Category: Top Five Videos

March’s Top Five Vids

Posted on by Rocco

We have another eclectic mix of videos this month, from middle-aged men prancing in their underwear to Betrand Russell’s advice to the graduating class of the year 3000. Enjoy!
 

Also, atheists, you do not exist!
 

5. I get a sense, from this video, that there are people who actually wear pants in their own homes. Is this really true? Can anyone confirm this?


 

4. Watching this video has been scientifically proven to make you feel awesome for 24 hours.*


 

3. This one goes out to my atheist friends. Consider this a public service announcement that people like Ministry Man do, in fact, exist. Not only that, they also have a large following. Forgive me; while watching this video, there will be much face-palming.


 

2. No doubt you may need a shower after the previous video. I can provide you with the next best thing, an excerpt from a interview with Bertrand Russell, and his answer to the question of what advice he would give to the generation of people a thousand years into the future.


 
 

1. Love him or hate him as a poet, one cannot deny that Irving Layton was one hell of a charismatic speaker. Here he discusses why he moved to Toronto to further his career. The rest of Canada, cover your ears.

 
 
 

*Unfortunately, there have been reports, from some viewers, that immediately twenty-four hours after watching the video, they began to hear the song “Can’t Get You Outta My Head” over and over in their minds, and were unable to remove it for days.

January’s Top Five Vids

Posted on by Rocco

This month is a hodgepodge mix of things, from musician Gotye to poet Fiona Sampson to a TED talk on why your liberal and conservative friends think the way they do. Enjoy.

 
5. I don’t know whether it’s Gotye’s 1980s, Sting-like voice, or the rather bewitching composition of the video, but I can’t stop hitting the play button on this bad boy.


 

4. I haven’t done my homework to assert this with 100% confidence, but I’ll bet at least my hat that you’d never see this on Sesame Street these days. Katy Perry doesn’t count, though her appearance on the show does go a long way to demonstrate our squimishness towards the breast as an organ, and our obsession with it as a toy.


 

3. I really like what the Guardian is doing here. Here’s a poem by author Fiona Sampson. Concise and poignant, just the way I like them.


 

2. This is another Gaurdian poetry video, one of Michael Symmons. Can’t resist. I’m never one for moody readings in graveyards, but the black and white really works here.


 

1. If you have the time, you must watch this. It’s a fascinating examination of the roots of the differences between liberals and conservatives, and why we so often find ourselves at eachothers’ throats.


 
 

Top Five Videos of 2011

Posted on by Rocco

5. Randall’s nature vids went viral early in 2011 and I still get belly laughs listening to his educational yet over-the-top-flamboyant descriptions of local and exotic fauna.

 

4. Bad Lip Reading is giving Autotune a run for its money this year, especially since finding a perfect home in the circus that is the GOP leadership race. “Hairy chests destroy our power” is probably the most honest thing that has come out of Newt Gingrich’s mouth in years.

 

3. Want to encourage someone to take an interest in complex political, social or scientific theories? Then this is the way to do it. These painstakingly crafted, stop-motion animations are both fascinating and informative to watch.


 

2. That this Onion news report has been making the rounds on Facebook for the better part of a year shouldn’t come as a surprise. Some see it as a clever critique of news media’s penchant for trivialities, others see it as just frickin’ hilarious.


 

1. It’s hard to believe they could top Jizzed in My Pants, but the boys at Lonely Island did it again this year by teaming up with Michael Bolton to produce this ridiculously funny club mix. I would have expected one of RSA’s animations to be in the top spot – or at least something of substance – but this is, a little tellingly, my most-played video for this year. Sigh and giggle.


 
 

October’s Top Vids

Posted on by Rocco

 
5. A hard-nosed capitalist versus a limp-wristed left-wing noodle? I would have never gussed this outcome.


 

 

4. C’mon. It’s what we all want….


 

 

3. Right-wing. Left-wing. We all go to balance our cheque books, don’t we?


 

 

2. Autotune, meet your nemisis, Bad Lipreading.


 

 

1. If you love animation, and you love Slavoj Zizak, then this is your Friday night.


 

 

If you are worried about the pronuncation of Slavoj Zizak, then listen carefully.