Overly Sarcastic Productions
Published on 26 Jun 2017What’s that? Blue already did a video on the Athenian empire? Uh… well… um… LOOK, OVER THERE, A DISTRACTION!
For more Greek goodness, check out the following:
History Summarized: Alcibiades: https://youtu.be/kRLkjBUgB2o
History Summarized: Thebes: https://youtu.be/L1x9np5fys8
History Summarized: Athenian Empire: https://youtu.be/cNWDkFkcuP4This video was produced with assistance from the Boston University Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program.
PATREON: http://www.patreon.com/user?u=4664797
Find us on Twitter @OSPYouTube!
February 20, 2019
History Summarized: Ancient Greece
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February 19, 2019
LOONEY TUNES (Looney Toons): Rookie Revue (1941)
8thManDVD.com™ Cartoon Channel
Published on 8 Dec 2013Random gags around military life, set on an army base. A bugler uses a jukebox to play reveille. In formation, one private has a great deal of trouble remembering what comes after “3”; after he gets it, he decides not to go for the $32 question. In the mess hall, the machine gunners machine gun their food while the bombers catch falling biscuits. The infantry marches for miles – past a “next time, take the train” billboard. The camouflage troops march by, invisibly. We see training substitutes: wooden guns, cars marked “tank” and, alas, a banner marked “parachute” deployed in mid-jump. More training: aerial games (of tic-tac-toe). The anti-aircraft division has target practice, on an aerial shooting gallery. Finally, in an elaborate process, a general provides firing instructions to a big gun; when it hits his own building, he says, “I’m a baaad general.”
8thManDVD.com and all content © 2013 ComedyMX LLC. All rights reserved. Unauthorized use is prohibited.
The looney tunes (commonly mistaken as Looney Toons) series features characters such as bugs bunny, daffy duck & porky pig. The looney tunes cartoons, movies and new looney tunes show have been produced for years. The looney tunes full episodes, produced by the official looney tunes are available on DVD and TV.
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February 12, 2019
History Summarized: Iroquois Native Americans
Overly Sarcastic Productions
Published on 7 Aug 2017There’s a fascinating history from just northwest of American history that is too often ignored. But that’s a damn shame, because it’s a damn cool history, and I’m going to talk about it dammit!
No, I didn’t accidentally misspell the title of this video when I sleepily uploaded this after I woke up. That’s absurd.
EXTRA CREDITS: HIAWATHA: https://youtu.be/79RApCgwZFw
This video was produced with assistance from the Boston University Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program.
PATREON: http://www.patreon.com/OSP
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QotD: Weather
[W]ho wants to be foretold the weather? It is bad enough when it comes, without our having the misery of knowing about it beforehand.
Jerome K. Jerome, Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog), 1889.
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February 11, 2019
The “sports gene”
In his most recent newsletter, Andrew Heaton regrets not having inherited the “sports gene”:
I honestly believe (and science will vindicate this) that there is such a thing as a “sports gene,” and I don’t have one.
I *wish* I did. I like meeting people, and sports and weather are good conversation starters. (Except for the few people who don’t like sports, or live in hermetically-sealed biodomes.) I’ll have a hard time if I ever run for state legislature if I’m constantly trying to pivot conversation away from football and back towards Robert Heinlein novels.
Aside from the social benefits of being sporty, I also get the distinct impression that I’m missing out on some fundamental part of the human experience. In clips of football games, when the team shoots the ball through the big wicket, people erupt into a state of enraptured ecstasy which is only available to me through abusing prescription drugs. That looks like a fun thing to be a part of, if only it could light up the absent sports chunk of my brain. I think I can glom onto some of that group joy dynamic via singing, but Broadway sing-a-longs are less pervasive in our culture than sports bars.
That said, much as I’d love to get a sports gene infusion so I can join in on the fun, when it happens I pledge to be less obnoxious in bars. Why are sports fans allowed to scream in bars but nobody else is? If there’s a basketball game on, it’s completely socially acceptable to yell like a lunatic when the tall guys launch the ball through the net wicket. Were I to see a preview for “Picard” or a thrilling policy debate on CSPAN, and lose my mind screaming and clapping, people would beat me to death with a pool cue. How about no more screaming in bars?
You can sign up for his newsletter here.
