Look! There is a thing!

10:41 am - Too cute (if you like kids)

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A couple of days ago I asked, Do You Know This Vid? I got a couple of things wrong -- the little girl's hair is light brown, not blonde -- but fayance kindly pointed me to the correct site and video. Unfortunately, it didn't allow "cross-domain access". Does that mean I have to be a member of Facebook? I'm not.

But, with a title, I could search Youtube, and found it quickly. Mila talks (the title under the other vid-page) took me to a page of this little girl's discussions about life. The specific vid I wanted was Traveling disasters by two year old Mila.

This little girl is obviously bright, very verbal, quite opinionated (but what little kid doesn't have strong opinions? <g>), and extremely expressive; she's a hoot to watch.

There are several others; Cindy and I will watch this afternoon.


Y'know, it occurs to me... this is the kind of child authors are thinking of when they write a kid into fanfic. *waves to Aly* There are children at the high end of the curve, whose mental and verbal expressions seem two or three -- or even more -- years older than their chronological age. Those of us who work more often with "average" children -- or even those striving to reach average -- may forget that such standouts exist. (More than a few times I've conducted a speech test with a child who seems stupendous -- he/she is answering every question, and I'm sure they will hit standard scores of 12's or 13's, but when I score it, they're only reaching 9's and 10's. I've worked with below-average children so long that my perceptions of "average" are skewed.) But, yeah, the above-average kids are among us, and who can fault an author for putting them in a fic, if they want to include a child? After all, most of our heroes, in fic, movies, or TV, are considerably above average; may as well let our OCs -- adult or child -- have something approaching parity with the leading characters. <g>
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Posted at Dreamwidth; please comment there --
https://starwatcher.dreamwidth.org/459584.html
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12:01 am - Do You Know this Vid?

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I'm trying to find a video on youtube, for which I do not have a name. Cindy opened it on her facebook page and showed it to me. I'd like to show other people, but on facebook it didn't show a name or a link so I could search. It went thusly:

A little blonde girl is sitting in a big easy chair, describing an experience. Her speech is not always clear; there are captions to help us understand her.

She explains that she was riding on a plane, and the lady in the seat next to her kept talking. "She was a real chatty Cathy." The lady asked what she wanted to be when she grew up. "I don't know; I'm only two!" The girl wished the lady would quit talking. "Then the miracle happened! I pooped in my diaper. After that, nobody talked to me anymore."

Those quotes may be a word off, but they're pretty close. I've tried searching, but the terms are too broad to find it. Has anyone heard of this or seen it and can toss me a link? I'd love to bookmark it.

Here's the DW link; please comment there.
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09:45 am - Youtube Autoplay

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I don't go to Youtube very often, so I'm not sure when it automatically started playing the "next" video. I do know I was pretty aggravated, but filed it under "Improvements that Worsen the Experience", and learned to close the window as soon as the vid I was watching finished.

BUT! One of my TS friends (I'm sorry, I forget who) had a post about it, and one of the comments had this helpful link: How to Disable YouTube Video Autoplay. However, the directions for firefox are no loner valid, so I don't know if the others will work either. (Provided for sake of completeness.)

But another comment showed an easier way. Go to Youtube and click on a vid, any vid. In the right-hand column, there's the usual list of "related" vids, with the heading "Up Next". To the right of those words is a little label 'Autoplay' with a sliding circle-in-a-bar next to it. Click on the circle, slide it from right to left, and Autoplay is now turned off. Such a relief!

And now that I've posted, I can close the window I left open to remind me. <g>

EDIT: Raine has provided several links below for other options to turn off Autoplay, and autoplay in Flash; useful info to have.
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05:14 pm - On the lighter side...

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Cute animal pics that will make you say 'awwwwwww'.


Advice on how to air-dry your dog. I saved this pic for N; she and her hubby have two shar-pei.


On Youtube, a red panda playing with a pumpkin.


