YouTube Stars!

Anna Interviews The Silver Spoons

1) Hallo Augustin, could you please introduce your band, tell us about what type of music you play, where you're from and give us a brief history of the formation of 'The Silver Spoons'?
Hi Anna, we consist of 3 siblings and a brother from another mother. We play a rather alternative rock, which started with Hal writing songs which I felt as a 15 year old were too good not be taken seriously. So I whipped my choir voice into shape, Hal began conducting on his guitar, we threw Sarah behind the drums, had our brother slapping that bass and then played our first gig within 3 months!

2) Hi Hal; could you tell our readers why you called yourselves 'The Silver Spoons,' does it have to do with the expression 'to be born with a silver spoon by any chance?
Bit of a difficult story to tell as no one quite remembers it the same way. From what I recall, Augustine came up the Silver Buckles (as in shoe buckle) and someone said the Silver Spoons, this being such a sardonic name (we were all born with a tin spoon), so we kept it. Originally we were called "Melton Constable" but no once could pronounce it or understand it (even we, when on stage, would forget it), so that was no good.

3) Sarah, in an immensely male dominated drumming world, have you met any prejudice as a female artist so far and who are your influences?
I don't know how many times I've heard "you're okay..for a girl". Though it annoyed me immensely at first I got used to the fact that men can't accept women being good at something they usually are good at themselves.

4) John, you're the only one who isn't a sibling of the other band members, what's your experience being part of the band and could you tell us about the shoot of your mental video 'tainted colours'?
My experience is nothing but awesome so far. I dont really mind being the "one who isn't a sibling". At least I don't fight with them that much hahah. And sadly I wasn't part of the band at the time of shooting the music clip for "Tainted Colours" so I can't tell much about it. Only that it really got me interested in joining the band.

5) Augustin, what inspires the lyrics to your songs and who writes them?
The majority of songs we play are written by Hal the rest by me. To write a song one must be walking the fine line between the conscious and subconscious mind, you get the same feeling when you take control in a dream. For me its like self therapy, if done correctly the outcome is from the heart, truthful and pure. That been said we get inspired by whatever happens to be on our minds at the time, which is mostly girls, ha.

6) Hal, you guys play a lot of live concerts, could you give is your favourite memory of a performance?
One of my favourite was Kuře v hodinkách (Prague) which was packed and the atmosphere was wicked. Although, we recently played Karlovy Vary and Brno and I have to say those were really good fun!

7) Sarah, what about a great memory from the tour?
One evening Augustine had mysteriously disappeared and Hal had gone to bed I was left with John and instead of being left to talk to John alone I was spoken to by all...that was my favorite moment.. Well partying with bands such as The Fellas is an insane experience, otherwise after getting off stage once we were confronted with a bunch of fans who wanted to take photos with us, autographs, and interviews. It was all quite overwhelming!

8) John, how much of what you play live is improvised?
Usually it is the few bass solos here and there and very rarely when a string goes off hahah.

9) Augustin, if you could collaborate with any musician (or band) dead or alive who would it be and why?
That's not an easy question to answer, but I guess Id have to say the Beatles in the late 60s. I love their approach to song writing and whacky lyrics.

10) Sarah, what do you think, in its essence is what ties your band together?
Of course most of the band is my family so I have a connection automatically in this way, but apart from that we all want to be a success musically and have some laughs as we try getting there. Whenever I have nothing, I always feel "oh well..I've still got the band".

11) Hal, do you guys have any rituals, before getting up on the stage?
My ritual is to worry, haha. Seriously though, we all eat a yogurt with our personally engraved silver spoon.

12) John, where do you see yourself in 10 years?
Still playing enjoying music and generally.. I just hope nothing brings me down till I reach that point of life. That's pretty much all I can see from here. I'll just wait for what the future has in store for me...

13) To all of you: What's your present state of mind?
Augustine: I'm generally very excited where the band is going. Sarah: Feel like we've moved a step further and it feels great John: I pretty much agree with Sarah. We have improved a lot in general and it can be felt with each gig we perform in. Hal: Psyched about what will come next!

