I find this video to be extraordinarily mesmerizing, and I don’t know why.
(via Devour)
Tag: video
Los Angeles at Twilight
People say a lot of things about LA. Some are nice, some not so much. But after living here for four years, I love it. Yes, it’s sprawling. Yes, our public transportation sucks (and will for a long time.) But it has so much to offer. Check out this video of a sped-up view of what it’s like flying over LA at twilight. I got goosebumps.
Kanye West’s Daft Punk-aided Stronger video
I am no fan of Kanye West. Let it be known before you dive headfirst into this intriguing column of mine. He is cocky and irreverent of any other musical artist on the scene. Remember when he ran onstage to ruin Justice and Simian’s award for “We Are Your Friends”? No? Well that was my last straw, and the video is after the jump.
So, this new video for Kanye West’s song “Stronger” has been talked about for a long time. It has a Daft Punk sample! It’s an expensive video! It’s off his new album! Directed by Hype Williams! Too bad the video amounts to some eye candy and a plot just as confusing as Justin Timerlake’s “SexyBack”… Putting Daft Punk in BOTH your song and video is quite a feat, but it won’t get you video of the year.
The video features some futuristic looking animation with Kanye being reborn by some kind of a Matrix-type machine. It looks cool, but it’s a bit literal of a translation of the song title. Like I said, Daft Punk is sweet anywhere they are placed. Kudos for that one. The sun(?)glasses are equally awsome; I wish I had some. Here is the part that frustrates me: the lack of continuity. There are some great scenes, but they don’t amount to anything. The video for “Jesus Walks” was amazing because it told a story (all three versions were powerful). I don’t feel that there is anything holding “Stronger” together.
Joost getting serious content w/ CBS
It seems that the Joost lot has seen a very nice turn of events as of late. Before now, the programing that Joost has offered its beta testers has been both random and irrelevant to their wants. The program is nice, but a pretty interface cannot cover up horrid content. It looks like CBS is coming to Joost’s rescue.
It has been announced that CBS is taking a shotgun approach to webcasting their TV programming, and Joost happens to be caught in the shot spray. This announcement is a buffer to the recent addition of Viacom programs such as MTV, VH1, and BET (all music channels). As to the programming being offered by CBS, already aired shows such as CSI, NCIS, and CBS Evening News with Katie Couric. It is unfortunate that Joost is getting more old content, but at least these shows have been viewed and praised by millions. This is quite unlike the other programming on channels such as LXTV and The Diddy Channel.
Being a part of the beta testing program, I am glad to see the recent increase in content which was released no less than a week ago. As the versions of Joost approach v1.0 (they are currently at v0.9.2), more exciting news is sure to rise pertaining to the program. While strides still need to be made relating to how users will be able to manage hundreds of channels at once and other usability issues, the ability to watch free TV programming is exciting for anyone involved.
If you want to participate in beta testing, I have a few invites left!
YouChoose brings politics to the YouTube age
The YouChoose section of YouTube has started to allow presidential candidates one week each in the Spotlight on the News & Politics page of the massive video site. During their time in the Spotlight, they will be able to pose questions to the YouTube community. In response, people everywhere can upload their own “RE:” videos answering the questions asked.
This is your chance to engage the leaders who are competing for the most powerful position in the country. Let them know what you think and keep an eye on their replies. This is a great chance to get to know the candidates better by speaking across the level platform that is politics on YouTube.
This is a very interesting idea that YouTube is trying out. They are taking advantage of their massive active user population to possibly influence the ’08 elections. So what does this mean? I think that the number of 18-24 age voters will go up. If this does nothing else, it will put good amounts of information right at the fingertips of millions of YouTubers. Giving people information where they already are (in this case, YouTube) is a very important aspect of informing potential voters. People are lazy, and putting political information in a place that doesn’t make people go out of their way is great.The Spotlight pages that the candidate pages are nice because they aren’t just places to post videos. They let you see both critical and fun facts about the candidates. This adds to the concept of putting information where people already are.
The downside? You are allowing the millions of pre-teens ample space to start more flame wars. As nearly every web forum has proved, it only takes one idiot to post something like “i will pwn u all! u suxors!” to have an entire thread to go astray. Hopefully the users of YouTube will keep their heads on while talking about politics so that we can see some actual intellectual debating go on.
Right now, we have Dennis Kucinich, Duncan Hunter, Rudy Giuliani, Barack Obama, Ron Paul, Bill Richardson, John Edwards, Chris Dodd, Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, John McCain, Tom Tancredo, and Mitt Romney up on the page.
Alanis Morissette’s Humps better than BEP’s
Why is it that this spoof/cover/mockery of the Black Eyed Pea’s My Humps by Alanis Morissette far better than the original? Yes, the YouTube video that has garnered over 4 million views so far is very funny. But as Adam Polselli points out, it’s the song that really shines here.
The fact that she has completely redone the song, and not just dubbed over the music, emphasizes the stupidity of the lyrics. Watching/hearing this cover makes you wonder how the original version was able to peak at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100. Leave it to Miss Ironic to shove the materialistic nature of our society in our faces…