3D YouTube Video

Cory “Mr. Safety” Williams, the YouTube professional who gained fame through the Mean Kitty video, continues to revolutionize the internet video world with a new 3D video.  With 3D becoming more and more popular (mostly thanks to Disney and Pixar), everyone is finding new ways to make it a part of their production.  Some television shows have done 3D episodes, and even the Grammys used 3D in one of the songs during the awards.  Now Cory Williams has made a short and simple music video in 3D on his YouTube channel.

There are different ways to watch the video.  If you have the red and blue 3D glasses you can use those, or you can use the “cross-eyed” method, which is how I watched.  It’s like looking at one of those magic eye pictures that used to be popular.  You slightly cross your eyes until the image on the left “moves” over to overlap the image on the right, making it 3D.

The video is pretty simple, but it’s nice to see someone trying to bring something different and interesting to YouTube.  Cory Williams is always trying new approaches to keep people interested in his online videos.  You can view more of his videos and subscribe to his channel here.

Note: If you do use the red and blue glasses to watch the video you will need to double click on the video to go to the actual YouTube site and select the viewing method below the clip.

Music for Survival

At this time of year, especially when you live in a cold winter climate like I do, it can get hard to make it through the rest of the season.  Just when you think it’s over, three more snowstorms hit and you consider fleeing the country.  (This conversation has come up more than once this week.  Get ready Mexico, I’m too poor for any other warm countries, so I’m about to be homeless in the Yucatan!)

I also got a big girl job (so much for acting and writing and blowing off reality) so that has been taking away from the things I really care about…things have taken some getting used to around here.  The only thing that really gets me through times like this is my music.  I figured I’d post a few of the “survival songs” I’ve been using to maintain my sanity this winter and, who knows, maybe someone else will get something out of them.

Click “Read More” to listen!
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Spencer Pratt: “The Great White”

Heidi and Spencer Pratt are two of my favorite people to write about, because they give me endless supplies of things to laugh about.  This is how they stay famous and popular with the media.  They constantly come up with something new and more ridiculous to get people talking.  I totally support their habit.  If they want to be famous for being two of the most embarrassing people alive, that’s fine with me, because it’s highly entertaining.

After Heidi’s “success” releasing a few bikini-clad, low budget music videos, Spencer has been talking about how he’s going to be the next big thing in the rap world.  Most people laughed and didn’t expect him to really try, but you should never underestimate the perseverance of fame whores.

Spencer finally released his first rap song and video and it is a priceless work of art.  These people should write a book about how to become famous with absolutely no talent (and no shame).  Actually, that’s probably already in the works, because they think of everything.

The song is called “I’m a Celebrity,” and the video features Spencer and Heidi prancing through the jungle playing with bugs and lizards.  I know, it sounds too good to be true.  I thought it was my birthday when I woke up and saw this video waiting for me.

The theme of the song goes along with the new reality show featuring the couple called “I’m a Celebrity, Get Me out of Here!” which premieres tonight at 8pm EST on NBC.  It features 10 celebrities who are thrown into the jungle without all their usual luxuries and they have to compete to raise money for their favorite charity.  The show first aired in 2003 but lacked popularity and was canceled.  If only Heidi and Spencer were around back then, it surely would have made it.

My favorite thing about the whole scenario is Spencer’s chosen rap name: “The Great White.”

http://www.nbc.com/im-a-celebrity/

Lady Gaga Releases Video for “Paparazzi”

This video would have left me speechless if that were possible.  But I always find a way to express my speechlessness with speech.  Lady Gaga is the most innovative artist we’ve had in pop music for decades.  She is shameless and does whatever she wants.  She doesn’t just make music, she makes entire artistic movements with every song and video she releases.  After the release of the “Poker Face” video, I didn’t think anything could top that.  But she somehow found a way to shock and awe even more with “Paparazzi.”

This isn’t even a music video, it’s a short film.  Lady Gaga continues to showcase that her talents go far beyond music.  She can act, dance, and more than anything, develop an image unlike any other artist out there.