Labels: alternative, Annaconda1984, Beatles, interview, Jefferson Airplane, psychedelic, Rock, The Beatles, The Doors, The Monkees, The Sliver Spoons

posted by KennyCrane at 10/05/2015 12:19:00 AM 0 Comments

Lado Sichinava and Profusion

Today, I would like to introduce you to a young, talented Georgian musician, living in Italy, Lado Sichinava. Lado is the drummer, composer, producer and co-founder of the rapidly thriving underground band: Profusion. Their Winter Album is about to be released at the beginning of 2015. We discovered interesting facts about him, the band's history and the role of Georgian folklore in their music.

In their Youtube Miniseries (their most recent upload) we follow the recording of their new album and get to peek behind the scenes and get to know the artists behind the band a little bit.

"Profusion is a merge of a multitude of genres, timbres and rhythms, an organic fusion", Lado explains. "Profusion is a bouquet. It can be a bouquet of everything. People think that we play progressive Rock and Fusion. Doesn't Fusion mean bouquet? Profusion of Flowers. In my opinion, this definition is more correct (…) we are a musical bouquet, a cultural bouquet."

Before they morphed into Profusion, for about a year they were called the Mardi Gras Experience. Since they formed exactly during this festival. "There were three of us, a Mexican, a Sicilian and a Georgian. Marco Pieri on the bass, Gionathan (Caradonna) was and still is the pianist and Lado the drummer. Nowadays, they are a quintet. This video was uploaded to Lado's personal channel and shows the band in concert; The Tower (1 and 2) are tracks from their second album Rewotower.

BONUS VIDEO! APPLE PARODY by PROFUSION

So what sparked Lado's love for music? "Everything began, when I was little, I was shouting and screaming. He'll be an opera singer, people said. I was singing all the time at school. They were preparing a group of kids for an opera of Gia Kancheli." "Here, take Lado, on the contrary he will help us, there will be a little peace." They took me and I was in this choir.

The Spaniard Andres Segoviam sparked Lados wish to play the guitar. He studied it at the 'Academy of the Gifted' for three years until he came across the Black Album of Metallica for the first time. And that was it, everything turned around. "I would like to continue with a different instrument and that is the drum." To continue studying, Lado moved to Italy as he had relatives there.

To say it in his words, his first home country is Georgia, the second Italy. There will be a time when I'll definitely return to Georgia. I don't know where I'll live but I know where I want to die. Profusion just finished working on their Winter Album after One Piece Puzzle, (2006) and RewoTower, (2011) which is to be released this winter.

Regarding Georgian folklore in their music: "It's my fault. Fault, in a good sense, because I think that the present, the child of past is the parent of the future. Georgian rhythm is a very progressive style of music. One can say that Georgian 'folk' is the base of progressive understanding. We can create a very interesting 'mix' out of Georgian music." According to Lado, Germans have their classical music which they can take a lot from. He thinks that the music of Zakaria Paliashvili is very interesting to look at under this aspect. It's not just Georgian classic folk but the foundation of progressive rock; this is exactly why we used Zakaria Paliashvili's moments in our composition Chuta Chani.

Profusion toured around Italy and France in 2013. We wish them best of luck with their music and many invites to Rock Festivals all over the world.

Labels: Annaconda1984, folk, Georgia, Italy, Lado Sichinava, music, Profusion, progressive, Rock

posted by KennyCrane at 2/01/2015 05:26:00 AM 0 Comments

Germany vs USA

As an introduction, here's what their About page says: "Germany vs USA explores the contrasts and joys of two unlikely friends, Jim and Alex, as they learn more about each other's cultures, languages, and the greater friendship between Europe and America. Insightful, whimsical, educational and always genuine (not to mention unscripted) the show aims to bring a slice-of-life perspective to viewers around the world." And now, Anna's article!

Alex and Jim met at the Goethe Institute in Schwäbisch Hall, Germany, where Alex was interning and Jim was taking a german language course. Soon they became friends and founded a language software company and their first youtube channel: walkaboutlanguages. They also started podcasting those episodes on iTunes, making it into the top five educational programs with their healthy mix of information and entertainment. Their rapidly thriving show Germany vs USA and with it their channel had to be shutdown at the peak of its bloom, however, due to irreconcilable differences with the third founder, regarding copyright. Despite the fall-back, they believed in themselves and the concept of the show and bounced back with ardour and creativity, producing exhilarating episodes from different cities of both countries, on their new channel: AlexandJim.

