Can we share some things that just...touch us?

Hey gang,

Like many of you, the last year or so has been tough. Inbetween Coronavirus, oppression of minorities, and systematic abuse of power...I think we're all going through some rough times.

I propose that we have a thread where we just...share things that make us happy, and maybe explain a little why they mean so much to us. I'm gonna share three videos that I watch a lot at the moment, and really pick me up.

This first video of Pavarotti is absolute food for the soul. The song itself is UTTERLY divine. He sings with such passion, such soul, and it really just....I dunno. It does it for me.

However, what makes it for me in this video is the crescendo. If you go to the end, about 2:47, you hear the grand finale of the song. The look on Pavarotti's face is just...etched into my soul. The look of purity on his face just...man. If anything has ever captured the human spirit of passion, it's that. Absolutely breathtaking.

The second video I'm going to share is the retirement match of one of the ABSOLUTE all time greats in Japanese pro wrestling: Kenta Kobashi. If you know about the man, you'll know his achievements, but if not- I'll summarize. He was one of the "Four Pillars of Heaven", one of the most established and respected groups of pro wrestlers, arguably of all time. He got cancer, beat it, then returned to the ring. There's an amazing video of him returning, and you can hear the commentators voice breaking up as he says "Kobashi is back, and he is alive". It's a very touching moment.

However, what makes this video so special to me is one very specific look. If you go to about 1:33, you see him being announced for the last time. The look of gratitude on his face at that point is just...transcendent. You get the impression that this is a man who has dedicated his ENTIRE LIFE to wrestling, and he's had to retire, because of the incredible strain it puts on his body. The look on his face at this point truly embodies the puroresu "Never say die" spirit", and to me, is emblematic of someone who just lives and breathes for their craft.

This last video is just a personal one for me. It's an absolutely gorgeous song in general, but the absolute POWERHOUSE trio of Petty, Winwood and Prince, arguably deilvering one of his most soulful little solos of all time. I'd be lying if I said I hadn't had that specific song on loop for the last 4 days.

So please, friends. Let's share some stuff that's really important to you. What has really kept you going through the dark times? Has it been people? Videos? Movies? Games? I'd love to have you share some of your passions to other people, and maybe instil a ray of sunshine in an otherwise cloudy day

I don't know about being able to provide a ray of sunshine without briefly showing what the clouds are, so...foreword with I guess warning for mild mention of sadness and mental health? (Not trying to be disrespectful, but I don't blame anyone for wanting to simply get to the videos and I am incompetent at this):

I suffer from an acute social phobia - what does that mean? Well for me it means my brain is triggered by crowds, causing my body to react to the stimuli of fear(aka "Fight or flight response"), preeeetty much non-stop. A mix of people constantly not knowing how to respond to someone like me and me not knowing that I was suffering social anxiety until late in my life so far has made being antisocial a safe place, simply to try and reduce the noise from an alarm that someone hit one too many times to make it quiet but now is just always screaming. This goes for virtual spaces too, so if I ever talk about playing multiplayer I will have clearly overcome something enromous to do it. Why all this emotional honesty? First, the stigma of shame over talking about mental health is still real and too many people still suffer in silence. Second, this part of me is absolutely the part of me that goes quiet when I watch videos including and akin to what I bring, which is the reason I bring them.

Animals are great*, but I have a visceral reaction to humanity's attempts to house-train everything. While looking for a specific something else a few months ago, I found this video. It is a video about Orangutans that have been orphaned, which go to a place where they can be rehabilitated from their experiences/injuries, and given some kind of education on how to "Be Orangutan" when they are eventually released back into the wild. Lookit.

These are from the Smithsonian's Youtube channel and there seem to be a decent amount of other channels that feature the same rescue center(There are some videos that show some of the incoming orphans as they arrived, and the state they were in...caution recommended for the tender of heart), so I've seen a lot lately. But these are videos that literally had me stop and feel rapt by what I was watching.

The video I was looking for originally was this next one. Things were "in a place" a while back, and I decided to show my wife something I'd remembered from years ago. An aside: This dude. I love Dave A.. Hope he outruns the bad year. Enjoy.

idk about anyone else but when I need to look past something bad, I need to look pretty far away, which is probably why people are barely in these. Felt relevant, might regret later. Hopefully these uplift as they did for us, and at least overcome the bleak streak that is now done typing. Have a great one, overshare out.

