Never quite sure how to start these off… Erm, YouTube is cool!
The Winter Olympics are currently happening in Pyeongchang (spelt it right first time), South Korea. Speed skating, luge, the whole thing. Have you been paying attention to it? Are Britain going to win anything? Who knows, but fingers crossed for gold!
Seeing someone go down a track at 50 miles an hour on what is basically a tea tray brings up an interesting thought: how do people find their specific passion? Do you fall down a hill while holding an empty tea tray after giving your parents their early afternoon cuppa while they work on your broken-down car for you and then, once you get to the bottom of the hill, get up and think, “That was fun. I wonder if I can make that my job in some way?” The answer to that is almost certainly no. The way that you find your passion is by being inspired enough by other people and their work to try it yourself. Who and what inspires you? Let us know!
Now on to your regularly scheduled Round-Up!
MY SISTER – her new life as an independent learning disabled woman | Bertie Gilbert
Bertie Gilbert has followed up his award-winning video about his sister, Gene, with a sequel following her in her new adventure in a supported living facility.
As in the first video, Bertie’s obvious love and warmth for Gene is palpable through every beautiful frame shot by Ciaran OBrien. This piece also shows how living independently can help your loved ones as well, with their mother talking about having time to be able to do her own thing.
This short documentary is as incredible as its predecessor, if not more so. Gene, Bertie, and Melinda, if you’re reading this, we’d get a bigger shelf if we were you because come this year’s Summer in the City you might well be taking home another trophy.
What I learned from the Creators for Change Summit. | justkissmyfrog
As a Creators for Change fellow, Leena Normington is part of YouTube’s iniative helping creators to “show their fans and the world new perspectives and ways to work for social change”, and was invited to the Creators for Change Summit in London at the end of January. The whole thing lasted eight hours and, from how Leena talks about it, was a life-changing experience.
Malala Yousafzai was among the speakers, and the reverence with which Leena talks about what Malala has achieved is wonderful – the theatre analogy she uses to describe the feeling of having such an inspirational woman in the room with her seems perfect.
This is an invigorated Leena, an emotional Leena, and one that speaks with such humility and admiration for the people she’d been lucky enough to witness tell their stories. We look forward to what she does next.
FIFA and Chill with Maya Jama | Poet and Vuj Present! | Copa90
Did you watch TV or listen to the radio at all in the last 12 months? Did you see TenEighty’s coverage of Niche’s Creator Day in 2017? If you answered “yes” to either of those questions, it’s likely you’ve seen Maya Jama doing her thing.
Long ago, the Bristolian was part of Copa90’s YouTube presence as “the Football Virgin”, learning about the beautiful game from people who know it best. This video is a homecoming for Maya, with the majority of it taken up by her reminiscing with David Vujanic and Poet about the good ol’ days, really showing the newer fans some of the history of the channel. With a few audience questions and a close game of FIFA, this is a video filled to the brim with laughter and good times. Yes, Copa fam!
They almost went through the whole video without mentioning her extremely famous boyfriend. A bit like this recap of it.
I’m Getting Published | Mandeville Sisters
For a number of years now, Amelia Mandeville has been writing books. She’s also been trying to get those books published with no success… until now. She’s got a book deal!
This video chronicles the journey from 2014, when she first spoke about writing, until 2018, when she starts to cry happy tears while getting the good news on the phone. A lot has changed for her in that time, including her hair colour. We’ve all been there. Congratulations, Amelia, you’re a true inspiration to everyone in a similar position.
Every Colour of You comes out this November, and you can preorder it now!
Dumbledore vs British Homophobia | Rowan Ellis
It is fair to say that J.K. Rowling has taken a slight kicking from the Twittersphere in recent times, and most of that has to do with the handling of Dumbledore’s queerness in the Fantastic Beasts film series.
Throughout her video, Rowan Ellis speaks about the way Rowling first delivered the news of Dumbledore’s sexuality – choosing not to explicitly speak about it in the books, but instead in an interview after Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows had been released – and about “Section 28”, a piece of British legislation which stipulated that schools “shall not intentionally promote homosexuality or publish material with the intention of promoting homosexuality”. Rowan speaks so eloquently about this topic and what it all means for her as a queer woman.
Want more? We’ve got you covered.
Bethan Leadley shows us how to look our damn best while Disney-bound in this lookbook video. Want to look like Snow White while meeting her? This is the video for you.
Zannah Perrins gives us a look at her January, New Year’s resolutions and all. New friends, new music, Pac-Man – it had it all, even some illness thrown in for good measure.
Steven Bridges is one of those magician people. “WITCHCRAFT,” we hear you cry! It’s wizardry actually, get your accusatory shouting in order. Here he does his usual astounding thing on the streets of London. Is he shoplifting in the process?
dodie uploaded yet another new song and it’s left us feeling a variety of emotions. How does she do it?!
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