These "random stuff" videos are a bit like spending time chatting with an interesting and creative friend. Relaxing and informative.

Shrimp just casually dropping deep lore about him living in Cyprus as a child

bayleaf is like a quiet instrument in the background of an orchestra

Speaking for myself, your tech tinkering is my favorite part.  In fact, your tech-related videos are the main reason I subscribed years ago.  In fact, I wish you did more of them, I miss them.  I'm still waiting for part two of your "create your own keyboard" video.  So don't apologize for a portion of the video that will be many of your viewers favorite part.

People who suggest selling items don’t realize that there are two types of makers. Shrimp’s kind is the designer/inventor who wants to try out ideas. I’m that way too, and our inventiveness gets us into every craft imaginable. We don’t sell things because we’d get bored making five of the same thing, let alone hundreds.

The other type of makers is one who gets joy from quality craftsmanship. They are much more likely to be interested in honing their skills through repetition. Of course, they’re still not likely to sell their items, because quality is expensive and people are too used to cheap stuff.

I stopped catching dropped things after having caught a soldering iron. Live and learn.

There's a saying: "A falling knife has no handle"

When Shrimp had the Kizandy I was waiting for him to throw some shapes while listening to some Techno 😂

I have an underpowered tablet that I recently re-purposed. It's now a picture frame on a wooden stand by the window that displays all the details of every flight that can currently be seen from that window. There's a picture of the aircraft, callsign, origin, destination, altitude and more. If there are no flights currently visible, it defaults to being an attractive digital photo frame. It's incredibly exciting to think of all those people flying off to exotic destinations such as Luton and Gatwick.

I have an idea with regards to the bay leaves! Make a meal, maybe a soup or bolognaise. Split it into 2 and while simmering, add bay leaves to one and not to the other. And then do a blind taste test to see if you can tell the difference!

The cafeteria in an office I worked at started adding something to their soups that was strong and unpleasant at the concentrations they used.  The closest thing that we thought it tasted like was rosemary.  When we spoke to them, we found out they were using ground bay leaf.  After that, I never assume that bay leaves don't add flavor to a dish, so I always add them when a recipe calls for them, but I would only add them whole.  They're quite pungent when ground.

I follow Sorted food and they did a blind test for bay leafs and if they did anything to the food. They all agreed it seemed to “round” the flavour but couldn’t really explain any particular flavour it added. Quite interesting

Totally agree homemade stock is the best, but regarding the “texture” you mentioned… to get a little closer with a stock cube, add a leaf of dissolved gelatin into it. It gives it some of the viscosity you’re missing from a homemade stock. Love your videos Mike!!!

LOVED the section on repurposing the tablet. So many things just get thrown out. I’d love to see a whole series on “mend and make new”! Also, just one more example of atomic shrimp encouraging us that things are doable.

Those of us who write the date as DD/MM get our own special Pi day, Pi Approximation Day, it's the 22nd of July because it makes 22/7, a traditional approximation for pi. You can celebrate by eating pi, but you can also approximate the experience by smearing cake around your face.

i have a bay leaf plant and i've always found the leaves to have a sort of... not citrus-y aroma (and they're definitely not sour), but something that gives you the same sort of bright, fresh flavour as lemon or orange zest, along with the green and herbal notes mentioned by shrimp. once you know what a fresh bay leaf smells like, i find it's really easy to detect even in a huge vat of soup or a meat sauce - it's not always a foreground flavour, but it's so unique you can't help but notice it

I have never seen anyone else but me make tea in a pyrex jug.
Laurel is the garland to crown your cooking, if it is suitable for an emperor.

My goodness those purple flowers are gorgeous! I can’t imagine how beautiful they must be in person. Purple is the best color 🫶

Nearly two hours of Random Stuff to keep me busy in hospital? Awesome.

"I'm Bayleaf, I'm the gardener, I work from early dawn. You'll find me sweeping up the leaves and tidying the lawn!"
IYKYK.