Germany vs USA is a bridge between language and culture addressing a broad range of fascinating topics. It's educational without being too overloaded with information. The episodes are topical and have a freshness and unpredictability to them, which comes from being unscripted. Jim and Alex are knowledgeable, their arguments are smart and well thought through, always backed up with a versatile b-roll, of maps, music, pop up texts and pictures, so it never gets boring. Over the years, they have managed to preserve constant quality with their broadcasts. The show is a bit like Trail Mix, sweet and healthy in an an enjoyable, non-overpowering way and very memorable. I would also compare it a little bit to a Kinder Surprise Eggs (Kinderüberaschungs-Eier) but if they contained a much higher percentage of awesome one-piece collectibles. The episodes they film outside, often in topic relevant locations to the installments, like forests, trains, boats or cafes are especially interesting to watch since they are more likely to have unexpected surprises in them.

Alex, being German represents the arguments for Germany, often wearing striped tops or shirts with logos and sitting on the left on the screen. Jim, on the right, likes to wear caps and speaks for USA. Their arguments are supported by the typically German or American visuals like candy or beer. They are not always from the countries, moreover, they show a range of what is typically consumed there. You can see a little bit of a sneak peak in their catchy intro, with the melodious song 'How s the Wather' by "Come On Go With Us".'Their mascot, Hugo the Frog, who sits next to Jim, is their executive producer, keeping a close eye on the happenings. If you're wondering why there's a football in every episode, it's because their microphone is hidden in it. You have to agree it looks so much better than having a regular microphone stand between them. Both of them get eager about football (which you can see in some of the episodes) and Jim often spends his weekends playing pickup football. I love it most when one of them learns a new fact about the other ones country he never heard of' says Julian Reineke, a viewer of the show. ' Every once in a while they disagree over a difference of how they were raised, and it makes me laugh as much as they do over it. If we were all the same, it would be boring. They have good hearts and they tackle everyday issues without bias. I've learned more than I ever would have thought I could from a simple discussion between friends.' Nancy Reiss (47), another viewer points out in the interactive Germany vs USA Facebook group.

Germany vs USA is watched by a wide range of people who can also contribute by suggesting topics or sharing videos and articles which suit the topics of discussion. 'They're fun but they also deal with things that aren't covered in something like a school class, the little everyday stuff that make up a culture.' Holly Furgason (52) points out. 'The videos are so much fun to watch and remind me of my time in the US, the experiences I had and the discussions with my friends there. They just bring back good memories to me' adds leprechaunishable (25).

Interview!

Alex would make a great presenter for a Children's Educational Channel but I could also see their show lighten up the boulevard and reality trash possessed TV stations, so I decided to ask them a few questions regarding the future of the show.

1. What are the future plans for Germany vs USA; do you have any goals you want to achieve in the near future?
Answer: . We have been involved with GvU for over 5 years now. Initially, our goals were very lighthearted. We wanted to share. We truly love one another’s culture and are very close friends from very different backgrounds. It made for a great platform. Now that we see the community grow, we feel that we owe it to them to have more focused goals. That is one reason why we have been releasing episodes for more than a year without a break. Our next step is to branch out and give the community a larger platform to enjoy GvU. We want to provide them with an opportunity to share their experiences and stories. That is what makes traveling and culture so wonderful. The new. We hope to accomplish that in 2015.

2. If a TV station offered you a format, provided they would leave you with the same liberty you have in producing the episodes, would you consider it or do you guys want to keep it limited to YouTube?
Answer: The initial response is absolutely! Though, we have both been involved in projects where external factors led us into directions we didn’t want to go. Even though that was never the intention. So, I think if the situation was correct we would consider it. But do people still have TV?

3. How much research and preparation does each episode take (I assume it varies but roughly)
Answer: It does vary. We like to be slightly prepared but not over researched. We won’t talk about an experience if we haven’t had it. And we don’t like to discuss our knowledge or thoughts before we shoot. We try to really pull from an authentic conversational circumstance. A lot of times we are talking for close to an hour, if not over, and then have to cut it way down.

I did not know they filmed this long but I'm glad because what they end up selecting is wonderful. Last but not least, 'they show differences you only recognize if you know both cultures and countries well, not so as a mere tourist. They also represent both sides as being friends. It is a very nice, informing and non-aggressive way to teach about cultural differences.' Kauderwelsch77 (39) points out. We wish them best of luck with the show and hope that the love and dedication that is put into each episode, pays off.

Labels: AlexandJim, anaconda, Annaconda1984, education, GermanyvsUSA, interview

posted by KennyCrane at 11/10/2014 05:22:00 AM 1 Comments

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

posted by KennyCrane at 4/13/2012 01:58:00 PM 0 Comments

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

posted by KennyCrane at 4/02/2012 02:39:00 AM 1 Comments

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

posted by KennyCrane at 3/14/2012 11:01:00 PM 0 Comments

This post is Part Two of Anna's reviews of YouTube Gurus. Here, she discusses Makeup Geishas. Part One featured a review of videos by NosebleedBaby, a German woman who does unique and interesting makeup tutorials.

Anna's YouTube channel is Annaconda1984.

Visit her channel and watch some of the 224 videos she has uploaded. Anna has over 18 Thousand Subscribers and about 1,389,264 Total Video Views!

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

Anna's article is below...

But first, The News!

This week's Featured Video on our Top 100 and Top 200 Charts is a cover version of Jessie J's "Price Tag," sung by attractive and talented YouTube singer Kait Weston. Check out our Top 100 and Top 200 Charts of the Most Subscribed YouTube Channels every week!


Now, here is Anna's article!

Editorial Fashion Makeup is the type of Maquillage used for Photo Shoots, something most people would not wear on a daily basis. In the second Part of the Article we are going look at creative variations of the same theme; elegant for a photo shoot yet at the same time wearable for Halloween or at other costume events.

A motif that has inspired people all around the world to come up with their own eye catching interpretations, is the Geisha or in japanese, the entertainer.

For some of you a Geisha is a tasty chocolate bar with creamy filling wearing an elegant coat of pink wrapping paper. Others may have read the book, seen the film "The Memoirs of a Geisha" or watched a documentary or two. So what is a Geisha, some of you who have not, might ask? According to the Oxford dictionary, a Geisha is a Japanese hostess trained in entertaining men with dance and song; the word gei meaning art while the word sha means doer or person. It can also mean a japanese prostitute but there are debates about that.

It all started in Kyoto, the former capital of Japan (for more than a thousand years up to 1868) and still the center of the Geisha tradition. Maikos, virgin girls, sometimes even as young as 6 years of age, were trained to become Geishas over 5 years. One of the beauty ideals was paleness, which might have been inspired by the european travelers. Common characteristics of this look are a chalky face, doll like lips, usually not the entire lips but just the central part is painted red while the rest is painted white.

Here are some creative interpretations of the look.



In the Geisha Halloween Tutorial, MichellePhan uses fake orchids to decorate her face. She adds pink and amber around the eyes, which to me make her look like the daughter a “magibon” eyed anime character and a fairy. The look is soft and very feminine, it feels like cherry blossom spring in Japan. The fact that she painted her entire lips rather than just the center, adds to the innocent seem of the appearance.

See for yourself:




The Modern Geisha by Nosebleedbaby seems stricter than the previous one because the jet black drawn on eyebrows are directed like one would normally frown. However, having no movement in them and the changed location of the brows sort of make this Geisha seem like she’s from another planet or maybe the future. The direction and colors in the chopsticks in her chignon is repeated in the look: the eyebrows, the lines drawn around the eyes. There’s a bit of green in them and she is emerald eyed, there’s the little black fan in her hair with white kanji flowing elegantly with the chalky visage and the darkness around her eyes. The different lines in her makeup and hair, make this MIKADO Geisha out of the three. Angelique decided to stick to the bee stung lips of a traditional Geisha, unlike Michelle.




This is how a Romanian girl finds inspiration in Asian Spring. In her makeup tutorial SeZeMakeup seems like a character from a play. She is holding an enormous peacock tail shaped fan of white with pink, that could easily pass as a wing. The overall look seems soft and is dominated by pink and white. Like Michelle she chose to use flowers.

in her tutorial, not orchids but cherries; in fact there are two branches with little white flowers growing on each cheek with the eyes as their pot or place of origin. It’s very symbolic. Those branches are drawn on meticulously and are elegant. Geishas painted their faces to hide traces of individuality, this one however has personality that pops out. It’s like the daughter of a pantomime artist and a porcelain doll has been woken up by spring and is dancing. Her kimono is subtle white with a pink belt around it.

like Nosebleedbaby, SeZeMakeup used repetition of color in her look. The lips remind me of those of a Geisha despite of being almost fully painted. They’re heart shaped in the center.



Like this article? Read Part One!
Part One - Nosebleedbaby

Labels: Annaconda1984, Geisha, Japanese Girl, KaitlynAnnnn, MichellePhan, NosebleedBaby, SeZeMakeup

posted by KennyCrane at 2/14/2011 02:55:00 AM 0 Comments

This post features a review of videos by NosebleedBaby, a German woman who does unique and interesting makeup tutorials - written by Guest Blogger, Anna. That pretty lady at the left is Anna! :-)

Anna's YouTube channel is Annaconda1984.

Visit her channel and watch some of the 210 videos she has uploaded. Anna has over 17 Thousand Subscribers and about 1,192,718 Total Video Views!

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

Anna's article is below...

But first, The News!

This week's Featured Video on our Top 100 and Top 200 Charts is a cover version of Jazmine Sullivan's "Need U bad," sung by beautiful and talented Christina Amato. Read more posts about Christina. Check out our Top 100 and Top 200 Charts of the Most Subscribed YouTube Channels every week!


Talented Country singer Savannah Berry recently appeared in the Destin FL "105.5 The Wolf" radio station blog for her excellent cover version of "If I Die Young" by The Band Perry. They liked Savannah so much that they are now setting up a phone interview with her. We have been writing about Savannah's talent since 2008!


Now, here is Anna's article!


According to the Oxford Dictionary, a Guru is a Hindu or Sikh spiritual leader or head of a religious sect, an influential teacher. What does that have to do with Youtube, you might ask? Well, the massively booming Guru category is a section like the Comedian, Musician, Reporter or Director divisions, often reviewing and sometimes even setting new Fashion and Makeup trends. The consumerist, makeup worshiping world tunes into so called Haul clips. These are videos which are not meant to brag about what the presenter bought, but moreover to either briefly show what just came out, or in the best cases to illustrate the pro's and con's of what they feature and sometimes also to demonstrate how to use or apply it.

A Guru would not be a Guru if she did not teach; so some of the more creative ones make Tutorials giving step to step instructions on how to achieve a certain look, how to style one's hair a certain way or maybe even how to make one's own handmade soap or lipgloss. The presented looks are often inspired by seasons, celebrities, music video costumes, animals, insects, movie or fairy tale characters and different time eras.

1930'S INSPIRED MAKEUP


In outfit or eye of the day videos, the viewers can find inspiration on what goes together clothing wise or what will be most suitable for a certain occasion and they learn about stunning new ways to turn ones eyes into ever glistening gems. In part one of this series I am going to present one of the most meritorious ones among the Gurus, Nosebleedbaby.

Angélique would certainly deserve a PhD in Maquillage and Presentation; the 24 year old German vlogs in two languages simultaneously, German and English, making creative slide shows or videos (sometimes cocktails of both) accompanied with a wonderful choice of mood setting music. How does she manage to post videos in 2 languages you might ask? Is she splitting her clips into an English and a German half, and would not in that case, the videos get too long?

According to common belief, the attention span of most Youtube users is supposed to last around 3 minutes; this could be due to changes in the brain structure of a twitter brained, scanning, ever growing internet user-ship that seeks explosions and surprises every minute. Who would watch a slide show when there are videos? In this case, every single video would be highly recommendable not just because of their creativity but due to their overall aesthetics, everything seems to match perfectly including the timing and the tone. It seems that the music has been written for her videos rather than just added in randomly.