When Lady Gaga says she wants to bring back the super-fan, that’s exactly what she is doing with videos like this.  She has carved out a new genre of pop all for herself, and people are flocking to it.  It’s unlike anything else you see out there and I’m sure that artists will be quickly trying to copy her innovative style and performances.

I love that she brought back the dogs from the “Poker Face” video and continues to develop a theme that flows through all her work.  She has created her own world with her videos and short films, and she devotes herself to the world so much I think she actually might not be acting anymore.

And, yes, the guy in the video is Alexander Skarsgard who plays Eric, the vampire leader on “True Blood.”

My favorite thing about the video: her teacup makes an appearance!

The video is only available on PerezHilton.com for now, so click here to watch: “Paparazzi”

Heidi Montag Must Have Been Blacked Out When She Made This Video

Heidi Montag — now Heidi Pratt since she married her kind-hearted husband Spencer — has released another awesome video for her single, “Blackout.”  I look forward to these videos more than anything.  It’s not like I have to wait long between videos, because it probably only takes about an hour to shoot these things on Spencer’s little handheld camera.

It might be hard to tell the difference between this and every other one of Heidi’s videos.  She’s in a bikini rolling around on the beach, gazing at us with her vacant eyes, throwing her arms in the air, and playing with her hair a lot while singing “whoa-oh.”

I honestly love Heidi.  Ever since she first appeared on The Hills and gave shopping as an excuse for missing classes, I knew she would be one of my favorite people.  Now these videos prove her staying power.

The saddest thing about the video: Heidi has definitely taken the title from Britney Spears as “worst lip syncer on earth.”

This One’s For My Mom

Taylor Swift recently released a video for her single “The Best Day,” and I thought Mother’s Day would be the most appropriate time to post it.  The song is about Taylor’s mom, and is made completely from home video footage of their family.  It’s a great idea, and very well done.  Of course, the song alone is enough to make me cry, so combined with the home videos, it’s a huge tear jerker.  But it’s tears of the happy variety, so that’s not always a bad thing.

Listening to the lyrics of this song made me think about my own mother and how I’ve had so many of the best days with her.  Through the hard times, she was there to pick me up.  Through the good times, she was there to laugh with me.  She has never ceased to amaze me with what a sincere, loving person she is.

Mom, thanks so much for being so wonderful to me and everyone else in your life.  You’re more than just a mom to me, you’re my best friend.  I’m thankful for you every day, but today I especially want to let you know how much I love you.  This song is for you.  Happy Mother’s Day!

“Don’t Miss A Beat” Music Video Challenge

Interscope Records has developed an interactive music video challenge on YouTube.  Starting with Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face” video and going through 14 others, you watch about 25 seconds of the video and then a question about the video pops up.  If you answer it correctly, it automatically takes you to the next video.  If you answer incorrectly you have the option to try again.  Each level asks a more detailed question than the last.

It’s a fun game, and it uses some of the most popular artists of today such as the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Soldier Boy, and Lady Gaga of course.  The fact that Lady Gaga was the first video is what sucked me in, but then the game ended up being really entertaining.  Even if you’re not familiar with the songs it’s easy to play.  I only made it to the 4th video before I missed one…how far can you get?

David Lynch Creates Music Video for Moby

Director David Lynch has intrigued and terrified millions through his films.  The first of his films I saw was Mulholland Drive.  When I moved to Los Angeles, I refused to drive on Mulholland after dark because of this.  I also became terrified of blue boxes, paper bags, and dumpsters.  When I saw Blue Velvet, I developed an irrational fear of roses and white picket fences.  Twin Peaks brought on nightmares of dancing midgets who talk backwards/fowards.  Dune pretty much just freaked me out in every way and made Sting’s songs all take on new meaning. Lynch’s ability to take common place things and force them to haunt your thoughts is incredible.

Yet I keep watching everything Lynch creates, unable to tear myself away from this mysterious world that he seems to live within.  Even when nothing scary is happening, the tone of his films somehow brings you into an almost nightmareish experience.  You feel like you’ve discovered something you’re not supposed to see and yet you can’t look away.

