1/15/09

Watching the 'Tube

Inspirational messages for MLK Day

by Sam Severn

YouTube Confession #3:

I got hooked on YouTube after watching a video called "My Mom Performing Iron Man By Black Sabbath."

Uploaded by a Norwegian YouTuber named tulling99, it's two minutes of video for the clinically insane.

In it, Norway's most courageous (but least talented) mother-and-son heavy-metal duo strum and wail and lay waste to the Black Sabbath song. Mom yowls "I am Iron Man!!" in fractured English and the wrong key. Her sloppy dude son shreds out-of-tune chords on electric guitar, and strikes poses like he's playing in a stadium gig and not his living room.

 "My mother can't sing," warns tulling99. "If you think this is bad, imagine how she was before the half hour of practice!"

That warning - and Heavy Metal Mom's courage to try and nail the legendary song like a noble Norse warrior - was what got me sucked into the magical land of YouTube.

Instantly I learned that, if you can think it, name it, fantasize it, or Google it, then there's probably a video of it on YouTube.

I also learned that what my mom told me about candy, cigarettes, sugary coffee, and that Boone's Farm Strawberry Hill wine I consumed in junior college applies to YouTube, too.

The first taste leads to craving bigger and bigger doses.

And eventually, to a total disregard of reality.

For instance: When December's record-setting snowstorm slammed into town, do you think I was out there, shoveling that white blizzard off the garage roof? No way. I was safe in front of my computer, watching "Grandma Chainsaw Massacre" on YouTube for the thousandth time.

When my kids get bored, I used to say, "Hey, go outside, and play!" Now I say, "Go type the words incredibly gassy belching cat on YouTube. And let me know what comes up."

Just today, I found myself looking to YouTube for salvation again.

It happened when I got stuck writing this column. So I went back and revisited tullling99's clip of his Heavy Metal Mom. Posted there, I found this comment, from another fan of the video.

 "Your mum is great!!!" it read. "I wish mine was still around. She died of cancer. Cherish your parents, that's all I have to say. Cheers."

Yes, I discovered you can waste a lot of time on YouTube.

But you can also be one click away from discovering the Greatest YouTube Moment Of All Time. The video that melts your heart, changes the way you look at life, or makes you cherish your own dorky family.

That's what YouTube does best.

This Month's Featured Videos

To honor the upcoming Martin Luther King holiday, and in the spirit of freedom that YouTube fosters, I thought I'd share a sampling of videos that raise our hopes, inspire our dreams, and encourage us to go out and make the world a better place to live.

VIDEO: "Martin Luther King - I have a dream"

SYNOPSIS: Dr. King's most famous speech, delivered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in1963 before 250,000 civil rights marchers. With this speech King conjured a dream of racial equality, and sparked a spirit of new hope across America.

VIDEO: "Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Last Speech"

SYNOPSIS: This is King's "I Have Been To The Mountaintop" speech, recorded at Mason Temple in Memphis on April 3, 1968 - just hours before he was assassinated.

VIDEO: "YoungTubers Tribute To Dr. Martin Luther King"

SYNOPSIS: Seven YouTube children share their own dreams, to honor Dr. King's life. One of the most watched, most shared, and most discussed videos on YouTube.

VIDEO: "MLK and John Lennon - IMAGINE THE DREAM"

SYNOPSIS: A montage sampling John Lennon's song "Imagine," Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech, and Rudy Giuliani's post-9/11 tribute. Guaranteed to keep you seeing the good in all human beings.

VIDEO: "President Barack Obama/Martin Luther King Music Video and Tribute"

SYNOPSIS: Celebrating one of America's proudest days - the day a black man became President of the United States.

And finally:

VIDEO: "The Cosby Show - Vanessa's Bad Grade"

SYNOPSIS: A favorite episode from Bill Cosby's TV show. Vanessa steals a sweater from Denise. The two fight. In the end, it's little Rudy's choice of watching the "I Have A Dream" speech on TV that reminds the whole family of what a real problem is.

Have a favorite YouTube video you'd like to share? E-mail me, [email protected]. You might find it featured in my next column!