Although I haven't talked much about anything but other b/vloggers, I want to make this one point: I would never want to know the people I watch for the long term. Watching people on Youtube exploits one of the principals of a relationship: everything in moderation. It's the same with family: you may argue constantly with your siblings, yet you have no problem with your cousins who live far away. For the same reasons, I would, for the most part, loathe actually "living" with any of my favorite Youtubers, or at least see them daily.
I could never listen to sxephil talk all day, 5 minutes is about my limit. Michael Buckley's high voice 15 hours a day would make me rip my hair out. Living with John or Hank Green would drive me crazy, with their liberal lifestyles alone. Davey Wavey's optimism would make me into a mental case.
So this is why I appreciate them in their little box. Would I want to meet them? Hell yes. Would I like to travel across Asia with them? Uh no. They can stay there, and I can stay here.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Disability and Veepstakes
Two quick things here as the days winds to a close (which I frequently find myself being awake for) .
Earlier tonight, as I sat in a popular restaurant eating with my family, I saw a couple pass by the window. Before they even walked in, I knew they were different. As the door opened, I saw that the man was wearing sunglasses, had a cane and service dog. Blind, of course. The waitress sat them down a ways beyond my section of the restaurant. Right in front of us, a decently-sized group was eating. They had two small children. Those two kids, a boy and girl, had their own small booth within arm's reach. They were, as any young child would be, fascinated by the service dog. So as the blind man and his girlfriend/wife sat at their booth, the mother had to explain why the dog was there. Now this situation on the awkward meter is about a lowly 4, because most people know what the dog is for. Though obviously the children must find out somehow, and no doubt the man with 4 senses heard every bit of the explanation he's heard countless times.
Now I'm not pitying the man. He is not incapable of providing for himself. But it put into perspective how different people live. Even eating a cheeseburger (which he was doing with a smile) can be difficult at first. And sometimes I forget that, with my semi-dramatic life where the outskirts of the universe extend to about a 3-mile radius.
Oh where oh where is the cynicism? Here it is.
Veepstakes! Just fandamntastic. As if the word wasn't annoying enough (Fox promised not to use it, but proceeded to do so for 3 hours), it's the only thing newscasters will talk about. Now I get that their jobs depend on having something just the least bit interesting dribble out of their mouths, but at least it could be something fun. CNN and Fox, with their inability to touch the Olympics, could've scoured the interwebz to find something fun and heartwarming.
But no.
What we get is 2 days of predictions about who will be the VPs. Endless "experts" with nothing better to do.
It's even worse when you're driving four hours in the car at night, and the only programming on your XM radio is drabbling newscasters, french pop, football discussion, and pathetic Rodney Dangerfield comedy.
My only request is that they find something that is meaningless, but DIFFERENT. Otherwise they can just put on the news ticker, "WE HAVE RUN OUT OF NEWS.......THIS IS THE PART WHERE YOU TURN THE CHANNEL....."
Earlier tonight, as I sat in a popular restaurant eating with my family, I saw a couple pass by the window. Before they even walked in, I knew they were different. As the door opened, I saw that the man was wearing sunglasses, had a cane and service dog. Blind, of course. The waitress sat them down a ways beyond my section of the restaurant. Right in front of us, a decently-sized group was eating. They had two small children. Those two kids, a boy and girl, had their own small booth within arm's reach. They were, as any young child would be, fascinated by the service dog. So as the blind man and his girlfriend/wife sat at their booth, the mother had to explain why the dog was there. Now this situation on the awkward meter is about a lowly 4, because most people know what the dog is for. Though obviously the children must find out somehow, and no doubt the man with 4 senses heard every bit of the explanation he's heard countless times.
Now I'm not pitying the man. He is not incapable of providing for himself. But it put into perspective how different people live. Even eating a cheeseburger (which he was doing with a smile) can be difficult at first. And sometimes I forget that, with my semi-dramatic life where the outskirts of the universe extend to about a 3-mile radius.
Oh where oh where is the cynicism? Here it is.
Veepstakes! Just fandamntastic. As if the word wasn't annoying enough (Fox promised not to use it, but proceeded to do so for 3 hours), it's the only thing newscasters will talk about. Now I get that their jobs depend on having something just the least bit interesting dribble out of their mouths, but at least it could be something fun. CNN and Fox, with their inability to touch the Olympics, could've scoured the interwebz to find something fun and heartwarming.
But no.