When it was announced that Lynch would be directing the music video for Moby’s song “Shot in the Back of the Head,” I was surprised.  Lynch also does cartoons?  When I watched the video, I was slightly disappointed.  I was all prepared to be creeped out and disconcerted by the experience.  But instead it was just a black and white bunch of lines basically.  Then I walked away from my computer and tried to do other things.  And the video kept playing in my head.  I had to come back and watch it again.  And again.  Something about it became so intriguing to me.

I can’t even put my finger on exactly what is so captivating about this.  The song almost seems to be a product of the video, more than the video a product of the song.  Lynch has taken a wordless song and created a universe for it.  The song is rather simple by itself, but it’s almost like this video was meant to be a part of it.  I love how the whole tone changes when the man is actually shot.  The music changes and the pace of the drawing changes.  The simplicity of the video is misleading, because after watching it a few times I saw that every second of it had meaning with the music.  It has to be taken as a whole.  It isn’t just for fun, like most music videos.  It is instead a piece of art.

Click Read More if you’re curious to see the clips from the films I mentioned at the beginning.
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Metric – Fantasies

Metric releases their new album, Fantasies, on April 14th, featuring the singles “Help, I’m Alive” and “Gimme Sympathy.”  This is the 4th album for the Canadian based band, fronted by singer Emily Haines.  Haines also works as a solo artist as Emily Haines and the Soft Skeletons and sings with the band Broken Social Scene.

Fantasies is decidedly calmer than Metric’s last album, Live it Out, feeling a bit more like Emily Haines’ solo work than her typical band tracks.  “Satellite Mind” and “Help, I’m Alive” feel a bit more like Metric’s previous work, while songs like “Collect Call” and “Gimme Sympathy” break the music down to focus on Haines’ incredible vocal ability.

Click Read More to hear the singles as well as watch an acoustic session with Emily Haines.
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Bat For Lashes – Two Suns

Bat For Lashes (Natasha Khan) released her new album, Two Suns, today.  Like her first album, Fur and Gold, this one is full of haunting vocals and mystical music.  However, as an indie artist, Khan said she wanted to make a pop album this time.  Usually when I hear this from a great indie artist, I cringe.  It typically means that they want to sell out and make more money because indie albums just don’t hit the mainstream and get them fame or big sales.  But Khan didn’t just want to make a regular pop album, she wanted to save pop music.

She says, “I love all my kind of unusual and avant-garde music, but at the same time I love pop music, and I love groundbreaking and unusual pop music especially.  And I think we’re kind of lacking in that a bit.  So, on this new album, I wanted to focus on writing pop songs, because I was trying to get back to that kind of place, to the amazing pop songs I used to hear on the radio as a child.”

Two Suns does combine more aspects of pop music than her first album.  It’s a little more focused with more steady beats — not as far out there as Fur and Gold.  I still wouldn’t exactly call it a pop album, but I do think that it will appeal to a wider audience than the first, and it does bring some elements of classic pop artists (such as Kate Bush or Tori Amos) to her unique artistry, creating a sort of folk/indie/pop.

Khan’s first album was an unexpected hit for her.  She had been working as a school teacher and writing music about everything that inspired her.  “I was just living my life and observing things and I had time to reflect and develop the work, and if you don’t do that, you’re kind of cheating yourself a little bit,” she said.  She also said that most of the music from Fur and Gold actually came from her dreams.  She would dream a song and then wake up and write it.  Her new album still holds that dreamlike quality that makes her music so surreal and beautiful.

Two Suns was recorded in various locations, not just all thrown out at one recording studio like most albums.  Khan gets inspiration from her settings, and recorded in New York, California, and England.  Most of the music was written while Khan was on tour, and the title refers to the two sides of her personality that she felt came out during her time on stage and off.

The first single from Two Suns is called “Daniel,” and Khan says that it’s “the most frightening song on the record for me, because it’s the most straightforward, naive, and purposely simple song I’ve ever done.  It’s about teenage escapism and love and how simple things can be when you’re a teenager in love, or how intense and beautiful it can be.”

Click Read More to see the music video for “Daniel.”
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