the doctor

Not that doctor. Or that doctor. Or that one. Soon after I posted about YouTube, another video appeared in my subscription box that I enjoyed, and I realized I didn't give its creator due credit as running one of the still-watchable content producers on YouTube.

His name is Dr. Stuart Ashen, and his YouTube name is ashens. I have to really stress the "doctor" bit. He's not a medical doctor. Instead, he holds a PhD in ... I don't know. But he claims it's real, and I think anyone who has, will have, or claims to have a PhD deserves the utmost respect. In fact, you should probably just send me some money out of appreciation for what I may do someday.

Anyway, ashens is one of the great YouTube personalities. His videos are characterized by shots of a ragged brown couch, in front of which he places things and films them with his disembodied hands extending from behind the camera, waving around. That's about all there is to it. Well, he does also show off the items he's filming, and talks about their virtues (not much) and shortcomings (much). And THAT'S all there is to it.

The funny part is that he shows off terrible products in his videos. It's kind of like Jay Leno making fun of advertisements, except instead of Jay you get a British guy with a funny accent, and instead of advertisements (this time, pronounce it Britishly in your mind's ear), you get the actual products. He has covered many, many "PopStation" products, which try to play off the popularity of the PlayStation brand and design, but really are just terrible old Tiger Electronics-esque LCD games. They are terrible. Also, he shows off things that can be found at "Pound Land" ("pound" as in the money, so it's like a dollar shop).

These videos are very entertaining, but unfortunately not everything with ashens is great. Sometimes ... well, sometimes he goes in front of the camera. When he's behind the camera he just ad libs everything he says and it's great, but in front of the camera he seems to always follow some kind of script. This is a bad idea. It doesn't work for him. Maybe he just needs more practice. I don't know, but it just doesn't seem to work.

It's even worse when he has to be onscreen with another person. However, he recently interviewed someone while having a lightsaber battle with them, and that was pretty good. In general, though, ashens is at his best when he's by himself behind a camera complaining about PopStations (again). For that, I recommend him greatly, although if you run into him in any other format, please try to forgive him and remember what makes him one of the best personalities on YouTube.