Single Source for Writing

It’s not been an easy year for the boys in red, but in that true Bulldog spirit they manage to win the SEC Title and securing a place in the NCAA Tournament. Some teams get automatic bids and others get there on their strength of schedule and quality wins. Winning the SEC tournament insures the Georgia Bulldogs a spot in the Big Dance and now they will get a chance to continue this amazing run they are on.

All the weather related horrors going on in Atlanta right now, it was good to see our Georgia Bulldogs go against all of the odds and secure this place for the people of Georgia. It won’t be an easy battle and they will be playing tough teams every round, but the heart of this team can do it! I wouldn’t bet against these guys right now and I’m sure Xavier is well aware of what this team is capable of. Xavier will be the first test for the Georgia Bulldogs and it should be interesting to see how well that spirit and determination goes when they have to play outside of the borders of Georgia.

Dennis “Fulton” should be very proud of this team. The CBS announcers that gave Georgia no shot at winning the game against Arkansas, couldn’t even get our coaches name right. They referred to him as Dennis “Fulton” and finally would correct it later as Dennis Felton. Just let them keep talking coach, they will know who you and your team are very soon! Felton has done a tremendous job with the talent he has been handed and the guards of Gaines, Woodberry and Humphrey have provided great chemistry for this team and factoring in the big guys, it’s just became a well oiled machine in Athens. I really like this team’s chances in making more noise in the NCAA Tournament and they just need to take care of the first job in front of them now and that is Xavier. Go DAWGS, the state of Georiga is behined you now!!!

I’m not sure how many of you know about tarby worm trees, but I have two of them behind my house. I got them about 10 to 12 years ago and they were less than a foot high each. About a decade later they stand about 20 to 24 feet high and supply me with a good bit of tarby worms twice a year.

A tarby worm is just like a catepillar, but they don’t have the fuzz or hair-like bodies. It’s just a smooth surface to their bodies and they are black with bright green markings on them. They are excellent for fishing and you can catch catfish, bass, crappie and bream (pronounced brim) with them. All of the fish in my local area of Canton, Georgia just tear them up when they see a tarby worm in the water.

So where does the tarby worms come from? Every year when the leaves fill out on the tree, they will be white blooms that come on the tree too. These blooms attract moths and the moths will come lay their eggs on the tarby worm trees. It doesn’t take the eggs long to hatch and soon you will have baby tarby worms on your tree. It takes them about 4 to 5 days to become good fish bait. It’s important that once you see the baby tarby worms you make plans to go fishing in the next 5 to 8 days. Normally after about the 8th day, the tarby worms have cleared all the leaves off of the tree and they vanish. I think by the middle of July my leaves on the tarby worm trees will be completely gone. They will grow back again and about 8 to 10 weeks later, you will normally get a 2nd crop of tarby worms during the fall. So you can plan another trip back to the lake and fish with your tarby worms again!

It’s not too hard to find the popular song from Aladdin A Whole New World being sung by Youtubers over at You Tube. Youtube has been a great place for amateurs to sit in front of their webcams and sing some of their favorite songs. You can often find dozens or even sometimes as many as 100 different versions of a popular song being sung at YouTube. So it wasn’t too big of a surprise to see so many different versions of a great song like A Whole New World being sung on one of the most popular places for uploading videos.

YouTuber #1

YouTuber #2

YouTuber #3 (only 12 years old)

YouTuber #4

YouTuber #5

So what do you think of these YouTubers? Which YouTuber did the best job with the song A Whole New World? I’m sure when this song was chosen to be used for the movie Aladdin, nobody would have ever thought so many different people would be singing this song on the internet, for people all over the world to hear and see. I think they all did a good job and did you notice that YouTuber #3 was only 12 years old! It’s amazing to see all these young girls with the talent they have and just singing the song in their own way. I think that 12 year old might have a future in the singing business, because her video was as good as any of the other girls and they all appear to be older than her. Please choose which one you like the best and explain why that girl’s version was better than the others. If you can’t just pick one, then feel free to pick 2 of the videos that you think were the best. Be sure to point out anything that a certain You Tuber did and why you liked or disliked that.

Now how do you think the You Tube Sensation Alex would compare to these girls above? Alex is 15 years old and I would guess that some of the girls above are younger, older or perhaps the same age as Alex is. Well it just so happens that Alex recently recorded a version of A Whole New World and we can listen to Alex’s version and see if she does anything better than the YouTubers above or did someone above do a certain thing or part of the song better than the Sensation from You Tube did?

