The Extraordinary Tourist YouTube Channel Gets a Mini Make-Over

Following on from my previous post, Peter McKinnon, and Learning to Love Creating Video Again, I spent some time giving my YouTube Channel page a minor makeover to better reflect what my channel is about (art and skateboarding) and what my video release schedule is (aiming for a new video every Tuesday and Saturday).

Most of that is reflected in my channel art based upon tips for designing your YouTube channel that I got through being subscribed to Roberto Blake's channel. If you're trying to start, and/or grow a YouTube channel, or just trying to find a way to earn money online using the skills you already have, Roberto gives plenty of useful free advice, as well as linking you to resources to help you out.

Roberto will tell you that good channel graphics and thumbnails are vital to a successful YouTube channel and even has graphics packs you can buy if your design skills leave a lot to be desired.

Alternatively I've started using Canva to create all my channel graphics, thumbnails, and other social media graphics. Canva is free, cloud based, and includes many beautiful templates that you can modify to suit your needs.

So far I've posted two new videos that I tried my best to film quickly and stick to my release schedule of Tuesday and Saturday. Unfortunately my Saturday video was a little late, being uploaded on Sunday, but it was worth it because I think I've found a style I want to develop for my videos that no one else is really doing.

If you study the way both videos were made you'll notice I like using overlays/inserts of video on top of the main video. If you look at the second video I've also broken the screen up into panels each with different video running in them - almost like a comic book page.

I'm thinking about developing that approach even further to turn my videos into something of a modern motion comic but not specifically making them look exactly like comic books. By doing this I can put a lot of information into each scene and keep my videos to a shorter length, as I can communicate my ideas in a more non-linear format.

At the same time, doing this is helping to make the editing process more interesting for me, as I now have the challenge of developing this style further.

I will be posting videos to this blog as I create them which may mean I post more than once a week (because I don't want this blog to be just posts accompanying my videos).

It's still a bit of a struggle to get motivated to film and edit videos but it's only been a week of the new schedule. It's just a matter of making sure I give myself enough time, and try to streamline my new style so it doesn't take as long to edit as my last video did (3 days).

So, if you watched the two videos above and found one or both of them were of interest to you, why not consider subscribing to my YouTube Channel. I could really use the company and I'd love to have you as part of my community.

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Guest Post: MY SOOPER DOOPER NEW CONSERVATORY/ART STUDIO!

Today's guest post is by Artist, Writer, and Mental Health Advocate, Jo B Creative who writes for her blog, Creating My Oddessey.

You should see our (almost) brand new conservatory, half of which is my art studio. 'Lucky me!' I think to myself. Not every creative bod can boast that. It's HUGE! Like a giant greenhouse.

We first moved to our pleasant cul-de-sac house - great for raising kids - when our son, who's on the cusp of thirty-one, was four. One of the main reasons that we wanted it was that, apart from its location on the fringes of a historic market town in rural Hampshire, UK, it had a sizable conservatory looking onto the back garden. It was brown wood framed and had a corrugated transparent roof sloping down from downstairs ceiling height. On the face of it, it doesn't sound that glamourous, but we loved the idea of a conservatory. Luxury! I even liked the red brick walls which it was built against - the original exterior of the house - and the light …

The Star Wars Saga: Episode II, Attack of the Clones All Spoilers

Continuing my series of posts, as one of my local TV stations shows every Star Wars movie in order, every Saturday, for the next six weeks leading up to the release of Star Wars, Episode VII, The Force Awakens, here is my response to and thoughts on Star Wars, Episode II, Attack of the Clones.

After The Phantom Menace I just wasn't interested in seeing Episode II in the cinema. I don't think I made any effort to see it or even had any anticipation for it's release.

Revive Skateboards, Design a Lifeline Competition - My Pizza Monkeys Entry Submission

About a month ago Revive Skateboards launched their #DesignALifeline competition where entrants had to purchase a specific Lifeline template skateboard deck, draw their design on it, and then post a photo of their finished board to Instagram with the hashtag #designalifeline.

