Joe Santagato is a young adult male who posts videos on his Youtube account on a weekly basis. This videos contain his opinion / advice on how he has dealt / would deal with the various life situations that adolescents are bound to come across, like going to the dentist, or, in the case of this video, what to do on your first date. Sometimes, he even goes off on rants about such topics including how and why he misses the 90s. Since I started watching him, I’ve grown to greatly enjoy his videos. He is very opinionated and “out there.” He is not afraid to speak his mind about such things and even recounts personal anecdotes and shows video coverage of his experiences with such things. Joe is one of few people to still believe in the constitutional right to freedom of speech and actively use it to his liking, as evidenced by his use of colorful language that may otherwise offend the ultra sensitive people that are definitely out there. This video is a particular favorite of mine because he gives advice of what to do on the first date from the point of view of a nervous and awkward guy who would otherwise not know how to behave or what to do with his date. Joe goes above and beyond in his attempts to survey some wisdom to his audience by actively explaining and describing what a potential boyfriend / girlfriend likes and dislikes about his / her date and what they are looking for. As if that weren’t enough, he provides his viewers with a visual medium in the form of video coverage of how his advice applies to real life situations so that awkward adolescent boys will know what to do and what not to do when they are on a date with someone they like. With these kinds of explanations, one would not be surprised to discover that he has helped out many perplexed and clumsy boys who are just trying to get some love and happiness of their own.
Given the chance to talk about absolutely anything on the internet, I couldn’t resist to talk about my favorite blogger and Internet celebrity of all times–Jenna Mourey. I must admit, she wasn’t a recent discovery I had made but with school and work, I’ve had little down time to surf the web. For those of you who don’t know who Jenna Mourey (better know as Jenna Marbles is, shame on you! She is a Boston University graduate with a masters degree in sports psychology. Jenna first became an Internet sensation when she posted the video “How to Trick People into Thinking You’re Good Looking,” in which she makes fun of her own life in a sense, but also of the trouble many females go through to transform themselves from who they naturally are to a completely different person. What appeals to me about the video, and I think most of Jenna’s female fans will agree, is how relatable her story was. And it’s not just that one video. In every single thing she posts, whether video or blog, she says things that we all think about but are reluctant to say out of the fear that they are too vulgar or inappropriate or strange. There’s no better feeling than the realization that there is someone else who thinks like you and that there’s nothing wrong with thinking that way.
Now I must admit, at first Jenna’s videos may seem random, loud, and meaningless, but once you continue to watch them, you begin to piece together who this person really is and why she makes these videos (of course, she does talk about these things at various points in time, so I can’t take all the credit for decoding this mystery). If you watch and enjoy her videos, take some time to watch some interviews that she gave. She mentions many times that although her videos are silly and weird, they all parody or talk about real life in a way that is supposed to leave the viewers with something to think about, which should be expected from a psychology major.
As ridiculous as this may sound, Jenna Mourey has become a role model to me in many ways. I don’t mean to say that I aspire to be a YouTube celebrity/ part-time go-go dancer. I do mean to say that I aspire to be aware of myself and of the world around me. I aspire to feel free to think the way I think and to act based on my belief without fear of being judged. It’s strange to say but Jenna Mourey was the best thing that ever happened to me on the Internet and will therefore always be my answer to: “What’s the best thing you’ve seen on the Internet?”
I was just browsing youtube for about an hour looking for a spectacular video to post to the blog. However, that attempt was relatively unsuccessful… Being that YouTube is such a vast wasteland of near endless videos, searching for a worthy one was a difficult task. After a while, I gave up on searching for an exciting video and just searched something that was interesting to me. I searched ‘acoustic guitar covers,’ which is something that I actually search quite often. After the search, I found this video. It was honestly better than anything that I had been watching for the past hour or so. The relatively mainstream song that this artist selected, (which I honestly do not even enjoy the original that much) was transformed into a song with emotion and delicacy. The original was also made by a single man, Owl City (a.k.a. Adam Young,) who created the song using computer programs and other electronic items. When the song is transposed onto the acoustic guitar and without vocals, it makes the song exponentially better. It is the simple yet extremely complex nature of the cover that gets me the most. Posts such as these, are my favorite types of YouTube videos. This cover is one of the best videos I have seen in a while, which is why I posted it, hopefully you all enjoy it too.
“Very Mary-Kate” is a CollegeHumor sketch series. It is a satire in which the problems of celebrities are explored through humor. An actress– pretending to be Mary-Kate Olson– is the vehicle for exposing these problems.
The particular video I chose to share is called “Presentation 3.” This is one of the funniest videos I have seen in a very, very long time. Its portrayal of the ignorance and self-destructive behaviors of Mary-Kate Olson is hilarious! The video depicts a stern professor, along with a classroom of bored students who have clearly been bribed to comment on Mary-Kate’s presentation.