Alex Sings A Whole New World

Did Alex do better than any of the You Tubers above? Does Alex match up with them and does just as good as they did? Did Alex do better than your favorite YouTuber from the 5 girls that sang A Whole New World above? What could Alex have done better for her version of A Whole New World? Please be sure to share any comments, suggestions, advice or ideas that you might have for any of these girls performing that famous song from the Aladdin movie. I’m sure they all would appreciate an honest opinion or review on the way they performed A Whole New World.

Now to be fair to all the girls in this post of mine, none of them knew they would be compared to other YouTubers when singing this song. Not even the YouTube Sensation Alex knew I was going to be using her video to compare her version of this song, with others that had a video of this same song.

What’s great about YouTube is that it allows people to just sit in their bedrooms or a room in their house where they feel comfortable. They can be all alone and just sing away into their webcams and then they have the ability to upload their videos where 1 or 2 people might see it, a few dozen might see it, hundreds, thousands and in some cases even 1 million people could see a video that they did in the comforts of their own homes.

I applaud all of these girls in this post and to all the other boys, girls, men and women that upload videos of their self singing in a place as popular as You Tube. Some of the people that watch these videos don’t always leave the nicest comments, but when you do find that one complement for your video, I’m sure it just makes your day! I applaud all the YouTubers around the world that upload and share their videos for us all to see each and every day.

It truly is a whole new world for You Tubers!

The Atlanta Hawks was not taking time off the past weekend, where we got to see the best of the best in the NBA compete in the rookie challenge, skills competition and the All Star Game. They didn’t have their focus on all the great athletes in New Orleans, but was looking out west toward California. The Sacramento Kings to be specific and they was able to bargain with the guys in purple for their talented point guard Mike Bibby. Bibby has been injured for most of the season and has recently returned from his hand injury that kept him off the court for most of the season. The Hawks gave up four players (Shelden Williams, Tyrone Lue, Anthony Johnson, Lorenzen Wright) and a 2nd round draft pick for the 2008 NBA Draft which will be held in late June. In return, the Atlanta Hawks get a point guard that is ready to start for this team and should help the Hawks make the playoffs.

The Eastern Conference teams have a much easier path to the playoffs; than the Western Conference teams and the move to acquire Mike Bibby from the Sacramento Kings now makes the Hawks a favorite to grab one of those 8 spots for the Eastern Conference teams. Fans in Atlanta should be excited to finally have a veteran point guard steering the ship with all the talented athletes like Josh Childress, Marvin Williams, Solomon Jones, Salim Stoudamire, Al Horford and the most talented guy in the league Josh Smith. Mike Bibby’s long range game will do wonders for the Hawks, as Joe Johnson can now spend more time on the bench for the Atlanta Hawks. Hopefully the Hawks will find a taker for Joe Johnson and bring in more talent to help this Hawks team. Joe Johnson can still be a valuable piece to this team, but he will never be “the piece”. He just hasn’t got the basketball IQ or talent to be a leader on a team. If the Hawks continue to look for Joe Johnson as the top weapon on this team, they will just continue spinning their wheels. Bibby has never been known to be a vocal leader, but if he will take control of things in Hotlanta and Joe Johnson can be used less on the court, the Hawks will be making some noise this spring in the playoffs.

Welcome to Atlanta Mike Bibby! Goodbye Joe Johnson, because this trade signals the end of our one on one game here in Atlanta and now we can play team basketball with a real point guard in charge! Just do like you did in the All Star Game Joe, move out beyond the arc and wait for the pass!

Here is the YouTube Sensation singing I Don’t Love You (by My Chemical Romance).

Nice job there Alex!

If you like this video there are more you can see on my blog here under “Alex YouTube”. You can often see Alex in front of her webcam singing or just talking it up. In the above video you can see the You Tube Sensation show another one of her many talents and that’s picking them strings on the guitar. There are more videos of Alex with her guitar you can check out too!

If you have any comments, ideas, suggestions or requests, please leave a reply here and I’m sure Alex will see them!

There are more great videos I will be posting with Alex singing and you can judge for your self and see just how talented she really is! How does this YouTube Sensation stack up with the current contestants competing on American Idol? Would Alex get your vote if she was to ever appear on American Idol? Stay tuned and I will continue to show you more videos of Alex and you can see why there is so much buzz over there at YouTube for Alex!

Teenagers (My Chemical Romance)

The YouTube Sensation Alex is steadily moving along over at You Tube cranking those videos out. It’s really impressive to see Alex working her way through school and still having time to give her You Tube fans the chance to see new videos. You just have to believe that this sweetheart south of the border will be doing something much bigger; than just uploading videos over at YouTube one day. I have enjoyed adding her videos to my blog and it’s always fun to come over here and blog about the You Tube Sensation.

