The Break Room

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VilaWolf
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Re: The Break Room

Post by VilaWolf »

Ravensblight has a free paper toys page.

http://ravensblight.com/papertoys.html

All of the items are free to download and assemble, they have items suitable for every skill level, from your First-Time Papercraft to the very experienced. These are actually designed by a living person - not a 3D modeling program so there are NO tiny tabs best used with a microscope, there are no special tools or programs you need, just a PDF reader and a printer, some scissors and a sharpie. (A couple do require toothpicks) Depending on the toy, you can put them together in 10 minutes to 2 hours.

Many of them have moving parts and/or are actually wearable and are incredibly fun to play with once assembled. Some are board games, some have secret compartments, a few come with a free short story. They also look very cool when they are completed.

I've been making Ravensblight Toys for a couple years and even given them out to Blue Bucket Kids on Halloween. I can't recommend them highly enough. Oh... if you think you're at the end of page, it keeps scrolling.

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Re: The Break Room

Post by BBkat »

I see I have been beaten to the punch on the Kitten Academy livestreams.
Twice. :lol:

So I'll shill some other livecams I like to watch.
I have a pair that go together, the first is the birdfeeder cam, which is focused on, obviously enough, the birdfeeders. Throughout the day various birds frequent it (it's located in Ohio).
The second is actually from the BOTTOM of the feeder. They have a feeder on the ground and a camera focused on it, and since it's most active at night, it has night vision!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNYDhlAYmgg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIqUka8BOS8

Another livecam is from Cornell Labs, this one is watching a nesting Barred Owl! She has three eggs in the nest!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8emLVvAQnI8

Cornell Labs actually has a number of live stream bird cams, including several different feeders and different nesting birds (like a Red Tailed Hawk and Albatross)
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Re: The Break Room

Post by Thaliel »

like k-pop? like anime? you can have both with shining star

yes, it's a aikatsu ripoff, but the music is highly addictive
playlist with all episodes starts with subtitle available for english and other languages
https://youtu.be/x8wv09cJxJs
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Re: The Break Room

Post by VilaWolf »

Oh, one more post then I'll stop. A couple podcasts that I highly recommend.

The Myths and Legends Podcast
https://www.mythpodcast.com/
Jason does tend to take editorial liberties with some of the stories, but generally, he's closer to the meaning of the tale than most who focus on myths and legends. One personal comment -- if you have a heart or are sensitive to Children In Harm's Way, skip episode 147; he covers Matchstick Girl. It's an absolutely brutal Hans Christian Anderson Tale. So much so that it's actually WORSE than The Little Mermaid. And if you need to know how bad it is.... it's the one tale that makes me sob every. damn. time. Thankfully, Jason is back to covering the Trojan War, so skip 147 and you're good.

For all your Fandom Needs, You'll never go wrong with Geekshow Podcast
http://www.geekshowpodcast.com/
Their official New Listener's line is "give us three episodes". They don't yell, they don't put anyone down. These are 5 life long friends and fans who just want to talk comic book, movie and tv fandoms. They've found unity between DC and Marvel, and yes, even Star Trek, Dr. Who and Star Wars fans. Their official Motto is "Eat Moar Ham" but unofficially it's "CALM THE F*** DOWN!"
All of the Episode art is photographed by Kerry Jackson from his personal and physical toy collection, lovingly called by the guys "The Time Closet" and one of the more recent ones is Jawas stealing the Adam West Batmobile, if that gives you some hint of how they are.

For High Desert Strangeness; Ken Layne
https://www.desertoracle.com/radio/
And I'm not just pimping his podcast because he's a friend. He's really, honestly, an astonishingly effective storyteller, weaving true goings on in the Mojave into damn-near hypnotic podcasts. If the story is 100% true, really doesn't matter as long as it was reported to him by an eyewitness who believed it happened to them. And it's not just Yucca Man or UFOs, he gets into Jack Parsons, Charles Manson, Local Heros, Giant tales, Tribal legends, 100% True History like how Death Valley and Tahquitz Canyon got their names and the many naturalists who helped to save Joshua Tree and preserve the Mojave Desert so on. That time a tv studio wanted to crash a 747 onto BLM land for a reality show... and from time to time he does touch on UFOs and Yucca Man.

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Re: The Break Room

Post by ShaiNeko »

I think that's all the links added.

I spin a lot of yarn and knit with some of it. :lol: Making something is really meditative for me, so this week I am working what will be a laceweight yarn. It will probably become a shawl. Is anyone knitting or crocheting something right now? I've seen a lot of designers offering free patterns on Ravelry as a way to help us through this trying time.
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I like listening to DnD actual play games and podcasts when I'm crafting or cleaning house. My favorite is The Unexpectables.They stream live on Twitch Wednesdays at 7 pm PST and episodes are available as a podcast as well as on Youtube.

I got back into keeping a journal last year and in the process I tried out a fountain pen for the first time. I love writing with them now and I'll be the first to admit I'm in them for the pretty pretty inks. Mountain of ink is my favorite place to compare inks. When the author of this blog does an ink review, her full page writing sample is copied from a book. After almost 1000 reviews she reached the end of The Hobbit and has moved on to The Lord of the Rings. I am somewhat tempted to get a nice notebook and start a similar project with our creature descriptions.
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Re: The Break Room

Post by jmilana »

I don't know if anyone would be interested in this, but I like this YouTube channel quite a lot: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBkqDN ... C3u78-Pp8g

This YouTuber, Linfamy, makes these short videos (usually 5-10 minutes) on Japanese history and mythology. It's very informative and occasionally funny. Also, all of his stories are animated in a cartoon-y style. If you like anime/manga or are just really bored, you should check it out!
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Re: The Break Room

Post by ToxicFlame »

I tend to find cake decorating compilations on YouTube quite relaxing!
I particularly like this channel. But you can also just search 'cake decorating' or 'cake decorating compilation.'

I also like to binge ... Binging with Babish or Basics with Babish on YouTube. He's a cooking channel with a really soothing voice and a great sense of humor.

I also enjoy reading fan fiction on fanfiction.net. You gotta wade through some of the weaker ones, but there are some real gems on there! And you can sort by fandom.

I wish everyone the best! Take care of yourself and keep your chin up!
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Re: The Break Room

Post by PKGriffin »

All right, here goes Round One: The Youtubes


Video Essays and Film Critique (I watch a lot of these...):
Nerdwriter1 - video essays on culture and film
Writing on Games - often semi-comedic video essays about theming and purpose in video games
Rowan Ellis - focus on queer representation in the media
Sarah Z - varied pop culture socio-political essays
Sideways - essays on film with a focus on score and soundtrack
Big Joel - general comedic video essays on film, often weird ones
Thomas Flight - general short video essays on film, some are just examples of certain film techniques from different sources strung together
Trope Anatomy - structured rants about film
FilmJoy (Movies With Mikey specifically) - general comedic and often uplifting video essays about film
Folding Ideas - Longform video essays on films, video games, and YouTube with a focus on editing (I would recommend his overly-long triad of Fifty Shades adaptation videos)
Every Frame a Painting - essays on film with a focus on editing
Just Write - sometimes-comedic takes on film, also Philosophy 101 videos
Lessons from the Screenplay - discussion of the writing and structure of films
Lindsay Ellis - longform comedic video essays with highly varied subjects related to pop culture, film, and politics, and also Transformers (I would highly recommend her series on The Hobbit and The Death of the Hollywood Movie Musical)
Melina Pendulum - pop culture and comic focus with an emphasis on black representation in the media
Pop Culture Detective - focuses on toxic masculinity in film
Rantasmo - short video essays on queer representation in the media
Razbuten - essays on video game tropes (I would recommend his Gaming for a Non Gamer series where he has his wife play video games)


Game Development:
DoubleFineProd - This is more for if you like games by Double Fine, but they do fairly extensive documentation of the game development process at their studio. I would highly recommend their series on the creation of Broken Age. They also have a hummingbird nest livecam.
New Frame Plus - From one of the people who made Extra Credits, this channel makes videos about game design and development from an animator’s lens.
Extra Credits - Short cartoon videos about gave design and development. A lot of it has to do with concepts that extend into politics, philosophy, writing, art, and more general design, so even if you don’t play games, it’s worth checking out. They also do a series called Extra History that distills interesting historical events into easily-consumed cartoons in a similar style. I would recommend the series on the South Sea Bubble.
Game Maker’s Toolkit - Video essay-style breakdown of game design that often features talks with developers.


Let’s Plays:
BestinSlot - animal and dinosaur focus
NerdCubed
RTGame
GamesWithHank
CallMeKevin - His Sims series with Jim Pickens is amazing. Actually, all of these YouTubers have Sims let's plays, and they're all weirdly themed and hilarious.
Geek & Sundry (specifically Tabletop) - Tabletop games with Wil Wheaton and celebrity guests!
Polygon - various let's plays and silly videos on video games (I would highly recommend the Unraveled and Overboard series)


Bloggers:
Molly Burke - The host for this channel is blind and does a lot of fun and informative videos about her life as a blind person.
Jessica Kellgren-Fozard - The host for this channel has several chronic illnesses and makes a lot of videos about her experience living with disability and disability in general. She is also a lesbian and does fun silly challenges with her wife.
Vlogbrothers - You’ve probably seen them around, but they have a lot of good funny, heartwarming videos.


Weird but Cute Things:
FredTheDinosaurman - claymation dinosaur videos
Ants Canada - The guy really likes ants.
Bailey Meyers - The channel host reads and critiques Goosebumps books.
Jenny Nicholson - The channel host makes overly long, rambling videos on many pop culture topics, all of which are captivating and often funny. If you want a good idea of her content, you can look at the videos Spider Reviews and The Grim Dystopia of A Christmas Prince.


Educational/Informational/Factoids:
Tom Scott - Science, technology, and history focus. The Amazing Places series is especially interesting.
Eons - life history focus
It’s Okay to Be Smart - general science focus
Jay Foreman - British and map focus, and also many silly things
Antonella Inserra - history focus, comedic
Vox - varied current events, pop culture, and factoids, distilled for general consumption
The Brain Scoop - Museum work and specimen preparation!


Courses:
MIT OpenCourseWare
YaleCourses
CrashCourse - designed for a middle grade to high school audience, but interesting for anyone



I don't know many good specific tutorials, but I'd be happy to give some here if people like. Most of my skills aren't especially exciting to learn. I can give some basic lessons on drawing, anatomy, and bone or fossil ID. Unless anyone really wants to learn how to write essays and read scientific papers right now. :derr:
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Re: The Break Room

Post by BBkat »

ToxicFlame wrote:I tend to find cake decorating compilations on YouTube quite relaxing!
I particularly like this channel. But you can also just search 'cake decorating' or 'cake decorating compilation.'

I also like to binge ... Binging with Babish or Basics with Babish on YouTube. He's a cooking channel with a really soothing voice and a great sense of humor.

I also enjoy reading fan fiction on fanfiction.net. You gotta wade through some of the weaker ones, but there are some real gems on there! And you can sort by fandom.

I wish everyone the best! Take care of yourself and keep your chin up!
Alternatively, there's Ao3 (Archive of our Own). (it also has a more comprehensive tagging system for searching/excluding certain things)
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Re: The Break Room

Post by MistyoC »

Someone's started a Facebook group called Quarantine Karaoke. If anyone is interested, I can send an invitation. :-)
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