Quest 12 - YouTube and Podcasts (It's Done!)
It's done! It should be, anyway, although I will check to be sure. It has to be done by Friday if I want to get the MP3 player, after all. Anyway, Quest 12 is the crack one... I mean, YouTube and podcasts.
YouTube is my friend. Yes, there's also Google Video (although Google now owns YouTube as well), Veoh, DailyMotion, etc., but YouTube is my first friend. YouTube is where I can now preview anime before downloading it. YouTube is where I can see the meaning behind memes such as something being over 9000!!!! (The same person also brought us the bizarre Dragonball Z/Yu-Gi-Oh! musical ode to pylons, which are trap balls.) YouTube is where I see the following, as shown in my favorites and subscriptions from my account:
1. The home videos of Heroes star Adrian Pasdar (Nathan Petrelli). If you're a Heroes fan, run here to see these, as they are goofy. Here's a sample, for dragonsinger, Grunny Goes Nuts! (Grunny = Greg Grunberg, aka Matt Parkman on Heroes).
2. Speaking of tv actors, if you're a Stargate fan, the home videos of David Hewlett(Dr. Rodney McKay). Besides such gems as Slug White Nerd - Stargate Rap, he also has clips and the trailer for his movie, A Dog's Breakfast, which features other Stargate actors. (Note: some clips aren't worksafe.)
3. For more actor goodness, run to my Leader, as I am a recently recruited Risembool Ranger, voice actor Vic Mignogna (Ed Elric in FullMetal Alchemist, Kougaiji in Saiyuki, Madarame Ikkaku in Bleach). I heart Vic, for he and fellow voice actor Steve Blum have done the "Real Fans of Genius" series, parodies of the Budweiser ads about otaku (anime fans). Granted, since Vic has cosplayed himself as both Captain Kirk and Obi-Wan Kenobi, he's one to talk. (g) He also is a talented singer, and has some of his music videos posted. For some highlights of Vic (and Steve), see:
a. Vic and Steve singing odd song choices in character at Kawaii-Kon
b. Vic uttering the infamous "Col. Roy Mustang is dead sexy... in a miniskirt!" line (one of many videos from many cons of this, as his fans love hearing it).
c. Also from Kawaii-Kon, Steve as Vincent from Final Fantasy informing Vic's Ed Elric that he's too short.
d. Also from Kawaii-Kon, the Kawaii-Kon Worker Guy Real Fans of Genius. What is Hawaiian for "take a shower"???
e. My favorite Real Fans of Genius, the Yaoi Obsessed Fangirl. Sorry, I don't know where that wind is coming from, but I am proud to be a "crazed babe of the bishies", who embraces her not-so-inner otaku. (g) For that matter, if you want to see an example of embedding a video, I do have permission from Vic to have that one embedded in my Gaia Online profile. He does own the copyright to it, after all, so to be legal, I do need to ask. (Side note: yes, most of the content on all of the online video sites is technically illegal, as the uploaders aren't the copyright holders. I highly doubt there will come a day when the sites will be able to catch all of the violators, especially since that would cripple the sites.)
f. From the annals of the Rangers, Vic brings us the The Legend of Middle Tennessee music video, documenting that fine day when the Rangers beat the Miniskirt Army at Risemball.
g.Of course, our esteemed general, crazzeemandy, also has a ton more Vic-related videos on her YouTube profile.
h. And, finally, the cutest video I've seen lately, as plugged in my LJ earlier, the time Vic met the Japanese voice actor (seiyuu) for Ed Elric, Paku Romi.
