All-Access

While I have certainly touched on it in previous blogs, I have not yet delved too deeply into one of Youtube's most redeeming qualities: the fact that it is available for use by everyone. Yes, that's right - anyone who signs up with Youtube can immediately begin uploading their own videos to be seen by the world. While this does bring many privacy issues into play, they can easily be dealt with because Youtube allows you to block users as well as manage your own profile settings to dictate how much information you share. This is very helpful when some creeper is sending you videos and you are tired of being bothered.

Because anyone can upload anything, you sometimes have to wade through a big lake of crap to find a good, funny video, but it's always worth it. Take one of my favorite diamonds in the rough for instance. I don't remember how I stumbled upon "Fire Melon," but it is now one of my favorites that I pull out whenever I'm sitting around the campfire with friends sharing Youtube videos. Some really smart guy hollows out a melon, fills it with gasoline, lights it on fire, and hits it with a baseball bat. My favorite part is right before he does it, his friend asks him if he's ready, to which he replies "Damn skippy I'm ready!" Right after he does it, he is engulfed in a fire ball and he runs away cursing and kicking off his burning shoes. Without Youtube and its ability to make video sharing available for everyone, people like this might actually focus their attention on lame, boring stuff like school work and not have nearly as much fun in their lives. I mean, catching yourself on fire is only so much fun until you can share it with 69,028 people on Youtube.

Just sitting here at my computer, I have discovered so many great videos that you can watch and enjoy for nearly every occasion. This one video, entitled "REAL Ghost Footage," shows a mysterious light for about fifteen seconds, and then some dude pops up in front of the video camera with a ghost mask on, a lot like the one pictured at right. It really scared me the first time I watched it, and it is sure to do the same to your roommate if you show it to him or her this close to Halloween. After I got my fix of ghosts and scares, I moved on to other stupid acts that were more reminiscent of "Fire Melon." You would be surprised to see how many different ways of making a bomb you can learn from Youtube. So far, I have seen them made with "The Works" toilet cleaner and aluminum foil, Mentos and Coke, or just by hitting a can of WD-40 that's been in a bonfire.

Regardless of what you're in the mood to watch, chances are you will be able to find it on Youtube without too much hassle. Along with plenty of other stuff that you weren't really looking for but is kind of cool anyway.

Unforgivable

Something has been terribly wrong with this blog for a long, long time. Since I began it, in fact. The problem is, I have been constantly writing about Youtube videos but, until today, I have forgotten to pay respects to what is probably the greatest of them all. If you haven't already guessed from the title, I will give you a few hints. It's a series, it's filmed in the woods, it's widely imitated, and it involves a really angry black guy named Hodge Stansson, pictured at right. Of course, it's none other than "Unforgivable."

In the first video of the series, Stansson comes on strong with what will become his most memorable line from all of the "Unforgivable" videos. When the girl he's at the mall with asks what he wants to eat, he responds, "Get me a chicken sandwich and some waffle fries ... fo' free!" This is indicative of Stansson's attitude throughout all of the stories that he recounts via Youtube. He comes off as a hard-core, gangster, womanizer. Nearly every story he tells has something to do with his interactions with the opposite sex, which often turn very graphic. For this reason, I won't go into detail about those parts of the videos.

Also in the first video of the series, Stansson delivers what is probably my favorite "Unforgivable" quote of all time. Upon learning that his date has two brothers, he rants, "Bitch, you better not have no siblings. That's a mistake!" This line, just like all of his others, is delivered in a voice that is very original. Hodge Stansson has a deep, scratchy voice that he uses during all of these videos. It is obvious that a great deal of people find it to be catchy and funny, because when you search "Unforgivable" on Youtube there are well over 7,000 results.

At this point, I think it would be appropriate to explain a little bit about why Stansson felt the urge to create these videos. It turns out, Sean "P. Diddy" Combs was sponsoring a commercial-making contest for his new cologne fragrance, "Unforgivable." Hodge Stansson, a student at Valencia Community College in Florida, according to online sources, decided he could do a good job at making a video in keeping with the "Unforgivable" theme. While I think the combined 30+ million people that have viewed his videos on Youtube would agree that he had incredible success with this project, unfortunately, Combs and the other executives at his Sean John label did not. None of Stansson's videos ever made it into a commercial for "Unforgivable" cologne. However, he has created a cult following on Youtube and gotten some great exposure for his talent in the area of film and art. If only he could find a slightly less vulgar outlet for his vast talents, Stansson could soon be very successful indeed.

Bo Fo' Sho'

I feel as if I was deprived my whole life before I came to college. But not because of the extra freedom, new friends, or late-night parties. I feel deprived because, before I got to Chapel Hill, I had never heard of Bo Burnham. Who is this wonderful guy, you might ask? Some sports superstar, a famous celebrity, or maybe a powerful leader? No way. He is a college student a lot like you and me. Except for one thing: he's a lot funnier.

While Bo might look like a nerd or a geek, he actually seems pretty cool. Or at least you get that impression when you listen to his comedic songs. And I must add, one of my friends claims to have met him, and apparently girls are all over him back in Massachusetts or wherever he's from. Anyway, he mainly does raps while playing piano or songs while playing guitar. And if you try not to laugh while listening to these songs, you will fail miserably.

Bo's first big hit, "Bo Fo' Sho'" is the reason most people first found out about him. In it, he describes himself as "a born Bostonian/Aryan librarian of the word Smithsonian," and it seems to fit him well. He masterfully weaves rhymes together and creates jokes that are quite complex, and, at some times, extremely crude and vulgar. This is why I wouldn't recommend this type of humor to anyone who doesn't enjoy "Superbad" type movies. With lyrics like "though I'm sexually straight, you're bound to find/I'm mentally gay because I'll blow your mind," some people are bound to be offended.

Another real winner from Burnham, and my all-time favorite, is "I'm Bo, Yo," and I guess it must be most other people's favorite as well, since it has more views than any of his other videos. In the chorus, Bo is tooting his own horn, so to speak, saying "I'm the greatest rapper ever/and I'll weather your weather/whether you think I'm clever or not./Think you're better? You're not/don't need a sweater I'm hot." While you might think those rhymes don't sound too vulgar and maybe Bo is capable of being funny withot being gross and inappropriate, you're wrong. He quickly squashes any thoughts of that nature with some hilariously offensive remarks- "I spit fire like I just blew a demon./My shit's so hot I'll leave your toilet bowl steamin'." and "I don't know if all boy scouts are gay./But they can probably tie the knot in, like, fifty different ways." If you don't take offense to any of that because you aren't a demon or a boy scout, don't feel unappreciated. I have omitted the most offensive of his lines. You will have to watch the video for yourself to hear those.

I am not, by any means, saying that I agree with Burnham's lyrics that can often be borderline racist and blatantly sexist. All I'm saying is that he is really funny.

The Versatile Youtube

While my blog might give you the idea that Youtube is only useful for entertainment and laughs, that would be a terrible misconception. It can also serve as a valuable source for catching up on news and other important information. You can find anything from highlights from the UConn game this past weekend to CNN reports on the current financial crisis . As a matter of fact, I recently started watching the first presidential debate since I missed it when it aired a little over a week ago. Friday night just isn't a good time to sit down and watch a debate, so obviously I had to prioritize. This is where Youtube comes in. I suddenly found myself freed from the rigid restrictions of cable programming to do as I pleased with my time. And now, a few hours before the second debate, I finally have some time to see the first one.

My first impression from seeing the two candidates on television facing off for the first time was that Obama seemed more confident and eloquent than McCain did. While neither candidate has scored significant points on any major issues as far as I can tell (I'm only about 15 minutes into the debate), the way that each appears on camera is still very influential to the way they are perceived by viewers. I don't think it would be entirely inappropriate to draw a parallel between these debates and the first televised debates between Kennedy and Nixon. This is because, just like in 1960, the viewers could easily have their votes swayed toward the candidate who is more attractive and appears more at ease and authoritative at the podium. While this may be a small part of the relevant information a voter should consider before voting, it should definitely not be the deciding factor.

Unfortunately, I think many voters will not stop to consider other, more important aspects. For example, I doubt many people have taken the time to get on each candidate's website to read about their views on some of the more important issues. While it's true that a debate should reveal each candidate's stance on issues that are discussed, it might not always happen. I know I haven't gotten too far into the video yet, but the moderator, Jim Lehrer, has not succeeded in getting Obama and McCain to actually get into an argument so far. He actually stopped Obama in mid-sentence and told him to speak to McCain rather than the audience. For the first fifteen minutes, at least, the two candidates didn't do much debating, but mainly just agreed with one another.

In this sort of debate, which is nothing like the picture at right, voters are likely to focus mainly on appearances rather than the issues. I think this would be a big mistake. Who you choose for president is a very important decision, and not one you should make without first learning where each candidate stands on the economy, health care, national defense, etc. Once elected, our new president will have to do much more than look good in front of the camera. He will have to lead the effort to fix our economy, find a way to remedy the situation in Iraq, and undertake many other projects to correct the various maladies that our country is faced with. I won't tell you who is right for the job until I have done a bit more research on each candidate's website, however. All I want is for others to do the same.