A Modern Myth – 30 Seconds To Mars

Now some of you have sent me nice messages about doing a great job with Alex’s videos. Do I really deserve any credit? Alex has made all the magic happen from her home in Mexico. She gets in front of her webcam and creates the magic and all I am doing is adding her videos to my blog and a few words around them. I did suggest a few songs for Alex at one time and she actually did 1 singing video of my requests. While I’m not too familiar with some of the songs Alex chooses to sing, it’s always funny to hear a song that she has just sung being played on the radio. I hear it come on and I know it sounds familiar and then realize its a song that Alex has done! So as much as some of you are learning about Alex, I am getting the chance to hear songs, that normally I might not listen to. So the songs you hear her singing are her choice or a request from one of her fans at YouTube.

The Kill – 30 Seconds To Mars

Another nice performance from Alex!

Isn’t the internet great? Years ago, someone like me living in the United States (Georgia) might not ever get the chance to hear about someone like Alex. Well I might get to hear her when she’s out there producing music, playing an instrument, composing songs or singing them; but would never have this early insight to a star in the making. Will Alex be really famous one day in North America? I don’t think no one has the answer to that, but its hard not to think that the music industry will not one day find a place for Alex to be very successful. It might be something Mexico gets to keep all for their self or maybe the folks living in the USA (like me) or people on the other side of the world will get the pleasure to hear the You Tube Sensation. I am greatful that I get to post all of these great videos by Alex and I never take it for granted. Who knows how much longer we get to enjoy Alex from her webcam in Mexico, but for now me and people all over the world can enjoy her talents and it’s all because of the internet!

I will be working real hard to try and get more of these great videos up from Alex. So maybe you won’t have to wait as long for the next great video from that girl in Mexico that just creates magic, when she’s exposing her self from her webcam!

Keep up the great work Rocio Alejandra!

What frozen treat do you like best to eat? Is there a popular ice cream store or fast food restaurant that you really like? I don’t mind a good ol fudge milk shake from time to time. In fact, it would be nice to have a milk shake right now. I know it’s still winter, but I am one of those weird types. I crave ice cream and milk shakes in the winter time and rarely eat them in the hot dog days of summer.

I have found an ice cream I really like. It’s Birthday Cake ice cream and I can’t recall who makes that off the top of my head. It comes in a yellow box, so maybe you know the company or brand I’m talking about that packages their ice creams in yellow? Its really good if you have never tried it. Its basically vanilla ice cream with little chunks of birthday cake in it. You also see some colors and that might be from birthday cake icing. It’s perfect for anybody that you might know, that has a birthday coming up. See if you can find it and you will see its the hit of the party! I think it goes good with plain potato chips too. There is just something about eating something cold and sweet and then getting a salty taste in your mouth. Once you eat a few potato chips and have that salty taste in your mouth, then go back and eat some more cold ice cream. It might sound like a strange combination, but the taste buds love it!

I think I will go ice cream shopping soon and might try a new brand if someone can give me a good suggestion on one that you think I might of not tried yet. Please go out and look for the company that has the yellow box and see if you can find the Birthday Cake Ice Cream. Give that a try and let me know what you think. Its really good!

The YouTube Sensation Alex gets back to her singing ways from her webcam in Mexico. She is singing a Mandy Moore song that is called Its Gonna Be Love. I don’t recall hearing this song, but I did find a video clip of Mandy singing with clips of the movie A Walk To Remember. I thought I would post both videos and judge for your self how close is Alex to a superstar like Mandy Moore.

Its Gonna Be Love by Alex

Mandy Moore Singing Its Gonna Be Love

So what did ya think?

I think the first thing you notice is the power and strength behind Mandy Moore’s voice. However, Alex does a good job by not going the Mandy Moore route and puts her own thing on the song. You constantly hear Randy, Paula and Simon saying that on American Idol. A lot of singers try to mimic or just copy what the original artist did with the song. YouTube Star Alex would have made the American Idol judges proud! I know you guys are out there Simon, Paula and Randy; so what did you think? Is Alex American Idol material?

If the producers from the movie A Walk To Remember ever want to put out a sequel or part 2 to the movie, I think they could use Alex as the next Mandy Moore. I think she is well on her way and you can start mentioning the young YouTube Sensation; who is still only 15 years old, with the likes of a powerhouse singer like Mandy Moore.

