Watch this: Marvelization and Cabin Life in Italy

When I still had a Discord server, there was a monthly post with all the books, articles, apps and videos I enjoyed. I didn’t pick up on this habit on my blog yet (also because of the fact that until recently, reading wasn’t really happening) but I’d like to make a start now by sharing a few YouTube videos that influenced me over the past months. This probably won’t turn into a monthly series since I don’t want to pressure myself to have something to share all the time, but every now and then you might find a curated list like this one on here to peruse to your liking. Ah, and since this blog keeps with a minimalist aesthetic so far, I refrained from embedding videos or adding thumbnails. Enjoy!

The Marvelization of Cinema by Like Stories of Old

I clicked on this because the thumbnail showed Aragorn in Lord of the Rings and Sauron in The Rings of Power side by side, highlighting the difference in lighting and setting. I have been feeling alienated by modern cinema and shows for a good ten years now, probably dating back to the release of the Hobbit. Tom perfectly captures many of the reasons in his essay. What we’re missing in today’s films and series is genuine passion to create - instead of putting out commercially successful content. There’s much more to explore and I’ll leave it to Tom to explain it. If you’re into good movies and tv shows, you’ll probably resonate.

#1 First Days at my Cabin in the Italian Alps by Martijn Doolaard

Technically, this is not a single video recommendation but an emphatic desire for everyone in the world to watch the whole ongoing series. Martijn is praised in the community for his outstanding cinematography, but most of all, it’s the simple, unassuming display of his life and renovations at 1,200 meters up in the mountains that captivate so many. I started watching during my recovery and have almost caught up to the current episodes. There is nothing more calming, grounding and inspiring on YouTube out there right now if you ask me.

Convenience Is Designed to be Addictive by Design Theory

Thought-provoking arguments on why modern-day technology is deliberately designed to make us into passive consumers rather than active users of tools. The ‘black boxes’ we surround ourselves with, laptops, smart phones, edgeless, clean devices - they don’t bend and adapt to our usage, we adapt to them. This feeds into the larger idea that the way we remove perceived ‘obstacles’ in our lives today leaves us almost incompetent because we have no means of truly engaging with the world anymore.

I hate my phone so I got rid of it by Eddie Burback

The title says it all. Eddie ventures on a thirty-day experiment without his smartphone. Actually, without any phone except a landline which soon becomes the target of spam calls. The video has it all - humor, wit, pensive reflection. If you ever thought about leaving your phone behind for a while and wonder if that’s even possible today, watch this. I certainly took a lot away from it - this wasn’t the first ‘No phone for a month’ video I had watched but in my mind the best and most relatable one so far.

‘You Will Own Nothing’ by Jared Henderson

Subscriptions for everything down to the right to use the hardware you already bought - we live in strange times indeed. Jared breaks down ownership rights and how they are being eroded while addressing the infamous ‘You will own nothing’ quote everybody brings up these days (no, it doesn’t exactly mean what most people think it means). If you want to make informed choices as a customer, it’s important to know about these developments, and Jared offers a nuanced, reasonable perspective on them.

I hope you enjoyed today’s recommendations. I’m reading a lot these days and am struggling to put my thoughts about all I’m learning into one cohesive post so I’ll need some more time with the next one. See you around!