I’m not as much of a Jurassic Park fan as Ace is, which is to say that I really never got into the franchise and felt only a mild contact excitement from the announcement, and subsequent release, of Jurassic World. This is not to say, however, that I never had a dinosaur phase. Back in elementary school I, right alongside many of my peers, was going on fake fossil hunts and learning all about the various eras in dinosaur history. One of my fondest memories of my dinosaur phase was sitting at my grandmother’s house with my brother watching this one Golden Book educational video she had. Oh my god, you guys: we loved this video. It was a staple on our cross-country trips until, sadly, the VHS finally deteriorated from being loved too much. So today, I want to share this little bit of my childhood with you. It may not be Jurassic in quality, but 1987’s Dinosaurs! A Fun-Filled Trip Back In Time! was everything a kid like me could have wanted in an educational video: Fred Savage, claymation, and a snazzy musical track. (This song will absolutely get stuck in your head forever.)
Tag Archives: videos
Web Crush Wednesdays: Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared
The horror genre is a tricky one. It’s very hard to get the impact you’d like from your audience, or to get people invested enough to see your story through to the end. I’ll admit that I’m personally very picky when it comes to horror stories that I enjoy. Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared was something I never would have considered watching if it didn’t continuously pop up in my related videos on YouTube—it must be interesting since millions of people loved it, right? The video starts out with a bunch of puppets learning to be “creative” and express their emotions, but by the end of the video they’re cutting into a raw meat cake. It wasn’t what I expected, but I loved the video anyway. It wasn’t because of the shock value, or just how outlandish it was; I liked it for the deeper meaning.
The puppets act like they’re hosts of a children’s television show (like Sesame Street), and make fun of the way children are being told exactly how to act and think. It’s the kind of satire that’s not done very often, especially in the horror genre, and I’d love to see more of it! For a while I thought it was meant to be a one shot bit, possibly a student project and nothing more. Luckily the creators produced a second video, and a Kickstarter for more videos of the same nature was funded in 2014. Two more videos have come out within the past year, and they’re still as dedicated, satirical and creepy as their predecessor.
Web Crush Wednesdays: Nerdy and Quirky and Elise
It’s Web Crush Wednesdays again! This week’s Web Crush is a YouTube channel and webcomic done by the same lovely lady. Nerdy and Quirky and Elise are two must sees for any geek looking to laugh.
Fan Appreciation: Anime Music Videos
I’m of the opinion that we don’t appreciate the fans of shows as much as we could here. While we do have Fanfiction Fridays, we also have Follies to go with it. And when we usually refer to fandoms as a whole, we wind up critiquing them in some form or another.
As you’ve probably noticed, I don’t “do” fanfiction. I don’t like the idea of changing things that are canon. Anime Music Videos, or AMVs, are different, and I really enjoy watching them. AMVs usually take the content of the anime, mix it up, set it to a song, and use that to cast more light on a specific part of the story. They can be funny or sad. Sometimes they point out things that you’ve never noticed about the anime before, such as the connections between different characters.
As not-the-most-tech-savvy person, I marvel at some of the things people can do with computers. I also can’t draw, so some of these AMVs really amaze me. Some of these aren’t true AMVs, as at least one isn’t clips taken from anime (making it a Fan Music Video, or FMV).
So for the moment, I’d like to share some of the fun things that fans are doing. Enjoy!
This one is from six years ago so the quality isn’t as good. And while it’s not the best, it was the first AMV I ever got addicted to.
Although this one is from seven years ago and it doesn’t have nearly as many problems.
Have any more good ones? Let me know in the comments!
Web Crush Wednesdays: Sex Positive with Laci Green
Today we are going to address a little pet peeve (or I should say I big pet peeve) of mine and how awesome people like Laci Green are trying fix this problem. So this week’s Web Crush is Sex Positive with Laci Green!
Web Crush Wednesdays: The Smart Girls Channel
Amy Poehler is an American actress, comedian, producer, writer, and feminist. She is the current star of the excellent show Parks and Recreation, and is close friends with Tina Fey.
Amy Poehler has always been one of my heroes, but recently APerigren introduced me to her YouTube show Smart Girls, a show that interviews women who accomplish amazing things and who have a wide array of interests. Smart Girls truly shows how diverse and talented women and girls are.
