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Vital Status Report from NYC

2008-10-17 · Hank, John, Alex Day, a guest · watch on YouTube · Books & writing · personal update

Footage from the Paper Towns release party in New York, where John says the book is about people misimagining each other, friends and YouTubers joke around, and Hank, now in Boston, tells absent nerdfighters the Internet is their first and last place.

What is said

00:00:00 — Greetings; John introduces the Paper Towns release party guests; Charlie skipped meeting the Queen; Paper Towns is about misimagining each other

00:00:29 — John on how hard it is to imagine another person as they imagine themselves; asked about teaching, he says he loves reading books critically with young people

  • ★★★ John says that, stuck inside our own skins, it is very difficult to imagine another person as they imagine themselves; nobody sees himself as a guy whose thoughts don't matter. — 00:00:29 · perspective-taking
  • ★★ Asked whether he has considered teaching, John says he loves reading books critically with young people, finds it hugely fulfilling, and definitely thinks about teaching. — 00:00:29
  • ★★ John says he would not want to teach writing because he does not think he knows anything about it, but likes reading books with people. (hedged) — 00:00:58

00:00:58 — Diner roll-call of 'famous' guests (John Green, Scott Westerfeld, Maureen Johnson, Charlie, Alex, Caitlin Hill); a guest on meeting YouTubers in person; dance party

  • ★ At a diner, a guest playfully introduces John Green, Scott Westerfeld and Maureen Johnson as famous people. (playful) — 00:00:58 · John Green, Maureen Johnson
  • ★ Alex Day introduces himself as responsible for the largest tag project in history. (playful) — 00:00:58 · Alex Day
  • ★★ A guest recalls watching early YouTube videos (a rap, Brooke Brodack, lonelygirl15) and says she now understands how such videos get made: amazing to be there, puzzling to watch online. — 00:01:27

00:02:03 — Alex tells how he and Charlie flew from London to New York for the Paper Towns launch

00:02:32 — Comic 'reader' interview: Paper Towns is about paper, a picture book, and Tom Cruise will play the towns; end of the New York footage; Hank, now in Boston, says another Nerdfighter event is about to start

  • ★★ In a comic bit, a guest who has not read Paper Towns claims it is about paper, sounds like a picture book, and will be a movie with Tom Cruise playing the towns. (joke) — 00:02:32 · Paper Towns
  • ★★ Hank says he is now in Boston before another Nerdfighter event and will soon see John at dinner with their parents and cousin. — 00:03:02 · Boston, Paper Towns Tour, Nerdfighteria

00:03:29 — Hank to nerdfighters who could not come to the events: the Internet is our first and last place; see John on Monday

  • ★★★ Hank tells nerdfighters who could not come to the events that the brothers love them and will always be on the Internet, which is their first and last place. — 00:03:29 · Nerdfighteria > «The Internet is our first place, it's our last place.»

Humor (significant)

  • At the diner every guest is introduced as famous. — 00:01:27 > «Caitlin Hill, who's famous for being Australian.»
  • A guest who hasn't read Paper Towns claims it is being made into a movie. — 00:02:32 > «Tom Cruise is going to play the towns.»
  • The same guest decides Paper Towns must be a short picture book. — 00:03:02 > «If you want it, it's at the library somewhere, probably in the picture book section.»

Threads in this video

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