There is a new video on the Lookner channel on YouTube entitled “I Try To Cook Stir-Fry - LIVE STREAM”:

The video starts in Steve’s kitchen. We can see the counter and the stove. He jokes that it might be the “worst idea” he’s ever had. He says he’s hungry, because he hasn’t eaten all day since he’ll be making stir fry during the live stream. He mentions having cooked stir fry years ago, when just out of college, but he didn’t do it again and has completely forgotten how to. He has chosen a simple recipe, but insists that he’ll mess something up, and he doesn’t seem to be optimistic.

He has bought some chicken breast and steak, along with peanut oil, premade stir fry sauce, broccoli florets, and snow peas. Since he doesn’t have a wok, he’s just using the frying pan that he does have. He decides to use medium-high heat on the stove, and mentions that he has enough ingredients to try again if it does go bad. It looks like he’ll need to use the stove fan, so he turns it on to see if it’s too loud on the live stream.

Steve is filming the live stream using his webcam, which is connected to his computer in the other room using a USB hub and a long USB cable. The microphone is also connected to the USB hub. He has to use his iPad to see comments in the live chat, and to watch the video so he can see where he is in the frame, so that’s why he may be looking down a lot. He also indicates that he only has one pan, so the viewers will just have to accept that he’s using it!

He checks on his phone to see if he needs to wash the chicken breast, but he decides not to. He’s trying to follow a recipe, and goes over the plan. He isn’t using rice right now, since he’s trying to keep it simple. A viewer asks if he has a fire extinguisher handy, and Steve shows a large fire extinguisher he has under his sink.

Steve starts with preparing hte chicken breast. He takes one out and puts it on the cutting board. He’s not sure how large to cut the pieces, however. Members of the audience in the chat suggest “bite size” pieces or “strips”. He cuts a piece, and shows the camera. Some of the viewers say it’s fine in the live chat. Steve proceeds to cut the rest of the chicken breast into pieces. He jokes that he doesn’t care if the food is bad, he just doesn’t want to burn his apartment down! He shows the viewers the pieces that he cut, and doesn’t think that he’s messed it up so far.

Next, he moves on to the pan. He turns on the stove heat, and sets it to medium-high. He also puts some peanut oil in the pan, but doesn’t think it’s enough and so he adds some more. He also turns on the stove fan, and says that he does have renter’s insurance. He notices that the oil hasn’t really spread out in the pan yet.

The viewers in the live chat say to add the chicken, so he adds it to the pan, and it starts to cook. He notices that it’s getting brown on the outside, and he can hear the sizzling. The viewers say to cook it to “golden”, but he says it’s not there yet. Steve opts to err on the side of overcooking. Eventually he says he thinks that the pieces of chicken are done, and so he takes them off and shows the cooked pieces to the audience. A viewer suggests to cut one of the pieces and make sure that the inside isn’t pink. Steve shows a cut piece to the viewers, but it’s hard to see. He says it’s not pink at all.

Steve moves on to cooking the vegetables. He adds more oil to the now-empty pan, and opens the stir fry sauce so that it’s ready. He isn’t sure if he needs to wash the vegetables, but decides not to after noticing that one of the bags says they’re pre-washed. He puts some broccoli florets in the pan first, followed by the pea pods, and lets them cook. He’s not sure how much stir fry sauce to use, so he pours some in. He then adds the chicken back in, and says that one piece of broccoli has all of the sauce on it! He thinks it’s done, so he pours it from the frying pan onto a plate, and he shows the plate to the camera and the audience.

It’s time for a taste test, but he decides some salt may be needed. He starts with a piece of chicken, and it seems perfectly fine, other than needing some salt. He tries a pea pod, and it’s good, but oily. He tries some of the broccoli, and it’s good, too. He salts a piece of chicken. Steve describes what he made as “perfectly edible”, and thinks that the chicken needs more salt. He also puts the vegetables back into the fridge.

He notes that at least he knows what’s in the food that he’s eating. If he doesn’t get sick, it will be very good for his purposes. The viewers tell him to put the extra piece of chicken back in the fridge, and he says he’ll do it shortly. Assuming he doesn’t get sick, Steve says he’s happy with the outcome. He would be satisfied if he got food like it at a restaurant. He eventually wraps up the extra piece of raw chicken using plastic wrap, and puts it in the fridge.

The viewers tell him he should marinate his chicken. Steve says that he doesn’t know when he’ll eat, so he needs to be able to cook without much preparation. He answers some viewer questions from the live chat while eating. He does think it would go good with rice as he’s eating it. He likes that it’s simple, and it’s all that he wants. He reads the sauce ingredients, and says it worked well for his needs. He mentions that he doesn’t like eating while standing up, and he shows off the emptied plate. Steve says that he’s in the “clean plate club”. Once the stream is done he will clean the kitchen. He moves the camera and light so that he can sit and digest.