This was a great song choice by Alex! I think this song fits well into the type of songs Alex can really pull off. Keep up the good work Rocio Alejandra! (better known as Alex from You Tube)

The talented Ms. Alex over at YouTube has changed her look! She is now sporting a new hair-do and talks about it over at You Tube. The YouTube Sensation even discusses the color of her hair and you will have to watch the video and see if she is planing on adding some color to her natural brown hair look. Should Alex get her hair green? Purple? Red? Orange? Yellow? Blue? Pink? Lime green with purple poka-dots? Ok, that last one was just attempt of me trying to be funny, nobody in their right mind would go with lime green and purple dots on their hair, but if you know someone that fits that description, then please send me the pic!

Alex also talks about high school and let’s the Youtubers know what’s going on with her right now. So if you’re ready to see the new hair-look, then just look at the latest video of the You Tube Sensation from YouTube.

Alex’s New Hair Cut

So what did ya think?

It’s a nice new look for the You Tube Sensation. Maybe she won’t pull a Britany Spears and get it all cut off. I think Alex has a better head on her shoulders than the Spears Sisters do.

If you want to see more of Alex’s videos, feel free to go back through my blog here at Single Source Writing and see over 25 different videos that have been released by Alex. I will also be keeping everyone up-to-date with new videos that Alex will be posting in the future on YouTube. It’s been fun watching Alex upload all of her videos from her home in Mexcio to the YouTube Network. I believe when it’s all said and done, Alex will be glad she uploaded all of these great videos at YouTube; because it’s just a matter of time before someone discovers the YouTube Sensation from Mexico! Stay tuned so you can continue to watch a star in the making… 

The latest video of the You Tube Sensation from Mexico gives a song by Fergie a try. Alex gets back to her singing over at YouTube and the name of this song is Big Girls Don’t Cry. I’m not up-to-date on all the songs by Fergie, but I see Fergie has some other notable songs like London Bridge, Fergalicious and Clumsy.

Big Girls Don’t Cry by Alex

So how did she do? I thought she did great! The title of her video over at YouTube reads: “My First Attempt of Big Girls Don’t Cry by Fergie”. Just imagine what her 2nd attempt might sound like?

Normally when I add one of Alex’s songs to my blog here at Single Source Writing, I notice she doesn’t have anyone linking to her video over at You Tube. You can check and see what the top 5 websites are for videos that link to You Tube videos. When I added Alex’s song Big Girls Don’t Cry, I noticed there were already 5 websites linking to the video. I think it’s just another sign at how the YouTube Sensation is starting to gain in popularity. Other notable You Tube stats that I see right now is that 71 comments have been left and this video has been added to “favorites” 16 times. If you haven’t seen many of Alex’s videos then please go back and look through them here at Single Source Writing. I have a subject heading on the right-hand side of the page (Alex YouTube) so you can quickly see all the videos she has over here. Subscribe to her videos over at YouTube and you can see some of the latest videos she is putting out these days. She’s been really busy and is in the middle of her first year of high school, so the videos are a bit slow right now, but Alex never seems to forget about her fans over at YouTube!

I think one of Alex’s strongest talents (when it comes to singing) is how she doesn’t over-sing a song. Many amateurs and especially the people putting out videos over at You Tube just over-sing songs. It’s best to stay within your vocal range and sing the song in your own way. The young You Tube Sensation from Mexico seems to always have the right speed, no matter what song she is singing.

It’s been a great year of 2007 and covering Alex’s videos to this point. I look forward to bringing you more videos and updates on Alex over at YouTube and see just where this young sensation goes from here. I can still remember how excited I was when Alex gave me permission to put up her videos here at Single Source Writing. So to reflect back on that time, I thought I would once again show the video, where Alex is talking about appearing on Single Source Writing.

June 15, 2007 (Alex Talks About Coming To My Blog)

The YouTube Sensation Alex recently posted a new video over at Youtube.com. She had a message for all the people out there that was “EMO” hating. My first thought was “why is so many people hating that muppets character?”. Well it didn’t take me long to see I was getting “EMO” confused with the lovable character “ELMO”.

As you can see no one could hate “ELMO”, because he loves you!

So who are these ”EMO” people that Alex is talking about and why do people hate them? I had to do a search at Google and see what information I could find. This is one small description I found:

“Emo is a type of music. Short for emotional. However, a lot of people have taken beyond the music and turned it into a way to dress.”

That is just one of the million definitions I found on the word Emo. Emo is viewed at in many different ways by many different people. It seems that it mostly involves young people, wearing dark clothes, piercings all over the body, and are often depressed in some sort of way. I found a lot of websites debating just what emo was and the differences go on and on. I did ask my 13 year-old nephew and he was very familiar with the term. So I guess it’s just one of those things the younger crowd know about.

Alex Calls Out the Emo Haters

Alex seems to have touched on a hot topic. There was 82 comments on this video at YouTube last time I checked. It seems a lot of people have a lot of strong comments on the topic of emos.