And in the right-time-right-place category, a woman took some pictures of an octopus capturing and eating a seagull. Warning for the squeamish: pictures show gull being drowned, then eaten.

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07:25 pm - Fun things

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I like animals, flowers, and spring. How could I resist this picture?

see more Lolcats and funny pictures, and check out our Socially Awkward Penguin lolz!

adelheide

07:49 pm - 1 Pretty Thing & 1 Funny Thing & 1 Educational Thing

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Here's a site with pictures of "flame fractals". Some gorgeous patterns!

I grew up listening to Tennessee Ernie Ford (among others); I know all the lyrics to "16 Tons". Here's a youtube vid of John Denver singing "18 Holes" to the same tune. The sound isn't great, but any golfers in your life might get a kick out of it.

And here's a site with the questions of the US Citizenship Test. (I got 96%; don't always know which president went with which war.) Saving it mostly to pass on to the teachers at school; they might like to use it as extra credit for students, or something.

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01:46 pm - Singing Doggie

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Quite a few dogs "sing" -- with varying degrees of tuneful howling -- when their people sing or play musical instruments. But this talented pooch plays the piano while he sings. I snicker every time I watch.

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10:35 am - How did I not know this Christmas song?

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Several years ago, I mentioned in passing that "Greensleeves" is my all-time favorite tune. Doesn't matter what words accompany the melody -- 'Greensleeves' itself, or 'What Child is This' -- my ears always come to attention when I hear the music.

So one day last week, I was having lunch at Big Cheese Pizza, reading fanfic, and occasionally noticing the music on the radio. (Big Cheese understands the concept of background music; it's quiet enough to be noticeable only if you pay attention.) At one point, I realized I was hearing the 'Greensleeves' melody, but not the words of 'What Child is This'.

That's the downside of background music; if you don't already know the words, it's hard to hear them. But finally I picked up a phrase, and Googled it plus 'Greensleeves'. The search immediately showed me the lyrics and a youtube video with the Frank Sinatra version of "The Bells of Christmas". Truthfully, I think whoever sang the version I heard had a prettier voice, but no matter; now I'm aware of the song, hooray!

And, in the Christmas song category, Cindy had never heard "Snoopy's Christmas". Youtube to the rescue!

I hope everyone had a happy holiday season, and that you all have health and happiness through the next year.
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12:34 pm - H50 Gag Reel

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Found on one of my lists. With helpful Portuguese subtitles:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKErYSCeXyo

I just wish they spent longer on the final shot, as Scott and Alex run hand-in-hand down the beach. <g>

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09:43 pm - OMG so *CUTE*!

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ginmar found this youtube of a feline that fetches a towel like a dog fetches a ball. Lanky frame (I think its only half-grown) and big eyes that stare at the human as it waits for the next towel-throw. And then the proud strut as it drags its 'kill', lion-like, back for another throw. Heart-meltingly adorable. Awwww....
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09:22 pm - Cool things from other people

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From tzikeh: she's linked a gif that demonstrates quick brown fox jumping over lazy dog. I laughed till I choked.

Of course, I had to look for the source, and found a youtube vid of what is obviously a dog/fox friendship, with the dog's owner / neighbor / friend filming their play.

Linked to that was a youtube vid of two very young foxes with their canine adoptive 'mother'. The dog certainly looks the same, although the vidders have different names, so I dunno. But what the heck; speculation is harmless, and lots of fun.
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08:12 am - Cool things from other people

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I think maybe I need to make this a (semi)-regular feature. (I don't do anything regularly, except going to school.) And I see so many things on my flist or circle that I think, "Ooh, I need to tell everyone about that." So here's the first (I hope not only) installment.

Cool Thing #1 comes from tzikeh / tzikeh: she showed us a youtube clip of a young beluga whale watching a mariachi band and bobbing its head in time to the music.