Her looks stand out not just because they are professionally painted, vivid and original but because they have a voice. The viewer will remember the gloomy, mysterious Moth from the MOTH TUTORIAL VIDEO or the elvish Autumn nymph and imagine them on a stage, in a movie and maybe even in a modern fairy tale.

MOTH TUTORIAL VIDEO


In the Moth Tutorial video, her pearly porcelain skin contrasts with the jet black eyeshadow and lipstick making her eyes glow like the round pattern on a peacock feather. The latter, the multifaceted girl uses to round off her look giving the moth it's long elegant feelers. This moth certainly has personality! Angélique variates between editorial makeup looks and ones one would wear at stylish motto parties. Applied with much less intensity one might wear some of the presented looks even on a daily basis. Angelique has a great nose for fashion trends, ironically without taking any interest in fashion magazines. She often plays around with complementary colors and sometimes she gives different options on what would suit the demonstrated eye makeup, for instance, so the viewers can decide for themselves.

If Angelique's channel were a thing, it would be a tree painted by Autumn, her videos being the leafs, kaleidoscopes of colors and surprises.

AUTUMN TUTORIAL


In her video, AUTUMN TUTORIAL, she seems to have caught the moment of transformation of a leaf in her eye makeup. The Rhodonite colored eye shadow with the dark eyeliner makes her eyes seem dreamy, somehow romantic. The emphasis of this look is on the eyes, everything around it seems to support it: the magenta blush, the rosy lips, the berries around her neck and even her hair are tones of wine. She could easily pass as a modern forrest elf with her pierced lip and ruby berries grooving around her neck.

ACID GREEN TUTORIAL


Speaking of dancing berries, if you want to stand out on the dance floor maybe the look from the ACID GREEN TUTORIAL with it's rich glowing emerald eyeshadow, could be the party makeup of your choice. In terms of cocktail names, we see a contrast between crocodile eyes (her favorite color) and el diablo lips making her face pop like that of a character from a Roy Lichtenstein painting. Her hairstyle is unique and creative, suiting the makeup that seems to be asking if you're "brave enough to stand out?"

How come she never speaks in her videos, is she shy and compensating her timidity through extremely bold makeup looks so she seems braver, you might ask? Not really! She wants to keep her videos bilingual and the way she chose works well for her reaching both German and English speaking viewers. It is surprising she is not a makeup artist, it's "just a hobby (she says), a creative outlet for me." She seems professional at what she does and at the same time she is open to experiment and try new things. The passion and care for the detail as well as a great feel and understanding for color and texture make this channel among the most effective and inspiring on Youtube. Head over and see for yourselves!

Labels: Annaconda1984, makeup. guru, NosebleedBaby

posted by KennyCrane at 9/29/2010 02:53:00 AM 2 Comments

This post features a review of videomaker Levni (Lev) Yilmaz whose YouTube Channels are AgentXPQ and ingredientxvideo - written by Guest Blogger, Anna.

Anna's YouTube channel is Annaconda1984.

Visit her channel and watch some of the 199 videos she has uploaded. Anna has almost 15 Thousand Subscribers and about 300 Thousand Channel Views!

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

Anna's article is below...

But first, The News!

This week's Featured Video on our Top 100 and Top 200 Charts is a pretty cool original pop song called "Library Girl" by ReinaDelCid. She dedicates it "To all kindred nerds." Check out our Top 100 and Top 200 Charts of the Most Subscribed YouTube Channels every week!


Did you know that YouTube has a Blog? It's good to drop by there regularly to see what's new on our favorite website. Here's some stories you may have missed.

• YouTube Leanback is a new feature that lets you watch a stream of custom picked videos without having to do anything - just bring up the site, lean back, and watch!
  Read more...
• Ask Katy Perry a question and vote on the questions, until July 18th, hurry!
  Read More...
• The new YouTube Partner Grant Program will advance future ad earnings to accepted partners; apply now!
  Read More...
• YouTube now supports videos filmed at 4096 by 2304 pixel resolution; that's way more than 4 times bigger than HD!
  Read More...

