Youtube Show – PowerPop… An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture

Urban Rescue Ranch

This is another youtube channel that I have been hooked on. Any channel with people trying to help animals I usually will watch. Unlike Chandler’s Wildlife, there are no King Cobras, Crocodilians, Black Mambas, or many other reptiles. This guy takes in any animal that loses its mother, animals given up by people, and any lost ones that come in.

His name is Ben Christie (Uncle Ben) age 24. Right now he has a Kangaroo (saved from a Texas hunting range that charges hunters to hunt in a fenced-in area…which is disgusting to me), Prairie Dogs, Capybaras, goats, ducks, rabbits, deer, turtles, dogs, Opossums, chickens, and the most interesting one is a Rhea named Kevin. Kevin was going to be euthanized by a farm because he was so aggressive…Ben took him in with his other Rhea named Karen. Rheas are not usually aggressive at all. The rest of his Rheas are great…it seems Kevin just wants to inflict pain on Ben. Fans mailed riot shields and nerf swords for him to deflect Kevin’s bites.

I didn’t know what a Rhea was until I saw this. I thought Kevin was an ostrich or an Emu. He will terrorize any non-farm animal but will generally leave his fellow farm animals alone. He even chased a coyote out of the farm.

The animals have become just as big of interest as Ben has through this channel. People tune in just to see what new animals he has and how the familiar ones are doing. He keeps humor going through the videos. He has named his animals after rappers, politicians, characters (Darth Vader), and just whatever pops into his head.

He has joke titles for each of the 12-15 minute videos. Some examples are: Why I Fed a Beaver to my Prairie Dog, How to Hatch Rhea Eggs (I’m NOT the Father!?), How to Survive a Rhea Attack (Lawsuit Pending), Kevin and I go to Therapy?? (Extremely Emotional) *we also rescue ducks*…

The story of Ben Christie is interesting… when he was in college, people would send him animals without a home and he lived in a small house off campus and he would take care of them. He was in his senior year of Baylor University and he got a job at Oracle as a sales rep. He kept on receiving animals and thought he would film what he was doing. He started with Tik Tok and finally decided he was done with Oracle because he just wasn’t happy. He didn’t know how he was going to live because he wasn’t getting many views. The day after he turned in his two week notice he had a video to go viral. He then started his youtube channel and now around 2-3 years later has over 2.1 million subscribers.

He lived in Austin Texas but found a 3-acre property in Waco Texas and moved there. The small house was an old crack house. The property had old tires, junk, syringes, and everything else but he lived in a small camper and fixed it up. He started a not-for-profit shelter for animals. He is slowly building it up and his love for animals comes through.

I first noticed him on Chandler’s Wildlife when he visited. In the first episode, I watched…the Kangaroo (when he lived in a smaller house) escaped and he took off running through the neighborhood before Ben finally caught him. I was imagining if I was his neighbor looking at my window that day. A barefoot guy with overalls and a straw hat, complete with a staff chasing a Kangaroo came by my window…I would pause to think about what I just saw.

Sometimes Ben will go to downtown Waco and grab ducks from under the bridge. I was wondering what he was doing but a lot of the ducks are not wild. They were dropped off by pet owners who couldn’t take care of them anymore. He said they would be fine until winter came. He grabs a few and takes them back to his rescue.

A coyote killed one of his chickens during a drought so he captured it and gave it water because it was dehydrated. He ended up letting it go back into the woods. He is not licensed to keep coyotes so he called the authorities and they said they would come and euthanize or he could let it go… he took care of it and let it go.

The animals seem to appreciate all he does…except Kevin. You can tell if someone is genuine and Ben seems to be. I’ve read some articles about him and he has inspired a lot people to start small rescues to help out lost wildlife.

Ben has a very goofy sense of humor and his videos are edited really well so that he doesn’t lose your attention. He does this usually on an iPhone. I didn’t get him at first but I watched around 3-5 episodes and I haven’t stopped watching. The Urban Rescue Ranch

Prominent animals

Kevin

Karen

DaBaby

Poggers

Big Ounce…

Seeing this prairie dog makes me want one. When Ben pets and scratches him the prairie dog looks like he dies. So Ben has fun with this through a lot of videos.

Gort and Quandale Dingle

Queen

…and too many more to mention.

This is Ben Christie telling how he started.

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Chandler’s Wildlife II

I posted Chandler’s Wildlife before but that was a couple of years ago or more. I wanted to update his progress which is impressive. He has come a long way now. He took most or all of his youtube money (at one point he was drawing up to 6 million views per post) and bought 10 acres in Florida and has turned it into a reserve for private tours all for his animals. He also tells about what he has to go through to own these animals. Bite protocol, hurricane protocol, snake-proof room, and many licenses.

He has an owl, King Cobras, alligators, crocodiles, monitor lizards, Rattle Snakes, Black Mambas, Green Mambas, Inland Taipan (a single drop of venom can kill 100 men), and many more. If it is venomous…Chandler has it. He is around 24 years old and he acts like it but I mean that in the best way. He can be goofy but his love for these deadly animals is obvious. He has a ring of friends who also deal with venomous reptiles and they appear on each other youtube channels. These snakes are not venomoids…. they all have their venom glands and fangs. He does not believe in taking that away from them.

I have a huge fear of snakes…I’ve never even touched one but watching Chandler has made me respect them and want to know more about each of them. NO…I would not go out and get a King Cobra…I won’t even buy a corn snake! I just got the first reptiles in my life. I got two red ear slider turtles…no venom!

He built his 15-foot King Cobra named Kevin…a 16-foot enclosure so he is easy to see for guests and is not stuck in a small enclosure. Kevin is what drew the early viewers in. I’ve always been fascinated by King Cobras since I watched Riki Tiki Tavi as a kid. Kevin is pretty chill for a King Cobra…but he has a female named Justina who pretty much tries her best to kill Chandler every time he brings her out. She has chased him around before trying to corner him.

