hi. 99% of you i'm sure already follow me on social media, so i'm going to keep this life update short and get to the good stuff quick. i've been itching to write this for a long while. i have a lot of neat stuff to show people and i've been holding back! anyway:

• i've been sick for a few months with an autoimmune disease (i'm fine in the long term for now) (long story)
• my fiance and i got a new cat named babybel. she has a mustache. after about a month and a half, shelley (our first cat) is slowly becoming convinced that babybel is not going to shred her like a boiled chicken. i'll put a pic of her in at the end as a treat.

ok i don't really have a lot to say i just wanted to explain why i made this and then did the classic move of updating like three times and then never again. these two things ate up a lot of my time. i had exploding bones and bags of fur to manage. and, you know, a comic to draw or whatever.

anyway, happy meltdown may. it's been mild this year (a good omen...?)

-bea

i'll be splitting this into three parts for future newsletters. first up: misc vids. next up: cats. and then: video games. these are the three most important rungs on maslow's hierarchy.

How To Cook That - Ann Reardon is an Australian 'mum' (australian for "mom") dedicated to the art and science of baking. while half of her content is comprised of fixing cake failures (with solutions that are intended to be done "on the fly" when possible) and showing off food based oddities, she is also deeply invested in debunking food myths and dangerous food hack videos. with an unpretentious approach to teaching and disseminating information, reardon occasionally solicits help from her husband, dave, and her two teen sons who are often subjected to the results of failed food hacks. it's extremely funny how willing dave is to chow down on the fucked up messes that come out of their microwaves.

cat graffam is an artist and art instructor who talks about online art and scams that target artists, but i wanted to draw attention to these two captivating videos where she recreates famous paintings in kidpix and mario paint.

this kind of stuff is like magic to me. even as i watch people do it, i don't know how people do it. insane. well. i hope she feels better soon.

poor dr. r.i.p. VHS is on his final youtube copyright strike but he will NOT be silenced. and frankly i think he's legitimately doing a public service by refusing to allow these random slivers of americana to be lost forever. here's a great cut he did of a bunch of people on VHS tapes awkwardly but sincerely welcoming you to their video. this shit gets me every single time. or what about this early 2000s playstation ad back when they were doing crazy shit for advertising.

bobby fingers is an irish artist who makes dioramas of famous, strange events in hollywood history. there are only three episodes so far. in each episode, he talks about the context of the event, interviews people involved in the event, and, finally, buries his creation in the woods for someone to find for themselves. its so fucking good.

primm reviews "hood movies", a genre comprised mostly of stories about gangs, dance based warfare, and teachers who love to Inspire teens to do better on tests or something. this entire genre gets a much deserved spotlight by someone who grew up in the hood who mostly just wants to laugh at how fucked up everyone's hairline is. i really like the one about "lean on me", a movie i saw a lot as a kid with a latino teacher for a dad.

pat finnerty makes "what makes this song stink", "little stinkers", and other one off videos that examine the worst songs ever created in the modern era. finnerty is in a punk band and knows his shit about musical theory. couple this with a sharp wit, willingness to get extremely silly, and very convoluted presentations and you've got literal hours of entertainment, baby!. i recommend watching in order from the first episode, as it builds off its own in-jokes, internal logic, and the set slowly transforms from a grainy recording in his basement to a holding cell for a machine that gives you brain damage if you aren't careful. his videos are pretty long but this very short video where he shows you this incredible clip from a fuel concert is a great taste of what he does.

thanks for listening. here's that cat. i hope you enjoy these 'tubes.