Red ~C Diary: Let the Chaos Begin!

Ok that’s it. I’m now hooked on online videos. Not having a TV is actually a bane since I’ve got no choice but to watch stuff online. But of course, the advantage of watching online videos is that I have 100% control on what I would like to watch. It’s interactive too. And now that online video services, like YouTube.com and Google Video, are all the rage, gone are the days that you sit in front of an idiot box forced to watch stupid brainwashing commercials; gone are the days where only people in the broadcasting business have the right and power to broadcast. Thanks to Architecture of Participation of Web 2.0 and the collective denizens of cyberspace, broadcasting is now a two-way stream.

However, like other technology, the ubiquity of online videos has some potential disadvantages (e.g. increase in shortened attention span, video addiction, rampant pornography, etc…), but still, the advantages outweigh the cons. As The Wired Guide to the Online Video Explosion has eloquently said, "Some people look at the sheer amount of material and see a mess. But we see, amid the flood of content and competing delivery services, a new medium emerging, one with fewer gatekeepers, more producers, and somewhere – something for everyone. And that’s the point: the mess is the message."

The mess is the message. Exactly! This is the wisdom of crowds at its best!

As for me, one of the obvious advantages of online videos is access to stuff that interests me, thus speeding up my learning process, in hyperspeed. Allow me to illustrate by examples using YouTube.com.

When I’m not watching crazy people lip-synching to My Humps, snorting wasabi, non-nude lap dancing in front of a giant teddy bear (lucky bastard bear), or making an ass of themselves, I watch guitar videos so I can learn different playing styles from my guitar gods and even from unknown people who just love showing off their guitar skills. Check out these videos and you’ll understand what I mean:

Joe Satriani guitar tapping the uber-cool tune Midnight
– Man! Joe Satriani really is a god!

Kaki King guitar tapping Pink Noise
– Damn! I’m her new biggest fan. Sorry Jewel, you too Bonnie Raitt. Kaki King is now the hottest female guitar player in my book! Drooool!

And of course, here’s my uber-guitar idol:

Stevie Ray Vaughan ripping it Crossfire style!
– I’m not worthy! I’m not worthy!

See my point now? Those are just some of the videos that inspire me to no end. In fact, I decided to make an ass of myself too and broadcast my crap so I can keep track of my progress while showing off. Too bad I only have a webcam with a crappy microphone but this will do for now. Here’s my YouTube.com URL:

http://www.youtube.com/user/c4chaos

I’ll use it to video blog (vlog) my practice sessions and times of spontaneous luminous (and not-so luminous) inspirations. So, pardon my guitar-playing imperfections, coz whether you like it or not, I say, let the Chaos begin!

~C (for Chaos has just begun)