Now, here is Anna's article!



The Mystery of AgentXPQ

Lev Yilmaz is like the Picasso of YouTube, except he colors in with wonderful stories instead of paint. Most likely if you are not struck by contagious creativity
during watching one of his short films then you will feel it shortly after you have finished viewing one of his animations. Perhaps you will even join a film school to start animating, yourself. Many animation students might dream about working for colossal cartoon studios like Pixar but would you rather be a technician and work on Nemo's tail for 10 years or be a story teller and create something of your own?

If you are an animation enthusiast, you must have come across the impressive and inspiring series "Tales of Mere Existence" by AgentXPQ (Lev Yilmaz). This artist and film maker tells stories based on his life, described on his website as "stuff you think but don't talk about"; episodes of humorous, self and socio-critical cartoons in which most of us find moments from our own lives we identify with and often smile about.

We encounter common situations like arguing about which film you are going to watch with your boyfriend or a mother and her concerns, and it may seem like a caricature of our own mamas...



If you really like his comics, you probably own a copy of Lev Yilmaz's book; your
companion "Sunny Side Down" will brighten the day, not just when you are feeling
low. How many of you know about his other channel though? In 2007, Lev and his brother launched the channel ingredientxvideo, where you can see a combination of many different types of videos. You can watch the baby steps of "Tales of Mere Existence," which back then had great stories. This is probably the x factor in both usernames but the ingredient evolved with the influence of Picasso's, "The Mystery of Picasso" from 1956...



into a cool 007 Agent. The technique he uses is similar to the painting technique Picasso used, filming while working on a transparent canvas. You can also see some puppet animations and a skit or two on his alternative channel, and some animations (not always technically perfect but narratively beautiful).

In the "Hellhammer" skit, we see Lev and his brother's poetic sides...



It's the kind of video one could watch over and over again. Last but not least, Lev is a superhero even if he denies it in Evildraft...



His special power is to cheer people up and entertain, and it's real, genuine happiness he spreads - not the artificial smiles which often surround us. Most people try to cover lack of ideas and plot though great special effects. AgentXPQ is a perfect example of a channel that doesn't need sparks; the stories move and make the viewer think and sometimes one might even learn something from them.

He denies his ability to fly but he grows wings like Supermario grabbing a feather, every time a letter hits a paper with a clickety-clack sound. Most superheros fly alone; he takes us with him through time and space on his back, trying to save the world from lack of humor and to erase your frown and change it to a smile.

If you want to discover how it all started, check out his secondary channel ingredientxvideo and if you don't know about AgentXPQ - where have you been, tune in!

Labels: AgentXPQ, Annaconda1984, blog, chart, featured video, ingredientxvideo, ReinaDelCid, YouTube

posted by KennyCrane at 7/13/2010 11:43:00 PM 1 Comments

Here is an excellent review of 4 videos by our newest Guest Blogger, Anna.

Anna's YouTube channel is Annaconda1984.

Visit her channel and watch some of the 182 videos she has uploaded.

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

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CharlotteSpeaks

If Georges Braque had chosen to be reborn as a YouTuber, he'd probably come back as this creative 24 year old girl, CharlotteSpeaks. "Why?": you may ask. For that, you will have to watch her bold and very unique lip-synch video Again and Again, which feels like a virtual cubistic painting come alive. Most of this clip is shot in black and white, which makes it elegant and balanced. In addition to this, the colors are not distracting and the viewer gets a great feeling of the form and the texture of the moving image. Another video of hers I enjoyed and has a similar style and tone as this one is Hands.

Charlotte was born in Birmingham, England and has lived in Chicago most of her life. She shows us around Chicago in several videos, her overall approach being a positive portrayal of everyday life mostly artistic, with a touch of humor here and there.

This makes her videos entertaining to watch. There seems to be some influence of her biggest passion, photography, in her clips making everything flow together beautifully. Sometimes she makes the viewers fly to an extent where we almost feel dizzy and at other moments we feel like we have been turned into bugs who crawl along fields of emerald - sort of like Kafka's Metamorphosis, gone outside. These are just a few factors, which in my eyes make her channel one of the most recommendable ones on YouTube.






