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Burning Peeps, My OTP, and Velociraptors: It's Question Tuesday

2012-10-16 · John, a child of the brothers · watch on YouTube · Nerdfighteria · conversation qa

After a Cincinnati Nerdfighter gathering and a walk he chose not to film, John rapid-fires Question Tuesday answers: mostly jokes (Congress, Peeps, YOLO, who the eff is Hank), plus a book recommendation behind The Fault in Our Stars, the box set date and a world-history lesson about collaboration versus ideology.

What is said

00:00:00 — Greeting; Cincinnati gathering; walk in Miami Whitewater Forest without making a Thoughts from Places; Question Tuesday intro

  • ★★ John says he met a lot of Nerdfighters the previous night in Cincinnati. — 00:00:04 · Nerdfighteria
  • ★★ Walking alone in the Miami Whitewater Forest, John decided not to make a Thoughts from Places video and just go on a walk without videotaping everything he does. — 00:00:08 · Thoughts from Places

00:00:31 — Quick answers: Halloween, the penny and Congress, OTP 'Pea-bunny', Poe's raven, microwaved Peeps, pancakes, the alphabet

  • ★★ Asked why legislation to kill the penny is held up in Congress, John jokes that the current Congress could not pass anything, even to save itself. (playful) — 00:00:37 · United States Congress
  • ★ John says the raven in Poe's poem symbolizes death, and as a rule of thumb anything that looks like a symbol in Poe is death. (playful) — 00:00:51

00:01:30 — Books: The Blood of the Lamb and An Imperial Affliction; the platypus; box set date; Augustus Waters

  • ★★★ As the best book you've never heard of, John recommends Peter De Vries's The Blood of the Lamb, which inspired large parts of An Imperial Affliction by Peter Van Houten. — 00:01:31 · The Fault in Our Stars
  • ★★ John says the box set comes out on October 25th, with a limited edition in which both The Fault in Our Stars and Looking for Alaska are signed; link in the description. — 00:01:43 · The Fault in Our Stars, Looking for Alaska, doobly-doo

00:01:54 — Pi; a child of the brothers picks velociraptors; YOLO; jumping from space; statues; favourite president Polk

  • ★ Asked to settle velociraptor versus brontosaurus, John asks a child of the brothers, who prefers velociraptors. — 00:02:01
  • ★ John names favourites: James K. Polk, "Napoleon of the Stump", as president, Gandalf over Dumbledore, and the Mongols as his favourite period of history. (playful) — 00:02:32

00:02:35 — Hank's voting video on Obama's Tumblr; no siblings in John's books and 'who the eff is Hank'; Atlas Shrugged

  • ★★ Asked whether Barack Obama's Tumblr really posted Hank's voting video, John first says no, then, surprised, tells Hank he is on the President's Tumblr. — 00:02:37 · Barack Obama, Tumblr, Hank Green
  • ★★ Asked why his main characters have no siblings, John jokes it is his way of telling Hank he doesn't exist in his narrative imagination, then 'who the eff is Hank?' (joke) — 00:02:48 · Who the Eff Is Hank, Hank Green

00:02:59 — Lessons from teaching world history; next book; Gandalf; the Mongols; five favourite John Greens; thanks and sign-off

  • ★★★ From a year of teaching world history, John says humans generally get less miserable when they collaborate and get totally hosed when they choose ideology over actual humans. — 00:03:02 · Crash Course, collective action
  • ★★ John doesn't know when his next book will come out, perhaps 2014 or 2015; it's going to be a while. (hedged) — 00:03:11

Humor (significant)

  • Asked why the bill to kill the penny is stuck in Congress, John describes the current Congress. — 00:00:37 > «if the current Congress were actually and physically on fire, they couldn't pass a Throw Water on Congress Act.»
  • Asked what he has always wanted to microwave, John serves himself Peeps on a hot plate. — 00:01:02 > «disgusting, somewhat burnt, microwaved peeps.»
  • John says YOLO is appropriate whenever you act out of an abundance of caution, e.g. obeying the speed limit. — 00:02:15 > «"I'm gonna pass up this opportunity to go skydiving because YOLO".»
  • Having said his characters lack siblings to tell Hank he doesn't exist, John asks 'who the eff is Hank?' — 00:02:52 > «Hank is an American folk rock band originally formed in Claremont, California.»

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