Top 10 Classic Animated Christmas Videos

Here are some videos I watched during Christmas time as a kid.  Enjoy!

10.  Donald Duck, The Hockey Champ

9. Donald Duck, Snowball Wars

8. Chip & Dale Christmas Tree

7. Claymation Christmas, Carol of the Bells

6. Claymation Christmas, Angels We Have Heard On High

5. Garfield Christmas, start at 6:10

4. Charley Brown Christmas

3. Nestor the Long-eared Donkey, part 1

2. Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer

1. Winnie the Pooh and Christmas Too

New Testament Videos

Just last summer I had an amazing experience.  I was chosen to be an extra for two scenes in the New Testament Videos for the very last day of shooting.  Earlier that summer I had seen a flyer calling for extras on a bulletin board at a church in Orem.  For whatever reason, I felt like I should visit the site and make a profile for the New Testament Projects.  I went to their website, filled out my information, took pictures of my face, and sent them in.  I waited the entire summer before I heard from the casting crew.  A week or two before the beginning of this semester, I received an email asking if I would like to be an extra for two scenes in two days.  Frantically, I got off work and organized a ride to the Jerusalem site in Goshen, Utah.  I couldn't believe it was happening and still I hesitate to believe that I actually went.  It was an extraordinary experience.  The best part about it was seeing the Jerusalem film site.  Walking through it was so surreal and wonderful.  I pretended I was a temple patron at the time of Christ.  I saw the man who played Christ and experienced the filming industry.  Most of the time we waited on the steps of the temple.  I fell asleep lying across several steps in front of the doors to the court of the women.  It was surprisingly comfortable.  And being dressed as a Hebrew woman with a scarf around my face, I felt as if I belonged there.  Looking across the the courtyard to the other sleeping or chatting extras, I took a trip across time and found myself in Jerusalem.  Almost everyone around me was dressed as a Roman guard, a Hebrew, a Pharisee, or a disciple.  I could almost believe that I was there.

Because of this experience, the Bible Videos mean a great deal to me.  I wish more people would share and watch them.  In the future I hope they will have more views and that they will be used for church education and for spreading the gospel.

Please share the videos and spread the word.

Here are some of my favorite videos:

Newest Christmas Video with the wonderful Piano Guys

Go and Sin No More

He is Risen

Jesus is Resurrected

The Savior Suffers in Gethsemane

Jesus Teaches a Samaritan Woman

PS: The two scenes I was in have not been released yet.    

Spotify

One of the greatest discoveries I made recently was Spotify. While Facebook stalking someone, I saw a Spotify box on his page.  I'd heard and seen the word Spotify in several other places before, so I clicked on the link to explore this unknown program.  It turned out to be a free music program that you can download onto your computer.  I downloaded it instantly once I figured out what it was and it has been a useful tool ever since. 

I am a huge music lover, if you have not discovered from my other post, and Spotify was a dream come true for me.  On Spotify you can listen to any song when you want (as long as they have it and they probably do) for as many times as you want.  You can create playlists, listen to other playlists, star your favorite songs for future use, listen to songs according to your mood, keep up-to-date on all new popular music and releases, and you can listen to your own music from your computer using Spotify instead of several programs at once. 

Spotify also shows you what all your other Facebook friends who have Spotify are listening to (unless they use the private session option.) I've learned more about my friends' music preferences and discovered new music since downloading Spotify. I found my new favorite band, Imagine Dragons, eight months ago while exploring similar artists. 

The only downside to Spofiy is the advertisements.  However, they are not as frequent as those on Pandora and someone of them are for Spotify itself, sharing useful tools and apps for the program.  But I'm grateful for the ads which make this program possible and will wait patiently as they play.

Look, something good can come from Facebook stalking!  : P

Sharing the Piano Guys

One of the greatest advantages of the internet is you get to share!!  Since Dr. Coyne mentioned The Piano Guys in one of her posts, I thought I'd share some pictures of their concert I attend during the summer.  (I was going to share a couple videos too but they will not upload for unknown reasons.  Blogger fail.)

But here's some of their Youtube videos instead!

My Favorite Piano Guys Video

The One that Always Makes Me Smile

The Song that Started it All in 2009

MoTab on YouTube

If you haven't heard already, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir has begun their own Youtube channel!  I'm so excited to see what videos and songs they post.  I am a choir nerd and I relish wonderful, power choir pieces.  Out of the videos they have posted on their channel thus far, this one is my favorite:

Pilgrim Song By Ryan Murphy

I'm not sure why, but this song helps me feel the spirit every time I hear it.