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February 8, 2019
History Summarized: The Portuguese Empire
Overly Sarcastic Productions
Published on 9 Nov 2018Play World of Warships for free: http://bit.ly/2zyT191. New players will receive 1 MILLION free credits, the historical premium ship HMS Campbeltown and more by using my code PLAYWARSHIPS2018
What happens when you spend a few decades casually getting really good at seafaring, only to find that there’s suddenly a whole new world that’s only accessible to societies with exceptional sailing prowess? — You get fabulously rich, that’s what. Watch along and learn all about the surprising success of Portugal!
PATREON: http://www.patreon.com/OSP
From the comments:
BenficaHaze 1904
1 month ago
Portugal didn’t follow Spain. Portugal started the discoveries 60-70 years before SpainPietro SF
1 month ago
The video already starts badly by suggesting Portugal only entered the Discoveries as a response to the Spaniards, when in reality the Portuguese pioneered the Age of Discovery, starting it half a century before Columbus’ Voyage.Daniel Ghan
1 month ago
Nice video, but 2 significant errors:
1) Columbus didn’t motivate Portugal’s exploration as the video implies; rather, it was the other way around. The Portuguese began searching for a way to India around Africa after the fall of Constantinople in 1453. Columbus, who was Italian, asked the Portuguese king to finance his expedition but was refused, and only then went to Spain.
2) Magellan (Magalhães) was Portuguese but his expedition was sponsored by Spain and he had a Spanish crew. So the expedition would not have returned to Lisbon.Metriximor
1 month ago
Alright, Portuguese here, just wanna say overall you did a great job but I wanna clear a few misconceptions.Portugal didn’t just spring up into action because of Columbus, in fact, he even asked the Portuguese Crown for funding before he asked the Spanish Crown. Portuguese discoveries began in 1418 with Madeira, 1427 we found Açores, then in 1434 Gil Eanes goes around Cape Bojador, 1472 we found Newfoundland, but most importantly, in 1487 Bartolomeu Dias goes around the Cape of Storms, and looking out at the huge possibilities of his accomplishment he declares it to be the Cape of Good Hope.
This was all before Columbus even thought of sailing the Atlantic(1488) or contacting the Spanish(1489), so saying Portugal just began exploring because of him is downplaying it a lot.
Otherwise, fantastic work, love your channel and content keep it up 😀
PORTUGAL CARALHO
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February 6, 2019
“The haggis croquette is the most London-thing ever done in London”
At the IEA, Andy Mayer reports on the first attempted Burns Night Supper in the City of London:
Haggis is a traditional Scottish dish made with sheep’s heart, liver and lungs, and stomach (or sausage casing); onion, oatmeal, suet, and spices. It’s either a local delicacy or an elaborate joke played on the English (take your pick).
Photo by “Lordvolom1” via Wikimedia Commons.
Last week the City of London held their first attempt at a Burns night supper, with the First Minister and representatives of the Scottish Government as guests of honour.
It is a difficult tradition to get wrong. Largely it requires steaming piles of Scotland’s revenge on the sausage, poetry that the English politely pretend to understand while feeling vaguely threatened, and bonhomie to overcome it, enabled through litres of distillate infused with the flavour of an entire peat bog.
The City served haggis croquettes, with wine.
There’s possibly a Glaswegian satirist somewhere who’s just given up. “Ach I canne compete. The sassenach dough-monkeys just served wee Nicola a haggis croquette, on Rabbie Burns night! I’m breaking-me pen.”
Meanwhile in Shoreditch two Millenials have just set up the Haggis Croquette Cafe, serving Organic Iron-Bru made from recycled plastic girders. The haggis croquette is the most London-thing ever done in London.
I spent much of the evening talking to trade officials. Their job is to sell Scottish opportunity around the world and open up its markets.
This was interesting – how would descendants of Adam Smith visiting the birthplace of trade economist David Ricardo define their comparative advantage? What can Scotland do better than anyone else? What might they do well enough that they can carve out positions, despite larger rivals, better off leaving such things to Scotland? Fundamentally, how are they going to compete?
There was an uneasy pause after these questions. And then to paraphrase, “Oh no, we don’t want to compete, we want to cooperate! With everyone! Not being threatening, that’s our advantage!”
I feel very sure that Smith, on hearing this, would have reached out, to extend the invisible hand of history across time, to give this official a mild slap. “Encouraging competition, with and from other places, and then getting out of the way, is the whole point”, he might say.