He confirms that his stove is off, but the light remains on because the surface is still hot. He indicates that the food was very good. He asks the viewers if the chicken will be good for another day, saying he’ll make it tomorrow. He stops to wrap up one other piece of chicken.

Steve asks the viewers for some suggestions about how to improve his cooking. It’s suggested that he season the meat, and get a thermometer. It’s also suggested that he put the sauce in the fridge, which he does. He says he’ll get a different pan if he’s doing more stir fry. As for different mixes of vegetables, he wants to get comfortable with simple ones first, and only then will he add others. He gets some food safety suggestions, and it’s suggested that he add peanuts or cashews.

He says he’s anxious about raw meat and anxious about “brain eating bacteria”, and that he’ll likely obsess over it. He now thinks that he should have read up on food safety before starting to cook. Viewers in the live chat suggest that he get a wok or a deeper pan. It’s also suggested that he won’t get mad cow disease from chicken! He says he bought about a pound-and-a-half, and cooked about 1/2 to 3/4 of a pound. He also says that he doesn’t want to get sick from the kitchen after, so he’ll have to clean it. The topic of shrimp comes up, and a viewer says that it cooks fast.

Steve says that assuming he doesn’t get sick, he would cook like this every day. All he wants for lunch is a bowl of meat and vegetables, but he can’t get it anywhere. He could just buy some stuff, and not have to worry about going out. He asks the viewers about ready-to-cook shrimp. He also remembers back to tenderizing chicken in the past, and removing some tendon or gristle or something.

He reads up about how to clean up after cooking raw meat. He asks about using a rag to wash, and what to do with it afterward. Viewers suggests he use cleaning spray and a paper towel, and rinse or wash any rags that are used. Steve decides to clean his kitchen during the live stream. He turns the camera around so the viewers can watch him clean. He puts the oil in the cabinet, and puts the raw material in a plastic bag to throw it down the trash chute. He leaves briefly to dispose of it right away. Steve mentions that he’ll probably cook more that night, and will probably make the same thing! He proceeds to wash the cutting board with soap and hot water, but he’s not sure if he’s cleaning it well enough. He washes his knife off next, and then wipes down the counter top and stove top with warm soapy water. He says that he has to read up about how to clean. Steve also mentions how he doesn’t leave his water running when doing something.

He adjusts the camera back so he can sit and chat with the viewers some more. He shows off the new microphone he’s using, and leaves briefly to use his computer to add info about the microphone to the video description. He says he bought some corn on the cob, so he’ll make some of it. He also says that his mom wanted him to do complex cooking. He thanks the moderators and audience, and says he has to leave to call his mom. He also hopes that he doesn’t get sick!

From what I can tell, Steve’s attempt at cooking went quite well, despite his initial skepticism and doubt. There were no major incidents, and the food turned out well in the end. Hopefully his fears about getting sick won’t amount to anything, too. I think he may be eating a lot of stir fry going forward!

• Karl

I have watched the “Crushing Crunchy & Soft Things by Car! EXPERIMENT CAR VS GOLDFISH” video from the Experiment with Everythings YouTube channel:

This video involves a car tire driving over different objects. As far as I can tell, the objects included things like a boxed toy, candies, a glass fishbowl with a toy fish inside, balloons, a plastic dinosaur toy, a plastic truck toy, a container of cotton swabs, a toy water gun, slices of bread, and other items.

For being a short video, I found it entertaining. It’s not something I would try on my own, due to the risk of injury and due to the mess that it looks like it could make.

• Karl

There is a new video on the Lookner channel on YouTube entitled “Should I Learn To Cook For Myself? (Possible Major Life Change!)".

This live stream takes place at Steve’s desk in the living room area of his apartment. He’s using his lights to light the wall behind him, and has switched up the sides of the blue and purple/pink lights. He’s also using his new microphone, and it seems to sound good. Steve additionally gives an update on the BestBuy price matching request from the earlier microphone video.

Getting to the topic of cooking, Steve wants to explain why he doesn’t cook for himself. He says he likes going out to eat, as it gets him out from the office or home or wherever he is. He’s not an expensive eater, so it’s not a budgetary matter. He also says he’s busy, and needs to be on-call to report on breaking news on his Agenda-Free TV channel, so he also doesn’t want to spend a lot of time cooking.

Steve explains how he likes to eat healthy, but also has to eat something substantial for lunch. He doesn’t want to eat fast food, pizza, or fried food. He also doesn’t want to eat fancy, as he can’t accord it and doesn’t like it. Once he rules those out, there’s not much left, at least when it comes to casual places.

