Annandale video goes viral
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| Dodging traffic in Annandale: a screen shot from the video by Angelo Mike. |
That’s the same You Tube video Angelo made a couple of years ago and was posted on the Annandale Blog in December 2014. Angelo just recently reposted it on Reddit and it went viral. “Once something gets a little traction, it gets some momentum,” he says.
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| Angelo appears in the video as Annandale founder “John Borehead Annandale, whose brain was rotted by syphilis.” |
All that attention has led to stories about the Annandale video in the Washington Post, Esquire, and other news sites. Angelo says he even heard from people who wanted him to make a similar video for their city.
The less-than-two-minute video has been viewed over 1.257 million times as of May 18. Annandale, Angelo says in the voiceover, “functions as a funnel for the dregs of society,” and while the camera shows litter, a bottle of yellow liquid, and a dead rat in the street, he calls Annandale “this miserable ashtray of a town soaked with urine.”
“Clearly Annandale is not the worst place in the world,” says Angelo, a 31-year-old part-time security guard and videographer with 949 videos on his FlyingOverTr0ut channel on You Tube. The intent was just to “put comment to my frustration,” he says. “It’s a little bit silly. I want to make people laugh. I don’t believe in being mean about it. No one’s going to mistake this for a documentary.”
“The joke’s on me in the end,” he says, referring to the “kill me” text that appears on the screen at the end of the video.
Most of Angelo’s videos feature his interactions with his mom, Angela Mike, a feisty, opinionated Greek lady who loves to cook. He usually eggs her on in a voiceover, but she’s a good sport and has amassed her own bunch of fans on You Tube. “Sometimes she gets annoyed with me but she always ends up going for it. She’s always down to do anything,” he says. “People like her.”
Angelo actually only lived in Annandale for the past two years, although he spent his whole life in Northern Virginia (in Arlington, Falls Church, and Fairfax) and attended Bishop O’Connell High School and Marymount University.
He currently lives on Elan Court in Annandale, but has to move and is looking for someone who needs a roommate. This is because of another hilarious video he made about his horrible apartment. Titled “Welcome to the Shithole of 4456 Elan Court,” the video lets the viewer get up close and personal with the filthy toilet, glued-on doorknob on the front door, broken stove burners, and more.
The landlord didn’t think it was so funny, though, and is kicking him out. “She got negative and attacked me personally. She doesn’t have a sense of humor,” he says. “Yeah, it sucks.”
If he leaves Annandale, will he want to come back? Probably just to shop at the Dollar Tree, he says.
Before you all get all cheesed up to gather your pitchforks, you should really see his mom's reaction upon hearing they're making a my big fat greek wedding 2.
Young guy here… Just really didn't find it that funny. Just sounds like the dude has extrapolated some unique personal circumstances and compounded those on to some legitimate revitalization concerns to create a hyperbolized lens, which admittedly makes for attention grabbing media, not intended to be objective. He's created a fun-poking video that has sadly portrayed enough relatable negative instances to cohere the summed mosaic of limited groans. It's too bad this is what the face of annandale looks like to 1.25m viewers, but power to him, clearly this has been his most publicized effort and we're taking about it. Usually the trick is to make fun of your rival, not yourself though…
You sure do like big words
This one is two years old. I wish he would do a sequal and get some film of the homeless sleeping in the library, pothole laden crossroads, vacant commercial buildings and the taxi cabs that are parked all over the place. This is what you get with one party rule.
Yep, he totally needs to drive down Americana Dr at
about 8:30 on a weekday morning, and maybe he can also catch it when someone's eviction trash from the Avant Apts. is all over the sidewalks too, like it was this morning.
Certainly wish local politicians would take seriously the "Will Buy Your Junk Car" signs peppering every light pole in Annandale (and Fairfax County for that matter) – apparently "people" are being paid to remove them (our taxpayer money at work) and they are simply reinstalled in several hours! The phone number of the culprits appears on the signs – so the comment I keep getting about "we have to see them actually post the signs" from local politicians isn't holding water with me – they know who is doing this by looking at the phone number on the sign! This is littering in its highest form and needs to be stopped! And frankly I'm tired of seeing my taxpayer money spent removing these signs with no permanent solution being pursued!
I swear to g-d I am so sick of BoS members hiding behind attorneys skirts. There is not one iota of leadership evident on that board — not about zoning violations, overcrowded housing, services other than schools … No wonder many people are so eschewing the establishment. It's just too damn bad local elections are held on off years. Things would be much more interesting in presidential election years.,
I love the video and think it give a pretty clear picture of the current Annandale.
We would love to show Mr. Mike another side of Annandale. Check out the Westminster Shakespeare Festival tomorrow at Westminster School (Official School Page). Just down the road from the heart of town. It's beautiful. It's elevated. It's awesome. It's in ANNANDALE. We love our town, which has been our home for 54 years. Come see us tomorrow!!! #westshakespearefest
Hi Nancy, is this an indoor thing? looking for things to do today with the kid.
Quit an essay on the dump.
FWIW, I have a YouTube channel called "AnnandaleArts" that focuses on musical performances and events around Annandale. It has only about 190,000 views, but that shows plenty of interest in these events. You can see AnnandaleArts at https://www.youtube.com/user/AnnandaleArts