So begins each video from the rising YouTube star known as Adventure King 1000. Every time I hear that line I know I’m in for a special treat — whether it be of the more traditional variety in the form of candy and snack reviews of the kind made famous by his father, cameraman, and master of ceremonies Brian Hammons (who fans of this site would recognize as our longtime friend and collaborator over on reviewtheworld.com); or the sort of treat that comes by way of new sights for the eyes and sounds for the ears — and yes, sometimes smells that the mind all too easily conjures up when lurking with this crew among the desolated and forgotten flotsam that is the by-product of failed capitalism, changing economic landscapes, and the slow destructive hand of time.
This past year was an incredibly productive one for the channel, and frankly I’ve been amazed at all the different worlds this kid’s creativity has led him out to explore (and conquer.) Computer animation, music videos, abandoned retail exploration, food reviews, gaming reviews, IRL streaming, advanced video and image editing — his shear output and commitment to the channel have been amazing. And, from one father to another, hats off to Brian for no doubt being the inspiration and facilitator for so much of this stuff. Truly some of his best work this year has been showcased on the Adventure King’s channel.
In years past I’ve done a few “Top 10” listicles highlighting my favorite Review the World videos and articles of the year, but this time after watching AK’s 2021 wrap-up video I wanted to showcase his work over on this site, to introduce you to one who I think is an amazing new talent on the vlogging scene, and whose work is only just beginning to shine at its full potential. I can’t wait to see what this year has in store.
Join me then, as I walk through some of my personal favorite videos from Adventure King 1000 in 2021. I didn’t rank these, as that wasn’t what I was going for with this list. They’re shown roughly in date order, from earliest to most recent. I hope it gives you a sense of why I like the channel so much.
Abandoned White Castle - Cincinnati, OH
I read recently that White Castles came about after the book The Jungle by Upton Sinclair caused nationwide outrage over poor sanitary practices in the U.S. beef industry. The owners of the chain wanted to ensure the American public that their meat was safe and prepared in a clean environment, and so they chose the color white to symbolize purity and cleanliness. The castle was chosen as a symbol of strength and security. Whatever the case, I have always loved sliders and really lament the fact that there aren’t any slider chains where I live.
News of the virus in China had already begun to circulate late last year. The videos and stories coming out of Wuhan were quite terrifying. People being welded into their apartments to prevent them from leaving. Bodies being secretly cremated en masse by the authorities. Sick people being burned alive. You have to wonder now if any of that had any basis in reality. I have come to distrust the news, both mainstream and alternative.
Small businesses are an unaccounted for casualty of 2020. The vast majority cannot survive indefinite periods of marginal revenue due to generalized fear or service restrictions. The money that would have gone to them are instead funneled to large businesses and the mega-rich like Bezos. At least there has been some kickback with regards to people being put out of their homes because of an inability to pay rent (and that may change). But not much has been offered to small businesses except for loans — there is no serious talk of debt relief for them or for people put out of work by the virus. So the best case scenario is to emerge from a couple of years of reduced earnings with a mountain of crushing debt.
To be fair that is, perhaps, a lack of leadership that can be blamed on Trump. But nothing new in terms of policy is being offered by the Biden administration. There are no solutions proposed other than the soft mandate of vaccines that have undergone minimal and hurried testing and claim to do something no other vaccine in history has ever successfully done, which is inoculate against a coronavirus. We are being asked to be guinea pigs in a scientific experiment that enriches big pharmaceutical companies, in order to fix a problem that the government created, with the threat that our lives will never return “to normal” unless we comply.
I thought this was worth highlighting from my listening statistics for this year.
No surprise there. I discovered her work in April and became a huge fan over the course of the year, as I mentioned once before.
But in the top 0.05% of listeners?
That surprised me a little.
I’m gonna go ahead and say that I am the NUMBER ONE Blossom Dearie fan on Spotify. I don’t think that anybody will dispute me on that.
🌹🤴🏻
I also “discovered” this song. People are always trying to copy me. Thank you, Spotify, for pointing out that I am a trend setter, cool hunter, and arbiter of taste. I always thought as much.
1,491 minutes. That’s just a little over 24 hours — one full day of listening. I wonder which day of 2020 should count as Blossom day? Not a bad tribute to a superb performer; another one of my favorites that I’ll never get to see live.
