From the ridiculous to the sublime, there's something for everyone this week ...

I tend to write this feature on a Friday, and they all tend to begin with me feeling a little like that famous Gandalf speech has woken me up. Except, on the fifth day of the second week I look to the yeast. Yes that’s correct; I start the day with a sandwich and a glass of orange juice, before weighing-up which Youtube clips to include in my list.

You may remember the short film Validation from my last instalment; believe it or not I didn’t stumble upon that until deadline day. I was planning on making this horrifying clip of the Tuscaloosa tornado – that struck in April and took so many lives – my final clip. In my opinion, the actions of those in the vehicle appeared foolish, but in aiding the grief-stricken woman they proved to be heroic and exemplified the capability for altruism in our species perfectly. I felt guilty for not including it last week.

But now onto this week’s smorgasbord…

5. A slip of the tongue

We do it every day; we do it in our sleep and when we eat and drink – we salivate. But I’ve never found a conversation so sumptuous that I dribbled. Well, not since I was a toddler. In Sweden however, a TV presenter found the subject of her interview so engaging that she lost complete control of her mouth, and in doing so, drooled live on air. It was a good dribble too; it fell right down the centre of her mouth, it wasn’t one of those weak, corner-of-the-mouth dribbles we regular people do. It was a dribble fit for a photo-shoot.

4. The mute button

They have “executed over 100 missions involving thousands of undercover agents,” but don’t worry, they aren’t the CIA. They are Improv Everywhere, and their latest stunt ‘The Mute Button’ is pure genius. Characters as disparate as religious preachers, street dancers and people on park benches were involved to stunning effect. In short, one minute everything is normal, the next you will be standing in complete silence fiddling with your ears in panicked disbelief. It reminds me of the opening scene of The Conversation, only minus the sinister undertones. It is magical stuff.

3. Buffalax

During this fortnight I learnt that the ever-hilarious ‘Buffalax’ channel on YouTube had been closed. I’m not going to speculate as to why it has disappeared because frankly, I’m too busy crying. What I will tell you is that Buffalax was one of the greatest sources of mirth on YouTube. Taking videos and applying his/her own English subtitles, based purely on what it sounds like they’re saying may have been childish, but who cares when your sides have split? In dedication, I include ‘Benny Lava’, perhaps the most famous of Buffalax’s work, in my list. Even if you’ve seen it a hundred times already, you’ll still smile.

2. Old man invades interview

From what I can gather, the old man in the cap is being quizzed on the dire state of Greece’s finances. I can’t gather anything from his countryman’s actions, they are just bizarre. I’m used to seeing footage where somebody lingers behind the TV presenter, or waves in the background – but never something as brazen as this. If you live in the UK your mind might eventually wander to Facejacker, is this Kayvan Novak on holiday? Regardless, the old man’s renditions of farm animals are as queer as they are funny. This clip is 29 seconds of bizarre.

1. The Hornet

Some may call it pretentious, but I find this video to be incredibly sensitive, uplifting and reassuring. Instead of ignoring an insignificant Hornet, the subject of this Youtube clip – ‘LeonardLew’ – fed the winged insect honey and quite literally gave it a new lease of life. He described his outpouring of emotion, his history of medication and the release aiding this creature gave him – it inspired him to help others. I’d like to think that the shadow that flits across the pool of honey is that of the Hornet, as it returns to its nest and normality; a fitting allegory for LeornardLew’s reincarnation.

See also the previous entry in this series:

5 YouTube experiences to brighten your week #3

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