and how to get hold of some. If you do a search on amazon you'll get sugar coated plums for sale, which are not the same thing at all. Then talking to a friend, he sent me a recipe but wikipedia warns:

"Another 21st-century take on the sugar plum instructs home cooks to combine dried fruits and almonds with honey and aromatic seeds (anise, fennel, caraway, cardamom), form this mixture into balls, then coat in sugar or shredded coconut.[8]"

... which is what the recipe was. I'm not looking for the 21st-century anything.

So this video explains what they are and how to make them and I guess I won't be trying sugar plums.

Except.

They mention jordan almonds are technically sugar plums and he also refers to some brand of coated pine nuts as being sugar plums; but he doesn't mention or link to whatever he's specifically talking about. Jordan almonds that fit the criteria are all over amazon, so that's obtainable. Pine nuts are trickier. With some work, I was able to track down the pine nuts he's referring to as being "1880 Candy Coated Pine Nuts." They appear to be obtainable but not from any place convenient to me. To be continued perhaps.

250 Years of Military Rations

Guga tries military rations from the various major wars in America's history.

Happy Veteran's Day.

Guy Beats Tetris

Did you ever see someone beat Tetris? Well apparently not because this video claims to be the world first. "Beating Tetris" means here that you get to Level 255 and move to the next level and it goes back to Level 0. They're calling this a "Rebirth" which seems confusing to me, but whatever.

A few notes of no interest to anyone... The highest digit of the Lines Count goes 0-9 and then A-Z and then hyphen, comma, apostrophe, right arrow, exclamation point, question mark and left parentheses. The highest digit of the Score goes 0-9 and then A-F (hexadecimal) and then back to 0. The Level, as said, goes to 255 to 0. That's 3 different "numbering systems" on one screen.

I can't understand this video. My mind cannot process this quickly. And he even seems to be monitoring the chat and responding in real-time. Crazy. Just crazy.

Solo in Rural Pennsylvania

A bit of a word of warning: this is not going to be everyone's cup of tea. It's a guy with a camera going around central Pennsylvania, eating, filming the scenery and talking to the locals. It's not for everyone but I love it. 

This is something I would love to do, if I could. I admire this guy's ability to do it. It's an amazing idea that you can just pick someone out at random, interview them and get something interesting. But not just getting something of interest, it's amazing how people chosen at random can all be so likeable.

I even had a life goal to visit Centralia but it looks like I missed my chance, in a way. Centralia has really gone downhill.

Paul Jr. Has a Podcast

Continuing to pretend that the sudden re-emergence of "American Chopper" is real and organic, it turns out that Paul Jr. has a podcast now.

Above is the third episode where he talks about recently watching the episodes and finding that so much time has past that he feels more like a viewer than a participant. He also says he's working on getting a new show but it's early stages.

So he has a podcast and a youtube channel, Paul Sr. has (at least) a youtube channel, it looks like Mikey has a podcast, Vinnie has a youtube channel... does Rick have a podcast? - no, I think he was a guest on Paul Sr.'s podcast... Basically it's 2024 and everyone in the world is on youtube with a podcast. There isn't enough time in the world to keep up with it.... except I'll probably keep up with Paul Jr.'s channel because I have the American Chopper brain damage and this is how bad it is.

Fixing an American Chopper (Continued)

The guy who bought an American Chopper bike and is trying to fix it up, meets and hangs out with Paul Sr.  

I think I've fallen into a soap opera. I started watching a video, and that video led to another video, then it became a series and now it's spinning off a new series... It's too much! It's still enjoyable but I may have to cut these off at some point. But I don't know, I do still have American Chopper brain-rot, after all.

Fixing an American Chopper (Continued)

 This is a continuation of a previous post where a guy is trying to get an OCC Bike in working order.

I'll give a heads-up, I don't like this video, I think it's pretty lame but we have a series going and I don't want to drop the ball for anyone interested.

This kind of back-and-forth reaction debate doesn't work here. You don't use the term "straw man argument" in a garage. Paul Sr. did not get to where he is by listening to what people say and considering it with an open mind. Paul Sr. does two things: he gets offended and yells at people - that's it.

Oh well. I trust the next episode will be better.

Is This the Most Boring Video Ever Made?

This person has a Microsoft Word tutorial from 1989. They have a has niche interest to a few people. It's an oddity that might attract some curious viewers. But I have to admire that they've had the brainwave to call it "THE MOST BORING VIDEO EVER MADE (Microsoft Word tutorial, 1989)."

Immediately they have a potential viral hit.

Of course, everyone can decide for themselves and if you're having trouble sleeping, this might be a good attempt at a cure. But I've been around for a while and seen a few boring videos in my day and I'm not convinced. In particular, this arouses my "I'm a kid and I want a computer" nostalgia, so in that way it's actually exciting.

This is not the most boring video in the world, this is a blog post. I don't remember the most boring video in the world, no, but this is a blog post.

Youtube Genre: Falling Rocks

This youtube video, entitled "Cobblestones unloading relaxing and healing." is my exemplar for this genre.

It is no doubt relaxing but is it also healing?

There are loads of these. The genre could be called "Falling Rocks," "Falling Stones," "Sifting Sands" or maybe something like "Unloading Stones from Barge." None of these is really a homerun. Maybe "Conveyor Belt Unloading" is another possibility but the weakness of that one is that the conveyor belt isn't the star of the show, it's the rocks.

It also seems that they mostly come from China and there's a lot of re-posting/stealing content. It ticks the "Oddly Satisfying" box and I don't know of any others - other than that you should watch it on mute while listening to something else.  I find it mesmerizing.