I really liked this video because it takes difficult topics such as drug abuse and eating disorders, and makes fun of them in a fun (yet not too disrespectful) way: a perfect satire. It also incorporates some simple silliness (i.e. Mary-Kate not knowing what a potato looks like, the jokes about her Photoshop skills, etc) without distracting too much on the social commentary the satire is trying to make.
I feel that the purpose of this video, aside from its obvious entertainment value, is to expose the poor attention that is often paid to the personal development of young stars. Put simply, it’s hard to think of sassy little Michelle from “Full House” developing an eating disorder like anorexia nervosa. Thankfully, Mary-Kate has made a significant recovery from that dark time in her life, but it is a blemish that will be forever remembered as part of her public image.
However, with certain other stars, this recovery takes much more than rehab for an eating disorder. Britney Spears, for example, is only finally getting her life together at the age of 30; considering that her professional career started when she was in her teens, 30 is a sad number to see in that sentence, isn’t it? Others who attained stardom at an early age, such as Lindsay Lohan and Michael Jackson, have been less lucky than Ms. Olson.
… And this is why I found this video to be so amazing! It is just as entertaining as it is thought-provoking 🙂 Please leave comments, personal annotations, etcetera.
I was so fascinated when I saw this video because it’s so out of the ordinary. Being a rather boring person myself (I even avoid roller coasters sometimes), it was refreshing to see all the crazy activities people do in the world. This video showed me how there is so many opportunities to do something memorable and different. Even the music is uplifting and aims to inspire it’s viewers to get out and do something new or at the very least to go see such amazing events. The people in this video are probably not much older than us so I guess what this video taught me is not to get too caught up in the work side of life and look up from the written page every now and then and do something crazy that you can look back on and admire years from now
I was browsing message boards, and one of the topics was titled “If you have finals in the future, set this as your homepage” with that link. In the link is a picture that says “Oh no you don’t. You have things to do. Get off the internet.” I thought it was clever and I connected to it because I procrastinate a lot. Procrastination can be a big problem for some, and the consequences can be worse during the week of finals. In a broader perspective, the picture reminds me of how I waste too much time on the internet instead of doing other things that I need to do. After all, I was surfing the internet instead of doing this assignment and other assigned reading or group work. It’s a nice idea, and I see what the person was thinking. And while some people wouldn’t care or others may need to use the internet for research or email, it’s still nice to be reminded about the issue or read about the attempt at a solution. It’s good to know other people know we procrastinate and we should be careful about it. Of course, it could be a fun suggestion to poke at the issue and not something to be taken seriously, but I liked it. Calling this the best thing recently is too extreme, but it stood out to me in a good way and it is a bit thought provoking.
“I’m too weak,” “I’m too slow,” “I’m too small,”-How many times a day do we find ourselves complaining, or better yet, making excuses. Whether it be to my parents “I’m not in the mood,” or to a teacher or professor “I forgot the due date to the assignment, ” or even to myself, “I’m too lazy,” the reality is, I believe that I can speak on behalf of most of us and say that it is way too easy to complain, and be ungrateful.
Many aspects of this short clip caught my attention. Firstly, every sentence or thought that Matt Scott verbalized began with “I.” How many times a day to we actually stop to think about others? How many times a day do we ignore our surroundings and only focus on our goals and missions for the day? On the flip side though, how often do we shift the blame from others to ourselves. It is ironic that it’s easy to point out the flaw in ourselves that we are selfish and self-centered; we live in a face paced world where it is easy to led days slide by without taking a moment to breathe and enjoy our surroundings rather than ignore them. Yet, when a situation arrises where there is a person at fault, we are so quick to point fingers and all of a sudden the focus shifts to others. Why?
What really provoked me though was the scene at :52 seconds in this clip. Had Matt Scott stopped here-I would’ve been satisfied and still would’ve thought that this video was one of the best things I’ve seen on the internet so far. This short clip by Nike was a source of introspection for me and motivated me to work on myself and to start finding the good in things rather than complaining about what I’m handed. However, as the video flipped from :52 to :53 seconds, I was blown away-“and my feet hurt,” was the icing on the cake for me; it put everything into perspective. For a minute, to be frank, I felt that Scott was guilting me-I should pity him for his disability. But, when I took a step back and focused on the bigger message, Scott so perfectly summed up this motivational clip.
What can I say? I’m a sucker for creative proposals. And this video really appeals to my inner hopeless romantic. I would definitely say that it’s probably one of the best things I’ve come across on the internet in awhile.