*=I hate almost all birds and almost all fishes and most bugs

No lie: I was moved by Bill & Ted Face the Music (also laughed a bunch). With just about every show or film out there with heavy/grim or mean-spirited content, it was a joyful experience to watch such a goofy and wholesome movie.

Thank you for making this thread and for the lovely videos. 2020 sucks but we can find some meaningful things to enjoy.

How you feel about Pavarotti is how I feel about Regina Spektor. It's difficult to pick a single song, but whenever she sings in Russian it just gives me chills. For the sound quality and perhaps the performance, I actually prefer the studio recording of this song, but there you can't see the rapturous expressions on her face.

--

Whenever I think humanity is just not worth the space they take up, I think of this guy. I don't know why, but the scene of him playing piano to a blind elephant makes me happy. The elephant seems to respond and listen in a way that few humans do. As one of the youtube commenters says: "At least someone on this stupid planet is doing something meaningful."

--

And to cap out a trio of piano videos, here's something much nerdier. Lara here plays a haunting Metroid melody. The real reason that I watch this video, though, is for her bursting into a smile at the end after three minutes of meditative concentration. It's enough to melt any nerd's heart.

It's about 1:30 am here on the East coast and I just cooked and ate my first tuna melt in my 31 years. It was good as hell and I can't believe I haven't been eating tuna sandwiches all this time.

If I ever need something that's gonna just make me feel good, even if it's a melancholic good, I just put on one of the below videos. No particular order, just what came as I once again went down this memory hole.

Kentucky Route Zero - spoiler/music moments: It's Too Late to Love You NowThis World is Not My HomeThe Static Between Stations

Nier Automata - spoiler moment: Weight of the World

Control - Spoiler moment: Dynamite

No Maps for These Territories - Ending: Memory Palace

Gosh, where to even begin.

After so many years of consultations, blood and endocrine tests its been amazing to finally have begun HRT in the midst of all this, and to be surrounded by such supportive family and friends throughout my transition. Without them I have no idea where I'd be, or even alive at this point if I'm being honest.

Likewise, this year has blessed me with so many amazing albums to keep me sane; Katatonia, Martin Grech, Oceans of Slumber, Myrkur, Paradise Lost, The Birthday Massacre, James Dean Bradfield, Aleah, they've all been pretty special. The She-Ra reboot too, goes without saying really with my Catra pic (I love her so much) but it really caught me off guard emotionally and has stuck with me ever since.

Games have probably been the one thing that hasn't really been all that great for me this year, but I was introduced to FF14 and that has been pretty amazing at least.

And then there's the little things like lie-ins, burgers and bubble baths.

Good to see a fellow "city-pop"/"new music" fan in here haha :D will watch the others as well :P

Gotta drop a shoutout to the youtube channel of "sinclair lore", whenevr I feel bad I listen to those 2 chuckleheads on there talking about souls games. And really the lore itself is fine but its really just mostly the hilarious chemistry between "richie"(aka JSF jerks sans frontieres) and sin. That said some of their better podcast they recorded were with other members of the community like aesiraestethics, loki or redgrave. Highly reccomend if you just want something fun to listen to. Probably wont be for everyone though :P stay away if youre looking for efficiently transmitted souls lore talk haha. They take ages to get through any discussion but thats pretty much the charm

For pleasantness ill just drop this here <3

and if anyones in the mood for unlimited japanese 80s vibes :

Ever since friends at the table (an Austin Walker podcast) supported blazeball, I've been really enjoying COUNTER/weight. I've been listening to it daily while going on longer and longer walks, and between that and not eating like an idiot, I've lost 20lbs. It's been wonderful, on the last episode now, and I am looking forward to branching out to some more of their stuff.

The work Austin puts in behind the game is inspiring, and although I don't have a group of friends for role playing, it's made me want to try out telling a story, using a framework like microscope as a base.

Damon Hill is a great example of what will and circumstance will get you. Son of a World Champion, his dad's death ultimately plunged the family into financial problems and y'know, all the grief. Damon would use money from dispatch riding to cover his own racing costs. He started on bikes and didn't switch to cars until his mid-twenties. His mother thought it was safer than being on two wheels. He wasn't stellar in the support categories but he did enough to garner the attention of the Williams team, testing for them from 1992. During that year he was given his first race seat at Brabham at the age of 32.

With Williams being a top team that could command the best drivers, that should've been it. Thankfully, Frank Williams a dick to his drivers and pissed off reigning champion Nigel Mansell. Damon takes his vacant seat alongside Alain Prost where he'd finish 3rd in the Championship. Prost would retire, allowing Ayrton Senna to take up the vacant seat.

1994 was supposed to be Ayrton's championship. He'd finally be in a competitive car but rule changes resulted in the Williams of that year being an unstable mess. In San Marino, Ayrton died. In the following weeks, Damon galvanised the team and led a title charge against Michael Schumacher's dominant and ILLEGAL AS FUCK Benetton. At the final race of the season, Michael Schumacher broke his suspension after hitting a barrier. Damon didn't see this but did see a chance to attack Schumacher. Michael steered into Damon and wrote his suspension off. With both cars out, Schumacher took the title by a single point.

1995 was worse. Damon was leading the Championship when a series of crashes with Schumacher put the German in firm control. It is theorised this was when Frank Williams was looking for another driver. One of the things I got from reading Damon's autobiography is how he was confident in his driving but never felt he had any support from the team around him. He's kind of a miserable sod.

So to 1996. He wins four of the first five races. Retires in Monaco (you should watch all of that race) and then wins the next two races. Retires in Britain, wins in Germany and by the time the circus comes to Italy, Damon's got a chance to wrap the title up. Unfortunately, they put these tyres up on the first chicane to stop people cutting the corner. Damon hits them and retires. If that's not bad enough, news comes through that he's to be replaced for the 1997 season. Again, Frank Williams loves to dump his drivers. A second place in Portugal set up a decider in Japan with teammate Jacques Villeneuve. All he had to do was finish fifth. He led every lap. He followed his father's footsteps and became world champion and, realistically, he shouldn't have got that far.

Circumstance and sheer will, guys.

Newly found content.

Oh and incase anyone needs a giggle, here's an incredibly earnest incredibly for real movie made to help newcomers overcome cultural difficulties. No sign of Part 2 so far but I think Part 1 covers most of it.

Take your time to rest, everyone. Feels like we'll all need our energy going forward. For those who need something to do, I bring a lifeskill that I particularly stink at, but will be getting into practising this week

Finally for those that need something a bit chill, I've found a huge amount of comfort playing this next one on my tv for a while most days when I first sit down. Mixed feelings on the town, but I visited the Monterey Aquarium as a kid and got married a few miles down the road in Carmel a few years ago now(Did we pay for the permit - hell no), so this might be just me? It's a livecam so depending on timezone it might be dark when you visit but damn, that beach has a chill sound to it, even at night. Stay safe y'all.

@petesix0: Kenji's cooking videos exude PURE soul

Spider alert, this one's adorable but you know, spider alert.

Video here.

I hate spiders, but for some reason i've been looking up videos of these for the last two weeks.

(I tried to embed and spoiler block the video because someone might not appreciate me posting pictures of spiders, but i can't get it working.)

Jamming on my guitar behind some emotional backing track is the most soothing thing I can do.

Like that Mr. Bones level.

This is a good thread.

A game one:

Outer Wilds ending/all spoilers:

A non-game one:

Crafsman Steady Craftin' when I need a humble distraction that has nothing to do with any of my interests. It's basically woodworking/modeling/arts+crafts asmr and the dude sounds like Bob Ross meets Mitch Hedberg.

Oh and for no explicable reason he uses a puppet as his persona.

I don't think I've ever seen anyone else mention Oceans of Slumber on this site and that makes me pretty happy!

While we're on the topic of music, the Mega Man X soundtrack is endlessly entertaining to me. I remember being a kid and, for some reason, finally stopping and just listening to that excellent jazzy-metal-whatever you want to call it. Before then, there was the occasional classic rock song or pop song that I was OK with, and suddenly here was good stuff. Take a listen! It wasn't until years later that I started finding more music that I really liked, as opposed to whatever meh stuff I heard in the background on the radio. While we're on the topic of Mega Man X, I found some parts of this animated parody hilarious and I recommend watching it if you've played the game. The Spark Mandrill bit is amazing.

My personal life has, all things considered, been going quite well. When I'm feeling down, though, I tend to watch some of my favorite anime openings and endings (even though I haven't watched all that much anime in a long time now). Those things usually have a ton of energy and feature people being either ecstatically happy or indomitably determined. Or they're just pictures of people staring meaningfully off into the distance. Anyway, look, they're awesome.

