Yasiin Dey forced fed like Guantanamo Bay

Yesterday, Yasiin Bey, aka Mos Def, shock the internet by deciding to volunteer himself in undergo an irregular procedure that most prisoners under hunger strike in Guantanamo Bay go through on a daily basis. The video is disturbing, but I did watch it in its completion and I wanted to share my thoughts about what I say.

First off, I commend Yasiin for his bravery to go about this procedure; even just going through a fraction of the process seemed challenging enough. It seems like he took part in this experiment to spread a message of awareness about how these detainees are treated, especially for those prisoners who are going through Ramadan, when members of Islam fast for the day.

When it comes to "Gitmo," most people know it's the place where the most dangerous terrorists are held. Despite the talks of the prison being shut down and prisoners relocated, this practices are still carried out and a lot of people have mixed reactions to what they've seen. I've seen a lot of anti-Islamic comments saying these prisoners deserved being tortured and their practices shouldn't be respected. On the other hand, most people defiled the inhumane act, saying that no one deserves to be treated like that, prisoner or not.

I agree with the later. Treating these people as "lesser beings" doesn't make us (USA) any better in our standing as those who enforce the laws and morals in this country (if there are any). If these prisoners can be treated in this fashion, imagine those who are innocent, but have been made out to be a public enemy by the government (Ex: Eric Snowden). At least someone decided to bring this procedure to light and sparked a dialogue about it. It takes a strong man to hold up a mirror to the behavior of those in power and show the rest of us what really goes on behind closed doors. Thanks you Yasiin for shining that light.

What are your reactions/opinions on this video?

-Video Vix[o]n

Short Films: Robot Tears

I watched these two shorts recently that involved robots or droids in them and they both have dark endings, so I decided to share them with you all.


Dr. Easy from Shynola on Vimeo.

For this short, the intentions of the robot meant well, but it goes to show that human trauma can't be
rationalized, even through logic and reasoning.


TONIGHT I STRIKE from Dan Gaud on Vimeo.

Though robots weren't the focal point, I like the futuristic feel to this short and though the ending sad, the main character reminded me of "Kick Ass" in his intentions. Really powerful.

What would you do with your own robot? I would make it assist in my video making, of course.

-Video Vix[o]n

Short Review: Inseparable

I'm not all that familiar with Benjamin Cumberbatch and his acting skills, though I heard great reviews about his show "Sherlock" and his performance in "Star Trek into Darkness" was extremely compelling. But, after watching this short that he starred in, which was released earlier this year, I have to say that I should been on the lookout for this British bombshell of an actor. Not only did he manage to portray twins, but the emotion that he put into the story made it emotional and amazing.

It couldn't even imagine how hard it must be to hear life-threatening news, and the fact that this man had a plan to assure his passing by using the loyalty of his brother was remarkable. I know there have been roles in other movies where one actor/actress has played two separate roles, but Cumberbatch did a good job portraying each character. I'll definitely be looking out for more of his work in the future.

-Video Vix[o]n

Short Review: Cul-de-Sac

Cul-de-Sac from Connor Simpson on Vimeo.

I've recently started watching more videos on Vimeo, as a way to gain some inspiration for my own work and take a visual break from Youtube, and I regret missing out on some of the amazing work that is on that site. With that being said, I watched this short film recently, which did a fantastic job with storytelling, minus the dialogue and mainly relied on the visuals to get its point across.

I have to admit that I didn't see the ending coming. I expected that the Black kid was automatically up to no good and that he would be caught by the cop, case closed. It's probably sad that I lead to that conclusion even before seeing the ending, but the director did a good job throwing a raw situation in another direction. I'm not sure if a situation like that would have happened in real life, but I'm pretty sure the Black kid in this case would have not made it home in one piece, if it were up to a itchy-fingered cop. But the main message I got from this is that you should always expect the unexpected and nothing is as it seems.

I can't wait to share more shorts that you've probably never seen before and be amazed with.

-Video Vix[o]n

Everyday I'm Vloggin'

Last month, I decided to do something new and take on the task of doing daily vlogs on my other channel "Vidvixvlogs" for the whole month, which I respectfully called "Vlog All May." On Youtube, there are many channels whose main focus is to post daily vlogs of themselves talking about their awesome day or something new in their lives. When I thought of doing this, I first thought of what would I talk about. I don't exactly describe my life as eventful; nonetheless, on May 1st, I posted my first day of this month long series.

DAY 1


Before I started this, I would hardly vlog, mostly due to me forgetting or not having anything to talk about. As the month went on, I found that it was easy to just pick up my phone and just talk about what was on my mind. I discovered that I had more to talk about then I had thought. Thirty days, and a scruffy beard later, I got through the month, happy with completing my goal.

DAY 31


It amazing what you can find out about yourself when you share each day with an audience. You go through the good and the bad and everyone hears about it. It's a modern day version of "The Truman Show," except you know when the cameras are rolling and there's no 24/7 loop. I don't know if I will be doing something like this again, but I do know now that each day is unique and worth sharing.  Life is never really boring, it's just a matter of seeing it through a different lens.

-Video Vix[o]n