We’ve mentioned Justin Kelly here quite a lot already, for good reasons: he’s a filmmaker from San Francisco and responsible for a whole bunch of great music videos of queer artists from the Bay area such as Gossip, Hunx And His Punks, the Younger Lovers, Hey Willpower and Alexis Blair Penney (check out his website Den Of Hearts for more about his work as a director). For Catch Fire he has put together a list of his five favourite YouTube moments, which have in common that they make you smile and feel awkward at the same time, although the qualities of awkwardness differ. Thanks Mr. Kelly!

1. “I Gorilla Press 100 lbs while ‘Strange Currencies’ Plays in the Background”

“I can’t remember who sent this to me but… I’m obsessed. This man ‘coordinated his movements with the music somewhat in a way that is somewhat pleasing to him.’ Um, okay, cool. I feel you. Note to self: check hair immediately after a workout.”

2. “Dancing with Bears”

“This video should make you feel good. To be young again, free, without responsibility… but for some reason it makes me want to cry. I plan to watch it over and over and over ’till a tear at last forms in the corner of at least one eye. And drops.”

3. “Live to Tell”

“Everyone wants to be the next YouTube sensation, including this man who decided to ‘be creative’ by tossing a wooden cross on the carpet of his apartment and lip-syncing to Madonna. I’m starting to see a theme here… people hungry for attention who think they’re entertaining or informative but they’re really just… clueless, insane, depressed. Something. Whatever.

4. “Latex Ball 2007 — Javier Ninja”

“This makes me uncomfortable.”

5. “Luxury Skin Care Haul”

“‘Haul’ videos, if you don’t know, are videos where girls shop ’till they drop then show off what they’ve ‘hauled’ to their fans of tweens who like to watch 10-20 minute videos of girls over explaining a simple blouse from Forever 21. Some of these videos have 1 million plus views and I’ve noticed that some of the more popular ‘haulers’ are now mentioning specific websites as though they’re being paid to Haul. Amazing. Work it. THEN — I stumbled across a male Haul video, which I’ve never seen… he’s ‘hauling’ expensive beauty products for 29 minutes. Yes, 29 minutes. I dare you to watch the entire thing. For some sick reason, I can — his monotonous voice, the way he reads directly off the label as though he knows what ‘laptic malic alphahydrocy acid’ really is, his black leather couch, his twinky skin and manicured eyebrows, and most importantly… how concerned he is about wrinkles even though he’s 18. I highly recommend watching his other videos, for example, his trip to NYC, of which the highlight was that ‘there were more Sephoras than in Los Angeles.’ Yes.”