Tag Archives: Youtube

May 24, 2023 · 1:00 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Favourite YouTube Video

Click here to read everyone else’s replies to this week’s question and to read everyone else’s replies to this week’s question and here to see the full list of topics for the year.

A round light brown rabbit sitting peacefully while perched up on it’s back paws while it’s front paws are neatly placed between the back paws on a patch of dark green grass.

This isn’t Champis, but it does look a lot like him. (The actual photos of him can be found in the links in this post).

This video was created by a Finnish farmer, but it doesn’t matter whether or not you can speak that language.

About 11 years ago, Champis was a rabbit who lived on a quiet farm in Finland. One day Champis decided to start herding sheep, and his humans soon made a video about his adventures in the sheep pen: Champis – den vallande kaninen*

(YouTube wouldn’t let me embed the video, but the link above should take you to it. The video is about five minutes long).

Nobody trained Champis to behave this way, and it’s not typical behaviour for a rabbit. His humans were just as surprised as the rest of the world was.

What makes it even funnier is that Champis’ son, Champis Junior, eventually became a sheep herder as well.

You all know how much I love rabbits. I have all sorts of videos, gifs, and photos of rabbits doing interesting things tucked away for when I need something to make me smile. This is one of my all-time favourites.

*Kaninen means rabbit in Finnish. Online translation pages haven’t been able to tell me what den vallande means, so please share if you know of a good translation for it.

Edit: Thank you to Judy Thomas for sharing this translation: “Vallande translates to herding, I found… so probably, Champis, the herding rabbit.”

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Filed under Blog Hops

Tagged as Champis, Farm Life, Finland, Rabbits, Sheep, Sheep Herding, Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge, Youtube

May 4, 2020 · 1:00 am

Creative Star Trek Parodies to Watch for Expanded SFF Month

Earlier this year I learned that May is Expanded Science Fiction and Fantasy Month. This challenge is a simple one. Pick any science fiction or fantasy universe and read or watch stories that were set in it but that were not part of the original canon.

To give one example, you could read Star Trek novels that were written as continuations of that universe after The Original Series first aired.

My brain hasn’t been amenable to reading serious, full-length novels recently due to some concerns I’ve had about a friend who has Covid-19, so my first post in response to this challenge will be lighthearted and a little off the beaten path. My hope is to revisit this challenge later on this month with a response that follows the rules more closely.

There are are no spoilers in these videos unless you’re 30+ years behind on Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes and determined not to know anything about what was written about that universe in the 1980s and 1990s.

For everyone else, they’re simply good, clean fun for anyone who is looking for a pick-me-up during these trying times.

Klingon Style

If you’ve never seen Gangham Style, I recommend watching it first. This Trekkie parody of it never fails to make me smile in large part because actual Klingons would be horrified by the frivolity and silliness of it all.

Make It So

If you enjoy Frozen and Star Trek: The Next Generation, this might be right up your alley. I can oddly see Captain Picard enjoying this tune so long as no one was paying too much attention to his reaction to it. It was a short, cheerful tune that used his favourite catch phrase, after all. What’s not to like about that?

All About That Borg

Fans of Megan Trainor’s “All About That Bass,” keep reading.

The Borg would have no use for this song, but I find it amusing. They’re by far the scariest villains in the Star Trek universe to me, so it’s nice to see them on screen without any chance of them assimilating anyone.

(Why do I keep figuring out if Star Trek characters would enjoy the songs about them? I have no idea!)

The Orville

I saved my best recommendation for last.

Everything else on this list was a short music video. The Orville is a TV show that lovingly parodies Star Trek: The Original Series and Star Trek: The Next Generation.

No, it isn’t set in the Star Trek universe, but it’s easy to forget that since it was written by folks who were clearly well-versed in what the storytelling was like at this point in Star Trek history and who were fans of it.

Just like the shows it gently pokes fun at, The Orville follows an ensemble cast of characters who live and work on an exploratory vessel several hundred years in the future. The diverse crew includes officers from a wide array of planets and cultures who work in close quarters a long ways from home.

While I understand the need for recent Star Trek series and films to take darker turns in order to attract new audiences and keep up with the times, one of the things I enjoy the most about The Orville is how optimistic it is.

Life isn’t perfect there by any means, but you can generally count on things to work out well for the characters no matter what problems they face. There is a sense of hope and joy in this universe that permeates almost everything.

Sometimes these near-mandatory happy endings are included in the parody aspects of the plot, but it’s always done with good intentions. There is something comforting about this that makes me look forward to the third season even more earnestly now.

If you’re participating in the challenge, I look forward to reading about which stories or videos you’ve selected for it!

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Filed under Science Fiction and Fantasy

Tagged as Expanded SFF Month, Humour, Parodies, Star Trek, Television, The Orville, Youtube

April 23, 2020 · 1:00 am

10 Meditative Virtual Nature Walks You Should Take

Lately, I’ve been feeling the effects of cabin fever. This is typically the time of year when I’d begin spending much longer periods of time outdoors each day now that the weather is warming up.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, many of the outdoor places I’d normally be visiting now are closed. Torontonians have also been asked to only use public transit for necessary trips like going to work, buying groceries, or seeking medical care.

In addition, all of the amenities in our parks are closed. That is, no one is allowed to use their playgrounds, washrooms, basketball courts, tennis courts, swimming pools, or dog parks. Even the benches are becoming off-limits for most folks!

I’ve been very fortunate so far during this pandemic in many other ways, but I am sure am missing those nature visits right about now. Yesterday was a bit of an antsy day for me which lead to the compilation of this list.

Some of these videos last a few minutes. Others go on for a few hours. Feel free to pick the ones that best suit your time availability and interests. They are roughly arranged from the shortest to the longest walk.

Forest Walk Meditation

There was very little speaking in this video. It’s mostly first-person footage of someone walking through a forest. I especially loved the bird calls in the background. They really made me feel like I was there!

Mountain Stillness

Wow, this was a beautiful scene! It included background instrumental music.

Spring Awakening

There was upbeat instrumental background music in this one. It was cool to see the birds floating around in the pond.

Beach Trip Meditation

Like the forest walk, this one involved no background music. There was some guided meditation here and there, but the rest of it only included the sorts of sounds you’d hear at the beach. The gulls in the background were so relaxing. I could almost taste the salt in the air.

Walking in the Hoh Rain Forest

All of the sounds in this 20 minute rain forest walk were natural ones. I heard many birds chirping in the forest. Sometimes there were also the sounds of the camera person walking on dead foliage or of running water.

Relaxing Virtual Walk Around the Chilterns

I’ve never been to England, but this looks like a very relaxing place to visit. It was a 25 minute walk that only includes natural sounds from the scenery. Most of the sounds the microphone picked up were of the wind.

Zion NP Utah Riverside Walk Trail

Wow, these red sandstone cliffs were gorgeous! This 53 minute walk does include some narration by the camera person. The portion of the walk by the stream was my favourite.

Secluded Beach at Sunset

Several years ago, my spouse and I went on a beach vacation with a few dozen of my relatives. Other than catching up with everyone, of course, the nicest part of it was walking up and down the beach when there were very few other folks out and about.

I’m a morning person, so for me many of those times were early in the day when the tide had gone out. What a calming experience it was to hear nothing but the sound of the ocean lapping against shore and the cry of seagulls in the distance. This one hour walk reminded me a lot of those ones.