About Google+ -- I was bemused when it popped up. I saw people saying, 'I have Google+ if you want an invite', without any earlier buzz about what it even was. I mean, we heard about and discussed OTW, and AO3, and DW long before they opened their doors. And, yes I hang out in the eddies of fandom, so I was in a position to see some of the input and discussions. But I'm not totally unaware of the wider world of internet; I saw nothing about Google+ until, apparently, it was launched.

(I use gmail; there was a note for a few days at the top of my inbox that said, 'Come join us on Google+'. No explanation, and we're warned about clicking suspicious links, so I ignored it.)

Eventually, I figured out that it was Google's attempt at a social network. Uh... no, thank you. It's enough to keep up with DW, LJ, and all the feminist sites I visit; I have resisted Twitter and Facebook, so I just added Google+ to the 'ignore' list. And, I forget the specifics, but Google is still wiping the egg from its face from when it summarily linked people's different accounts together, thus allowing private information to be discovered by people the information was being keep private from. (Not just in theory; I saw a rant by a woman whose stalker ex-husband learned her new email and location because of this debacle.) So I somewhat reluctantly use gmail -- because I expect it to be stable, and am tired of changing email addies every time I change my internet provider -- but I won't attach anything else to it.

But some people like joining, and inter-connecting, and more power to them. But Google+ insists on "real names" -- okay, I suppose, if you know that going in -- and then, without warning, starts DELETING ACCOUNTS of people whose names don't meet their standards of what names are "real" enough. And they didn't delete just the Google+ accounts; they deleted all associated accounts, including gmail... where many people save their old mail (comments, etc) because gmail advertises so much available space.

All this is an introduction to today's Cool Thing #2 -- this excellent post by denise, co-creator of DW: "Real Name" policies: They just don't work.

This is something I care about a lot. I've spent the last ten years of my life, more or less, immersed in the idea of what it takes to build a healthy online community and how to handle (and discourage) the abuses that develop. [snip] One thing we never, ever, ever considered, even for a moment, was instituting a "real name" policy to prevent abuses. Why? Because it doesn't fucking work. [snip] But the first and foremost reason to avoid a "real name" policy is, and continues to be, that it is worthless for the purposes people try to use it for. The amount of abuse on your service has nothing to do with whether or not people are using their real names. It has to do with the community norms, the standard that people hold each other to, the tools you give your users to manage reputation and abuses, and the clearly-communicated expectations of the service.

07:58 am - Fun with Youtube

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On Monday, Cindy and I were looking for something on Youtube. We didn't find it, but we did find these funny/cute slices of life --

(BIG) Tortoise chases dog. (1:12) Tortoise was pretty determined, and dog was pretty freaked... but it is funny.

Boxer dog and cat fighting on a deckchair. (2:39) "Fighting" should be in quotes; they're obviously the best of friends -- the cat could easily use its claws on the dog's face and run away -- but neither one hurts the other, despite the big open jaws and flying forepaws.

I once had a dog/cat pair like this. After school, Lucy (cat), Simba (dog), and Mikki (dog) would walk to the mailbox (100 yards) with me. On the way back, Lucy would lag behind... then race past Simba at a dead run. Simba would give chase, until Lucy reached the garage and clawed her way up the doorjamb. She'd hang there a moment, watching Simba below -- bouncing around with her tongue hanging out -- then Lucy would drop down and strop herself against Simba, while Simba licked her head. Best of friends.

(Mikki ignored such shenanigans; much too high an activity level!)
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04:16 pm - Cute animal vids

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Picked up from Cute Overload


Kitten freaks out over apples in bed.

From the same vidder:

Kitten freaks out over tennis ball.


From a different vidder:

Kitten stuck in hamster ball.

Kitten playing "kitchy-coo" with its owner, with flying paws matching owner's hands.

These are so cute -- don't know if you can watch without laughing.