What we get is 2 days of predictions about who will be the VPs. Endless "experts" with nothing better to do.
It's even worse when you're driving four hours in the car at night, and the only programming on your XM radio is drabbling newscasters, french pop, football discussion, and pathetic Rodney Dangerfield comedy.
My only request is that they find something that is meaningless, but DIFFERENT. Otherwise they can just put on the news ticker, "WE HAVE RUN OUT OF NEWS.......THIS IS THE PART WHERE YOU TURN THE CHANNEL....."
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Aaaammeeerrr......iiicccaaannn....Pppollliii...ttiicccsss
I'm debating on whether or not to discuss the p word here because politics make people ugly. I'm just going to make one point that bashes everyone.
The main problem with American Politics is complacency and the fear of change too soon. Those are two things, but they go hand in hand.
(And no I'm not going to go all Barack on you because I said change.)
I have no idea if the same issue occurs with our friends across the pond, but American politics are limited from ever really get things done because of these two things.
When problems arise, as they always do, Congress (the opposite of progress) springs into action. Though springs is more like crawls. If you read a news magazine, you may see that it touts some whistleblower article on some major issue. If you read it and Congress is mentioned, the author usually gives a date of when the passed bill on whatever goes fully into effect. That date is usually in 15 years.
Fuel efficiency in cars, for example. The United States has some of the lowest efficiency standards in the world, behind China even. And so, the state of California, in all its progressive wonder, decided to motion for a bill raising the state efficiency requirements to that above the federal level. Of course, the automakers and their politican lackeys raised a big fuss. The bill was shot down, which would've eased standards to a level below China's current level by 2012. Now that's a start, but that's just the problem.
It's only a start.
The lawmakers in this country are afraid to make things happen now. I'm not saying everything should happen instantly, for a few things, easing is the only way to prevent disaster. But on some of the most trivial things, we have to wait 10 years for it to take effect, almost surely when a similar problem will arise that makes that band-aid useless. The complacency of the American people (which had a prime example until recently in gas prices), coupled with the lawmakers' fears of not being reelected because they did too much too fast that hurt a little causes things to seemingly never get done.
If Capitol Hill were full of Napoleons, however, that wouldn't be an issue. Nuclear war would be.
The main problem with American Politics is complacency and the fear of change too soon. Those are two things, but they go hand in hand.
(And no I'm not going to go all Barack on you because I said change.)
I have no idea if the same issue occurs with our friends across the pond, but American politics are limited from ever really get things done because of these two things.
When problems arise, as they always do, Congress (the opposite of progress) springs into action. Though springs is more like crawls. If you read a news magazine, you may see that it touts some whistleblower article on some major issue. If you read it and Congress is mentioned, the author usually gives a date of when the passed bill on whatever goes fully into effect. That date is usually in 15 years.
Fuel efficiency in cars, for example. The United States has some of the lowest efficiency standards in the world, behind China even. And so, the state of California, in all its progressive wonder, decided to motion for a bill raising the state efficiency requirements to that above the federal level. Of course, the automakers and their politican lackeys raised a big fuss. The bill was shot down, which would've eased standards to a level below China's current level by 2012. Now that's a start, but that's just the problem.
It's only a start.
The lawmakers in this country are afraid to make things happen now. I'm not saying everything should happen instantly, for a few things, easing is the only way to prevent disaster. But on some of the most trivial things, we have to wait 10 years for it to take effect, almost surely when a similar problem will arise that makes that band-aid useless. The complacency of the American people (which had a prime example until recently in gas prices), coupled with the lawmakers' fears of not being reelected because they did too much too fast that hurt a little causes things to seemingly never get done.
If Capitol Hill were full of Napoleons, however, that wouldn't be an issue. Nuclear war would be.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Hello...hello...hello...
Wow. Five months. Way to be committed.
To the nonexistent audiences who care, I'll try to keep up with this, which means I'll forget eventually.
But as I compare my meager blog to that of semi-famous and even famous bloggers or vloggers, I have come to realize a trend.
With Youtube now a staple in pop culture and places like Blogger sitting here for the common man to speak his mind, it's entirely feasible for a nobody to become an Internet icon. LisaNova, Smosh, sxephil, Fred, Perez Hilton.
And even though they have good intentions, and at the beginning they think of themselves as normal people, their creativity will eventually turn them into a celebrity. Two of my favorite vloggers, vlogbrothers and Davey Wavey, are prime examples.
