History Lesson, With A Beat

I recently discovered this song through the Just Dance 2020 game that my daughter loves to play: Rasputin by Boney M.

Not only does it have a good beat and an upbeat melody, the moves are definitely culturally appropriate. But the part I love the most is that it takes a largely forgotten historical figure of great importance of his time, around the Russian Revolution, and tells his story very succinctly. It takes a great amount of talent to do that, and it's sad that Boney M. didn't get more recognition for this marvelous work.

The Story of The Star-Spangled Banner

Just about every American knows the words to the first verse of the Star-Spangled Banner, but do you know the story behind it?  I spent six months in Baltimore in 1976, so I was well acquainted with it, but this is still an inspirational video.

For Musical Masochists...

Donatien Alphonse François, Marquis de Sade was born on June 2, 1740.  In honor of his birthday, I present you with the two most painful pieces of music I have ever heard:

There are many, many recordings of Steve Reich's Music for Pieces of Wood, and I could have tortured you for hours with all of them.  They do sound pretty similar, though, leaving you with the question, is the ringing in your ears meant to be part of the music? What makes this video particularly excruciating is eliminating the human element, just seeing the pure geometry of the passing notes.

John Cage's Fontana Mix is quite a different beast.  He did not notate it in a traditional manner, so different performers can have radically different realizations.  What makes Max Neuhaus's interpretation so ear curdling is that his primary "instrument" was a speaker and microphone, which he manipulated the feedback between.

How a Carpenter Says I Love You

There are many ways to express your love: words, touches, gifts.  A gift you make yourself that is exactly what the person needs is an extra special way, and when it is made by the hands of a master carpenter, it becomes a work of art:

How to Make Christmas Pudding

Getting ready for the holidays can be very stressful.  High on that list is making special dishes.  Here is a very easy-to-follow recipe for making Christmas pudding.  I think you'll find your stress levels will go down just watching it.

Caught on Tape!

He doesn't move while people are watching, but apparently he isn't always aware of security cameras:

Story Time!

Apparently there is a relatively new social media site called Vine featuring 7 second videos.  One of the funniest guys on there is Thomas Sanders.  I particularly love his "Narrating Real Life" vines which start out with him saying "Story Time!" and then cutting to some random person who he talks about what they are doing and then adds a bizarre twist.

Here is the largest compilation I could find on Youtube of his material:

Fighting the Gorn

In a classic episode of the original Star Trek series, Captain Kirk has to fight the captain of the Gorn ship in one-on-one combat using only what he can find on a deserted planet.  The Gorn, while slower than humans, were much stronger, so Kirk had no hope of defeating him hand-to-claw.  What he did was build a cannon.  Mythbusters did a show that proved that it wasn't possible using the ingredients shown.  But that is not the last word!  Using an ingredient that they would not have shown on television in the 1960s, these guys show that it is possible:

This isn't really about an almost 50 year old TV episode, though. The key point here is that just a tiny bit of knowledge can mean the difference between success and failure.

Farming the Forest

"Forest gardening" and "food forests" have been popular concepts in permaculture for a long time.  They are getting to be more mainstream now - Cornell has an online introduction to forest farming.  This looks like an interesting series of videos to watch.

Selling the Movies...

Selling stuff can be serious business... except sometimes when it is on the silver screen.  Sometimes salespeople need some inspiration.  Here are some lists of movies that can give it to them:


Cult Movies Sales People and Marketers Should Watch



16 Movies for Sales People


"The Goods" is one of my favorites.

All Cows Eat Grass

Occam's Grazer: An In-depth Introduction to Holistic Management

This is a really good introduction to holistic management, a way of raising cattle that helps restore the landscape.  This is intended for general audiences, it doesn't require a lot of background in animal husbandry.

Ulysses's Gaze

The world's attention has been focused on Greece for many months, but as a kind of economic spectacle.  I would like to pay tribute to their culture with this opening to Ulysses's Gaze, a movie with one of the most beautiful soundtracks I have ever heard:

Careful Without That Ax, Eugene

Need to cut some wood but don't have an ax or saw?  If you have a knife, you can use a technique called batoning:


 You do have to be careful, though, or you will break your knife; and if there is another way to split the wood, you want to use that, because no matter how careful you are, you are still making it duller.

Farm Medley

It's been 3 years since the Petersen Brothers produced "I'm Farming and I Grow It".  They just put out an anniversary video, but instead I'm going to feature their medley of last year's hits:

Common People

It's Indepedendence Day, and I want to celebrate Common People.

Hat Tip to Sixbears in the Woods to introducing me to the song... although the version he used was by William Shatner.

Dig This...

The guy is speaking in Russian (I believe), but it doesn't matter, the video on his Facebook page speaks for itself.  He's invented a cool tool to turn soil using bicycle handlebars.  The only unfortunate thing is it looks like he is demonstrating it on soil that has already been worked; I'd really want to see how it does on virgin soil.

Little Free Libraries

Love to read?  Imagine having a box in your front yard where new books show up like magic.  It's not just a dream, it's the Little Free Library movement. 

Within Reach

If you've decided you want to live in an intentional community, how do you go about picking one out?  One couple's answer: a bike trip across the United States, documented in a film:

I certainly have no plans on making a cross-country bike trip, but watching this film may be a nice way to learn about a number of different intentional communities.  It is for sale at the Fellowship for Intentional Community bookstore.

Make A Black Out Bag!

Jenna of Cold Antler Farm posted a good video about how to Make A Black Out Bag.  In the text she also has a good introduction to The Survival Podcast.

Going Upslope in LA

Wow, this couple has a self-reliant lifestyle in Los Angeles on 1/12 of an acre in a 900 square foot home: