Melange ASMR

Some soft spoken rambling and exploration of various books and media from the long history of Star Wars...   To watch along, have a look at my youtube channel.

I visited Amsterdam for the first time last autumn and enjoyed it immensely. There are a some touristy spots, sure, but it's so easy to just wander around and enjoy the city and all its wonderful details - especially thanks to all the suggestions and recommendations you left me back then! Today we can only have a cursory glance at the centre and its history, just enough for you to hopefully drift...

Though in fairness, are there any cookbooks from the 70s that aren't at least a little strange? This one's a collection of 100 famous recipes from all over the world, mixing both Haute Cusine and rustic meals, and presenting them in a whole new format: through colourful photos.  I've been super fascinated both by the selection and the manner in which the dishes are shown. There really is a kind of...

It's been a while since we've looked through some vinyls... So long, in fact, that I haven't been able to squeeze all my purchases since the last video into this one. Listening to these albums - and specifically taking the time to sit down and really focus on them - has brought me a lot of joy. So let's go through these together, from lighter summer albums to heavier ones.   For a version with vis...

Hallo everyone! It's been a while... Thank you so much for your patience, your support and donations and kind comments 💛 We're starting off the new year with a winterly theme: the Arctic Ocean. This National Geographic map was sent in by Fred (thank you!!) and I was particularly fascinated by the map of the ocean floor - which I don't think I'd seen before. German version is coming next week. If...

Welcome back, everyone! We're starting off into autumn with another medieval mystery: the Voynich manuscript. It's a codex, presumably from the early 15th century, written in a script that no one has been able to decode convincingly. The images of fauna, stars and people are just as mysterious as the text... If you prefer to watch the video, have a look at my youtube channel.

One last time before my summer break, let's explore a historical topic together. This time we're looking at Ancient Egypt - and it's a very superficial overview, really, considering there's millenia to cover along the Nile valley.    If you prefer to watch the video, have a look at my youtube channel.

This tarot deck was a very kind gift from NaturalExplorer, and one that I've enjoyed a lot more than expected. I'm all new to tarot, so I've mostly been trying to learn about the different cards without getting into the spreads yet. We could come back to that another time, if you'd like :) Today we're mostly looking at the Major Arcana and an overview of the four suits.    If you prefer to watch t...

There have been a couple of requests for Scotland, and maps keep turning up in my postbox. So, let's have a look at this beautiful place up North, from the Shetland and Orkney Islands, to the Hebrides, to the Central Belt with the cities of Glasgow and Edinburgh... Sleep well 💕 Thank you, Jak and Giacomo, for your gifts!! And I believe there was a third person who sent in a map of Scotland, but u...

Finally! It's time for Lord of the Rings and an exploration of Tolkien's beautiful map of Middle Earth. Initially I thought this would be an easy video to prepare - just rewatch some beautiful fantasy movies, right? - but instead this turned into the biggest mess of open wiki tabs I've had so far 😅 The amount of info and detail and history for this world is just staggering, and I feel like I've b...

Today's maps are gifts from the postbox, sent in by Fred and Colette. I love that they fit thematically! The beautiful maps of Hawai'i with the volcanoes from Colette, and the wonderfully detailed info on human settlement in the Pacific from Fred.  I hope you enjoy this quiet exploration. And as I've mentioned on the community tab, a little head-ups: We might have to skip one week because June is...

Hello! I figured I'd show you some Austrian specialties today. The first one is Uhudler, a type of wine that tastes of wild strawberries and can only be produced in a small region in the very East of Austria. The second one is Styrian pumpkin seed oil, a favourite of some of my friends who moved here from abroad. And the third one you'll find at pretty much every breakfast table, a little breadrol...

Are you in the mood for some mythology? Let's look at an ancient creation myth from one of the cradles of civilisation, Mesopotamia. The Babylonian story tells about Marduk, the greatest god in the pantheon, and how he created the world by slaying Tiamat, a sea-monster and mother of all other gods. The tablets with the text were found during excavations in the 18th century, but some parts of the s...

It looks like Prague and Czechia have been popular destinations with Austrians for a while, considering how many old tour guides and maps I've been able to find in thrift stores and book boxes. It's neat to see how these books have been changing and what kind of info they presented as various points in time. So let's start with a newer book and then go back to Czechoslovakia in the 90s, after the...

Katie has sent me an absolute treasure trove of maps! We're starting with some vintage ones of New Hampshire, her beautiful home state and from the looks of it a fantastic place to go hiking. I particularly like the look of those lakes in the middle of the mountains... Thank you, Katie!!! 💜   If you'd like to watch along, please click here for the youtube video.

It's time to finally look at some languages again and I have to say, this region has been the most challenging to prepare so far. There is such a wealth of languages in the Cacausus mountains, with some that we've talked about before, and some isolate and native to this region alone. Get comfy and let's slowly work our way through the map 💖 Before we start, though, thank you so much for all the w...

I was super sleepy when we filmed this which honestly might be a little noticeable. So get cozy and let's drift off together to this map of the Yosemite National Park 😴😴 Mystery person who sent this to me, who are you? 💛   If you'd like to watch along, click here for the youtube video.

Today we're looking at a place that is so incredibly big, I'm still struggling wrapping my head around it. The Great Lakes along the Canada-US-border! Turns out, Lake Superior alone is as big as my (arguably small) home country... Wow! A big thank you to Claire for sharing the infos on the Great Lakes with me, and to Isi of course, who sent me a beautiful surprise package with the map of Canada 🧡...

Today we're looking at a bit of a mysterious aspect of ancient history: the Scythians. I've come across the name quite often, but always in the margins or as a side-note and it made me curious to find out more about this civilization of Eastern Europe during the Hellenistic period. I hope you find this relaxing and interesting, and if at some point, you're wondering whether you should drift off to...

Ever wondered why both London and Paris have a "Temple" station? Let's go back all the way to the Middle Ages and the time of the crusades to get to the origin of that. I find the story of the Templars so fascinating and just love the fact that you can still find their traces in today's cityscapes, hundreds of years later.   For the visual version, please click here.

How do I teleport myself across the world to Brisbane? What a stunning city! A big thank you goes to John who kindly sent this collection of maps and info material, plus an entire letter with details and background info. It was such a joy to record this video and maybe, if you too are struggling with a cold, dull day and a lack of sun, this can bring a little summer of summer to you.    For the vi...

My postbox was full of Christmas surprises last time I checked! This one is a set of maps that Adam, a subscriber from the US, sent of Tennessee and parts of Appalachia. A big thank you! It was a pleasure looking at this part of the world and I hope you all enjoy this relaxing trip to the Great Smoky Mountains with me.  If you prefer visuals, please have a look at the corresponding youtube video h...

It's time to finally look at some Native American languages! We're starting out with Mesoamerica, home to the ancient empires of Olmecs, Mayas and Aztecs. The fascinating part is that is their respective languages were not related, and yet they do share certain similiarties. Over thousands of years, speakers of the various languages home in Mesoamerica started borrowing and adopting from one anoth...

Are you in the mood for a little medieval history? For Christmas, I got a CD with poems from the age of Charlemagne and one of them really stuck with me. It's the description of a battle between Charlemagne's heirs, one that would influence the shape of Western European states until today. Have a listen to the wonderful rendition of the song here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnZf4sNqu1w&list=O...

I know, 10 days into the new year, many people have already dropped and forgotten their new year's resolutions. But in my opinion, now is as good a time as any to make them! In fact, maybe even a better time than around the holidays because we might have a more realistic (not to say, sober) idea of our options and ressources at hand. So today, join me in planning the first month of the year. Since...