Another "Good Mother"

I've written before about my passion for music, and specifically Canadian artists. One of my favorite said artists is Jann Arden. While she's never really hit mainstream success here in the United States, she is well-known and well-received in her native Canada.

Jann recently set out on a US tour to support her latest album, which I was super-stoked about. However, due to illness she had to cancel her tour. Major bummer. So to "get my fix" I was watching some videos & live performances earlier on You Tube. In doing so, I came across a video of a guy singing one of Jann Arden's most stirring songs, "Good Mother." Now, it's a fact I'm not typically drawn to male artists but YouTube.com user Jay Brannan has one of the most beautiful, emotional voices I've ever heard. And sometimes...in this day-and-age when anyone can essentially be famous...when I see postings like this on video sharing sites, it makes me wonder how much longer "celebrities" will be around. This guy is amazing....

A perfect example of the power of social media

Did you happen to catch this feature last week on the Today Show? This actress--Amy Walker--has apparently taught herself 21 dialects, and created a video of herself that's making it's way around the Internet. I was at home getting ready for work when the spot aired, and I was immediately captivated. Not only because I think it's cool that this chick is marketing the crap out of herself (I'll give anybody props for that), but also because it got me to thinking:

Should American celebrities be threatened by video sharing and social media sites like You Tube and the like? I'm wondering how long it'll take before people like this woman--who seem to have genuine talent and skill--demand the attention of Hollywood and other media sources, and take jobs from those who have less-than...well, really any skills...like Pamela Anderson and Paris Hilton.

If you haven't seen the video take a look at it here, and let me know what you think. This is the original video Amy created. I tried to find the interview from the Today Show, with both Meredith Viera and Matt Lauer, but TodayShow.com is not particularly user-friendly when it comes to searches and I wasn't able to find the segment.

An unforeseen source of inspiration

I stumbled across a blog earlier today called Monscooch. There I found a post called "Beautiful Music Made With Annoying Sounds" that contained this rad video:

Excuse me, Mr. Bush!

Say No to Crack has managed to entertain me, yet again. This video was featured in the daily e-mail newsletter I receive from them, and it had me in stitches! (I friggin' love [good] parodies!)

Why? (Pay Attention Please...)

This post has nothing to do with "Music Video Week," although the artist performing this song is definitely a pioneer of the music video era. I ran across this video on You Tube while looking for recent content to post on my MySpace Blog.

While I didn't catch the live telecast of this Annie Lennox classic, when I saw this performane on You Tube, from this Summer's Live 8 I was overwhlemed with emotion. Forget race, forget sexual orientation, forget gender, and forget class. If this performance doesn't move you...well, you might want to take a closer look at yourself:

"Music Video Week": MONDAY

Today's "Music Week Video" is Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy". I remember the first time I saw this video--which was also the first time I heard the song--I was absolutely blown away. The song was like nothing else that was out in the market at the time, and the accompanying video just enhanced the song's groove. I love it!

Gnarls Barkley - Crazy
Uploaded by hushhush112

So when I did a You Tube search for the "Crazy" video I discovered there's also second version, which I wasn't aware of. It's the "UK" version, and it's just as amazing as the first version. The colors are splendid and I love the layers of the graphics. You decide what you think:

Video Killed the Radio Star? (Part 2)

Last week I wrote a post about my infatuation with music videos. Now, mind you...I don't really watch American music video channels like MTV or VH1 because they play nothing but crap, that is essentially bought by powerhouse music companies to get promotion for their artists. (Bitter, party of one, please!) That's OK...I can live with that. (Thank you, YouTube.com.) Anyway....

I always find it interesting to see the visual interpretation of a song, so in paying homage to the artistry of music videos I'd like to kick off "Music Video Week" here on Nifty Nation. That being said, it's only right to begin with one of the most visionary music video artists of our time: Madonna. Now, "How in the world can he choose a video from such a robost catalogue of work?" Well, it's certainly not easy, and there's a possibility another one of her videos may appear in the coming week. But for the sake of recognizing a video for the "creativity" aspect, I'm going with "Nothing Really Matters" from the groundbreaking 1998 release "Ray of Light". An exceptional song lyrically, to the naked eye the video makes no sense, and is really a mish-mosh of weirdness; however, there is a story behind the video, and it was inspired by the story Memoirs of a Geisha. If you'd like to learn more about the backstory click here.

Here is the video for "Nothing Really Matters":

You got it...Dude?

You've probably figured-out that I'm a huge "Weeds" fan. I think the writing is brilliant, and I love that the writers and the actors aren't afraid to take things "over the edge". It's just a television show, after all! And in a motion of brave casting (actually, I think it's one of the most brilliant casting moves of any show recently), I think many, many "Weeds" fans are waiting for this:

P.S. Did you get the reference in the title? Isn't that what she used to say?

Miss Who?