4. Speaking of seiyuu, YouTube is a veritable cornucopia of videos for impoverish otaku to see what their favorites look like, thanks to videos of live events. Granted, they usually aren't subtitled, but even if you can't understand what they are saying, they can still be enjoyable. Nightcat82 started putting up TeniPuri Perfect Live, a live event with Prince of Tennis actors, while SasukeLoverShinoku has up Bleach Soul Sonic 2006 (a live event with the Bleach seiyuu, including the aforementioned Paku Romi, who plays Hitsugaya Toushirou there), although you have to go to page 5 of her videos to start seeing those. (She also has some funny cosplay skits posted, though). She also has separately, from that Soul Sonic, Noriaki Sugiyama (Ishida Uryuu) and Morita Masakazu's (Kurosaki Ichigo) performance of Aesthetics and Identity, the Ishida/Ichigo image song. Even if you can't understand them, this is a must-watch for Morita-san (although I am a Non-tan girl also). (g) Sadly, no one has Morita-san's performance of My Blade is My Pride in full costume as Vaizard Ichigo (gacked from the Bleach musicals) from Soul Sonic 2005 up there. :^( However, someone DID subtitle the recycled and redubbed animation bits from that Soul Sonic (the folks behind it remixed clips from the shows, and the seiyuu redubbed them to fit the new skits). These are flat-out funny, probably even if you don't watch Bleach:
a. Tousen Winning Best Glasses
b. Byakuya the Enka Star
c. The ultra-hysterical Love Bleach: Zanpakutou of Love Dating Sim Ad
Finally, one last series of Bleach seiyuu clips (yes, I am a Bleach nut, why do you ask?). When the Bleach Wii game came out in Japan, four of the seiyuu played it in a competition against each other to promote the game (which is the only reason I want a Wii). Here's the clips, in order of matches:
a. Morita Masakazu (Kurosaki Ichigo) v. Yusa Kouji (Ichimaru Gin). This is notable for the fact that Morita-san actually SAYS HIS CHARACTER MOVES AS HE DOES THEM. ("Bankai!!!! Tensa Zangetsu." - Morita-san)
b. Okiayu Ryoutarou (Kuchiki Byakuya) v. his lieutenant in the show, Itou Kentarou (Abarai Renji). I love how Itou-san keeps calling Okiayu-sama "taichou" (captain).
c. Okiayu-sama v. Yusa-san.
d. Morita-san v. Itou-san, for the grand prize!
5. Anime fans are nuts. One of my favorite sites is the IchaParadiseFan blog, which features "Kakashi" from Naruto blogging about their adventures. The cosplay on the site is amazing. They have also released a series of Mastercard ad parodies, starring Kakashi (in order of release):
a. Being Kakashi
b. Good Morning, Kakashi
c. The Anbu Anti-Glomp Squad (Glomping is basically tackle-hugging.)
d. Finally, Kakashi has also done a TAG body spray ad (with outtakes!).
6. Finally, one last set of anime-related clips. "Hare Hare Yukai" is the incredibly catchy end theme for the hit anime The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. Not only is the song catchy, so is the accompanying dance, as can be seen in this series of clips:
a. The original ending animation.
b. The live performance of the full song, by the singers, who are also the lead seiyuu for the show, with them doing the full dance as well.
c. So that we can learn the full dance, people have taken the actual animation and mashed them together with the storyboards for the rest of the dance, and made a dance reference video.
d. People all over the world have dressed in costume and done the dance, such as these people back in 4/07 in the Akihabara district of Tokyo. Of course, the fun was interrupted by the police.
e. Finally, it has been mashed up with other shows and games, as this popular remix using animation from the Rockman/Megaman games shows.
7. Oh, one last bit of crack: working at libraries will turn you into an Achy Breaky Heart singing hand, right Emily? (g)
OK, on to podcasts. iTunes is of course one of the two most popular ways to find podcasts - imho, the other way is to actually click on a link on the show's website, such as the one for Kyle Hebert's Big Bald Broadcast. (Side note: Kyle is another voice actor, who also has a YouTube account, where he does a video blog.) I did install iTunes finally at my sister's request, so that she could download podcasts of Jewish music radio shows (which, btw, shows that podcasts can be mostly music as well, as many radio shows are using them for online broadcasting if they aren't streaming the show). I ended up finding some Japanese lessons there for myself. Looking at Podcast.net, I did actually find one of those there as well, Learn Japanese @ Japancast.net. PodcastAlley did have a book-related podcast that I had heard about and am interested in: MuggleCast, a Harry Potter-related podcast from the folks at the highly-esteemed MuggleNet. I didn't see any actual library-related ones I was interested in either site, although I did notice that MUSC has a series of podcasts on PodcastAlley. Sadly, my favorite podcast, Tim Gunn's Project Runway commentaries wasn't listed on either site, and can only be gotten straight from iTunes or from Bravo's show site.
With regards to both online video and podcasts, in theory, they could be used well for promotion. Doesn't CCPL already do bits on the local news? That would be good to upload to YouTube, for example, and then to link to on the CCPL site to promote upcoming events, in case people miss the news bits. Since Main does have author visits, they could also have a book discussion with the author up as a podcast. I'm not sure how popular those would be, though, but that would be the best shot at CCPL legitimately using either item, imho.