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Yes, Minister – The North
Greger Tomasson
Published on 9 Oct 2012
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February 2, 2019
January 30, 2019
QotD: Political memoirs
We’re told not to judge books by their covers, but faced with these two it’s hard not to. Harman’s is one of those thick, expensive tomes which, understandably, politicians write when they’ve had enough earache and, unbelievably, publishers keep buying for vast sums, despite the fact that a fortnight after publication you can pick them up cheaper than an adult colouring book in a remainder bin. The old saw that ‘all political careers end in failure’ might now better be: ‘All political careers end with a book on Amazon going for less than the price of the postage.’
Julie Burchill, “Harriet Harman and Jess Phillips: poles apart in the sisterhood”, The Spectator, 2017-02-25.
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January 29, 2019
history of japan
bill wurtz
Published on 2 Feb 2016patreon: http://patreon.com/billwurtz
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QotD: Fanaticism
Esar’s Comic Dictionary (1943) contains two definitions of the word “fanatic,” often wrongly attributed (by me, among others) to Winston Churchill: First, “A person who redoubles his efforts after having forgotten his aims.” Second (my favorite), “One who can’t change his opinion and won’t change the subject.”
Kevin D. Williamson, “No Republicans Need Apply”, National Review, 2017-02-12.
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January 22, 2019
Rowan Atkinson Live – Headmaster kills student
Rowan Atkinson Live
Published on 24 Jan 2014One of the most loved clips from Rowan’s vast back catalogue, a hilarious sketch where the angry teacher played by Rowan invites a father in to talk about the trouble with son…
Whether mesmerising us with the sheer visual mastery of Mr. Bean, beguiling us with the acerbic wit of Edmund Blackadder, or simply entertaining us as the suave, but rather hapless British Secret Agent Johnny English, you surely won’t have escaped the comic genius that is Rowan Atkinson.
In Rowan Atkinson Live, co-written with Richard Curtis (4 Weddings & a Funeral, Notting Hill, Love Actually) and Ben Elton, Atkinson runs the whole gamut of his remarkably versatile 30 year career, with sketches, mimes and monologues that are guaranteed to have you shedding tears of laughter. Performing live on stage alongside ‘straight man’ Angus Deayton, the show features a number of original and familiar routines, including sketches that appeared in the original Mr. Bean series.
I first heard this sketch many years ago (pre-internet days when we knapped our own flint) on an audio tape of clips from the Dr. Demento radio show, put together by my friend William. He didn’t know the performer, so he titled it “Fatal beatings”.
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January 21, 2019
Responding to “Konmari”‘s book de-cluttering advice
I haven’t read any of her work, but based on David Warren’s response to it, I doubt I’d find it interesting or enjoyable:
Among the proposals of this “Konmari,” as she is called by her followers, is to jettison all books that have not been read. Too, all those which have been read already. The one you are reading may be kept, but only till it is finished, lest it create a temptation to re-reading. I would certainly apply this principle to self-help books.
But every book I have retained, sparks joy; and their spines alone may trigger an imaginative recollection of the contents, and the times and spaces among which it was once read. As Coleridge said, books are corporeal, living things; at any moment their wings may re-open, for another flight into one’s soul.
A correspondent in western Massachusetts was recently married. She moved in with her new husband, together with fifty cartons of books — an amount he may have deemed excessive. My advice: any number of cartons that can be counted, is too few.
“Have you read all these books?” I have been asked by visitors, so many times, that I have run out of clever replies. Among them: “Are you insinuating that this is all I’ve ever read?” … Or, “Dear me, yes, good point. All my other flats are like this, too.” … Or: “No, I can’t read, but I hired a highly literate interior decorator.”
The other day I was asked this by a policeman. He was gathering information on a burglar who had happened to pass my way. I hope he doesn’t report me for hoarding. Apparently there are now laws against that; Twisted Nanny State never sleeps.
When my son has a new acquaintance over to our place, one of the almost inevitable first comments from the new visitor is about “all the books”, and they rarely get to see the actual library…
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QotD: Argument
Let a certain note be struck, let this or that corn be trodden on — and it may be corn whose very existence has been unsuspected hitherto — and the most fair-minded and sweet-tempered person may suddenly be transformed into a vicious partisan, anxious only to ‘score’ over his adversary and indifferent as to how many lies he tells or how many logical errors he commits in doing so.
George Orwell, “Notes on Nationalism”, Polemic, 1945-05.
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