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09:48 pm - Beautiful music

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Courtesy of tzikeh is this Youtube video. The blurb reads, "An acoustic and electric violin cover of the main theme song from Game of Thrones. Arranged and performed by Jason Yang." Tzikeh says, "Young man picks apart every line of the theme to the Game of Thrones theme (first violin, second violin, counterpoint, cello line, bass line, etc.) and makes video of him playing each of them separately--then mixes them all together."

I don't know where she got that information -- maybe she knows the music business -- but the result is stunning. I don't even know the music (haven't seen Game of Thrones), but it's so beautiful I've listened three times already.
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06:06 pm - Fun things

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I think it was Dolimir Mariness (Sorry. My bad.) who pointed us toward these pictures of cameos made from Oreo cookies. Amazing work from somebody.

Leesa Perrie and Arnie1967 pointed toward the video of a cat barking... until he's caught by his human.

And then there's kitten-Ronon (that's his name, honest!) fighting his owner's "Terrifying Hand of Doom". Too cute! Again, thanks to Leesa Perrie.


And finally, for H50 fans, is this Tumbler com where people take quotes from the "Texts from Last Night" com (who'd-a thunk such a thing!), and use screencaps from H50 to make LOL-style pictures. Most range from suggestive to downright dirty (I can't believe the things some people tweet!), but most are very funny: check out the 5-0 Texts com.

ETA: Remember the Fanfic Flamingo com? Now I learn there's also a Shipper Squirrel com.
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07:28 pm - Fun thing / Cool thing

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Cool thing:

Remember my list of various fanfiction-grabbers? Now there's also SqueeBook. With it, you can grab a story from LJ or DW without the comments, icons, etc. The output is converted to HTML, PDF, epub, or txt. Thanks to sarken for the link (in comments to another post).


Fun thing:

Pointed out at Shakesville, here's a YouTube of a cat on a dock, interacting with a dolphin. They're actually rubbing/petting each other, and seem very interested in this other creature. It's adorable; go see!

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06:51 pm - Something lovely, something dangerous.

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The lovely:

You know that old trick of putting some water in a wine glass and rubbing a wet finger across the lip to make a musical note? Well, take a table full of such glasses, of different sizes and water levels, add one virtuoso musician, and you get an incredible piece of music: Bach's Toccata and fugue in D minor played on a "glass harp". It's seven and a half minutes of a jaw-droppingly incredible musical performance.


The dangerous:

There are new warnings about an apparently not-so-new virus, confirmed by Snopes. In short, email with the subject headings of "Here you Have" or "Just for You" or "Here it Is" contain a malicious virus and should be deleted and purged immediately. Snopes has the complete rundown.
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11:50 pm - SGA vid

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Putting it here, so I won't lose it -- and to share with anyone interested -- a really cute McShep vid to Nat King Cole's "L-O-V-E".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7ZiExDlMqM

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10:39 am - Youtube vids

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White Collar - "Let's Misbehave"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XohlYBAn8rk


White Collar - "Here I Love You"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gyk_TgRKEYw


Canadian mayor, 88-yr-old woman, re-elected
http://www.wimp.com/bestmayor/

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05:25 pm - Fun, cute, or awesome

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leesa_perrie pointed the way to this one: Giant beach bubbles on youtube.

I forget who linked to this: pictures of a wild long-tailed macaque monkey that has adopted an abandoned kitten.

And I forget who linked to an article on the effect of catnip on big cats. Included is a youtube demonstration, and here's the direct link on youtube.

Again, I forget who linked -- I need to figure out a way to keep track of these things -- to this Sentinel vid: "Voodoo". And then a whole bunch more in the "Suggestions" sidebar; I'll check them out later.
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09:40 am - Cute video

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I picked up this link from Shakesville. According to the blurb, The deer, named Theen, was cared for by mlcarriker's family after he was discovered alone and malnourished. The family bottle-fed Theen until he began to eat on his own, and although the deer is now free to wander and mingle with his wild brethren, he "frequently comes back to the house to eat some [cat food] and play with our dog, Buddy," mlcarriker explains. "He doesn't care much for deer corn." Watching the video, it occurs to me that a dog and a deer aren't really built to play together, but they sure seem to be having fun.

