Vlog Ep. 276: Pasta vs Noodles

This Tasty Tuesday episode of #BaduyPride is a requested topic to talk all about noodles and pasta! Everyone knows they're related, but of course, there's more to it than that. And so we gave it our usual spin, broke things down into definitions, and just enjoyed the exploration through conversation. Plus really, there are so many kinds of noodles.

And even the classification of noodles and pasta is all very specific. You can sort and parse them based on the main ingredient involved. You can classify them based on their country of origin. And maybe we can further segment them based on popular usage or something - are they eaten with a sauce or as part of a soup? So many crazy options! And I even have my keto noodles as well, so I'm still an active part of this food conversation. 

This was a community-contributed topic originally shared by Kenny! If you have ideas for future video discussions, feel free to fill out this Google Form and your idea may be featured in a future video.

Vlog Ep. 275: Exit The Game + Puzzle Sets

This Monday edition of #BaduyPride is all about the new Exit The Game sets that come with jigsaw puzzles in them. Gone are the usual decks of riddle cards and answer cards and instead there are four actual jigsaw puzzles in each of these sets. And players will need to assemble these puzzles as part of their virtual escape room experience without the aid of knowing what the completed puzzles are supposed to look like.

We were really excited to try these games out but the actual experience was still a little rough. These games nicely scratch your puzzle itch together with the challenge of solving a series of escape room-style riddles but the over-arching story isn't as strong as it could be. It's decent fun and a good challenge but a lot of the complexity is more due to limited or confusing access to information more than great riddle design. 

While we chose today's topic, we're always open to suggestions! If you have ideas for future video discussions, feel free to fill out this Google Form and your idea may be featured as the focus for an episode!    

Vlog Ep. 274: New Media and Politics

This episode of #BaduyPride was about the critical role that new media platforms like social media play in our political discourse today. This isn't a new idea, but it remains a very important one, especially with our own national elections just around the corner. And we need to get ready in order to be in the right headspace to handle the inevitable torrent of messages and ads we're going to get pushing for this or that candidate.

It's not easy to be media literate in these turbulent times - no one likes to think that they're not smart enough to handle things as seemingly innocuous as social media. But it is precisely because so many underestimate the impact of such platforms and even our ability to influence those connected to us within our social circles that we should put more effort into being responsible while on the internet. We need to verify everything we read and we need to discuss (and argue) responsibly.

While we chose today's topic, we're always open to suggestions! If you have ideas for future video discussions, feel free to fill out this Google Form and your idea may be featured as the focus for an episode!    

Vlog Ep. 273: Shire Talk

In honor of yesterday, 22 September, being Hobbit Day, our #BaduyPride discussion for the night ended being all about the amazing fantasy world that is The Lord of the Rings. This was already an amazing series of books that had garnered quite the fan following on its own, but the addition of the Lord of the Rings movies in the early 2000s expanded their appeal to an even wider audience.

And while we're not necessarily the biggest Tolkien fans out there, but we do have a significant love for the film series. Today's discussion also had us celebrating Tobie's apparent love for Tom Bombadil, which I had no idea was as intense as it turned out to be. You gotta love discovering little things about your life partner while in a live stream.

While we chose today's topic, we're always open to suggestions! If you have ideas for future video discussions, feel free to fill out this Google Form and your idea may be featured as the focus for an episode!    

Vlog Ep. 272: Smoothies, Shakes, and Juices

Tonight's episode of #BaduyPride was all about drinks like smoothies, shakes, and juices and the weird overlap between them. I thought it would be pretty straightforward to determine the proper delineation between them. Juices are generally clear (even with the inclusion of meat juices) but the line between smoothies and shakes turns out to be super blurry and people can't agree if it's just a question of thickness or the involvement of dairy products that makes them different.

We seem to be in the general camp of appreciating these different drinks when they're there but we don't go too far out of our way to get them. Tobie does love trying new variants as long as it remains convenient to do so and he has had more interesting flavor adventures than I have. But maybe we'll get around to helping me find some keto-friendly smoothie analogs to expand what I can consume or whatever. Shakes and smoothies feel like such an "outside" thing to have, which makes it feel super non-essential while we're still in quarantine.

This was a community-contributed topic originally shared by Kenny! If you have ideas for future video discussions, feel free to fill out this Google Form and your idea may be featured in a future video.