I hope the power of their music will convert people to the gospel of Jesus Christ!  

The Legend of Zelda

My favorite video game will always be The Legend of Zelda.  It even rivals Mario Party and Mario Kart which fall in the second and third slots.  As fun as they may be, they do not even rival the Zelda games.  

When I was in middle school, my brother got me into playing video games, particularly The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.  I played this game for an hour everyday after school until I beat it.  You may think that this is antisocial behavior, and perhaps it was, but my little Juli self needed the distraction.  

Life was hard for shy little me during middle school.  This game gave me an outlet that made me feel better about myself.  Whenever I beat a level I felt accomplished and proud.  

The game taught me persistence and patience.  Whenever you died you had to start at the beginning of that level, even if you died near the end.  I would sometimes become annoyed but then I would attack the level with a new determination.  I believe that playing video games, especially the Legend of Zelda games, contributed to my ability to stay on task and persist even when things became difficult and tedious.  

This video game helped me learn.  Many of the levels involved games that used observation and problem solving to get to the next level.  The levels contained long puzzles which involved memorizing and mental exercises.  It taught me to think quickly and strategically.

The story line of Legend of Zelda games usually involve acts of kindness.  The main character, Link, is fighting to rescue a princess and to save the people of Hyrule.  Along the way, Link is often asked to help people with their difficulties.  He puts aside his rescuing quest to assist various people in the land from finding chickens to saving lives. Zelda games are filled with prosocial acts.  The newest Zelda game includes awards for kindness called gratitude crystals.  When Link does something nice for someone, a gratitude crystal appears before them. You collect these as the game goes along.  Once you get a certain amount of crystals, you receive an award.

I love playing this game because of all the wonderful prosocial acts. It might be considered an aggressive prosocial game, but I believe that the acts of violence committed do not negatively influence the player.

If you are going to play any kind of one-player video game. I'd recommend the Legend of Zelda games.

Why do we cry? - Spoiler Alert

If you watch Downton Abbey and haven't seen the second season, be warned; this blog contains a spoiler.  There are no details but I may still give things away.  So if you haven't heard of the series, keep reading.  If you have, proceed with caution.

A few nights ago I watched an episode of Downtown Abbey season 2.  I was comfortably wrapped up in my blankets on my bed watching a TV show that, after a hard few days work, I well-deserved.  I couldn't sleep so I decided to distract myself for awhile.  But poor unsuspecting me did know what was in store in this episode.

One of my favorite characters died in a most sudden and distressing way.  I may have been PMSing or something, but the next thing I know, I was crying--really crying.  Quiet sobs shook my body and tears were actually running down my cheeks.  Mucus started dripping from my nose; I had to run to the bathroom to clean up.

I watched the rest of the episode in tears and then lay down to sleep.  And as you might guess, sleep did not come quickly.  I was too distressed.  Why did they kill one of the sweetest girls on the show!?!?

While I waited for sleep to come, I wondered why I had cried.  I had no connection to this person.  She wasn't even real so why should I feel such emotions at her death. It's not like my mother just died.  I have a few theories, and I'm sure the book for my media class would have some more that might explain my despair.

As I watched the show, I became attached to the characters.  I felt and cared about their pain, their happiness, their anything.  I became virtual friends with these fictional characters. At this girls death, I experienced and saw the pain her family felt as she died.  The circumstances in which she died were heart-wrenching.  She died after childbirth, leaving behind a daughter, a husband, and a family who depended on her for her love.  Suddenly she was stripped away from them. Along with her family, I felt their pain.  I sympathized with them and put myself in their place.  If my sister had just died in childbirth, leaving behind a husband with a newborn daughter to raise, I would have cried just as much.  That small portion of pain I felt while watching this character's death would become full-fledged and real if it were in my own life.  Not only did I feel for the characters but also for my possible future pain.  Some strange, masochistic side of me wanted to live their pain, to pretend as if it had happened to me.  The way people think, the way people imagine, is sometimes perverse.  In my mind I was imagining something horrible;  I was purposefully causing myself pain.

I cried in empathy for the characters. 

I cried in sympathy for myself, for the human race, and our inevitable struggles and pain.