YouTube is my friend. Yes, there's also Google Video (although Google now owns YouTube as well), Veoh, DailyMotion, etc., but YouTube is my first friend. YouTube is where I can now preview anime before downloading it. YouTube is where I can see the meaning behind memes such as something being over 9000!!!! (The same person also brought us the bizarre Dragonball Z/Yu-Gi-Oh! musical ode to pylons, which are trap balls.) YouTube is where I see the following, as shown in my favorites and subscriptions from my account:
1. The home videos of Heroes star Adrian Pasdar (Nathan Petrelli). If you're a Heroes fan, run here to see these, as they are goofy. Here's a sample, for dragonsinger, Grunny Goes Nuts! (Grunny = Greg Grunberg, aka Matt Parkman on Heroes).
2. Speaking of tv actors, if you're a Stargate fan, the home videos of David Hewlett(Dr. Rodney McKay). Besides such gems as Slug White Nerd - Stargate Rap, he also has clips and the trailer for his movie, A Dog's Breakfast, which features other Stargate actors. (Note: some clips aren't worksafe.)
3. For more actor goodness, run to my Leader, as I am a recently recruited Risembool Ranger, voice actor Vic Mignogna (Ed Elric in FullMetal Alchemist, Kougaiji in Saiyuki, Madarame Ikkaku in Bleach). I heart Vic, for he and fellow voice actor Steve Blum have done the "Real Fans of Genius" series, parodies of the Budweiser ads about otaku (anime fans). Granted, since Vic has cosplayed himself as both Captain Kirk and Obi-Wan Kenobi, he's one to talk. (g) He also is a talented singer, and has some of his music videos posted. For some highlights of Vic (and Steve), see:
a. Vic and Steve singing odd song choices in character at Kawaii-Kon
b. Vic uttering the infamous "Col. Roy Mustang is dead sexy... in a miniskirt!" line (one of many videos from many cons of this, as his fans love hearing it).
c. Also from Kawaii-Kon, Steve as Vincent from Final Fantasy informing Vic's Ed Elric that he's too short.
d. Also from Kawaii-Kon, the Kawaii-Kon Worker Guy Real Fans of Genius. What is Hawaiian for "take a shower"???
e. My favorite Real Fans of Genius, the Yaoi Obsessed Fangirl. Sorry, I don't know where that wind is coming from, but I am proud to be a "crazed babe of the bishies", who embraces her not-so-inner otaku. (g) For that matter, if you want to see an example of embedding a video, I do have permission from Vic to have that one embedded in my Gaia Online profile. He does own the copyright to it, after all, so to be legal, I do need to ask. (Side note: yes, most of the content on all of the online video sites is technically illegal, as the uploaders aren't the copyright holders. I highly doubt there will come a day when the sites will be able to catch all of the violators, especially since that would cripple the sites.)
f. From the annals of the Rangers, Vic brings us the The Legend of Middle Tennessee music video, documenting that fine day when the Rangers beat the Miniskirt Army at Risemball.
g.Of course, our esteemed general, crazzeemandy, also has a ton more Vic-related videos on her YouTube profile.
h. And, finally, the cutest video I've seen lately, as plugged in my LJ earlier, the time Vic met the Japanese voice actor (seiyuu) for Ed Elric, Paku Romi.
