Last Month Online (January 2018)

I really didn't think I was going to have a lot of videos this month, but January surprised me. I thought it was going to be a slow month, but there was actually a rather diverse and lengthy selection of content that I just loved and had to share!

Let's kick it off with a video from Studio C! Ursula has always been one of my favorite villains, and Studio C's take on her was genius, and so hilarious!



Speaking of Disney, Evynne Hollens did an amazing version of Friend Like Me from Aladdin!



And of course Peter had some great music this month too, I especially liked his take on Shawn Mendes' There's Nothing Holding Me Back.



As most of you know, I write for the Rotoscopers, an animation news/reviews website, but you probably don't know anything about the people who started it. Let me at least partially remedy that by introducing you to Chelsea Robson, one of the co-founders of the site. She has a very cool day job, as you will see.



And now for something completely different. I had no idea who Candide Thovex was before I watched this video, and I'm not generally a sports fan, but I can't help but be in awe of something like this. I wish all sports could be this awe inspiring! And also, how cool is the name Candide Thovex? Is he like an alien or something? I love it!



And now for something completely different! Again! I don't think I'm even going to intro this video, I'll just let you watch it yourself. I'll just say one thing. Heavy metal chicken screams.



I am so excited that we're getting a new Owl City album this year! He released a new single from the album this month and I loved it!



Studio C had a great January, and I had to share another one of their videos. My cousins and I love their 'Organic Vlogger' characters. Every time they release a new video, we end up watching it multiple times with anyone who will watch it with us. This one was no exception.



And now for someone I haven't featured in years! Literally! I was obsessed with Lettice Rowbotham for awhile, thanks to Britain's Got Talent, but she kind of disappeared for awhile. However, she is back now, and she is making new music! And she's not just doing electric violin covers of popular music like she was, (Though I wouldn't complain if she was, I loved those,) she's actually making her own music now! I can't wait to see where she goes! I hope she's back for good!



And now, I think we'll end this post with another amazing track from Joe Jeremiah. This time he's mashing up two of my favorite styles of music, into something totally amazing!

TVAA (The Vagabonds Are Awesome)

I don't do many personal posts, and usually not ones featuring the people in my life, but my friends are pretty awesome video creators, and I felt like more people needed to see their work. The post is titled "The Vagabonds," because we've called our group that for years. I've picked out a few of my favorite videos that they have created, but they've made a lot more than these. You really should check out their channels if you get a chance.

First up we have Alex French. Alex has been a friend of mine for years, but she recently became my brother Joel's girlfriend, which is quite exciting. :) Anyway, Alex is awesome. Just watch her lip sync to an old song you've probably never heard of, "Someone Left the Cake Out In the Rain," and you can see for yourself.



Next up is Alex's youngest sister Alayna. Alayna is hilarious. She did a lip sync of Julian Smith's "Bless You," and it's one of the funniest things ever. I love how serious she stays throughout the entire thing.



The second French sister is Amanda. Amanda is also hilarious. Exhibit A: "Holding Out for a Hero."



April is the third French, but she doesn't do too many videos, which is a shame, because she can be very funny when she wants to. Sort of a dry, understated funny, which I love. She made an appearance in Alayna's video for "I Love My Lips," and she did a great job.



You can see all of them in Alex's "Unusual" video. Just not their faces. :)



I didn't want to leave out our friend Rachel, but as she doesn't do nearly as many lip sync videos as the Frenches, so I'm including one of her music videos instead. Music videos are her forté anyway, and this one is one of her best. This is a video she put together using footage from a bunch of our Vagabond events.



Alayna made this video, "Good Morning," featuring a surprise cameo at the end. It's one of my favorites ever.



Amanda is responsible for one of the weirdest, which might translate to best, videos that any of us ever made, "Boris the Spider," which apparently is a real song.



Alex sure seems to like old songs. Especially rediculous old songs, such as "Rattle And Shake Me Honey Tree."



Alayna once did Miley Cyrus's "Wrecking Ball," and I must say, I like her music video much better than the original. :p



Amanda did my very favorite Disney villain song, if not my favorite Disney song period, "Poor Unfortunate Souls." It never fails to make me laugh. :)



Lets end this with a video from my brother Joel, who has also been known to get in on the action. Just watch this awesome video he made with Alex and April to Rhett and link's "My Favorite Pillow!"

A Moment of Self Reflection

Today I watched a video that caused some self-reflection. I will link to it for you.



Why would something like this cause self-reflection? I really have no idea. It's just that after I watched it, I realized something about myself, that seems completely contradictory. What I enjoy in entertainment is often the polar opposite of who I am in real life.

In real life I am, or at least I try to be, an optimist. I always look for the good in people, I always try to have a good attitude, I try to be a very pleasant person. Someone that everyone wants to be around. (And if they don't, I probably don't want to be around them anyway.) Some people would probably say that I am TOO nice. This is pretty much the opposite of a lot of my favorite characters, in all sorts of media.

I seem drawn to the characters with bad attitudes. Characters who are pessimists, gloomy, people who get easily angry over things. I always find them a lot funnier than the nice ones. I am not against the nice characters, but when it comes to comedy at least, I seem to like the "Less-Than-Pleasant" people better. Oscar the Grouch, and Grumpy Cat, are two good examples. I just find surly characters to be a great source of humor. And not just surly ones, some people that are just downright unpleasant for all sorts of reasons are some of my favorite characters.

Take Calvin from Calvin and Hobbes. That kid is a nasty little menace! He terrorises Suzie, makes life miserable for his parents, and torments his teacher and babysitter constantly, but for some reason, I love him.

Another example is Hyacinth Bucket (It's pronounced Bouquet!) from Keeping Up Appearances. (A British Comedy) She's a nosy busybody, always trying to "Fix" everyone she deems to be below her standards, and she would be just an awful person to be around in real life. Yet, as a character on a TV show, I love her.

Many more examples can be found in almost any Disney Villain. The first two that immediately pop into my mind are Maleficent, from Sleeping Beauty, and Ursula, from The Little Mermaid. They are without a doubt, two of the most loathsome characters in the Disney canon, but they are two of my favorites. I just love a good villain. (As an aside, I am way too excited for the live action Maleficent movie coming next year!)

I have also found, that when I write my fictional stuff, I find that I have the most fun writing the bad characters, or the ones with attitude. The people that say and do things that in real life I would never even dream of doing.

Take Lorenzo Literate from my Facebook Friends series. I think that, in a way, he is me. He is what I want to say to people, but I never would. Sometimes I have found myself scaling back his reactions to people, and completely rewriting them because I think I finally went to far. I don't want to be mean, even to fictional characters. See what I mean? I'm too nice. :p

The other great example would be my REAL stories of various fairytale characters. I have the most fun writing the villains. By far my favorite character so far has been Goldilocks. I loved writing what a terror she was. And (Spoiler Alert!) I'm working on a sequel. :p

So, anyway. That was my moment of self-reflection for the day. I like the "Bad" characters, but at the same time, I'm glad that I'm not anything like them. Or am I...? Mwa ha ha ha ha....