On a personal note, I'm surprised at how small the deer is. As a kid, I thought they were cow-sized. I've since learned that they're much smaller, but this guy barely stands taller than the Labrador retriever, and I'm sure doesn't weigh as much. Is it because he's not yet fully-grown, or are they really that small?
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02:00 pm - Coolio!

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Echidne of the Snakes posted the neatest video -- some dolphins at Seaworld have learned to blow bubbles from their blowholes, then play with them underwater. Fantastic footage.

This one has Seaworld personnel explaining the behavior while we watch the dolphins playing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuVgXJ55G6Y 3:25

This one has no explanations, just more views of the dolphins blowing their bubbles.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krzTgnMIg3Q 2:20

10:24 am - Ded of cute!

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dolimir_k linked us to this video of two friends hanging out together. They just happen to be a cat and a fawn. Dolimir said it first, but nothing else fits: "Awwww..."

Voice-over is Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rooyt3ptNco   (2:15 mins)
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08:52 pm - For fun...

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From leesa_perrie, a link to a video of a cat riding a Roomba. He's so blasé about it; I laughed myself sick.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQ-jv8g1YVI


From miriam_heddy, a link to a post by Andy Borowitz -- Obama's Use of Complete Sentences Stirs Controversy. "Every time Obama opens his mouth, his subjects and verbs are in agreement," says Mr. Logsdon. "If he keeps it up, he is running the risk of sounding like an elitist."
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10:12 am - The ways of computers are strange indeed...

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Unless you're very new to this LJ, you know that I spent considerable time last year researching YouTube vids to illustrate the letter-of-the-week for Mrs. E's low-level class. Because the school server blocked access to YouTube, I had to download at home, then put my computer on Standby instead of shutting down; that way, I could play them the next day. Times when I hit a glitch and my computer locked and needed to be restarted, I was screwed -- couldn't open those YouTube links.

This year, Mrs. E and I are in different schools, and I haven't had time to make discs for her. (Time? What's that?) But I've been noticing that embedded YouTubes on my friends-list are (usually) showing up, instead of presenting me last year's blank space. Hmm... since I can see them now, and couldn't then, is it possible that they might play...? Wow! Yes!

So I go to the YouTube tag and test several. No problem! Mind you, I can't go to the main YouTube page (Access Denied! Your Server has Blocked this Site!), but as long as I have a link, the vid will play.

So yesterday I called Mrs. E and told her about it, and arranged to go during my prep period today to show her how to do it. But, while I was consolidating links this morning, all of a sudden, I got Access Denied when clicking the links. Damn! It worked ten minutes ago!

However, on the (faint) possibility that some schools have been blocked and not others, I travel to Mrs. E's school anyway. Good thing I did -- we booted up her computer, I showed her how to access my YouTube-Link page, and it worked for her. I'd taken my laptop, and I tried it at that school -- but my access is still blocked there.

Phooey! I was looking forward to being able to add more links while researching during my prep periods, instead of my home-time. And, in case she gets blocked, I need to get off my duff and figure out how to save these to disc. But that is so weird -- how can her computer get it, but mine not? What changed in that 10-minute window from me being able to open them, and then losing that access? This is a personal computer, and *I* didn't deny me access!

If anyone has any ideas, I'd appreciate some suggestions. Meanwhile, I'll just be happy Mrs. E can show those vids to her class, and cross my fingers that she won't be locked out later.
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07:12 pm - For SGA fans

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Haven't we all wondered whether Sheppard's hair is natural or styled? (Well, maybe you already knew. I didn't.) Here's a clip -- I forget who linked it -- where Joe Flanigan says his hair goes like that naturally.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGqsMruPjlM

Which led to a funny little snippet where McKay becomes fascinated by the hair. G-rated slash.
http://aesc.livejournal.com/302787.html

Enjoy.
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06:29 pm - Brought to you by the letter 'A'

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Until I can make discs for Mrs. E, maybe she can carry vids to school on her laptop like I did last year. So I'm going to keep adding links, so she can click and watch. I'll probably add more later in the week; but this will do for tomorrow or Tuesday.