For some reason, Inuyasha's first ending always makes me feel melancholically nostalgic, in a really good way. I think the show itself is OK and wasn't even a big fan of it then, but something about that ending brings back memories of late middle-school Saturday nights, tucked away in a corner of the upstairs bonus room, watching all the Adult Swim anime that I had been waiting all week to watch. The rest of those openings and endings from the era are awesome, but for some reason it's Inuyasha's that makes me nostalgic.

As you might have guessed by my profile picture, all of the Fullmetal Alchemist openings and endings are awesome. Most of the endings are, but there's at least one featuring a woman rapping and I really don't like rapping.

My Hero Academia's openings and closings are just as energetic and I also recommend those.

If I need something more long-form, the Quake III TNT from years ago is always entertaining. I don't really know why, exactly, but I usually watch the whole thing once or twice a year, usually in conjunction with Minecraft or some other thing on the side.

Not sure what witchcraft transpired to have this recommended to me, but I'm glad.

Since the making of that compilation, they have scored twice more.

In their 30 year history as a UEFA sanctioned team, they have won once, drawn four times and lost 143 times.

I find the finale of Twin Peaks Season 3 so harrowing and meaningful.

The first hour or so of Gravity Rush 1 is one of my favorite sequences in video games (from the intro to when she has finished furnishing her home). I have a thing for hard-luck anime girls and Kat is the best one in video games. The music makes my eyes well up and the cartoonishly rude townies make me laugh. I love how Kat falls down a manhole, hits her head a bunch of times like a looney tune, and then looks up at the sewage pit she's in and goes "Looks like I just found my new home!", but then the room she puts together is actually pretty cozy looking. Nothing in games is more "feel-good" to me than that.

I'm not going to recommend anyone actually watch the whole sequence but if you REALLY want to:

so i just finished Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice this past weekend, and rather subject the forums to ungodly necro or grabbing bystanders over-excitedly- i'll briefly express my thoughts here.

holy shit, what a game. what an achievement. it's incredibly harrowing, upsetting and dark- but simultaneously powerful, deeply moving, and a tale of incredible mental fortitude and resilience. given the context of this year and current events- it was difficult to get through. but also fortifying and inspiring.

more specifically- for something so difficult- this song from the soundtrack (and corresponding moment in game, those who have played will know) feels like the moment of levity everyone requires right now.

really, really touching stuff.

I am not a huge Mac Miller fan, but his Tiny Desk concert always puts a smile on my face. All the songs he plays are good, but his performance of What’s the Use with Thunder Cat is fantastic.

https://youtu.be/QrR_gm6RqCo

For me queen in particular this song is a fantastic pick me up. Also watching some Star Wars always does the trick for me as well. https://youtu.be/0p_1QSUsbsM

Okay, so first off the original is still amazing and while I understand if a lot of people don't feel much like embracing the vibe of it "In The Unprecedented", but there is a song that I have always loved and while I don't know who needs this, listen to these in order you prefer. Maybe the order should depend on how you choose to feel at the end of it.

Acoustic with dope dog who just loves guys that play the guitar:

Surprisingly upbeat funk version:

Notes: Also available is obv the original and it's vibe, and the tender cover Norah Jones did live in the aftermath of Cornell's death. The acoustic version was uploaded last year which is why no masks but that does not explain the dopeness of dog. Please make sure everyone who you care about knows how to stay safe. Some might surprise you how much they need it, esp if they don't know yet. Virus talk mainly. Finally if you're someone who has already been exposed to Scary Pockets and just cannot get with the antics of Jack Conte(Keys), I can respect it - when they get the music sounding right, I'm just really into this Grover stealing Dr. Teeth's spot while possessed by Animal.

@onemanarmyy: You have no idea how much better my life is now.

@cikame: I knew someone needed this in their life :)

What the fuck did I just watch?

I thought Blade Runner 2049 had a phenomenal soundtrack (especially sea wall).

This fan-made music video resonates perfectly.

I can't tell if that Jii ad wants me to smoke or not.

My late father loved Creedence Clearwater Revival and every time I hear this song I remember him singing along each and every time it played. I'm crying right now.

Because I still wish I could have known what was in the library.

@goboard: I know this is not a competition, but you still get points in my book for the city pop.

I... I think I'm pregnant now.