YouTube Stars!

Here's a new post by popular guest blogger Anna! It is about the hugely popular book series and now movie, The Hunger Games. The Hunger Games is the first of a three part book series by Suzanne Collins written for young adults. The Hunger Games book was followed by two more books in the series, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay. There will be a total of 4 movies from the series; they will break the last Hunger Games book, Mockingjay, into two movies, just like they did with Twilight Saga Breaking Dawn. Wikipedia states that there is some controversy about The Hunger Games, "the reasons being it was 'sexually explicit, unsuited to age group, and violence.'"

Anna's YouTube channel is Annaconda1984.

Visit her channel and watch some of the 300+ videos she has uploaded. Anna has over 20 Thousand Subscribers and about 1,817,934 Total Video Views!

My favorites include Anna's singing duet with KrisShred and her compilation with 18 YouTubers reciting The Raven by Poe.


Now, here is Anna's article!


The Hunger Games, with videos!

Queuing up for the midnight session to be among the first to see it, girls with "dutch" sidebraids



and golden mockingjay pins, an army of Katniss Everdeen clones of all shapes and sizes, wait in groups to see the screen adaptation of the first part of the trilogy based on the novels by Suzanne Collins. For some of them, it is past their bedtime, which makes the premiere even more exciting. Their parents are 'cool' and allow it, some accompany them or offer to pick them up afterwards but most of them are with their friends. Like with Harry Potter, the majority of them have at least read and enjoyed the first book or if they have not, they are planning to. The average viewer is a couple of years older than a Harry Potter fan. By midnight the theaters are full and one can hear loud random giggles here and there mixed with popcorn crunches which last throughout the movie.
In "The Hunger Games" 12 girls and 12 boys, from the 12 districts of Panem, aged between 12-18 are selected by an annual drawing to partake in the televised battle of death. The story is taking place in a post apocalyptic world: all the districts are poor, except for the capitol, with it's parrot like baroquely dressed inhabitants. In her Effie Trinket inspired makeup tutorial, KlaredelysArt shows how to look like one of them.



Katniss Everdeen volunteers as one of the tributes to fight instead of her sister Prim. In the arena the chosen ones fight for the survival of the fittest.

LukeConard has been forming a lot of movie or tv series inspired bands with his friends in the past few years, this time he teamed up with Joey from JoeyGraceffa and Meghan from Stawburry17 to form "The Tributes". They are performing some Hunger games themed songs which are available on itunes. The songs are in chronological order of what appears in the plot of the books. With some of their other friends and vloggers, they shot a very well edited music video: "Arena"



Luke as usual produces one catchy tune after the other and this one is no exception. Germans would call it an Ohrwurm, something that is so catchy, that it's like a worm inside your ear or a song stuck in your head.

As to the movie whether you have read the book or not, it is entertaining to watch and very recommendable. There are some people who criticize the way it was shot or that the movie does not include the details of the book they felt were important for the film but people need to realize that films cannot include all the details. They should judge books and films always as separate genres because otherwise they will always get disappointed. Take any of film versions of "The Count of Monte Christo" - they cannot and should not be as detailed or else you would take weeks to watch. So make yourself some Mockingjay topped cupcakes and go and see the film with your friends!

Labels: "Hunger Games", "The Hunger Games", Annaconda1984

Here's a new post by popular guest blogger Anna! It is about a song that hit Number ONE on the US pop charts back in 1963 - SukiYaki. The song was originally sung by Kyu Sakamoto and you can see him sing it, here.

Anna's YouTube channel is Annaconda1984.

Visit her channel and watch some of the 300+ videos she has uploaded. Anna has over 20 Thousand Subscribers and about 1,824,728 Total Video Views!

My favorites include Anna's singing duet with KrisShred and her compilation with 18 YouTubers reciting The Raven by Poe.


Now, here is Anna's article!


YouTubers then and now...

One of the first music videos on YouTube that I recall because it moved me was the dulcet performance of "The Sukiyaki Song" by the talented Iowan born Japan expat Ningyoko.

In the song, a man is whistling while looking up so, that his tears won't fall to the ground; the verses describing his recollections and emotions. See yourself how the now 25 year old manages to transport those feelings with her euphonious voice!



Ningyoko comes from Ningyo which can either mean doll or mermaid depending on how you emphasize the word ending. "My husband Ryan and I where playing around with words and since I was a kid, I always wanted to be a mermaid, hence my username", she recalls. The title Sukiyaki, was picked to grab attention because it is typically japanese and short. It is a hot pot dish and has nothing to with the song lyrics of Hachidai Nakamukas piece. The song has been covered multiple times and translated into many languages, selling over 13 million times and making the top 100 of the US billboard charts in 1963.

Although all of the songs she performs in videos are played on the guitar, her first instrument is the violin she explains in one of her first vlogs.



The girl with the 18 dimples, was born and raised in the United States but decided to move to Japan in 2004 and has been teaching english there. "I think it kind of brings a sparkle to my eyes when I smile," she says smiling, "cause I have such a crooked and dimply smile. Once I counted 18 dimples in my face" (she starts counting them) "I think I lost a lot of (them) cause I lost a lot of babyfat," she concludes.

According to her channel description she is currently working on an album, which could be one of the reasons why she has not uploaded a video for the past 6 months. Whatever she is up to these days, her videos are greatly missed.


Here's an acoustic version of the song by MrShazzar.



James, an 18 year old from the UK joined youtube less than two months ago and has already posted 14 videos which have been well received by his listeners. We hope he continues playing for us and posting it with such enthusiasm.

Labels: Annaconda1984, MrShazzar, ningyoko, sukiyaki

Here's a new post by popular guest blogger Anna! It is about the viral video that was made to bring attention to Kony and the reactions to that video.

Anna's YouTube channel is Annaconda1984.

Visit her channel and watch some of the 300+ videos she has uploaded. Anna has over 20 Thousand Subscribers and about 1,781,486 Total Video Views!

My favorites include Anna's singing duet with KrisShred and her compilation with 18 YouTubers reciting The Raven by Poe.



Now, here is Anna's article!

There are two ways in which a video can go viral: gradually over time, as an evergreen or overnight.



An example of the latter is the short documentary Kony 2012 by the invisible children, a group of activists trying to raise awareness about the situation that was going on in Uganda and has shifted to neighboring countries. The villain of the story is Josef Kony the Ugandan head of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), who has been abducting children by the thousands for the past 27 years, forcing the boys to turn into family slaying child soldiers while raping the girls. Kony's aim was to create a theocratic state, using religious extremism to gain control. The invisible children aims to spread the word in order to get Kony caught by the end of the 2012, with the intention to popularize him so that he is recognized and captured easier. The goal is to do this with the help of 20 celebrities with strong media influence and 12 politicians as well as by asking for viewers to spread the documentary or make their own responses and posts to raise awareness.



In his video The Misguided Nobility of Kony 2012, Dan Brown (pogobat) criticizes the short film for its lack of balance "between (the) ethos, logos and pathos" which "good arguments always (have to) have". He points out that the video is based to 90% on raw emotions and we are not given enough background on the war itself.



Furthermore davidchilderley and many other youtubers call it "a propaganda film" (Childerley) and point out the dangerous nature of what it can lead to. Childerley emphasizes that Kony is portrayed as "the boogey man" to justify a "gentle if not forceful invasion" that those making donations are unknowingly supporting. Skeptics also say that USA needs an enemy, it was bin laden before, it is Kony now and it might be someone else in the future.

According to multiple sources only 30% of the money that is donated actually reaches the people there. It's mainly supporting the local army who is criticized for using similarly abusive methods as the young soldier troops under Konys force. The people criticize the 2012 movement for its "conspiracies, scams, irregularities in the accounts on the charity involved".



Brittneysofficial, says in her video, the reality of kony 2012,
"That unless you're willing to put on a uniform, take up a gun and go and fight in africa, you're doing nothing for the kids. Awereness alone is not going to feed these kids save these kids. I do not know for a fact that if I give money to this project, it will end up in those kids hands I will never know that my dollar reached a child in africa." If you are planning to make a donation think twice and inform yourself better dont just blindly follow the cause. If you feel like contributing to the cause by spreading the word you are welcome to do so but do so not as a sheep but research into the matter and be an individual.

Labels: Annaconda1984, Brittneysofficial, davidchilderley, invisiblechildreninc, kony, kony 2012, pogobat