( Under the cut.Collapse )

11:48 am - Saving Youtube?

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Can anyone help? dimity_blue found a couple of free programs, but they allowed limited saves. I've tried a couple of others, with no success. Mrs. E is in another school this year; I need to make discs for her to show her kids. I don't mind paying a few bucks if it WORKS, but the ones I've tried just didn't play 'saved' youtubes, even after I downloaded all the bits and pieces.

So -- do you know any programs that actually WORK to save YouTube to HD, so I can copy to disc?
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08:16 am - Brought to you by the letter 'B'

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Consolidating for Mrs. E.

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11:06 pm - Playful animals

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Two more vid-days to go. Tomorrow -- playful animals

rocket wings
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-oQ--U-WaQ

baby lambs 1:15
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5gnP5W0yP8

baby elephants play -1:35
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xF3sIyjnxzg

little hippo -1:25
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1dkQ-IRA24

animals mothering other species - 2:35
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nK5uPBF-s5Y

elephants in water - :45
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IST82GFS0M

Lion cubs play - 2:05
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwRreBi6XSk

Lion cubs playing - 2:25
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPCIlJI4XJ8

dolphins playing - 5:15
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xTI0aMNgaw

dolphins & scuba divers - 2:20
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcj1EyOzQfo
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06:56 pm - Cute animals

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So, just eight more days of school (seven for the kids). Between practice for the spring program, awards ceremonies, special presentations, not a lot of actual schoolwork is being done.

I'm still showing vids -- when the kids are present -- but not connected to any letter. Trying for thematic units instead. Tomorrow will be baby or cute animals.

treadmill kittens - 1:25
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVjzd320gew

kitten play fight - 1:30
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7AXnImPPnE

otters play with food - 1:30
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlbBbeBIoYw

bear cubs play - 2:40
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qak_CJMQcf0

dog fights water hose - 2:30
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPYZ_3ZJ0XY
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11:12 pm - You-Tube funny.

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Dolimir had this on her page -- a pair of cats diligently walking a treadmill as it goes faster and faster. What a hoot!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVjzd320gew - 1:30
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09:47 am - You-Tube hodge-podge

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Well, the school year is winding down. Two more weeks -- eek! Where did the year go?

With 'TH' last week, we finished our letter-a-week, and now I'm just trying to find interesting things for the kids to see as we do review. So, Theresa, you'll find 'TH' below the cut, as well as some other neat stuff. For the rest of you -- if you don't look at anything else, you gotta see this one -- a young elephant throwing darts. And he's accurate -- notice he pops the balloons. Also notice the guy on the other side of the elephant -- he wasn't so successful. The kids were so impressed.

Elephant throwing darts - 1:10
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imnIgsGtg3E

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05:55 pm - It takes so little to amuse me...

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Okay. First, you have to read sallymn's untitled TS ficlet -- a bit of angst, a bit of humor, and a hoot of a punchline.

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Finished? Okay. So of course I wondered if I could find a sample on YouTube, and I did --

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vaESxxvCCFk (30 seconds)

and then there was the crazy teenage girl (or maybe she's just Aussie. Jess, Sally, what do you think?) who gave us an entertaining discussion of the subject.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kt_2gJmdezM (6:30)

I'm giggling. I won't tell you the subject here -- it would give away Sally's punchline -- but you'll know as soon as you finish her story.
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12:21 am - Brought to you by the digraph 'CH' and miscellaneous.

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'Digraph' -- that's the word the teachers use.

Anyway, need to have the list so I can link and download in the morning. CH stuff and a mishmash because I'm running out of ideas -- just looking for things the kids might be interested in / that will give them a look at things they've never experienced.