The motto of Smart Girls is: Change the World by Being Yourself.
Smart Girls teaches girls to be themselves but still provides guidance to them by showing them fun, creative, strong women for them to emulate. Their mission statement explains:
Here at Smart Girls, we believe that the cultivation of the authentic self is very important. We also believe that guidance is helpful as we try to find our way to ourselves. We hope to be of help in the exploration and discovery process.
This is where you might learn about something you would like to experience. You might learn about a woman you’d like to emulate. You might learn a new perspective or an unfamiliar custom or a new way to talk to yourself about something.
It is our hope that you will learn more about your truest self. (source)
The result is an awesome web series that truly exemplifies how intelligent girls are and how many great female role models there are out there.
One of my favorite videos is an interview with a seven year old feminist, which is just beautiful and ridiculously cute.
There are so many other amazing videos and stories from Smart Girls that are just amazing. Please check them out.
Check out the Smart Girls website and Youtube channel.
Trailer Tuesdays: Warm Bodies
I am so excited for this movie it is ridiculous. A lot of big name movies came out recently, but I really think Warm Bodies is going to be one of the most severely underrated movies this winter.
Warm Bodies seems to be an awesome spoof of the paranormal romance craze. Pairing the romance between the hot blonde and the gross undead zombie is hilarious in and of itself, but for me the best thing about this movie, at least from what I can tell about the trailer, is the inner monologue of the zombie.
The fact that the zombie has an almost completely coherent inner monologue, but still acts like a normal everyday zombie is perfect, and really something that has been missing from various zombie spoofs in general.
I’m definitely going to check out Warm Bodies. You should too.
Web Crush Wednesdays: Albinwonderland
I follow Albinwonderland on Tumblr and on Youtube. And I have to tell you—I adore her. A geek, a feminist, a fashionista, and an overall good person.
You probably know Albinwonderland from her “Shit Tumblr Girls Say” videos, but she is so much more than that.
Albinwnderland has talked on a variety of subjects from weight issues, to self-esteem, and most recently, about the “fake” geek girl controversy spurred on by Tony Harris. She’s taken a lot of shit for talking about these issues on YouTube and I want to support her.
Theatre Thursdays: The Devil’s Carnival
Once upon a time, if someone had asked me, what musical I thought was the most sexist and damaging to women I would have said, Grease. Grease, most people will agree has a terrible message, which is basically, “hey, ladies, compromise your morals and integrity in order to get this asshole guy, who doesn’t treat you right anyway, to like you and stay with you—then you’ll be happy!” But what I usually hear people say is, “Yeah, Grease has a terrible message, but at least it has good music.”
That’s a lame excuse for letting a musical get away with being horribly sexist, but I grudgingly admit that the music is good.
Now, if someone were to ask me what I think the most sexist and damaging musical is I could no longer say Grease. Grease now has the number two spot. And on top of being horribly sexist, this musical doesn’t even have the benefit of having decent music.
Ladies and Gentleman, I give you, The Devil’s Carnival!
The Devil’s Carnival is the most heinous pile of crap I have ever seen. It was written by Terrance Zdunich, who also wrote Repo! The Genetic Opera, which I actually love. I love dark gothic musicals, so I was excited to watch The Devil’s Carnival. I tried to like this musical, I really did, but on top of having terrible music, the musical claims everyone who is in hell was sent there by God, because they didn’t fit his idea of perfection, that grief is a sin, and that women who fall for bad guys and then get hurt (killed in this musical as well as implied rape) are sinning, because they trusted someone they shouldn’t. Yeah…
[Warning: Discussion of Rape, Murder, Victim-shaming, and Suicide below.]
So You Want to Read Comic Books 2.0: Superman is Cool
Do you see the guy currently dominating this banner? Who is it? Is it Superman? Damn right, it’s Superman! But it has come to my attention that some people who are new to comic books think Superman is lame.
I’m only going to say this once. Superman is cool.
The main reason that many people think Superman is lame is because of how he has been mishandled in movies and TV shows. Furthermore, people tend to think that Superman is actually this really great, squeaky clean guy and, thus, has no depth of character or anything interesting to offer. They couldn’t be more wrong.
Lady Geek Girl and Friends 