YouTube Stars!

Happy Thanksgiving! This is the holiday where we give thanks for the good things in our lives, like the internet and YouTube! This Thursday, we'll gather with the family and have multi-course meals with turkey as the main course. Then on Friday, it's off to the mall to see what shopping bargains await us. Black Friday, as it has come to be called, since the retailers hope the huge volume of business will put them "in the black," is the beginning of the traditional Christmas shopping season. This year, don’t fight the crowds when you can shop online at Amazon.com from the convenience (and comfort) of your keyboards. Amazon will have amazing deals to help you get holiday shopping done for less. Their Black Friday page is the central point to find all their Black Friday deals, including the Gold Box hourly deals featured from midnight to 11pm PST and thousands of products that are on sale for a limited time only. Please help out YouTubeStars by doing your online shopping at Amazon.com. You'll get amazing deals and we'll get a little commission. Thanks in advance!

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Twilight, the movie, opened last week and had ticket sales of over $70 million at the box office in its first weekend! Of course, everyone over at the TeamTwilighter YouTube channel was excited! (Visit the TeamTwilighter website!) Here's a review of the movie from Katie:




Did you catch YouTube Live last Saturday night? The Live 90 minute show featured Katy Perry, Akon and many YouTubeStars like LisaNova and Alphacat who appear in this clip as Sarah Palin and Barack Obama:




Krysta Nick is only 11 years old, but just listen to her sing! Krysta (visit her website!) has been singing for just a few years and only recently began to play guitar as well. She sounds as good or better than many of the YouTube musicians who are much older. Watch and listen as Krista sings Taylor Swift's "Should've Said No," you'll love it!





Here's a cool collaboration with Xelander acting out the words written by PeriUrban. It's a solliloquay emotionally expressing dismay with Alarm Clocks. Watch this; you probably feel this way too! As someone recently commented, "In 200 years this will be required reading in high school lit classes."

Labels: Alphacat, LisaNova, Live, PeriUrban, SingingKrysta, teamtwilighter, thanksgiving, xelander

posted by KennyCrane at 11/25/2008 11:53:00 PM 0 Comments

We usually report here on videomakers who make music, skits or comedy bits. Today, we present a collection of more serious videos on topics that you may want to ponder. If you're looking for YouTubeStars who sing, do skits or funny bits - don't worry! We'll contintine to bring you those vids in the future, as we have for the last two and a half years! Check back often, or better yet, Subscribe to our RSS feed!

First, The News! I hear from my friends at the TubeRavers Forum that over a dozen people have visited the site from the link I gave in the last post. I've been asked to help boost membership on TubeRavers, where people go to talk about YouTube videos and related subjects. So please continue to follow this link and check out TubeRavers!

Are you a fan of the Twilight series of books? The movie opens in 2 weeks! Connect with other Twilight fans at the TeamTwilighter website. It has the New Movie Trailer on the Homepage and 4 other Twilight clips too. Team Twilighter is a YouTube Vlogging channel where 8 fans of the Twilight saga create their videos for their day. Right now, TeamTwilighter has 73,158 Total Video Views and 796 Subscribers on YouTube! Visit their Video page to watch their 10 most recent videos. Also, check out Their Store to get some Shirts, Bags and other gear, all with their cool logo on it!

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Barack Obama was elected President of the US on November 4th. Congrats and Best Wishes! The job will not be easy but the good will of the people of the world goes out to him. This is the speech he made in Chicago, the night of the election. Watch it; it's a good one!




The world economy is not doing as well as it was just a few years ago. You might not feel as Rich as you once did. However, in one sense, Richness is a state of mind. Watch this video and consider that if you have a computer and internet service, you are much better off than most people today and almost every person who lived in older days. lorax2013 says it better than I can; just watch!




Here's a video from a year and a half ago that didn't get noticed much. It is about Vlogging and proffers a Vloggers' Code: "It's about responsibility and respect. It's about honor and integrity. It's about entertaining and enlightening." This applies also to commenting on any video on YouTube, and being a member of the videomaking and video watching community. Watch this excellent collaboration vid!




In my opinion, Steven Pinker is one of the greatest thinkers alive today! He has written several excellent books that provide insight into the most magnificent object in the world, the Human Brain. Pinker gives us insight into Human Nature and why we observe some of the behavior we see everyday. In his book, "The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature," Pinker, a Psychology Professor, "attacks the notion that an infant's mind is a blank slate, arguing instead that human beings have an inherited universal structure shaped by the demands made upon the species for survival, albeit with plenty of room for cultural and individual variation. For those who have been following the sciences in question including cognitive science, neuroscience, behavioral genetics and evolutionary psychology much of the evidence will be familiar, yet Pinker's clear and witty presentation, complete with comic strips and allusions to writers from Woody Allen to Emily Dickinson, keeps the material fresh. What might amaze is the persistent, often vitriolic resistance to these findings Pinker presents and systematically takes apart, decrying the hold of the "blank slate" and other orthodoxies on intellectual life. He goes on to tour what science currently claims to know about human nature, including its cognitive, intuitive and emotional faculties, and shows what light this research can shed on such thorny topics as gender inequality, child-rearing and modern art."

