The differently-abled on YouTube.

This week I bring you several channels of YouTubers who have awesome channels and just happen to be disabled.

The first is Tommy Edison, who is blind.  He has two channels, the Blind Film Critic and the Tommy Edison Experience.  In the former he reviews movies after opening night, and rates them, before asking his sighted friends what they saw.  He's reviewed movies like Momento, the Dark Knight Rises and Inception.  In the latter he shows how hard it is to use money, go to the ATM and shoot a basketball.

Next up we have a spunky woman named Tisha who runs Tisha Unarmed.  Tisha was born with no arms and uneven legs, but has learned to do everything from taking a shower, getting dressed, driving and grocery shopping.  But she also eats sushi with chopsticks!  Amazing.

Last but not least is Josh Sundquist who only has one leg after a childhood battle with cancer.  He now is a motivational speaker and an excellent storyteller.  He has relayed his experiences with airport security, as well as how to smuggle soda into a movie theater.  Josh also uses crutches so he has to think about things like how to hold hands with your date as well as how to walk on ice with crutches.  The reason I found him originally was his math videos like The Game of Thrones for Math Nerds or The Hunger Games for Math Nerds. His newest?  Gangnam Style for Math Nerds.

And not to neglect our non-human disabled friends, we have Lil Bub Bub.  She is a polydactyl, toothless cat whose "dude" makes videos of her.  Lil Bub has a website, store and has even gone viral!  You can see her dude take her to the park, feed her yogurt and makes her very very happy.

History and Food

I ran into a blog about the war of 1812 when browsing events to do this weekend.  It's a running documentary about the events surrounding the war.  The writers include several historical sites, newspapers, parks and historical societies.  If you're interested in more historical blogs, check out this extensive list.  Included are Cardinal Wolsey's Today in History and Elizabeth Mahon's Scandalous Women about 'history's most fascinating and flagrant women'.

On another topic, there's an awesome website about food substitutions.  I ran out of rice wine vinegar when making sushi this other night and this site came to the rescue.  Also, my favorite food personality, Alton Brown, has a blog!  Well, it's less of a blog and more of a food news aggregator.  Anthony Bourdain also has a food blog, which may be fascinating as he wraps up his last season of No Reservations.  Bon Appetit!

More Science!

Here's an update to my first science post, this time, all youtube channels.


Vihart is a professional mathemusician at the Khan Academy and makes awesome math videos including an ode to the number 2.

Deep Sky Videos by Brady Haran explore telescopes, nebula, and other awesome outer space things.

Numberphile also by Brady Haran are videos all about numbers including card tricks and the Batman Equation.

Periodic Videos is all about chemistry.  There's awesome explosions/ reactions, science news and other molecule-y stuff.  (Also check out the host's Einstein-ian 'do!)

Sixty Symbols has videos about physics and astronomy including the Large Hadron Collider.

SciShow, the cousin to CrashCourse, has science news and things like the Official Government Statement on Mermaids.

Food Blogs

Unwholesome Foods - This is a blog by my friend Beth from MIT.  She features crazy stuff from how to mummify a chocolate bunny to Ice Cream of Mushroom Soup and TurDunkin'. ("The turDunkin’ is a turkey brined in Dunkin’ Donuts coolattas, stuffed with munchkins and served with coffee gravy and mashed hash browns.") "Unwholesome foods. It’s not that they are unhealthy. It’s not that they taste bad. It’s just that the mere thought of eating them leaves you with a feeling that you’d really just rather not. The foods we feature are edible and even at times delicious. In fact, we give you the recipes and detailed instructions so you can try our unwholesome foods in your own kitchen!"

Adventuresome Kitchen -  My cousin Jen runs a fabulous food blog!  "Fearless Gluten-Free Cooking and Musings from a Restless Kitchen Diva."  She has everything for the gluten-free eater from watermelon gazpacho and Buche de Noel to Taco Tuesday!  She brought gluten-free cookies to my cousin Dan's wedding and they were divine.

Epic Meal Time - Note: language not suitable for children.  "We make your dreams come true, and then we eat them."  I haven't watched many of these, but they came highly recommended by a friend.  The food is along the lines of Unwholesome Foods... like "Meatzza" which is an epic pizza of meat and cheese and "Squeaky Grease Sandwiches" which are epic poutine sandwiches.  They also show you how much fat and calories are in each thing...   It's epic.

Will it Blend? - This started as a series of infomercials by Blendtec that went viral.  "See what the Total Blender can do in the Blendtec test lab, as we ask the question, Will It Blend?"  They also have a website that tells you what you should and shouldn't try at home.  Watch the blending of glow sticks, old spice, a vuvuzela, and a video camera (so you can see what it's like to be blended!)  Spoilers: yes, it blends.

My Drunk Kitchen - Hannah Hart is an internet celebrity.  Her concept is simple.  Drink, then cook.  Chaos and hilarity ensues.  Of course, she also had a blog and and official website.  She also sings!  My favorites are "Show me Where ya Noms at" and "Oh, Internet".  Some of her content should come with a parental warning too...

