Down the Tubes - My Jams!

A while back I wrote an article about videos on youtube that I love!  When reading through that article I realized something: I freaking love youtube.  It is such an interesting place to get a wide array of talent and content. It's not a perfect place either.  Personally I feel that the copyright claim hammer come down a little too hard on us nobodies and it can make it very hard to establish yourself, but believe it or not, that's also why I love youtube.  We have an amazing task of helping shape this large entity that everyone knows about.  We can influence this place.  We can make it grow with us.  Yeah, I'm being overly rosey right now.  It's just nice to have someplace to go when you need to turn off.  That brings us to today.  I have collected some of the more musical videos I go to when I need to jam out.  I hope you enjoy!

"Five Nights at Freddy's: The Musical - Night 1 (Feat. Markiplier)" Random Encounters 

I'm not sure if you've heard of this one game, it's fairly popular these days.  It's called Five Nights at Freddy's.  Heard of it?  Seriously though, FNAF has blown up on youtube and has inspired many Let's Plays and spoofs!  My favorite by far is the Five Nights at Freddy's musical by Random Encouters!  Their channel has created MANY of my favorite musical spoof of famous games, characters and pop culture and boy to they deliver here!  Also, it features a youtuber you may know named Markiplier!  I find this musical especially near and dear to my heart because Markiplier is by far my favorite Let's Player and his play through of Five Nights at Freddy's 2 was my first real introduction to his channel!  I'm happy to say I haven't looked back!  With a catchy tune and a fun misunderstanding, this musical is sure to tug and your heart strings and tickle your funny bone!  Give it a watch and try not to sing along!

 "Titenic: The Jontron Song" Jontron (ft.Schmoyoho)

I will be completely level with you about this song: I'm addicted.  At first I was confused.  Then I was charmed.  Then I was addicted and I've been listening at LEAST five times a week.  Jontron is my favorite video game reviewer and with good reason!  His comedy, editing, and reviewing is full of passion and polish!  Sure, many people are irritated that his content doesn't come out as rapidly as many youtubers, but his skill in video creation always makes it worth the wait!  Titenic is his collaboration with musical act Schmoyoho and takes you through a rendition of his priceless review of the Titanic video games.  It captures Jontrons random humor and layered jokes in a perfect blend!  Take a dive into this video and taste the perfect concoction that is Jontron!  Note for Jontron: Always take your time!  You're lovely, deary!

"Luigi's Ballad" Starbomb

Is it normal if whenever this song comes on my husband and I break into joyful song?  We seriously considered playing this song at our wedding, but it had one too many curse words to make it "wedding appropriate".  Starbomb is catching, magically catchy.  I strongly recommend that if you enjoy this song you check out their entire album.  It will take you down nostalgia lane with many clever winks to the games we all grew up with and loved.  Then show it to your friends and then their friends.  Before you know it, you will have sing-a-longs in no time!

"Word Crimes" "Weird Al" Yankovic

"Weird Al" Yankovic really speaks for himself.  His lyrics are to tight and perfectly put together to the point that I think he might be a wizard or at least a musical genius.  Word Crimes takes a very detailed look into the common fumbles committed in the English language.  If you find yourself constantly bashing your head against the wall because of your friend's frightening grammar, this song is a love letter to you!

"Romeo and Juliet vs Bonnie and Clyde, Epic Rap Battles of History Season 4" ERB

I love so much how youtubers work together on so many projects!   Hannah Hart and Grace Helbig are two creators full of talent and laughs and they bring their A-Game to their appearance in Epic Rap Battle! Two iconic couples take jabs at each other to see not only who's love is strong, but who's rhymes are fiercer!  With quick, clever lyrics and side-splitting performances, this rap is sure to leave you giggling!

I hope you all enjoyed another look down the tubes with me!  I have to say that writing about Youtube has become one of my favorite topics.  I am in the process of creating a more consistent writing schedule and doing my best to stick to it!  I'm also hoping to create more of my own youtube videos soon.  I am just struggling because I only have my web camera to use and my old computer has been causing some issues with the quality of the videos.  Multiple times I have created vlogs only to discover something caused the lips syc to be completely off.  If you have suggestions for a reasonable camera I can get, please leave a comment down below!

Tootles!

Babbles of a Fan Girl - What I've Learned in the "Real World"

You may have not noticed because I'm so subtle about it, but I haven't been happy with the direction my career has gone post college.  The other day I was scanning through my old blogs, trying to get some inspiration for future articles and I stumbled upon this adorable, little gem as seen here. Could three years really have changed and bittered my perspective on the real world so much?  Since that article I have worked two jobs: one in promotions/marketing and the other in sales/event planning.  And what have I learned?  Well let's dive into that.

I wanted to put a minion here, so I did.

All That Glitters is Not Gold 
It's pretty simple and I don't think this lesson needs much fleshing out.  If a job seems to be too good to be true, it probably is.  Oh! And do NOT, I repeat DO NOT ever work somewhere you appreciated as a child.  Chances are you will run into a place that crushes you image of what you thought that business to be like when you were a child.  It will make you angry and resentful and you will spend a few years wishing you could make it better only to realize it was a ship sinking long before you ever got on it.  It sucks. Speaking of when things suck....

NO! Not THAT!
(PS: NEVER Google "sexy vacuum")

If Your Work Life Suck, Improve Your Personal Life 
After wedding wrapped up I knew I needed to get back into blog writer ASAP.  Why?  Because I needed a task to make me feel fulfilled in the way work never could.  I try to focus on writing, reading, and just enjoying the internet.  I have a dog and a husband that I will spend many a night with cooking dinner and watching shows on the couch.  I have friends (yeah, who would have guessed that!) and I see them often on the weekend. In short, I have a kickass personal life and that helps balance things out.  If you don't feel good about your day job, do yourself a favor and figure out what you need to make your life at home grand.  Which brings me to my next point:

Get A Hobby 
You know how so many cranky, old people below, "GET A JOB!"?  Well I do the same thing with hobbies.  If you are feeling crappy because you come home from a draining job and just stare at the wall, dreading going to work the next day, it's time to get a hobby.  Ask my husband if you need help coming up with an activity to do.  The man collect hobbies like some people collect bobble heads, and he's damn good at every hobby he undertakes.  Do you know why?  Because he treats every hobby with precision and dedication.  The same precision and dedication you would apply to a day job.  If work has you down and feeling like your brain is turning to the green mush from Troll 2, it's time to get passionate about something!

Because a mind is a terrible thing to waste.

You Probably Won't Make Money from Your Hobbies....and That's Okay!
I used to think that my blog and youtube channel would one day make me famous enough that I wouldn't have to ever do anything but the two for the rest of my life.  That really is my ultimate dream, to make my art for a living.  I often stop and remind myself though that that is a privilege that few people get.  It requires a raw talent, determination, and dash of dumb luck that very few get.  Plus you can't be lazy.  You can't come home from work and just mindlessly type for a few hours and hit "post". It requires turning your hobby from a hobby to a part-time job. Not that there is anything wrong with trying to turn something like this blog into a business, but not at the point that your creation process suffers.  There was a point where I wasn't writing because I thought the topics I wanted to cover weren't "marketable" enough.  And that's just dumb.  I had some people reading and that was more than enough.  It I start worrying about every schmuck that comes here to read I will probably have an aneurism.  So maybe you will manage to make your hobby turn into a business and maybe you won't.  Just don't let your hobbies suffer because you put a paycheck like and asterisk next to it.  Remember why you started that hobby, because you like it, because it keeps you sane, because it's an escape from that pesky job you've been trying not to think about all morning.  So that's what I've learned.  Work can suck, work can shatter your perception on the real world but it can lead you to doing great things.  Just don't let those escapes turn into another job you resent and dread.

Here's to hoping that something good is around the bend!

My inner Disney Princess is still hoping

Tootles!


Xoxo

Down the Tubes - Hotdiggedydemon

Introducing something that was going to be a youtube show but, due to my limitations as an editor, we are going to instead enjoy in text format!  Welcome to Down the Tubes!  This is where I talk about a collection of youtube videos, youtubers, or youtube trends I enjoy!  We are starting my series the best way I know how....with ponies.

WAIT WAIT WAIT!

Before all of you anti-pony people go get into your cars and drive off the nearest cliff, give me a chance to explain myself.  One, this is about MLP parody.  Two, this is something the whole family can enjoy. Well... the whole family minus the the kids.  Don't show these videos to your kids unless you enjoy seeing them cry.  Which I'm sure some of you darling sickos do.

I got started watching Hotdiggedydemon around the time I started really falling for My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.  I was frequently on youtube not only to listen to whatever song from the show was stuck in my head, but to find anything pony related created by fans.  If you can't appreciate the show, you can at least have the heart to appreciate the dedication and creativity of it's fans.  None so much as delivers that sidesplitting creativity the same way Hotdiggedydemon does in his .Mov series.

It all started with a lot of apples.

I wish I got a recording of other Alex watching this video for the first time.  I have never seen anyone laugh so hard in all of my life.  Apple.mov is strange, random and sincerely funny.  It takes something as simple and stupid as a pony eating what is medically defined as "a shit ton of apples" and turns it into  the same random humor you would find in a nostalgic Ren and Stimpy cartoon....but with less butt touching.  

Dress.mov explores the the type of pony you would expect Rarity to be on her worst of days.  It also introduces the story arc that remains for the rest of the season of Discord, the god of chaos, destroying Equestria and Twilight Sparkle needs the "helements or armory" to fix things.  Our first stop is a search through the generous Rarity's boutique where rev-o-luuuu-tion is about to begin.  Also, more bad times for Paco! 

I'm not going to play favorites.  I am an honest reviewer who can look past my bias towards Fluttershy being the best pony and objectively look at this series.  With that said.  This is the best episode of the series.  Just....just watch it.  You won't be able to stop quoting it.  I know other Alex and his friend sure as hell haven't been able to ever since he showed them this after I showed it to him.  Watch it now.  Just remember to stay out of my shed. 

Ever feel like Twilight Sparkle was a pretentious nag? WELL I HAVE AN EPISODE FOR YOU!  A lovely combination of Twilight not being as smart as she thinks she is combined with Spike constantly cracking one liners while embracing his favorite addiction "cough" smoking pot "cough" we see an episode that is sure to make you giggle. 

"I think I'm getting my period."

Enough said.

Who knew that a series full of a bunch of drunk and disgusting ponies could have such an epic ending worthy of a Meatloaf album cover?  Don't get me wrong, the dastardly vulgar humor you know and love is still intact, but with a polish that show Hotdiggedydemon obvious grew as an artist throughout the series.  Though this episode might not be the funniest (....sheddddddddd) it certainly is the best in terms of technical achievement.  The art is just plain beautiful and you can't help but have a little heartstring pulled by this final story.  

Overall the .mov series is something any pony or non-pony lover can enjoy.  It has a fun sense of humor combining inside jokes with fresh material to captivate any eager viewer.  Don't pass this up because it's ponies.  Who knows, it might just be your gateway drug into a crazy world of technicolor ponies.