Blog: Favorite YouTube Videos (Volume 16)

Welcome to the 16th volume of my favorite videos on YouTube. This volume is a mix of music, cuteness and deep thoughts and is a lot of things that have showed up here before.

• The first video is by British YouTuber, Alex Day for his friend, collaborator and roommate Charlie McDonnell. This was a birthday gift in which Alex got several YouTubers (especially ones with ukuleles) to sing a song to Charlie on his birthday. (Also yes, these guys are freaking young!)
• Speaking of Charlie, we also have his video for Ben Folds and Nick Hornby's song Saskia Hamilton. I feel like this video is an example of the age old adage (at least as old as when I first thought of it) that when in doubt you should shout the name of a poet.
• The third video in this volume is a pair of bunnies in cups. I don't think I need to say more.
• Next we have a song from Hank Green about the likelihood of alien life, because most scientific concepts are best handled in song.
• Finally we have a TED talk from the brilliant brain-disturber Ze Frank. In this talk he discusses the show he ran in 2006 (which influenced pretty much anyone I've ever seen vlog, at least indirectly) and engage in deep participation.

Blog : Favorite YouTube Videos (Volume 15)

This volume of my Favorite YouTube Videos is sad, but also heart warming. It starts with a eulogy for a nerdfighter who died too young, and goes on to some very amazing cinematography and then geeky/cool music and  and film making.

• The first video is John Green's eulogy for Esther Earl, who was a nerdfighter and a cool person who died of cancer at the age of 16. It's difficult to know what to say with this kind of video, but it's a good thing to have a time and a place (that they're on the internet makes no difference) to be able to go and say, yes this was a person who existed, who impacted us and who is gone now. I also think the advice at the heart of Johns message is very important, "Don't just do something, stand there."
• The second video is an accompaniment to a NPR RadioLab episode called Words. I haven't listened to the episode yet (and I really should't put things off this long), but the video stands strongly on its own and is a remarkable piece of film.
• The third and fourth videos are music videos by Charlie McDonnell doing acoustic covers of some of his songs from his Trock (Time Lord rock) group Chameleon Circuit. We also get the Charlies of two different periods, the first concerned with Weeping Angels and the second with the ongoing relationship between ... well actually I haven't watched enough Doctor Who, to know who's at war here, but it's certainly epic. 
• The final video is from my perennial favorites Pomplamoose, working together with generally awesome music person Ben Folds and novelist Nick Hornby. This was a bonus track for Ben and Nick's (can I call them that?) ... Mr. Folds and Mr. Hornby's album Lonely Avenue. It's a little more contemplative than some of the songs I've favorited, but it's still a very pleasant listen.

Blog : Favorite YouTube Videos (Volume 14)

Welcome to the 14th volume of my favorite YouTube videos. This volume involves my discovery of the most popular YouTuber in the UK, a little bit of music and a couple of deeply thoughtful videos.

• The first two videos in this volume are from YouTube sensation   Charlie "charlieissocoollike" McDonell. The first video is of Charlie singing one of his own songs, with a little help from himself and the power of video editing (and it wows me how much you can do at home now-a-days) and the second is the video for a project he did called chart-jackers where he and a group of friends tried their best to take over the UK pop charts. Oh, and yes, that's Mr. Stephen Fry giving the tag line at the end.
• The next video in this volume is by Ben Chan who is mostly an online violine teacher, but is also a lover of video game music. He's playing the theme to Chrono Trigger, which as you've probably guessed is a pretty easy way to make me favorite a video.
• The fourth video is one I've had a bit of a hard time figuring out. It is, as it calls itself the PEN story, and it's a beautiful stop motion film built out of photographs. As I mentioned though, I don't know why it's called the PEN story, nor about who made it or why. It's upbeat and fun, however so it's worth a watch.
• The fifth video is another interesting one. Called "How to be Alone" and is a video by fiilmaker, Andrea Dorfman of the poem (of the same name) by Tanya Davis. It's a beautiful contemplative piece that's quite compelling to watch in addition to being interesting life advice for a thing many people (myself included sometimes) are not very good at.

Blog : Favorite YouTube Videos (Volume 13)

This volume of my favorite YouTube videos is mostly musical with a side of spoon.

• The first video in this volume is possibly the best cover of a Zelda song ever. The music in Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker is astoundingly good to begin with and this cover by FreddeGredde only improves on it. I also really appreciate the video song style with all the different instruments and voices he added in to give the song a lot of depth and interest. If ever there was a song to wake up to on Christmas Day, this is it.
• The second video in the volume is from the department of things you've probably heard of, but I still like the video anyway so there (which is a weird department to have, but there you go). Fireflies by Owl City is fun and upbeat and makes me happy, so here it is.
• The third video in the volume stems from the interest the vlogbrothers developed in anglerfish (I'd say don't ask, but really that's just how the vlogbrothers work, they're a series of inside jokes), and their unusual sexual practices (which are outlined in the song, I won't spoil it for you). Also, a floating cat (cuter than the anglerfish in the picture).
• The next video is important because it involves The Tick and the origin of the most important battle cry to ever grace the television medium. SPOOOOOOOOOON!
• The final video in this volume is another song by Hank Green of the vlogbrothers and tells the tail of the most dangerous squirrel ever to live. The video is fun, and shows just how awesome the community of nerdfighters can be. Also it provides a free lesson in squirrel linguistics.

Delays Delays

Sorry for the lack of posts in the last week or so. I've been suffering from the combined effects of a cold and the death of my laptop, which has screwed with my work setup. Posts should be resuming shortly.