I'd not been made aware of the "spectacle" of the Miss Teen Pageant that occurred this past week, until a friend of mine was talking about it at lunch day-before-yesterday. So I decided to do a little research. As someone who's typically up-to-date on all the "goings-on" in the media I was a bit taken aback that I'd not heard of this story of the Miss South Carolina debacle last Friday. So I decided to do a search on YouTube.com. Here's what I came up with:

While I can certainly understand the contestant must've been nervous, what with being live on National television, I can forgive that. Really, aren't we expecting a little too much from this blonde-haired beauty? However, the segment featured on the "Today Show" was--in my opinion--absolutely absurd. I really, really, really used to love Ann Curry...but lately she's become ridiculous!


What do you think, both of this story...and the "Today Show"?

P.S. In my search for these videos I ran across a parody (already?), which I found quite entertaining:

Could it be? Brenda's gone!

Did someone catch-on to the greatness that is the "Brenda Dickson" parody, and have it removed from YouTube? I was in the mood to laugh so I wanted to watch it again, and when I did it was gone! Gone, I say! Gone! I'm so upset that someone chose to remove this fantastic video from the online world!

...so wrong....

Well, fine then! Here's another snippet of Brenda...that's still available (for now):

Won't the Real Brenda Dickson Please Stand Up?

A couple of days ago a friend of mine left a video comment on my MySpace profile. I hadn't actually ever seen this before on YouTube; at first I was taken aback but then I couldn't stop laughing! I don't know how long the "parody" video has been around, but if you haven't seen it before, watch it and then forward it on to as many people as you can! I'd love to get a viral video chain going:

Honestly I thought the creators of this parody were whack-o, but the more I contemplate--and watch it over-and-over--I'm beginning to think they're brilliant! I know if I tried to make a similar video I'd be crackin' up the whole time.

Social Media Marketing

As I've written before, everyone has an opinion about social media. I think it's captivating. Perhaps I feel this way because social media & networking is such a product of my generation; perhaps it's because I love the feeling of connectedness it brings; perhaps it's because I'm completely fascinated with how quickly it allows news and information to travel. No matter the reason I'm always looking to consume as much as I can about current and future social media.

MySpace, Facebook, and YouTube are unarguably the most well-known and most mainstream of the social networks. Yesterday I stumbled across a great site, educating online marketers the value of using these three sites. Aptly titled "MySpace, Facebook, and YouTube Marketing," Nick Jag offers-up some very valuable information about playing "smartly" on these sites. I'm definitely going to have to spend some time sorting through his site, and certainly take advantage of his "Resources."

CNN * YouTube Debates

Referencing my last post, these debates are so much better than I was expecting. Sure, CNN is still very much involved...and selecting the video submissions...but for the most part I think it's an incrediby innovative way of approaching relevant topics.

My friend Kim and I keep exchanges text messages back-and-forth about who we like! Social media at its finest!

FYI...I'm NOT voting for any person who wears a hearing aid.

Social Media & Politics

If you haven't already heard, politicians and major [American] news organizations are jumping on the social media bandwagon. Actually, bandwagon isn't the appropriate term to use. Typically, I think of "jumping on the bandwagon" as being associated with something trendy or fleeting, and social media is certainly here to stay. Politicians and news organization undoubtedly recognize this and are therefore taking note of how to integrate the medium with their business models. The big question right now is just how much does social media play in both of these fields? Does it dictate news stories and political platforms? Or does it merely supplement them? Personally, I don't think anyone really knows the answer (although there are definitely strong opinions about both), and we probably won't for years to come.

I bring all of this up because I just learned that CNN is hosting the first-ever Presidential video/social media debates. I'm a little surprised that I'm just hearing of this since I live much of my life online. Anyhow.... Taking place tomorrow (7/23) at 7pm EST these debates will unarguably be historic, and could determine the relevance of social media in such vital events. The concept is really quite simple: candidates will answer questions directly from the American public, via video-sharing powerhouse YouTube.com. No journalists. No panelists. No agendas. Or so we're told.

Dubbed the "CNN * YouTube Debates" the live broadcast will launch with the Democratic Presidential candidates. The Republicans will follow in mid-September. Of course, only time will tell just how much of an impact these initiatives will make, but it'll be interesting to watch.

If you're interested in taking part in this landmark event click here. The deadline for submissions is today (7/22) though, so you'll have to hurry!

Silent but Not Gone

I am ashamed and a little disappointed that I've not been keeping up with my posts. I was on a roll there for a while, but things got thrown outta whack the past few weeks, primarily because of being so busy at work, then of course the Memorial Day holiday weekend. I'm doing my best, though, to rekindle my passion for blogging, and am going to try to post at least every-other-day.

So I'm not a fan of people who "repurpose" blogs, or more simply put taking content from one blog and posting it on another. I manage about six blogs relating to work, and even then I make an attempt to rewrite the copy--or spruce-it-up--in case some of the readers bleed over. Today, however, I'm completely guilty of doing the repurpose: I found a really cool video while doing some work on my company's YouTube page, and I was going to post it here on my blog, but I posted on the company blog first. I only hope you can fogive me.

Anyhow, the video is about Web 2.0. It's titled "The Machine is Us/ing Us" and it's been around for several months, so you may have already seen it. I hadn't, so I thought I'd share it: