Without Steve Jobs we, and many others in countless industries would not have been able to accomplish and be where we are today.

Our mother raised us on Apple computers, and we barely remember life without innovations Steve Jobs helped bring to the world.

This is a substantial moment to reflect on how one man played such a pivotal role in not just one industry, not just one country, but nearly all industries, and the entire world on every level from entertainment to communication to technological and creative innovation.

He has forever changed the world, and it’s now all on us to ensure he is not forgotten in future generations. We have lost a giant.

Thank you Steve Jobs.

YouTube recently brought us out to London to be mentors at their NEXT UP camp.  Here is a vlog as only as could have made as we experienced the sights of London for the first time.  

This video was posted on our 2nd channel http://www.youtube.com/thefinebros2 where we hope upload more vlogs every week! 

September 21st, 2004  -  We uploaded our first official web video.
Every year on this date we pause to reflect on how far we’ve come.  Since last year we have seen our content explode in a way we never thought possible, as we hit major milestones of a million subscribers on YouTube off the huge success of “Kids React” a show where our passion lies in championing having opinions and individuality from a young age, and being able to learn that from the next generation.  We have big plans in the coming year, branching the content out to Teens, and hopefully Elderly and Parents as well.  We hope to have even bigger news for the series before the year is out.
Not too many have been making content this long and found success, and for those of us who have stuck it out since before there was YouTube, before the thought of making a living on independent content online was something remotely realistic, we all know it’s been a long road. But we’re also very aware despite the 7 years we are still in the infancy of this medium.  We remain excited for what is to come, hoping to get the opportunity to usher in new ways entertainment can be created even in TV and Film in a much more personal and interactive way for the people who got us here and who we have never lost sight of…all of you…the viewers…who got us here.
We close on a more solemn note. As last week, one of our dearest childhood friends Andrew, passed away. 
When we were kids, we made movies. Back then, we’d rope friends to help even though the movies were awful, the hours were long, and barely anyone would ever see them. One such friend was our next door neighbor Andrew.  He would always help us shoot our old films, act in them, do whatever we asked of him, and he did so with a smile. We were lucky enough to remain friends into our adult life, watch him succeed in his career, and even this passed year, watch him get engaged and have a son.   We were so happy and proud of him getting himself out to California and really living his life to the fullest.
The shock and pain is deep, and all we can do is share with you our thoughts of one of our oldest friends, who at the very beginning of our dreams was there supporting us and he never stopped. His enthusiasm and love of life is something that will stay with us. We share this with all of you today on our web anniversary as he is part of our story. We never could be where we are today without friends like Andrew, and friends like all of you. 
Andrew, we considered you a brother in our family, and we will miss you and remember you like our brother for the rest of our lives.
To everyone, your support means a great deal to us and we hope you realize it.  Thank you for not giving up on us for 7 years.  We will keep creating, you ain’t seen nothing yet.
Benny & Rafi Fine
We will miss you Dru.

When I was a kid, baseball was my life.

Growing up in such a stringent religious environment, baseball was that escape for me even at a very young age. Anyone who loves baseball or went to games as a kid knows there is nothing more magical, and nothing you want more than to get a baseball from one of the players. It’s something I wanted more than just about anything.

On a night in old Yankee Stadium against the Texas Rangers, a little known player on the Rangers named Monty Farris threw me a ball during batting practice. I still remember the elation I felt, it stands out as one of the happiest moments of my entire life, there with my Dad, getting a ball.

I am not alone in the sorrow so many of us feel today with the aftermath of the fan who fell at the Rangers/Athletics game due to it hitting so close to home for all of us.. not just sports fans, but the core of life itself. Family, the almost hyper excitement and magic things can be when you are a kid, and how much your parents want to create these moments for you.

When you break down the scenario.. the dad wanting to get a ball for their kid at the ballgame, we’ve all been there. We all know especially now as adults, knowing when you, or if you have a kid, we’d all want to do the same thing. Get a ball, reach for a ball just like this situation, to see it end in tragedy has hit me hard.

