Some soft spoken rambling and exploration of various books and media from the long history of Star Wars...

To watch along, have a look at my youtube channel.

I visited Amsterdam for the first time last autumn and enjoyed it immensely. There are a some touristy spots, sure, but it's so easy to just wander around and enjoy the city and all its wonderful details - especially thanks to all the suggestions and recommendations you left me back then!

Today we can only have a cursory glance at the centre and its history, just enough for you to hopefully drift off. We'll look for where the initial dam was constructed, follow some of the canals, and find some of the highlights of the city. 

The book in the video is "A Millenium of Amsterdam. Spatial History of a Marvellous City" by Fred Feddes - an equally marvellous publication! If you like maps and old photos, do have a look at it. 

For a version with video, please have a look at my youtube channel.

Though in fairness, are there any cookbooks from the 70s that aren't at least a little strange? This one's a collection of 100 famous recipes from all over the world, mixing both Haute Cusine and rustic meals, and presenting them in a whole new format: through colourful photos. 

I've been super fascinated both by the selection and the manner in which the dishes are shown. There really is a kind of wonderful strangeness to it. 

Book: Roland Gööck, Die 100 berühmtesten Rezepte der Welt.

To watch along, please have a look at my youtube channel.

It's been a while since we've looked through some vinyls... So long, in fact, that I haven't been able to squeeze all my purchases since the last video into this one. Listening to these albums - and specifically taking the time to sit down and really focus on them - has brought me a lot of joy. So let's go through these together, from lighter summer albums to heavier ones.

For a version with visuals, have a look at my youtube channel.

Hallo everyone! It's been a while... Thank you so much for your patience, your support and donations and kind comments 💛 We're starting off the new year with a winterly theme: the Arctic Ocean. This National Geographic map was sent in by Fred (thank you!!) and I was particularly fascinated by the map of the ocean floor - which I don't think I'd seen before.

German version is coming next week.

If you'd like to watch along, you can find the video here on my youtube channel.

Welcome back, everyone! We're starting off into autumn with another medieval mystery: the Voynich manuscript. It's a codex, presumably from the early 15th century, written in a script that no one has been able to decode convincingly. The images of fauna, stars and people are just as mysterious as the text...

If you prefer to watch the video, have a look at my youtube channel.

One last time before my summer break, let's explore a historical topic together. This time we're looking at Ancient Egypt - and it's a very superficial overview, really, considering there's millenia to cover along the Nile valley. 

If you prefer to watch the video, have a look at my youtube channel.

This tarot deck was a very kind gift from NaturalExplorer, and one that I've enjoyed a lot more than expected. I'm all new to tarot, so I've mostly been trying to learn about the different cards without getting into the spreads yet. We could come back to that another time, if you'd like :) Today we're mostly looking at the Major Arcana and an overview of the four suits. 

If you prefer to watch the video, have a look at my youtube channel!

There have been a couple of requests for Scotland, and maps keep turning up in my postbox. So, let's have a look at this beautiful place up North, from the Shetland and Orkney Islands, to the Hebrides, to the Central Belt with the cities of Glasgow and Edinburgh... Sleep well 💕

Thank you, Jak and Giacomo, for your gifts!! And I believe there was a third person who sent in a map of Scotland, but unfortunately I seem to have misplaced the envelope. If you see this, please leave a comment!

If you prefer to watch along, have a look at my youtube channel!

Finally! It's time for Lord of the Rings and an exploration of Tolkien's beautiful map of Middle Earth. Initially I thought this would be an easy video to prepare - just rewatch some beautiful fantasy movies, right? - but instead this turned into the biggest mess of open wiki tabs I've had so far 😅 The amount of info and detail and history for this world is just staggering, and I feel like I've barely managed a little glimpse of it all. 

If you'd like to watch along, have a look at my youtube channel Melange ASMR.