Video Sunday: Delicious Bee-Meat

Well, that was satisfying.  For those of you unfamiliar with the James Kennedy/Neil Gaiman “feud” (and I use that term loosely) this video may work best with a little background.  You see, I first became acquainted with the YA author of The Order of Odd Fish when he wrote this remarkable screed entitled America, Emulate This Man.  Never had I read any blog post quite so joyously insane.  Intrigued, I sat in when James wrestled his own “Neil Gaiman” to the floor and stole his Newbery in I win the Newbery.  All well and good but James had yet to meet the real Neil Gaiman face to face.  Then some brilliant soul in Chicago tapped James to introduce Neil for Chicago’s “One Book, One Chicago” kickoff.  You can read the full text of this speech if you like.  I recommend that you do.  As Neil himself says at the end, “I’ve been introduced lots of times.  That was the best.”

Okay.  I always debate whether or not I should open one of these posts with my best stuff, but today there was no question.  And yet, there are other goodies to be had.  Now who wants to see some  blurred orc heads?  Anyone?  Anyone?  Well, maybe you’re not interested in this Peter Jackson behind-the-scenes first look at the filming of The Hobbit then . . .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7RnPfnkoWY&feature=player_embedded

Suddenly I have an uncontrollable urge to watch the guy who does the killer Ian McKellan reciting Ducktales video.  Thanks to Haddon Givens Kime for the first link.

Hm. Haven’t done an adorable book trailer in a while.  Howzabout I treat you to some baby chicks?  Delicious delicious baby chicks.

Rather appropriate considering the season too.  Many thanks to Katie Davis for the link.

Hoping to pair videos that differ as widely from one another as possible, this next one is far more akin to the James Kennedy video than the one with the cheeping yellow fluffballs.  I don’t read YA but I actually DID read Robert Muchamore’s first book in his Cherub series because someone told me it could be considered middle grade.  Tentatively do I agree.  Now Muchamore himself has reviewed fellow Brit and fellow who doesn’t need publicity, Anthony Horowitz.  It’s so clearly a joke that I find it amusing how many folks were actually offended by it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kq_ylkYN6fc&feature=player_embedded

Not that it’s a route any American author would take, with the exception of the aforementioned James.  And if I didn’t know better, I’d swear that Robert Muchamore was taking dictation lessons from Robert Mitchell.  Thanks to David Maybury for the link.

Okay, let’s swing the pendulum back to cute again.  Authors and illustrators will send me links to videos and I’ll consider them.  Recently Jarrett Krosoczka sent along this info: “A few weeks back, Hamilton Elementary in Houston, TX had ‘JJK Day’. This was a special end of the year incentive and classrooms had to win their way into the presentations that day. Part of the contest was to make a video. And the best part — kids needed to be cleared by their parents to be put on the Internet so the winning videos could be published.”

The video I’ll put here, though, is one that Jarrett was fond of.  Particularly since the people in the mosh pit are characters from his other books.  Well played, Hamilton Elementary.  Well played indeed . . .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgd51qfCo7Q&feature=player_embedded

Not long after getting that one, author Kate Messner let me know that, “My 7th grade English students staged a flash mob poetry event at our local mall food court and videotaped it for YouTube.”  Just in time for Poetry Month too!

Pairs rather well with the flash freeze mob that wanted to promote National Library Week, don’t you think?

Thanks to AL Direct for the link.

And finally, for our off-topic genre, the recut trailer that had my husband saying, “This proves that Indie is now its own genre.”  Ladies and gentlemen I now give you . . . Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.

Reminds me of the old what if Wes Anderson directed Spider-Man video.  Thanks to Nick Higgins for the link.

Filed under: Videos