Thailand, Monk, 100, Voodoo, Stories

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Why Thailand's Geography Breeds Instability

PolyMatter | YouTube | 17th November 2020

Thailand is home to 70 million people, but "almost everyone lives either around Bangkok, or in one of its hundreds of small, distant cities. The capital magnetically concentrates nearly every major institution," which makes Bangkok a "single, imperative chokepoint, whose capture or disruption can cause every category of chaos across the rest of the nation" (10m 20s)

Thelonious Monk's 25 Tips For Musicians

Adam Neely | YouTube | 23rd November 2020

Thelonious Monk's pointers, explained by two musicians. Examples: "Stop playing all that bullshit, those weird notes, play the melody!", "The inside of the tune (the bridge) is the part that makes the outside sound good," "Don't play everything (or everytime); let some things go by," and "You've got to dig it to dig it, you dig?" Indispensable advice from a great musical mind (13m 29s)

100-Hour Lasagna

Alvin Zhou | YouTube | 15th November 2020

Immensely warm, satisfying cooking video (a genre I don't often enjoy). Each element of the lasagna is painstakingly concocted and refrigerated in a precise, laborious process. Over time, "the flavors seem to magically intensify." Makes cooking seem like the most relaxing activity in the world – lo-fi beats and sizzling sound design add to the coziness (13m 27s)

How 'Voodoo' Became A Metaphor For Evil

The Guardian | YouTube | 26th November 2020

"It was a vodou ceremony that kicked off the insurrection" resulting in Haiti's independence from France, so no wonder the Europeans painted it as evil. "Vodou became symbolic for all that was un-Western, undeveloped, uncivilized, and that narrative has been used up to the present day to justify imperial interventions in Haiti." Interesting, thought-provoking culture critique (7m 53s)

Clever Video Of The Week

Humorous (very) short stories

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Editor: Abe Callard
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