He says that what he wants is a bowl of chicken, beef, or shrimp, plus some vegetables and flavor, like Chinese food. He’s been in Atlanta for over a year, but can’t find any good places. He’s come to realize that he could probably just make food like that himself, as long as it doesn’t take overly long to do. He says he did learn how to stir fry a long time ago, but has since forgotten how to do it. He also adds that he wants to buy the ingredients in advance, and not every day.

Steve asks the viewers what they think. Lots respond in the chat saying he should do it. One viewer says that stir fry could take 15 minutes. Another suggests he try frozen dinners, but Steve says he wants fresh food. Some suggest an “Instant Pot”, which Steve looks up, but it sounds like it could take up to 90 minutes to cook meat.

He emphasizes that it needs to be fast, as in within 30 minutes. He doesn’t want ramen noodles, as he doesn’t think they’re healthy enough. He also doesn’t want a prep day, because minimal preparation is important to him.

Steve searches the Internet for how to stir fry. It does sound like what he wants. He says he doesn’t realize that it’s possible to buy bags of frozen stir fry veggies. Regarding stir frying, he thinks he could try it, to see how it goes. He’s also curious how long chicken breasts last, so he searches about it and finds out it can sometimes only be a day or two. He can’t go the grocery store daily, and freezing isn’t an option because he doesn’t want to have to defrost them, although microwave defrosting might work.

One viewer suggests he try making sandwiches, but Steve says he tries to avoid white bread and processed meat, so sandwiches aren’t really an option.

Steve says he should just try making stir fry sometime. He says he used to know how to do it, just before or after graduating from college, but he forgets how to do it now. One problem might be that he doesn’t have a wok. He’s not sure if it’s called a frying pan or a skillet, but that’s all he has. He looks up the difference between a skillet and a frying pan. Eventually he gets up and brings over the pan so he can show the audience. He asks if he can use the frying pan for a one-time stir fry test, and the viewers suggest that he can. He points out that he doesn’t want to buy lots of equipment, and just wants to take small steps like he’s been doing with his Lookner channel and its equipment.

He mentions that he doesn’t eat pasta, and explains how his metabolism slowed down a few years prior, and how he gained 20 pounds. He says he likes white rice, but doesn’t eat it. There are some Chinese or Thai restaurants around where he lives, but he doesn’t really like them. At least the grocery store is close by.

Steve says he thinks that the best thing to do is to try to make stir fry. When his metabolism started changing, he started grilling food. He links to the grill he used. But he eventually stopped using it, and then gave it away. He needs more than just a piece of meat for his meals. So he plans to watch some stir fry videos, do some research, and then do a live stream where he makes some stir fry and then eats it.

He talks about some other kinds of streams he could do for the Lookner channel. As an Amazon affiliate, he sees a list of items that other people have bought that he’s gotten referral fees for, even if he didn’t directly recommend the products. He might do a live stream where he goes through the list and shows items, since some of them are unusual to him. He has done small versions of this before. A viewer suggests he do a movie review stream, and Steve says he’s open to it, he’s just not sure what to do about viewers who might not have seen the movie. A Q&A stream is suggested, as well as having on guests. Steve says he’s open to having guests on, but he’s just need to find people. Somebody suggests he stream himself doing a 3-day cleanse, but it sounds risky. A stream about things he likes is another option.

Steve mentions a Roberto Blake video he watched about making 100 crappy YouTube videos. The idea is to just make videos, even if the quality isn’t very good. Steve finds the video’s advice to be very direct, and he recommends watching it. He doesn’t think it just applies to videos, but also for making other stuff, too. He does say that he doesn’t want to do taste tests or other reviews, as so many other people are already doing that on YouTube, and would rather do things that are different.

He talks about how doing a live stream is a bad way to attract new viewers, but he likes the interactivity of the live chat. He thinks that people new to the channel who watch the videos once they’re archived might expect a well-produced video, but are then surprised when they get a live stream recording instead. He doesn’t think that people who stumble upon the archived videos will keep watching.

Steve indicates that he’s thinking about doing Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve streams on Agenda-Free TV. He will show photos and videos of Christmas trees and other stuff submitted by viewers.

He checks to see if his current live stream appears in the YouTube live videos section. What he doesn’t understand is why more and more people are showing up even though it’s near the end of the stream. He says that sometimes it feels like an interactive talk show, where a bunch of different topics are covered during a stream. He mentions that he’s thinking about doing a random talk show like stream, with no fixed topic.

One viewer gives a large donation, and has offered to pay for Steve to travel to Austin, Texas. Steve would have to figure out some technical issues first, like getting a good quality signal for his phone. He shows the web page of a device that can combine multiple phone services, but it’s too expensive. A viewer suggests that Steve pre-record the content, but then have a live stream while reviewing the video, and be in the chat room while the video is premiered. Steve also points out that while he wants to travel, doing so makes it harder to report on breaking news.

He wonders why people keep joining the stream. Maybe people just join a stream if it stays on longer, he suggests.

Steve talks about some fantastic car washes in Alabama. A viewer says she’s giving a bug zapper, which Steve showed in an earlier stream, as a gift. He show it, pointing out how its battery cover got lost during a move. He highly recommends it, and says it’s good for small flies.

He checks his Amazon referral earnings, and is at $98.95. He looks at some candles that a viewer mentioned buying. He mentions that he’s not sure what a lot of the items in the list actually are. He tries to figure out what the melt things are, and is still confused even after looking up what the product is. He says that if someone sends him a scent device, he’ll try it and live stream it, but won’t pay for it himself. A viewer says she’ll buy one and send it to him.

Steve checks again to see if he shows up in the live section of YouTube, but can’t find his stream listed. He briefly looks into a vehicle fire near LAX airport that’s being reported about online. He also talks about possibly using StreamLabs.

He talks about his background lights, and about possibly doing a 3 AM stream at some point. He also talks about the third-party microphone situation some more, saying that the third-party reseller has changed their name. He mentions that he normally works out late at night, but doesn’t have to because he’d worked out earlier, and will watch stir fry videos instead. He talks about wanting software where you can talk and it will type into wherever the cursor is, but it’s not built in.

The viewers are asked what time the Christmas Eve special should start. Steve’s thinking 7 PM or 8 PM Eastern time. The viewers generally want 8 PM Eastern. He talks about doing a 24 hour life stream at some point. One problem is that he can’t stream for longer than 12 hours for the video to go into the archive. He thinks it would be miserable, but he’d do it if people would donate. If news came up he thinks he might just leave the Lookner stream running while reporting in the other room on his Agenda-Free TV channel. One of the viewers says he would match donations made that day.

Steve starts to thank the viewers and moderators, but accidentally hits some ad-insertion button, and apologizes. He checks to see if he ordered his frying pan from Amazon, but it doesn’t look like he did, and he thinks he got it at a store. After over 3 hours of live streaming, he finally wraps up the stream.

This was a long stream! While he did talk about learning to cook and stir frying, there was also a lot of discussion about so many other topics, too. I think some of his ideas for future live streams could be interesting, and I’d like to see what he manages to come up with.

• Karl

Recently, I watched the “Crushing Crunchy & Soft Things by Car! Experiment 1000 Matches vs Car” video from the Experiment with Everythings YouTube channel:

In this video, a car tire is used to crush various objects. From what I could tell, the objects included things like a lit candle, fruits, foam food containers, plastic toys, many lit matches, a toilet paper roll, Christmas tree ornaments, pens, noodles, boxed drinks, and various other items.

This is a short video, but I found it entertaining. I don’t think I would try this myself due to the risk of injury and the mess that can be made, though.

• Karl

A relatively short live stream video entitled “Parking Over The White Line: World’s Worst People” is now on the Lookner channel on YouTube.

The video takes place in the parking garage of apartment building that Steve Lookner lives in. The noisy road plate crises of some of his earlier videos has been fixed, but there is now a new crisis. For a second straight time, the car parked in the spot next to Steve’s parking spot has parked a little bit across the white parking spot separator line.

Steve explains how he has an assigned or reserved parking space, but the one next to his spot is not assigned parking, so it can have different people parking in it at different times. He says that the previous user of the parking spot next to his had left the car parked across the line for several days, and now the latest user has done the same thing, as he’s showing us.

He thinks it’s very disrespectful for somebody to park like that. He even shows the other side of the parked car, showing that there’s room on that side. Steve says he would never park like that, and if he accidentally did, he would back out and try parking again. Even if the car tire is only partially over the line, the side mirror extends into his spot’s air space.

A viewer asks in the live chat if Steve thinks it’s worse than the steel plates. Steve explains that it’s different. He doesn’t consider the steel plates a personal attack on him directly, while the parking situation is. He indicates that it feels more personal than the road plates, which affected the entire area.

Another viewer suggests that maybe it’s because of the structural concrete pillar on the other side. Steve suggests that drivers shouldn’t park in a space near a pillar if they can’t handle it, and names the other driver “Overly-Cautious Chris”.

Steve explains how somebody who parks like that must not care about other people at all. It even makes him feel like a non-person. There’s just no excuse for it. Such people must be among the worst people in the world, according to Steve.

I can understand why Steve would be frustrated by this situation. It isn’t as bad is it could have been, but it is unnecessary. Also, I think this may be the first live stream video I’ve seen filmed in a parking garage!

• Karl