With only 200 template boards being made available, I liked those odds, and bought a deck within an hour of seeing the competition announcement video on the day it was posted. The deck cost me US$40.00 and about that again to have it mailed to Australia. It's the most expensive competition entry I've paid for to date.

The winner gets to have their design released as an official deck as part of Revive's Spring 2020 product release. As well they get three copies of their deck along with a sponsor pack (which typically consists of a number of decks, clothes, wheels etc. from Revive's range). Four runners up will get a sponsor package only.

If you're thinking you might like to enter, unfortunatel…

Boom Crash Opera Born Classic But Not Again

Boom Crash Opera are an Australian Band that reached the peak of their popularity in the mid to late nineteen eighties. They are a band that I knew about at that time but was never really excited by until they released their ill fated double album Born and Born Again in 1995 (Album cover pictured).

At the time of its release I was very much into emerging Australian musical acts and was also looking out for new sounds that were different and had kind of a futuristic/electronic sound. Artists that I was buying at the time included; Swoop, Nine Inch Nails and Pop Will Eat Its Self. As well as a really interesting release by David Bowie, the concept album, Outside.

Born was a fairly radical departure for Boom Crash Opera (BCO). The first single, Gimme, was often compared to the sounds of Gary Glitter, particularly his single, Rock n Roll part 2, because of the pounding drum loops. Watch the video below.

My favorite single from the album is dissemble which probably went nowhere on the char…

Momentary pauses in cyberspace...

I got to thinking about blogs and the fact that anyone can leave a comment to my posts. When someone comments, the polite thing to do is to respond with a comment under theirs. This may prompt an additional comment but really that person has no real intention of in depth discussion. They're just passing through.

It's a lot like walking down the street with a complete stranger approaching from the opposite direction. Your intention is to simply pass them by but as you come within talking distance the stranger says 'Hi, nice day isn't it.' Like they needed to share that little highlight of information to brighten your day too.

You can smile and nod in agreement, or go so far as to say 'Yes isn't it' whilst passing by without so much as a break in stride. It's all that is required to be polite.

Sometimes though, you want a bit more from your stranger. Why did they decide to say 'Hi' to you? Unfortunately you can't back track and ask your stran…

"You are the Generation that bought more shoes..."

"You are the generation that bought more shoes, you get what you deserve." This quote is a song lyric that I heard on the radio (my apologies to the writer and artist that it belongs too because I don't know who either of you are). It's a great line and I can only assume it refers to the apparent lack of interest today's eighteen to twenty somethings appear to have in more serious and deeper issues.

Not that I'm trying to hold myself up as someone who campaigns strongly for the greater good of human kind or that I spend significant amounts of time raising awareness of important issues. I'm certainly not a poster boy for changing the attitudes of people with too many shoes but lyrics like that do make you think.

It's at this point that I really don't know where to go with this article. Should I focus on the material nature of modern society and its obsession with having more stuff? Or should I mention a few important issues, like Human Rights Abuses,…

Kids today are smarter than their parents?

How often have you heard it said that kids today are smarter than their parents? I’ve heard it quite frequently in the media – even Dr Phil has said it. I say speak for your self. It’s not true and don’t let the media fool you.

Today’s kids may have access to more information that may give them more choices but in my experience, they only take in what they want to hear and still make stupid, uninformed decisions. Just like we used to at their age.

Like any cross section of people there will be exceptions. There are kids that are genuinely smarter, more mature and responsible for their age. However the vast majority know everything they need to know by the time they turn fourteen. They’re ‘adult’ enough to be responsible for all their own decision making so parents should just let them do what they please…right? Just like we thought at fourteen.

Don’t be fooled. Just because your son knows how to download MP3’s onto an ipod, or your daughter can chat to five friends at the same time on he…

TET.Life (The Extraordinary Tourist Life)

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