Note – this is an experimental posting format. I’ve thought about increasing the number of posts I commit to per week, but I don’t want to add unnecessary work if I’m not willing to stick it out. Let’s be honest: sometimes it’s really hard to get a single post out each Monday that I’m satisfied with, so increasing my posting frequency just to for the sake of increasing my output is a terrible idea. I will run a short experiment to see how easy it is for me to get out a Friday Round-up for the next month. If the experiment goes well, I’ll consider making it a part of the regular rotation. You can find the first round-up post here from April 24th, the second on May 1st, the third here from May 8th, and last week’s on May 15th.

I’m enjoying this posting format so far, so I’ll continue for a few more weeks before making a decision whether it’ll stick around. This week, I stumbled across a lot of heartwarming videos and some cool, creative content.

Here is my round-up list for the week ending on May 22nd:

📷 Photography – This Joker Photo Was Shot with a Toy Figure and Household Items | Peta Pixel/Arjun Menon

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FREE FALL. This image is shot with action figures and household items only. . . I was listen to this song by 'Gorillaz: plastic beach' when this idea popped into my head. Joker falling down a sky scraper and yet showing no signs of fear or remorse! Afterall being a sociopath come with their own ups and downs. BTS (swipe for video): For this image I wanted to show a realistic city scape, something that wouldn't be too distracting. Realistic sets make bigger problems I realised. I began by choosing my skyscraper, needed a long grill that looked symmetrical and could pass light. Tada, found my rooms AC cover as the perfect candidate. I used it's filters and the other two surrounding buildings. Found a few more things like Keyboards, Bluetooth speakers, dumbbells as buildings. Then made a road map with rice lights. Added candle leds as building lights. Loved the way this shot came to life with practical effects! For the video my freind @shahidgire helped me out, thanks so much man, he's a kick-ass artist. Follow him! As always a lot of the effort and feedback from @hungryalisha and @sibyeduthafoto. Hey @joaquinlphoenix @hamillhimself @willsmith Hope you enjoyed this, a lot of effort goes into making these. Guys sharing goes a long way as support 🙂 . @hbo @hbomax . #actionfigures #joker @behindthescenegram #toyartphotography #toyartgallery #articulatedcomicbookart #acba #epictoyart @french_toy_love @epictoyart #toy #toyunion #endoskeleton @onlyfilmmaker #diyphotoshoot  #kaiexposeyourself #articulatedphotography #createathome @cinematogr #filmmakersworld @filmlights  #creativequarantine  #marvelactionfigures #op_h #batmanjoker #toysyndicate #dccomicsart  #breakfromboredom #toyaremydrug  #batmanart  #quarantineproject #dccomics @camera_setups

A post shared by ARJUN MENON (@artleavesamark) on May 17, 2020 at 8:31am PDT

I stumbled across Arjun Menon’s work through a post on Peta Pixel, however I really encourage you to check out his Instagram page. Once you get past his recent project of filming figurines, you’ll also find many incredible photos from his portfolio. But his figurine photos are super creative and inspiring!

📽 (Wholesome) Video – broxh_| YouTube & Twitch

The link above takes you to broxh_’s Twitch page, but I learned about this sweet and wholesome dude on a compilation video elsewhere on the interwebs. Check out how awesome this guy is!

GAH! I just can’t get enough of how genuine and good he is. He’s so friendly and just wants to share his craft with people. I would gladly travel to New Zealand just to meet him in person.

📽 How To Videos – Dad, how do I? and Mom, how do I? | YouTube

The “Dad, how do I?” YouTube channel has blown-up recently, and I stumbled across a “Mom, how do I?” companion channel that was likely inspired by the Dad channel. The apparent story behind the Dad channel is the host, Rob, wanted to create videos to impart his wisdom now that his kids have grown. Rob’s father walked out on his family when he was in his early teens, so these videos also serve to help kids who were like him who don’t have someone they can turn to for how-to help. Like broxh_ above, the Dad and Mom channels show us that there are wonderful people out there who are spreading kindness in small, meaningful ways.

💭 Reflection – On Experimentation and the Unknown | Think Like a Rocket Scientist by Ozan Varol

This was an interesting observation that I stumbled across while reading Varol’s new book. While there are pedagogical reasons why we do experiments with known outcomes, I think sometimes we forget that the point of experiments is to test hypotheses because we don’t know the outcome with certainty. This pairs nicely with a quote Varol includes a few pages later from Richard Feynman: “Scientific knowledge is a body of statements of varying degrees of certainty – some most unsure, some nearly sure, none absolutely certain.” We tend to demand fixed answers from our experts and media, when instead we should be reminded repeatedly and often that our understanding of the universe is based on probabilities and not binary truth-conditions.

Stay Awesome,

Ryan