In this video, Pinker talks about some of the reaction his book caused. This book is a "must read" for anyone interested in Human Nature. Along with his earlier book, "How the Mind Works," provide an Owner's Manual to the Human Brain!



Books by Steven Pinker that you should check out, at Amazon.com:

Labels: barackobamadotcom, lorax2013, steven pinker, teamtwilighter, tedtalksdirector, thefrozenghost, Twilight

posted by KennyCrane at 11/07/2008 04:48:00 AM 1 Comments

This cool Reggae tune has been out since this past Winter but people still love it! Many YouTube musicians have covered it. Here's the Official Jason Mraz - I'm Yours video, as well as three excellent versions by Tiffany Jo Allen, Roxanne Andrighetti and Krista Nicole Hudson.

First, the News. We reported last time that "Nigahiga is now the Most Subscribed channel." That didn't last long! Fred is now in the top spot. Be sure to visit the Top 100 Weekly Chart every week to see who moved up, or down, the chart!

What is more popular, Harry Potter or Twilight? Which do you like best? The first Twilight movie is coming out next month. Watch the Trailer at the TeamTwilighter website! TeamTwilighter is a collaboration group on YouTube who are fans of the Twilight series of books by Stephanie Meyer. You'll find a list of their latest videos on their Videos page.

Someone recently wrote a review of Twilight, saying that it sends a bad message:

"If there was ever a book that deserved the medal for Worst Messages of All Time to Send to your Teenage Audience, then this is the one. Girls, life is not worth living unless you have your man. It's okay to have no dreams, ambitions, hobbies, interests, goals, ideas, friends, etc... as long as you have your man."

Read more at the Books page. I'm sure the readers know that this is Fiction, and no female should be addicted to love with no regard for her own life, like Bella. What do you think???

And now, on with the "I'm Yours" videos!

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This is the Official Jason Mraz - I'm Yours video, complete with a "post-roll" advertisement, hmm. I guess YouTube should be given a chance to make some money to pay for the storage and bandwidth that lets us all upload and watch videos for free. Enjoy the video; you can always x out of the ad if you don't want to watch that!




Here's a great version of "I'm Yours" by continually rising YouTubeStar musician, TiffanyJoAllen. But it's not just Tiffany Jo singing and playing her guitar, no, this time she makes a cool and funny music video to go along with the song! Check it out!




Roxy has two channels. She put this sweet ukulele version of "I'm Yours" on her less subscribed RoxyParadox channel, rather than on her popular randrigh one that we've written about a few times. Well, we think everyone should listen to this talented singer, so here it is, for your listening pleasure!




Krista Nicole is a great singer who makes videos accompanied by her Dad on guitar. Be sure to watch her videos and learn why she won that WebPops contest last Winter! Here's Krista and Dad with their excellent version of "I'm Yours."

Labels: I'm Yours, jason, jason mraz, KristaHeartzuz, mraz, randrigh, roxyparadox, teamtwilighter, TiffanyJoAllen, Twilight

posted by KennyCrane at 10/22/2008 01:45:00 AM 1 Comments

Everybody is reading the Twilight series of books, written by Stephenie Meyer. If you are too, you know that there are three books out so far. The fourth and final, "Breaking Dawn" will be released on August 2nd. I bought all four books! Of course I just have a coupon for the new one but I plan to be at the book store at Midnight to pick up my reserved copy. Even though I bought the first three, I've only read the first and now I'm half way through the second one. I can take my time because I won't get to read the new book when it comes out next week - I promised it to my niece, she gets to read it first. :)

Twilight is about a 17-year-old girl (Bella) who falls in love with a guy (Edward) who is over a hundred years old! But, he's still in High School! How can that be, you ask? Edward is a vampire! Now if you are a parent and you're worried about your teen reading these books, don't be. There is no sex and very little violence here at all. What there is, is a captivating story of young love with a twist!

Don't like to read? Watch the movie! Twilight fans know that the movie version comes out 12-12-08. Here is the latest version of the trailer for Twilight:



There are several groups of Twilight fans on YouTube who have banded together to make Twilight related videos. One of the best is TeamTwilighter. They got started in May and already have over 500 subscribers and 39 videos. Check out one of their earliest videos that tells about the group. Then, if you love Twilight, subscribe to TeamTwilighter!

Labels: meyer, movie, stephenie, teamtwilighter, trailer, Twilight, vampire

posted by KennyCrane at 7/23/2008 01:59:00 AM 1 Comments