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07:20 pm - One more SH vid -- so cool!

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As I was driving to town, it hit me -- SHADOW PUPPETS! And look what I found -- several people working in concert to show a variety of animals and scenes. Incredible!

Shadow puppets - 1:20
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPneQzqhh4g

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12:11 pm - Brought to you by the fricative 'SH'

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No, it's not in the alphabet but, as a speech therapist, I regard it as a discrete sound (along with 'ch' and 'th'). We've been connecting letters with sounds, trying to build a connection between seeing the letter and hearing what sound it makes, so that means I didn't use the 'ch' sound for 'C' vocabulary, or the 'sh' sound for 'S' vocabulary. But the kids need to be exposed to them -- and, we hope, learn to recognize them -- so here we go.

I thought it would be difficult, but I have a nice bunch -- ships sailing, shingling a roof, sheepdog herding sheep, shearing sheep, shaving, shrimp in the ocean, and cooking shrimp.

Notice that last one. Personally, I don't care for shrimp, but I know I'm in the minority. And I found a series of 19 vids, all 2:00 to 3:00 minutes long, that detail the steps in cooking Fried Coconut Shrimp. Intellectually, it looks delicious, so I thought some of you might want to watch, write down the recipe, and give it a try.

( All the other links are in here.Collapse )

PS -- Theresa, send me your email; I've finished the master-list of nouns (potential picture subjects) for each letter. I'll send you a copy for your sister.

starwatcher [at] dishmail [dot] net

Anyone else who knows someone who could use this -- same offer. Just drop me a note.
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07:26 pm - Brought to you by the lettes 'A', 'B', 'C'

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We start review next week, so I'm going to pick up some I missed earlier -- acrobat, bagpipes, cowboy, and camel.

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08:30 pm - Brought to you by the lettes 'Y' and 'Z'

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I had a pleasant surprise on Monday when I looked at the school bulletin -- no school on Friday. Well -- Good Friday; 'duh' you say? True, but we usually have our Good Friday day off a couple of weeks after spring break, which is next week. I was so focused on that, I forgot that Easter Sunday = Good Friday two days before. But this messes up my vid plans for Mrs. E's class; I was going to show X on Monday, Y on Wednesday, and Z on Friday. Now I'll have to cram Y and Z into tomorrow.

But first, check out the two half-grown foxes searching for grubs; great camera views, and so cute!

fox cubs - 3:40
http://youtube.com/watch?v=2_r6VlVyyCQ

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07:29 pm - Brought to you by the letter 'X'

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And I thought some of the others were bad! But we have --


Xylophone no mallets - 1:35
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SCXspnCRLQ

Xylophone w band - 1:20
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmHMgmHYr_Y

Chopping wood - with an aX - 2:20
http://youtube.com/watch?v=ETyVRIN1xeE

I'm still looking for a good eXplosion...

Okay, here's--

explosion - 1:40
http://youtube.com/watch?v=G_mWRIY45Yk

and

fox cubs searching for grubs -- so cute! -- 3:40
http://youtube.com/watch?v=2_r6VlVyyCQ

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06:52 am - Brought to you by the letter 'V'

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'V' wasn't as skimpy as 'U' -- I came up with vault (as in Olympic), volcano, violin, and volleyball. I couldn't find what I wanted in volleyball -- a snip of a real game, instead of music montage -- so I went with the other three. Three is about their limit anyway, although I might show the 'science-song' volcano clip *and* the 30-second one, just for the effect.

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06:32 pm - Brought to you by the letters 'T' & 'U'

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I'll put most of them behind the cut, 'cause I'm not sure anyone really cares (except Theresa). But you have to see this one --
unicycle dancing - 3:25
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ax8s40p6bRI

When I went looking for a vid of 'unicycle', I figured I'd be lucky to find a kid practicing riding in the park or something like that. This is jaw-droppingly amazing. Apparently there are contests, and this lady is dancing on the friggin' UNICYCLE. You really gotta watch.

