I would just like to express my undying love for VlogBrothers

I could call this a review, but it’s more like a sonnet, except that it’s not written in any kind of verse form, so it’s missing one of the most defining features of sonnets and is thus not a sonnet at all.

What I’m trying to say is that I love VlogBrothers, and I blame all of you for not telling me about them before. Since my vow to sample vloggers and webisodes created by someone other than Felicia Day or Wil Wheaton, some of you have kindly pointed me the way of a few specimens of what the web has to offer.

You told me to try I Am Tim, about the last reminaing descendent of Van Helsing fighting Evil in York. And I wanted to like it, because it’s made and based in my city and it’s indie and scrappy and genre, but I just couldn’t get into it. And I could have reviewed it to say that, but I didn’t watch enough of it to give a full report, and I don’t like to shit on indie creators just because after five minutes of watching I felt a bit ‘meh’.

You told me to try Garfunkel and Oates and you were right about them. Garfunkel and Oates are an incredibly talented comedy musical duo who peddle quirky, geeky, often risque humour, sometimes with a ukelele. Sometimes I feel like they’re speakin’ out for women who own both their sexuality and their social awkwardness, with songs like ‘I Don’t Understand Job’ (NSFW) and Go Kart Racing (Accidentally Masturbating)’ (obviously NSFW). But othertimes I’m a little uncomfortable with how they buy into certain stereotypes, with songs like ‘Gay Boyfriend‘, ‘Pregnant Women are Smug‘, and ‘29/31‘. Some parts of these songs are funny and they’re still well-made, but… yeah.

And then there was VlogBrothers. VlogBrothers present regular short video blogs by John and Hank Green. Their videos are geek-centric, liberal, and very funny. Hank’s video, Tumblr: The Musical, made in collaboration with AVbyte, is a perfect example of this:

Exuberant to the point of hyperactivity, John and Hank Green have their finger not merely on the pulse of the Internet, they are enthusiastically swimming in its veins. In this video Hank unabashedly praises the time-sink that is Tumblr, a blogging platform which has grown from the fringes to becoming rapidly central to anyone who wants to build an Internet presence, especially amongst geeks. Singing about Tumblrs obsession with gifs, Benedict Cumberbach, cats, and the minutia of Tumblr’s swiftly evolving ideolects, Hank could go pound for pound with Felicia Day’s ‘Do You Wanna Date My Avatar‘ for geek points.

And I’m basically crushing on Hank Green right now so I just want to link you to all his awesome vlogs, like Cat GIF critique and 17 rants in 4 minutes, but John Green is also worth your time. More than worth your time, awesome. Take, for example, this review of Escape from Camp 14, exposing things I… didn’t know about North Korea and probably should have. And, you know, he was in a Google hangout with President Obama, so, umm, awesome.

Anyway, I’m going to watch Iron Man 3, now and if I don’t leave now I won’t have time for a drink first and that’s not how me and Lee Harris watch geek movies. So… enjoy VlogBrothers. Your life will be better.