He educates as well as entertains. He drank King Cobra Venom to show that is NOT poison…it’s a protein and yes you can drink it as long as you don’t have mouth sores. It has to be injected to work and in your bloodstream. It’s the last video at the bottom. You can tell that he was influenced heavily by Steve Irwin. I wouldn’t compare them but Chandler has the same energy level and love for reptiles.

He can make you nervous free handling these dangerous animals. He does know what he is doing but if you look at the below video about the new enclosure…you see a bandage on his leg. While getting a new crocodile a few weeks ago he got into muddy water with one of them and he was bit by the crocodile. Not bad but more of a warning bite. If that Crocodile would have death rolled…Chandler would have one leg now.

He is incredibly goofy at times but you have to respect the love and care he gives these animals…most of them will not love him back. If I’m ever down in that part of Florida I will see if I can visit his place. He has really made it beautiful.

Kevin’s new enclosure

Justina…you will see her charging out of her cage at Chandler

Drinking King Cobra Venom

Magnet Fishing!

When I get home in the afternoon I go to my music room and sit at my computer with a couple of screens. I usually work on my posts, record a little, or I’ll watch a little Youtube. Youtube has started to replace TV for me in a lot of ways. I find the oddest things on there that I would never have dreamed of.

Magnet fishing seems like a lot of fun. I’ve seen people pull out a lot of junk but also guns, coins, and motorcycles every now and then. I started to watch a guy in the UK at first and he found a spot that he said was in a bad neighborhood. He pulled out guns and knives from different eras. He calls the police when he finds them.

One UK father and son found a safe with around 10,000 Australian dollars in it. They are trying to find the owners.

I saw a group pull out a live hand grenade… yes a live one. They had the bomb squad come down and detonated it. Many of the people that do this actually take the junk to the dump and get rid of it so it’s nice that they are cleaning some of the environment.

One Australian named Bondi has a popular channel that he goes all over and does this. He finds rings, safes, necklaces, guns, and much more. One group found a gun that helped convict a murderer.

If you decide to go…most likely you will find junk but you never know…I guess that keeps people going back to doing this.

No Nonsense Know How…. NNKH Youtube Channel

No this is not the name of a new or old band. It’s a youtube channel that I’ve been hooked on. As I’ve said before, my first car was a 1966 Mustang and when I was 16 it was the key to my universe. I was a traveling man always keeping the roads hot. If something went wrong with my car…I could always fix it with the help of my brother-in-law who knew about cars. He would not just fix something…he would show me how to do it and I would get it done with his help. I’m so thankful he didn’t try to take over…he taught and I retained most of it.

As far as cars go…once we got into the mid-90s…that all stopped as cars became complicated. My current position is Director of IT…but that doesn’t help jack s*** with modern cars. All the computer boards, chips, and sensors…they are so small under the hood you have to be a contortionist to change your oil now. Ok…let me get to the point of this youtube channel.

This guy named Chris will go to junk yards or where ever and find a car that hasn’t run in 20 years or so and spend some time on it…and make it run. That is amazing to me. Added to the entertainment value is his girlfriend Jen, her dog Gus, and a squirrel they saved named Leo. He usually picks older cars and I’ve been watching his channel for at least a month and a half now. I have an old 1984 Chevy Durango S-10-type truck that we used for trash mostly. It’s been sitting for 4-5 years and with the tips, I got from him…I got it at least started again.

In one episode he, Jen, and Gus fly to Las Vegas and buys a 1974 Grand Torino Elite sight unseen…it hasn’t ran in 15 years…he gets it running and they drive all the way back home to Pennsylvania in the car…fixing things as he goes.

Now…it inspired me to be on the lookout for my dream car…a junk one that I would like to fix up…a 1968-1972 Opel GT. I do have a mechanic friend so yes I do have some help. I would not do that on just youtube videos but Chris is an artist on cars. He doesn’t spend big money either…he doesn’t always throw money at problems. He also doesn’t buy supercars…he buys cars that ordinary people would buy at good prices. He is highly entertaining and very down to earth including Jen.

He also does this to boats, motorcycles, heavy equipment, and about anything with wheels. His videos are usually 45 minutes to an hour long. The trip to Las Vegas is a two-parter and it’s around an hour each. One Bulldozer that he gets running hadn’t been running since 1985!

The channel is Nononsenseknowhow

The Las Vegas Videos

The Plymouth Fury Video

The Caterpillar Bulldozer Video

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Chandler’s Wildlife

I’m taking a short detour from pop culture with this post so I do apologize but I wanted to share this. When I have time and get bored…which lately is rare since I’ve been busy at work…I watch Chandler’s Wildlife.

I ran across this guy’s youtube channel. Chandler Kamenesh works at a zoo or wildlife refuge. The guy is passionate about King Cobras . He personally owns two (Kevin and Justina) and he free handles all of the venomous snakes, alligators, and reptiles there including Rattle Snakes and Black Mambas. He has traveled to rescue King Cobras from danger. He recently went to Thailand to rescue 10 King Cobras locked in a concrete and wire housing. He uses his youtubes channel money for projects like that…

Chandler is in his early twenties and keeps you entertained by being somewhat goofy but I mean that in a good way. He genuinely loves reptiles and it shows. He has done this most of his life and is recognized as an expert in reptiles.

Once I started to watch one…I got hooked. Now when I have some downtime I will watch a new video post.

Like I said…Chandler can be goofy but he is serious and caring about these reptiles. The second video is much more serious and it shows him in Thailand rescuing the cobras.