YouTube Fame: A Review and Requests to my Readers. (If I still have any)

Why is the flag of the Philippines here? Read on to find out.

I've recently found that the combination of insomnia and YouTube is really bad. But while finding this out, I came across two YouTube gems. I thought I could review them in relative safety since they're not likely to ever read my blog--just like everybody else. *Crickets chirp* But really, I'm not going to say anything bad about either of them since clearly I like them. I will critique them, though.

So, originally I only went to YouTube to look at things that technically aren't supposed to be there. I'm sure that's a common experience. I was very happy with all the music videos because I can just make a huge playlist of them, and it's like a radio without commercials. But the point is that, by happy chance, I was bored one day and clicked on a video of some girl speaking Gaelic. In the related videos was some guy doing something similar, but he looked vaguely Asian. Being vaguely Asian myself, this intrigued me. It turned out he was an Irish-Philippino mix. So this will lead into my review:

MokongX3M Review: http://www.youtube.com/user/MokongX3M

To be brutally honest I could tell his Gaelic wasn't that great, and I don't even speak it. His words were halting, and it was clear he wasn't that comfortable speaking it. He admitted as much himself, though. What I liked, as a language student myself, was that he clearly had respect for the language. From there I found his magic 8 ball videos. Basically he just asks his magic 8 ball a question for you. It's pretty simple, and I have something similar to a magic 8 ball myself, so why would I need to ask a question?

I'll tell you why.

The reason it's so engaging is for the simple reason that some guy in Ireland is answering (or getting his magic 8 ball to answer) the question of people hundreds of miles away. This was what I originally loved about the internet. It made the world a smaller place, and you could connect with anywhere in the world.

Sadly, for many years some of the shiny wore off of this magical ability, because when you get that many people together there's going to be a lot more people you don't like. That relates to another thing I like about Mokong's videos and something that I think is incredibly rare on the internet at large. He's just a nice guy. At least, he projects the image of one very well and nothing else matters because I'm not likely to meet him. One simple but very uncommon way he achieves this is by never swearing (or at least practically never--I can't remember) . The worst thing he generally says is "frack" which I know is a Battlestar Gallactica swear word that is supposed to mean the same thing as what it sort of sounds like, but I find the nerdiness of its use charming rather than off-putting. Even when he's really angry he doesn't degenerate in vulgarity. Actually, his rants are some of my favorite videos because usually he's angry about something that really matters (at least to him) instead of just being angry for the heck of it like some people on the net. I didn't even really notice that he generally didn't swear when I first watched the videos, it just unconsciously put me at ease and made me think of him as nice.

There's also the fact that he's a huge Legend of Zelda fan as is evident on the background of his YouTube channel. I have a soft spot for anyone who loves the Legend of Zelda. He even has the triforce tattooed on his arm and Link and Ganon's swords on the other arm!

Then of course, I have to admit, I like listening to his Irish accent, and he's pretty easy on the eyes. But he's got a fiancée, so just a warning to any girls who might be of the same opinion. I won't be chasing after him anyway, so it doesn't really matter. I just like his videos. Besides, his relationship with his fiancée is pretty endearing all on its own. She's in the Philippines and he's in Ireland, and it's quite touching that he's so devoted to her even though she's so far away. Another rare thing in my opinion.

Mokong's a bit of a diamond in the rough, though. Not all his videos are brilliant. But there's a lot of them and enough good ones to keep me interested. Only one last gripe--his sign off. He doesn't always do it, but a lot of the times he likes to shout out "Rock on!" and fake punch the camera. Now the words and the action itself don't bother me, but I find the shouting a bit unsettling. Still, I think I'm one of the few of his viewers who feels that way, so I've just accepted it and moved on.

Additionally I've made several comments on his videos, and he's even responded to some of them which I really appreciated. I almost feel as if a celebrity talked to me. Actually, it's more fun because I feel as if I know more about this guy than I do most celebrities. But I decided to do this review on my blog because I feel if I comment too much more, he'll think I'm stalking him...

Anyway, check him out if you're so inclined.

Onto the HappySlip Review: http://youtube.com/user/HappySlip

Now if we were going in order of popularity and professionalism, then HappySlip probably should have been first. But I thought I'd pay homage to the person who made me interested in normal people on YouTube in the first place. Besides, Mokong needs more press than HappySlip who currently has 53,334 subscribers (of which I am one). I don't have as much to say about her because I feel I don't need to convince you to like her. If you watch her stuff, you'll see it's good. She's a funny girl. I was skeptical when Mokong first recommended her. I know it's horrible since I am a girl, but I generally find guys funnier than girls. Not all guys. But the funniest comedians I know are usually guys. I figure it's something in a girl's genetic make-up thrown in to make girls want to continue the human race.

Anyway, HappySlip is also from the Philippines, so that's why I put the flag up. But she grew up in America so she's Asian-American like me. Her videos struck a good cord with me because she (lovingly) pokes fun at her Asian family. I may not be Philippino, but a lot of the characteristics she jokes about are similar to my own Asian family.

HappySlip also doesn't swear and, so she seems kinder and friendlier than 90% of most internet fare. She's also an aspiring actress, so there's a little more craftmanship into her video making than Mokong's.

***

So now you know the flag is in homage to these two YouTubers mostly cause I couldn't get any good pics of them. To see them, you'll just have to watch them. But, as a parting request, I'd like any of you to let me know if you find (or have found) someone interesting to watch on YouTube.

You'll also have to tell me if this post was too long or if you didn't read it. Right. Especially if you didn't read it.