Anthony Bourdain - Anthony Bourdain is a chef turned tv host of No Reservations.  His show tours the world to eat strange local cuisine.  (Also, parental guidance suggested... yadda yadda...)  While his personality is abrasive to some, I enjoy his witty commentary and enthusiasm for the unknown.  I highly recommend watching his Lebanon show.  Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.  From Wikipedia:
"In July 2006, Bourdain was in Beirut filming an episode of No Reservations when the Israel-Lebanon conflict broke out. Bourdain and his crew were evacuated with other American citizens on the morning of July 20 by the United States Marines...  the episode included footage of both Bourdain and his production staff, and included not only their initial attempts to film the episode, but also their firsthand encounters with Hezbollah supporters, their days of waiting for news with other expatriates in a Beirut hotel, and their eventual escape aided by a "cleaner"..."

Cake Wrecks - On the great internets since May of 2008, this blog is full of the worst (and best!) decorated cakes on the planet. "A Cake Wreck is any cake that is unintentionally sad, silly, creepy, inappropriate - you name it. A Wreck is not necessarily a poorly-made cake; it's simply one I find funny, for any of a number of reasons. Anyone who has ever smeared frosting on a baked good has made a Wreck at one time or another, so I'm not here to vilify decorators: Cake Wrecks is just about finding the funny in unexpected, sugar-filled places."

Grammy Gertie's Recipe Box - My Aunt Gertie's blog was previously featured on this blog, but it's worth mentioning again!

Funny Blogs & Blog-like objects

The Oatmeal - The Oatmeal's real name is Matthew and he lives in Seattle, Washington. He subsists on a steady diet of crickets and whiskey. He enjoys long walks on the beach, gravity, and breathing heavily through his mouth. His dislikes include scurvy, typhoons, and tapeworm medication.

The Onion - articles comment on current events, both real and fictional. It parodies such traditional newspaper features as editorials, man on the scene interviews, and stock quotes on a traditional newspaper layout with an AP-style editorial voice. Much of its humor depends on presenting everyday events as newsworthy and by playing on commonly used phrases, as in the headline "Drugs Win Drug War”.

Cracked.com- Cracked.com is the most visited humor website in the world, with over 300 million monthly page views. The Cracked site also includes a blog, videos, forums, a writer's workshop, four weekly Image Manipulation contests called Photoplasty, and small, one-shot articles called "Quick Fixes." Cracked formerly included a daily "Craptions" contest where users added captions to odd photographs; this feature has been relegated to the forums.

Fark.com - The first thing you should know is that Fark.com isn't a Weblog. Fark.com, the Web site, is a news aggregator and an edited social networking news site. Every day Fark receives 2,000 or so news submissions from its readership, from which we hand-pick the funny and weird notable news -- and not-news -- of the day. Fark isn't an acronym. It doesn't mean anything. The idea was to have the word Fark come to symbolize news that is really Not News. Hence the slogan "It's not news, it's Fark." Fark was originally a word Drew became known for using online back in the early 1990s. He can't remember why, but his guess is that it was either to replace another F-word or that he was just drunk and mistyped something. He tells everyone it was the former since it's a better story that way.

Text From Dog - What's your favourite piece of technology, and how has it improved your life? - I have a rubber hamburger that squeaks. It's pretty awesome but I suppose it doesn't count as "technology". I have a mobile phone, and I learned to text on it. It hasn't really improved my life. Maybe if I was a human I'd say "My phone is AMAZING. I couldn't LIVE without it." Luckily I'm a dog. Humans are idiots. - When was the last time you used it, and what for? - Two minutes ago. I sent a text to the guy who "looks after me". It said "Buy me biscuits". I sent it 29 times so he doesn't forget. Now he's swearing at me.

Awkward Family Photos - Childhood friends Mike and Doug began the blog after Mike saw an awkward vacation photo hung in his parents’ house. Realizing there were probably plenty of other people out there with their own awkward family images, the two friends decided to create a friendly place where everyone could come together and share their uncomfortable family moments. Thus, Awkward Family Photos was born. The authors started by posting a few of their own childhood photos and those provided by friends, and the site quickly took off and became an internet sensation; it now receives millions of hits daily and submissions from around the world.

Three YouTube channels you have to see.

The top 10.  Yes, there are three in this post, but the first one is about the top 10 of everything (top ten all the things!).  They have things you didn't know about the Queen and secret organizations.  They even have a top ten YouTube channels - YouTube-ception!

The Slo Mo Guys.  They pop popcorn, hit stuff with sledgehammers and play golf with apples.   If you like seeing things get destroyed in slo-mo, Gav and Dan have the channel for you!

The Slingshot Channel.  Joreg Sprave is a German who likes making weapons, but this is more than just slingshots.  He makes a pencil thrower called the "Nerd Revenge 2000", a rolling pin turned zombie killer called the "Angry Housewife" and a slingshot that shoots throwing knives.

Dance Walking and Camels

The newest trend in exercise: Dance Walking.
I learned of these through Geeks are Sexy, and immediately fell in love.  Here's the original video.  And here are the outtakes.  And yes, he does eventually find the original Dance Walker.
While we're on the subject of fitness, here's my favorite site: Nerd Fitness, which among other things, has the Angry Birds Workout Plan.

A couple of weeks ago, I found an awesome YouTube channel called Camels and Friends.  It's a young woman in Arizona who has two camels, a couple of dogs, two sheep, three ducks and at least one bird.  Her videos are amusing and informative, if you want to raise animals in the desert, that is.  Since then she has started both a website and a blog.  She is getting bios of her animals up on the website.  Most exciting of all, one of her camels will be on Animal Planet this fall!