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Umbrellas Amuse Me: Observations from One Day in Munich

2010-07-29 · John · watch on YouTube · Books & writing · personal update

Following Hank's lead for YouTube's Life in a Day, John shows his Saturday in Munich, ending at the White Ravens Book Festival, and says he loved how connected the world is, hoping its castles and stories last.

What is said

00:00:00 — John's Life in a Day Saturday in Munich: train to the city centre, a watch for Sarah, looking for a present for a child of the brothers; loving cities and umbrellas

  • ★★ Following Hank's lead, John shows Hank his Saturday, the day YouTube asked everyone to share their life in a day. — 00:00:00 · YouTube, Hank Green
  • ★★ With no readings or school visits that day, John took the train into Munich's centre to buy a watch for Sarah, which she liked, and a present for a child of the brothers. — 00:00:00 · Sarah Urist Green
  • ★★ The description names the featured book, Ishmael and the Return of the Dugongs, and recommends buying the 'hilarious' first book in the series, Don't Call Me Ishmael. — 00:00:00
  • ★★ John loves Munich and crowded cities because they remind him that billions of people like him are each stuck inside their minds, trying to connect with others. — 00:00:29
  • ★ John says he really likes umbrellas, a roof you carry with you; umbrellas always amuse him. (playful) — 00:00:29

00:00:58 — A reader buying Paper Towns recognises John in a bookstore; near-miss with a taxi, a women's soccer game, church bells and a candle for a sick friend; a wooden train for a child of the brothers

  • ★★ In a Munich bookstore that stocked his books, John met a reader buying an English copy of Paper Towns; he had never been recognised while looking for his own books, and was embarrassed but delighted. — 00:00:58 · Paper Towns
  • ★ John says a taxi almost hit him but swerved at the last second; none of it was caught on video. (playful) — 00:00:58
  • ★★ Church bells interrupted John's vlogging; he went into the church and lit a candle for a sick friend, but did not film it because it felt private. — 00:01:27
  • ★ John finally found a toy store and bought a child of the brothers a little wooden train. — 00:01:27

00:01:56 — White Ravens Book Festival at a 15th-century castle library: Michael Gerard Bauer's Ishmael reading and a German doctors' band playing the book's songs

  • ★★ After a TV interview, John walked to the White Ravens Book Festival, the reason he was in Munich. — 00:01:56
  • ★★ John says the children's literature festival is held at a castle first built in the 15th century, now the world's largest international children's literature library. — 00:01:56
  • ★★ That night Michael Gerard Bauer gave a hilarious reading from his book about a boy called Ishmael, first in English, then a German actor read it in German. — 00:01:56
  • ★★ At the end of the night a German band made up mostly of doctors performed the song lyrics from Bauer's book, and Bauer sang along, which John found amazing. — 00:02:32

00:02:56 — What John loved about the day: hyper-connectedness that carries stories across the world; his hope that the castles, people, music and stories last 500 years; sign-off

  • ★★★ John says what he loved that day was hyper-connectedness and ease of movement: words written in Australia become songs in Germany, his stories bring him to Munich, and travel and Skype bring people close. — 00:02:56 · Australia
  • ★★★ Asked for his fear, John answers with a hope: that 500 years from now the castles we have made will still stand, populated by people, music and stories. (hedged) — 00:03:25

Humor (significant)

  • John explains, while walking in the rain, why he really likes umbrellas. — 00:00:29 > «It's like, I have a roof. I carry it with me.»
  • John films a taxi that he says almost hit and killed him but swerved at the last second. — 00:00:58 > «thereby saving my life, none of which I caught on video.»
  • John films a man watching a women's soccer game in downtown Munich. — 00:01:27 > «his facial expression is heroic or pervy.»
  • Church bells interrupt John's vlogging; they are so loud he cannot tell where they come from and seem omnipresent. — 00:01:27 > «Which, in retrospect, I guess is probably the point.»

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