10 Easy Ways to Support Unpopular Youtube Artists Without Spending $ or Time

This question comes up now and then, so I thought it'd be useful to have a cheat sheet. We're in a time of financial calamity but people still make art, and in the social media age there are ways for fans to help/validate/enable artists which are quick and free and essential to your favorite-but-struggling videomaker/musician/writer/cat photographer continuing on their path and being able to make more art, which is what this is all kinda about, que no? 

In descending order from MOST GENEROUSLY HELPFUL to JUST SORTA HELPFUL. 

1. Give them money or gigs. (Okay, this one is not free. The rest are. But venmo'ing @dominic-mah-1 is a thing.)

2. SUBSCRIBE to their Youtube channel. Or whatever their official channel is. Subscribing should be easy for anyone who has a Youtube or Google account. Every Youtube video's got a red SUBSCRIBE button next to it if you haven't subscribed already. Subscribing is extremely helpful because when producers or hiring folk look at an artist's Youtube page, they like to see that the page has a healthy regular following. And the best part is, subscribing obligates you to nothing, you don't even have to actually follow the artist, or have deeply considered all of their videos -- but by subscribing you've helped them a LOT. Subscribing means you might get an extra email from Youtube once in a while, big deal, you can get out of that on your preferences page. All the benefits of being a working artist who can pay some bills with their Youtube stuff (people do do this) lie in the direction of having LOTS OF SUBSCRIBERS. And it takes, like, 30 seconds at most.

Golden Girls/Nick's Lounge

This is very #LetsJustGoToNicks inside-jokey, but it's also out of love for The Golden Girls theme song. Please subscribe to my youtube channel regardless! And thank you for being a friend.

Dom's Favorite And Least Favorite Songs To Hear In A Karaoke Bar

This list will be updated periodically, you may use your vouchers for 2 GA tickets depending on availability, yadda yadda yadda....

FAVORITE K-BAR SONGS TO LISTEN TO (IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER)
Umbrella
Dancing On My Own
Super Bass
Chandelier
A Little Respect, also anything Erasure
Anything by Stevie Wonder
Almost anything by Prince
Most things by Michael Jackson or the Jackson 5
Fake Plastic Trees
Beast of Burden
Crazy For You
Untouchable Face
anything from Les Miserables
Cabaret from Cabaret
anything from Rent, Tommy or West Side Story, and one of those two Hedwig songs, but not both in the same night, jeezus they take forever

20 Thoughts On Rewatching BATMAN V SUPERMAN By Myself

1) JESUS CHRIST, MY CHILDHOOD, MY INNOCENCE. WHAT DID I GIVE IT TO? THIS ATROCITY, THIS GROTESQUE ORGY OF INFANTILE MASCULINE POSTURING? COMIC BOOKS ARE HELLA STUPID.

2) Okay, dude, it's just a movie. 

3) Hans Zimmer almost saves the day with a cohesive score combining the Batman and Man of Steel themes and introducing a bracing, percussion-heavy theme for Wonder Woman/The Trinity (which slightly recalls the theme music to both the '60s Batman TV show and the Wonder Woman TV show). 

The Star-Sword-Superhero Nerd Trifecta

So I was on a podcast with Keith of Nerds Of Color, debating the Nerdiest Asian Actor In The Universe.

The Karaoke Social Contract (12 Principles)

1.  All people are entitled to sing a song once in a while.

2.  In a public social atmosphere, all people are obligated to be aware of their surroundings.

3.  If the karaoke is a free service provided in a bar, you are obligated to get a drink if you want to participate in the free service.

4.  Time is finite and songs take up time. If you don't get to sing a song because of the queue being particularly long, the proper attitude is, "Well hey, at least I'm still not involved in a civil war in Central Africa."

Avengers Texting 2.0. (also X-Men, Watchmen, Batpeople, etc.)

Dazzler texts at ComicCon 2015.

Due to no popular demand whatsoever, here is a Best-Of from my Instagram series about cosplayers texting (with CONSENT!), tindering, and otherwise messing with their phones. From WonderCon and ComicCon 2014-2015. #AvengersTexting #XMenTexting #AvXTexting

Twitter: @ThorHulkCritic / @dommah IG: dommah

Facebook: ThorHulkCritic      Fun Karaoke Web Show: karaokerhapsody.com

Thor and Captain America.

10 Reasons I Sort Of Wanted To Punch You In The Face On Sunday

1. I like your face, but it was attached to other faces, so I sort of wanted to punch all the faces.
2. I don't "do" "that."
3. It recalled those other times I stood on the periphery of a multi-face makeout session, except now am older.
4. The thinking goes, "one can join in the kissyface if one adopts the appropriate attitude; but it's already figured-out that you don't care to kiss me under normal circumstances, so the joiner impulse feels egotistic and not affectionate, intrusive and not welcomed, and anyway, consolation-prize kissyface is not what it's all about."
5. People who secretly want to kiss each other are usually just waiting for the right moment.
6. I woke up that morning mad at you and didn't want to end the day madder at you. 
7. It was the end of a real shitty weekend.
8. I won't even get into the racial thing because no one gets that part.
9. Completely fouled up the first plan for tricking self into sleep. Instead laid there thinking unending thoughts like, "if there was no gross, would there still be cute?" as opposed to, "that was a worthwhile trip to the bar in the effort to forget Saturday."
10. The smiles you all had afterwards, the obvious smile from warmth and accomplishment, the smile one would have. 

Karaoke Rhapsody

This is a web series that I do about karaoke culture, watch it if you please.

August 2014.

Sleep.

Warmth.

Eyes and hands. Neck and nose. Big features, small head.

What is it? This.

Sleep.
Darkness.

Music.

Shoulders. Temples. The soft spot under the ears.

Back of the knees. Feet. Weightless.

Sleep.

Shudders. Talking soft, laughing at language.
Movements are not how you meant them to be,
or what you're used to.

Warmth. 

Learning. Still searching. Missing the point. Wondering.

Waiting and waiting and waiting.

Asking and answering.

Eyes and hands.

Warmth.

Sleep.

17 Horrible Things That People Say Because We All Want Love But Are Idiots

Don't say these horrible stupid things. Ever. Don't text them either.

1. "I love women." What the hell does that even mean? Everyone loves women. How could you love all women? You think it's some sort of strange condition that you love women? You think it's an interesting thing about you? It is not, because loving women is a very common thing. What you mean is you are pathologically interested in having sex with as many women as possible, but for some reason you say this other thing. 

2. "He looks lonely." He does not look lonely. You have no idea what a lonely person looks like. You want to go talk to the tall hottie who is brooding in a corner, playing the I'm-complicated-and-hard-to-get game that he learned from a Pickup Artist technique book. You're walking away from an actually lonely person to go talk to a player. Fine. Say that. Don't tell me that he looks lonely and you're going to go fix that because you're such a nice person you solve all the problems of the lonely people in the world. Fuck that. If you care so much about people being lonely, stay here with me. "Didn't think so." - Louis C.K.

3. "..., period." What, you ended all human communication with that period? That period means you are right? All your preceding words are empirical truth because you said "period"? "Cats are avocados, period." Um, still not true. Period.

空オーケストラ写真

Here's a playlist featuring short teasers & trailers for the karaoke-themed unscripted drama (that's the official way of saying reality show) I've been working on. It has a cool Japanese codename until we figure out what the final title is.



If you would like to support this sort of thing, financially, through social media, or with artistic/filmmaking resources, please get in touch with me. I can say with confidence it is going to be the Star Wars Episode 7 of karaoke-themed unscripted dramas.

Jessika Fett and Boyd Hastings in a scene from A Piece Of Me.

Asian-American Guy Problems VS. American Woman Problems

This is the clearest way to explain it I think. #AsianAmericanManSplain

2 types of people with glasses. Yet a chasm of experience separates them.

Asian-American Man Problem	American Woman Problem
Nobody seems highly interested in dating me.	Every weirdo in every bar seems highly interested in dating me.
I live in a culture that considers me subordinate and docile.	I live in a culture that considers me subordinate and docile.
I am the least-preferred ethnic group in online dating.	I joined a dating site and got 20 pictures of genitalia in the first minute.
I don't talk about the racism because it's not sexy.	I don't talk about the sexism because gaaaaah it's too everywhere.
People assume I'm weird.	People assume I'm meat.
Since Mad Men came out I feel pressure to be an Alpha Bro I would never want to be.	Since Mad Men came out I feel pressure to date successful alcoholics.
I am the least-married ethnic group in America.	I've been married twice already, it ain't all that great.
I am very anxious about being nice but not seeming "too nice."	I am very anxious because everyone who's nice to me also has an angle.
On other hand, the police are usually pretty nice to me, based on a cultural profile I have no control over.	Police are usually pretty nice to me, based on a cultural profile I have no control over.
When meeting someone I have to devote energy to both appearing sexually interested and not seeming like the weirdo they are expecting. It's exhausting.	When meeting someone I have to evaluate both how much they want to use me for sex and an exit strategy even if I sort of like them. It's fricking exhausting.
I eat meals alone with my phone.	If this guy attempts to pay for my food, does he think I owe him a hookup?
I wake up alone.	I wake up next to some douche.
Every opportunity for love is kind of a big deal.	Ever opportunity for love with a non-stalker is kind of a big deal.
If I lived in New York I could get a date because they're more racially open-minded there.	If I lived in Los Angeles I could get a date because the lonely dudes there outnumber me 5 to 1.
Things might go easier if I was gay.	Things might go easier if I was gay.
James Franco, John Mayer, also guys with beards.	Katy Perry, also girls with nice hair.
People are very surprised if I karaoke Prince, even though Asian guys invented that karaoke shit.	People are very surprised if I karaoke a song that isn't pretty or flattering.
Although I have my own preferences, people expect me to just go for whoever's available after Don Draper has chosen.	Although I have my own preferences, they are distorted by the availability of dudes who will evidently humiliate themselves for my attention.
Because of TV stereotypes, people expect me to be really good at tech. I'm not.	Because of porn, people expect me to be really good at handjobs. I'm not.
Once, I was just standing around and made someone very uncomfortable by clearing my throat.	Once, I was just standing around and was invited to a threesome because I adjusted my shirt.
I recognize 100 different ways of being written off.	I recognize 100 different ways of being hit on.
I know who I want but she has never even considered the possibility that the Asian guy has functional baby-making equipment.	I don't know who I want, but I am pretty sure it is not all these people who want me.
I actually speak way better English than you.	I actually speak way better English than you.