Cataglyphis

The first impression you get before even looking at a channel is when you see a username, that makes you think about its meaning. This channel belongs to a North African desert ant called Laura, who has extraordinary orientation skills. Ok, maybe not North African, she's actually German. Like Charlotte, she is 24 and into photography.

To be more precise she's a hobby macro photographer, which means that she loves taking close-up shots which transform ants into giants. Some of it can be seen in her videos, parts of which she sometimes turns into macro video clips. Her assistant director is a Sapphire colored rabbit called thegreeneater, who makes short appearances in her videos from time to time and who is responsible for the set. Sometimes, when everyone is asleep, he can be seen running up and down the romantically flowery wallpapers, turning them into fields of roses.

Her videos, such as the one here, "it's my life I can do whatever I want" and "leftovers / stew" use a combination of many little clips, which all fit together like the pieces of a puzzle. My favorite is how she turns dates into snails by wrapping pieces of bacon around them and at the same time you have the snail symbolizing the passing of time slowly sliding along. Her videos seem natural, light and un-staged, raw and at the same time poetic; in some of her vids she puts an emphasis on color especially green, which seems to be her favorite and as well as blue. I especially enjoy her sense of humor and the atmosphere setting music that she picks so suitably. Her favorite, the German actor, director, writer and humorist, Loriot would surely have enjoyed her channel, if he had come across it and so will you.





ZOMGitsCriss

Cristina is a hip Romanian girl who vlogs about a variety of topics with the main focus on religion or the lack thereof. Queen would agree, she's a "shooting star leaping through the skies, (she's) a satellite (she's) out of control. If YouTube is the night sky her videos are many little shooting stars, in fact. Appearing in random unexpected moments, they add a spark that lights up the sky and most important of all they make the viewers think after they vanish and inspire to discuss.

Her videos are dynamic and she deals with serious topics with a touch of humor which make pretty much any video she produces entertaining to watch and at the same time they make one curious for more. If the Tasmanian daredevil could talk and used logical reasoning, had argumentation and observation skills it would be a ZOMGits. "It's Zo-my-god, what the f*ck is a ZOMGITS anyway..." Christina laughs, her username gets mispronounced a lot. Perhaps we should reflect first.

Her video Reflection is one the gems of YouTube. "Don't be too harsh, it's the first time I try to rhyme in english" she says but it feels like she was has been doing it her entire lifetime. K-rina (her nickname) is a true artist. Whether you agree with what she says in her videos or not, I have to warn you, this channel is highly addictive.





Azrienoch

One of the most fascinating people on YouTube and someone you'd have a fantastic "Tea Time" with is Jeff Smith Luedke, a 26 year old writer and philosopher, who has been named Azrienoch by the great Gandalf himself, while playing Dungeons and Dragons. He himself is in fact a wizard too. However, unlike Gandalf, Jeff juggles with words and with such elegance and skill that it will make you curious to read his blog and to order a very interesting book he wrote called "The Absurdity of Philosophy".

While watching his videos, you'll probably turn into a lilliput and sway back and forth sitting on his nose ring, listening attentively. Having watched all his videos I must say the quality never drops and there is always something you can learn from them. In a lot of cases people complain about how certain users change just for the sake of views. He, in fact, if there is any change at all is getting better. He uses a lot of effects but I don't mean his Tea Time Series by that. Willy, the doll and 18 are all real, in fact 18 travelled to europe and we've hung out. In general effects can be distracting but in his case they seem to make each video into a visual piece of artwork and they underline his message.

My favorite videos by him are his Minimalism - Kinetic Typography Poem and this video X vs O in which he runs around with a big invisible brush, action painting. After watching a video by him you wait for a few seconds, think and smile with satisfaction. XOXO Anna

Labels: Annaconda1984, azrienoch, Cataglyphis, CharlotteSpeaks, ZOMGitsCriss

posted by KennyCrane at 11/11/2009 12:54:00 PM 2 Comments