There isn’t much else to say despite the pain I find myself feeling. This hits to the core of who we are are people. Family. Excitement. Magic. Imagine what happens to this poor little boy, having to witness this happen to his dad, I can’t even imagine.

In this moment all I can remember is being a little kid, wanting to do anything for a ball.. and it makes this tragedy so close and so personal for myself and so many others writing articles on this today that prompted me to want to write as well.

Life is precious. And I wish horrible events such as this is not the way to remind us all of that fact.

There will be a memorial fund for Shannon Stone, the firefighter and father who passed away. Here is the link to donate

Benny

As most of you know, a congresswoman was shot today in Arizona during an event at a grocery store to bring out her constituents to discuss issues face to face and someone (and possibly a second person) opened fire, gravely injuring her and killing six people. It’s a lot to take in. 

I feel like people around my age and younger don’t have a full realization of the horrors of the world and how things like this happen all the time in other countries. But here we are, an elected official in public with her voters in an attempted assassination here in the United States, and it has angered me so much that I am talking about it to want to remember how I’m feeling and to express disgust with humanity at large and how we seem to stay so silent about the issues, problems, and outright hate that continues to exist right here in America.

Racism is rampant, people are actually voting to TAKE AWAY rights from gay people and it makes me sick. Politics in recent memory has been this line in the sand, liberal or conservative, Republican or Democrat with big news sources and politicians themselves having rock star mentalities vs. talking about issues and looking to better the country which in turn is just adding to the anger the country has been feeling in these times, with aim taken at politics in an unhealthy way.

It’s becomes an almost blind hate for a politician or even another person that isn’t in their political party, or disagrees with you on a hot button issue. The call comes out that if you want change, or disagree with them then take action AGAINST them and there is this HATE for elected officials doing public service and it’s been scary, and today it got worse.

People that are high profile perpetuate this by telling people to rise up with the wrong use of language and selfish intent. Humanity through history kills more than it loves and this country has this incredible and unique way of life that had led us to my generation vs. the ones before to not have this happen all the time like in most places of the world, but tragedies like this are a reminder of how things can spiral to having government officials gunned down at a grocery store.  It’s not far fetched for things to completely fall apart over time if there is not change. 

More information will come out on the motive of this attack but regardless of that outcome,  I implore anyone reading this to not forget this day- to take a step back, and realize the gravity of what took place.

Think about how you treat others and view politics and beliefs. It’s okay and even good at times to disagree but don’t hate the person you disagree with. This idealogical personal attack with politics is creating anger that perpetuates hate, and here we are now with elected officials as targets. 

Politicians on both sides need to step up and not be so damn political for a change now that this has happened and acknowledge their mistakes in how they discuss their opinions and run campaigns. It can change if they change it, but it’s not likely to happen. They will continue looking out for  themselves, their own agenda, and in some cases, knowing their sound bytes can lead to more TV appearances, book deals and reality shows. The use of guns and analogies to violence in political speech will now cease due to this event, but for how long? 

Realistically, this will not be the last time something like this happens  and we need to break away from isolationist feelings many of us here in America have, and take pause at the fact this horror is day to day life for people in Mexico and other countries. We remain fortunate to live in this nation, but that fact should not put the blinders on to the major human decency issues and hatred that plague the country at large.

I’ll end with a quote from Congresswoman Giffords herself from March of 2010.

“Most of our country is in the middle, but we do have these polarized parts of our parties that get really excited. And that’s where again community leaders, not just the political leaders, all of us need to come together and say, there’s a fine line here.”

There is a line and it’s been crossed, we can only hope this act brings even some element of change.  Everyone can stop senseless hate in small pockets. We can be better. Even in a small dose, as we all have our own lives to live, and people we can reach. 

Have the conversation, talk about these issues, and hope for change.

Benny