Alex is really busy in school and doing other things right now. I will try to put up more videos soon and we can continue to watch Alex work her way through high school and whatever else might be out on the horizon from this talented teen from Mexico.

***For the record Alex was talking about Emo and not “Elmo” haters. So everyone (including Alex) loves Elmo from Sesame Street!

“Sunny day – Sweepin’ the clouds away,
On my way to where the air is sweet.
Can you tell me how to get, how to get to Sesame Street.

Come and play, everything’s A-OK
Friendly neighbors there that’s where we meet
Can you tell me how to get
How to get to Sesame Street”

Alex talks about her first day of school, the possibilities of a new band, and the school uniforms. The young You Tube Sensation gets a taste of her first day of high school and she sounds like she is excited for what the future might hold.

Alex’s First Day of High School

Nice video Alex!

Now I didn’t like when the teachers made us stand up in front of the class and do anything. It seems Alex didn’t mind standing up and telling about her self. I guess she doesn’t mind the spotlight and her fame on You Tube is probably getting her adapted to performing or speaking in front of others.

It seems Alex’s music taste is right in line with what everybody else is listening to. After watching the American Music Awards last night, I was amazed at just how many songs Alex has chosen to sing that were up for awards last night. The song Umbrella by Rihanna and Justin Timberlake’s What Goes Around were just a couple of songs that were performed or won awards last night. I had never listened to these songs before Alex had sung them, so she was the first one I heard perform these songs. After hearing the original artist sing them, I much rather hear Alex perform these songs than Rihanna or Justin Timberlake.

A couple of more things that caught my eye at the American Music Awards were Carrie Underwood and Chris Daughtry. These were two people that got their start or big break from the popular tv show American Idol. They were both racking up awards last night and just pretty much stealing the show from all the other talented artists that are really big right now. There are no doubts that American Idol is fast becoming an engine or platform, where musicians can get a tremendous boost to their musical careers. Kelly Clarkson (which Alex sings some of her songs) is another good example of just how her fame sky rocketed, after winning the top spot on American Idol. You don’t even have to win; to benefit from the show either. Many talented singers fell just short of the judge’s vote on American Idol, but other people took notice and some of the 2nd place finishers have done just as well as the winners from American Idol.

Many of Alex’s YouTube fan base often comment that she should be on American Idol. I just wonder how far Alex would go, if she had the chance to compete on the show. I’m not sure what the rules are and if a citizen from Mexico could actually appear on the show, because after all, it is called “American” Idol. While the show might have an American name, it is watched in many other countries and has a world-wide fan base. Some of the other networks have even tried to mock the popular show, but no matter how hard they try; American Idol appears to stand out from the crowd.

I think it would be a good idea for one of the Mexican Networks to try and do something similar as American Idol. The “Mexican Idol” or whatever the producers decide to call the show could use Alex to get them started. I think she would make a great first champion or maybe even be someone that just worked with the show. Alex is interested in more than just singing. She likes playing instruments and composing music and would be a gem of an employee to have, if anyone in Mexico did have desires of creating an “Mexican Idol”.

For now Alex will be tackling high school and meeting a lot more new friends in her bigger school. It should be interesting to see just what direction the YouTube Sensation takes as she winds her way through school. I’m sure the opportunities are going to be more abundant, as more and more people get a taste of all her talents. I just wonder how Randy, Paula, and the famous Simon would judge her, if she did have the chance to perform on American Idol.

AlexYouTubeFanClub@yahoo.com

Have fun in high school Alex! More posts on Alex’s high school days and more will becoming soon!

Is there a place that has pool tournaments in your area? I was just wondering what some other pool players might do, before they go shoot in a pool tournament. Do you practice up a lot on your billiards, before you go play in a big tournament? I always try to get a lot of practice in, but sometimes it’s hard to do. There is a big pool tournament close to where I live at; that will be this Saturday (October 27th). First place will be $500 and only B and C players are allowed to play in it. That means they will be no A or really good players in this tournament. The B Players will give the C Players an extra game when they face each other.

This tournament is going to be at Johnny Archer’s pool hall. He’s a real famous pool player and has won a lot of big tournaments. I don’t think Johnny will be at this one, because I believe the U.S. Open is going on right now for pool players. It’s the best of the best competing in that one. I have a cousin that is trying to talk me into going to play in this tournament Saturday, but I haven’t got in the practice to play in any tournaments, much less one that will be this big. It’s not often we have pool tournaments around here for that big of a pot. I will have to pass on this one and maybe prepare for the next one they will have.