December 2024 Update

Hello everyone!

This update comes to you in 3 parts:

The Studio

Things are basically done in the new studio! Here are the before pictures:

After contractors came in to expand the room, swap out the ceiling, and fill in the window, I added the ceiling rail system (I've never had one of these before) and all the soundproofing. Which will be nice for when my Youtube channel fades and I turn this into a torture dungeon.

The wall with the futon will obviously be the main set, while the wall with the printer, bookshelf, and props is the backdrop to my Twitch streams. I figure 3 of those cubes will be my more recent 3 videos. So we've got Vegetarianism, Kellogg, and the SDA in there right now.

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The Video

Work on the next video is chugging along. I've finished my main comprehensive source, have worked through a few documentaries, and am about halfway through my second book.

I'm currently reading Unfamiliar Fishes by Sarah Vowell, which I used in my previous Hawaii video and has been my go-to book recommendation whenever someone asks. But on this latest read-through, having more information, I'm starting to notice that she has left out a lot of the more unsavory bits.

What she said there isn't wrong. They did voyage to Kauai and Kaahumanu did return with two new husbands. What she left out was that Kauai was rebelling against the king and those two new husbands were prisoners. Things like this are peppered throughout the book.

She also heavily relies on direct quotations from local historians, who, I'm sorry to say, are not always the most reliable narrators of their own history.

This is the paragraph that made me stop what I was doing and question whether this book was actually a worthwhile source. She isn't citing sources, she's just quoting this guy Keanu Sai. George Vancouver arrived in Hawaii in 1794. You're telling me that when missionaries arrived 26 years later, the chiefs were like "Ah yes, we were expecting you... but what's with the accent?" Who is this guy? Is he reliable?

Keanu Sai is a member of the Hawaiian Kingdom Government, one of about a dozen native sovereignty groups claiming to be the legitimate continuation of the old Kingdom. He sued Barrack Obama personally for upholding US law on the islands rather than old Hawaiian ones. ... I don't think I trust this guy's word when it comes to history. Everything he has said is tainted with bias.

So it seems that yet again, my video is going to contain a tangent about how to recognize when a source is reliable or not.

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The Community

We've started up research watch parties in the discord again after a year-long break. Every Monday night, we watch a movie that is relevant to the current topic, in this case, Hawaii. These are usually the movies that end up being visual examples in the final video, so there is an actual reason for them, hah.

I'm also still doing coworking streams Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. You can hang out and study, work, craft, or whatever with me. I'm usually pretty active in the chat even if I'm not talking. I'm considering adding a day where I just play games and hang out, so let me know if you have any interest in that.

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Aside from that, thank you all for your continued support. I wouldn't be able to do things like build a studio without your help.