And, one more -- did you know that tigers are actually good swimmers? The kids were mightily impressed.
Tiger swimming - 1:50
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvgsrT8Z924

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07:50 pm - Brought to you by the letter 'S'

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'S' has such a plethora of possibilities -- and only two 'show-days' this week, because Monday was a holiday. Ah, well. The kids have already 'ooh'ed and 'aah'ed over the snake, skunk, and seal show. Tomorrow they get to see sailing, surfing, snowboarding, and scuba (the dolphin diving).

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06:32 pm - Brought to you by the letters N, O, P, Q, and R

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It's been a while since I update this category, hasn't it? I'll put the lo-o-ong list behind a cut, but leave one on top.

So, what do you think of rabbits? I think, cute and fluffy, but no great shakes in the 'smarts' department. I took care of a rabbit once, for a friend who was an amateur magician, and all it did was eat and shit.

But this week is the letter 'R', so I decided to see if there was something cute about rabbits on Youtube. Imagine my surprise to discover that some people can teach their pet rabbits to jump over obstacles on command, and they have formal shows and everything.

Take a look at 1:40 minutes of Bunny Show Jumping. I'm amazed and impressed.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNPOdffkkLo

And here's another of bunny-jumping.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quER8_tjI6Q 3:40


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And, just for slash fans, I found the following. Not appropriate for six-year-olds, but very interesting, and I want to keep the link.

Homosexuality in animals 5:00
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RlTAyNI8WE
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06:00 pm - Writer's Strike on YouTube

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Apparently there are several such. But I just got a link through one of my mailing lists.

WGA Strike: A Love Story is two minutes and forty-nine seconds of cuteness -- I giggled through the whole thing -- and it's SLASH. Completely, unapologetically, campily slash.

Not only that, it's damned clever -- and the studios are carelessly throwing away this fountain of creativity. As Ann Landers has said so often, they need to wake up and smell the coffee...
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06:22 am - Brought to you by the letter 'M' and 'N'

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Helping Hands Monkey
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=iEpJf5-IYwM

Pet Monkey
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=xaY9XOjZwHc

Mules
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=vOhf8wOTKbY



Magic Float
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=dYqRlJ9HtCs

Saw a Man
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=nMDpgCXh8Mk

Mongoose & Lion
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=usJIAtgLojw

pet mouse
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwkaKxasoaM

millipede
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSd16JQvJwU

newt
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=io3c4es0w7w

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-QDVYoIRM8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKuMreqDBv8

09:23 am - Brought to you by the letter 'M'

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'M' videos this week -- meerkats, manatees, moose, and monkeys. Maybe mule and mandolin? Hmm...

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09:09 pm - Visit Snoopy on YouTube

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Who amongst you remembers the "Snoopy" songs by the Royal Guardsmen in the late '60s? I had them all on 45s (oy! showing my age!), and knew all the words to all of them.

In "Snoopy vs the Red Baron", Snoopy managed to shoot down the Baron. But I guess the song was such a success that they had to revive him, somehow. In "The Return of the Red Baron", we learn that he jumped out just before his plane exploded. At the end of this song, Snoopy is still on his trail.

Then in "Snoopy's Christmas", the Baron gets the drop on Snoopy, but doesn't shoot. Maybe it was the "bells from the village below..."

I love this song. Not only is the refrain beautiful, but it's very hopeful. If enemies can avoid shooting at each other for just one day, then maybe...

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10:47 pm - Brought to you by the letter 'L'

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Late notice this week -- after spending the day in Lubbock on Saturday, I had to scramble to find / review the links for Monday, and then Wednesday.

The kids particularly enjoy vids of animals, and 'L' has plenty -- llama, lion, lizard, lobster, and leopard -- including the 'melanistic' version, otherwise known as our friend, the black panther.

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