I’m sorry, but I need to take a moment to get sentimental. A marriage proposal, regardless of how it’s done, is supposed to be a tender moment between lovers. The question being asked is so much more than it appears to be on the surface. It’s not just, “Will you marry me?” Rather, it’s “Will you love me even when I get old and wrinkle-y? Will you support me? Will you stay with me? Will you promise me, if I do the same?” And to accept a marriage proposal is to answer all these questions with a resounding “YES!”*
Okay. Sentimental moment over, I swear.
Anyway, even if you don’t like sappy stuff, you have to admire the innovation and hard work that went into staging this proposal. The guy, Isaac, successfully coordinated and choreographed the actions of 60+ people. Think about that for a moment. It probably took ages for everybody to get it right at the same time. Also, the fact that so many people even agreed to continually work at this is impressive to me. Notice how, at the end of the video, when Isaac is actually proposing, the crowd of people gathered around them is chattering happily — but they’re also shushing each other, lest their energy disrupts the proposal. They genuinely want the moment to be perfect.
And lastly, notice how giddy the woman being proposed to is. She’s ecstatic. In fact, she’s giggle-y from the very beginning.
*Of course, I don’t mean to imply that proposals, weddings, marriages, etc. and love are always mutually exclusive. You can be in love and answer and ask such burning questions without an over-the-top proposal. I also acknowledge that marriage as an institution is constantly surrounded by controversy. But that’s totally not the point of this post. The point is to be happy for other people when they’re in love, and when they choose to express it in especially fun ways.
Although hardly considered new, one of my favorite internet videos is Susan Boyle auditioning for Britain’s Got Talent. The video has garnered millions of views since it first appeared in 2009. While I can appreciate her voice even though it is different from the voices of artists I am accustomed to, this is not why I enjoy the video. There are plenty of talented singers on youtube who I enjoy listening to more than Susan Boyle. However, it is the surprise of the judges and audience that capture my attention. Personally, I am a huge fan of motivational movies and books. I love seeing the “underdog” succeed despite seemingly unbeatable odds. Susan Boyle was that underdog. Upon seeing her come out on stage, the audience and even the judges cracked a smile. The value of “not judging a book by its cover” was swept aside, as preconceived ideas flooded the minds of Boyle’s onlookers. When she opened her mouth, Boyle immediately “shut everyone up”. Her critics were promptly silenced and she totally stunned the crowd with a beautiful voice, full of power. It seems she was only aided by her naysayers as she sang, “I dreamed a dreamed” from Les Miserables. Her voice grew as she sensed a change of heart of her audience. Suddenly the audience was rooting “for” her and not “against” her. I think this shows America’s infatuation with the underdog and how quickly perception can change.
Here is the link to her audition: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxPZh4AnWyk
Why should any person intentionally inflict pain on another being? Does it provide some weird and twisted satisfaction to the inflictor? I find it incredibly hard to understand why people would use torture as a form of entertainment.
Recently I watched a reaction to a video of a dog being burned alive by a group of people. The first thought that I had was: “why video tape it?” In my opinion, doing something as horrible as burning a living creature shouldn’t happen at all, let alone get filmed and put online to let others live and relive the situation. Video taping things is a sign that the content of it is intended to be referenced and looked back upon. Most people record things to remember happy things, and in our digital world, to document incidents. The purpose of the video of the dog burning seems to be of neither category and its intent is the crudest form of braggery. It horrifies me that people in our day an age can find amusement in hurting innocent beings for fun, and be shameless enough to flaunt their doings.
I don’t find it morally correct to torture anything or anyone. The saying “Treat others like how you would like to be treated” is something that I live by and although it may sound a bit elementary I feel that it is very true. It really is very distressing and frustrating for me to find acts like this online and while I cannot say that I am a great lover of all animals, my heart still does go out to those that are abused and mistreated. It absolutely sickens me that people would do such cruel things to animals that have no chance of fighting back and do not understand the situation they are in. Just because people or in this case animals are ignorant, doesn’t mean that they can be or should be treated the way they were in that video, with torture.
This idea of torturing the weak can also be linked to the ridicule of people who are mentally unsound or disabled. It is not right for the conscious minded to demean and/or abuse those that have a disatvantage. In the video, how would the dog have known that it would be put through such pain? It wouldn’t have known and did not know therefore, causing it to have no reaction when it was being lit on fire. Also, in another video I saw quite a while ago, a mentally challenged girl was being bullied by her schoolmates for being different and did not know how to fight back because it was beyond her capacity to understand what was happening to her and what she was supposed to do to make it stop.
Having a clear head is definitely an advantage in any aspect of life. Many people are lucky enough to be so called “normal” and I think that this should be something that should be valued but not abused like in those videos.
Here is the link for anyone who wants to watch but I do not recommend it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITulPeuVpYw