This Christmas Online (2017)

This is basically a last month online post, but with only Christmas videos. So I did the only logical thing and made an entirely new logo for it.

I will warn you in advance, that this is going to be another rather long post. I follow a lot of artists, and quite a few of them decided to release Christmas albums this year, (Or deluxe versions of last years' albums) so there was a lot of new music! I've tried to whittle it down to only my favorites, but, you know, I can only whittle things down so far... :p

We'll start with a Lindsey Stirling one, because she started early. Like, in October.



But then, so did Pentatonix.



It's still sad to see them without Avi, but they're still as good as ever.

And of course Peter Hollens did a bunch of new music as well.



As did the Piano Guys.



And Taylor Davis



And Voctave



Even Sia released a Christmas album! I absolutely loved this video, and it might actually be my favorite video this year. I was not expecting that many cameos, and I just loved that it featured Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard. :) The only thing that could have made it better would have been to have Kristen actually singing with Sia, instead of just lip-synching to her vocals. Oh well, I loved it anyway. :)



I don't normally care much about Hollywood marriages, but there's just something about Kristen and Dax that I love. :) Side note, wouldn't he be perfect for a Mr. Rogers bio-pic? Just look at him in that cardigan! They're practically twins! :p

Blimey Cow recently put out a Christmas themed video with some of my favorite brand of satire. :p I especially loved that they were picking apart of that awful "Christmas Shoes" song, and I about died laughing at the "Happy Holidays" segment. Sadly, I know too many people like that.

Let's do another Lindsey Stirling one, because I have several of those to share. I may even save the least Christmas related one for the next Last Month Online post, because I just have so many.

And another Peter Hollens

Another Piano Guys.

Walk Off the Earth did a great version of Deck the Halls! I love the creative, different ways they do all their videos! How cool would it have been to randomly be on that plane with them!

Nick Pitera recently put out a Christmas EP, and I just loved this song he did with Susan Egan.

And Mike Tompkins did a great Home Alone Medley.

Studio C has put out a few Christmas skits this month, but this one about killed me. XD

The "Missionaries" scene is even funnier when you remember that the Studio C team are Mormon themselves. I love that they keep a sense of humor about things like that. :)

Lets do one more Pentatonix before we close this. This was one of my favorites of all these Christmas songs. It's still sad that Avi has left the group, but they seem to have found a great replacement. I'm looking forward to hearing what else they do with him.

And we'll close the way we opened, with a Lindsey Stirling song. One of my favorite Christmas songs, and I love her spin on it. :)

This Month in Internet (May 2017)

Let's start this post by getting the bad news out of the way first. Remember in my last post how I was so excited that Avi Kaplan was starting a side project in addition to Pentatonix? It isn't a side project. He is leaving the group. I should have known, but I didn't think it was possible. As long as they find another bass as good as Avi, Pentatonix can survive without him, but it won't be ever quite the same. Anyway, here's the next song from his new EP. It's amazing. As sad as I am about PTX, I know Avriel & the Sequoias is going to be amazing.



Okay, let's lighten the mood a bit, shall we? Here's a sketch by Studio C that has me in stitches every time I watch it. And I've watched it quite a lot. :p



You haven't lived until you've listened to Steve Urkel as remixed by the amazing remix master extraordinaire, Melodysheep.



Here's something quite a bit different. I recently discovered a YouTuber who goes by the name Peter Draws, as that is what he mostly does. However, there is no drawing in this video, but it's one of the best videos he's ever made. And make sure you watch until the very end.



Lindsey Stirling has been busy. She released several videos and a full length documentary this month! This was her best video of the month, a thematic sequel to her Shatter Me video.



And then The Piano Guys came back with a bang! This is their best video in ages!



And the trifecta is complete with an amazing new Peter Hollens video! You're Welcome, from Disney's Moana, with Andrew Huang!



Then Blimey Cow released a new Homeschoolers video, several points of which were, as usual, uncomfortably real. :p



And speaking of real, this video from Glove and Boots, BEAUTIFULLY explains my social media policy. It uses a little more language than I myself would, so, fair warning, but the sentiments expressed are exactly how I feel.



Next, we have a brand new video from the other remix master extraordinaire, Pogo!

Next up we have an AMAZING video from Funny or Die. However, unless you and I share a similar taste for absurd humor, you are unlikely to find this as side-splittingly hilarious as I do. Side note, have I ever mentioned how much I love Louie Anderson? The man is a treasure.



And finally, we have a brand new, amazing video from Puddles Pity Party. Normally when I feature the most amazing clown in the universe, it's with Postmodern Jukebox. Not that he's not good on his own, it's just that he's usually at his best with the musical styling of Scott Bradlee and Co. Well not this time! This video was (mostly) on his own and it's amazing!!! Side note, P³ is on this season of America's Got Talent! I am so excited! I hope he goes all the way!



And that was May! There were a few more videos than I normally put in one of these posts, but it's probably going to vary from month to month, depending on how many great videos I see. This month we had a lot of great ones! I'll see you again in June!

Christmas is Awesome!

I was going to title this post with my standard acronym, but then it would be something that stands for something else, and I didn't want them coming after me for stealing their acronym, so I didn't. :p

Everybody on YouTube has been making a ton of awesome Christmas content, and while I can't share it all, I did want to pick out a few of my favorites. And by a few, I mean a lot. Feel free to use this as your Christmas afternoon entertainment. :p

First up we'll kick this off with something from last year. I know I said I was doing stuff from this year, but I didn't do one of these last year, and Pentatonix did a ton of awesome videos last year. Since I'm focusing on this year, I'll only pick out one from last year, and I'm picking out the best one, Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy.



Peter Hollens finally made a video for one of his most requested Christmas songs.



Simply Three, the string quartet, made a video for Christmas as well, God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen.



Next up is a hilarious sketch from Studio C. It just wouldn't be Christmas without some dark humor, right? :p



Lindsey Stirling made a video for the song Hallelujah, by going undercover as a street performer. Yes, this is not "Technically" a Christmas song, but she made it one. :)



Even Karmin got into the Christmas Spirit by taking a song I have never liked, for it's creepy undertones, and reworking it. Turning it from a song that sounds like an uncomfortable coercion situation, and into one about an internal conflict.



One of my biggest pet peeves this time of year, are people who complain about the "War on Christmas" and vehemently decry the use of the greeting "Happy Holidays." Blimey Cow made an absolutely brilliant spoof of these kinds of people, framing it in the language of the so-called "Social Justice Warriors." I was dying of laughter through the whole thing. If you've ever had the misfortune of heading down a dark tumblr path, then you know the other group, the SJWs, that they're talking about. It's a brilliant satire of both ends of the ideological spectrum.



Earlier this year I discovered that BYU has an accapella group, and they do some amazing work. (Of course they do, they're Mormons. Mormons apparently breath music! :p)



Nataly Dawn of Pomplamoose fame, recently covered Edelweiss, which is apparently a Christmas song now. :p Either way she's amazing. :)



And since I love both dark humor and puppets, the channel Glove and Boots has been doing both in a series of Santa confessional videos. This one is the funniest one. I about died laughing at the twist ending.



Since we started with PTX, let's end with them too. They've been hard at it this year again, with two new videos, Joy to the World, and The First Noel.

TIIA 7 (The Internet is Awesome)

Ok, For this TIIA, we're going to do things a little bit differently. I have zero music videos this time. I always have a few of these that I never share, and I need to get better about that, because there's some great stuff out there.

Let's start things off with the YouTube sensation, Tiny Hamster! Normally Tiny Hampster eats tiny foods with his tiny freinds, but they switched things up a bit with this new video, where Tiny Hamster isn't so tiny anymore!



Normally I don't include viral videos in these compilations, but how could I not when this video has two of my favorite things, an awesome beatboxer, and a little old lady dancing her heart out.



Next we have a video from Funny or Die, with Nick Offerman. It's basically a PSA about getting kids to eat better, but it is hilarious.



The very first video I ever watched from Blimey Cow was the 7 Lies About Homeschoolers and they went on to become one of my absolute favorite YouTube channels of all time. They recently did another homeschool video, and it was hilarious, and so true.



For the record, I was somewhere between sheltered and defensive, but I was totally allowed to go to the movies. As long as it was under PG-13 and the Christian movie reviews sites gave it a good review. :p

Studio C, a sketch comedy group recently teamed up with teen vloggers Brooklyn and Bailey for a couple of videos which had me rolling.



The second one is a parody of one of my favorite movies as a kid, The Parent Trap, and is even more hilarious than the last one.



Lets end this post with a video from Olan Rodgers, who, in my opinion is one of the most underrated vloggers/storytellers on YouTube.

Video Blitz 4

I haven't done one of these in awhile, so I had a lot of great videos to choose from that have come out over the last two months. It was SO hard to narrow them down!

First up is probably my favorite YouTube musician of all time, Lindsey Stirling. (I know this sounds so "Hipster-ish," but I love the fact that I can say I discovered her when she only had one music video on YouTube, and I've been watching her ever since.)



All the footage is from her first world tour. I love how they planned each shot and made her poses and moves all blend together in all the locations all over the world.

Next up is Peter Hollens and his wife Evynne.



I don't play WOW, and don't ever plan to, but you don't have to even know what it is to enjoy this song. It's amazing.

The next is an episode of Messy Mondays from Blimey Cow. Some of the jokes you have to have been watching the show for awhile to understand, but it is still gut-bustingly hilarious.



I about died laughing at the "Hip-Squeak."

The next video has been out for awhile, it's from one of my favorite YouTube Groups, Walk Off the Earth.



This song showed up in the video player on my 3DS ages ago, probably over a year, and I played it over and over, until it was replaced. (There's a rotating cycle of 4 videos in the 3DS player, none are permanent.) I forgot about it until last month when I rediscovered it, found their YouTube channel, and realized I'd seen some of their videos in the past, and I loved them. I subscribed right then, and bought their album.

The next song is another by Peter Hollens, and it is probably my favorite new song of all of these.



I loved this song from the first NOTE! I listened to it over, and over, and over! (And bought it of course.) I highly recommend that you follow Peter's link to the original video as well.

This next video is from William Joseph, the same guy who played the piano in the Dubstep Piano on the Lake video from my last Video Blitz post.



Love the cinematography, and the violinist is amazing as well!

I wouldn't feel right doing one of these posts without including the single greatest group on all of YouTube, Pentatonix.



They are incapable of making a bad song. Incapable.

Last, but definitely not least, probably my favorite video out of all of these, Lindsey Stirling's latest masterpiece. This video is so different from her other ones. Amazing special effects, awesome CGI, and amazing dancers with amazing choreography. It's so science-fiction-y, but still completely her style. It blew me away. I've lost track of how many times I've watched this video.

I Know Everything

"I know everything and you don't!"

"Everyone who agrees with me is a genius, and anyone who disagrees with me is an idiot! "

How would you feel if someone walked up to you and said either of these things to your face? Would you ever go up to someone and say that to theirs? I would hope not. Why then, do so many people seem to have no problem doing just that on Facebook?

Today something huge happened in the news that sparked five million and three Facebook arguments about a hot button political topic. I posted nothing. I never do any more. In fact, anything I have written on my blog in the past that could be deemed "Political" or "Controversial" I have probably gone back and deleted.

Why did I do that? Why don't I post my opinion out there so everyone knows exactly what I think, feel, and believe? I used to. When I first joined Facebook I made sure everyone knew all my opinions on everything.

Presidential election coming up? Post an article: "This is why Candidate #1 is Awesome, and Candidate #2 is the spawn of Satan!"
Hot button issue in the news? Post a status update: "Side I don't agree with is either stupid, or evil! Or stupid AND evil!"

After a few years of this, I realized that it never got me anywhere. All I ever got were affirmative comments from the choir I was preaching to, or comments from someone I had unknowingly offended telling me how incredibly wrong I was and proceeding to detail why I was wrong. I'd argue back, but that would only continue until one of us got sick of arguing and quit, because no one ever changed anyone's mind via Facebook.

Arguing on the internet is one of the most pointless and childish things that the evolution of social networking has brought about. It does nothing but flare tempers, raise blood pressure, and break friendships.

As I said, this post came about because of a huge news story that brought a huge controversial political topic back into public debate. In the middle of the sewage plant that was my Facebook wall today was a post from Blimey Cow with a link to their video on this very topic. Their comment was, "Just a Gentle Reminder Today."



Blimey Cow, as always, thank you for your rare insight.

I wish more people would wake up and realize that just because they believe one thing, doesn't mean that absolutely everyone else in the world needs to know about it. And just because they believe something doesn't mean that they are right and everyone who disagrees with them is wrong.

There have been lots of things over the years that I have come to learn I was wrong about, and I've been big enough to admit to myself that I don't know everything. But I never once came to that conclusion because of someone's rant on Facebook. Any time my beliefs about anything were changed, it was because I took the time to look at both sides of an issue, and kept an open mind.

An open mind, and a willingness to listen to opposing viewpoints are what changes opinions, not a 5 sentence rant on Facebook. Or a blog. Which begs the question, why did I even write this? :p

Slacktivism

"Like and share this status to help fight Breast Cancer, Autism, Alzheimer's, AIDS, Childhood Obesity, Gingivitis, Athlete's Foot, Adult Diaper Rash, and Really Bad Boo-Boos."

Today's post is along the same lines as my annoyance with the Pink Ribbon Fad, but in this case it is limited to just Facebook users.

"If you know someone who is fighting, has fought, Is winning, or has won, is losing, or has lost, the battle of Bee-Sting allergies, then share this status for one hour. 99.9% of people refuse to share it. Will you?"

These posts annoy me because it implies that anyone who won't re-post it as their status is a heartless fiend who doesn't give rodent's rear about helpless Bee-Sting victims. It makes people feel guilty, then they re-post it, and then their friends see it, feel guilty, and also re-post it. In less than a day your Facebook news-feed has been transformed into an endless sea of guilt inducing drivel about Bee-Stings. This does absolutely nothing to help Bee-Sting victims and it makes you look like a sheep.

One of my favorite YouTube channels, Blimey Cow, made a video about this very thing, and I thought it was so funny, that it would make the perfect compliment to my post.



I didn't write this post to vilify people who legitimately care about any of these causes. If you or someone you love have been affected by one or more of the diseases that Facebook cares so much about, then by all means, get out there and spread the word! But changing your Facebook status doesn't do anything.