4. Speaking of seiyuu, YouTube is a veritable cornucopia of videos for impoverish otaku to see what their favorites look like, thanks to videos of live events. Granted, they usually aren't subtitled, but even if you can't understand what they are saying, they can still be enjoyable. Nightcat82 started putting up TeniPuri Perfect Live, a live event with Prince of Tennis actors, while SasukeLoverShinoku has up Bleach Soul Sonic 2006 (a live event with the Bleach seiyuu, including the aforementioned Paku Romi, who plays Hitsugaya Toushirou there), although you have to go to page 5 of her videos to start seeing those. (She also has some funny cosplay skits posted, though). She also has separately, from that Soul Sonic, Noriaki Sugiyama (Ishida Uryuu) and Morita Masakazu's (Kurosaki Ichigo) performance of Aesthetics and Identity, the Ishida/Ichigo image song. Even if you can't understand them, this is a must-watch for Morita-san (although I am a Non-tan girl also). (g) Sadly, no one has Morita-san's performance of My Blade is My Pride in full costume as Vaizard Ichigo (gacked from the Bleach musicals) from Soul Sonic 2005 up there. :^( However, someone DID subtitle the recycled and redubbed animation bits from that Soul Sonic (the folks behind it remixed clips from the shows, and the seiyuu redubbed them to fit the new skits). These are flat-out funny, probably even if you don't watch Bleach:
a. Tousen Winning Best Glasses
b. Byakuya the Enka Star
c. The ultra-hysterical Love Bleach: Zanpakutou of Love Dating Sim Ad
Finally, one last series of Bleach seiyuu clips (yes, I am a Bleach nut, why do you ask?). When the Bleach Wii game came out in Japan, four of the seiyuu played it in a competition against each other to promote the game (which is the only reason I want a Wii). Here's the clips, in order of matches:
a. Morita Masakazu (Kurosaki Ichigo) v. Yusa Kouji (Ichimaru Gin). This is notable for the fact that Morita-san actually SAYS HIS CHARACTER MOVES AS HE DOES THEM. ("Bankai!!!! Tensa Zangetsu." - Morita-san)
b. Okiayu Ryoutarou (Kuchiki Byakuya) v. his lieutenant in the show, Itou Kentarou (Abarai Renji). I love how Itou-san keeps calling Okiayu-sama "taichou" (captain).
c. Okiayu-sama v. Yusa-san.
d. Morita-san v. Itou-san, for the grand prize!
5. Anime fans are nuts. One of my favorite sites is the IchaParadiseFan blog, which features "Kakashi" from Naruto blogging about their adventures. The cosplay on the site is amazing. They have also released a series of Mastercard ad parodies, starring Kakashi (in order of release):
a. Being Kakashi
b. Good Morning, Kakashi
c. The Anbu Anti-Glomp Squad (Glomping is basically tackle-hugging.)
d. Finally, Kakashi has also done a TAG body spray ad (with outtakes!).
6. Finally, one last set of anime-related clips. "Hare Hare Yukai" is the incredibly catchy end theme for the hit anime The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. Not only is the song catchy, so is the accompanying dance, as can be seen in this series of clips:
a. The original ending animation.
b. The live performance of the full song, by the singers, who are also the lead seiyuu for the show, with them doing the full dance as well.
c. So that we can learn the full dance, people have taken the actual animation and mashed them together with the storyboards for the rest of the dance, and made a dance reference video.
d. People all over the world have dressed in costume and done the dance, such as these people back in 4/07 in the Akihabara district of Tokyo. Of course, the fun was interrupted by the police.
e. Finally, it has been mashed up with other shows and games, as this popular remix using animation from the Rockman/Megaman games shows.
7. Oh, one last bit of crack: working at libraries will turn you into an Achy Breaky Heart singing hand, right Emily? (g)
OK, on to podcasts. iTunes is of course one of the two most popular ways to find podcasts - imho, the other way is to actually click on a link on the show's website, such as the one for Kyle Hebert's Big Bald Broadcast. (Side note: Kyle is another voice actor, who also has a YouTube account, where he does a video blog.) I did install iTunes finally at my sister's request, so that she could download podcasts of Jewish music radio shows (which, btw, shows that podcasts can be mostly music as well, as many radio shows are using them for online broadcasting if they aren't streaming the show). I ended up finding some Japanese lessons there for myself. Looking at Podcast.net, I did actually find one of those there as well, Learn Japanese @ Japancast.net. PodcastAlley did have a book-related podcast that I had heard about and am interested in: MuggleCast, a Harry Potter-related podcast from the folks at the highly-esteemed MuggleNet. I didn't see any actual library-related ones I was interested in either site, although I did notice that MUSC has a series of podcasts on PodcastAlley. Sadly, my favorite podcast, Tim Gunn's Project Runway commentaries wasn't listed on either site, and can only be gotten straight from iTunes or from Bravo's show site.
With regards to both online video and podcasts, in theory, they could be used well for promotion. Doesn't CCPL already do bits on the local news? That would be good to upload to YouTube, for example, and then to link to on the CCPL site to promote upcoming events, in case people miss the news bits. Since Main does have author visits, they could also have a book discussion with the author up as a podcast. I'm not sure how popular those would be, though, but that would be the best shot at CCPL legitimately using either item, imho.