Vlogbrothers: On January 1st, 2007, these two brothers were nothing on Youtube. They began an incredibly creative project in which they only talked via vlogs, no text allowed for one year. At the beginning, nobody watched (I recall Hank saying that their first watcher was discovered around late January). By December (which is when I started watching), they had gained, organized, and labelled a following dubbed Nerdfighters. So the year is over, no more project? Well, they continued with the vlogging, got a ning site , and soon an entire community formed, with the co-leaders of the Green brothers.
At this point they had visibly created a rift. Soon, among the throng of projects, contacting either brother became almost impossible. John Green soon had an auto-response email when the address at his personal site was contacted. And even though obvious nerdfigther contributions were being made in the form of collab videos, there still existed over 10,000 followers whose voices couldn't possibly be heard. There were simply too many fans for these two men.
(http://www.nerdfighters.com http://www.youtube.com/vlogbrothers)
Davey Wavey: A blog written by a very optimistic gay man who chooses to wear very little clothing. He began just as I am now, writing merely to "document my own journey". Soon his blog turned into a vlog, and all it took was a simple tag on one of his videos for his fame to skyrocket. The word "masturbating" suddenly gave Dave an entirely new, and perverted, audience.
He seems to not have changed at all. He still posts short notes about "creating your own universe", long posts about life, "talky blogs" for him to discuss issues. He also askes viewers to "ask me questions". In the past year, this request has brought more and more responses. It's not uncommon to see 200 comments below, asking the most painful and emotional questions imaginable and others about his "size". But the real face of Mr. Davey is shown in the "contact" tab of his site. He gives the "cannot respond to all emails" disclaimer. His advice vlogs answer only about 15-20 questions apiece. It is obvious that the man has reached his limit, and I would be a fool to ask him for any more.
Now his nature would make someone believe that he would never let this fame get to his head. And at face value, it hasn't. Yet the subtle pictures of a partially nude Dave smiling cheerfully in front of his apartment window, a sarcastic post about his dog that ends up with a picture of a Canadian friend unconcious in his bed, and a montage of him dancing in his skivvies show that he has realized his fame, and there's no turning back.
(http://www.breaktheillusion.com)
So WHAT am I blabbering about?
My point is...
Creative people who use Youtube and Blogger are entirely vulnerable to the unfortunate status of popular icon just by having people like them.
The Cycle:
1) Normal Indie Artist
2) Growing Internet Presence
3) Impersonal Internet Phenomenon
4) Waning Cultural Icon
5) A Memory
To the nonexistent audiences who care, I'll try to keep up with this, which means I'll forget eventually.
But as I compare my meager blog to that of semi-famous and even famous bloggers or vloggers, I have come to realize a trend.
With Youtube now a staple in pop culture and places like Blogger sitting here for the common man to speak his mind, it's entirely feasible for a nobody to become an Internet icon. LisaNova, Smosh, sxephil, Fred, Perez Hilton.
And even though they have good intentions, and at the beginning they think of themselves as normal people, their creativity will eventually turn them into a celebrity. Two of my favorite vloggers, vlogbrothers and Davey Wavey, are prime examples.
Vlogbrothers: On January 1st, 2007, these two brothers were nothing on Youtube. They began an incredibly creative project in which they only talked via vlogs, no text allowed for one year. At the beginning, nobody watched (I recall Hank saying that their first watcher was discovered around late January). By December (which is when I started watching), they had gained, organized, and labelled a following dubbed Nerdfighters. So the year is over, no more project? Well, they continued with the vlogging, got a ning site , and soon an entire community formed, with the co-leaders of the Green brothers.
At this point they had visibly created a rift. Soon, among the throng of projects, contacting either brother became almost impossible. John Green soon had an auto-response email when the address at his personal site was contacted. And even though obvious nerdfigther contributions were being made in the form of collab videos, there still existed over 10,000 followers whose voices couldn't possibly be heard. There were simply too many fans for these two men.
(http://www.nerdfighters.com http://www.youtube.com/vlogbrothers)
Davey Wavey: A blog written by a very optimistic gay man who chooses to wear very little clothing. He began just as I am now, writing merely to "document my own journey". Soon his blog turned into a vlog, and all it took was a simple tag on one of his videos for his fame to skyrocket. The word "masturbating" suddenly gave Dave an entirely new, and perverted, audience.
He seems to not have changed at all. He still posts short notes about "creating your own universe", long posts about life, "talky blogs" for him to discuss issues. He also askes viewers to "ask me questions". In the past year, this request has brought more and more responses. It's not uncommon to see 200 comments below, asking the most painful and emotional questions imaginable and others about his "size". But the real face of Mr. Davey is shown in the "contact" tab of his site. He gives the "cannot respond to all emails" disclaimer. His advice vlogs answer only about 15-20 questions apiece. It is obvious that the man has reached his limit, and I would be a fool to ask him for any more.
Now his nature would make someone believe that he would never let this fame get to his head. And at face value, it hasn't. Yet the subtle pictures of a partially nude Dave smiling cheerfully in front of his apartment window, a sarcastic post about his dog that ends up with a picture of a Canadian friend unconcious in his bed, and a montage of him dancing in his skivvies show that he has realized his fame, and there's no turning back.
(http://www.breaktheillusion.com)
So WHAT am I blabbering about?
My point is...
Creative people who use Youtube and Blogger are entirely vulnerable to the unfortunate status of popular icon just by having people like them.
The Cycle:
1) Normal Indie Artist
2) Growing Internet Presence
3) Impersonal Internet Phenomenon
4) Waning Cultural Icon
5) A Memory
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Does the first post need a title?
So this begins a new blog, my first one at that. I’ve been wanting to write one for a long time, but my schedule didn’t allow for it. Now I’m making time. Hopefully I can grow and become a great blogger, maybe not fantastic, but up there.
To start off…
Wait? I am allowed to have a subject in the first post? My assumption would be that the unwritten rule is that the first post is reserved as a beginning. Also that putting in naive questions is a no-no. So is talking like the mother of a three-year old.
On one hand, it seems kind of upfront, starting up with nothing and neglecting to ease into it.
On the other, I haven’t really talked about anything so any passerby will just see an intro about…nothing.
Screw it.
Personality Dichotomies
Ooooh, big, scary word. So I was recently thinking about how people have social groups. Not so much in life, but in high school. Yes, everybody remembers that. The stereotypes are there, and they always will be. So we make fun of them because they’re there, right? Well, the obvious solution would be to fix the jocks vs. nerds/ popular vs. not disputes by integration (however that would work).
Easy. Make the stupid jocks study, stick the nerds in a weightlifting class, humble the popular-ites, makeovers for the socially deprived.
But at the core of this simple, pragmatic solution lies the truth of the matter.
Nobody wants to change it.
We may hate the way it is, but if we really changed it, then we’d have smart jocks and athletic dorks. So what separates them anymore? What really matters is that the social identification is more important than the lacking quality. People may dislike differences, but with most cases like this, they like the differences than the possibility of similarity. If you want to add legal stuff into the mix, right of association.
Now the bigger question is, does this apply to society on a larger scale too?
Okay, so I went back on what I said earlier. Deal with it. It’s eleven thirty.
Well, first attempt at a post, maybe it’ll be okay. Good night all you non-existent people.
~TC23
To start off…
Wait? I am allowed to have a subject in the first post? My assumption would be that the unwritten rule is that the first post is reserved as a beginning. Also that putting in naive questions is a no-no. So is talking like the mother of a three-year old.
On one hand, it seems kind of upfront, starting up with nothing and neglecting to ease into it.
On the other, I haven’t really talked about anything so any passerby will just see an intro about…nothing.
Screw it.
Personality Dichotomies
Ooooh, big, scary word. So I was recently thinking about how people have social groups. Not so much in life, but in high school. Yes, everybody remembers that. The stereotypes are there, and they always will be. So we make fun of them because they’re there, right? Well, the obvious solution would be to fix the jocks vs. nerds/ popular vs. not disputes by integration (however that would work).
Easy. Make the stupid jocks study, stick the nerds in a weightlifting class, humble the popular-ites, makeovers for the socially deprived.
But at the core of this simple, pragmatic solution lies the truth of the matter.
Nobody wants to change it.
We may hate the way it is, but if we really changed it, then we’d have smart jocks and athletic dorks. So what separates them anymore? What really matters is that the social identification is more important than the lacking quality. People may dislike differences, but with most cases like this, they like the differences than the possibility of similarity. If you want to add legal stuff into the mix, right of association.
Now the bigger question is, does this apply to society on a larger scale too?
Okay, so I went back on what I said earlier. Deal with it. It’s eleven thirty.
Well, first attempt at a post, maybe it’ll be okay. Good night all you non-existent people.
~TC23
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